Stories, Non-Fiction, Essays
In class, we studied various short stories and essays written by influential writers and ones unknown to us. Each piece, however, had a valuable lesson to teach. Stories like The Passenger gave us a sense of wonder and essays like The Uses and Abuses made us question institutions like higher education. The cliche “quality over quantity” proved itself to be true in this unit as we did not need lengthy novels to learn valuable lessons or open our minds to new ideas.
The Lady or the Tiger
Marxism
The proper distribution of power and wealth within a society is often debated. Too much power given to a specific person can lead to a dictatorship while an even amount of power distributed equally among the people causes chaos and disorder. In the situation of “The Lady and The Tiger,” we see a clear uneven distribution of power with which the king holds full control over his people.
Archetypal
Archetypal analysis is a type of literary criticism that interprets a piece of literature by analyzing and understanding the reappearing narratives, character types, and symbols. Archetypes can be found in stories throughout history and across genres. These myths are common and recurring supposedly due to them being so basic and fundamental to human nature, that they are ingrained into each of us from birth.
Literary Criticism
Literary/ Critical lenses are what we use to view and analyze texts. Whether we know it or not, we use a critical lens to view the world. We may look at the world through a Marxist interpretation or an archetypal one. During the Short Story/ Essay unit, we analyzed various texts through multiple lenses to illustrate that multiple interpretations can be had on the same text.
I Stand Here Ironing
Moral / Philosophical
When viewing literary work through the lens of a moral and philosophical critic, one makes an effort to judge the ethical content of the text. Morality is taken into question when judging characters and their actions. Single passages, phrases, and quotes are not evaluated out of context or questioned alone. Rather, the moral and philosophical critic will examine the picture as a whole.
Historical and Biographical
Historical Biographical criticism is looking at a piece of literature through the lens of the culture at the time it was written as well as the author’s upbringing. It can also be used to retroactively study a period based on the literature that was produced. “I Stand Here Ironing” was written by Tillie Olsen. She was the child of Jewish immigrants, worked menial jobs most of her young life and was an ardent socialist.
These songs all are a representation of the artists’ view of what makes life beautiful. As the man finds beauty in the perfection of the moment, these artists have translated this emotion into their music and given it to the world. The beauty in life for some may be religion or love itself, but it is truly is in the eye of the beholder.
The songs on this playlist were selected as they represent different views of war and encompass the emotion and feeling of it. Through these songs, we see the endorsement of war, the view of an opposition to it, and the remembrance of it all. The instrumental and lyrical songs contribute to an overall view of the spectacle of the destruction that war creates in the world and its population.
Theme Versus Thesis
What differentiates a theme from a thesis? A theme is typically used to describe the underlying message of a fictional piece of literature. A thesis, on the other hand, is normally a theory or belief used in a non-fictional piece that is used to spread an opinion on any given topic. Short stories contain an underlying theme, used to provide one with morals or an important message about the world.
​
A thesis can be found in essays and personal works of literature explain the author’s stance on an issue or argument. Both the theme and thesis are responsible for how society entertains texts, whether they look for an important, underlying message or attempt to form an opinion against an argument or idea.
Photo Essays
“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.”
- Destin Sparks
