Dr. Gerald Siegel

Sample Research Paper (Seminar Paper Example)

2010-05-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

This sample is intended to provide a sample of a critical paper using research for students planning or working on seminar papers. It is taken from a PDF copy which is available upon request to AJ484 students only. It is slightly modified from a paper done in a third-year U.S. class. In this online version, formatting is only partly preserved, but content is accurately reproduced. The original version was double-spaced with indented paragraphs. Page breaks are not preserved, but each new page is indicated by "sample paper" plus a page number.

Sample Paper 1

Sara X [last name and identifying marks have been removed from this paper.]
LIT 377: American Gilded Age Fiction
November 3, 2009
Dr. Siegel

Fact and Propaganda in Ten Nights in a Bar-Room

In an era of romanticism and melodrama, T.S. Arthur produced a novel which became a guide to the ills and solution to alcoholism. Spawning the genre of the temperance novel, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room encapsulates many of the negative effects of alcohol while offering the simple solution. However, the temperance movement was flooded by propaganda and moral enlightenment. While Arthur excelled in moral education, his story also appealed to popular culture with scenes of drama and gritty realism. Yet, how real was his depiction of intemperance? Arthur was a religious man who was never reportedly an alcoholic, just a spectator. While he gained inspiration from the Washingtonians who prided themselves in the truth of their experiences, his stories were fiction. The divide between his literary depiction and historical experience is a blurry question of the legitimacy or accuracy of the temperance movement. Through the values of the Washingtonians and the recorded facts, the truth of Arthur‟s story may be separated from the exaggerated propaganda. (“T.S. Arthur”).

The author,Timothy Shay Arthur was an influential supporter of the temperance movement. Arthur wrote within the popular arena and yet tailored his stories with moral lessons for social and religious improvement. His tendency to depict the darker side of humanity as object lessons depressed some of the popular interest in his novels.
T.S. Arthur was born in 1809 and died in 1885, over which time he traveled from New York, to Baltimore, to Kentucky, to Philadelphia. He began his life far from the literary field. As a sickly child, he was educated by his mother from the Bible. When he was able to

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attend school at age 9 in Baltimore, he struggled to keep up with the lessons of grammar and arithmetic (“T.S. Arthur”). Because of his poor standing in school and his father‟s death, Arthur was apprenticed to a tailor. He later worked in a bank, reading and educating himself during free hours. In the early 1830s, he found work with a publication and continued in this calling for the rest of his life (“T.S. Arthur”). .
All of these experiences became material for books he would later publish. He wrote, edited and published about ten different newspapers and magazines over his lifespan and published dozens of books, such as Insubordination: A Story of Baltimore, Trails of a Needlewoman, Debtor and Creditor: A Tale of the Times, Six Nights with the Washingtonians, The Good Time Coming, The Angel and the Demon: A Tale of Modern Spiritualism, What Can Women Do?, Strong Drink: The Curse and Cure. Each phase of his life inspired several fictitious representations of his perspective. For example, marriage inspired a closer connection to home writings and publications (like the magazines Arthur’s Home Magazine and the Children’s Hour). He also founded the Franklin Home for Inebriates in Philadelphia (“T.S. Arthur”).

Arthur is best known today for his work Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and What I Saw There, a novel considered the dry Bible of the temperance movement. Arthur first encountered the Washingtonians while reporting for The Baltimore Merchant. This particular branch of the temperance movement had the most direct impact on his writing. The Washingtonians or “Washington Temperance Society had been formed by six drinking buddies in need of a positive change, and their small group had burgeoned into a public association of reformed drunkards who stayed sober by recruiting others and telling their own stories at the society's meetings” (“T.S. Arthur”). This branch had a particular approach to the crusade for temperance: truth spoken by the ordinary man. Many previous temperance organizations were known in the day for a lack of authenticity (Lender and Martin 34). T.S.

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Arthur‟s connection with this particular branch may push his fiction closer to fact than the propaganda fiction.

