Proposal

1) Which of the two general approaches will you take? Identity in the context of the Red Scare

2) What specific issue will you “take up” and “take responsibility for” ? I will examine society’s impact on how we define ourselves.  It affects me personally as I have often wondered who I am.  Also, as a political science major I look a lot at events from around the world at different points in history… I have wondered if I would be the same person if put into these events.

3)

4)

5) If possible, speculate at least one “blindspot” of historical discourse: what is conventionally forgotten or excluded about this experience? The vast array of opinions about communism in America.  The issue existed as a spectrum, not as the dicotomy that it is often depicted as.

Why is it important to actively recall and inscribe this into writing and into memory? I gives a clearer picture of the event.  Also, it allows for internal conflict to be seen within characters that are “on the fence” about capitolism and communism.

6) List the “CATTt-egories” for a “Mystory recipe” that will be relevant for your poetics, as you’ve derived from our readings/classes thus far; need not provide rationale — more a starting point and inventory to develop later. Individual experience, insite into the uncensered thoughs of the protagonist.  Limited view of the events leading up to and after the story (fragmented). 

7) At this time, what is a potential figure that you might employ, in a “re-fashioning” or “re-deploying”? (from history and/or culture)
Allusions to historical events will be made, but they will be tainted by the beliefs of the characters.   

8) Obstacles that you foresee with this choice/topic? “Traps” of writing in conventional discourse (thought+expression)? Some reasearch will be required, and as someone who is most comfortable writting essays, I will have to check myself to be sure I am not reinforcing the conventional ways of telling history.

What are the “argumentative” positions? Academic: Propaganda spread mass paronia.  Individual: Uncertanty created paronia and the notion of trying to ignore problems to function within a frightened society as if nothing was wrong. Briefly describe your issue within the doxa: what is the conventional, consensus, or mythological perspective or narrative? The individual experience is not expressed clearly in history which tends to compress society.

Identity Crisis

I have had I hard time deciding upon a topic of what to blog about this week.  I was struck by the notion of identity in all of the pieces this week.  Still, I feel as if trying to tackle identity in one blog is next to impossible.  I suppose that is what the final project will help with.  I was given a speech on life.  Someting was said in that speech the rang with me this week.  I was called to find who I am and why I am here.  Once I know these things I am to never compromise them.  Thats a daunting request and i still don’t know who I am fully.  I do believe though that perhaps who we are and why we are here are not that different.  Perhaps it is what we do that defines us.  Or perhaps it is how we do it.  I am a fan of Five for Fighting, they have a song that got stuck in my head after the identity discussion.

Crystal

In class someone brought up the notion of memory not being like a crystalized image. I understand that what they were getting at was that it was not a solid, pure object. Still, I cannot help but believe that memory and crystal are much alike. There is a large crystal in the nation Museum of Natural History (I looked but I could not find the actual picture of it… i may have taken one I will look through my photos later and post if I can find it) than when you looked through it, you got a split image. It is hard describe, but it was like seeing the room behind the crystal from dozens of different sets of eyes, but each image while of the same room was different in shade or color. I think memory is a lot like that. Two peoples memories of the same event will likly occur in the same setting involving the same people, but the tone of the memory varies by individual.

Response 5

Part One:
In the consensus, history is envisioned as one story encompassing all time, peoples, and locations. Even the word history “his story” is misleading. Perhaps it would be best to view history as in interaction between multiple stories, not as his story but rather as their stories. Roth’s novel allows for just this. By introducing the plot from the different angles and perspectives of his characters he allows for variability in the events of the storyline. Consensus history and Roth’s history can be seen as competing characters in themselves as the novel challenges strictly pro-American views with a “what if” scenario where America and Nazi Germany are one and the same.
The interaction between Roth’s history and consensus history creates an environment where the doxa becomes muddled. This historicity serves to disrupt automatic reading. In doing so, it also allows for the individual to play a greater role than is typically shown in history. Perhaps the best example of this is found the newsreels. The newsreels present history as it is normally perceived. They are told from one view point only and allow for no questioning or alternatives. This view is what the reader was guarded against throughout the entire story by telling the events not as a historical account, but rather through the experiences of the characters during the story.
The newsreels also serve to contrast the notion of “perpetual fear”. Roth’s use of the newsreels shows that it would have been possible to tell his entire alternate history in as little as eight pages. This, however, would not allow one to see into the individual experiences of the characters. Fear is the underlying emotion throughout the entire novel. Roth’s mother is uncertain of the future and fears what may happen to her family, the bulk of America fears getting involved in the war, and even Lindbergh is forced into submission out of fear for his kidnapped child. The notion of a perpetual fear goes against consensus. Fear is typically perceived as something that eventually subsides. The experience of fear, however, can feel like forever. In the moment, fear can be all encompassing and eternal.

