controf` of the narrative to Huck Finn, a very different sort of character

Y
T
/-*
Ouestions for Midterm Test. English 2883. McDonald
Spring,2006
The test is closed book and closed notes. But you may take notes on the pages of these test
questions. Do not try to write out your answers to the questions beforehand. On the day of the test,
Tuesday, March 21, I will select 2 of the following 6 questions and you will be asked to write in
your (small-sized) blue books a minimum of 6 pages (one side only) on each of the questions.
There is no maximum length.
Perkins Gilman said that she wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" not'to drive people
crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked." What Gilman was referring to
here, I think, is the ability of women to empower themselves through writing and art. "The Yellow
Wallpaper" can be read in this sense as the story of a woman's effort'to write herself into
existence" through art. To do this, however, she must identify herself with those forces of the
Unconscious which are suppressed in the male culture of her husband and which are treated by that
culture as irrational and destructive. In this essay, first describe the competing models of art and
literature suggested in the story: art as disordered, chaotic, and wildly expressive versus art as
ordered, rule-based, and restrained. Then show how the protagonist uses her identification with the
wallpaper and writing to emancipate herself (symbolically if not literally) as an individual.
Consider, in relation to the second part of the question, how "The Yellow Wallpaper" complicates
our usual notions ofthe distinction between the protagonist's "experiencing self' (the self acting in
the story) and the "narrating self' (the self or narrator who occupies a temporal standpoint which is,
by definition, outside the story).
/"*rone
tZ.l"the first sentence of
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck refers to a previous novel,
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, authored by'Mark Twain." What is emphasized by this reference is
that Huck Finn, although a character in that previous novel, is the narrator of Huckleberry Finn.
Taken literally, Huck's words also imply that he is the author ofthe novel; that implication, of
course, we don't accept. But what we might more reasonably accept is that author Mark Twain,
after focusing on his character, Tom Sawyer, in his previous novel, has in this new one handed over
"controf' of the narrative to Huck Finn, a very different sort of character from Tom. And much of
the novel can be read as supporting this assumption.
And yet, in the closing chapters of Huckleberr.v Finn, beginning with Chapter 32 when Huck
arives at the Phelps' farilL Twain seerns to take control ofthe narrative away from Huck and give
it to Tonr, who dictates the course of action and events for much ofthe remainder ofthe novel.
Huck, that is, is allowed to be duped or taken in by Tom's plan to set Jim free, a plan which is in
fact a charade since Jim had already been set fuee2 months before by his owner, Miss Watson.
Neither Huck nor the reader is aware ofthis fact until almost the very end ofthe novel. As many
readers have contended, most notably Ernest Hemingway, this trick or deception played on the
reader and Huck by Twain was a form of literary and artistic'lcheating." Twain, who had a good
deal of difficulty completing his novel, seemed at a loss to decide what would be Huck and Jim's
l.
Describe the competing models of art disordered, chaotic, and wildly expressive vs. ordered,
rule-based, and restrained. Showhow the protagonist uses her identifitation with the wallpaper
and writing to emancipate herself.. . touch on division between main character and narrator
boundaries blurred?
-
"one of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every
artistiJ@"
tn"
eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, an when yo1 foilow the
lame
uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide-plung" offut outrageous angles,
destroy themselves in unheard of confiadictions.,'
"I know a little of the principle of design, and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation,
or alternation, or repetition or symmefiy...,,
"A1 night,.. [thepaper]becomesbars! ... andthewornanbehinditisasplainascanbe.,,
"I don't sleep at night, but I sleep a good deal in the daytime.,,
"I really have discovered something at last. Through watching
so much at night, when it changes soo I have
finally found out. The front pattern DOES move-and no wonder! The woman behind shakeJitt,,
llen one nighl "I got up and ran to help her...before morning we had peeled offyards of that paper.,,
Disordered represents the irrational, emotional side of womenthat is repressed *d thus disturbing upon
first confrontation. Our narrator is disturbed by this, and then by the end of the novel she is embracing it.
