Contemporary Literature

1. Contemporary Literature 1945- present

2. Historical Background • 1st Nuclear Bomb • “Little boy:” August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan • “Fat Man:” August 9, 1945 on Nagasaki, Japan • These bombings resulted in the immediate deaths of around 120,000 people (mostly civilians) from injuries sustained from the explosion and acute radiation sickness, and even more deaths from long-term effects of radiation. • Since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for testing purposes and demonstration purposes. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan in 1945 rose some 18 kilometers (11 miles) above the bomb's hypocenter.

3. Historical Background • Air travel • After WW II, boom in general aviation, both private and commercial • Thousands of pilots released from military service • Inexpensive war-surplus transport and training aircraft became available. • By the 1950s, the development of civil jets grew • de Havilland Comet • Boeing 707 Airbus A330; Lockheed SR-71; Bell 412

4. Historical Background • Space Program • Soviet space program launched the world's first human-made satellite (Sputnik 1) on October 4, 1957. • NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration—July 29, 1958 • Apollo program: July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon • Skylab: 1st space station—1973-79 • Space Shuttle program: 1970’s to present • Columbia: 1st to launch April 12, 1981 Buzz Aldrin on the Moon 1969; Columbia space shuttle launch 1981

5. Historical Background • New methods of communication • Mass media • Telecommunications • Information technology (especially the Internet) • Put the world's knowledge at the disposal of many in the most industrialized societies and some in developing countries as well. • Many people's view of the world changed significantly • more aware of the suffering and struggles of others • increasingly concerned with human rights.

6. Historical Background • 2 Asian wars • Korean war: June 1950-July 1953 • 36,516 dead • 92,134 wounded • 8,176 MIA • 7,245 POW • Vietnam conflict: 1959-April 1975 • 58,159 dead • @2,000 MIA/POW • 303,635 wounded

7. Historical Background • 2 Middle Eastern wars • Desert Storm: August 1990-Feburary 1991 • 113 dead • 458 wounded • 183,000 declared permanently disabled • Iraqi war: 2003-present • 4260 dead • 1 MIA • 31,089 wounded—HOWEVER these figures do NOT include the total of those: • With traumatic brain injuries requiring lifelong specialized care • Suffering from mental illness • Who committed suicide

8. Contemporary Literature Many periods of stability and unrest Diversity in America results in diversity in literature New technological advances— American way of life continues to change America becomes dramatically different

9. Literary Forefront:POST-MODERNISM • Continued fragmentation: nature of Modernism • Continued free verse • Continued stream-of-consciousness • Continued vivid, striking imagery • Typography

10. New Techniques • Magical realism • Mixture of realism & fantasy • Dialogue only • Blend of fiction and non-fiction • All in all---ALL Post-modernist literature varies in FORM, STYLE, & CONTENT

11. Absurdist Literature • Fiction which consistently & consciously breaks away from the reader’s expectations of traditional realistic stories • Characters are often alienated from themselves & their environment in an irrational world • No possibility for traditional heroic action • Presence of an anti-hero • Has little control over events • Bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, pathetic

12. Author Notes: Flannery O’Connor 1925-64 • Born in GA—devout Catholic writing in the Protestant Bible Belt—died of lupus at age 30 • Forces reader to confront human faults—hypocrisy, self-centeredness, & prejudice • Considered herself to be a religious writer in a world that abandoned true religious values

13. Author Notes: Flannery O’Connor 1925-64 • GROTESQUE CHARACTER: character who lives by and for only ONE truth, value, or assumption • CONNECTION:The Town Talk, week of Nov. 20, 1998, front page pic---self-proclaimed religious person representing a church org. holds a sign reading that “GOD HATES F#GS.”

14. Author Notes: Flannery O’Connor 1925-64 • SITUATIONAL IRONY: the actual result of an action or situation is quite different from the expected result. • STORY CONNECTION: Mr. Shiftlet complains that there is a lack of morality in the world and that people have no concern for others, yet his actions make it clear that he, himself, lacks morality and has little concern for others.

