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Modern American Literature: Rise of Realism

Choose one of the stories to apply feminist criticism to the reading. Identify the protagonist and antagonist and describe their relationship as it relates to the theme. How does the relationship to the foil, if there is one, reflect the theme? Identify whether the protagonist is round or flat, dynamic or static. Support your response with examples from the text.
 * Chopin’s “Story of and Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”**

** YELLOW WALL PAPER ** How does the relationship to the foil reflect the theme? Well I think that the foil is Jane’s husband John, because he is the reason why she is not receiving her full fulfillment in life. And when someone can’t receive their full fulfillment, it causes people to feel hurt emotionally because they aren’t being true to themselves. The protagonist is Jane the narrator, and she is indeed a round character. The whole story is having to do with her and talking about herself and giving us insight of her life and of her two very different sides because she has times when she feels down and sad and other times she is happy. During the story she was mostly hurt so she is a round character. Jane is dynamic because she changed over the story drastically. From the beginning of the story she was very obedient; doing whatever her husband told her to do. At the end she changed into a person that didn’t seem scarred anymore, and she showed that by having the upper hand at the end when she creped over his still body. This connects to the theme because it’s talking about her and her husband. And how she overcame her husband John.
 * Celeste love **
 * Period 6th **
 * February 4, 2010 **

__**Yellow Wallpaper**__

How does the relationship to the foil reflect the theme? Well I think that the foil is Jane’s husband John, because he is the reason why she is not receiving her full fulfillment in life. **(You make an important point here – that John holds her back. Can you back it up with any specific parts of the story?)** And when someone can’t receive their full fulfillment, it causes people to feel hurt emotionally because they aren’t being true to themselves. **(True – now how does this connect to Jane? When she feels hurt emotionally, what does she do/what happens to her? If you can talk a little bit about how John reacts to her emotional pain, I think you will end up with an even stronger connection between the foil and the theme.)**

The protagonist is Jane the narrator, and she is indeed a round character. The whole story is having to do with her and talking about herself and giving us insight of her life and of her two very different sides because she has times when she feels down and sad and other times she is happy. **(Is Jane ever really happy?)** During the story she was mostly hurt so she is a round character. **(I’m a little confused here. What makes a character “round?” Is it that he or she feels mostly one emotion throughout the story? You’ve just told us in the previous sentence that she has very different sides and shows many emotions. Is that what makes her “round,” or is it that she was “mostly hurt?” On a side note, what about the antagonist?)**

Jane is dynamic because she changed over the story drastically. From the beginning of the story she was very obedient; doing whatever her husband told her to do. At the end she changed into a person that didn’t seem scarred anymore, and she showed that by having the upper hand at the end when she creped over his still body.

This connects to the theme because it’s talking about her and her husband. And how she overcame her husband John. **(I think you are saying here that the theme is the way she overcame John. This is a good idea, but do you think you can talk about it some more? You have a good argument, but it could be even stronger if you go a little more in depth about the theme. //Why// does she have to overcome John? How does she do it?)**

//Celeste,

It looks to me like you have a pretty decent handle on the terms, and you do a good job of raising a few key points, like the way John holds Jane back and the way she changed throughout the story, making her a dynamic character. In order to make your paper even stronger, you could think about specific places in/passages from the story that back up what you’re saying and include them. That way, if the reader of your paper doesn’t quite believe your argument yet, he or she can go, “Oh, but she cited lines from the story, that helps me understand it/believe it!”

Karissa//

Select an example of imagery that creates the mood of the story? How does the mood of the setting reflect the character’s motivations driven by their id, ego, and superego?
 * Crane’s “Mystery of Heroism”**

This week we read Mystery of Heroism. It seemed that it was describing a war, like the civil war. The mood in this story was suspenseful because, when crane writes, “….the artillerymen, the guns, the caissons, the horses, were distinctly outlined upon the blue sky.” Which put an image in my head of soldiers on horses on top of a hill and the sky was maybe a darker blue. This set the mood for being suspenseful. Another mood that was put in my head was, horrid, I believe it was horrid because crane writes, “…holding his right arm carefully in his left hand. And it was as if this arm was not at all part of him, but belonged to another man…” which showed a picture in my head of maybe his arm being dislocated at to me that’s pretty horrid. Psychoanalytic criticism includes three parts of a personality the id, the ego, and the super-ego, the structural model. These three parts of the characters personalities influence the work as a whole. The id is the personality that contains our “primitive impulses”. It wants whatever feels good, pleasure principle. Instant gratification. The ego is the personality that maintains balance between our impulses. Understands other people have needs. And last the super-ego is the personality that is you conscience, morals, your right and wrongs. So this personality always does the right thing. This connects to Collins because his id wants to just stomp over to the well and get what he needed. The ego wanted the water but knew he had to get it fast. And his super-ego made him scared and he knew what was going to happen.