Part Two:
Roth’s uses poetics in a way that captures the emotional state of his characters and story. Phillip’s dream shows not only foreshadowing, but also Phillip’s fear that his home is being corrupted by anti-Semitism. It also demonstrates that Phillip is much more in tune with his surroundings than children his age are normally given credit for. He sees the signs that many adults who are typically regarded as wiser than him are blind to.
The interaction between chapters eight and nine reveals the contrast between time from a frightened individual’s perspective and time from a historian’s point of view. The chapter eight newsreels are fast paced and told in a way similar to a newscast or a history book. The evens of chapter nine seem to drag on, especially when compared with chapter eight, showing how time felt for the characters involved.

Modern History

I suppose that what this novel is trying to do is pose an alternative history… a sort of what if senerio. As a political science major and a self proclaimed history nerd (albiet it not of the WWII time period) I read a lot of historical accounts, and one that breaks from what is “historically accurate” occationally jars me. It was commented in class that the story can be applied to the war in Iraq. I can agree if one is looking at the argument between involvement and isolation. Still, I would not say this only can apply to Iraq but any war to some degree (most notebly Vietnam).

The Swimmer

For this week’s essay I chose to write on the swimmer. I know it was not a text that was covered in class, but I stumbled upon it while reading the prompt after finishing my evening swim. The story opposed the typical methods that people use to complete a task. Growing up, my favorite question always been “why”. Neddy’s tale suggest that sometimes why may not be an important question. Still, I feel that why is of value. For instnace, I believe that when consittering morality, the only question that matters is why.

A matter of life and death

Both Plath and Sexton presented an interesting level of duality in their work. They seemed to curse their own lives and praise that of their children. While the notion of praising one’s child is common, the extent to which they discussed their own planned deaths was not. People do not really like to think about dying. Most see it as an end, Plath and Sexton seemed to view it as an escape. This idea opposes the common notion of death. Death is normally seen as confining. Once one dies, he cannot come or leave, he is trapped within a box six feet underground, it is not an escape but rather a trap.

Response 4 part 2 (George Carter)

This brief account calls into perspective the notion of the mundane. It is remarked several times throughout the piece that it is a day just like every other. The character in the piece goes through his daily routine, ignoring the world around him. It is not until he spots the fire over the horizon (a reference to the power struggle during the cold war) that he realizes that there is something besides what is right in front of him going on. This account shows that performing the typical daily routine can be used as a protective devise during times of strife. Still, it hints that ignoring the problem will in no way resolve it.

Response 4

The three of them sat silently in their car as the bridge swayed evenly between the gales. The other vehicles around them were trapped in a similar situation, gridlocked. The boy looked out over the stretch of water beside the bridge. Overhead, the sky was a clear, pristine blue. Two mammoth storms waited at both horizons, slowly stalking nearer to the car. The boy marveled at this. Though he was an inquisitive boy, he had never understood the weather. No one had ever explained to him where a storm came from and he wondered what would happen when the two storms met over his car. Would they merge into one horrifyingly large mass? Would one overtake the other? Or would they both explode? The boy’s father sat in the chair beside him, gripping the wheel, his knuckles white. Every few minutes he would reach over and change the station on the radio, never quite distracted from the traffic. The father was not normally a tense man. He stared out of the windshield searching for the end of his trap. His search was in vain, a semi truck sat in front of him blocking his view of everything beyond a few feet. The trucks engine was still idling as if waiting for some signal to resume travel. A child lay across the back seats of the car. He twiddled his fingers, stretched, and tapped his feet. Motion for the sake of motion, motion for the sake of sanity. He dared not look out either of the side windows, afraid that if the storms knew he was there they would take him and change him into yet another shapeless cloud.
Outside the car a man paced, cursed, and spat. His face, though obscured by the veil of his hood, showed lines of desperation, confusion, and fear as he intently watched both skies. Thunder cracked overhead, though from which side it was impossible to tell. Still, no flashes lit the sky, and for this the man was thankful. Pacing, he eyed the walls around the bridge knowing no walls could halt the encroaching storms. Desperate, the man looked above him and watched as the thin blue strip of sky began to vanish before the storms. The man panicked, believing the strip dividing the storms was becoming too small, that the fragile layer of brinksmanship would soon shatter. He paced faster, knowing he had to stand on one side lest he remain in the middle. The storm to his east had taken up some dust from whatever land had spawned it. It gave the wind a red hue. Looking at this shimmering red curtain, the man began to walk towards it. In his mind he saw himself as he bade farewell and jumped of the bridge, to solitude, waving, carrying flowers, down to the river. With one foot upon the wall he stopped and looked back. The storm to his west looked equally inviting and terrifying as the one he stood before now. He stepped away just as the cavernous mouth of the storm was about to swallow him and knelt in the middle of the road under the thin streak of sky that was home to him, his tears mixing with the rain that was now beginning to fall.

Brinksmanship

The notion of brinkmanship can about during the height of the cold war.  I think the concept can be applied to the mindset of many individuals during cold war throughout the world.  The idea the entire world order was on a hair trigger and that one action, beyond the control of most everyday citizens could plunge their lives again into war is one that is hard to wrap your mind around today.  I would think the tension must have been unbearable.  There is no doubt that many kept going through their daily routines as if nothing was wrong, they had to say in motion to stay sane.