B**** Betta Have My Money!

     According to Sir Walter Elliot and Elizabeth, social rank is most important. Jane Austen addresses the subject of class in Persuasion to portray how status and class were major values during the 19th century in England. Social hierarchy plays a major role in the fate of the character’s marriages throughout the novel.

     In addition to Persuasion, Jane Austen uses satirical elements to highlight the importance of social classes during the time period in her other novels, such as Pride and Prejudice. Lady Russell is a perfect example of a character from Austen’s novel that speaks in a humorous tone and judgemental approach about lower class characters. For example, Lady Russell convinces Anne not to marry Captain Frederick Wentworth by explaining his low financial status and dangerous companionship. Austen portrays the value of social rank and the consequences that follow afterwards through Lady Russell’s advice to Anne when Austen states, “she had a value for rank and consequence, which blinded her a little to the faults of those who possessed them," (Austen 15). Lady Russell stresses that Wentworth is not worth marrying because he does not have enough money or high rank to marry someone in Anne’s league. Lady Russell respects Sir Walter Elliot since he has a hereditary title, and she is the widow of a knight.

     Sir Walter Elliot is another character who values social class in Persuasion. His character is very vain and he tends to judge many individuals of lower class. His judgements toward poorer characters are ironic because he is in severe debt at the moment and fears that he will lose his high social class label so he makes fun of others who are dealing with his same financial issues. Austen demonstrates how social rank is not challenged in Anne and Wentworth’s happy ending when she states, “On the contrary, when he saw more of Captain Wentworth, saw him repeatedly by daylight, and eyed him well, he was very much struck by his personal claims, and felt that his superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced against her superiority of rank; and all this, assisted by his well-sounding name, enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen, with a very good grace, for the insertion of the marriage in the volume of honour,” (502). Sir Walter Elliot does not want Anne to marry Captain Frederick Wentworth, but eventually approves of their marriage because of his physical appearance, well sounding name, and new successful title in a higher social class rank. 

     Work Cited

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1997. Print.

Everything Is Not What It Seems

Joyce M. Wegs explains Joyce Carol Oates ability to write a grotesque story using disguises to show how everything is not what it seems.  In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” the protagonist, Connie is living during the time period of the sixties when parents did not think to question where their children were all the time. For example, Connie’s father does not care about her and her family or what she was doing when Oates states, “he didn't bother talking much to them,” (Oates 1). Connie’s mother pressures her and makes her feel insecure about her physical beauty. Therefore, Connie puts on a disguise when she leaves her family and can act differently than at home. Oates explains her ability to disguise herself as someone else when she states, “everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home: her walk, which could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head” (Oates 1). Connie does not have any confidence because her mother underestimates her at home so when Connie steps out into the real world she feels that she cannot act like her true self.

 In addition, Arnold Friend symbolizes Satan, but is disguised as a boy that Connie would desire. The description of his physical appearance was very grotesque because of how his teenage interests and hairdo were all lies to make Connie think that he was a normal teenage guy. Oates efficiently adds suspense to the story by describing each part of Arnold Friend’s disguise when she states that “he had shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig and he was grinning at her,” (Oates 2). In fact, his hair was a wig. Connie also noticed that he was wearing makeup just like her to disguise himself. Although his outfit was teenager like, his gate gave her an idea that he was much older. Joyce M. Wegs shows Oates symbolism by explaining Arnold Friend’s relation to Satan when she states, “although Connie never specifically recognizes Arnold as Satan, her first comment to him both hints at his infernal origins and faithfully reproduces teenage idiom: Who the hell do you think you are,” (Wegs 103). This question hints the reader that Arnold Friend is a demon like figure. Arnold “Friend” is not a friend in any way, but creepily can read Connie and sees her without her makeup/ disguise on.  Both Arnold Friend and Connie create fake characters to influence the other person to think they are someone that they are not.

Works Cited

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” New Brunswick:

Rutgers University Press, 2002. Print.

Wegs, Joyce M.  “’Don’t You Know Who I Am?’: The Grotesque in Oates’s ‘Where Are

You Going, Where Have You Been?’” Journal of Narrative Technique 5, 1995. Print.

