Danielle

Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, is a well-written, modernized version of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Though Smiley portrays many aspects of Shakespeare’s play into her novel, she includes an interesting twist of her own. The story is told by Ginny, who is Goneril in King Lear, and she tells of the family drama that leads to much tragedy.  Her father, Larry, distributes his farmland to her and her two sisters, Caroline and Rose, resulting in him going mad. Although Lear gave his kingdom to his daughters, he still went mad the same as Larry. However, Larry is more of the villain in Smiley’s novel than the daughters who sneakily try to possess all that was their father’s in King Lear. In changing small aspects of the play, Smiley succeeded in making the story her own.

                Smiley sets the novel in a small farming community in Iowa where everyone knows each other very well. Smiley captures the relationship between Ginny and Lear and the rest of the family, but also brings the rest of the community into their troubles as well. In doing this, Smiley perfectly reveals how the conflict turns to tragedy. Although Ginny isn’t always a reliable narrator, tension is sensed when she describes her interactions with her father as well as a lack of emotion and closeness to each other. Tension is sensed between Larry and others in the community as well. These moments compare to the theme of recognizing genuine love in King Lear. Smiley risked her novel being dry and boring by choosing a classic play to base it off of, but she does a good job here.

                Although Smiley isn’t considered one of the most beautiful writers of our time, she accurately displays each character’s emotions and personality. From Ginny’s helplessness to Lear’s madness, each character is felt. Smiley fills Ginny’s observations and reflections with much insight that makes or breaks our personal fancy towards each character. For one, I sympathized for Ginny even when she was doing terrible things. I was on her side. When it came to Larry, I found that Smiley’s writing ultimately triggered my dislike for Larry’s irrational and cold character. Making Caroline Larry’s lawyer also made me feel dislike towards her and even made me feel somewhat annoyed. Though the characters are very accurately described and I got to know them very well, there is something about Smiley’s writing that makes me intrigued by the characters still. By revealing characters but not their whole character, Smiley succeeds in intriguing the reader, and in turn, succeeds in creating a good novel.

Paul

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one of the most connectable books ever written. The characters have very well spread personalities. They are connected by little things very well though. Gatsby represents the upper class, while George and Myrtle represent the lower class.

The plot is also one of the most stereotypical ones I have read. The rich person is rude, snobby, and people don’t like him very much. The people that “liked” him just liked his money. It was also a story of how tight communities can become. Nick tried but could not fit in. F. Scott Fitzgerald did a great job with telling the story through Nick’s point of view. Because Nick never really fit in, it was an outsider’s view observing the rich east coast life. This really helps connect the reader to the book.

This book really showed how hard it is for people to mix social classes. It’s part of human nature. Fitzgerald did a great job showing that it isn’t always a purposeful exclusion of people form groups.

David

            In the great 20th century novel The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway uses the backdrop of a post World War 1 society as the representation of the characters' sentiments.

            Written in 1926, the novel was used to inform others of the mindset of the "Lost Generation", the name given to people within the period between 1920 and 1930. The "Lost Generation" was essentially an outcry of anti-romanticism which is the defying of romantic ideas. The "Lost Generation" was perpetual and proposed thoughts of uncertainty and drafted the start of existentialist writing which challenged the meaning of life and sought the worst in people. This style of writing was widely used within the 20s but was successful in Hemingway's novel because he uses a location (Paris) to maintain the ideals of the "Lost Generation" in the characters and uses a different location (Pamplona) to be juxtaposed within the confines of the "Lost Generation" with a place characterized as an Eden whereas Paris would be character the Land of Nod. Hemingway creatively provides a transition between the two locations through the inclusion of the bus ride up the mountain to Pamplona where the stresses of Jake Barnes lift off of him and drift away.

            Pamplona itself is characterized by aficion-the love of doing something you enjoy to do. The idea of aficion is employed most in Pedro Romero, a young and talented bullfighter in Pamplona. Hemingway uses this successfully to bring about the difference between Paris and Pamplona.

