Revision: Open Prompt #4

1976. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work you choose.

           Dystopian novels are commonly written throughout ages of change and political commotion. Authors of those types of novels most likely write them to warn readers what may happen in the future if things continue to change for the worse. In the novel, 1984, the author, George Orwell, uses themes to show people what moral and ethical implications a totalitarian government may have on its citizens.
            One theme that Orwell uses is the control of the mind. The Party (government) alters the news and books to change the history that portrays them in bad light. The Party also monitors the citizens carefully and 24/7. The citizens are not allowed to think or speak rebellious thoughts (thoughtcrime) and are forced to suppress sexual urges. Children are turned into Junior Spies to rat out people that commit those crimes. In addition, the Party creates a new language called Newspeak that contains no rebellious words so that people won't think or speak rebellious thoughts.
            Another theme that Orwell includes is the control of the mind. The Party uses immoral and unethical tactics to crack Winston Smith (protagonist). The Party takes Julia (Winston's secret girlfriend) away and forces Winston into Room 101. They threaten to let a bunch of rats (Winston's biggest fear) eat his face unless he gives up Julia. Winston tells the Party to do it to Julia instead and in the end, Winston loves the Party. The Party also forces citizens to do physically demanding workouts every morning. If anyone defies the Party or commits a crime, the Party punishes them severly until they learn to love the Party (like what they did to Winston).
              These themes serve as warnings to what may happen if countries convert to totalitarianism. The citizens and society will be oppressed morally and ethically.

Summary/Analysis: Ceremony

Author:
Leslie Marmon Silko is a Native American writer. She is a mixed race of white, Mexican, and Laguna Pueblo. Some of her notable works are Storyteller and Ceremony.

Setting:
Laguna Reservations in America.

Significant Characters:
Tayo-
Tayo suffers from PTSD after returning from war. He struggles with his identity, not really fitting in any community because he is half-white and half-Laguna. He has to complete a ceremony to bring order back into the world and to cure himself and others.
Auntie-
Auntie excludes Tayo and blames him and his mom for causing the neighborhood to gossip about their family. She excludes Tayo often and doesn't treat him like a son.
Josiah-
He was Tayo's uncle who taught him Native American traditions and how to herd cattle. Tayo is crushed when Josiah dies and has to learn to how to get over his death and move on.
Emo-
The villian of the play, Emo has had a hatred of Tayo since childhood. He doesn't approve of Tayo's mixed race and after the war, transforms into a drinking, raged mess.

Narrative Voice-
The narrative voice changes quite often, especially between the main story and the poem. For the most part, the narrator is of a third person view, telling the story of Tayo and his past.

Plot Summary-
Tayo comes back from war and is very sick. Grandma sends him to Ku'oosh, the medicine man, and Tayo later sees Betonie, another medicine man. Betonie instructs Tayo to complete a ceremony in order to cure himself and the community. Tayo goes on his journey, which involves looking for Josiah's cattle, encountering a mountain lion, and meeting the Night Swan and the Yellow Woman. The Yellow Woman warns Tayo that Emo is trying to kill him, so Tayo hides from him. At the end of the story, Tayo and the community are cured and the ceremony is complete.

Quotes-
"It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different."
This quote shows the circle theme in that everything eventually comes back around in a huge cycle. Grandma said that the stories are always the same, but the people involved in those stories are different each time.

"Here they were, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during the war."
This shows that the Tayo's Laguna friends want to feel like they are included by other Americans because the only way they actually felt that was when they were at war, fighting with the other Americans. It incorporates the theme of combining different cultures into one.  

Style-Silko uses many symbols, imagery, and diction to enhance her story. The symbols of colors show different moods and themes. For example, grey symbolizes the merging of two different cultures: Laguna and American. Imagery is shown throughout the book, especially in various flashbacks of the war. Diction like "intricacy" and "entaglement" add to the description of the imagery.

Theme-
One of the major themes is the importance of tradition. In the Native American culture, preserving traditions through stories, actions, and ceremonies is very important, but the traditions must also change and mold to fit with the new values and culture of the current society.

Response to Course Material #8

           With only a month left before the AP Exam, I'm starting to get a bit nervous! I definitely need the most work on the essay writing, but I also want to get as much multiple choice practice in as I can too. Throughout this past year, I feel like my analyzing skills have gotten better, it's just a matter of putting that analysis into words with good claims and warrants that I struggle with.
           Over the last few weeks, we have finished reading, discussing, and annotating Ceremony. This book was definitely the hardest to annotate, as it was extremely long and detailed, with many hidden meanings woven into it. I think that the background knowledge, poems, and culture that this book came with made the story quite interesting to read. I found myself constantly underlining symbols like the circles, directions, and colors that were described over and over again. It was as if Silko deliberately did this to attract attention to those symbols. I thought it was cool that although all the poems were scattered within the book, at the end of the story, those poems came together to create a giant story. Although it took my forever to annotate this book, it is really one of my favorite books we have read this year!
          We have just started to read Fifth Business. Even though I'm only a couple pages into it since I was absent for a couple of days, I can already tell that it will be a great read. It reads much quicker than the rest of the previous books we have read and best of all: we don't need to annotate it! :) I'm excited to finish reading this book and practice for the AP exam. We're in the home stretch!