This week we read Mystery of Heroism. It seemed that it was describing a war, like the civil war. The mood in this story was suspenseful because, when crane writes, “….the artillerymen, the guns, the caissons, the horses, were distinctly outlined upon the blue sky.” Which put an image in my head of soldiers on horses on top of a hill and the sky was maybe a darker blue. This set the mood for being suspenseful. **(Great example, I definitely see how those images are suspenseful!)** Another mood that was put in my head was, horrid, I believe it was horrid because crane writes, “…holding his right arm carefully in his left hand. And it was as if this arm was not at all part of him, but belonged to another man…” which showed a picture in my head of maybe his arm being dislocated at to me that’s pretty horrid. **(I agree, that scene is certainly pretty horrid!)** Psychoanalytic criticism includes three parts of a personality the id, the ego, and the super-ego, the structural model. These three parts of the characters personalities influence the work as a whole. The id is the personality that contains our “primitive impulses”. It wants whatever feels good, pleasure principle. Instant gratification. The ego is the personality that maintains balance between our impulses. Understands other people have needs. And last the super-ego is the personality that is you conscience, morals, your right and wrongs. So this personality always does the right thing. This connects to Collins because his id wants to just stomp over to the well and get what he needed. The ego wanted the water but knew he had to get it fast. And his super-ego made him scared and he knew what was going to happen. **(Great job at drawing each one out specifically here! Do you think one of them eventually won out over the others?)**
 * __Mystery of Heroism__**

//Celeste, I was excited to see your use of quotations from the story in your paper! It made your argument more specific and backed it up, which allowed me to better understand it. You also picked great quotes to support your choices of mood, since those are definitely suspicious and horrid images! You also appear to have a pretty good understanding of Freud’s structural model, and this stands out in the way you connected it to Collins. The last paragraph speaks for itself, so you might not have to do quite as much defining of the structural model in the second-to-last paragraph. That said, I think you applied the theory to the story pretty well! If I were to give you a recommendation, I would suggest you might work at connecting the two sections of your paper. On their own, each half is just fine, but if you looked a little bit more at how the mood you described in the first part connects to the motivations you described in the second part, it would answer the question even more thoroughly. Karissa//

How does the author indirectly characterize the protagonist through the use of dialect? What does this tell us about the character? How are they influenced by their id, ego, or superego? April showers is about a girl named Theodora who loves to write and her dad doesn’t approve of her writing because her mom is sick and she has to take care of the her siblings including her mother her only outlet was to write and that’s what she loved to do. “……over some toggery of berthas that it was long time ago”. This quote shows dialect because it’s another word for clothes. Theodora’s id was her wanting to become a writer. But her super-ego was telling her that she had to take care of her family, she didn’t want to let them down. Her ego was telling her that she can still write as long as it wasn’t her number one priority, and that she put her family first.
 * Wharton’s “April Showers” and Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story”**

The invalid’s story was about this guy who didn’t have a name. So I’m just going to call him the narrator. So the narrator was asked by his best friend that he transferred his body when he died. It just so happened that his best friend Becket died, and as a good friend he carried out his wish. This guy named Thompson was on the train with a box and there was cheese sitting on top of the box, so he thought there was a body in the box that started to reek. So he tries to eliminate the body odor by involving new ones. But it doesn’t work so he looks inside the box, and all it is, is guns and the cheese was causing the room to stink. His id was trying to get rid of the smell and he was curious on what was in the box. His ego knew that everyone has a right to privacy so he wouldn’t look in the box. And the super-ego was just to leave it alone. “Don’t walk so fast son, you look tired”. It’s showing that they have intelligence so that shows they have dialect.

April showers **(Be sure to capitalize the story title and put it in quotes…)** is about a girl named Theodora who loves to write and her dad doesn’t approve of her writing because her mom is sick and she has to take care of the her siblings including her mother her only outlet was to write and that’s what she loved to do. “……over some toggery of berthas that it was long time ago”. This quote shows dialect because it’s another word for clothes. **(So what is it telling us about her character? Does Wharton using this particular word show us something about Theodora?)** Theodora’s id was her wanting to become a writer. But her super-ego was telling her that she had to take care of her family, she didn’t want to let them down. Her ego was telling her that she can still write as long as it wasn’t her number one priority, and that she put her family first. **(Good breakdown of the id, ego, and superego here!)**
 * __Wharton’s “April Showers” and Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story”__**