            The characters in The Sun Also Rises are what makes the book excellent. Hemingway's lack of extreme social conflict in the novel reflects the stagnant nature of the era and the characters are essential in this interpretation. Jake Barnes is ironically sculpted as a strong and hardworking man yet he is impotent because of an explosion in World War 1. Lady Brett Ashley is my favorite character in the story because she holds the masculinity that Barnes lacks. Brett's masculine features such as her short hair and her clothes create an interesting situation when paired with Jake Barnes who yearns to have her. The dislike of Robert Cohn by all characters -which brings up ideals of anti-semitism- makes him the novel's punching bag which makes him the output of comic relief which Hemingway perfectly plants at the right moments in the novel. Mike Campbell, Brett's boyfriend, is the bully that Hemingway sculpts in the novel and is the source of anti-semitism toward Robert Cohn.

            The beautiful and simple writing of Hemingway holds immense depth and meaning within the margins that makes a short book a deceivingly long read. A long read is suggested to be able to enjoy the masterpiece that Hemingway had written.

Victor

The Great Gatsby is a novel draped in the superficial elegance of an era and comprised of the amoral actions of a generation fueled by alcohol and the scars of war. The novel is presented in a third person view by the main character, Nick Carraway, as he attempts to make a name for himself in a wealthy neighborhood of new york. The characters offer a depth to the novel. You can't help but be intrigued by the mystery and charm that surrounds Gatsby. Each character has a robust personality that you can feel as you switch between voices. The opening scene appropriately establishes the theme of the novel. The grandeur of the buchanans home and the description of Tom, focusing on his physical impressiveness paired with a bleak reference to a prime reached too early in his life, creates this idea of reaching for glory which is sensed through the novel. The novel keeps you gripped with the introduction of gossip surrounding gatsby, the suspense of lovers and the betrayed, and the constant partying that occurs at Gatsby's house on the weekends. The characters connect with the reader, while Fitzgerald's writing pulls you in with its simple  elegance and clean wording to form one of the greatest novels of our generation.

Sarah

In all of the books I’ve read in my life, Owen Meany is the first character whose voice I cannot hear in my head. To something may seem like a fault by the author, but it’s an ode to him. The fact that I can’t hear his voice attributes to the details John Irving poured into explaining Owen’s unique voice. These details don’t stop at Owen but are seen in all the characters, each with their own depth and special traits. In John Irving’s  A Prayer For Owen Meany he writes the life of Jonny who is friends with Owen. But as John reflects on his life, it isn’t a book about himself- it’s about Owen. This detail brings a deeper feeling to Irving’s work that reflects the loyalty these two shore for each other which makes it a compelling read; a novel that should be read by all.

John Irving’s style of writing is gracefully controlled, thick with it’s information. He goes through Johnny’s life and packs it with so much information that it’s easy to see the world through John’s eyes, in his thoughts. To a point the information is too much, making the read heavy but makes up for that with his rich descriptions that make the book a page turner. It doesn’t necessarily seem that way a first glance; it’s heavy weight and small print would throw off any inexperienced reader. But I believe the book is worth it because the reader walks away with so much more then just a book to read.

Having read the book myself, I can attain to that statement; you remember these characters long after you set the book down. They teach you lessons and make you want to better yourself in some ways that they have; their fulfilling characters and Irving gives them depth.

Owen Meany is the underdog and America believes in nothing more then that. With his small stature and thrilling voice, you can’t help but root from him in the end. It’s almost a tease only having to read about Owen; like Johnny’s mother or Hester, you want to reach out and touch Owen, but restricted by sentences. Owen teaches us about loyalty and unwavering faith, and in some ways you want to be like him.

As you read A Prayer For Owen Meany, you find yourself rooting for Owen. You want him to succeed, beat the odds against him, and see where the future takes him and Johnny. Irving shines through with his beautiful talent through this action he creates; you root for him, even without realizing it.

Karl

A REVIEW OF THE SUN ALSO RISES BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY

For those who haven’t found meaning in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, you haven’t looked far enough. Many novels have their fair share of symbolism and in depth perception but few come close to the style that Hemingway offers. The range of characters in this fluid novel have the ability to evoke emotion from the individual. The plot, which moves quickly, isn’t supposed to fulfill the idea of an action packed thriller but makes you wish you could party and live the through the drama that only a vacation in Spain would entail.

