White Noise Blog

Modernism is a movement that distinctly bore out of the post-WWI young adults. It was a dramatic shift away from Romanticism and a significant step away from Realism. This movement in literature saw the idea of a “hero” corrupted and strangled. No longer could you read a novel and watch a strong willed man or woman overcome temptation and maintain a zealous moral code. Character development began to be the dominant role instead of fantastical plots. For example Ernest Hemingway’s debut novel, “The Sun Also Rises” contains no overly dramatic moments, but merely a wounded WWI vet lusting for a woman he can never have humbly and painfully. We see in this novel a narration that becomes unreliable at times, and long gaps of time spanning between paragraphs. The ideals and morals of America had changed entirely. The movement didn’t just affect literature but also art, fashion, personalities, and culture as a whole.
Post-modernism is a late 20th century movement that’s been identified as the “next step.” There is no single event that signals the oncoming of this shift, but more of a general changing of the guards as the capabilities of our race expand through technology and information sharing. Post-modernism retains “modernism” at its root because the movement didn’t change the game, as much as just the rules. Postmodernism “doesn't lament the idea of fragmentation, provisionality, or incoherence, but rather celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense.” (Klages) Modernism couldn’t stay the same because the way the world commerced was entirely different. American’s economy is in a stage of capitalism referred to as consumer capatalism that is “associated with nuclear and electronic technologies. (Klages)
Don Delillo’s “White Noise” is an explicit example of post-modernist literature. Delillo was born in 1936, between WWI and WWII, and grew up in a rapidly advancing culture technologically. “White Noise” clearly captures the coldness and distance that began to feature itself so prominently with the introduction of telelvision to the every-man’s house. The coldness doesn’t stop with just that as the idea of the family nucleus slowly begins to fade as the century drolls on. “White Noise” illustrates this perfectly with Jack and Babette’s patchwork family, each bringing children of their own to the family from previously crumbled marriages, try to decipher what is going on in the world around them. You see the family during their weekly Friday TV roundup captivated by the incessant disasters exploited on television. You can watch Jack trudge through life in an ever-alienating society in places like the local supermarket or the “College on the Hill.” You see Jack fasciniated by students flocking to his univeristy by the thousands unloading their countless personal belongings. Delillo doesn’t necessarily attack American society with the idea of excess, but rather asks us to merely observe and draw your own conclusions. The hum of “White Noise” doesn’t exclusively come from “things” that people buy, but also the way the market shifted to rely so heavily on the shoulder of advertising and brand marketing.
Post-modernism can be dark and ominous, but avoids creating fear. Rather we the audience must look what we’re presented with and decide what we are going to do with it. Whether it is medicine, technology, religious ideals, or moral beliefs the line between utilizing and dependency in modern society is a tight rope to walk and one that can be masterfully envisioned and displayed in post-modern novels such as “White Noise” in post-modern times.

Works Cited
Klages, Mary. Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed. Continuum Press, 2007.

Jamaica Kincaid Blog

Son by Spencer Darr
Wake up on time. Brush your teeth and shower. Remember to put on deodorant, but don’t get it on your shirt. That looks foolish. Brush your teeth and eat your breakfast. Remember 15 minutes of reading the bible every morning. Do your devotions and pray. Don’t do bad things and be kind to people. Don’t forget your helmet on your bike. Don’t forget you have to ride a bike to school because you’re too old to get rides from your father. Don’t be late for class. Don’t let me hear you didn’t turn in your work. Don’t get in trouble. Respect your teachers no matter what. Respect all of your elders. Don’t be tardy ever. Don’t sleep in class. Don’t loiter with your friends after school. Be on time for football. You don’t want to look dumb so put your pads on right. Listen to your coaches and give your best effort. Don’t slack off on your drills. Outrun your teammates. Don’t let your teammates down. Don’t let your father down. Outperform. Remember why you love this sport? Isn’t it the greatest to play the same position as your father? He’s proud. Don’t get caught on the bench this weekend like a loser. Clean yourself up after you practice. Be on time for dinner. This is how you need to hold your silverware. No elbows on the table. Don’t chew you’re your mouth open. That’s not how to eat in public. Clean up the dishes so your mother doesn’t have to. This is how to load the dishwasher. This is how you load the laundry. If you want to live in this home you will do your own laundry. Make sure you shower; your father doesn’t want to smell you. It reeks. Don’t forget to practice piano. This is how you play that chord. This is how you read that chart. Don’t forget. This is how I like to sit. Don’t slouch; it’s bad for your posture. Don’t forget you have youth group tonight. Ride your bike down early. That’s how you can help your community, that’s how you can give back. Don’t let me hear you were on your cell phone the whole time. You know your father knows the pastors well. You can’t stay out late. Don’t smoke drugs you hippie. Don’t drunk like a fool. Your father has enough to worry about. Those kids never go anywhere with their lives. Do you want to come out like them? When you get home get right to your homework. You’ve had a busy day but can’t slack off. You’ll have time to rest when you’re older. Don’t stay up late. Don’t try to watch the TV with the sound off. It’s easy to see the light creep out from under your door. Don’t forget to say your prayers as you go to sleep. You don’t need to speak them out loud. God hears your thoughts too. Make sure you watch what you’re thinking about, because he’s watching all the time. And don’t forget I’m your father and love you.

