Buckley AP Lit

     The age difference between the two siblings in   When the Emperor Was Divine  is obvious, the sister clearly has a better understanding of the situation compared to her brother. In the beginning of the book when the family had to pack up to leave, she only packs what is absolutely necessary while her brother packs a baseball glove. The sister comprehends the severity of the situation immediately and is able to grasp what is happening, only packing what she will need. On the contrary, her brother doesn’t seem to understand what is at stake. As the older sibling, his sister takes on a protective almost maternal role watching after her younger brother. On the train, his sister keeps him occupied with the idea of wild horses and they converse about that during the train ride as opposed to what awaited them. Similarly, once they get to the camp, his sister continues to watch after him and she attempts to make his experience at the camp as enjoyable as possible. ...

     In Morrison’s Nobel lecture, she delves into the power of language and how it influences storytelling and other complex relationships. Morrison begins by introducing the power of language and the possibilities along with it. Language can be utilized in many different ways to explain topics, but it is interesting how Morrison describes it as limiting. Language limits knowledge because when compared to physical actions, it seems substantially weaker and meaningless in light of actions. When Morrison states, “Sexist language, racist language, theistic language – all are typical of the policing languages of mastery, and cannot, do not permit new knowledge or encourage the mutual exchange of ideas.” These types of discrimination limit the umbrella of language because only so many perspectives can be heard from society and because of this marginalizing language, diverse experiences and perspectives are not as commonly expressed and heard. Language is seen as potentially ha...

     Dick and Jane are introduced in the beginning of the novel, and they represent the ideal American family during this time period. The perfect family is depicted as a white family with two happily married parents, with several kids and pets. The families depicted in the novel clearly don’t fit this mold of a perfect family, but they don’t necessarily have to since they live in an African American community. However, societal norms force ideas onto these families. For example, Claudia is given a white doll for Christmas which represents the beauty standards at the time. However, Claudia feels a sense of resentment towards this doll and instead of playing with it or sleeping with it, she tears it apart. In Dick and Jane, Jane also has a doll which she plays with, Claudia rebels against the racial stereotypes that are almost shoved in her face. The adults around her expect her to appreciate the doll and play with it as Jane does, but she does the exact opposite. These be...

     Pecola already deals with many problems in society and has to deal with the discrimination against her looks, but her family doesn’t provide any support or solace for her either. Her father, Cholly is an alcoholic who clearly does not care very much about his family, and he even raped Pecola. He is not the supportive father that values his connections with his children and wife that is much more common in today’s society, and it is apparent from the fights he gets into with Pauline and his family’s attitude towards him. His son was yelling for Pauline to kill Cholly when they were engaged in one of their fights. Cholly doesn’t seem to help out around the house or provide any support for his children. He goes out looking for work but always comes back drunk. When he returns, he refuses to retrieve coal for the fire which puts his family at risk of getting sick and freezing. It seems like Pecola finds more comfort with the prostitutes that live close to her than she do...

          There are several villains in the novel, some are more obvious villains than others and some are more evil than others. The most obvious villain is Hitler and the Nazi regime. Joe categorizes every German as a villain and looks to fight them in the streets of New York. When Thomas is killed on the boat, Joe seeks revenge in the best way he knows and understands at the time, killing Germans. Previously his only way to cope with his hatred for Germans was to write about fighting them in his comics. This causes Joe to view every German as a villain even though this is far from true. For example, when he goes to Antarctica, he intercepts a transmission from a German scientist. Clearly this German is also a villain in Joes eyes, and he devises a plan to go and kill him, but when he follows through with it he finds himself oddly unsatisfied because he realizes that the scientist isn't really his enemy and is just another human being. Even though the sci...

          I believe the title  of the novel,   The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is  fitting since it incorporates the two main characters and has a title similar to that of a comic book. The front page and the title alone do a good job of expressing one of the central components of the story: comics. Adventures can easily be associated with comic books and superheroes which is central to the novel's plot. The title and cover page do a good job of foreshadowing what the reader is going to experience in the book. It hints at the idea of escapism and adventures in New York and the exciting dynamic between Sammy and Joe. The title does a good job implying that the adventures and endeavors that Joe and Sammy partake in are not normal and it reflects their relationship throughout the book. They start the book as partners working on comic books together, but they slowly begin to drift away from that partnership. They started something so...