15. Author Notes: Donald Barthelme 1931-89 • Born in Philadelphia—raised and educated in TX; served in the US Army; professor of English at CUNY • The contemporary language’s clichés and verbosity obscure the truth instead of reveal it. • Believes our language reveals a dehumanized society lacking in quality • Sets out to create a banal world that fails to make distinctions of quality in people, things, & ideas

16. Author Notes: Donald Barthelme 1931-89 • Plots are unconventional: episodic with a clutter of styles, absurdities, and slapstick • Characters are types rather than fully developed individuals • Stories turn myth into reality and reality into absurdity • Discovers that being simple, honest, & straightforward, nothing much happens

17. Story Notes: Donald Barthelme’s “Game” • SATIRE: the type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about change. • STORY CONNECTION: The narrator describes the tiniest actions—focuses on the jacks; the attaché case; the tone in Shotwell’s voice. There is an incongruity between nuclear war and the trivial concerns that emerges as a major source of disturbing satire.

18. Story Notes: Donald Barthelme’s “Game” • SATIRE: the type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about change. • STORY CONNECTION: Neither the narrator or Shotwell seems to fully understand or care about their awesome responsibility; we realize that millions of lives depend on two men who are losing their minds.

19. Story Notes: Donald Barthelme’s “Game” • JARGON: specialized language used by members of a profession or special interest group, i.e. teachers, sports, medical personnel, students, etc. • STORY CONNECTION: The term “the bird flies” is military jargon or private code for the launching of a missile. The narrator and Shotwell are servicemen in an underground bunker connected to a missile silo.

20. Story Notes: Donald Barthelme’s “Game” • IRONY: a discrepancy between appearances and reality: • Verbal • Situational • Dramatic • STORY CONNECTION: The narrator and Shotwell are obviously losing control of themselves, even though they have control over a weapon of mass destruction.

21. Story Notes: Donald Barthelme’s “Game” • IRONY: a discrepancy between appearances and reality: • Verbal • Situational • Dramatic • STORY CONNECTION: The narrator and Shotwell, who are fighting for control over each other, may or may not be part of a controlled behavior experiment.

22. Story Notes: Donald Barthelme’s “Game” • IRONY: a discrepancy between appearances and reality: • Verbal • Situational • Dramatic • STORY CONNECTION: A government that controls nuclear weapons still cannot control the irrational thoughts and emotions of two men.

23. Author Notes: Tim O’Brien 1946- • All work is somewhat political in that it’s directed at big issues • Concerned with abstractions: • What’s courage and how do you get it? • What’s justice and how do you achieve it? • How does one do right in an evil situation? • Born in MN; drafted & served in Vietnam • Wants his readers to care about what’s right & wrong and about the difficulty of doing right

24. Story Notes: Tim O’Brien’s “Speaking of Courage” • CONFLICT: a struggle between opposing forces or characters: • External: • Involves two people, a person and nature, a person and a machine, and other situations • Internal: • Opposing forces within a person’s mind • STORY CONNECTION: “Speaking of Courage” is mainly about an internal conflict in Paul Berlin’s mind.

25. Story Notes: Tim O’Brien’s “Speaking of Courage” • CONFLICT: a struggle between opposing forces or characters: • STORY CONNECTION: The narrator’s repeated comment that everything’s the same reflects the narrator’s internal conflict over his own boredom, idleness, & disillusionment----the repetition suggests that the problem is that everything is NOT the same—the narrator has changed

26. Story Notes: Tim O’Brien’s “Speaking of Courage” • CONFLICT: a struggle between opposing forces or characters: • External: • Can generate conflicting emotions, ideas, & commitments • Internal: • Can lead to arguments, fights, & battles of many kinds • STORY CONNECTION: for Paul, the external conflict of war has created an internal conflict about courage & self-worth

27. Story Notes: Tim O’Brien’s “Speaking of Courage” • IMAGERY: the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, thing, place, or experience • STORY CONNECTION: during his drive, Paul sees a man’s motorboat that has stalled in the lake. This image is one of stasis, frustration, & dysfunction. Like the man in the motorboat, Paul finds himself “stalled,” confused, and frustrated.