Poets In The Kitchen blog

“My Kitchen” by Spencer Darr
I’m not a daughter, nor have I ever pretended to be one, so my time in the kitchen growing up was limited, at least until my first part-time job. I was however a kid who was homeschooled midway through the 3rd grade. That combined with being raised in the Midwest (aka Bible Belt country) I was around a lot of adults who loved to share what they felt, whether it was gossip, politics, or religion. Unfortunately the tradition at our large family holiday celebrations to have an “adult” table and a “kids” table, where the adults would stick my cousins and my brothers and I in the basement or a separate room, while they privately convened. The earliest oral story telling I can remember was from my mom, whom my brothers and I developed a strong relationship with as both our mother and teacher. She would tuck my older brother and me in at night (bunk-beds!) and go at length telling us about her adventures scuba diving, mishaps snow skiing, and embarrassing blunders water skiing. These would leave me with wild images to dream about but I wasn’t yet at the point in my life where I was thinking about storytelling from my own perspective.
As I grew older my love and appreciation for storytelling grew. Luckily my love for reading I had developed as a homeschooled student managed to stick with me through public education. Soon after my mid-adolescence rebellion I began to develop a desire to gather the stories of my older relatives so I could know them personally, as well as eventually pass them on.
I distinctly remember a Christmas vacation when I was able to spend time at my dad’s parent’s home for a few days. It was at a point before I was so old I had to stay home all break to work and just arrived at the point where I actually appreciated the time I spent with my grandparents. Fortunately they were both in good enough health that I was able to sit down and hear both of their life stories thoroughly. My grandma didn’t face the harsh racial barriers like Paule Marshall’s mother, but a quirky gender barrier. Unbeknownst to me, or any members of my immediate family, in high school my grandma had been a star women’s basketball player “back before they even had a three-point line!” as she fondly would put it. Unfortunately she was never given the opportunity to pursue her passion because women’s sports at the time were essentially non-existent. Her husband later joined in and they continued to detail their romance during the WWII, making sure to take little personal jabs at each other (such as my grandpa calling my grandma a cradle-rocker), and inserting the sarcasm and humor usually reserved for quotes from Bobby Bowden. The rhythm and detail involved in their storytelling instantly captivated me and has drawn me back for countless visits, giving me a glimpse into their world growing up, learning about the world at the time, and helping to shape mine.
In Paule Marshall’s “Poets in the Kitchen” she cites a quote that says ”If you say what’s on your mind in the language that comes to you from your parents and your street and friends you’ll probably say something beautiful.” (Marshall) This quote perfectly describes my appreciation for the banal and statements from my friends that I treasure with drug drone like “pine trees are acid” or simply when an old friend obviously stated, “Man I’ve known you a long time… Long enough that I’m going to have to visit you if you move away… I guess we’re old now.” The fact that I’m quoting my friends may be unknown to them but it’s the simplicity and earnest of modern language that harnesses so much beauty and endears me to the authors who I feel like are speaking so directly to me.
I’m a son and that immediately disqualifies me as an eavesdropper on the poets in the kitchen. Thankfully now I get to be one of the poets.

Works Cited
Marshall, Paule. "From The Poets In The Kitchen." No. 18 (Spring-Summer 1983)