Ordered represents the male/societal expectations of women. Clean, crisp, umuffled and seen but not hemd.
Experiencing self:
Narrating self:
Rebel
associated with male consciousness
Present tense
past tense
Non-rational, instinctual
rsason, science (doctor hubby)
Freudian unconscious
Moon
Repressed wome4 internal
lmagination
-
sun
social roles, external
art as ordered
2. Huck Finn seems to be a struggle between two competing views of slavery. . . Twain presents
both to keep his respectability and readers.
Why turn it over to Tom? Twain can exclude the thoughts of Huck on all the "evasion'
foolishness. Twain is divided himself on which view is correct and so Tom is a safety valve.
Cultural reason: ease the reader's conscience. Twain's loyal southern readers would iquirm in
their seats reading lines such as "I'll go to hell then" as Huck decided to rebel and follow his heart.
These lines would be uncomfortable to the audience, and risky for Twain. Tom
-the good clean
kid- eases anxiety and lends legitimacy.\
Huck Finn presents conflicting attitudes of racism; it very much seems as if Twain simply could
not decide which side to defend.
-Tom represents the traditional. Good clean southem boy, who would usually win credibility... but yet, he
cannot be taken seriously when the story is told through Huck,s eyes (parody)
- Tom's make believe is fantastic to the point of obnoxious (childish, immature).
- Huck is the progressive one... the lovable scamp who you can't blame for his crooked ways. This crooked
allowance allows Twain to advance some radical ideas without scaring his audience. It's amasterful device.
- Huck's make believe style is very practical and down to earth (serious, mature). This also gives his bold
actions credence; Twain builds trust and intimacy with Huck so that the reader finds themselves drawn in
and near tears as he rips up the letter condemning Jim, but saving his social standing.
and what final impression the narrative should leave of the character of Huck. The result,
which was to allow Tom to engage in a lengthy charade of setting 'oa free nigger free" (as Huck
puts it in Chapter 42) was not only humiliating and cruel for Jim. It also seemed to reflect an
ambivalence toward the abolition of slavery that was characteristic of the Reconstruction era after
the Civil War when the novel was written. In that era, as some historians have argued, the condition
fates
-
of blacks in the South did not improve but actually worsened. Like Jim, African-Americans in this
country were no longer legally slaves; yet they were still treated as such.
What were the literary and cultural forces at work in Twain's decision in the final chapters to
turn narrative control of the novel over from the character of Huck to the character of Tom? Do
NOT consider the issue of whether Mark Twain was on some personal level a "racist." What I am
asking, rather, is whether Twain's novef Huckleberry FiffL reflects, or is complicit with, the racist
attitudes of late 19s century America. An alternative view might be that the novel mocks, by
parodying, such attitudes. Support your view through an analysis of Huck and Tom's characters
and their roles throughout the novel, including especially their tendencies to engage in "makebelieve," whether of a childish or serious nature.
/
#i#
t
?,t-.ll?
t
I
{
Daisy Miller: A Study is a "study'' in two senses: (1) in the sense that it portrays Winterbourne as
ayir-gOaisy; and (2) rnthe sense that Winterborr.rri, study of Daisy is itself ihe subject of
critical examination by the narrator. (a) First, discuss the former sense of "study" by examining
Winterbotrne's attitude toward Daisy, including his "bewilderment" about her, and the various
forces, both within himself and in society, that cause him to be bewildered. Find an example of free
indirect discourse, or internal focalization, in which that bewilderment is dramatized. (b) Secondly,
discuss the latter sense of "study''by examining the two passages where the naratorto some
degree reveals himself (by referring to himself in the first person) on p. 1501-2 and p.1526; then
aaalyze the paragraph on p. 1536 beginning "Winterbourne stopped, with a sort of horror," and
discuss what you think all of these passages reveal about the narrator's view of Winterbourne. Your
response will, of course, require you to refer to and interpret the events of the novel as a whole.
rt
l.
thr
se(
"bz
the
3. - "Poor Winterboume was amused, perplexed, and decidedly charmed. He had never yet heard a young girl express herself in just
this fashion; never, at least save in cases where to say such thin$ seerned a kind ofdemonstrative evidence ofa iertain laxity of
deportment. And yet was he to accuse Miss Daisy Miller of acfiral orpotential inconduite (misconduct)?"
