Response to Course Materials 4/27

This past month has involved a lot of Ceremony, so I'm kind of glad this month is through because it was probably my least favorite of all the works we've read so far. It was a bit of a slog at times and I don't really identify with any of the characters. The writing style also wasn't my favorite. It's not that I didn't like the book, it just paled in comparison to everything else we've read this year.

We all were assigned different articles regarding the book to read to help further our analysis, and I basically lucked out by getting assigned the one discussing the significance of the various animals, because that one was chock full of great information and really went a long way in helping me understand the work. I'm largely satisfied with the theme statement that my hour came up with, though I'm not sure if it was worded as well as it could've been. But I think that out of all of the theme statements we've created the wording was trickiest for this one. I also feel like there's a lot I'm still missing, and when the AP exam rolls around, Ceremony is probably the least likely to be used by me on an essay.

And since the AP exam is now only a week and half away, we've been increasing the amount of practice. I'm largely banking on the multiple choice section to boost my score, so I was happy to see myself do well on the practice section we took. I was also completely shocked to get a seven on the most recent practice essay we did. If I can live up to my lofty expectations for the multiple choice section and then pull out sevens on the essays on top of that I think I can definitely score a five on this exam.

I wasn't crazy about the Weebly project. I'm not sure what use it's going to be for me and I don't think it's going to have much of an impact on how I do on the AP exam. I enjoyed researching Edward Albee, it's something I might have done on my own anyway for fun, but I'd be shocked if any of the information I learned through that research came in handy on the exam.

Open Prompt 4/20

2003 Open Prompt: Tragic Figures as Instruments of the Suffering of Others

According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.



Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman follows the life of Willy Loman, whose struggle to be successful in the business world of America tears his family apart and ultimately kills him. The death of Willy Loman and the destruction of his family is used to signify the death of traditional American values and the breakdown of traditional American families.

Willy learns the keys to being successful from his older brother Ben. Those keys seem to all involve being a deceitful person and doing whatever it takes to get to the top. However, it becomes apparent that the closest Willy comes to following in Ben's advice is when he has an affair with The Woman. Other than that he doesn't commit a dirty act to advance himself, he just works hard and tirelessly. And as it turns out, the sole attempt by Willy to follow Ben's advice is the driving force behind the family's destruction, as it shatters Biff's ambitions and the guilt of that nearly drives Willy to insanity.

Willy's attempt to conform to the new business order drives his family apart, but his inability to succeed when not conforming also puts them under strain. Being subconsciously unable to actual do what it takes to succeed as Ben did, he's never able to advance too far up the ladder, and he's ultimately fired by his boss. The family struggles financially as a result, finding it difficult to pay the house off before Willy becomes too old to work. Willy's inability to succeed causes him to fall into a state of delusion in which he believes he is successful, and this delusion is passed down to his children, Biff and Happy. Due to Willy's psyche, his wife Linda has to dote on him almost as if he were a child in order to keep him from hurting himself. They go from a normal happy family to one of suffering, their tragedy being reflective of the deterioration of the American society's values.

This deterioration is largely seen through Ben and through Willy's ramblings. Ben talks about how we walked into the "jungle" and came back rich, but it's heavily implied that becoming rich in the jungle involved less than honest methods. Willy encourages his son Biff to steal and to cheat when he can. When Biff has to pass his math exam, Willy just encourages him to cheat in order to pass, something Ben might've encouraged, which would go against the typical American moral standard, which would be to work and study hard in order to pass. When Biff does these things, he succeeds, but after he catches Willy having an affair and goes back to being honest, he spirals into a meandering state of failure. And no one in the business world is sympathetic to hard work anymore, as is evidenced by the firing of Willy Loman. This is all proof that society is changing, and that traditional moral values are deteriorating in the name of business success.

As society's traditional values goes down the drain, we see Willy's mental state continue to crumble and his family fall apart. Willy serves as an instrument to the fall of traditional morals, and his firing and eventual death signifies the ultimate topple of morals in the business world.

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Theme: Silko's Ceremony shows that personal and natural balance can only be achieved by balancing your own cultural traditions with new ideas.

Betonie points out that animals adapt to changes in their surroundings and that that's how they survive, meanwhile humans tend to resist change. In order to ensure the survival of his spirit, the land, and the larger community, Tayo has to reconcile the older, traditional Laguna culture and the newer, modern white culture. Tayo's own hybridity is what makes him especially suited for this task, it's the return of the hybrid cattle that ultimately complete the ceremony. 

