...American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro focussing on the topic of the unreliable narrator The unreliable narrator is a technique used by authors where a scenario is created in which the reader cannot trust the narration of the book usually done in the first person. In American psycho, Ellis explores the sinister nature of Wall Street yuppie culture by examining the sanity of the narrating protagonist Patrick Bateman using the unreliable narrator. Ishiguro also uses this, exploring ideas of regret and also self-justification in the character of Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day. Unlike Ellis who examines Bateman during his early working years, in his mid-twenties and presenting a snapshot of his life, Ishiguro uses his take on the unreliable narrator to look at Stevens towards the end of his life using a series of flashbacks narrated unreliably, by Stevens. Both novels are comparable in the sense they examine the topic of failure using unreliable narrators that will do anything to escape the idea that they are failures. A popular debate regarding American Psycho is whether Patrick Bateman is a murderer or not, certainly Bateman describes in detail of murders he commits and why he commits them, however, certain factors bring Bateman’s reliability of narration into question. Bruno Zerweck argues that due to the lack of ‘detective framework’ and ‘unintentional self-incrimination’ the narration of the novel is reliable. Jennifer Phillips...
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...dramatic. However, the real hook is the mysterious woman who leaves her raincoat with the protagonist, Jude Stevens. The idea that the woman disappears is a smart story choice. Good anticipation is created. The audience wants to know more. However, allegedly she’s been gone for 20 minutes, but when Stevens talks to the concession stand worker, who says the woman just left with two men. It seems unlikely that it would take her twenty minutes to get popcorn or that the two men would be standing around with her for twenty minutes before leaving. Also, Steven goes...
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...Viewers In Dana Stevens’ article, “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box,” she summarizes Steven Johnson’s argument that “Watching TV Makes You Smarter.” Johnson argues that understanding the complexity of today’s TV shows makes viewers smarter. Stevens disagrees with Johnson’s statement saying, “watching TV teaches you to watch more TV”(296). Both authors discuss the issue of television and its impact on viewers’ intelligence; they share a common topic but utilize very different literary elements. Stevens and Johnson both employ different tones, themes, and dialogue to prove their arguments on the effect that TV has on its viewers. While both authors discuss a similar topic, they utilize different themes. These themes are made clear through the examples that both authors incorporate. In Johnson’s article he uses examples from popular TV shows such as 24, The West Wing, and E.R. He uses 24 as an example of how we use our brain in order to navigate through the intricate information and grasp the important concepts in order to make sense of an episode. Another example that Johnson shows us is the dialogue between characters on shows like E.R and The West Wing that do not talk down to its audience. “ The characters talk faster in these shows”(287) and use much more scientifically language which most viewers do not understand. This complex language requires the viewer to pay closer attention to the context in order to make sense of the words being spoken. Stevens portrays her theme...
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...M.A. Digital Culture and Technology Digital Effect Dissertation Proposal Introduction The aim of this dissertation is to question the nature of digital cinema and its relationship to analogue filmmaking. I would like to argue that “pure” digital or analogue cinema does not exist anymore. Even films which are shot and edited using digital technology, in most cases, eventually will be printed onto film in order to be projected. I am interested in the transformation of storytelling and narration caused by digital revolution. I will analyse the shift that occurred in cinema after 1997, when the video techniques became more popular. I would like to avoid simplifying or dismissive statements about the aesthetics developed by digital techniques. It is a very rare occurrence for a film to be entirely analogue or digital. Therefore, I intend to talk about the intersection of digital and analogue techniques and the effect that digital practices have upon the tradition of storytelling. In their analysis of new media, Anna Everett and John T. Caldwell describe this intersection of analogue and digital with a term “digitextuality”. This fusion of “digital” and “intertextuality” illustrates the process in which old media acquire new shape and form: M.A. Digital Culture and Technology New digital media technologies make meaning not only by building a new text through absorption and transformation of other texts, but also by embedding the entirety of other texts (analogue and digital)...
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...doom, the figure stares off to the side twisting away from the viewer. Attacking the figure an her self-confidence are everyday household items. However, for the figure these household products have taken on a life of their own with sexualized identities. Pointing directly at the figure's breasts is a phallic pan handle protruding from the corner. Just as the pan handle is directing the viewer's gaze towards the physical sexuality, the soap bottle's hourglass figure is juxtaposed against the figure's apron synched waist. Unlike in advertising, the focal points of the image are on the object’s general shapes rather than their function. This is achieved by taking the photo in black and white. Sherman "purposely developed the film in hotter chemicals to make it crackle," and produce a grainy quality (Stevens). The imperfection on the paper emphasize the 1950s cinematic quality. Acting as an essential component to a film's narrative, the same emotive qualities are present in Sherman's photographs. Not to deteriorate from the artistically strong photo, Sherman did not title her work because she thought “it would spoil the ambiguity” (Sherman 7). The numbers were assigned by the Metro Pictures Gallery...