- "Was sh1 simply a pretty girl from New York State-were they all like that, the prefty girls who had a good deal of gentlemen's
society? Or was she also a desigrring, an audacinus, an.nscrupulous young person?"
Inner cause: W-borne can't make his mind rp about Daisy because "he had never, as yet, had any relations wiih young ladies of this
category" and "he had lost his instiact in this mdter, and his reason could not help him,,
"Would a nice girl---+ven allowing for her being a little American flirt-make a rendezvous with a presumably lowJived foreigner?',
Indirect discourse: "At the risk of exciting a sorrewhat derisive smile on the reader's part, I may affirm that with regmd to the women
who had hitherto interested him it very often seemed to Winterboume among the possibilities" he should be afraid. He would never be
ataid of Daisy Miller.
*... and the truth, for
Winterboume, as the few indicdions I have been able to give have made him known to the reader, was that
Daisy Miller should take Mrs. Walker's advice,"
em +*WINTERBOURNE
o'1501-2 hewasatCrenev4"studying"...hewasexfiemelydevotedtoaladywholivedther+-aforeignlady-apersonolderthan
De iimselt
pe( p.1526 "... and the truflr, for Winterbourng as the few indications I have been able to give have made him knoun to the reader, was
:..r
.f
thatDaisyMillershouldtakeMrs.Walker'sadvice."
rrrar udry lvrlIrsr
Miller J[Uulu
should take
ffiC lvX).
Mrs. Walker's
WAKCI S aUYIge_
advice-" ]This
Thisislames'scra{tywovoftellineusttestorvisreallvabmtWinterhouru
n$ IS
is JAmeS
James'sS CfAjq
craJty way of telling us tte story is really about Winterboume.
t' +l
' He neyer "nlks" tothereaderunlesstlre,rrdtelolinportisl,I/interbourue.
fhg p.1536"Winterboumestoppdwithasortofhonor;and,itmustbeaddedwithasortofrelief. Itwasasifasuddenilluminationhad
.,,
wrJ
been flashed upon the ambiguity ofDaisy's behavior and the riddle had become easy to read. She was ayoung lady whom a
gentleman need no longer be at pahs:o respect. He stood there looking at her-looking at her companion, arr-d not.eflecting that
though he saw them vaguely, he himselfmust have been more brightly visibte...Then as he was going to advance again, he checked
himself; not from fear thd he was doing her injustice, but from a sense ofthe danger ofappearing unbecomingly exhilarated by this
sudden revulsion (withdrawal) from cautious criticism."
This paragraph. ..
-Winterboume is happy he doesn't have to worry about trying to figure the enigma Daisy out anymore. .. he's doing the wrong thing,
it's easy (thus exhilarafion)
- Flipside : W-bome 'He himself must have been more kighfy visible" - though the presumed focus is on Daisy, we know nothing of
her. Butwe do know every detail of Winterbournc-trcughts, cscrydcs, judgments, thrills. Though he delights in downfall of DJsy,
tie nanator has revealed his skeletons even more brighdy.
and
tto
/ls
'as
,
7
4._Examples of anthropomorphism/personification of sea. How does description of nature
emphasize the
split between the human and natural worlds... between the "brotherhood" of men, and ..indiderence
of
nature"? Why do communal borrds skengthen and not weaken? How have the men,s experiences qualified
them to become "interpreters of nature" when nature is blindly indifferent?
"A seat in his boat was
unlike a seat upon a bucking broniho...the craft pranced and reared, and
1ot
plunged like an animal."