The invalid’s story was about this guy who didn’t have a name. So I’m just going to call him the narrator. So the narrator was asked by his best friend that he transferred his body when he died. It just so happened that his best friend Becket died, and as a good friend he carried out his wish. This guy named Thompson was on the train with a box and there was cheese sitting on top of the box, so he thought there was a body in the box that started to reek. So he tries to eliminate the body odor by involving new ones. But it doesn’t work so he looks inside the box, and all it is, is guns and the cheese was causing the room to stink. His id was trying to get rid of the smell and he was curious on what was in the box. His ego knew that everyone has a right to privacy so he wouldn’t look in the box. And the super-ego was just to leave it alone. “Don’t walk so fast son, you look tired”. It’s showing that they have intelligence so that shows they have dialect. **(I’m not so sure I see how this quote shows that they have intelligence. What is especially important about this sentence that shows the specific dialect?)**

// Celeste, // // It’s clear you read through the stories pretty well, so good job for showing that to your teacher through your writing here! I’m a little bit confused about how you see the authors characterizing their protagonists through dialect. What do the words and phrases you’ve picked out from the stories tell us about the characters? Once again, I am impressed by your breakdowns of the Freudian id, ego, and superego! You clearly understand that concept, and you’ve applied it well with both “April Showers” and “The Invalid’s Story” here. Keep up the good work! // // Karissa //

At age four. My mom, my brother and I attended the store. I see so many things want as I pass the toy aisle. My mom keeps walking, while my brother and I sneak away to the toy section, to the select a toy out of the many colorful toys, in sight. One caught my eye as I gazed over the luminous wall. I needed this! Just like Theodora needed to write, it’s our id telling us what we wanted, and desired to do. My id told me to grab that toy. As I’m holding it in my sweaty, nervous, wet hands, all of a sudden I see my mom inside a little bubble in my head. She let me know, that consequences would happen if I even thought about stealing. As she whisked away, my actions grew quick, and I hurried up and put it back. Same as Theodora, wanting to write but her responsibilities interfered. Taking care of her mom, siblings, her dad, and the house hold chores. Like me, her super-ego let her know she encountered more important things then her writing, her family that she needed to take care of. My ego almost balanced me out. So I thought of a solution. I could ask my mom to buy it for me so I can nourish my id and do it in the right way. When I approached her with the question, she immediately said no. my id took me over and in one quick swipe, I snatched the toy and stuffed it in my coat pocket to make it not visible. This reminds me of Theodora when she picked her writing even though the publishers made a mistake. In this story April Showers, by Edith Wharton. The protagonist, Theodora Dace influenced by her id, ego, and super-ego. These show up when she wants to pursue writing. Theodora’s the protagonist because she for one carries many responsibilities, like taking care of her ill mother, also her siblings. She cooks, cleans, and also takes care of her father. All these responsibilities takes her away from her true love, writing. Writing’s like her outlet, safe place, and favorite place. She’s determined to make her writing known. And continue a career in what she likes most. Her dad’s the antagonist, Doctor Dace. He doesn’t really approve of her writing because she other obligations that should appear before her writing. She’s motivated because writing’s what she loves to do. She’s a round character because the story’s about her and how strong she carries herself as a person. Her mom’s the flat character because the story just informed us that she’s ill. Her mood focuses on determination. Theodora’s very strong minded when she decides that she will take care of her family and do her writing at the same time. She’s very motivated to make that happen. She’s steadfast when she kept sending letter, after letter until they get her book published. It happened, but showed that it was written by the wrong person. Theodora was not settling until she got her book the way she wanted. As much as she loves her writing she loves her family even more and will stand there with them through thick and thin. “Downstairs the library struck two. It’s muffled thump sounded like an admonitory knock against her bedroom floor.” Edith Wharton. This shows a great deal of imagery, by the description. “Her father whistled and said he supposed he must put up with grounds in his coffee now, and be thankful if he ever got a hot meal again.” Edith Wharton. Theodora doesn’t feel pretty secure about her accomplishment, because of how her dad reacted. Her tone is probably discouragement. In the text above, when the dad said “he whistled” that’s using colloquialism whistled meaning he yelled. This story April Showers by Edith Wharton the strong protagonist Theodora Dace. She’s influenced by her id, ego, super-ego showed up when she wanted to excel in writing. All my points in my paper focused on the thesis because they all include psychoanalytic criticism and I also included my id, ego, and super-ego as a young adult.