Your host is Jake Barnes, who walks you through his travels for a few weeks and invites you to his personal ego. A very deep character, Barnes undergoes a revival that you see from the beginning to the end. He is able to overcome his insecurities that do not limit themselves to the masculine Bret and the social deviants seen by Cohn and Campbell. The beauty behind Hemingway’s characters is their diversity. Most are war veterans, ex-patriots, and writers, but that’s only the external stuff. The characters are revealed through their encounters, conversations, jokes, how they take their drinks at 8 in the morning, and so on. The novel is full of detail but full of strong detail, it is pretty much straight forward – or so you think.

Going into this novel, the reader should understand a little bit of history. I know, World War I was fought in trenches, but stop and ponder about the post war era. Hemingway’s purpose was to expose the war’s loss. An entire generation of men were ripped to shreds, and those who survived were torn to pieces elsewhere. Barnes, because of the war, is sexually impotent and as crude as this is, you need to know this in order to have a better understanding of his frustrations. Every major character suffers from alcoholism and Hemingway doesn’t brush over this. The beginning starts off with ex-patriot gang waltzing through Paris with no direction, trying to make an appearance in every bar in the down town. Here and there, Hemingway describes the moments when Barnes is sober. All of this definition gets you lost in the content and if you try to remember “what happened” you can’t. It’s as if you joined Barnes and his $400 weekend bar tab. The style emphasizes the ongoing struggles, further elaborating Hemingway’s focus.

Eventually you will be brought out of your hangover and be able to take part on a fishing trip and then a  vacation in Pamplona. A beautiful landscape, dynamic humor, and impactful imagery ensues. Location, location, location. The novel exploits the concept of location because with each change in scenery is a change in action, and in feeling. The bull-fighting keeps the reader on edge, not so much for bulls but for the ex-patriot gang and their fight for Bret. The only woman among the main characters, Bret picks up a role that would have been more fitted to a womanizing trophy husband. She dresses like a man, drinks like one, sleeps around like one, manipulates the young and pure (the handsome Romero) and suffers with the rest over an identity crises influenced by desire. During these struggles, the writing reflects Jake’s mood at the time. These struggles are depicted as they are but also through the bull fighting, the deaths, the dancing. The multitude of connections are not endless but include enough for a full study. Jake’s personality and thoughts are wide open and yet some things are shaded over a bit. However this guides your view of the surrounding characters.  Your allegiance is to Jake Barnes, where your full sympathy lies.

As cut and dry as the novel seems, Hemingway does not bother to explain his work. This leads some to hate the book because “nothing” happens. Look a little deeper. The bulls, the drinking, and the Spanish people (most notably the handsome Romero) are big parts of the novel but you will be surprised at the little things and how they shape the rest of the book. The traditional wine sac, the fiesta, the dancers – these are the details that are beautiful individually and contribute to Jake’s search for relief. Your perception is your reality but try and open your eyes or fix your glasses with Cohn. To fully appreciate this book, imagine yourself enjoying your time there. Let the awkward and embarrassing notions of the characters affect you and then can feel an attachment to the work. This is what gives the book the meaning, the emotions evoked by the reader or rather the emotions that Hemingway invokes in you. Hemingway has masterfully created, with care, a tribute to this era of anxiety. Anyone can read The Sun Also Rises but I implore you, understand what Hemingway’s novel offers – you can thank me later.

Caroline

East of Eden is a monster of a book in more ways than one. Not only is the book, written by the wonderful  John Steinbeck, over 600 pages, but those pages are bursting with a multitude of characters and overlapping, flip-flopping plots.

The most prominent character is Adam, son of a manipulative farm owner and faux war hero, who is one of the only characters (if not THE only) to be in the entire book. Steinbeck shapes Adam in to a well developed character by constantly changing the reading feeling towards him. Initially, the reader feels horrible for Adam who is beaten near death by his brother over something as silly as a present and as important as their father’s love. That changes to frustration when Adam refuses to give up on his destructive relationship with Kate, one of the novel’s villainess. As the book progresses the reader’s feelings continue to change, just as a person’s feeling change would toward someone in their everyday life. Adam also creates conflict with other characters, and especially with his son, Cal. Adam’s obvious preference for his other son, Aaron, causes Cal to begin an intense inner struggle on whether his is naturally bad or if he gets it from his mother, Kate.  This inner struggle continues the novel’s major theme of “timshel”

The idea of timsel is an absolutely essential aspect of the novel as it is an aspect in one of the two major plots. This plot is based off the biblical story of Cain and Abel, two brothers who fight for their father’s affections, and ends in the death of Abel and the expulsion of Cain from Eden. The Cain and Abel story is the basis for Steinbeck’s plot with Charles and Adam and Cal and Aaron. This plot is contrasted with Steinbeck’s loose family history on coming to California and the generations after. These two major plot lines provide interest to the reader and, in addition to countless plot spin-off and side stories, keep the reader wondering “what will happen next?”