An explanation of Ten Nights in a Bar-Room is necessary before determining how accurate it was to the movement and social climate that forged it. An unnamed traveler narrates the passage of the peaceful town of Cedarville from the opening of the town‟s saloon, the Sickle and Sheaf, to the town‟s destruction and redemption ten years later.
The traveler has occasion to stay in Cedarville ten nights randomly spread over ten years, beginning in the year the saloon is opened. Simon Slade, a formerly successful miller, opens a family-run tavern complete with a stage, restaurant, bar and rooms to rent. The tavern begins in the cleanest model of a pleasant community center with a cheerful host. As Slade so unknowingly foretells, “You can generally tell something about the condition of a town by looking at its tavern” (Arthur 7). Even within the first night‟s stay, the narrator can detect the symptoms of moral stress. The narrator is clearly biased toward temperance as he warns Slade that “there may be something beyond the money to take into account” (Arthur 7) and shares with the audience that “elements had been called into activity, which must produce changes adverse to the pleasant states of mind…” (Arthur 18-19).

The narrator introduces characters whose lives will be directly affected because of the new tavern. Joe Morgan, the first victim of intemperance, has already lost his job, yet still relies on alcohol when his wife and daughter starve at home. A classic sentimental scene takes place on this night as Morgan‟s young daughter, Mary, walks through the dark of night to fetch her father back home. Mary‟s plea “Come, father! Won‟t you come home?” (Arthur 11) was later reused in theatrical dramas of Arthur‟s temperance tale.

Based on brief first impressions, the narrator judges the moral character and guesses at the future of more than one guest at the bar. For instance, the narrator presumes to have a better understanding of Frank Slade, the tavern owner‟s son, than Simon Slade does. Frank

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serves as the bar tender at a young age which to the narrator “the sight was painful, for I saw that this youthful tippler was on dangerous ground” (Arthur 5). Before the end of the evening, the narrator‟s suspicions are confirmed as he sees Frank taste a sip of liquor. He meets Willy Hammond who is son of the respectable Judge Hammond, the richest man in town. He is instantly able to judge Willy‟s noble character—aided by the opinion of fellow guests. The narrator quickly notices the corrupting influence of Harvey Green, the town‟s gambler, and Judge Lyman, a liquor supporter. The narrator argues with Simon Slade as to the dangerous moral repercussions of a bar-room, but is not listened to. By the end of the night, a knife fight between Green and a guest shows a gruesome symptom of the influence of alcohol.

The second night occurs a year later. While the narrator allows himself to be wrong on the surface, since the town and tavern are still in pristine order, he confirms the seeds of moral demise. Simon Slade is troubled and not as pleasant as he was formerly. He is drinking more than he should and is damaging his relationship with his wife because of it. The bar has become a vulgar, profane hangout for rambunctious underage boys who are more interested in defying their fathers than interacting in a respectable community lounge, as the tavern previously seemed. Frank Slade shows dramatic signs of corruption, speaking profanely and apparently drinking more openly.

On the second night, one of the most infamous scenes of Ten Nights in a Bar-Room occurs. Joe Morgan gets into an argument with Simon Slade. In his anger, Slade throws a glass at Morgan, who ducks. The stray glass then soars across the room to strike little Mary Morgan who had come to fetch her father. She is at first mistaken to be dead, but is traumatically injured.

The third and fourth night continue the melodramatic saga between Mary and Joe Morgan. Little Mary catches a fever due to her injury. She forces her father to pledge not to

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visit the saloon until she gets well. He promises, failing to realize that she will never get well. Joe suffers from severe withdraw symptoms which would persuade some audiences to never try alcohol. The newly developed coldness of Simon Slade is revealed in his discussions with his wife and Harvey Green. Without any sympathy, Slade decides to never allow Morgan to return, not for Morgan‟s well being, but for his own business success. He worries about killing Mary, but blames her for “creeping in here every night” (Arthur 31).

On the fourth night, Joe tries to sneak away to the saloon, but is faced with his evidently dying daughter. She had predicted it the night before, but now her death looks inevitable. By her persuasion, he swears he will never drink again. In the description, the sentimental touch is quite evident. As Mrs. Slade recounts to the guests, “Her last thought in dying was of her miserable father….Her father promised Mary, just at the last moment—solemnly promised her—that, henceforth, he would never taste liquor. That was all her trouble. That was the thorn in her dying pillow” (Arthur 53). Ordinarily, anecdotes are not relayed with such articulate, emotional fervor. Following in the tradition of the Washingtonian's inspirational confessions, her eloquence is understandable in the context of Arthur's cultural influence. Mrs. Slade raises money for the Morgans and encourages the guests to prevent Joe from going back on his word. She also appeals to their sensibility arousing their moral disgust to stay away from the saloon themselves. Several listen in a perfect example of the testimonial effect similar to the Washingtonian movement.