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...and actions. This notion is evident in the novel, The Simple Gift composed by Steven Herrick. Where Herrick demonstrates many concepts of belonging, one being the need to belong to a group or a community shapes our behaviour, attitudes and actions. Herrick conveys this through the perspectives of Billy, Old Bill and Caitlin. In Steven Herrick’s novel ‘A Simple Gift’, he uses various techniques to portray belonging or the lack of belonging. We accompany Billy as he meets great role models which serve to inspire him thoughout the novel. Ernie's train whistle symbolises the beginning of Billy's new life contrasted favourably by Ernie’s accepting and helpful attitude. Ernie give Billy his first taste of hope in mankind, whilst allowing Billy to feel acceptance. His next positive role model is Irene, Bendarat’s Librarian, who welcomes him and encourages him to borrow books and broaden his mind, Irene accepts Billy immediately a helps him at stages of the story. A great technique used in the novel is Multiple Narrators, as the characters of Billy, Old Bill and Caitlin who because of their sense of alienation, are pushed towards one another by fate, to fulfil their need to belong. The mutual yearning they share is revealed by the use of a split narrative writing, in which each character’s thoughts and feelings are uncovered. Furthermore allowing us to see several situations through more than one point of view also showing...
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...Evaluative Summary: Does TV Make You Smarter? Steven Johnson, an author of seven books, wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine in 2005 called, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter.” In the article, Johnson explains that he believes watching television makes you smarter because it forces you to “pay attention, make inferences, [and] track shifting social relationships” (279). Johnson then takes it one step further by comparing television from the past and the present, and the amount of threading the shows contain. He goes on to explain that the multi-threading used in television today affects how our minds work and in the end make us smarter. Although, Johnson uses many excellent examples in this article to persuade the audience that television is not a bad thing such as 24 and Hill Street Blues. While I do believe that television might be affecting us mentally, I don’t believe that lounging on the couch watching any of the shows Johnson mentioned in this article will sincerely make me a smarter person. Which is why I must disagree with Johnson in thinking that television makes you stronger. In the article, Johnson talks about a concept called the, “Sleeper Curve” (279). Johnson goes on to describe this concept as “the most debased forms of mass diversion” (279). He even goes on to describe video games and violent television as nutritional, that these everyday activities we do work our cognitive faculties without us even realizing that it’s happening. Now Johnson might...
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...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
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...effectively telling the story through the eyes of the protagonist Hi-Chan, she allows the reader to personalize not only with the main character but the setting that surrounds the main character as well. The continual turmoil and conflict that the protagonist undergoes contrast the underlying theme (the path to enlightenment) of the novel and remains consistent from beginning to end. There is no question that the author’s effectiveness in delivering the elements of fiction in her novel Anshu: Dark Sorrow creates in the reader’s mind a vivid portrait of the time and place the main character Hi-Chan was living in. By effectively conveying the setting of the novel, the persistent use of conflict with the protagonist, establishing a first person point of view, and the use of effective characterization, Juliet Kono is able to paint within the readers mind the thoughts and emotions within Hi-Chan as well as the world around her. By descriptively establishing the setting in Hawaii at the beginning of the novel, Juliet Kono allows the reader to assume a more peaceful and serene time when Hi-Chan was youthful and care-free on an island of abundant beauty, freedom, and most importantly food. In contrast, the setting changes completely as Hi-Chan arrives to Japan by ship describing it as “filled with diesel fuel, rotting sewage, decaying fish, and seaweed” (48). The extreme difference in the change of settings seems to foreshadow what is to come for Hi-Chan and her new future in Japan. The...
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...The writings of Mary Wollstonecraft directly and indirectly explore the irony of the woman’s position in Wollstonecraft’s culture: the female figure is at once central and alienated. The following annotated bibliography features articles about the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft by Steven Blakemore, Maria J. Falco, Cindy L. Griffin, and Vivian Jones. Three of the four authors take a feminist approach: Falco provides a collection of feminist critiques of Wollstonecraft’s work; Griffin asserts that Wollstonecraft is the first author to write about an alienation from the perspective of women’s issues and rights; and Jones’s essay comments on the sexualizing of the historical narrative by Helen Maria Williams and Mary Wollstonecraft. Blakemore provides a different approach, examining Miltonic references in Vindications of the rights of woman. References (Blakemore S 1992 Rebellious reading: the doubleness of Wollstonecraft's subversion of Paradise Lost)Blakemore, S. (1992). Rebellious reading: the doubleness of Wollstonecraft's subversion of Paradise lost. Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 34, 451-80. Blakemore’s article is a close reading of the Miltonic references in Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the rights of woman. His argument centers on the proposition that during the revolutionary period writers attempted to subvert texts which “stressed the satanic dangers of epistemological curiosity” (p. 451). However, he feels that Wollstonecraft’s use of Milton rebounds...