Over all East of Eden is a smashing success by employing wild characters to spark interest and relatable characters to hold it, and about as many story lines as there are characters. Just make sure you have enough time to dedicate to this monster because it definitely deserves it.

Paula

            Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire, is well composed with elements such as symbolism and unique characters that bring the story together and alive. The characters, both primary and secondary, cannot be alive without the other gracefully pushing from behind. The symbolism in this play like the blue piano the curtains, are present throughout. With a careful eye, you can easily uncover these simple everyday items their true reason in this play and what deeper meaning they give to the play.

            Plot wise, this play doesn’t have anything too complex or too complicated to figure out for it’s very straightforward: Blanche goes down to New Orleans to visit her sister Stella but experiences her downfall by the hands of Stanley Kowalski. The story was just story about someone walking in deep waters and not knowing how to swim out of it. It was the characters that were more detailed and thought out rather than the plot, in my opinion. They were complex with their variety of talents and their different relationships with others that they contributed to the tension and problems of the story. The style of the play is very modern and closely reflects to the time period in which the whole play is placed.

The main and secondary characters really bring the play to life, by stringing everything together. With many characters being opposites from each other in personalities and thinking, they all come together to create a wonderful piece. Blanche DuBois, the example of the Southern belle at the time and the central character, could be described as being the modern day of Shakespeare’s Ofelia. Being more entangled with her own “dream world”, she turns away from the reality surrounding her, which ultimately paves her path down to her downfall. She’s a very disillusioned girl and very idealistic, trying to avoid problems or anything bad around her; much like people did in the 1920s. She’s also very enthusiastic, causing you to either like her or hate her. She could be easily identified as being a drama queen when you first meet her, for the way she acts and treats everyone around her with her princess attitude. However, as the play progresses and her past are revealed, you almost start to feel sorry for her, for experiencing such terrible things in her life. It almost outweighs her snotty attitude that she accidentally gives off without giving a second thought. Then, Stanley Kowalski, the common working class man who is very barbaric, rough, dirty, and a monster, sparks most of the drama presented in this story. He is just one of these characters that without him the story would fall apart and break down like a car: he is the fuel that helps keep the tensions high. He is also the ‘villain’ responsible for causing Blanche’s downfall, the main highlight of the play. A good play or story always needs a character that enjoys nothing more than causing trouble for others.

            The secondary characters of Stella Kowalski and Mitch act like the helping hands toward the primary characters that help them get more emphasis. Stella, Blanche’s sister, is the typical modern woman who is the example of the average stay at home wife. She is a clear juxtaposition of Blanche: different point of views, style, personalities, you name it. She’s idealistic just like Blanche, but her idealism is almost realistic, wanting to believe Stanley, her husband, over her sister that he did nothing so vulgar to Blanche, but she knows that it’s true. This tares her apart when she has to decide between a family member she hasn’t seen in years and her husband who she sees everyday. She contributes to Blanche’s downfall probably just as must as Stanley does. Mitch, the gentleman who goes with Blanche for dinner dates, is a typical average Joe, in which his character does nothing more but enhances our knowledge about Blanche that were hidden from us before. Without him, Blanche would possibly still be like a mystery to us.

            Despite of the play being very simple, the characters are very complex and are great attention grabbers, especially ones that seem out of place with the others. The play itself is a great fast drama for anyone to read within a day and is just one of those plays you can easily see being turned into a soap opera on television. I recommend this play for anyone who is looking for something fast to read, a simple plot, but has some juicy elements that make you want to know what will happen.           

