Mad Men, Misogyny and Madison Avenue Lauren Goodlad’s essay, Why We Love “Mad Men”, focuses on characterization of Donald Draper, a mysterious ad man who embodies miscontrived notions of masculinity, while balancing the contrasting roles of fatherhood and playboy. She claims that the rotating cast of characters that surround Don Draper and fragile situations that each of those characters inherit, is what makes Mad Men so captivating. The essay then address the tropes that make Mad Men so addictive, but it is fundamentally bankrupt when it comes to explaining what Don Draper is truly a symbol for. Goodlad’s essay is opens with her talking about her feminist aversion to men like Don Draper. She continues by addressing masculinity in a modern sense and brings up the idea that men are now dramatizing ones passions as opposed to shunning it, hiding it in the recesses of their identities.
He is poking fun at the age old concept of ‘equality,’ one that has inspired wars and movements alike; he accomplishes this by creating a system to make everyone equal, a system that happens to be just as stupid as the idea of ‘total equality.’ Under this system equality is achieved, but it is at the cost of individual freedom and a society full of stupid people, this in-turn creates the situational irony found in the story. The plot of the story itself is a piece of situational irony, however there are many other instances found throughout it, including verbal irony. One specific example of this is when Hazel and George are talking, Vonnegut writes “ ‘I think I’d make a good Handicapper General. (Hazel)’ ‘Good as anybody else,’ said George.” His response to Hazel’s comment is slightly sarcastic, but also ironic, in that she really would be “as good anybody else” because in their society everyone is just as good or bad as everybody else. Another example of this false sense of equality is when George says,
Despite Paul seeing his teen years as a mistake, he fails to realise his achievements through his hard work. Paul’s loyalty to Rosie is one of these key examples. Although his musical career seemed to fail, his love life was of his true successes. He was continually loyal even through the temptations of Megan Murray and ended up marrying and having two children with Rosie. Another example is of Paul’s honour towards Herr Keller.
Not only does it point out the natural inclination of people to feel pain as a ripple effect rather than all at once, it foreshadows the suffering that Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale will undergo throughout the course of the novel. It also explains how Hester is able to handle such terrible things as public shaming without crumbling into herself. His use of words such as torture, rankles and extremity increase the sense of drama in this passage. Chapter 4 “The Interview” Page 30 “We have wronged each other,” answered he. “Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay.
23 Nov. 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420064840&v=2.1&u=hage50327&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w I will use this source to show some facts about Zora Neale Hurston. I will also be able to connect her to the main character. Hurd, Myles Raymond. "What Goes Around Comes Around: Characterization, Climax, and Closure in Hurston's 'Sweat'." Langston Hughes Review 12.2 (Fall 1993): 7-15.
American Dream in Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle's character represents the opposite of the American Dream, as lazy and unproductive, "Rather starve on a penny than work for a pound." (Paragraph 11) The American Dream is used in many ways, but it essentially is an idea that suggests that anyone can succeed through hard work and has the potential to lead a happy, successful life. Many people also include things such as freedom, fulfillment, hardworking, working your way up to do better things, and meaningful relationships. Someone who manages to achieve his or her version of the American dream is often said to be “living the dream.” Rip Van Winkle had a different relationship with each thing of his life which included individuals, society, and nature. Rip had very good connections with his fellow town-folks as they enjoyed the fact that he did favors for them and he was always there to help out.
An individual that may or may not be human, may experience a better understanding of identity with more ‘human’ experiences. Tyrell demonstrates his incapacity to empathise with the replicant’s plight highlights his loss of humanity - “Replicants are like any other machine: they’re either a benefit or a hazard.” Scott symbolises them as the exploitation of class to comment on the slave labour in third world countries evident during the late 20th century. With the death of Tyrell, there is a low angle close up shot of Roy, emphasising on his emotions with crescendo of the chorus in the background music, increasing the tension. This reinforces the idea of the replicants being “more human that human” as they too are afflicted with emotional pain. With Roy descending from the pinnacle of Tyrell Corporations after killing Tyrell, and Roy’s deliberate misquote of William Blake’s America: A Prophecy in Chewy’s Laboratory scene -”Fiery the angels rose” to :Fiery the angels fell; deep thunder rolled around their shoulders”- is reminiscent of John Milton’s Paradise Lose in which Roy resembles the fallen angel, Satan.
Establishing Ethos in Writing An author can write with spectacular diction and elegant flow, but without establishing good ethos, that can dilute the rest of the message. In Sherman Alexie’s What You Pawn I Will Redeem, Lame Deer’s Talking to the Owls and Butterflies, and Benjamin Franklin’s Way to Wealth, their writings are focused on this exact idea. Whether it is through telling a story of a drunken Indian, attacking whites for what they have done to the world, or even giving advice on work ethic and gratuity, they all let their intelligence shine, make the reader feel sympathetic, and add some humor to lighten the mood. Each of the three authors portrays their intelligence in unique manner. At the end of Franklin’s essay he states, “I am, as ever, thine to
Many believe that the most significant themes of the book include phoniness, death/suicide, and “The Catcher in the Rye.” Phoniness is a tremendous structure of The Catcher in the Rye. People see Holden calling people “a phony” all the time. Being a phony means being someone who a person really isn’t, or just a typical “sheeple”. The main character Holden says numerous times in the book such as,”… they probably just met each other at a phony party.”- (Salinger, p.127) This quote is a favorite of mine because it shows Holden being what he hates the most, which is being a phony. He is doing this by being jealous, just like any other person would.
On page 18, Gene admitted his envy towards Phineas. He thought, “It was hypnotism. I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him…” Gene was an introvert, while Phineas was an extrovert. His jealously of Finny’s trait increased throughout the novel because Finny continued to smooth-talk to get out of trouble.