El Greco to Velazquez

These paintings are The Opening of the Fifth Seal (The Vision of Saint John) and View of Toledo by El Greco.

Here's a link to the art exhibit I spoke about in class.

Here's a review from the Boston Globe.

Here are some of El Greco's paintings.

Essay due Friday, April 18

Slaughterhouse-Five Essay

Choose one of the following writing prompts.

· In Slaughterhouse Five how does Kurt Vonnegut’s novel use the elements of fiction to develop the idea that life is absurd? And what effect—think tragicomedy—does this development have on the reader?

To address this question you might consider such things as tone, narrative perspective, narrative voice (including diction and syntax), narrative structure, events, motifs, characterization, etc. You might also consider the novel’s exploration of the many forms of life’s absurdity: absurd cruelty, absurd beauty, absurd irony, absurd humor, absurd circularity, absurd interrelationships, etc.

· How does Kurt Vonnegut characterize Billy Pilgrim and how does this characterization contribute to the work as a whole? Does Vonnegut present him as a sympathetic “Everyman,” behaving as common people do in circumstances beyond their control? Does Vonnegut reveal Pilgrim to be a failure, someone who instead of possessing traditional heroic attributes is an anti-hero? Explain how. (Think of direct and indirect characterization. Also, consider the significance of the character’s name.) While thinking about the significance of Vonnegut’s characterization of Billy Pilgrim, consider why Vonnegut chooses not to place his protagonist on a heroic pedestal, unlike many war novels and films that do. Consider how Vonnegut uses Billy Pilgrim to say something about war and about human beings.

· Explore why Vonnegut writes his novel in a way that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Does Kurt Vonnegut intend for the reader to believe that Billy Pilgrim imagines that he becomes “unstuck in time” and is abducted by Tralfamadoreans or that he does, in fact, travel through time and space? How do you know? What are the hints? If Vonnegut provides hints that Billy is neither unstuck nor abducted why does he choose to write the novel from the perspective of a narrator who is credulous? In this essay you will explore how and why the novel is constructed to blur the line between reality and fantasy.

Your responses should address the writing prompt clearly, thoroughly, and deeply. Your responses should show an understanding of the necessary supporting details. Your responses should be well-organized and well-written. Most importantly, your responses should show an understanding of the prompt and its relationship to the novel. (In other words prove to me that you understand the prompt and that you understand Vonnegut’s novel.)

Slaughterhouse-Five

In class I had you pick out scenes from the book that stood out to you for some reason. They were poignant, sad, funny, strange, enlightening, well-written, strangely written, seemingly important, etc.

Discuss at least two scenes you have chosen. Respond to what someone else has said about a third scene. You may write about anything you want--character, characterization, imagery, motifs, historical references, your personal emotional or intellectual reaction, links to other literature we have studied, etc.--as long as you are specific and insightful. (We haven't talked much yet about the novel's motifs but looking at what images, ideas, and phrases are repeated is an excellent clue to what matters in the novel (in any novel, as you probably realize by now).

In addition to writing about what you want, I'd like for you to comment on how the scene (and perhaps the book as a whole) is written. You might deal with the narrator, the narrative voice, the juxtaposition of scenes, the diction, the syntax, etc. Quote directly from the text to illustrate your ideas about the novel!!! "300 words or more" is a good rule of thumb for length. This weekend I'll post another Slaughterhouse-Five assignment and will await your comments. The next post will ask you to think about the novel as a whole.