Literary Analysis #2

Summary: Brave New World is a science fiction novel set on Earth but far into the future. The book starts by giving an over view of the world state and showing how everything is calculated, calm and predicted. From the time they were fertilized in the lab to death, people in this Brave New World live a predetermined future. There is a very strict caste system set in place that all members of society are brainwashed into embodying.  Bernard lives in the world but his imperfections make him feel out of place in this “perfect” society. He pushes boundaries and asks the Director if he can go visit the savage reservation with a girl he likes named Lenina. On the reservation, savages live in dirty conditions but have free will and choices. Bernard is intrigued by this starkly different world while Lenina is repulsed. Bernard brings back a savage named John to the civilized world. At first John enjoys himself but as time goes on he gets angry about how everyone around him acts like clones or robots. At the climax of the book John starts pouring out and destroying cases of soma, a drug the people in the new world use often to feel happy and carefree. Due to this outburst John, Bernard and his friend Helmholtz are taken up to the Director. The Director exiles Bernard and Helmholtz off to an island but tells them that they might actually like it. John is forced to stay in the new world and goes off to live by himself up in the mountains. He works very hard daily building and gardening and occasionally whipping himself for the sins he thinks he has committed. Reporters see this and make a movie about it which draws many curious citizens to visit John at his house. A crowd is present when John sees Lenina (who he loves and is attracted too) and John snaps and runs over and starts whipping her. The crowd gets excited and circles the beating in a flurry of violence. Later Bernard is found in his house where he hung himself.

Theme: The theme of this book is that people are too dependent on technology and too submissive to authority. A combination of these two things results in a loss of individualization for virtually all of society. Everyone is living in an unrealistic bubble content living a life without freewill.

Tone: This book is a satirical cautionary tale to Huxley’s audience. His tone is disapproving but the majority of the book he presents events factually without bias.

“The operation undergone voluntarily for the good of Society, not to mention the fact that it carries a bonus amounting to six months' salary."

"You all remember, I suppose, that beautiful and inspired saying of Our Ford's: History is bunk."

"All of the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects."

Literary Techniques:

Repetition: Throughout the novel Huxley mentions that people in society are conditioned to repeat and embody certain sayings.

"Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches."

Allusion: Multiple times during the novel phrases are used that are parallel to how we would use God’s name in vain today.

“Oh, Ford!”

Allusion x 2: The use of Ford is a reference to Henry Ford who is responsible for creating assembly line production which basically represents the new world.

“Thank Ford!”

Symbolism: Symbolism is used a lot throughout the book. An example of this is the drug soma which represents and escape and disconnect from reality for the people living in the new world.

"A gramme is better than a damn."

Simile: Multiple similes are used throughout the novel to compare citizens to mindless but effective insects.

“Like maggots they had swarmed defilingly over the mystery of Linda’s death”


Characterization

Indirect/ Direct: An example of direct characterization is when Huxley flat out states that Bernard is insecure about the fact that he is shorter than the typical Alpha. In contrast, indirect characterization shows Bernard’s cowardliness when John and Helmholtz are dumping out the soma and Bernard does not help them because he does not want to get in trouble. When the police show up he even tries to tell them he doesn’t even know the pair and should not be taken into custody with them.

Syntax/ Diction: When focusing on John someone who actually shows passion and feeling both positive and negative, I found that Huxley used a slightly more dramatic word choice to emphasize the difference between him and more robotic characters like Lenina. The graphic detailed whipping scene language also serves to emphasize the contrast between John and the Brave New World.

Static/Dynamic: I believe Bernard is a dynamic character because he struggles with his motives and values throughout the novel. He at first is disgusted by society and people around him at the beginning of the book and questions his place in the world constantly. However, when he brings John back to the New World and is treated with respect and awe, Bernard seems to forget about his previous disapproval. He loves his time in the spot light and when this is taken away he gets disgusted all over again. It seems as though Bernard’s happiness is always fleeting because it depends on the approval of others.

After reading this book I didn’t really feel like I met any of the characters, but it did make me look at our world today in a new light. Is Huxley right? Is this the direction society is heading for? I hope not. The Brave New World is so cold and devoid of real passion, emotion or love. Sure the members of society in the book don’t care because they don’t know anything different. But everybody alive today and I know what these people are missing.

  

Launch

On an earlier post I elaborated on what my launch will be but I will expand upon that right now.
I am working together with Taylor Duguran, Meghan Martella and Kylie Sagisi for my masterpiece. Our plan is to create a list of things we want to do before our senior year is over like hiking, concerts, yoga, kickboxing... pretty much anything that's fun, new and exciting is welcome on the list. We are also going to integrate an element of positive change in each activity we do. The concept is to experience while also leaving someone or something better than when you found them/it. This could be passing out lunch to homeless on a trip to San Luis or planting flowers during a day of Frisbee golf at the park. We want to prove that fun and positivity go hand and hand and actually thrive off the success of the other. Anyone and everyone are welcome to join us in this movement as long as they bring an optimistic attitude. We plan to document each event with either photos or videos and then post them into one massive college of happiness on a blog.