The plot of moral degradation speeds up dramatically from this point on. Five years later the fifth night occurs, increasing the corruption of Frank and Simon Slade and Willy Hammond. Frank steals and ruins Willy's prize horse. Simon falls to his own poison slowly becoming a drunk. Willy is notably involved in Green‟s gambling, and Judge Hammond grows poor due to Willy's debt and poor business practices. The sixth day reveals more of Willy and Simon's debt to Green due to gambling. Willy's prize horse now belongs to

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Green, as well. Willy's worrying mother paces outside of the saloon and predicts his death. The seventh day brings an investigation as Willy did not return home the previous night. When Willy is fetched from gambling, an argument arises between him and Green over money. In the following fight, Willy is stabbed and killed. His mother dies of heartbreak seeing that her last living child has died. An angry mob forms and attacks the Sickle and Sheaf, killing Harvey Green and injuring Judge Lyman and Simon Slade. Two years pass before the eighth night and the final twist of the plot. In short, the town is in disarray and the saloon has few respectable guests. Mrs. Slade is sick and kept away at an insane asylum. The Slades argue, but Simon is prevented from hitting his son. On the ninth night they fight again, but this time Frank strikes and kills his father with a bottle of brandy. The tenth night brings reform as the citizens of the town gather around the saloon led by the reformed Joe Morgan and Mr. Hargrove. After much discussion, they outlaw liquor in the town of Cedarville.

This novel was known as the dry Bible, for its concise outlining of the potentials for corruption and destruction from alcohol, but also for the potential of redemption. The novel is thick with the rhetoric and propaganda of the temperance movement. Such opinionated declarations as “what a curse is this drink” (Arthur 14) or “this tavern-keeping is a curse to any place” (Arthur 13) very clearly echo temperance rhetoric. A factual basis is presented but deciphering the exact truth as it reflects the culture of the temperance era, is a challenge. The temperance novel was known for its romantic roots and sentimental details for effective persuasion. However, the roots of temperance fiction are based in truth, though exaggerated slightly.

Social trends of that era and the time preceding the temperance movement show an increase in the occurrence of harmful drinking habits. “Drink permeated the life of American males, and rates of consumption increased dramatically between the American Revolution

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and 1830” (Rorabaugh). While the simple increase of drinking could be accounted to an increase in population, there was a marked change in the manner of drinking. “Rather than spread their drinking throughout the day, in small amounts drunk regularly, which produced some tolerance, men began to concentrate their drinking; more and more they drank in binges to the point of intoxication” (Lender and Martin 52-53). The exact causes for this evolution in drinking habits were the topic of controversial debates, sometimes attributed to the economic boom and sometimes blamed on the increase in immigrants. Whatever the cause, the pattern produced an epidemic of alcohol-related crime. Violence, murder and crimes related to alcohol increased so much that a 1829 temperance society in South Carolina claimed that a case couldn't be referenced which did not arise from alcohol (Nadelhaft).

This rampant crime and violence is obviously represented and overpowering the plot of Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. Alcohol brings Simon Slade from a congenial businessman to a belligerent brawler who antagonizes the mob. Drinking and just being in a bar has multiple means of corruption. Bars often carried other indecent practices such as gambling or prostitution as Arthur describes “that in one of the upper rooms gambling went on nightly, and that some of the most promising young men in town had been drawn, through the bar attraction, into this vortex of ruin” (69). While “Modern social scientists are likely to consider alcohol as only a contributing factor, and sometimes only as an excuse, to justify what might be considered inappropriate behaviour” (Nadelhaft), Gilded Age psychology and medicine could not fully comprehend the connection between alcohol and irrationality or insanity.

Having few logical explanations for why an individual would willingly do something so harmful and corrupt, blaming the evil toxin of liquor served a fair scapegoat. It was their belief that eradicating alcohol would solve all social and economic ills since it was commonly seen in newspapers that an “alcoholic husband's drinking, historians have noted,

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impoverished families, causing hunger (sometimes starvation), exposure to the elements (sometimes freezing to death for lack of fuel), and a general suffering of helpless, dependent wives and children” (Nadelhaft). The effect of poverty was demonstrated in the character of Joe Morgan as his wife and children starve, yet he continues to visit the saloon.

