Autobiographical Theory - Old School ( Tobias Wolf )

Summary:

The narrator of the story, Wolff’s stand-in, is intimidated by the class snobbery at his school, particularly the hint of anti-Semitism that he senses. (The narrator’s father, like Wolff’s, is Jewish.) He struggles with most of the academic material at school, but finds his niche in English classes and on the staff of the literary magazine. He becomes caught up in a school tradition—the chance to have a one-on-one meeting with a famous visiting writer. These writers include Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest Hemingway, said to be a friend of the school’s dean. When the time comes to compete for the Hemingway prize, he struggles to produce a worthy submission. In the end, he plagiarizes a story from another school’s literary magazine, changing only a few details. In the story, “School Dance,” a prep-school girl hides her Jewish identity in order to attend a country club party. The narrator’s version of the story (with the protagonist changed to a boy) is initially praised by everyone at school, but before long his deception is uncovered, and he is expelled the same day. His acceptance to Columbia University is withdrawn, and he drifts for a few years before enlisting in the army.

The last section of Old School tells the story of Dean Makepeace, who left his post for a year at the time of the planned Hemingway visit. It turned out that the dean had never, in fact, known Hemingway, but he had allowed this misconception to circulate on campus for many years. When he finds out not only that Hemingway will visit campus, but also that a student is going to be expelled for dishonesty, he impulsively resigns from his position.

My analysis:

The novel is a very good example of the theory Autobiography because it is about the search for individual authenticity. The life of the main character was described in a way that it is related to Tobias Wolf's. Although Wolff calls Old School a novel, its plot follows the event of his own life starting from the enrollment at prep school up to his struggle to be a personality in the world of literature. The novel's emphasis is on the fluid process of identity creation. 

Structuralism - Play Song ( Peter Kumalo )

Let’s go to the hillside today

   To play, to play, to play.

Up to the hill where the daisies grow

   Like snow, like snow, like snow.

There shall we make a daisy chain

One tomorrow and tomorrow again.

There where the daisies grow like snow

There’s where we will go.

Let’s go to the hillside today

   To play, to play, to play.

Down to the bay where the children swim

   Like fish, like fish, like fish

Down to the bay where the children swim,

Down to the bay where the white yacht skim,

Or up to the hill where the daisies grow,

There’s where we will go.

Analysis:

This poem  involves the use of rhyming words. Each stanza is made up of eight lines. In each of the stanzas, the lines are paired; line 1 and line 2, line 3 and line 4, line 5 and line 6, line 7 and line 8. the lines 1, 3, 5 and 7 are made up of 8 syllables while the lines 2,4, 6 and 8 are made up of 6 syllables. This poem is also an example of a poem with much euphony. It is the use of pleasant, harmonious-sounding combination of words. Poems are meant to be read for full enjoyment . Therefore, sounds should be pleasing to the ear, the sound should be musical.

Territorialism - Only the Strong ( Sheldon Lettich )

Summary:

Former Green Beret Louis Stevens (Mark Dacascos) returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his Capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off the school property, Mr. Kerrigan (Geoffrey Lewis), one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school, giving Stevens an abandoned fire station as their dojo. While doing so, Stevens earns the ire of the local drug lord, Silverio (Paco Christian Prieto), whose younger cousin, Orlando (Richard Coca), is one of Stevens' students. Silverio is also a master of Capoeira, and he engages Stevens in combat, beating him viciously. The horrified Orlando resolves to learn everything he can from Stevens. Stevens' class learns quickly, and they become very skilled at Capoeira. The principal, delighted, proposes a district-wide Capoeira program to the school board. After a field trip with his class, Stevens once again crosses swords with Silverio, who declares war against him.

Silverio's gang terrorizes the high school and sets fire to Kerrigan's classroom, resulting in the death of one of Stevens' students. As a result of this incident, Stevens is banished from the school grounds and the Capoeira program is terminated. In retaliation to the attack, Stevens sneaks into Silverio's chop shop and defeats the workers before setting a cash-filled car on fire. Furious, Silverio orders the gang to bring Stevens to him alive. Orlando flees to get help. After a desperate battle, Stevens is finally captured and brought to a bonfire, where Silverio awaits. However, Stevens' Capoeira students bar their path in an attempt to rescue their teacher. Before a brawl can ensue, the exhausted Stevens challenges Silverio to a single combat to win back his students. Despite a grueling battle, Stevens defeats Silverio before the police arrive, sending the gang scattering in all directions. With this defeat, Silverio's reputation as crime lord is gone.

Stevens' Capoeira program proves to be a success that his students graduate from high school. To celebrate, they join a Brazilian Capoeira team to perform for Stevens at the graduation ceremony.