At age four. ** [Is “at age four” a complete sentence needing a period at the end? Be sure to pay especially close attention to your grammar and punctuation when you edit your paper, since Ms. Lange gave you the rubric that told you she is grading you on it!] **My mom, my brother and I attended the store. I see so many things want as I pass the toy aisle. My mom keeps walking, while my brother and I sneak away to the toy section, to the select a toy out of the many colorful toys, in sight. One caught my eye as I gazed over the luminous wall. I needed this! Just like Theodora needed to write, it’s our id telling us what we wanted, and desired to do. My id told me to grab that toy. As I’m holding it in my sweaty, nervous, wet hands, all of a sudden I see my mom inside a little bubble in my head. She let me know, that consequences would happen if I even thought about stealing. As she whisked away, my actions grew quick, and I hurried up and put it back. Same as Theodora, wanting to write but her responsibilities interfered. Taking care of her mom, siblings, her dad, and the house hold chores. **[Uh-oh, another place where you don’t have a complete sentence.] **Like me, her super-ego let her know she encountered more important things then her writing, her family that she needed to take care of. My ego almost balanced me out. So I thought of a solution. I could ask my mom to buy it for me so I can nourish my id and do it in the right way. When I approached her with the question, she immediately said no. my id took me over and in one quick swipe, I snatched the toy and stuffed it in my coat pocket to make it not visible. This reminds me of Theodora when she picked her writing even though the publishers made a mistake. In this story April Showers, by Edith Wharton. The protagonist, Theodora Dace influenced by her id, ego, and super-ego. **[Could you put these two tiny sentence fragments together into one whole sentence?] **These show up when she wants to pursue writing. Theodora’s the protagonist because she for one carries many responsibilities, like taking care of her ill mother, also her siblings. She cooks, cleans, and also takes care of her father. **[Is this her id, ego, or superego at work here?] **All these responsibilities takes her away from her true love, writing. Writing’s like **[If you take out the “like” here, your claim will be stronger.]** her outlet, safe place, and favorite place. She’s determined to make her writing known. And continue a career in what she likes most. **[Can those two little statements go together into one complete sentence?] **Her dad’s the antagonist, Doctor Dace. He doesn’t really approve of her writing because she other obligations that should appear before her writing. She’s motivated because writing’s what she loves to do. She’s a round character because the story’s about her and how strong she carries herself as a person. Her mom’s the flat character because the story just informed us that she’s ill. Her mood focuses on determination. Theodora’s very strong minded when she decides that she will take care of her family and do her writing at the same time. She’s very motivated to make that happen. She’s steadfast when she kept sending letter, after letter until they get her book published. **[Great claims here!]** It happened, but showed that it was written by the wrong person. Theodora was not settling until she got her book the way she wanted. As much as she loves her writing she loves her family even more and will stand there with them through thick and thin. “Downstairs the library struck two. It’s muffled thump sounded like an admonitory knock against her bedroom floor.” Edith Wharton. This shows a great deal of imagery, by the description. **[If you talk a little bit about what the images make you picture in your head, that’d be a way to expand this section. For instance, is the reader able to see/hear/feel what Wharton writes?]** “Her father whistled and said he supposed he must put up with grounds in his coffee now, and be thankful if he ever got a hot meal again.” Edith Wharton. **[Since Edith Wharton’s story is the only text you’re working with and you’ve already introduced her as the author in the intro, you don’t need to tell the reader again that it’s Edith Wharton right here.]** Theodora doesn’t feel pretty secure about her accomplishment, because of how her dad reacted. Her tone is probably **[If you take out the “probably,” you sound more sure of what you’re writing!]** discouragement. In the text above, when the dad said “he whistled” that’s using colloquialism whistled meaning he yelled. This story April Showers by Edith Wharton the strong protagonist Theodora Dace. **[Uh-oh, another incomplete sentence…]** She’s influenced by her id, ego, super-ego showed up when she wanted to excel in writing. All my points in my paper focused on the thesis because they all include psychoanalytic criticism and I also included my id, ego, and super-ego as a young adult. **[Were you a young adult when you were four years old or were you a child?]**

//Celeste,// //You did a good job of tying together your intro and conclusion – that’s the first thing I noticed. Your intro is attention-grabbing and makes the reader want to keep going in your paper to see how it all connects. You say in the conclusion, though, that you focused all your points in the paper on psychoanalytic criticism, but I’m a little confused about that. I see the psychoanalytic criticism in your intro and conclusion, of course, but I’m not sure it’s as obvious in your main body paragraphs. If you point out exactly how the id, ego, and superego factor into everything you talk about as you go, it would make it a little bit more clear for the reader. Another suggestion is to pay extra close attention to your grammar and punctuation when you read back through your paper, since the rubric Ms. Lange gave you said she’d be paying close attention to it when she grades. All in all, you did a good job of explaining a lot of aspects of the story, as well as using quotes from it to back up what you’re saying. Keep it up, and let me know if you have any questions!// // Karissa //