Summary: Tayo is very sick after returning to the Laguna Reservation after serving as a soldier in WWII. He is especially haunted by the deaths of his cousin Rocky and his uncle Josiah. At the Laguna Reservation, a drought is plaguing the people and many other Laguna are having mental and emotional problems to Tayo. Many are trying to escape the Laguna culture and immerse themselves in white culture, with Emo being among the worst. With modern medicine and traditional Laguna methods unable to cure Tayo, he goes to see the medicine man Betonie who gives him instruction on how to reconcile the two traditions and cure himself, the land, and the community. Tayo begins by seeking out a herd of hybrid cattle bought by Josiah. He finds them, and encounters Ts'eh and Hunter. He has a fleeting romantic encounter with Ts'eh, who represents Yellow Woman. After returning the cattle, Tayo learns that Emo is recruiting people to come after him, claiming that he is crazy. Tayo runs. He encounters Emo and two other Laguna veterans, who have joined Emo's side, at the emergence point and hides. Tayo watches as he kills one, but knows that he must do nothing. Having returned the cattle and evaded Emo, the ceremony is completed. The drought ends and the destruction of the land and the community is stopped.

Author: Leslie Marmon Silko is mixed race, she is both Laguna Pueblo and white. She grew up on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation.

Setting: The Laguna Pueblo Reservation in western New Mexico post World War II, though there are some passages that occur in the Pacific Theatre of World War II

Characters:

Tayo: Half-white, half-Laguna, Tayo is the protagonist of the story. He grew up on the Laguna reservation and fights in WWII along with his cousin Rocky. He is very traumatized by the death of Rocky during the war, and the death of his uncle Josiah while he is away. Tayo becomes very ill after the war and the story follows his journey to be cured through ceremony. He represents the Sun Father and the completion of his ceremony brings spiritual balance to him and balance to nature and his community.

Rocky: Tayo's cousin who dies in the war. He was often disdainful of Laguna culture and was more prized in the eyes of Auntie.

Josiah: Tayo's uncle who dies while Tayo is fighting in the war, and is Tayo's father figure. He believes in Laguna customs and buys the hybrid cattle.

Auntie: Tayo's aunt, she is effectively the head of the family given Grandma's age. She does not adhere to the Laguna customs and tends toward white culture and customs. She is a Christian. She alienates Tayo and always holds Rocky on a higher pedestal. Her relationship with Tayo becomes especially strained after Rocky dies.

Grandma: Tayo's grandmother, She very much adheres to Laguna tradition.

Betonie: A "hybrid" medicine man, as he uses Navajo and Pueblo methods. He sets Tayo on the right path to complete the necessary ceremony, telling him to reconcile with change and to adapt to it. It's his instruction that ultimately leads Tayo to balance and cure.

Ts'eh: The Yellow Woman. She helps guide Tayo through his ceremony and has a fleeting romantic relationship with him. She essentially impregnates Tayo with stories.

Hunter: The husband/partner of Ts'eh, represents the mountain lion. Also assists in guiding Tayo through his ceremony.

Emo: The main antagonist of the story. He is a witch, looking to work against the reconciliation between the Laguna and white cultures that Tayo is working toward. He was one of the Laguna natives who fought in WWII. 

Motifs: 

BALANCE

NATURE

ANIMALS

STORIES

CULTURE

Hybridity

Ceremony

Change

Tradition

Sickness

Cyclicity

Sex

Weather

Direction

Ground

Fertility

Matriarchy

Color

Spirits

Witchcraft

Imagery: Heavy emphasis is placed on natural imagery and the significance of natural landmarks. The colors yellow and turquoise are given powerful spiritual significance, while white is significant in its artificiality. Red and brown colors are often used to depict drought and gray often represents conflict, usually spiritual conflict.

Perspective: From Tayo's perspective, though it will sometimes shift time periods oddly as if his thoughts are drifting through various memories. There are some poems that break up the book to help guide the story that are not from Tayo's perspective, but could be told by any Laguna.

Tone: Silko's tone is serious and thoughtful. She carries us through Tayo's thoughts and wants to feel the anguish and personal struggle that he does, while still considering the bigger picture and considering the larger implications that the story deals with.

Symbols:

Mountain Lion: The mountain lion is associated as the helper of Yellow Woman, and can be seen in characters such as Hunter. But the mountain lion also embodies faith in spirit, which is why the mountain lion is there for Tayo when he is trying to return the cattle, even distracting the two white men who capture Tayo so that Tayo can escape.

The Hybrid Cattle: The cattle bought by Josiah represent the clouds in the sky and rain. Their very appearance is supposed to suggest clouds, but their absence also aligns with the disappearance of the clouds and rain in an old Laguna story. When Tayo returns the cattle, he also returns the rain to the Laguna people and ends the drought.

Quotes:

"it seems like I already heard these stories before--only thing is, the names sound different" (242)

Demonstrates the common motif of cyclicity. The old Laguna stories can be applied to real life, and used to help the newer generation. Tayo's own story of returning the cattle greatly mirrors an old Laguna story about returning the rain. It shows the importance of the old Laguna tradition.