Analysis:

This film possesses the evidences of territorialism. The protagonist, Louis Steven, wanted to save the students in his former high school from drugs and violence. He teaches them a kind of martial art to shift their interests from drugs. The students adored him but the drug lord, Silverio, won't let him get along with it. Silverio is also good in a different type of martial arts. They fought to win the interests of the students and to prove who is stronger and who's martial art is greater. The title itself is an evident of territorialism.

American Pragmatism - The Bench ( Richard Rive )

Summary:


The story starts with an exert from a speech that is held in Cape Town, South Africa. It is clearly part of a demonstration against the apartheid system. A large black man with a rolling voice says," It is up to everyone of us to challenge the right of any law which willfully condemns any person to an inferior position."
The lecture is held outdoors, most of the crowd being coloured. The main character in the story, Karlie, a black man, follows every word the speaker says. He doesn't quite understand the full meaning of them, but realises that they are true words. The speaker tells Karlie that he has certain rights. The picture of himself living like a white man frightens him, but at the same time fascinates him. All he has ever been taught is that God made the white man white, the coloured man brown and the black man black and that they must know their place.
The people on the platform behave as if there were no difference in colour. It makes sense, but still only in a vague way. All the time Karlie is comparing what is happening on the platform to his own situation back home. There, people of different colour could never offer each other a cigarette as a white woman does to a black man, up on the stage. The idea makes him laugh, getting him noticed by a couple of people. This shows that Karlie is not completely comfortable or at ease with all this new information. His upbringing is strongly embedded in him. Playing with the thought of being as good as any other man he remembers black opposers of apartheid going to prison, smiling. It confuses him. As a white woman speaker says, " One must challenge all discriminatory laws," Karlie grows more confident, fear and passivity are replaced with determination to act for equality.A white woman jeopardising all her advantages to say what she believes in. Never had he seen anything like this in his home town. A determination starts creeping over his vagueness. Now he wants to challenge, whatever the consequences. He wants to be in the newspaper smiling. This is a turning point in his life.
After the meeting, on the way to the station, Karlie is on the receiving end of a nasty, racialist comment from an approaching car. " Karlie stared dazed, momentarily too stunned to speak." By reacting at all, it shows that he now questions this kind of treatment. To " challenge" like the white woman speaker said, he sits on a "whites only" bench at the railway station. Although this story spans over a limited time, Karlie has gone through an extreme change in his life. He is now determined to fight for his own freedom as a human being. He rebels against his former upbringing imprinted in him and wants to find a new place in society for himself.
This short story was written during the apartheid system. The bench at the railway station symbolises South African society at that time. Karlie refuses to move from the " whites only " bench and is therefore pulled away by the police. Under apartheid even mixed marriages were not allowed. Schools, restaurants and hotels were segregated. " Bantu education" was enforced for black people in South Africa in 1953. The blacks were taught that they were less intelligent than other races. Karlie`s initial confusion while listening to the speech, can be linked to this form of brain washing. Many were opposed to this oppressive system. Karlie is of course alone in disobeying the police, but he represents all the black opponents of apartheid and racial discrimination. " Karlie turned to resist, to cling to the bench, to his bench." Karlie is not only holding on to a bench, but also to his own existence as an equal citizen of South Africa. " It was senseless fighting any longer. Now it was his turn to smile." Although Karlie looses his grip, he is not defeated. He smiles as he`s taken away. Karlie wins the battle with himself and is proud of showing his victory. 

Analysis:

The very basic question of American Pragmatism is that "if I take this action, will it be more useful than that action?". That factor is a great evident to study this short story under the theory of American Pragmatism. Aside from the fact that this short story involves the white and black men of America, the action that karlie did to sit on a bench reserved only for white men is the action that answers the question of American Pragmatism. He stepped up to exercise his right as a citizen in their country and it made a change!

Post- Colonialism - Bagong Buwan ( Directed by: Marilou Diaz-Abaya )

Summary:

Ahmad (Cesar Montano) belongs to the Bangsamoro people. While many of his kind are bent on fighting, thinking that Mindanao is only for the Muslims, Ahmad prefers to live a simple and peaceful life. He works as a doctor in Manila while his wife, Fatima (Amy Austria), and his only son, Ibrahim, stay in Mindanao with his mother, Farida (Caridad Sanchez). Ahmad is shocked and devastated when Fatima breaks the confounding news. Ibrahim was killed by a stray bullet when vigilantes indiscriminately fire at their village. Ahmad goes back to where he came from --- Mindanao.

Ibrahim’s death did not cause Ahmad to stop striving to live a peaceful life, much to the consternation of his brother, Musa (Noni Buencamino). His brother takes an exactly opposite stand. Musa believes in waging a war against all the Kaafir (unbelievers) who may impede the Moro’s goal of independence. He even trains his young son, Rashid (Carlo Aquino) to a Muslim warrior’s life.