Cynthia

A novel such as A Prayer For Owen Meany  should be considered one of the greatest novels in the world. The passion behind it is so sincere and quite amazing. This novel makes me wish that I had an Owen Meany in my life. There are hardships, friendships, and relationships that relate to the real world. Irving skillfully mixes the two quests for good and evil keeping the novel intriguing and a real page turner. Some might say that it is too religious to read because the first sentence says "He is the reason I believe in God," but this concept makes up the entire novel.

       The characteristics of the characters makes the novel stand out. Owen Meany is in constant demand and his physical appearance and voice contributes to how the other characters act. Being that Owen Meany is short and has a remarkably high voice, the characters, like Hester and Johnny's mother, are intrigued to touch him. Johnny is the exact opposite of Owen. Owen is intelligent, in control, buff, and good with the ladies. Johnny needed Owen's help in school, nobody really payed any attention to him, and he was quite awkward with the ladies.

        The plot of this novel is so intriguing. Johnny is trying to find himself and his father throughout the novel and he never seems to get a grapple on anything. Owen, on the other hand, seemed to know what he was brought to this world for, and he knew exactly what he wanted and how he was going to get it. The novel goes from past to present, off and on, reflecting on the memories Johnny has had with Owen and how that has influenced his present life in Canada. Obviously I'm not a famous book reviewer, but I'm convinced that this novel is impressive and awesome.

Rachel S.

A Thousand Acres

A novel by Jane Smiley

By Rachel Sammons

Jane Smiley’s Pulitzer-award-winning novelty thrives with betrayal, tragedy, and unalterable fractures within a seemingly-united family.  Set in a vast Iowa countrytown, a passive character named Ginny narrates her story with a subtle yet absolutely present tone of innocence.  Smiley uses this guiltless voice and bias insight to portray an innocent side of the family in contrast to the setup of Shakespear’s King Lear.  In a nutshell, King Lear features a selfish set of family relatives versus their mistreated set of family relatives; while Smiley shows just the same only flip-flopped to reveal a misunderstood angle of the picture.  Ginny and her sister, Rose, would essentially be related to the vain Shakespearean characters who betray their father but, in A Thousand Acres, the two women are viewed as blameless to the ways they react to their hostile, unfairly dominating, and strongly opinionated father.  However, Smiley’s subplots and ongoing themes of constant consuming and false reality expand the story to a far more different level of perspective.

A Thousand Acres revolves around a family crisis so intense that one could almost view the story as belonging in a soap opera; however, instead of a sappy tale with little impact, the motives and tensions within Smiley’s novel are fueled by actual concrete reasons and a shocking backstory.  The most intriguing element of the book is the hazardous development of almost every apsect: relationships, home, and most importantly, the people.  Smiley achieves a consistent style of voice for Ginny, however the narrator gradually elaborates into a person forced to abandon her instintively submissive responses and deal with the family issues that have errupted.  A Thousand Acres demonstrates Smiley’s technique for revealing a side of the family who is unfailry judged and rejected by the remaining relatives and even the society.  However, Ginny is still an unreliable narrator which provokes debate by the perceptive readers over the absolute innocence of the mindset shared by her and her side of the family.  This controvery wonderfully adds to the novel’s theme of illusion and readers of A Thousand Acres will definitely be picking different sides depending on their own opinions.

By the novel’s end, it’s clear how very few characters turn out as innocent as assumed.  With juicy affairs, family relationships, and a bittersweet conclusion—this book is candy for literary devotees.  Even those who struggle through Ginny’s laborious monologues detailing how to run a farm can experience the engaging effect Smiley creates through her story of a flawed family feud. A-

Marcy

Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire is a very character driven play with little plot to fully develop characters in other lights. Blanche’s arrival, rape, and departure from her sister and brother-in-law are the only significant plot events. Despite this the play manages to fully explore the relationships between the main characters. The modern style is very descriptive and gives a relation to a character’s appearance and personality. Blanche’s delicate description and idealist personality are example of this parallel.

Stanley and Blanche’s relationship is a contrast between reality and idealism that is, in fact, very fascinating as the story develops. Stanley’s character is fascinating in the sense that though he is cast as being a lower social class, brute, and more common than Blanche, yet in relation to Blanche he is in a position of control in the play. The parallel of Eunice and Steve, the upstairs neighbors, to Stella and Stanley’s marriage shows a different side of idealism that comes from ignoring the problem of violence and infidelity.