The honored code of the Washingtonians also assures for a more truthful basis to Arthur‟s novel. In the introduction to his novel Six Nights with the Washingtonians, Arthur claims “to be writing without „artificial effect, to simply let truth and nature speak forth in their legitimate power and pathos” (Augst 316). While the temperance movement was known to carry some inauthentic publicity stunts—such as faked confessions at meetings, the lies of unredeemed drunkards, or paid professional lecturers—the Washingtonian society began with the policy of ordinary people telling their true story. While this principle may have faltered as the organization grew, Arthur first encountered the Washingtonians in their earliest stages while they retained their authenticity. The stories he would have heard would have been authentic tales of reclaimed drunks.

Many earlier temperance organizations wove class and religion strongly into the message of temperance so that the individual‟s story was not so highly cherished. In the eighteenth century, the temperance movement of Benjamin Franklin was more characteristic of “Protestant work ethic” (Loughran 326). Many did not believe in the possibility for a drunk‟s reformation. The Washingtonian temperance is characterized by “a moment shared freely among equals—men who manage, in this setting, to elude these distinctions that structure the literary world that is emerging all around them” (Loughran 325). Inspired by this fair truth, Arthur wanted to create a book with no “artificial effect” that would reflect the experience of these meetings as no journalistic report was able to do. Joe Morgan shows Arthur's loyalty to the contemporary temperance movement, as he is able to change and

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reform. Every Washingtonian chapter was small enough that members would be able to recognize the metaphorical Joe Morgan as he walked into the meetings looking to change.

Arthur uses Joe Morgan as a case study, as if his readers are overhearing a Washingtonian testimonial of how he was able to improve his life from avoiding the drink. Joe Morgan does not become a directly religious man, because redemption from alcohol was not about religion for this organization. The “Washingtonian romance of reform represented a secular confession, a de-sacralization of moral knowledge that would help make personal experience central to the civic rituals and social practices of modern liberalism” (Augst 298). Reform should happen because logic for the greater social and the personal good outweighs the temptation. This is accomplished in Joe Morgan, as he reforms for the sake of his child and wife without direct religious motivations.

The aid of fellowship with other recovering alcoholics is also represented in Arthur‟s novel, in the form of Mrs. Slade. Reflective of the mentality of the temperance movement “Arthur frequently assigns to women the duty of protecting their men from moral ruin” (“T.S. Arthur”). While women were still unable to vote, but more commonly “literature setting forth the proper standards of behaviour argued for the morality of the companionate marriage” (Nadelhaft) in which the wife can be more proactive to guide and protect her husband from harmful paths. Mrs. Slade demonstrates this concept by not rebelling entirely, but arguing for reason with her husband, as she does for all the guests, to reform in the scene after Mary Morgan‟s injury. She warns her husband that he “will break hearts as well as commandments, if you keep on for a few years as you have begun—and ruin souls as well as fortunes” (Arthur 43).

While Arthur tries to stick to the demonstration of personal experience through his fictitious characters, some propaganda does mix in with Arthur‟s novel. However, the prevalence of Christian moral values also made appearance in the Washingtonian creed, in

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spite of their attempts to secularize the process (Augst 304). For example, in Mrs. Slade‟s speech to her husband (43), she discusses souls which the prevalence of a religious community accepted as fact. Arthur allows his characters to use terminology such as souls, temptation and damnation because it reflects the vocabulary of the time. While Washingtonian temperance was trying to move away from religious affiliation,” religion remained a central component,” a component which the Massachusetts Temperance Society and other organizations returned to the foreground in years after Washingtonian popularity (Rorabaugh 134).

Arthur's novel carries a heavy proportion of sentimentality and melodrama which could be seen as exaggerations for the purpose of propaganda. However, the very nature of the tales documented by temperance novels has the sort of personal drama to translate well into romanticism. Especially in the orally transmitted form, “the drunkard's story lent itself to the sentimental and narrative formulas of domestic melodrama: physical demonstrations of interior states, stark oppositions between woe and happiness, the destruction and salvation of the family” (Augst 316). His audience carried the cultural influences of religion and romanticism, so it would have been foolish to ignore their popular draw in his novel. Ten Nights in a Bar-Room does carry some potential for propaganda and exaggeration because it is based on individual testimonies and pathetic appeals. However, data shows an increase in the seriousness of the threat of intemperance in that time. While the potential for lies and drama pervaded temperance literature, the Washingtonian influence suggests and attempts to promise a basis in the truth of the stories protected by fellowship mentality. The facts and the source of information for Arthur‟s novel appeal to the elements of truth within the fiction
.
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Works Cited

Arthur, Timothy Shay. Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and What I Saw There. Ed. C. Hugh
Holman. New York: The Odyssey Press, 1966.

