Satire Assignment

Maus II

I came across a New York Times article on the internet written about some different aspects of Maus II and why they were written and portrayed the way they were. This article was written by Lawrence L. Langer. In one section of the article, Langer explains why the approach Spiegelman took in writing this novel works. Langer believes that "the struggle to transform history and testimony into art is a central part of the drama of the text, and the reader is constantly sucked into the whirlpool of the conflict." Who can fail to sympathize with Vladek, an Auschwitz survivor reunited with his wife after the war, only to face her suicide nearly a quarter of a century later in Rego Park, Queens? But who can fail to blame him for being so stingy that he leaves the gas burner lit all day at his summer bungalow because the cost of the gas is included in the rental and he can light his cigarettes without wasting a match? Langer reminds us that "Artie despises his father's frugality, and with some justice, but Mr. Spiegelman constantly reminds us that Vladek's behavior in the present cannot be separated from his anguish in the past." The reader thus develops insights that Mr. Spiegelman's character, Artie, can't always achieve, and this is one of the many striking examples of the author's expertise on the writing of this narrative. Langer also talks about writing this novel in comic book form, he talks about Spiegelman’s decision to put all the people in the novel as different animals. One of Langer's points is that showing the people in the Holocaust as cats and mice and even pigs forces the reader to not get caught up in the grim, inhumane horrors of the holocaust. Langer also contributes his thoughts that the Jews were portrayed as mice because the Nazi called Jews vermins of society, so Langer thinks that might be Spiegelman’s reasoning for having Jews as mice. Langer then says that the Nazis in the novel had to be cats because everyone knows that cats and mice are not known to be friends.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html

came across a New York Times article on the internet written about some different aspects of Maus II and why they were written and portrayed the way they were. This article was written by Lawrence L. Langer. In one section of the article, Langer explains why the approach Spiegelman took in writing this novel works. Langer believes that "the struggle to transform history and testimony into art is a central part of the drama of the text, and the reader is constantly sucked into the whirlpool of the conflict." Who can fail to sympathize with Vladek, an Auschwitz survivor reunited with his wife after the war, only to face her suicide nearly a quarter of a century later in Rego Park, Queens? But who can fail to blame him for being so stingy that he leaves the gas burner lit all day at his summer bungalow because the cost of the gas is included in the rental and he can light his cigarettes without wasting a match? Langer reminds us that "Artie despises his father's frugality, and with some justice, but Mr. Spiegelman constantly reminds us that Vladek's behavior in the present cannot be separated from his anguish in the past." The reader thus develops insights that Mr. Spiegelman's character, Artie, can't always achieve, and this is one of the many striking examples of the author's expertise on the writing of this narrative. Langer also talks about writing this novel in comic book form, he talks about Spiegelman’s decision to put all the people in the novel as different animals. One of Langer's points is that showing the people in the Holocaust as cats and mice and even pigs forces the reader to not get caught up in the grim, inhumane horrors of the holocaust. Langer also contributes his thoughts that the Jews were portrayed as mice because the Nazi called Jews vermins of society, so Langer thinks that might be Spiegelman’s reasoning for having Jews as mice. Langer then says that the Nazis in the novel had to be cats because everyone knows that cats and mice are not known to be friends.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html

Maus II

I came across a New York Times article on the internet written about some different aspects of Maus II and why they were written and portrayed the way they were. This article was written by Lawrence L. Langer. In one section of the article, Langer explains why the approach Spiegelman took in writing this novel works. Langer believes that "the struggle to transform history and testimony into art is a central part of the drama of the text, and the reader is constantly sucked into the whirlpool of the conflict." Who can fail to sympathize with Vladek, an Auschwitz survivor reunited with his wife after the war, only to face her suicide nearly a quarter of a century later in Rego Park, Queens? But who can fail to blame him for being so stingy that he leaves the gas burner lit all day at his summer bungalow because the cost of the gas is included in the rental and he can light his cigarettes without wasting a match? Langer reminds us that "Artie despises his father's frugality, and with some justice, but Mr. Spiegelman constantly reminds us that Vladek's behavior in the present cannot be separated from his anguish in the past." The reader thus develops insights that Mr. Spiegelman's character, Artie, can't always achieve, and this is one of the many striking examples of the author's expertise on the writing of this narrative. Langer also talks about writing this novel in comic book form, he talks about Spiegelman’s decision to put all the people in the novel as different animals. One of Langer's points is that showing the people in the Holocaust as cats and mice and even pigs forces the reader to not get caught up in the grim, inhumane horrors of the holocaust. Langer also contributes his thoughts that the Jews were portrayed as mice because the Nazi called Jews vermins of society, so Langer thinks that might be Spiegelman’s reasoning for having Jews as mice. Langer then says that the Nazis in the novel had to be cats because everyone knows that cats and mice are not known to be friends.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html

Postmodernism in Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle is no doubt a very strong postmodernism text. If one were to examine the religion Bokononism closely, one can make connections with the religion and postmodernism. Neither of the two have a rhyme or reason. There is no "main idea" to either of them. Postmodernism was a movement established in the 18th century that strived to disregard the traditions of modernism. Postmodernism has no obvious center to it and has no one controlling foundation which it originates from. A more simplistic and easier way to tell the difference between postmodernism and modernism would be an example of a ceramics sculpture. Take for example postmodernism as an abstract sculpture with random, spontaneous designs and shapes. The Modernist sculpture however, would be of a person, animal, or an object with an obvious meaning such as a house. Bokononismdoes not have a distinctive central idea. It is something that one needs to form an idea of in their own head. The first verse in the book of Bokonon says, “all the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies.” This just shows that Bokonon is post modernistic. Why make up something that you know isn't true? Most post modernistic texts are a bit confusing as to the purpose of them. However, that is the very basis of postmodernism. The book "Cat's Cradle" along with the "made up" religion Bokononism itself are very perplexing and it is difficult to see the point of either of these things. I hope this made sense to you. It kind of made sense in my head, I think. I'm enjoying this book and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. I'm going to be searching for more postmodernistic ideas in the book now that we are analyzing it in that sense.

Brave New World, Essay Starter Ideas

I decided to start out my idea for the Brave New world essay by connecting the society in Brave New World to our education. I've been able to make many connections between the two. Watching Sir Ken Robinson expanded my thoughts on this topic. School is like an assembly line and is run a lot like society is run in Brave New World. In the school system things are very redundant and things are run the way they are supposed to be run and if they aren't then there will be consequences to pay. In the book, the world has developed into a factory. Children are created through test tubes and conditioned to fit their jobs and social class. They are brought up in batches until they are ready for work, just like in our world. So that is basically what I'll be discussing but I plan on using some pieces of literature including Brave New World Revisited by Christopher Hitchens, and the animation video on education by Sir Ken Robinson because these are what best explains my main idea. They help me incorporate my idea of today's education being like the society as a whole in Brave New World. I might even take my earlier thought about soma and ADHD medicine and incorporate it into my essay. Kids with ADHD have a ton of prospective. I would say that it is even a benefit to have ADHD. Bottom line is that the school system is becoming more robotic as time goes on. There is less divergent thinking as you grow up in the education system. It does not help when doctors induce students with their ADHD medicine to conform them and make them converged thinkers like the rest of everyone in the school system. This is what soma does to free thinkers in Brave New World.