Poisonwood Bible

Using multiple narrators in a novel is a tricky and encumbersome undertaking. It can yield highly successful results and also tragic failures, if not done so carefully. Previously in our class we saw Alice Walker skillfully pull of a dual narration in the form of letters between two sisters, and occasionally God. This is technically called epistolary form, but definitely falls into the category of multiple narrators. Walker masterfully crafts a moving novel that is only enhanced by the multiple points of view. The sisters, split at a relatively early point in their young-adult lives find themselves on separate continents, but slowly coming closer and closer to being reunited. The multiple narrators in this allow Walker to address socio-economic issues in both America and Africa.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible she takes an the enormous task of five separate narrators coming from the point of view of Orleanna, the mother, and the four daughters, Ruth May, Rachel, Leah, and Adah. The one main character who goes through the whole novel without ever getting an individual voice from the author is Nathan.
Kingsolver’s decision to never gift Nathan with a voice is a critical one in the construction of this novel. If you are familiar with the blockbuster film “Batman: The Dark Knight” you can undoubtedly recall the sinister and demented Joker, tragically played by Heath Ledger in his final role before his untimely death. In this movie the Joker twice gives an explanation for the unsightly scars etched in the form of a smile on his face. When Christopher Nolan, the director and writer of the movie was asked about this his reply essentially stated that he didn’t want the audience to give any sympathy to the wholly evil character, establishing the Joker as an entity of all that is wrong. Similarly Kingsolver treats Nathan in the same way. By only being able to see Nathan through interactions with the narrators the reader never gets a chance to sympathize with the thoroughly arrogant and unrelenting character.
Likewise the separate narratives cast each speaker as a distinct, different, and very individual character. We get countless insights such as when Adah admits she realized she “no longer believed in God” in Baptist Sunday school, which leads to her eventually finding fulfillment as an epidemiologist. When Kingsolver was confronted in an interview about her use of so many narrators she explains that it was “necessary to the theme of this novel” and continued to explain that. “The four sisters and Orleanna represent five separate philosophical positions, not just in their family but also in my political examination of the world.” (PBS)
Kingsolver can easily put down multiple narrations as an intricate skill learned and mastered by her, as she brands this book with a style completely her own. For such an overwhelming undertaking she pulls it off with grace and ease, which is an accomplishment in itself, beyond the fact that The Poisonwood Bible is an effective allegory on many social and political problems present not only in the heart of the Congo, but in our own country of America, both in the past and present.

Works Cited
PBS. Author interview: Barbara Kingsolver. 17 9 2008. 29 10 2009 .

Alice Walker Blog

The Color Purple is introduced with an innocent and confused Celie writing an earnest letter humbly begun with “Dear God.” She then continues to confess all her problems to the only figure, other than her sister, who cares about her. This pattern of letters to God continues throughout the novel and is the exclusive narrator throughout the story. This type of narrator technique bestows the title “epistolary novel” upon the book, the word epistolary deriving from the Latin word for letters.
Alice Walker, the author, or “medium” as she refers to herself in the concluding notes of the novel, effectively employs this technique to create a relationship between the reader and the characters. The Color Purple is an intimate and often gruesome reading for how much you are revealed about the character’s lives and tragedies, especially for Celie, the author of the letters. The result is a powerful and gripping story extorting domestic violence, racism, and the enormous class differences of the time. Immediately from the beginning you are made aware of Celie being of a rape victim of her own believed “Pa.” This narration also lets you closely observe Celie’s consistent building of strength as a woman, and growing love for Shug. No moment could be more emotionally convicting than the final letter is addressed to basically anyone who listens and details the moment she gets to see her beloved Netty and two lost children. It is a fulfilling conclusion for a novel that at times was so intense it almost demanded to be put down.
There are disadvantages to this type of novel. There can be large and confusing gaps in narrative when large spans of time pass between letters. You also have to rely on the communication between the narrator and the other characters exclusively in the development of the characters. It is hard to say that there are many flaws in the execution of this style in The Color Purple however. Alice Walker masters this technique and subtly, but effectively, develops nearly a dozen separate characters. The gaps in narration are seamlessly woven to allow enough time and events to occur between letters that the story moves quickly through time and but is a captivating, eventful, and well-paced read. Towards the end of the novel Walker allows Nettie to become a separate narrator, completely oblivious to Celie’s life at home, and relay a dire message about the demise of their “Mother” continent. We then see Nettie and Celie both send letters to each other and realize they are slowly, with God’s help, getting closer to becoming reunited. I believe Walker decided to use this technique because she realized the realism that immediately snags the reader in. I also believed this point of view could help her better show a strong woman developing, because strong women have been a consistent theme in Walker’s life, from her literary devotion to Hurston, her righting, and her activism today. The ability to expertly craft a novel in this tricky form immediately qualifies Walker as one of the great American, auth