Stella’s acceptance of her husband’s side of the story on Blanche’s rape shows that the pregnant Stella is unable to deal with a reality that is not convenient. The way Williams shows Blanche’s descent into her own world while at the same time representing the reality her sister won’t admit is very informative on human relationships and becomes very fascinating. Because of Tennessee William’s experimentation with reality and idealism, the play is quite definitely worth a read or watch.

Monica

In East of Eden, John Steinbeck effectively ties three generations together to create a fascinating book, although the character development department is definitely lacking. Aron, Liza, Adam, Cathy... all are flat and unsurprising.  Aron is forgettable (compared to interesting and spontaneous Cal), Adam is boring and unfortunately in love with the wrong woman for the majority of the book - the woman, in fact, also being too predictable. She’s evil, and that’s about it. There is no growth, no maturation. In contrast, Cal is a rather round character, with complex issues. He struggles with the jealousy of Aron, fluctuating between the concept of good and evil. Other characters embrace just one for the duration of the book, and yet Cal is the main expresser of timshel. True, it can be argued that this is Cal’s story, but his emotions run deeper than the other main characters. Abra is also seen as a rounder character, which is almost strange when most of Steinbeck’s female characters are flat: Liza, Cathy, Alice, Mollie, Dessie, and more. They’re nearly all side characters with one personality that defines them; for example, Mollie and Dessie are the ‘sweet ones’. We see Abra change, however, over the course of the book, as seen when she challenges her relationship with Aron. I suppose Aron was a bit too forgettable to her too, since like me, she obviously prefers Cal.

Generally, the plot is engaging. It’s fast-paced enough to capture my attention and prevent dragging, but not so fast that the developments seem rushed and unrealistic. The winding descriptions of the land may be necessary but can slow the book down in some of its most suspenseful and tense moments. I suppose, though, that’s what just adds to the suspense.

A good book, in my eyes, is a book makes you want to know the characters, meet them, and look into their eyes and have a conversation and feel what you feel when you read their dialogue. When you want to delve into the plot and wish the characters were people you know in real life... that’s a good book. 

John Steinbeck creates these characters. I want to be friends with Cal, have a deep conversation with Abra and cook with Lee. That being said, I would pass over a day with Adam or Cathy - I know what they’d do, and that just takes away the excitement of it all.

Lizzy

        In her novel A Thousand Acres, author Jane Smiley weaves together a story about an older man named Larry who gives away his Iowa farmland to his three daughters, and how the consequences are what none of them expected. Based off Shakespeare’s King Lear, it holds true to many aspects of the play while still incorporating its own flavor in the writing style.

A Thousand Acres is narrated by Ginny, one of Larry’s daughters. This perspective provides an interesting twist because in Lear, the king’s daughters are the villains. Even though Ginny as a narrator is somewhat unreliable, her voice is enticing and fluid, pulling the reader in even when she discusses her father’s farm tools.

Smiley morphs the original Lear into a more malicious Larry – from eccentric but harmless to fickle and incomprehensible. Larry is portrayed as one of those characters you love to hate, and I was definitely feeling this by the end of the novel.  

I also liked the way Smiley made the setting modern and believable. Basing an entire novel off a very well known play is not an easy task, and many who have tried this have failed miserably. This is not the case with Smiley. A small town in Iowa is the perfect place for the drama to unfold because in Lear, the reader never really hears about the kingdom anyway. Making younger sister Caroline a lawyer only increases her strength as Larry’s defender.

The way Smiley made me sympathize for Ginny even when I knew she was making the wrong decision, or leaving something out in her narration was good writing on Smiley’s a part. I wouldn’t have read the book had I not related to the narrator or main character is some way.  

The only aspect I didn’t really like about A Thousand Acres was the dryness. While its style is rich and informative, it took a while to get into the story. Farm explanations would have been better had they not been so in depth, and it got somewhat tedious reading paragraph after paragraph about hog farming. All in all, though, I would give this book an 8 out of 10. It was an entertaining and well written story, just not one of my favorite books ever.

Nathan

            The play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” written by Tennessee Williams, is an accurate depiction of American life during the 1940s in which it was written. While the plot remained uneventful until the climax, the stars of this play, Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, help add color to the monotone atmosphere.

