Category: McCoy Fall 2018

The use of a theme or subject followed by its variations is a concept present across all disciplines; in some form, a writer will take an idea or subject and develop it into several related ideas to convey a similar message or atmosphere as the original. English Literature and Modern Western Music are two disciplines that effectively utilize theme and variation, though the theme and variation found in English Literature is less direct in its use compared to Western Music—essentially, they share the same concept, yet produce slightly different results or feelings within the reader or audience. English literature’s use of parody functions by using an augmented version of a subject and the theme and variation of Western Music functions by taking the exact subject and creating several variations of that musical idea.

 

For a better understanding of theme and variation in Western Music,  I will provide a relatively famous piece, composed by Wolfgang Mozart, that is a theme and variation on a relatively famous lullaby recognizable to you within the first few seconds—if you do not recognize the piece, the title is on the top of the video.

In the 203 Reader & Text course, we the students have been exposed to the works of Percival Everett, which constantly incorporate a concept of theme and variation through the literary device known as Parody—Parody is a literary technique which comically imitates a specific, generally serious work or the style of an author or genre. In response to his work, which constantly produces allusions to individuals and ideas outside his work, the course has also exposed us to the material from the source of the allusions, which conveniently incorporate several other disciplines, including Modern Western Music. For example, Western Music is used in the films of Sidney Poitier, who is the subject for the parody present in the novel I Am Not Sidney Poitier that follows the life of the character Not Sidney Poitier, whose name acts as it is a parody to the actor Sidney Poitier, as he experiences the events of several Sidney Poitier films like Lilies Of The Field, The Defiant ones, and A Patch Of Blue—A Patch Of Blue was not shown in class; it follows the life of a blind young white woman as she befriends a black office worker played by Sidney Poitier, leading to romance in opposition to the desire of the girl’s abusive mother. Continue reading “Theme And Variation Across Disciplines”

Alphabetical order is the process where a variety of words, phrases, or names are categorized by the same letters of the alphabet. 

When you think of alphabetical order there is a variety of sources that come to mind. A few of these examples are, the dictionary, class listings, thesaurus, glossary, index, contacts, library, encyclopedia, and for English 203 the Bedford. It provides order to things that are disorder. When most people think of alphabetical order they associate it with the way the dictionary is organized. However, you can not categorize the way the dictionary is for alphabetical order, it is just one way it can work.  As we see in the Bedford on page 262, when you look up a word in some cases it may refer you to go look up a completely different word for the definition. This shows how alphabetical order links common similarities.

Continue reading “Everett and Alphabetical Order”

(This image was created by the artist Cameron Gray)

Warning. This post contains spoilers regarding Frenzy by Percival Everett.

Continue reading “Interpretations”

When we are young, growing is something that we can’t help but do. At first, our growth is entirely visible.  I’m sure that almost everyone can relate to having an older family member they rarely ever see exclaim at the sight of them that they’ve “gotten so tall!”, or that they’ve “changed so much!”.

The same process of involuntary, organic growth can be seen in Percival Everett’s I am Not Sidney Poitier. From the moment of his unusual birth, Not Sidney was ridiculed and pushed around by others. Other children would call him names like “elephant boy,” and many would physically abuse him due to his atypical name. Not Sidney eventually overcomes such taunting and torture by outgrowing it. That is to say, Not Sidney physically grows and starts to tower over his peers, making it difficult for them to hurt him, at least physically.

However, once Not Sidney’s physical growth is complete, he does not appear to exhibit growth in other ways. In fact, Not Sidney seems to be more of a picaresque hero, in that he represents a fairly static character who does not develop throughout his misadventures, despite how transformative a reader may perceive these instances of adversity to be. Perhaps Everett chose to stabilize Not Sidney’s character in order to demonstrate just how difficult the process of growth can be, for while many believe that challenge represents the perfect stimulus for growth, challenges can instead prove an impedance to the seemingly unavoidable process.

