Lit Analysis #4: No Exit

GENERAL 

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

"No Exit" is a book that consists of four characters. However, only three are placed in this room, which is supposed to be Hell. Of course, the characters believe the stereotypes of Hell. They expect to tortured by a numerous of objects/machines. Yet, Hell is a normal room, but has no exit. The room has sofa's and lights. One of the characters, Inez asks what the characters have done to have gone to Hell. Estelle and Garcin deny they have done anything wrong. Throughout the book, the characters admit to what they have done and have realized why they were brought there. Also, they have realized that Hell is not itself, but the people you are with. Garcin has tried to leave the room, but there is no exit. The characters are stuck and must remain in Hell for eternity.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid  cliches.

The theme of this book is to notice that the choices you make are the one's you must hold on to forever. There is no escape. Also, do not stereotype. Hell is not what the characters seem because it is much more than that. You are with people who have the same mindset as you. They most likely believe they have done nothing wrong, yet they have done the most vile sins.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

The author tone is suppose to help the audience correctly interpret life, and the choice weare dealt with. The author constantly mentions how there is no exit. The tone is overall didactic.

• “There were days when you peered into yourself, into the secret places of your heart, and what you saw there made you faint with horror. And then, next day, you didn't know what to make of it,you couldn't interpret the horror you had glimpsed the day before. Yes, you know what evil costs.” 

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

Metaphor: “I'm going to smile, and my smile will sink down into your pupils, and heaven knows what it will become.”

Anaphora: "No, I wasn't joking. No mirrors, I notice. No windows. "

Rhetorical question: "And what use do you suppose I have for one? Do you know who I was?"

Allusions: the book relates to art and music.

Simile : "Oh just look at her face, all scarlet like a tomato." " And presently we shall be naked, as new born babies"

Imagery:"A man's drowning, choking, sinking by inches, till only his eyes are just above water."

Allegory:

"GARCIN: What's this?

VALET: Can't you see? An ordinary paper-knife.

GARCIN: Are there books here?
VALET: No.
GARCIN: Then what's the use of this?"
Symbolism: The vase at the end represents how your life can be easily broken, yet easily stored, but one crack can cause your life to end immediately. 
Repetition:  When Garcin keeps saying over and over and asking if he is a coward. Towards the end of the play.

CHARACTERIZATION

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

• "You see, I'm fond of teasing, it's a second nature with me-- and I'm used to teasing myself. Plaguing myself, if you prefer; I don't tease nicely."

• "I feel so queer. Don't you ever get taken that way? When I can't see myself I begin to wonder if I really and truly exist. I pat myself just to make sure, but it doesn't help much.” 

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?

Throughout the whole book, the diction and syntax for each character remains the same. Although, the characters have different personalities, they are still common. 

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.

There are no protagonist characters because they are all the same since they have done unforgivable things to belong in Hell. They're no characters that change so they are all flat.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
I don't believe I've met any of the characters because they are so mean, and so inconsiderate. However, I do believe I've met people close to them. The world is filled with many people who are mean, and don't believe they do anything wrong.

NOTES: "No Exit"

Intro:

• 19 centuary philosopher's developed existentialism
• Existentialism : philosophical and cultural movement which holds that the starting point of philosophical thinking must be the experiences of the individual
• Jean Paul Sartre
• French writer  
• popularized existentialism
• produced No Exit in Paris
• 4 characters :   
• Valet
• Garcin
• Estelle
• Inez
• Entire play takes place in a drawing room.
• "Hell is other people" {put yourself in the drawing room with two people you hate the most in the world}

Lets begin...

• GARCIN and VALET enter the room
• GARCIN doesn't care for the Second Empire drawing-room
• mentions how different everything is
• "instruments of torture" are the racks and red-hot pincers and all the other paraphernalia
• GARCIN see's there are no mirrors or windows or toothbrush or bed
• VALET mentions how "guests" are always asking the same annoying questions
• "Where's the torture-chamber?" 
• "...they start in about their toothbrushes and what-ot."
• GARCIN "So that's the idea. I'm to live without eyelids. Don't act the fool, you know what I mean. No eyelids, no sleep; it follows,doesn't it?"
• VALET asks if GARCIN can see
• his uncle is the head valet & has a room on the third floor 
• says the bell doesn't work
• GARCIN tries the bell but it remains silent
• tries many times to get assistance
• after he sits down the door opens & in comes INEZ with VALET
• 
  