"sometimes a particularly obstreperous sea came inboard and drenched him once more.,,
'these waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall, and each froth-top was problem
a
in
small boat navigation'
a man ought to have a bath-tub larger than the boat which here rode upon the sea.,,
These descriptions of nature truly emphasize how tle men are aliens in this situation.
They are grasping for
descriptions to relate this alien environment to things from their worl4 such as the srange
.*ft to a bathtub,
much as a foreigner frantically searches for vestiges of their homelandupon arrival in
a new counfy. Same
with the boys on the boat; they are in another world, controlled by indiffirent forces... and
they are relying
on old familiar symbols to help them cope. Furthermore, in this srange and terrible place,
the men cting to
each other, and thus - the brotherhood strengthens. This phenomenon-is not unusuaL
Crane was precisely
on the mark. When people are faced with incredible obstacles or utter hopelessness,
they cling to those
Y*V
around them--humanity fiumphs.
The men can serve as interpreters because they have been "there and back again." They have
survived
isolation in the "other world" of the sea, and came back into their world. Thus, they have elevated
interpreting skills others would not.
r-
ztil'
5. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams," what does Judy Jones represent for Dexter? Consider
especially the class differences between the two. Why is she characterued as, on the one hand,
"insincere," like a "do11," and "blatantly artificial"; and as, on the other hand, "of intense life, of
passionate vitality"? What kind of "reality" is conveyed by the charucteruation of her as "a
butterfly's wing"; discuss this question in relation to the description of the "solidity" and "steel" of
the Jones'house in the same paragraph. See also the passage where the "grey beauty of steel" is
again mentioned. At one point in the story, the narrator says of Dexter: 'No disillusion as to the
world in which she [Judy] had grown up could cure his illusion as to her desirability." Yet at the
end ofthe story Dexter seems to feel that his illusions are cured; are we to believe this?
Are there similarities and/or differences between Judy Jones and Daisy Miller? How would you
describe the differences between Dexter and Winterbourne, including especially their different
attitudes toward Judy and Daisy, respectively?
6. Sarah Orne Jewett's "The White Heron" and Mary Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun."
(a) Describe the relation between the narrator and Sylvia as revealed especially in the paragraph
beginning "The birds sang..." on p. 1593. Is the narrator undramatized and invisible; or dramatized
and actively present; or something in between? Is the narrator sympathetic or unsympathetic to
Sylvia? (b) In what sense is Sylvia a "wild creature" of the forest for whom "light and
consciousness" are alien? Is there an opposition set up in this story between such "light and
consciousness" and the image ofthe sea? And is such opposition associated with gender? (c)
Compare the attitude of the narrator of "The White Heron" toward Sylvia with the attitude of the
narrator of "A New England Nun" toward its central character, Louisa Ellis. Which narrator is more
engaged and sympathetic, which more ironic and detached? Show how these differing attitudes are
reflected in the portrayals of the personalities of the central characters, Sylvia and Louisa, as well
as in the comparable secondary characters, the hunter and Joe Daggett.
Extra Credit Ouestion. [f you want to answer this question, you may write it at home and bring it
in when you take the exam. It is NOT one of the two questions that are required to be written on the
day of the exam. Do not try to answer it during the actual exam. It must be typed, no more tban2
double-spaced pages. If your response is a good one, it will serve to raise your grade on the exam
one-half of a grade; for example, if you wrote a"B" exam, the extra credit question could raise
your grade to a B+. You will not be penalized in atry way for not answering it, and I do not advise
you to tackle this extra-credit question unless it really interests you.]
Analyze "the story within the story" on p. 1493 of Constance Fenimore Woolson's "Miss
Grief." Is the story written by Miss Crief (or Moncrief) and summarized by the narrator on that
p4ge a commentary on Woolson's "Miss Grief'? Do its characters correspond to the characters of
"Miss Grief'? How does your analysis of this "story within the story" help you to interpret the
main story, Woolson's 'Miss Grief'? Please note that I, the author of this question, have no idea
what might be its "correct" answer - or even if such a correct answer exists. In short, your answer
need not be definitive, or without loose threads.