Continue reading “The Art of Growth”

It was in my high school guidance counselor’s office that the question was raised to me: “Would you be interested in pursuing an advanced level English course?” The obvious answer to me, someone who loves to read and write and think and analyze and comprehend, was an immediate and enthusiastic “YES!” An opportunity to be challenged in a subject that had always come naturally sounded like a wonderful thing. Of course, my expectation of the course was that it would improve my skills as a writer, reader, and critical thinker.

And, in many ways, it did. I was exposed to nonfiction, which I probably never would have independently read, and gained a new skill set: the ability to critically analyze works of fact. This is something I will always be grateful for: in one sense, the course pushed me outside of my comfort zone in ways I wasn’t expecting. However, this course was not what I thought it was going to be. I worked and passionately interacted with the texts to the best of my ability. But inside me, a voice kept saying: “this is not the reason you fell in love with the English language.”  Continue reading “Getting My Voice Back”

Every now and then, I find that I compare myself and my life to other people and their lives. More often than not, these comparisons are discouraging and lead me to doubt myself. Throughout the semester, I noticed that I began to compare my work to the work of my peers, specifically, when it came to blog posts.  Continue reading “Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect”

Epistemophilia is the drive to know/ the love of knowledge, while Epistemophobia is defined as the morbid and irrational fear of knowledge. But what is truly the real definition of knowledge in this context? Every person has their own way of taking things in and learning. But is the fear of learning learned? The answer in my opinion is yes. A fear is just an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. In my experiences knowledge does not cause any of theses things.

Continue reading “Is fear learned?”

I did not understand in the beginning, and I still do not have a good grasp of it: the semester is almost over and yet I am still sitting here, my brain glitching out as I try to partake in the behemoth that is social media. Ever since I could remember I avidly avoided getting publicly noticed on any websites or applications that require me to create and participate in social networking. Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, and the list goes on. When I had to use any of these websites, I would enter under an alias name. When watching a video, admiring a picture, or reading some text (nothing illegal of course), I do everything under the radar; like Batman, once I was done, I was gone without a trace. For example, on Facebook I do not use my real name. Instead, I use the nickname that I had received when I was in high school. I never post status’s nor do I comment on other posts. I barely utilize the tools and functions that Facebook was created for, so why even make an account?

Here is where the paradox comes in.

The account was created in order to keep in contact with my friends and to create new connects with strangers. Through my experience in college I learned that majority of connections are fashioned using social media. To maintain friendships without the internet is almost impossible now a days. So, to my dismay, I was forced to enter the public network, and because I did, I believed that I had overcome my biggest online obstacle.

I was wrong.

Continue reading “The Hermit’s Blog”

Throughout my younger years of English, I have always outshined my peers drastically. However, during my first semester of college English, I struggled immensely. The class was harder, my peers were smarter and for the very first time, I felt utterly useless in a class that I’d always excelled at. This discouraged me and made it very difficult for me to enjoy the class because I’d spent the last 13 years of my schooling being told I had a gift for English and then, after coming here, I started to think that may have been a horrible mistake.

It was disheartening that a class I’d always loved and looked forward to became the class that I dreaded because I just felt stupid.  Over time though, I realized what had been the real mistake. I’d spent years in “honors” and “AP” English classes that really did nothing to prepare me for college. Not because the teachers weren’t great or the course material wasn’t challenging, but because I had always been praised and applauded for my work even when I barely tried, this led to weakening my work ethic. Continue reading “English and The Fixed Mindset”

A couple weeks ago I attended an informational talk about poverty in Rochester. The director of a homeless shelter called The House of Mercy, or Mercy House, came in along with Juan, one of the individuals who has used the shelter’s services to get back on his feet. Juan’s story of struggle and poverty reminded me of a section in Percival Everett’s poem Logic.

Continue reading “Rags, Bones, and New Apartments”