There's 104 days of summer vacation And school comes along just to end it So the annual problem for our generation Is Narrative Collapse

     As I start to complete my excessive amount of homework, Phineas and Ferb’s never ending summer sounds so amazing right now. However, after reading Present Shock, I realized that Phineas and Ferb is an amazing example of a Narrative Collapse as well. Rushkoff explains our first symptom of Present Shock with the concept of Narrative Collapse, a metanarrative that does not make sense. In today’s digital world, we are constantly accessing information and there are no valuable stories that help in our search for meaning. Seinfeld, Friends, The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, The Office also tell a linear story with a beginning, a middle and an end. We live in an era of “storyless TV.” Seinfeld is about “nothing.” Reality TV is another example of storyless TV. Present shock deconstructs the narratives that give life meaning and purpose. Deconstructed in this style, the animated comedy-musical television series, Phineas and Ferb looses its ability to tell stories over time. The linear narrative structure had been abused by television’s storytellers that it stopped working, on younger people who were raised in the more interactive media environment. As a whole, Phineas and Ferb is not a complete story, and each episode can exist on its own.

Phineas Flynn and his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher are on summer vacation and every episode is a new day of summer. Their controlling sister, Candace attempts to show their ridiculous projects and inventions to their mother. The show has a standard plot system and an additional plot that features their pet, Perry the Platypus working as a spy for OWCA (the Organization Without a Cool Acronym), to defeat Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, a mad scientist driven by a need to assert his evilness. The two plots eventually overlap at the end of the show, erasing the boys' project before Candace can show it to their mother, which occurs every episode resulting in a continuous pattern throughout the series.  The series is also known for its musical numbers, which have appeared in almost every episode since the first season. Phineas and Ferb is now the longest running Disney Channel Original Series.  On May 7, 2015, it was officially announced that the series has wrapped up after four seasons, and the final hour-long episode titled "Phineas and Ferb: Last Day of Summer" would premiere on June 12, 2015 on Disney XD.

     The episodes of Phineas and Ferb follow a pattern. First, Phineas gets an idea for a project, and he says, "Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today!" Then, Perry escapes using hidden tunnels, to a secret underground base. Then, a chatacter says, "Hey, where's Perry?" Major Monogram tells Perry that “Doctor Doofenshmirtz is up to something; find out what it is, and stop it!" Candace finds out what the boys are doing, and tries to tell Mom. Perry breaks into the office of Doofenschmirtz Evil Inc. Doofenschmirtz traps Perry and explains his evil plan. Perry escapes the trap and they fight. When Mom comes home, all evidence of their project is gone because of Doofenschmirtz's device. Doofenschmirtz then says, "Curse you Perry the Platypus!"

The show also has pop-cultural references.  We cannot tell traditional stories because we no longer live within ancient Aristotelian narratives with their beginnings, middles, and ends. Technology killed narrative because we do not have to watch commercials or entire shows. We are experiencing a Narrative Collapse because we could turn on any part of a Phineas and Ferb episode and we do not have to wait for the plot to unfold due to the plot line's unpredictability.

     Phineas and Ferb is a postmodern, presentist narrative. As Rushkoff states, in our modern stories, “Characters must learn how their universes work. Narrativity is replaced by something more like putting together a puzzle by making connections and recognizing patterns.” (Rushkoff 37). Candace struggles to catch her brothers, but her proof is always absent by the time her mom gets home. Rushkoff explains postnarrative storytelling when he states, “There is plot—there are many plots—but there is no overarching story, no end. There are so many plots, in fact, that an ending tying everything up seems inconceivable, even beside the point,” (Rushkoff 41). Phineas and Ferb have multiple scenarios that occur in the same sequence of events, but when the season tried to end the show on the “last day of summer”, the episode was unimaginable since Phineas and Ferb’s ending was pointless. Plus, Disney XD will always play reruns of their old summer days! (thank god) Therefore, Phineas and Ferb will “always be on” and I will always be envious of their never ending summer.

Rushkoff, Douglass. Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. New York: Penguin, 2013. Nook.

A Moveable Gluten Free Feast!