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...LITERATURE Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work; etymologically the term derives from Latinliteratura/litteratura "writing formed with letters", although some definitions include spoken or sung texts. More restrictively, it is writing that possesses literary merit, and language that foregrounds literariness, as opposed toordinary language. Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it ispoetry or prose; it can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorised according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre). IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE It also encourages students to think critically, specifically for the discussing and thinking components. Those people studying literature look at poems, plays, essays, stories and novels. Reading and learning about these helps people to sympathize with others and see how complex humans truly are. It aids in broadening a person's intellectual horizons and it stimulates a more active imagination. Literature explores different human...
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...suspended Emily’s tax responsibilities to the town after her father’s death, justifying the action by claiming that Mr. Grierson had once lent the community a significant sum. As new town leaders take over, they make unsuccessful attempts to get Emily to resume payments. When members of the Board of Aldermen pay her a visit, in the dusty and antiquated parlor, Emily reasserts the fact that she is not required to pay taxes in Jefferson and that the officials should talk to Colonel Sartoris about the matter. However, at that point he has been dead for almost a decade. She asks her servant, Tobe, to show the men out. Section II: the narrator describes a time thirty years earlier when Emily resists another official inquiry on behalf of the town leaders, when the townspeople detect a powerful odor emanating from her property. Her father has just died, and Emily has been abandoned by the man whom the townsfolk believed Emily was to marry. As complaints mount, Judge Stevens, the mayor at the time, decides to have lime sprinkled along the foundation of the Grierson home in the middle of the night. Within a couple of weeks, the odor subsides, but the townspeople begin to pity the increasingly reclusive Emily, remembering how her great aunt had succumbed to insanity. Section III: The narrator describes a long illness that Emily suffers after this incident. The summer after her father’s death, the town contracts workers to pave the sidewalks, and a construction company, under the direction of...
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...Sensitive mothering is essential to the social and emotional development of the child. Discuss this statement in the context of relevant developmental theory. Explain what is meant by the term sensitive mothering. Explain why sensitive mothering is important in building a positive emotional base. (15) - Give a definition of sensitive mothering (also consider insensitive mothering). - Link this to a positive or non-positive emotional base. Link this explanation to Bowlby’s attachment theory and Ainsworth’s studies. You will need to show an understanding of the internal working model of attachment and how sensitive mothering impacts on the quality of attachment. (25) - Outline Bowlby’s theory of attachment, showing evidence of how the ethological studies of Harlow and Lorenz, and his own research with war orphans and evacuees and juvenile delinquents impacted his theory. - Determine the phases of attachment and the development of the internal working model of attachment. - Consider Ainsworth’s research and the types of secure and insecure attachments that resulted from the research. - This needs to be linked back to mothering style and the internal working model of attachment that each infant is developing. Links also need to be made to Erikson’s relevant psychological stages of personality development, emphasising the importance of a supportive social environment. (15) - Consider Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality, especially the first stage...
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...1) Billy Wilder's movie "Some Like it Hot" is regarded as a comic masterpiece. What are some of the ways the director plays with gender issues to create such a resilient comedy? 2) In the movie "The man who shot liberty valance", John Wayne plays the archetypical western hero, a man who is at once outside of the law who is also committed to upholding justice. Please discuss the contradictions inherent in his role in the film. "SOME LIKE IT HOT" The all-time satirical, comedy farce favorite and outrageous “Some like It Hot” produced in the year 1959, is one of the most comical films ever made. This film has had the combination of several elements, which include a part of 1920-1930s gangster films and romances. The director had one major objective, which was to include deceptive and entangled identities, cross-dressing, and reversed sex roles. It was for these reasons why the film gained so much popularity during the time and this lead to the director receiving six Academy Award nominations. Among the major themes presented in the film, the paper will discuss some of the ways the director plays with gender issues in creating such a resilient comedy. According to Martínez, María Jesús (p. 146), aspects of cultural negotiations among others has affected for long the sexual definitions and gender representation generally. Therefore, the representation of a woman has long provided a powerful and undecided patriarchal character, heavily determined as the expression of the male...
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...PREFACE Adam Jefferson, a divine manifest of Adam Smith's materialism and Thomas Jefferson's idealism, is our troubled modern day hero. He awoke in the middle of his life - broke and lost. A serial entrepreneur, his life was a never-ending quest for material success. At age 38, as Joseph Campbell forewarned humanity, Adam had "climbed the ladder of success, only to realize it was propped up against the wrong wall." Alone, with nothing else to lose, Adam Jefferson climbed down off of the ladder and searched for the wall of his future. This led him on a 100-day odyssey to start the ascent of his new life, an epic journey which called him across the world discussing today's challenges and opportunities with the great minds of our past - Carl Jung, Mary Parker-Follett, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Albert Einstein, and many others. An act of their collective genius and magical combustion, a psychological and sociological theory for sustainability and success was formed. Like all heroic quests, Adam ended where he had begun. Prior to his expedition, Adam had an unforgettable encounter with one of the great minds of the 20th century. One freezing, early morning on January 17, 2009, Adam Jefferson met the famed Harvard psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They walked the beach in Winthrop for hours, discussing morality and the questions one ponders in the solitude of despair. They exchange woes - "You tell me yours, and I will tell you mine."...
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