            Created in a modernistic style, Williams presents his full attention on his characters and their actions, which symbolize the stereotypes of the epoch. The side characters, Eunice and Steve, represent the American couple during this era. Their names could’ve been anything else and nothing would’ve changed. Their roles were unimportant but they provided the general mold of society. Mitchell’s character was flat but helped define Blanche’s character through their interactions, and Stella represents the idealist, passive housewife.

            The main catalysts, Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, are defined not only by their actions, but by the way Williams uses stage directions to further describe and enhance the play in a fashion that seems to provide a mental image for anyone who reads it, as if they’re watching the play while reading it. Blanches desperate attempt for a moment of happiness is brutally destroyed by Stanley’s brute, crude, and sensual personality.
             The mass of symbols littered throughout the play and the use of stage directions to accurately portray William’s intentions will provide any analytical reader with a provocative and entertaining read.

Sergio

Jane Smiley's  A Thousand Acres is a modern day attempt at Shakespeare's King Lear. The story is set in 1980s Iowa narrated by (Lear's) Goneril, who here is named Ginny. Ginny's father Larry, who is a very proud and difficult person, decides to give his land to Ginny and her two sisters but, just like in King  Lear, Larry's favorite daughter, Caroline, rejects the land and leaves. But as you keep reading you begin to realize that this novel is not really an accurate interpretation of the Shakespeare's play. Unlike Lear, rather than focusing on the character development of the King or Father, Smiley focuses on the character development of Ginny and Rose. Instead of making these sisters look like the perpetrators Smiley makes them seem more like victims. This shows that Smiley does not really stay true to the source material.

The voice style of the narrator stays consistent throughout the novel, structurally. The narrators word choice, thoughts, sentence structures, etc. stay the same throughout.  But, the narrators abilities to interpret different situations and distinguish the line between false reality  and reality slowly change as you read. Interest levels might go down due to the fact that it is about farmers, in Iowa. But many readers might be attracted to dramatic events such as affairs, betrayal and abuse. The novel is overall very entertaining, contains a lot of description and is very  informative. Even though Smiley does not stay 100% faithful to Shakespeare she does a very good job at taking the base plot of an amazing play and turning it into something even more beautiful.

Eileena

     “Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” the line that ended the play A Streetcar Named Desire. The line was spoken by Blanche Dubois, a central character. Blanche along with other characters is essential in making Streetcar so strong. Williams portrays Blanche’s demise with adept precision, making her comparable to a modern day Ophelia; her decline results from the tearing away of Blanche’s fantastical dream world. Williams creates a character so tragic as Blanche by having her lie to herself and others, to make her appear as a dainty southern belle rather than the fallen woman she truthfully is. She is constantly mentioned being in the bathroom, taking a bath, then usually exclaiming how she feels so refreshed. Blanche’s incessant need for cleansing demonstrates her need for purity and idealism, a symbol which Williams skillfully adds. Williams even stresses Blanche’s preference to appearance than reality in her clothing, which can be called ostentatious but cheap. Inevitably Blanche’s romantic fantasies crumble, the climax when Stanley tears apart her dream world, and the dramatic piano music heightening the tension. Stanley, too, is a major part of Streetcar’s success. Stanley symbolizes reality, actuality which is a foil to Blanche and her detachment from reality. He is a member of the working class “common man”, hard working, and very passionate, even animalistic towards wife Stella. Blanche considers him brutish and simple, which is part of why he disdains Blanche and her old aristocratic ways. Stanley is crucial to Streetcar because he is primarily responsible for Blanche’s breakdown. The characters are well-developed, and serve some purpose. Even Steve and Eunice parallel Stanley and Stella’s relationship, both working class, abusive, and animalistic.

     Honestly, the plot is quite simple, but not bad. It begins with Blanche going off a streetcar named Desire in New Orleans. She decided to leave the family plantation in Mississippi to live with her sister and her brother-in-law. Blanche being Blanche, she tells others tales of grandeur and opulence, when none of that at all is true. Stanley and Blanche find each other repulsive, and Stanley then digs up dirt on Blanche. Blanche’s lies catch up with her leaving her defenseless in a cold world, which Stanley seizes and rapes her.