28. Story Notes: Tim O’Brien’s “Speaking of Courage” • SYMBOLISM: a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself. • STORY CONNECTION: the rotating sprinkler symbolizes futility. Its circular motion is like Paul’s circling the lake. Because the grass is so dry, the sprinkling is “hopeless.” Paul’s activity is getting him nowhere.

29. Story Notes: Tim O’Brien’s “Speaking of Courage” • IRONY: a discrepancy between appearances and reality: • Verbal • Situational • Dramatic • STORY CONNECTION: The incident at the drive-in is Paul’s only human contact in this story. The carhop refuses to take his order because it must be done impersonally through the intercom; the dialogue over the speaker mimics a military exchange.

30. Author Notes: Bernard Malamud 1914-86 • Writes about the Jewish people to represent all of humanity • Shows their attempt to maintain their cultural heritage while coping with the realities of the world • His characters both succeed and fail • Captures the human experience---balance between comedy and tragedy • Pulitzer Prize winning New Yorker of Russian heritage—most famous novel: The Natural

31. Story Notes: Malamud’s “The Magic Barrel” • EPIPHANY: a moment when a character has a flash of insight about him/herself (NOTE!! Post-modernist plot—NO resolution—reflects the uncertainty in life! • STORY CONNECTION: Leo Finkle matures as a result of his conversation with Lily and his awareness that he had never loved God because he had never loved anyone; he comes to glimpse the possibility of real love and autonomy

32. Story Notes: Malamud’s “The Magic Barrel” • DYNAMIC CHARACTER: a character that changes in an important way as a result of the story’s actions • STORY CONNECTION: Leo falls in love at first sight; he loses his pride and insecurity and experiences an overwhelming emotion

33. Story Notes: Malamud’s “The Magic Barrel” • STATIC CHARACTER: a character that does not change much over the course of the story • STORY CONNECTION: Has Salzman renewed hopes for his daughter now that she might marry a rabbi and return to her religion? The plural prayers implies that Salzman now regards Leo, too, as dead

34. Story Notes: Malamud’s “The Magic Barrel” • IDIOM: an expression that means something different from the literal definition of its parts • STORY CONNECTION: “cutting corners” means to save money, time, or energy by doing something more cheaply or less carefully

35. Author Notes: Richard Wright 1908-60 • His father abandoned his family when he was young • Wright & his brother & mother face malnutrition and crushing poverty • Because his father refused to support them, & their mother could not, they were put in an orphanage which was harsh and bleak • Two most famous books—Native Son & Black Boy

36. Story Notes: Wright’s Black Boy excerpt • SETTING: a particular time and place in which the story occurs. It affects how the characters feel and how they behave. Setting details fall into several categories • Location • Weather • Geography • Time of day • Season • Atmosphere • Prevailing social & economic conditions

37. Story Notes: Wright’s Black Boy excerpt • SETTING • STORY CONNECTION: The setting of the house with the fireplace indicates the lack of truthfulness in Wright’s father at court because his father and his girlfriend live in a frame house (as opposed to the crumbling tenement he leaves his wife in) and can afford to have a fire. This indicates he was lying when he convinced the judge that he could do no more to support his children

38. Story Notes: Wright’s Black Boy excerpt • COLLOQUIALISM: a local or regional dialect expression; it is only appropriate for casual, ordinary, familiar, or informal conversation rather than formal speech or writing. • STORY CONNECTION: “egging someone on” means taunting into action; “to tear out” means to run; “to give them the same” means to do the same thing to them—in this case to fight them (the bullies)

39. Story Notes: Wright’s Black Boy excerpt • DIALOGUE: the directly quoted words of a conversation between two or more people • STORY CONNECTION: by presenting conversations, Wright shows, rather than describes, his own thoughts and feelings. With dialogue, he creates vivid pictures of the people in his life

40. Author Notes: John Updike 1932-2009 • Harvard grad residing in MA—setting for much of his work • Worked for The New Yorker magazine • Author of The Witches of Eastwick • Concerned with the problems of the individual in the struggle to find meaningful values in a morally ambivalent world

41. Story Notes: Updike’s “Son” • TEXT STRUCTURE: NON-CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER—events occur non-sequentially making it more difficult to plot the story line. • To more easily understand the plot, create a timeline plotting the story’s important time periods and info concerning the character(s).