Howl Blog

The 60’s culminated as the climax of the lost generation’s moral shifts and resulted in the most prevalent time of the counter-culture movement (Singal). A movement that poet Alan Ginsberg was a major leader and figure of. He was so not just in writing, but also in action, living out the convictions of his work, often vividly. Another one of the most prominent personalities recalled with any mention of the 60’s and the famous protests and political movements of the time is the musician Bob Dylan. Both these artists were incredibly influential during the beat movement, but Ginsberg released a lot of his works during the 50’s and needs to be looked at as an influence on Dylan’s work.
Finger pointing has always been the two words most associated with Dylan, and especially his early career, most specifically the album “The Times Are A-Changin.” Nearly every song on the album has sharp political comments. The themes on this album greatly reflected the attitude of the young adult population of the time, all gathering in Greenwich Village, in New York. This album came out in 1964. On the other coast, and nearly a decade earlier Ginsberg wrote, “Howl.” This poem is one of the landmarks of writing in the “beat generation” and perfectly embodies the changing mindset of people at that time. Ginsberg refers to the characters of this poem as “the best minds of my generation, destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.” He then goes on to discuss these characters in depth, revealing them as psychotics, druggies, bums, and overall the rejects of normal society. He goes on to imply political unrest often throughout the poem, such as when a character “burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting/the narcotic haze of Capitalism.” Dylan’s song “With God on Our Side” touches on many of the same themes as Howl, mocking many of America’s fallacies and concluding each stanza by justifying America’s actions because it is with “God on our side.” He strongly focuses his attack on war, displaying the resonating effects of the World Wars. These wars often show up in Ginsberg’s works as well.
Although Dylan is the easiest to compare to Ginsberg, the 60’s were filled with thousands of people fueled by Ginsberg’s words. He was a “a 1950s champion of causes later embraced by the 1960s counterculture: freedom from sexual repression and traditional behavior; freedom to engage in recreational drug use; rejection of authority and censorship; rejection of the military-industrial complex.” (Allen Ginsberg Howl Criticism)He represented everything that wasn’t traditional at his time, and people were drawn to his spirit. The latter half of that decade featured numerous protests that defined the counter-culture movement, and Ginsberg was usually found at the center of them, especially involving the Vietnam War. These protests were often started by college students, or college-aged adults and they were all undoubtedly affected at one point by the works of Ginsberg or Jack Kerouac, and their mischievous stories, chronicling journeys across the country and the like.

Works Cited
Allen Ginsberg Howl Criticism. 1 1 2009. 16 10 2009 .
Singal, Daniel Joseph. "Towards a Definition of American Modernism." n.d. 112-129.

Gender roles with Jake and Brett

In Ernest Hemingway’s first major novel, The Sun Also Rises, he meticulously illustrates the rapid lifestyle of the roaring twenties with his sharp signature prose. The two central protagonists in this novel are Jake and Brett. Hemingway explores the evolving gender roles of the “Lost Generation” with theses two characters. One, Jake, being a wounded WWI veteran, and the other, Brett, being a loose woman, trying to define herself in a decade where a woman’s roles were significantly altered.

Jake, the narrator of the novel, is, from all appearances, a man’s man. He knows his boxing, loves to fish, and always keeps up on the latest bullfighting news. He’s a good and reliable friend, and well to do, except for one flaw, Brett. From their first conversation, where she cautions, “Don’t touch me” in the cab, to the time Romero took a “final look to ask if it were understood. It was understood alright,” acknowledging to the famed bullfighter it was all right for him to take Brett for the time being. In doing this Jake alienated Mike, and most of the aficionados in town. Jake seems unable to shake this bad habit of Brett up until the end of the novel when she complains “we could have had such a damned good time together” and he simply replies, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” subsequently ending the book and possibly his inability to shake free from Brett. The issue in their relationship stretches deeper than simply some “game” they play. Jake’s war wound is the loss of his genitalia, and the effects it seems to have on his personality. Brett’s shared knowledge of this situation inverts the roles in the relationship for almost all of their interactions in the novel. She can’t be with him, claiming, “It’s my fault, Jake. It’s the way I’m made,” because he can’t satisfy her. When it comes to Jake’s war wound he becomes less of a reliable narrator and often shies away from directly discussing the matter, making light of the situation, then quickly changing the subject.

Brett is the love interest of this novel in the most literal sense, as she is the love interest of nearly every male character in the book. Her and Jake seem to share a deep emotional connection, yet are separated by his wound and her promiscuity. Her character consistently lines up with the identity of the new, loose women of the 1920’s. She sleeps with who she wants, smokes, dances, and lives life to the fullest. This became the case for many women at that time as the morals of the general population were shifting to a more tolerant, urban lifestyle. In comparison to characters such as May Welland from The Age of Innocence one can see how drastic these changes were.

In addition to the new freedoms of women, there are the habits they borrowed from the traditional masculine stereotype. This is what makes gender roles so prevalent in this novel. Brett will swear, and “aggressively expresses her sexual desires while her lovers wait to be chosen.” (Finnegan) Jake, and her other various lovers in this novel, all gladly accept the role they are assigned by her. So beyond a boy’s haircut, and a man’s hat, it’s obvious Brett changes the rules in a time-piece novel, plainly exploring a rapidly changing culture.

Works Cited

Finnegan, Jim. The Sun Also Rises (1926) Lecture Notes. 25 9 2009

http://www2.english.uiuc.edu/finnegan/English%20251/SunRises.html