Response to Course Material

During the past few weeks, we have almost exclusively devoted our class time and homework to Shakespeare's Hamlet, whether by reading the text as a group, discussing it, taking practice tests over it, or writing forums about related materials. While we usually have other activities in addition to the major book we are reading, I think it has been good to focus primarily on Hamlet because it is by far the most difficult literature we have covered this year. The archaic diction is dense on its own, but even understanding the plot requires considerable effort. Hamlet is probably one of the most written-about works in the English language due to its deep psychological insight and discussion of human nature which has opened criticism and analysis of all kinds from the Elizabethan era to the present day.

As part of our own analysis, we responded to three sources in an online forum. The first was an audio about convicts learning and performing Hamlet in a high-security prison. This was especially thought-provoking because of the emotional ties some of the prisoners formed with the characters and each other through the process. The second was an account of an American woman trying to explain Hamlet to tribal members of the Tiv in West Africa. While intriguing, I found the style mildly condescending towards the tribe members and had a difficult time seeing the great revelation about Hamlet's universality she claimed to be writing about. The third was a poem by Rimbaud meditating on Ophelia's death and her connection to nature. Out of the three, this was the most helpful for developing some thoughts of my own on her behavior in the play.

Aside from Hamlet, we also completed a forum post about the literature from first semester. I ended up connecting themes in Ceremony to Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese," but other posts were regarding the other books we covered.

In class this week, we will be watching a version of Hamlet and annotating on our own. I think this will help to improve the quality of our next discussion.

Response to 2008 Open Prompt

"In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work."

Because they often demonstrate qualities about the main character that are not easily conveyed through mere exposition, the most successful foils appear in novels that focus on the development or coming of age of the main character. Such an example is The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, which centers around the life of a Mexican-born girl named Esperanza living in a poor Latino section of Chicago. A major subject of the book, which is told in a series of vignettes, is the role of women in a society that favors early marriage and male authority. Esperanza's friend, Sally, serves to highlight her own resistance to these trends through her poor judgement and promiscuity.

In several of the early vignettes, such as "Chanclas," "Hips," or "Family of Little Feet," we see Esperanza developing a sense of self-consciousness that comes with sexual maturity. In "Hips," her friends sing a jump-rope rhyme about wanting hips when they grow up. In "Family of Little Feet," Esperanza sees the risks of wearing high heels when her friend is approached by a much older man. Esperanza's sexual awareness leads to a larger degree of caution about men. As a result, Cisneros introduces Sally as a friend that Esperanza wants to protect from sexual exploitation. Sally contrasts physically in that she is described as naturally attractive while Esperanza sees herself as ugly. She also contrasts behaviorally in the way she agrees to kiss several boys to get her keys back from a threatening boy, Tito. Esperanza tries to defend her, but ends up hiding behind a tree. On one hand, both Sally and Esperanza come from unhappy households, but Sally faces domestic abuse and seems to retaliate through promiscuity. On the other hand, Esperanza uses discomfort as a means to separate herself and grow as an individual, which is why she pursues writing.

In addition to dealing with sexual awareness and domestic instability differently, Esperanza and Sally follow different paths in society. As we find out in "Linoleum Roses," Sally chooses to marry a much older man before high school, essentially submitting to the authority of an older man in order to escape that of her parents. Esperanza chooses to find independence instead, strongly desiring to leave Mango Street altogether. In "Red Clowns," when Esperanza is sexually assaulted and blames Sally for not being there to protect her, it is implied that Sally is not there because she is with boys. In this way, Esperanza and Sally are reacting to sexual interaction in completely opposite ways: For Sally it is an escape and for Esperanza it is entrapment.

The way Sally and Esperanza react and interact in the novel helps to illustrate Esperanza's need to escape and her association of marriage with submission and failure, and independence with empowerment and success. These associations clarify a great deal about Esperanza's motivations and thus make Sally an integral part of the novel's progression and message.