42. Story Notes: Updike’s “Son” • NON-CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER • STORY CONNECTION: • The boy in the 1st paragraph is the 15 year old son of the narrator in 1973. The son in the 2nd paragraph is in 1949, so this suggests that this “son” is the narrator. • The 3rd paragraph reveals that the year is 1913, so the “he” described in this one of the narrator’s father---as a “son.” • The 4th paragraph describes letters form the 1880’s written by the narrator’s grandfather as a “son.” • The 5th paragraph does not mention a year; therefore, this “son” is the narrator’s son described in the 1st paragraph.

43. Story Notes: Updike’s “Son” • POINT OF VIEW: the vantage point from which the writer tells a story. • 1st person: a character in the story tells the story using pronouns—I, me, my, we, us, etc. • 3rd person limited: an unknown narrator tells the story, but is limited to the thoughts & feelings of only one character. • 3rd person omniscient: an all-knowing narrator tells the story; knows the thoughts & feelings of all characters. • Objective point of view: narrator who is totally impersonal & objective tells the story with NO comment on any characters or events. This narrator never gives any direct revelation of the characters’ thoughts or motives.

44. Story Notes: Updike’s “Son” • POINT OF VIEW: • STORY CONNECTION: Not only is this story told out of chronological order, but the narrative view point shifts. • The 1st paragraph includes the1st person point of view. • The 2nd paragraph shifts to the 3rd person limited point of view. • The remaining paragraphs shift between 1st person & 3rd person limited. • The 6th paragraph is entirely enclosed in quotation marks—the speaker is the narrator’s father quoting his father who failed to receive a call to the ministry.

45. Story Notes: Updike’s “Son” • THEME: the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work. It is the one, message or lesson that the writer wants the reader to understand. It is a unifying thread that runs throughout the entire story. • STORY CONNECTION: The thematic thread in this story is the relationship between fathers & sons; the time frame spans almost 100 years, yet all of the sons experience conflicts with their fathers.

46. Story Notes: Updike’s “Son” • TONE: The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience. • STORY CONNECTION: In “Son,” the tone is nostalgic or bittersweet; the narrator loves them, yet he sees their flaws.

47. Author Notes: Sylvia Plath 1932-63 • Born in Boston—parents were immigrants from Poland & Austria • Father died when she was 8—she believed was the cause for her emotional suffering as an adult • Began writing in elementary school & was published at 17. • Battled depression and bi-polarism which caused her 1st attempted suicide. This led to her first novel, The Bell Jar. • Married Ted Hughes, a British author, and had two children. • Published two collections of poems—The Colossus and, posthumously, Ariel. • In 1963, she attempted suicide again; this time she succeeded

48. Story Notes: Plath’s “Mirror” • PERSONIFICATION: figure of speech in which an object or an animal is given human qualities, such as feelings, thoughts, and attitudes. • POEM CONNECTION: the mirror sees itself and honest and exact. It refers to itself as a “little god” and a “lake” who shows a woman “what she really is.”

49. Story Notes: Plath’s “Mirror” • THEME: the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work. It is the one, message or lesson that the writer wants the reader to understand. It is a unifying thread that runs throughout the entire story. • POEM CONNECTION: The poem suggests the deep distortions of identity and self-worth, brought on by a fear of aging and the cult of beauty.

50. Story Notes: Plath’s “Mushroom” • TONE: The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience. • POEM CONNECTION: the tone at the opening of the poem suggests a playfulness, yet sinister. By the end, the tone is menacing, horrified, & paranoid, with the prophecy of the world taken over by steady ambition; words such as “Acquire,” “Fists,” “Shadow,” and “Nudgers and shovers” suggest aggressive possession, force, darkness, and a slow, sinister ambition.