(and) Thesis

Colonialism is something that has affected many people over many years, historically. This practice is addressed in many works of literature and is highly controversial. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is narrated through the conqueror’s eyes, while Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is one which views this colonialism years later, through the native’s eyes. These two views are polar opposites and provide evidence on about how this imperialism can affect both the native people, and the foreigners. They also provide insight on how natives view foreigners, and how they want to be viewed. This ultimately equates to the question; how do we want to be viewed as people and as a society while looked upon from the outside? Kincaid and Conrad provide very interesting answers to this question. Kincaid suggests that time doesn’t matter, just people’s actions, she associates white tourists with Europeans and therefore judges them as her conqueror. Conrad has a similar point, but proved in a much different way, suggesting that the more you travel into the river, the less of a man you become.

thesis

The violence that moves the novel FIght Club by Chuck Palahniuk and the film Pulp Fiction shows the need for redemption from the lives that are led by each character in both pieces of work. The violence is used in some cases to prove how much of a man one is, and for others its just what surrounds their lives from work to their private life. VIolence is used to redeem the characters and make them more human.

Thesis

Topic:

-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Charlie Kaufman

-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Focus: A comparison in chasing/pursuing something in order to relive the past, or the opposite action in leaving the past behind and moving on, and analyzing the reasoning and thought process behind both.

Thesis:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Charlie Kaufman and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald both look into very opposite relationship circumstances. The film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind looks into the relationship of a disgruntled couple that resort to drastic measures to literally erase any memory of each other from existence in hopes of putting their painful and flawed relationship behind them. The Great Gatsby depicts a most opposing relationship, in which Jay Gatsby does whatever it takes to reenact his past and rekindle his love with his former companion Daisy Buchanan. Both discuss the themes of fate, the acceptance of reality (as opposed to running away from it), and memories of the past acting as a catalyst for their decisions. The relationships in both of these works analyze the difference between dwelling on the past, or disregarding the past entirely, as well as the reasons why one chooses to do so.

Thesis

Topic, Focus, & Thesis

Topic(s): 1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Focus: In each of the two novels stated above people are forced into some sort of escape where they must abandon their old lives and face a new reality. Sometimes this escape is for the better, but other times it can be for the worse, but even more so, an escape doesn’t necessary mean traveling to another location, but moving closer to a new person in search for help. Having an “escape” experience in one’s life can help people truly identify who they are and discover their own dreams and goals.

Thesis: In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the asylum is a place where individuals who can’t blend in with the outside world are forced to go, until they can properly ease back into the rules and expectations of society. Chief, a patient at the asylum with a Native American heritage and extremely large physical features that make him look like he’s towering over the rest of the patients, remains quiet during the majority of his time at the asylum, until he meets the news patient, McMurphy. McMurphy is unlike any of the other patients at the haven and fights back against Nurse Ratched and the Combine. He doesn’t conform to the society in anyway and remains true to his beliefs. The inspirational actions of McMurphy immediately attract Chief towards him and his beliefs, forcing Chief to escape the Combine and remain true and original. He follows in McMurphy’s lead and using his strength breaks free of the asylum.

Just as Chief finds an escape to freedom through action, Dimmesdale, from The Scarlet Letter, finds himself running away from his sins, unable to take action and confess what he has done to the town. His escape attempt is simply used to retreat from his previous life and leave forever, avoiding the troubles of his past forever. Dimmesdale strategy fails, as he is incapable to remain true to his life and confess his sins. The recognition of one’s self that Chief experiences at the asylum gives him the strength he needs to break free of the Combine, and be true to himself, as opposed to the weak, running away that Dimmesdale attempts to do.

Assertion

Topic: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Focus: The object (the ring and the key) that the characters are given and the journey it takes them through.

Thesis: In both Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the main characters, Frodo and Oskar are given an object that takes them on a journey. Throughout this journey they are both understanding more about the world and learning how to understand themselves. These objects that they are given become each of the character’s life but they eventually lose the object, which was their life for so long. At the end of their journey Oskar is so easily able to move on, and it actually helps him because he realizes that his life doesn’t have just one meaning and he doesn’t need an object to define him. On the other hand, Frodo is unable to return to his life or move on and has to leave to find something new to depend on.

Topic and Focus

Thesis Topic: The Great Gatsby and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Focus: Obsession in the two books

Inside all men there is an obsession, and a desire to reach or obtain that obsession is what drives them to change who they are. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both have obsessive men. Jay Gatsby, formerly known as Jay Gatz, changes himself to gain material possesions, and his highest prize is his lost love and obsession Daisy Buchanon. Dr. Henry Jekyll, a man of science, changes to Mr. Hyde along his quest to make strides in the field of science; which is his obsession.

Working Thesis

Working Thesis Statement:

Holden Caulfield—of The Catcher in the Rye—is a unique and iconic adolescent who has paved the way for various narrators to follow, including Oskar Schell in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Despite their signature voices and radically different outlooks on life, Holden and Oskar are both deeply troubled individuals who have their trademark catchphrases, wander the streets of New York City, and attempt to regroup following the death of a close family member. They are initially rather dissatisfied with society (Holden is displeased by phoniness and corruption, while Oskar struggles to fathom the motive behind terrorism), but these two characters ultimately show a willingness to change after obtaining support from other family members. Although the two novels were written in different eras, the underlying connections between Holden (in the 1940s) and Oskar (in the post-9/11 era) highlight the universal struggles of adolescents.

