Closed prompt 1- 2008 question 2

Student 2A: This student does a remarkable job pointing out specific parts of the passage that support his discussion of Arun, which is highly sophisticated. He/she perfectly characterizes Arun's discomfort by describing a "more permanent unsettled feeling" and "deeper emotion of disgust and outright disbelief at the situation." The handwriting was hard to read, but this did not detract from the quality of the analysis. The student clearly understands the emotional nuances and subtle changes in language that the writer uses to evoke Arun's complicated feelings towards his host family and the general situation. Part of what makes the essay particularly effective is the way the student organizes these nuances chronologically, allowing the essay's structure to reflect the organization and interpretation of the passage. Had the essay been a little more specific in some places, it may have earned a 9, but an 8 is still an exceptionally high score.

Student 2B: This essay starts off with some very good points,  but ultimately falls short of its potential because of a lack of textual support and general brevity in the development of the ideas. The student does an excellent job relating Arun's perspective to the behavior of the mother, pointing out her self-contentment and the "ironic" summertime lyrics. However, these observant details do not do enough to support the main argument of the essay. The student also makes a good point about the "internal monologue" and even repeats that expression, but does not expand on it enough. Internal monologue clearly plays a huge role in this piece, and capitalizing on its importance would have made for a slam-dunk interpretation. This is a typical issue for students who comprehend the literature on the test, but do not fulfill their implied understanding in the essay. Despite its shortcomings, the ideas are strong enough to earn it a respectable 6.

Student 2C: This student seems to have one main idea about the passage, and that is that Arun prefers the city to the country. Maybe he/she skimmed this or maybe just gave up, but when it gets to the point that the student regards "speech" and "point of view" as fully formed literary devices requiring no further characterization, one knows the essay is doomed. Despite having clear language and legibility, the essay demonstrates a very limited grasp of the passage and does not expand on any ideas effectively. Much of the small details that well-written essays not only mention but take advantage of are lost on this student. Simplifying Arun's behavior down to the fact that he is from India and his hosts are American and thus prefer "leisure" is about as competent an interpretation as that which a passing stranger could grasp from reading the overhead description. Perhaps that stranger's essay is presented here. If that is the case, a 4 really isn't too bad.

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Ceremony centers on the experiences of Tayo and how they relate to his spiritual and physical connections to his Laguna-Pueblo heritage. While fighting in the Philippines during WWII, he hallucinates that a dead Japanese soldier is his uncle, Josiah. He is further traumatized when his brother, Rocky, dies in battle. These events are the primary catalysts for his journey towards holistic revival. After the war, he spends some time in a veterans' hospital. Throughout this stay, it is clear that while he may be physically healing, he is invisible: "They saw an outline but they did not realize it was hollow inside."

This part shows that medically, there is nothing for the white people to diagnose him with. The problem is intrinsically spiritual. Later,  this section mentions a painful reaction to sunlight, which develops gradually into a healing force. He is plagued by constant vomiting.

When he returns home, we hear more about his childhood and his relationship to Josiah and Rocky. He is primarily raised by his Grandmother and Aunt, as his mother left the community after bearing Tayo to a white father. We find that during his time in the war, Josiah did actually die. In addition, from a spiritual standpoint, he "prayed" the rain away while fighting in the jungle, supposedly causing the 6-year drought for his people. We hear vivid poetry about the ancient myths involving the gambler and the lack of rain, which can be applied to Tayo's actual situation. He interacts with other veterans, but they do little to console him.

To seek help, he undergoes a ceremony with Ku'oosh. It does not rid him of his problems,  but it leads him towards more self-reflection. He considers his childhood and recalls one particularly important visit with Josiah's Mexican girlfriend, Night Swan. They have an affair which helps him spiritually. After Ku'oosh, he sees Betonie. Betonie has him apply ancient beliefs to create a contemporary ceremony,  central to the theme of the novel. Betonie says, "[People] think the ceremonies must be performed exactly as they have always been done . . . You see, in many ways, the ceremonies have always been changing."

This directly relates to the theme, that spiritual and familial connection requiring the straddling of multiple races and cultures, is critical to maintaining harmony with the world, especially as that world becomes more fragmented in every way. In essence, a dependence on unity in a modern context.
Betonie also describes Native American suffering in terms of "witchery." Tayo sets out again, and after falling back into old patterns with the other veterans, begins on a search for Josiah's cattle, These cattle are hybrids and represent a modern resilience to cultural conformity, as seen by their stubbornness. He meets Ts'eh, who is nameless until later on. He goes into the mountains, finds the cattle, and gets caught by two white policemen who let him go to go chase a mountain lion he encountered earlier. He finds that Ts'eh rounded up the cattle and then returns home. He spends the next summer with Ts'eh, but then she warns him that Emo has been convincing the rest of the tribe that Tayo is insane. Tayo follows Ts'eh's instructions and manages to avoid the police. He meets Harley and Leroy, but then realizes that while they appear friendly, they are really working for Emo. His efforts to escape lead him to the culminating point of his ceremony, an abandoned uranium mine. This symbolizes the white destruction of the land for the purpose of destruction that exceeds all spiritual contemplation. This relates to Ku'oosh's inability to understand modern warfare. He spends the night in the mine, having to see Harley tortured at Emo's command. Resisting killing Emo is his test against the forces of witchery. Afterwards, the drought finally ends and Tayo appears to have reached a balance with nature and his community.