Use of Setting in "The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph"
In literature, setting is often used to enhance or develop characters, provide realism, and create a mood or atmosphere for a story (Roberts 256). Two short stories, "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick and Walter Van Tillburg Clark’s "The Portable Phonograph" explore victims of war in the vivid settings that the authors have created. Although both works are vague as to geographic setting and place in time, the authors’ detailed descriptions of the character’s surroundings envelop the reader and lend an air of authenticity to the tales (Kauvar 180). "The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph" differ in their treatment of symbolism and characterization but their ingenious use of setting to create a theme unites these two stories.
"The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph" both open with intense, haunting descriptions; Ozick shocks readers with her portrayal of "the Holocaust in searingly vivid sensory impressions" (Watson 892) and Clark dedicates his first three paragraphs to describing a desolate, war torn plain devoid of almost all life. Clark immediately creates a sense of a dangerous, foreboding world, describing a "sensation of torment" that "arose from the stillness of the earth air beneath the violence of the upper air" (Roberts 260). The reader is left with an impression, filled with detail, but moreover, overflowing with emotion.
"The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph" contain objects that are critical to the stories and to the mental states of the characters contained within. In the former story, the Rosa believes the shawl protects her baby from the horrors of the Holocaust, the scrap of cloth provides her with hope that the next generation wi...
... middle of paper ...
...rough their thoughts. The settings in these two stories act as more than simply a backdrop for a tale, they are used "to create meaning, just as painters include backgrounds and objects to render ideas" (Roberts 255).
Works Cited
Kauvar, Elaine M. Cynthia Ozick’s Fiction: Tradition and Invention.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.
Magill, Frank N. ed. Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Vol. 2. Pasadena: Salem
Press,1993.
Roberts, Edgar V. and Jacobs, Henry E. Literature: An Introduction to
Reading and Writing. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998.
Sheehy, Gail. Spirit of Survival. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1986.
Stine, Jean C. ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 28. Detroit: Gale
Research Co., 1984.
Watson, Noelle, ed. Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.
In “The Neuro-Psychoses of Defense”, Freud introduces his study of defense mechanisms. Freud defines a defense mechanism in psychoanalysis as a “defensive mechanism developed by the ego under pressure of the superego and external reality that allows us to fight anxiety”. Some examples of Freudian defenses that are still accepted today include repression, denial, projection, displacement, and regression. Anna Freud and other psychologist’s elaborated on the concept. Defense mechanisms are an essential component in modern clinical psychology, as “no mental status or clinical formulation should be considered complete without an effort to identify a patient’s dominant defense mechanism” (3). Defense mechanisms are today grouped into Narcissistic, Anxiety, Immature, and Mature. The use of Narcissistic, Anxiety and Immature defense mechanisms are considered less healthy than Mature defenses and are often used by emotionally unstable individuals in order to cope with stress. Mature defenses ‘result in optimal
"Nominated for a 1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War is Anita Lobel's gripping memoir of surviving the Holocaust. A Caldecott-winning illustrator of such delightful picture books as On Market Street, it is difficult to believe Lobel endured the horrific childhood she did. From age 5 to age 10, Lobel spent what are supposed to be carefree years hiding from the Nazis, protecting her younger brother, being captured and marched from camp to camp, and surviving completely dehumanizing conditions. A terrifying story by any measure, Lobel's memoir is all the more haunting as told from the first-person, child's-eye view. Her girlhood voice tells it like it is, without irony or even complete understanding, but with matter-of-fact honesty and astonishing attention to detail. She carves vivid, enduring images into readers' minds. On hiding in the attic of the ghetto: "We were always told to be very quiet. The whispers of the trapped grown-ups sounded like the noise of insects rubbing their legs together." On being discovered while hiding in a convent: "They lined us up facing the wall. I looked at the dark red bricks in front of me and waited for the shots. When the shouting continued and the shots didn't come, I noticed my breath hanging in thin puffs in the air." On trying not to draw the attention of the Nazis: "I wanted to shrink away. To fold into a small invisible thing that had no detectable smell. No breath. No flesh. No sound."
Sigmund Freud believed that he “occupies a special place in the history of psychoanalysis and marks a turning point, it was with it that analysis took the step from being a psychotherapeutic procedure to being in depth-psychology” (Jones). Psychoanalysis is a theory or therapy to decode the puzzle of neurotic disorders like hysteria. During the therapy sessions, the patients would talk about their dreams. Freud would analyze not only the manifest content (what the dreamer remembers) of the dreams, but the disguise that caused the repressions of the idea. During our dreams, the decision making part of personality’s defenses are lowered allowing some of the repressed material to become more aware in a distorted form. He distinguished between
"A Pair of Tickets" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" are good examples of how setting explores place, heritage, and ethnic identity to give us a better understanding of the characters. In "A Pair of Tickets" Jing-Mei Woo discovers for herself what makes her Chinese and the setting played an important role in helping us understand how she came to this discovery. The setting in "Everything That Rises Must Converge" gave us a good understanding of why the characters acted as they did to the situations presented. The setting in both of these stories greatly contributed to the understanding the characters better and in general the whole story.