Topic and Focus

Topic: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
Focus: -Contrast and comparison of how people look at societies
- Books provide two lenses in which one can look at society and tourism

Focus-Topic-Thesis #1

Topic: Lisbeth Slander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.   Focus: Why gender is a limiting factor for female heroines and how Lisbeth is a so called “gender outlaw”.   Thesis: Steig Larsson’s bestselling series “The Millennium Trilogy” revolves around the lives of the journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth is a woman with a mind of her own who has suffered terrible abuse at the hands of people, who raped, neglected, tortured, mistreated, and ridiculed her. Lisbeth’s struggle in life as a woman mistreated by men has led her to become, or try to become, the neutral androgynous gender. Her departure from the “traditional” female heroine is both empowering and haunting as she fights society’s conceptions and those who try to force her into submission.

Topic, Focus and Working Thesis

Topic: Comparing the common obstacles and tragedies that Oskar of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Marcus of About a Boy and Max of “Rushmore” experience and how in these tragedies they use their strange personalities and essentially weirdness to cope

Focus: Compare their tragedies (Oskar’s father, Max’s mother/being kicked out of Rushmore, Marcus’ mother and father), talk about how they grow and thrive as out of the box kids (show all their idiosyncrasies), and finally realize how their strangeness actually leads to good things (all are able to bring people together)

Thesis: Oskar, Marcus and Max overcome the obstacles of adolescence and cope with family tragedies by challenging society’s expectations and thriving as strange and eccentric teenagers. In the end their peculiar personalities and odd habits help both themselves and the broken people around them.

Thesis

Thesis: The 2010 four-time Oscar-winning Inception is a mind-expanding movie dramatizing dreams and man’s futuristic power to manipulate the unconscious. Inception explores the realm of dreams and the potential for man to control what we once thought uncontrollable. Shakespeare’s vision of the unconscious as demonstrated in Macbeth, and Freud’s work on dreams and general theory of psychology, illuminate and enhance our understanding and appreciation of the film. There are many overlaps, as well as divergences in these three works—concerning the power of the unconscious mind to effect our thinking and actions, as well as the ability of dreams to portray our guilt and dark truths—that ultimately lend insight to the phenomenal power of the unconscious as well as its potential.

Possible Topics and Foci

Topic 1: Analysis of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Focus 1: Comparing and contrasting Holden Caulfield and Oskar Schell. Holden is a particularly unique narrator that has laid the groundwork for a new class of narrators to follow: I would be asserting that Oskar is essentially inspired by (and a product of) Holden’s first-hand account in Catcher in the Rye. Although both characters face vastly different circumstances and have different viewpoints on life, the "relatibility" of both narrators and their powerful voices are quite noteworthy. I would also be addressing the fact that both characters are troubled in their adolescent years and that each character is greatly impacted by a family death (Holden’s brother Allie and Oskar’s father Thomas Jr.). Additionally, both narrators display somewhat of a positive change by the novel’s end: Oskar visits his father’s grave (showing strength and a willingness to somewhat move on) and Holden saying that he might consider returning to school).

Topic 2: Moneyball and either The Great Gatsby or a book about the Black Sox Scandal of 1919

Focus 2: I would be comparing and contrasting different methods of success (with a particular focus on the economic principles behind these strategies. While the Oakland Athletics utilize a completely new system of evaluating baseball talent and work their way to the top in a gradual, yet fully honest manner, Jay Gatsby in Great Gatsby and the players on the 1919 Chicago White Sox team placed instant gratification ahead of long-term benefit and and dishonestly take a shortcut to success. In the end however, the shortcut ends up hurting the individuals who greedily attempt to work their way to the top, while a well thought out plan and hard work ultimately pays off, as depicted in Moneyball.

Topic 3: One Flew The Cuckoo’s Nest and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Focus 3: Examining the idea of silence speaking louder than words. Both The Chief and Thomas Sr. are unable to speak, yet have considerable impacts in their respective novels, especially at the end of both stories. It would be interesting to look further into this topic and see where it takes me.

Topic and Foci

Now this is a really raw idea and will probably change a lot but at this point here are my possible ideas:

Topic 1: Explore the idea promiscuity (thats probably not the best word to use but it was the closes I could think of) in the olden days in contrast to now.

Foci 1: Consider the idea of a child being ashamed of his or her parent and how this shame will and has affected them. I would use the Scarlet Letter and a modern text.

Foci2: Consider the idea of girls getting pregnant at an earlier age in the olden days and how different it is now. Basically talk about how it was so horrible back in the day but now society kind of glories it with teen mom, secret life of the american teenager and other such shows. Again I would use The Scarlet Letter.

Topic 3: Look at stereotypes in different books and movies and discuss what happens when the stereotypes are stripped away (I think this is the one I'm gunnna do)

books I could use are: The Outsiders, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Breakfast Club [movie], The Elephant Man, The Devil in the White City, haha there are sooo many possibilities

Foci 1: Look at the stereotypes in kids and discuss how this will affect them in the future and shapes the person they will be.

Foci 2: Look at stereotypes of all different people and look at the people who give them these stereotypes.

Expectations for Primary Source Notes

I went over this in class on Friday, but here is the rubric for the first note check (just notes on primary sources) that I will be doing on Friday, Feb. 3rd. You will also be handing in a typed topic, focus, and working thesis this Friday, so you will need to be fully immersed in your primary sources by the end of this week.

Note Check #1:

Are the notes clear and legible?	/5
Are the notes well-cited ?	/5
Are the notes organized?	/10
Are the notes detailed?	/10
Do the notes focus on primary sources?	/10
Do the notes meet the 5 page requirement?	/10
TOTAL	/50