Lender, Mark Edward and James Kirby Martin. Drinking in America: A History. New York: The Free Press, 1982.

Loughran, Trish. “The Romance of Classlessness.” The Republic in Print: Print Culture in the Age of U.S. Nation Building, 1770-1870. Oxford University Press. Advance Access. March 9, 2007. .

Nadelhaft, Jerome. “Alcohol and Wife Abuse In Antebellum Male Temperance Literature.” Canadian Review of American Studies/Revue Canadienne d'Etudes Americaines (CRevAS). 25 (1). 1995 Winter. 15-43. MLA International Bibliography. 2007. .

Rorabaugh, W. J. The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition. New York: Oxford
University Press 1979.

“T. S. Arthur.” Dictionary of Literary Biography: Antebellum Writers in New York. Volume 250, (2). Ed. Ljungquist, Kent P. The Gale Group, 2001. 16-28. Literature Resource Center. 8 November 2007.

Research Sources (Revised Edition)

2010-05-26T00:47:00.000-07:00

Free Online Information Sources (Revised Edition)
Compiled by Dr. Gerald Siegel, York College of PA, York, PA, U.S.A.
(Visiting Professor, FON University, Skopje, MK, Spring 2010)

Wikipedia (limited usefulness for research, but can be a handy personal first stop)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

ERIC (includes not only articles, but papers from professional conferences)
http://www.eric.ed.gov/

Refdesk.com
http://www.refdesk.com/

Bartleby.com free books (public domain materials)
http://www.bartleby.com/

Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania (public domain mainly primary materials)
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

University of North Carolina Library of Southern Literature
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/

Project Gutenberg (public domain mainly primary materials)
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

University of Adelaide Library “E-book” collection (public domain mainly primary materials)
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/

Wikisource (public domain mainly primary materials)
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page

University of Virginia Library e-text center (public domain mainly primary materials)
http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/etext/index.html
Most free access materials will be at the library’s “Digital Collections” page. http://lib.virginia.edu/digital/collections/finding_digital.html

FrontPage: University of Florida Free Online Reference Sources
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Free_Online_Reference_Resources

American Literary History (online Oxford UP journal with free subscription for developing country ISPs)
http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/

Purdue Writing Lab Resources (includes MLA and APA guidelines)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant (offers help with writing skills; online free; charge for downloads)
http://www.powa.org/

Carnegie Mellon University Resources in Composition and Rhetoric
http://rhetoric.eserver.org/

York College of Pennsylvania Schmidt Library (some limited resources available to guests; go to ycp.edu; click on academics; click on library; click on subject guides; click on English..
A direct link is http://ycp.edu/library/7208.htm ; the college main page is http://ycp.edu.

A variety of useful American Literature resources is listed on the web pages of Prof. Donna M. Campbell of Washington State University.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/sites.htm has links to specific groups of sources;
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/ is her home page. See the “about” tab for Prof. Campbell’s explanation about the use of these materials.

The Oxford Companion to American Literature (lists a variety of miscellaneous sources, although some are quite brief)
http://www.encyclopedia.com/The+Oxford+Companion+to+American+Literature/publications.aspx?pageNumber=1

Central Michigan University Library English Language and Literature Resources (not all available to guest users)
http://library.cmich.edu/subjectguides/humanities/literature.htm

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis Quick Reference Sources (a variety of links)
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/genref/ebooks

British Literature and Anglophile Resources (a listing from the Wade Edwards Learning Lab in Raleigh, NC; intended for high school level, so some links may be a bit elementary; other links were no longer working when checked)
http://www.wade.org/BritishLit.htm

Free E-Books (Contains a warning about opening pop-ups; Australian site with an extensive list of links)
http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm

Academy of American Poets site—poetry and criticism, audio clips, teaching materials
http://www.poets.org/index.php

American Memory provides access to items from the collections of the U.S. Library of Congress, one of the world’s top research libraries
. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html.

Internet Archives. Film, media, texts and more. Describes itself as “a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.” http://www.archive.org/

History Matters. “History Matters serves as a gateway to web resources and offers
other useful materials for teaching U.S. history,” according to the site description. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

American history materials and items from the works of author Studs Terkel. Presented by Chicago History Museum. http://www.studsterkel.org/

Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Texts, audio, video and more about and by U.S. poets. http://www.poets.org/

One location for media items is NPR (National Public Radio) site. Useful source of American studies items, current events, and links to broadcasts. http://www.npr.org/

The Atlantic home page is a source of information related to the magazine and its coverage.. http://www.npr.org/.