In Ernest Hemingway’s autobiography, A Moveable Feast, first person point of view allows the reader to visualize Hemingway’s judgments of other characters, and learn about Hemingway’s life through his own reflections. Occasionally when he explains the setting, Hemingway tends to speak in the second person. Hemingway’s writing style includes a comedic and satirical tone. His supplementing humor is effective while reading about his life and encounters with other characters because the situational and verbal irony hold the reader’s interest. Hemingway addresses the characters in a humorous way and expresses his opinion of the characters without thinking before he speaks. The comical style is demonstrated when he describes Fitzgerald, “Scott was a man then who looked like a boy with a face between handsome and pretty. He had very fair wavy hair, a high forehead, excited eyes and a delicate long-lipped Irish mouth that, on a girl, would have been the mouth of a beauty. His chin was well built and he had good ears and a handsome, almost beautiful, unmarked nose. This should not have added up to a pretty face, but that came from the coloring, the very fair hair and the mouth. The mouth worried you until you knew him and then it worried you more,” (Hemmingway 231). When his good friend, Fitzgerald is ill from alcohol addiction, Hemingway believes that Fitzgerald is acting crazy and does not behave in a serious manner. His use of comedic tone throughout the novel adds layers of meaning even when he discusses serious events.

In addition to Hemingway’s effective use of an amusing tone, his style and narrative structure add layers of connotation. Hemingway confuses the reader and his writing style excludes important details from the novel. He does not specify character’s names and leaves out important plot points forcing the reader to use their imagination or to comprehend his stories at a deeper level. Hemingway also uses the seasons as a treatment of time. Spring is portrayed as the best time of life and fall is depicted as a sad time of his career. Hemingway explains the seasons and how they affect life when he states, “But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person had died for no reason,” (Hemmingway 45). The novel is an example of form following content because the story line is structured based on the seasons and his most important memories, resulting in a confusing plot.

In AP Language, we are learning to understand a writer’s purpose, audience, subject, and genre and how they affect expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions. Hemmingway is efficient at painting a picture and helping the reader visualize scenes and characters. He uses satire, hyperboles, and polysyndetons to emphasize his own thoughts. He focuses on writing a novel has meaning and is worth the read. Throughout his writing career, Hemingway meets various writers that inspire him to create new techniques, such as confusing the reader and encouraging them to use their imagination. 

Work Cited

Hemingway, Ernest.  A Moveable Feast. New York: Scribner, 2009. Print. 

"Nobody's Perfect I Gotta Work it" ~Hannah Montana

         An elementary school student neglects to put her name on the top of her worksheet and receives a zero. A middle school student forgets his calculator and fails his Algebra test. A high school student oversleeps and misses the first period essential exam review. People are not perfect, from youth to old age. We are human. We are forgetful at one time or another and learn from our mistakes and effects of those mishaps. Consequences teach responsibility. Postman argues in The End of Education that students must be taught to be “error detectors” and teachers must help them discover “inconvertible truths and enduring ideas,” (Postman 118). From 1995 to today, public education strives to create a “public” to be the future of our country.  According to the States Standard Initiative, common core standards have been implemented for students across the United States to be prepared for careers and life.  The standard of teaching this way in public schools has generated political and educational arguments. Specifically, people dispute over the fact that students are too afraid to try something new with the fear of failing, showing creativity, or thinking outside of the box.  Postman points out in The End of Education, “everyone makes errors, including those who write about error,” (Postman 119). I agree with Postman because making mistakes help society learn and improve as a public. 

         There is a trend within society that citizens are beginning to expect institutions to provide for them rather than providing for themselves though hard work and effort. New generations feel entitled, even when they make continuous errors or act inappropriately. The god of Economic Utility’s purpose shapes the entitlement that, “if you pay attention in school, and do your homework, and score well on tests, and behave yourself, you will be rewarded with a well-paying job when you are done” (Postman 27). Postman believes that this god is invalid because each career requires a specific educational background. Many graduates assume that they are entitled to any job position, and then as new employees feel they deserve second and third chances when the consequence should actually result in termination. Similarly, another public school goal is to control and prevent bullying, and form a public who respects others.  In the workforce, the new generation of employees feel entitled to respect; however, they aren’t necessarily practicing what they have learned in their schooling.  Unfortunately, the type of citizenry our twenty-first century schools are molding is suffering from some undeserving, disrespectful, and somewhat lazy people.

Works Cited

Postman, Neil. The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.