Recently we have spent most of our time focusing on Death of a Salesman, while continuing to work with DIDLS. As of
right now, Death of a Salesman seems
to be tackling the same themes that were seen in The American Dream—materialism, consumerism, etc. This makes me
wonder if all of the works we discuss this year are also going to focus on
these topics. I have, however, noticed a bit of variation between the works. Death of a Salesman seems to put a lot
more emphasis on the success of the individual and pride. One aspect that I am
wondering about is its emphasis on the relationships within the family. I am
not sure if they are similar to The
American Dream because the family seems distant and Willy, in particular,
seems to care mostly about his sons’ value, or if they are more contrasting
because Death of a Salesman shows the
characters expressing compassion.
I notice that the more we do exercises involving DIDLS in class, the more
I understand them and am able to apply them. For example, while watching the
presidential campaign speeches this weekend, I found myself picking them apart based
on their use of diction and details. Each candidate used their word choice to
make themselves seem like the clear choice. They also purposely omitted certain unflattering
details and included ones that portrayed themselves in the best light. I think
it is very interesting that I can not only use these techniques to analyze
pieces for class, but also for things in the real world.
We also recently re-took the terms test. My results amazed me because I
memorized all of the definitions of the terms and their applications, but I still
did horribly on the test. I think knowing all of the terms somehow caused me to
become too cryptic in identifying them. I found that I was having difficult
making any of the terms work well with the questions given, and then once I did,
I would second guess myself. For example, in one of the questions I initially
thought that a given passage was a conceit—an elaborate comparison—because it
compared one’s feelings to a detailed description of a scene. When I went back
through to check my answers, however, I read more in depth on the description
of the scene and noticed that it provided imagery and the comparison was not
incredibly clear, so I changed my answer to “imagery”. It was conceit.
I noticed the clear theme shared by The American Dream and Death of a Salesman as well. It's definitely true that Salesman has a lot more emphasis on the individual as you said, and I think that makes it a lot more personable. It was a lot easier to relate to Willy because the reader can almost put himself/herself in his shoes, whereas in the American Dream it's impossible to relate to the characters at all. It's good that we are learning about DIDLS so that we can apply it outside of class, just like you said you did with the presidential speeches. It's surprising how obvious a lot of the techniques are once you are looking for them specifically.
ReplyDeleteI think that it was pretty neat how The American Dream and Death of a Salesman had similar themes while being COMPLETELY different plays. The difference in tone, setting, dialogue, plot, etc. was huge, but the theme was similar (consumerism & materialism).
ReplyDeleteAstute observation on the presidential debate! I think that's a good cross-application of DIDLS to more than just a literary medium -- its DIDLS in real life as well.
Ah, and the terms test... I remember taking it for the first time as well, thinking that it would be centered around rote memorization... and then finding out it wasn't.
Maybe we focus on the same themes because most people don't realize how much they truly apply to our society. We always talk about how absurd such ways of life are, but recently i have noticed how often they appear. For example, the themes probably apply in your own life. One may not realize because the situation isn't an extreme case like the plots in Salesman and The American Dream. Has learning about these themes affected you in any way? Or even the activities we do with them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the terms test was just as disappointing to me, as it was to you. Now, I've been realizing why its so important to know the terms- they show up everywhere! I assume the test was so challenging because its crucial to be able to apply the terms than just knowing the definition.