5. Judy Jones represents the "golden" girl for Dexter; an unattainable woman. Dexter was middle class,
Judy was high class.
Wlty is she characterized as "insincere" like a "doll" and "blatantb artificial" andyet "of intense life and
passionate vitality"?
Judy is much like a little girl who is spoiled with new toys. At first, she is thrilled with a new man and is
full of "intense life and passionate vitality." After a child is spoiled with mountains and mountains of toys
however, interest wanes and the child cannot feigr boredom. Thus, Judy once bored with her "toy boy''
artificial."
of "reality" is coruvqted by the characterization of her as a "butterfly's wing" - discuss this
question inrelqtion to the description ofthe "solidity and steel" ofher house.
The reality is Judy's flitting days are short lived, and though she may be young and carefree now, the
solidity of her upbringing cannot be escaped. She will one day harden and become a "grey beauty of steel."
"No disillusion as to the world... "
appears "blatantly
What kind
Dexter is not ovet Judy. Judy was the ideal wommr for Dextet, and ideals never die .
Compare Judy Jones and Daisy Miller.
Judy Jones is a high class flirt that evpntually gets her wings clipped when she marries Joe Simms. Her
blaze of glory ends in the hansformation to a wife of an abusive husband, where she must become that
hardened, beautifrrl steel.
Daisy Miller was a new money flirt who is destroyed by her social reputation. Unlike Judy, she did not
have the steel underneath, she was simply a flower. Thus, she was defeated by her flitting ways.
Dexter idolizes Judy because she is so high above him, like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite. Even
after Judy has fallen from her pedestal, he still insists on remembering her the way she was.
Winterbourne is intrigued by Daisy and then scorns her. Daisy is below Winterbourne socially, and he
views her as a novelty to be experienced. When Daisy does not return his affections, he feels vindicated in
treating her as a "fallen woman."
6. Describe the relatiorietween Sylun *rd tlre ntrrator
as /evealed especially in the paragraph on
p.1 593
*Now look down again, Sylvia, where the green marsh is
The narrator is dramatized and actively present,
set among the shining birches..." The narrator is very sympathetic to Sylvia. Jewett encourages Sylvia to
hold on to innocence and beauty, 'odo not move a foot or finger little girl, do not send an alrow of light and
consciousness from your two eager eyes, for the heron has perched on a pine bough not far."
- Sylvia is a wild creature because she is as yet unexposed and undefiled by the grown up world.
The sea is described as a place "sylvia wondered and dreamed about but had never seen, whose great
voice could sometimes be heard above the noise of the woods on stormy nights" and then as a place that
she and the heron watched together. The sea represents the woman yet to be discovered in Sylvia. I do not
think the story directly references opposition between "light and consciousness" and the seq though it
could easily be inferred that Jewett does not wish Sylvy to forsake the voices of the sea (woman) for the
"light and consciousness" ofthe
sun (man).
The narrator of the "White Heron" is far more engaged and sympathetic. The narrator intrudes many a time
in this story to speak directly to Sylvia as she urges her to rflnain true to nature and herself. Sylvia is a
sweet, quiet little girl who is loved by the animals and in touch with nature (a veritable Snow White). The
hunter is portrayed as an intruder into the quiet life of Sylvy, but overall, he is relatively minor.
The narrator of "A New England Nun" is far more ironic and detached. Louisa sits in her house all day,
arranging linens, knitting and unknitting, and dusting furniture, while Sylvia is out living life to the firllest
in teetops. Louisa is portrayed as a woman afraid of the "messy ways of men" who shuts herself in her
home. Jos Daggett is also a minor character, portrayed as a bull in a china shop, who tracks mud onto the
pristine carpet of Louisa's life. I have sympathy for Joe, he didn't know he was engaged to a nun, and the
poor man was rightto go looking for love with Lily Dyer.
L--'
-!