Thursday, February 27, 2014

Literature Analysis #2 Brave New World

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
This book begins in a hatchery in futuristic London where everyone is produced and programed to have a certain role in society rather than born and raised.  There is no such thing as mothrhood or marriage because everyone "belongs" to everyone else.  Everyone also takes a drug called soma to be happy.  Bernard is a little bit different and isn't happy with how society functions.  He meets Lenina and takes her to a savage reservation where the two of them are astonished at what they see.  They meet Linda and John who aren't particularly savages.  Linda was created in the world state, but was impregnated and left at the reservation to give birth to her child John.  Bernard and Lenina take the two of them back to London.  Linda goes on what they call a "soma holiday" where she is in a constant dreamland comma.  John faces this "Brave New World" without the help of him Mom.  Lenina likes him, but he doesn't want to sleep with her until after they marry which obviously doesn't happen because people don't marry in Lenina's culture.  Linda dieds from being on to much soma and John bursts because he doesn't understand why knowone will help her and why they don't care that she's dead.  He has an out burst and is sent to talk to Mustafa Mond.  Mond exiles Bernard and a character named Hemholtz for assisting Johns outbreak, but he refuses to let John leave.  John isolates himself in a lighthouse and punishes himself for all the ghastly things he did in this new world.  People find him and won't leave him alone so he hangs himself.  Huxley's purpose in this book is to show that humans are heading down a road to a terrible future so he wrote this book to show readers what he predicts this future wil be like in an attempt to open our eyes.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. 
The theme is the path to dehumanization.  This is a futuristic book that is ment to predict what the       future would be like for the human race.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The authors tone is scientific, blunt in certain aspects, and doesn't have much emotion.

  1. "They mocked him through his misery and remorse, mocked him with how hideous a note of cynical derision." (Page210)
  2. "The Russian technique for infecting water supplies was particularly ingenious." (Page 48)
  3. "Ending is better than mending." (Page 211)


4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers.

  1. Personification- (page 1) "Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure..."
  2. Allusion- (page 49) "Liberalism, of course, was dead of anthrax, but all the same you couldn't do things by force." Liberalism is by definition, the political and economic doctrine that emphasizes the rights and freedoms of the individual and the need to limit the powers of government. 
  3. Simile- (page 107) "The mesa was like a ship becalmed in a strait of lion-colored dust."
  4. Metaphore- (page 146) "This hive of industry, as the Director was fond of calling it, was in the full buzz of work."
  5. Foreshadowing- (page 164) "'What's in those, those caskets?' the Savage enquired when Bernard had rejoined him.  'The day's soma ration.'" This foreshadows the some killing Linda.
  6. Allusion- (page 164) "(remembering The Merchant of Venice)" Huxley uses this when John is search for the word "casket."  The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare.  John alludes to Shakepeare pieces quite often.
  7. Onomatopoeia- (page 178) "Click, click, click, click...  And it was morning."
  8. Allusion- (page 184) "The savage was reading Romeo and Juliet aloud-..."  Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy by once again William Shakepeare about forbidden love.  John compare himself and Lenina to Romeo and Juliet.
  9. Symbolism- (page 210 along with many others) "Deprivation of soma- appalling thought!"  Soma most obviously symbolized drugs, but it also symbolizes the fear of reality, and it symbolizes death.
  10. Allusion/Irony- (page 48) "The Nine Years' War, the great Economic Collapse.  There was a choice between World Control and destruction, Between stability and..."  The Nine Years' War was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition.  This quote is also ironic because the characters think that they chose stability, but they really chose world control.

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
Direct characterization:  (page 194) "'Whore!' he shouted.  'Whore!  Impudent strumpet!'"
(page 117) "He had seen for the first time in his life, the face of a girl whose cheeks were not the colour of chocolate or dogskin, whose hair was auburn and [ermanately waved, and whose expression (amazing novelty!) was one of benevolent interest."
Inirect characterization: (page 209) "Twins, twin. . . .  Like maggots they had swarmed defilingly over the mystery of Linda's death."
(page 113) "Hideously masked or painted out of all semblance of humanity, they had tramped out a strange limping dance..."

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
Huxley uses a lot of dialogue for the charcaters so the syntax and diction changes depending on who is talking.
Ex. (page 48) "You're hopeless Lenina, I give you up."

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
The protagonist is definately static because his beliefs never really change.  He is also neither flat or round, but rather in between because he doesn't undergo devolopment, but he does go through little changes.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 
I actually did feel like I me the characters.  I usually don't feel this way, but Huxley portrayed the emotions of everyone toward each other which was really cool.  "His cheeks burn red with the rush of blood, the room swam and darkened before his eyes.  He ground his teeth.  'I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him,' he kept saying." (page 133)

1 comment:

  1. Haha I like how number one says briefly summarize the plot and your summary looks really long. Just made me laugh! ��

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