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.

Open Prompt 2008

Student 3A: This student writes about Lindo and Huang as foils in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. While a considerable amount of writing is devoted to the summary of the plot, it ultimately serves as effective evidence for the argument. The student does an excellent job using this evidence to both correctly portray the contrast among these two characters and at the same time demonstrate a deep understanding of the novel's meaning, thus deserving an 8. These types of essays have considerably more leeway in how they are allowed to analyze the literature because there is not available text to use as evidence and shape what a "correct" analysis should be. In addition, the analyses tend to be more deeply focused on one aspect or situation in the novel because the students cannot possibly tie together all of the material in the book with such limited time. For example, complete analysis of The Joy Luck Club would require a stance on all of the vignettes while this focuses on only the ones required to answer the prompt when regarding the novel's overarching message

Student 3B: This essay does a fine job of analyzing Celie as a character and how she is influenced by other minor characters, suggesting that the student focused on the part of the prompt that mentioned secondary characters. Unfortunately, the essay falls short when it fails to properly regard one character as a foil. In addition, it fails to mention the author of The Color Purple and in addition has a style that implies the reader is very familiar with the course of the novel. Because I am not, I had a hard time following exactly how some of the major references were intended to forward the argument. No doubt the graders were indeed familiar with it, and thus recognized the merit of the argument regardless of a lack of clarity and focus. Because of this, it earns a respectable 6. Had the student made it clear whether Shug or Celie's father are the foil, it may have been in contention for a higher score.

Student 3C: This student chose to tackle The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and although had some promising comparisons between Hassan and Baba, they were simply stated and not developed, nor supported with examples from the text. The student also seems to confuse the role of a foil in general by suggesting both characters help to demonstrate the same qualities in each other, even after mentioning how they contrasted in other ways. The essay also lacks organization, which is not surprising since it did not contain great deal available to organize. The "introduction" does little more than confuse the reader, especially with the use of a word that I simply could not recognize due to both the lack of context and poor handwriting. Overall, the essay gives a muddled interpretation of the novel with little overall analysis and little understanding of what a foil actually is, earning it a 4.

The House on Mango Street Summary and Analysis

The House on Mango Street is told in the first person limited by the main character, Esperanza, in a series of vignettes. The beginning deals with her frustrations about living on Mango Street and how she hopes to move away and have a house of her own. The novel paints a picture of Latina culture as we see different family members and interactions at school through Esperanza's eyes. The novel also covers a great deal about Esperanza's sexual development, as she deals with Sally, a more sexually adventurous friend, and the burden of living as a Latina female. To endure these challenges, writes. In the end she resolves to return to Mango Street to help those who remain after she moves on.

The novel uses a great deal of imagery and is written in a personal and at times childish tone. The motifs include women looking out windows, representing lack of satisfaction with married life, and clouds, which function as both a motif and symbol representing possibly hopes and aspirations. Trees are a prominent symbol as Esperanza seems to liken her own struggle to that of a tree attempting to escape its routes to reach the sky (related to clouds).

"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting."
Indicates that she is of two origins, the Mexican and American, and they both play a role in her identity, sometimes conflicting but mainly producing a mix of cultural associations. It could also suggest that her parents consider her to be a glimmer of promise amidst poverty and social injustice-- a hope born out of sadness.

"Sally, you lied, you lied. He wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, I love you, Spanish girl."
This is from "Red Clowns" where Esperanza is sexually assaulted. The quote shows her conflicts with Sally and her struggle to confront the misconceptions about boys and sex that she has seen in popular culture which contrasts with the stark and unforgiving reality about what can happen to vulnerable women at a very impressionable age.

In Cisneros' novel, we see that one can overcome significant hardship in the form of poverty, racism, gender inequality, and abuse by finding individual strength and understanding, allowing one to embrace his/her origins to help his/her family or society of origin.

Response to Course Material

Despite having a break during this blog cycle, we have covered a large amount of material, mostly related to The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. After annotating on our own, we discussed many different motifs and themes in class. I found the most interesting motif to be the way that many of the older women look out the window. This not only represented their unhappiness, but also commented on the nature of the woman's role in poor Latino neighborhoods and perhaps the institution of marriage as it relates to educational and professional opportunities, or the lack of them, for Latina women. I thought we covered a lot of other interesting points during class, especially when we participated in the "round table discussion." I thought this gave a lot of people a chance to share insights that they would not have contributed in the larger group.

We also briefly covered different literary eras and critical perspectives in a power point presentation. Most of the presentation was on information I covered in detail in American Lit, but there were a few new elements as well. It was interesting to hear about postmodern elements such as the simulacrum, which we discussed in American Lit, but not in as much detail. Mrs. Holmes also mentioned how contemporary literature implements "stream of consciousness" writing. It's surprising how much we rely on antecedents to follow traditional prose, and the lack of them makes even simple descriptions turgid.

We also recently started Shakespeare's Hamlet. In preparation, we read two articles about Elizabethan theater. I look forward to reading Hamlet in class and beginning to decipher this incredibly complex piece of writing that has captivated scholars for centuries. In eighth grade, I read it on my own and analyzed in from a psychoanalytical perspective. This time I look forward to seeing it from other angles and forming a stronger understanding of the play.

Response to question 2 from 2008 exam

     In this excerpt from Desai's Fasting, Feasting, the tone can be characterized by Arun's insecurity and fear of his current situation, along with possible disgust. The passage can be broken into three different sections that build upon each other to show how uncomfortable Arun is with following his American hosts to the beach. The first section is from line one to twelve and shows general reluctance to follow Mrs. Patton to the beach. The second is from thirteen to thirty and shows Arun's awkward interaction with Melanie and an interesting depiction of Mrs. Patton. The final section, from line 31 to 55 shifts from a portrayal of Arun's actions to his observations about the town on his way to the beach. This serves to contrast urban and natural settings and how they align with his perspective.
   
    The first section uses a great deal of negative language, primarily when Mrs. Patton exclaims, using epizeuxis, "No, no, no. We're all three of us going." This helps to contrast Arun's quiet but persistent refusal to go to the beach with Mrs. Patton's desire to take advantage of the summertime. When Desai writes in line 1 that Arun "cannot plead work" it shows that he is much more comfortable serving his host family rather than becoming a member of it. In preferring work over leisure, he is not conforming to the American treatment of the summer. As we see later, this behavior is not intended to spite Mrs. Patton but has to do with his perception of the beach and nature in general. Overall, these opening paragraphs help to establish the reluctant mood Arun possesses on his walk to the beach.

   In the second section, the most important interaction is that between Melanie and Arun, which shows that Arun assumes the role of a servant over a reluctant guest and temporary member of the family by first acknowledging that Melanie can "lag even better" and then accepting that he should "help carry those baskets anyway." The other important interaction is between Arun and Mrs. Patton where she gives him a "radiant, lipsticked smile" in exchange for receiving help with the beach provisions. This presents Mrs. Patton as nearly a caricature of American ignorance with her blond hair and lipstick, entirely unaware that Arun's deliberately servile nature is not a gesture of politeness but rather discontent and insecurity. After all, she is the only one actually interested in enjoying summer for the sake of summer, as we can see with the line from Porgy and Bess.

  While Mrs. Patton represents the American way of life during the summer and thus embraces nature, Desai characterizes Arun in exactly the opposite way in the third section, where he looks at the wilderness and the "insidious green" with contempt. This response signifies his mistrust of the new environment. He "passionately" prefers the post office and "picture framers" because it is associated with labor and security. Desai portrays Arun in this way to make a statement about his failure to acclimate to the American way of life and its entanglement with the natural world, of which he wants no part.

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.