     Streetcar is very modernist play. As mentioned in the prior paragraph, the plot is very simple, and it aids the development of the characters. The ending too has modernist characteristics; the ending is very open ended, last line being “seven-card stud” showing the future of the Kowalski’s is subject to change. Williams also maintains a strong use of stage directions, particularly the entrances and exits of music. His clever use of the polka music, Varsouviana, is used whenever Blanche is feeling remorse about her dead husband.

Jimmy

            Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is no mere novel. No, it cannot be categorized as a novel because never before has a novel embodied such an intimate essence of a generation. The Sun Also Rises captivates not only the atmosphere of the setting (Europe amidst the aftermath of World War I) but also captivates the ideals and changes brought to society during this time period. Hemingway is able to cultivate these ideals and changes through the protagonist, Jake Barnes, and his hodge-podge group of friends.

            Barnes is able to represent a lot of major themes that many men felt following the Great War. He is a veteran of the war who saw the indescribable horrors that many witnessed on the battlefield and even sustained an injury as a result of the war. He became impotent. Hemingway unravels this injury as a way to reveal the theme of male insecurity that was often felt by many at the time. Barnes is not the only character who feels this but his impotency is the most direct reference to the theme. This male insecurity is paralleled by Barnes’ love interest, Lady Brett Ashley. Brett is easily the most manly character out of Barnes’ group of friends. Not only does she have a masculine name, but she also has shorter hair and is very decisive. The men in the book all seem to be attracted to her which brings about the anti-romantic movement felt by many in post World War I Europe. Brett embodies this movement through her destructive sexual ways. Brett is able to attach herself to several men throughout the book who all begin to adore her, although she never feels the same. She denies Jake even though she loves him due to her needs which Jake cannot satisfy due to his injury. This unfaithfulness to her heart is a major display of this anti-romantic feeling. Brett also denies romantic approaches of men. This is best seen when Pedro Romero gives her a bull’s ear as a token and she buries it in a drawer.

            The most identifiable theme presented by Jake Barnes and his friends is the feeling of disillusionment following World War I. The group of friends is constantly drinking throughout the course of this book. Whether they are in Paris or Pamplona they resort to going out all night long moving from bar to bar and drinking aimlessly. This schedule repeats day in and day out. This sense of disillusionment and utter hopelessness gives great insight to the attitudes felt by men and women of the time period who experienced the war first hand. These people were greatly affected morally and psychologically by the war and they chose to escape reality by drinking themselves to oblivion. This is exactly what Jake and his companions chose to do throughout the novel.

            Hemingway’s rough, masculine, right-to-the-point, style of writing combined with his cunning character descriptions help this piece perfectly mimic the essence of the time. His characters are able to develop in the readers’ head into a perfect image of a member of the lost generation and the anticlimactic storyline reiterates the disillusionment of the time. No book has ever or will ever be able to do what The Sun Also Rises has done. No book will ever be able to capture an entire generation of people so perfectly or create such a mirror image of a time period. So kudos to you Ernest Hemingway. You have not written a great novel but rather you have composed a symphony of a generation, captured into a story, binded by time.

Rachael K.

   In A Prayer For Owen Meany, John is the narrator and Owen is the main character. The balance between these two characters is shown through the characteristics of their friendship. Owen is the straight forward and controlling type balanced out by his diminished height and awkward voice. While, John is normal in context, comes across as somewhat shy and simple, evening out the two characters. This is the scenario based throughout the book, where John tells the reader about his life and how Owen affected it or was a part of that memory. Meaning that even though John is writing this story about his life experiences, it is clearly a story about Owen Meany, a story that tells you that Owen was the reason of the man John turned in to.

                Do to descriptions of Owen and how John feels about him, a image of the characters is established. Owen, creepy and attention grabbing out shines John’s shy and nervous qualities, grabbing the reader’s interest, thrusting them further and further into the book, never disappointing. In every page you learn something new and riveting about each character: from religion to the curse of baseball. Do to unfailing entertainment and consistency in the text the purpose is grasped about how no matter who or where you are, influences stick with you.

                For myself, what kept me drawn into the book was the constant question mark floating over that last read word. What are they going to do next, what else could I relate to? Owens determination and John’s curiosity could be relative to all types of readers, giving this book a quality that puts it above many other novels under a similar topic. What this story has that so many others do not is a way to make a reader want to read until that last word. That is why I found this book extraordinary.

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