VOCABULARY FINAL ADVICE

I HOPE EVERYONE HAS BEEN STUDYING FOR OUR  VOCABULARY FINAL  BECAUSE IT'S COMING UP SOONER THAN ONE THINKS. IF ANYONE NEEDS ANOTHER STUDY METHOD I SUGGEST USING QUIZLET. THAT'S WHAT I'M USING AND IT HELPED ME PREPARE LAST TIME. GOOD LUCK! (:

Chose A Place

Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois,like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture like Dante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peace in a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how it would feel to live there endlessly, night and day:

My hell has been my physics class. Though it seems like an ordinary place, what happens inside it isn't. It's torture instruments have been the equations and quizzes. One expects these things, but one doesn't expect them to be as harsh. The mind can be in hell in a a beautiful place and one can find peace in a hellish physical environment depending on how its being displayed. Sartre's uses the character's descriptive language to create this isolating room. To live there it would be a nightmare. It's negative atmosphere would drive me crazy and the idea of being trapped could ruin my mind.

Allegory of the Cave Sonnet

{UPDATED}

They are people just like you and I
But like a worm they sleep where they lay
Not understanding the outside
Just in a cave for someone to prey

One was able to be free
From all illusions and pain
But given the chance of reality
In hopes of something to gain

By breaking a tradition
That was harsh and unfair
It gave him another mission
But to avoid their harsh stare

There is a reality outside the cave
But only one true hero is that brave

Journal: 11/20/12

Describe a symbol that means something to you. How did the symbol come to represent an abstract idea?  Is the idea shared by others or is it yours alone?  If it's an individual interpretation, what does it say about you?  If it's social, how does interpreting the symbol identify the reader/viewer as a member of the tribe who "gets it"?

-A dream catcher means something to me since everytime I look at it I think it'll free me from bad thoughts. One day, Sammy came back from Arizona and in his belonging he had a dream catcher. He told me the story behind the dream catcher and I began to believe in its existance. This symbol respents purity because it cleanses bad dreams or thoughts. I overthink things but when I do I feel that the dream catcher detangles it. The dream catcher means that I will be protected and freed from bad thoughts. I believe that having a symbol that represents you will be a good motivator. A dream catcher helps me by assuring me that anthing 'evil' will be taken away from my thoughts, actions and dreams. It's a way of saying that tomorrow is a new day.

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.8.vii.html

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
-The allegory of the cave represents how individuals reject reality and don't understand the truth behind life. 
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
-Prisoners were the ignorant individuals, cave was a world of imagination, sun was the reality of life, darkness was the lacking of truth, and the freed prisoner was philosophers. 
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
-After a while an individual will get the opportunity to embrace the truth. One must take the knowledge and do wisely with it. 
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
-Shackles show the prisoners being held against their will to live a life that is planned for them. The cave is merely where they plan to revise it to any state they want it to be. They are trapped from reality and unable to realize what lies past the light. 
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
-The government shackles our minds by controlling everything we do and removing anything that may lead to someone discovering something. 
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
-The freed prisoner was exposed to self thinking and realization, while the cave prisoners were stuck thinking their "normal" was normal.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
-
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
-Cave prisoners get freed by being exposed to freedom. Other people let them see the light and show them a new source of knowledge. 
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
-Yes, because not everything is what is seems. People could assume that just by looking at someone they were a tidy person, but when they look inside the person's backpack it seems as if a tornado had already been there.  
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
-

Vocabulary Final

I'm still working on the Vocabylary Final list but I will finish the list this weekend!
Enjoy Quizlet (:

Quote of the Day

 

“If you try and lose then it isn't your fault. But if you don't try and we lose, then it's all your fault.”

Reciting My Sonnet

Sonnet VII

By Hartley Coleridge

Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No.

It is immortal as immaculate Truth,

'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth,

Drops from the stem of life--for it will grow,

In barren regions, where no waters flow,

Nor rays of promise cheats the pensive gloom.

A darkling fire, faint hovering o'er a tomb,

That but itself and darkness nought doth show,

It is my love's being yet it cannot die,

Nor will it change, though all be changed beside;

Though fairest beauty be no longer fair,

Though vows be false, and faith itself deny,

Though sharp enjoyment be a suicide,

And hope a spectre in a ruin bare.