The theory of psychoanalysis, founded by Freud, asserted that people could be cured by “…making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations…”, therefore gaining insight into their behavior and state of being (CITE). The aim of psychoanalytic therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, because Freud believed that psychological problems are rooted in the unconscious mind. In certain cases, individuals would have manifested symptoms caused by “…latent…”, or hidden disturbances (CITE). Typical causes could include unresolved issues during development or as a result of repressed trauma. Those who practice psychoanalysis believe that only with a cathartic experience can be the person be helped and therefore cured. In other words, , Freud’s treatment focused on bringing the repressed conflict to consciousness, where the patent then could wo...
Setting is a place or a certain location where an event is about to take place. It is used to create a vivid image for the reader and to better understand the characters and the certain situations the characters face in a story. Furthermore, the setting also gives further insight about a character’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions to what is happening around them. By learning about the setting in a story, the reader will be able to understand how the setting relates back to the character and to the story itself. In Amy Tan’s short story “A Pair of Tickets” setting is used to emphasize the discovery of self-identity as well as heritage and culture for the protagonist Jing-mei.
By means of comic illustration and parody, Art Spiegelman wrote a graphic novel about the lives of his parents, Vladek and Anja, before and during the Holocaust. Spiegelman’s Maus Volumes I and II delves into the emotional struggle he faced as a result of his father’s failure to recover from the trauma he suffered during the Holocaust. In the novel, Vladek’s inability to cope with the horrors he faced while imprisoned, along with his wife’s tragic death, causes him to become emotionally detached from his son, Art. Consequently, Vladek hinders Art’s emotional growth. However, Art overcomes the emotional trauma his father instilled in him through his writing.
Socialism, nevertheless, meet criticism of 2 notable arguments. The first is that socialism is contamininated by its link to statism. It is argued that both communism and social democracy similar versions of socialism, only demonstrated “top-down”, which means that socialism is nothing fancy but only advocate more state control and less individual freedom. The second opposition argue in term of the incoherence in modern socialist theory, providing that socialism was only effective as a means of opposing capitalism, while socialism itself is imperfect and their analysis is flawed.
...urvivors crawling towards me, clawing at my soul. The guilt of the world had been literally placed on my shoulders as I closed the book and reflected on the morbid events I had just read. As the sun set that night, I found no joy in its vastness and splendor, for I was still blinded by the sins of those before me. The sound of my tears crashing to the icy floor sang me to sleep. Just kidding. But seriously, here’s the rest. Upon reading of the narrators’ brief excerpt of his experience, I was overcome with empathy for both the victims and persecutors. The everlasting effect of the holocaust is not only among those who lost families÷, friends,
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, however, does have its problems. One of its drawbacks is that it is based on the assumption that repressed conflicts and impulses do in fact exist. Today this assumption is being challenged, and is provoking intense debate.
In this therapeutic approach, he outlines that the therapist and the patient must collectively work together to bring the contents of the patients unconscious into the patient’s conscious awareness. When the patient’s unconscious conflicts are evoked, the therapist helps the patient deal with them positively. Freud was extremely influential in shaping the public view of psychology. Many of his ideas and contributions are cannot be tested using scientific methods, but psychologists widely accept the idea of unconscious mental processes. What people personally go though is extremely important in the study of psychology. ( Grison, Heatherton, Gazzaniga ,2015)
Freud's often-controversial psychoanalysis was an attempt to explain the human psyche (mind) which is comprised of three components: the id, ego, and superego; and the conflict between these components shaped personality (Swanson, 1963, p. 14-16). He believed the ego is responsive to the id that developed at infancy. He also believed that defense mechanisms are unconsciously adopted to protect the ego from anxiety. He was convinced that anxiety was used to warn the ego of potential threats. He focused on internally held forces, including conflicts, biological dispositions, and sexual motivation for his theories (Macintyre, 1963, p. 98-99). He sought to address underlying issues in a person's life, and personal cha...
Critical thinking is a process of applying various skills to analyze information. Critical thinking uses rationality to distinguish between emotion and fact. This paper will discuss the definition of critical thinking, and the skills it takes to think critically. It will also provide an example of critical thinking applied to my current working environment. Finally this paper will discuss the importance and benefits of critical thinking in the decision-making processes.
In the United States, socialism is widely viewed as ‘bad word’, as an insult of sorts. There is no better example of this than in the last presidential election, when the right would routinely use the term to criticize president Obama and his peers. Despite the fact that many Americans still place a taboo on the term, socialist ideals such as universal healthcare, a merit based university system and stopping the greed of the upper class are becoming increasingly popular. Over the past few hundred years, capitalists have destroyed our planet and our people in search of a profit, and the need for change has never been greater than now. Thus, in order to guarantee fair treatment to all individuals and be able to live sustainably on our planet for many more generations, socialism must become the dominant economic system on our planet.