Super Five

The Buried Life Cast: The Buried Life is a show that aired on MTV for a couple seasons a few years back. The premise of their show is very similar to my group and I's masterpiece idea. They have a bucket list of things they want to complete and on each adventure they go on they do something positive while they are there. I think this would be a great resource to reach out to because they could give us advice, tips and inspiration.

The Human Experience Cast: The Human Experience is a documentary where two brothers and their friends go out into the world and try walking a few miles in other people's shoes. They learn about other people's cultures, values, life stories etc. while out on their various adventures.

Tom Shadyac: Tom Shayac is the director of the documentary I Am. In this documentary he explores human nature in both positive and negative lights.

Roco Belik: Roco Belik is the director of another documentary that has some elements similar to I Am, called Happy. Belik would be a good contact because he could tell us about his journey while filming this movie and how it effected him.

My Team

I think today has been the most productive masterpiece day to date. Before today I didn't really have a set project or specific thing I wanted to do. After talking with a few of my fellow classmates I found they were in the same position. Our solution was to come together and collaborate on a project. Our idea is to create sort of senior year bucket list of things we want to go out and do before college. These things include hiking, biking, baking, kayaking etc. However, the twist is that on each adventure we go on, we do something positive while we are there. For example, if we go spend a day at the beach we could pick up trash while we are there.

Brave New World Essay Prompt

 1995 Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using
characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender,
race, class, or creed. Choose a play or novel in which such a character plays a
significant role, and show how that character’s alienation reveals the
surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values.

I Am Here

This semester has proven to be just as stressful as all other semesters in years past. I am here to dispel the myth the senior year is a year to relax, a "walk in the park." There is still nightly homework but in addition we now have to worry about scholarships, college applications, resumes... the list never ends! Last semester I believe I managed my time very well in relation to college applications. Unlike most things in my life, I chose to actually not procrastinate on my applications. I cannot tell you how good it felt to have everything turned in and finished a week before the due date. Unlike most of my frantic classmates, I was relaxed and confident in what I sent in. My efforts have been further rewarded because I have already received acceptance to the University of San Francisco (my top school) and Loyola Marymount because I applied early action, Although this semester doesn't have anything coming up that is as looming as college applications, there is still lots to do. I have focused a lot of my time these past few months on applying for scholarships. I feel that at this moment in time that is my top priority because as we all know college is expensive so why not try and lessen the burden while I can?

Lit Terms #6

Simile: a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.

Ex. She’s as pretty as a sunflower.

Soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.

Ex. To be or not to be

Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.

Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.

Ex. Holden in The Catcher in the Rye

Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.

Ex. Jocks are stereotyped as not smart.

Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

 ex: Essays of Montaigne

  Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

Style:  the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.

 ex: formal syle

Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important  structures of language.

Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.

Suspension of Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.

 ex: People watch Harry Potter even though they know magic isn’t real.

Symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.

 ex: The green lantern is a symbol of hope in The Great Gatsby.

Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.

 ex: a "soft smell”

Synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.

 ex: Counting heads can mean counting people

Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.

Theme:  main idea of the story; its message(s).

Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disproved; the main idea.

 ex: I typically have my thesis in the first paragraph.

Tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author’s perceived point of view.

 ex: anxious, exciting, dreary

Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead pan”

ex: my sense of humor

Tragedy: in literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed

Understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis

 ex: She did one assignment her whole high school career.

Vernacular: everyday speech

Voice:  The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s pesona.

Zeitgeist: the feeling of a particular era in history

Hafta/Wanna

Thinking about the future evokes a million different emotions within me. I'm anxious, I'm nervous, I'm excited... I guess I'm a little bit of everything. I can't wait to embark on a new experience and meet new people and go new places but at the same time I'm nervous to leave my comfort zone. I have only lived in Santa Maria in my whole life and have had the same friends for years and years. The thought of all this changing within a few months is enough to make me nauseous. My top choice for college right now is The University of San Francisco. I am beyond ecstatic to move to the big city that has so much going on in it. Although Santa Maria has offered me a bubble of comfort for the past seventeen years, I think I am ready for my bubble to be popped and to enter a brand new, very exciting chapter in my life.

Lit Terms #5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.

Parody:  an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.

Pathos:  the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.

Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or  abstract ideas.

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.

Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment.

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.

Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.

Prose:  the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.

Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.

Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.

Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.

Realism:  writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightfoward manner to reflect life as it actually is.

Refrain:  a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.

Requiem:  any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.

Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.

Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.

Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.

Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.

Romanticism:  movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.

Satire:  ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.

Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.

Setting: the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.