Ahmad wishes to bring his family to Manila in order to escape the conflict in Mindanao but convinces no one, even his mother. Farida is apparently used to a life of constantly running away from crossfire. His wife, Fatima, wishes to stay where the memory of his son remains. Ahmad is now challenged to continue his life’s vocation as a healer in his war-torn homeland.

One day, the MILF headed by Musa, together with Rashid, bombed a police station near a public marketplace. Francis (Jiro Manio), a young Catholic boy, is separated from his parents during the confusion and follows Rashid. Rashid grudgingly takes Francis with him and introduces him to his co-villagers. Francis goes wherever Ahmad and his people go. Francis and Rashid, at their very young age, are the personification of the rival Christian and Muslim who find themselves prejudiced against each other because of ignorance.

Ahmad’s group flees the war by evacuating their village and looking from one place or another for a safe haven in the hope of avoiding crossfire and finding a safe place to live in. Ahmad, in his new role as the leader, discovers the pain and suffering that innocent people have gone, and still, go through just because they find themselves in the middle of a war… a war which they did not instigate.

Analysis:

Post-Colonialism was said to examine the effect of imperialistic views in post-colonial societies. This theory is very applicable to the movie "Bagong Buwan". The story is all about the invasion of the Spaniards in Mindanao But the people of Mindanao fought for their rights and ideals. They struggle against the Spaniards to save Mindanao from cruel governance that the Spaniards would bring. The people fought for their liberty. In the end,  they realized that nobody really wins in a war. A just peace is better than a just war.

Deconstruction - Karma ( Khushwant Singh )

Summary:

"Mohan Lal was a middle-aged man who worked in the British Raj. He was ashamed to be an Indian and hence he tried to speak in English or in Anglicized Hindustani and to dress as if a high-ranked British official. He used to fill the crossword puzzles of newspapers, which he did to show his immense knowledge in English. His wife Lachmi was a traditional Indian woman and due to this difference they were not having a sweet married life.
The important event occurred on a journey of Mohan Lal and Lachmi in a train. Mohan Lal made her sit in the general compartment and arranged his seat in first class compartment, which was meant for British. There he saw two British soldiers who tried to abuse him. When the arrogant Mohan Lal tried to oppose, he was thrown out of the train. He could only look through the rails on the moving train."

Analysis:

The story is under deconstruction theory because the ending is different from what the character and the reader expected it to happen. Mohan Lal is a confident and a well-bred Indian man who mastered Oxford accent in his English and he has a lot of stuffs to attract people about his English-cultured everything. He and the reader's thought that everything will come to his way but it ended the way that he was humiliated by his most admired British culture. Who would have thought that he would be be thrown out from the train?

New Criticism - Goodwill To Men - Give Us Your Money ( Pam Ayres )

It was Christmas Eve on a Friday

The shops was full of cheer,

With tinsel in the windows,

And presents twice as dear.

A thousand Father Christmases,

Sat in their little huts,

And folk was buying crackers

And folk was buying nuts.

All up and down the country,

Before the light was snuffed,

Turkeys they get murdered,

And cockerels they got stuffed,

Christmas cakes got marzipanned,

And puddin's they got steamed

Mothers they got desperate

And tired kiddies screamed.

Hundredweight's of Christmas cards,

Went flying through the post,

With first class postage stamps on those,

You had to flatter most.

Within a million kitchens,

Mince pies was being made,

On everyone's radio,

"White Christmas", it was played.

Out in the frozen countryside

Men crept round on their own,

Hacking off the holly,

What other folks had grown,

Mistletoe on willow trees,

Was by a man wrenched clear,

So he could kiss his neighbour's wife,

He'd fancied all the year.

And out upon the hillside,

Where the Christmas trees had stood,

All was completely barren,

But for little stumps of wood,

The little trees that flourished

All the year were there no more,

But in a million houses,

Dropped their needles on the floor.

And out of every cranny, cupboard,

Hiding place and nook,

Little bikes and kiddies' trikes,

Were secretively took,

Yards of wrapping paper,

Was rustled round about,

And bikes were wheeled to bedrooms,

With the pedals sticking out.

Rolled up in Christmas paper

The Action Men were tensed,

All ready for the morning,

When their fighting life commenced,

With tommy guns and daggers,

All clustered round about,

"Peace on Earth - Goodwill to Men"

The figures seemed to shout.

The church was standing empty,

The pub was standing packed,

There came a yell, "Noel, Noel!"

And glasses they got cracked.

From up above the fireplace,

Christmas cards began to fall,

And trodden on the floor, said:

"Merry Christmas, to you all."

Analysis:

The poem simply says that the people really forgot the true spirit of Christmas. Christmas is not just about gift-givings, feasts, and a lot of preparation for good times and reunions. Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus Christ and before we do things to make ourselves happy and satisfied, we should first say a little prayer and greet our Savior a "happy birthday!"