Grade 10 American Literature
A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Documents
Background Elements of Literature
Seven Key Elements of Fiction
Literary Terms Complete Collection
8.5 Arch-typical Characters
Archetypes for Literary Analysis
Seven Key Elements of Fiction
Literary Terms Complete Collection
8.5 Arch-typical Characters
Archetypes for Literary Analysis
Textbook
Vocabs
Movie Maker Materials
Useful Stuff
Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mocking Bird
The Outsiders
Topic Sentence: Both Greasers and Socs lead different lives with vastly different expectations, perceptions and opportunities. The disadvantaged working class Greasers are frequently vilified while the affluent upper middle class, socially affluent Socs are frequently forgiven the trouble that they cause.
Concrete Detail: Ponyboy tells us that “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump Greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while” (Hinton 4).
Commentary: The Socs seem to be guilty of throwing underage drinking parties and driving their cars too fast as they try and find their place in the world. Meanwhile, the Greasers commit much more serious offences that society doesn’t seem to want to forgive. Much of this difference can be attributed to the divergence in economic status and the opportunities this entails between the two groups. The Socs represent the moneyed affluent class who take for granted all of the trappings and nicer things that come with this status. Conversely, the Greasers who lead poor working class lives and lack many of the finer things in life and prefer to steal and rob to satisfy their need for life’s frills and necessities.
Transition: Cherry Valance makes the clear the distinctions and parallels between the two groups.
Concrete Detail: “It's not just money. Part of it is, but not all. You Greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional. We're sophisticated--- cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us…"We're always going and going and going, and never asking where. Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted? So that you couldn't want anything else and then started looking for something else to want? It seems like we're always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool. We could” (Hinton 33).
Commentary: Cherry Valance speaks of the economic and emotional differences that marks the two groups and subsequently how they approach life. She notes that it is difficult to place value on something when you have everything. The Greasers conversely have nothing and place enormous value on everything they possess. This contrast ranges from the relationships they share to the cars they drive.
Concluding/ Transition Sentence: Cherry Valance says “Things are rough all over” as much as money and privilege separate the two groups from each other, and they are vastly different in their status and expectations, they are all young people seeking to find their place in the world (Hinton 30).
Concrete Detail: Ponyboy tells us that “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump Greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while” (Hinton 4).
Commentary: The Socs seem to be guilty of throwing underage drinking parties and driving their cars too fast as they try and find their place in the world. Meanwhile, the Greasers commit much more serious offences that society doesn’t seem to want to forgive. Much of this difference can be attributed to the divergence in economic status and the opportunities this entails between the two groups. The Socs represent the moneyed affluent class who take for granted all of the trappings and nicer things that come with this status. Conversely, the Greasers who lead poor working class lives and lack many of the finer things in life and prefer to steal and rob to satisfy their need for life’s frills and necessities.
Transition: Cherry Valance makes the clear the distinctions and parallels between the two groups.
Concrete Detail: “It's not just money. Part of it is, but not all. You Greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional. We're sophisticated--- cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us…"We're always going and going and going, and never asking where. Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted? So that you couldn't want anything else and then started looking for something else to want? It seems like we're always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool. We could” (Hinton 33).
Commentary: Cherry Valance speaks of the economic and emotional differences that marks the two groups and subsequently how they approach life. She notes that it is difficult to place value on something when you have everything. The Greasers conversely have nothing and place enormous value on everything they possess. This contrast ranges from the relationships they share to the cars they drive.
Concluding/ Transition Sentence: Cherry Valance says “Things are rough all over” as much as money and privilege separate the two groups from each other, and they are vastly different in their status and expectations, they are all young people seeking to find their place in the world (Hinton 30).
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller was first performed in 1949 on Broadway and was an immediate success. This deceptively simple story of the tragic road to suicide of a traveling salesman struck an emotional chord with American audiences. It was critically acclaimed and won the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the production ran for 742 performances before it closed. Since then Death of a Salesman has become one of the most performed and adapted plays in American theatrical history.
While Miller tackles the social question of the effect the capitalistic American Dream myth has on an ordinary family, its enduring appeal seems to lie in the fact that Miller tapped into the hopes and fears of not only an American but a global public. Universal human questions about the nature of happiness and success, of aging and of family responsibility are tackled. Willy Loman has the quality of an everyman, whose struggle to attain his dreams of success resonates within us all. But it is not just the themes of the play that ensured its success. Miller was so innovative with form and skilled with language that he created a style that was accessible to any audience yet produced a multi-layered piece of theatre. These qualities have confirmed the play’s place in the canon of 'classic literature’ and ensured that since its premiere, there has never been a time when Death of a Salesman was not being performed somewhere in the world |