U. S. newspapers provide a wealth of cultural information as well as news stories. Many have sites with free access or free registration. The Washington Post is one such source. http://www.washingtonpost.com/?nid=top_news.

Documentary radio programs are available at another media information source, http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/

Information of many types about different aspects of America and American culture. http://www.america.gov/

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide by Paul P. Reuben, who describes this site as “a research and reference tool” for “international readers” and “Americans who have no or limited access to university libraries and academic databases….” American literature links and information. http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/home.htm

The Virtual Learning Resource Center has many useful links, including biographies and even a Cliffsnotes for 20th century poetry. The index is set up by author birthdates; to get information about William Carlos Williams, for example, you need to know that he was born between 1880 and 1890 (actually, 1883). You may need to install plug-ins to access all of the media at this site. http://www.virtuallrc.com/ is the general site; you’ll find literature sources at http://www.virtuallrc.com/literature.html.

Antigonish Review (a Canadian literary review): http://www.antigonishreview.com/index.html

Dr. Charles Phillips Links to English Courses and Resources. Dr. Phillips makes the following statement about his personal site: “I retired from teaching English at Southside Viriginia Community College in May 2007. However, I am leaving some of my course materials posted as they may be of help to students elsewhere.” http://luna.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Webdocs/LINKS.htm

EasyBib: The Automatic Bibliography & Citation Maker. My U.S. students like this for documentation help. http://www.easybib.com/

Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/

BNet (emphasizes items in mamagement): http://findarticles.com/

Wikipedia’s list of free online journals
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journals_available_free_online

Open Access Journals in Education: http://aera-cr.asu.edu/ejournals/

Google Scholar (beta version)—specialized search engine: http://scholar.google.com/

You’ll find addtitional materials from my classes at my Blogger web site
http://www.jerrysiegel.net/

The following sites can be of special interest for teaching and for future teachers:

Linguistic Funland http://www.tesol.net/

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching). An exchange site.
http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

MLA Handbook. (Free access for MLA members only)
http://www.mlahandbook.org/private/fragment/private_index

Open Educational Resources Center for California (open access to texts). This seems good and gets an OK from the Yahoo safety check, but some of the links produce yahoo warnings, so be alert with this site.
http://grou.ps/oercenter/

Penguin/Signet—free teacher’s guides to selected works
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/signetclassics/teachersguides.html

Pearson Instructor and Student Pages—a number of publishers have such site, mainly for students and teachers using or ordering their texts, but sometimes with free materials too. This is Pearson’s higher education home page
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/

And this is the Pearson instructor page.
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/profile/ircHomeTab.page

Here’s the page for the Fulbright Scholar program.
http://www.cies.org/

Last updated 26 May 2010

Seminar Paper Guidelines (May 2010)

2010-05-12T01:35:00.000-07:00

FON American Literature Seminar Paper Guidelines for Students in AJ484 and those of Other Professors
Special Version 26 May 2010
Gerald Siegel, Ph.D. (Visiting Professor, Spring 2010)
drgeraldsiegel@yahoo.com

I have been asked by several students, both those in my classes and those whom I’ve never seen before, to serve as a reader for their “seminar papers” topics that relate to American Literature. I will certainly consider doing this for qualified students during my stay at FON as a visiting professor. There are some guidelines for this. These remarks pertain specifically to seminar papers and only partly to the critical essay project for the second half of the semester. See the separate instructions for that assignment if you’re one of the students in my classes doing that assignment instead.

The deadline for submission of seminar papers (electronic submissions only, please) is 27 May 2010. I am happy to confer with people about plans and rough drafts before that; since I am not on campus, either in Skopje or Struga, on a regular basis, these conferences are usually by e-mail. If you are unfamiliar with the notions of drafts and the process of writing, you may find the booklet Writing Process Overview useful. It is posted at my web site, jerrysiegel.net.

Do not assume that just because you e-mail or submit a paper to me that I will either accept or read it. The paper must follow these guidelines to be considered. If it does not, please revise it or rewrite it entirely before submitting it.

An obvious guideline. I leave and return to York College at the end of the semester, and I expect to be quite busy for various reasons during the month before I leave. So any requests, especially those by students from previous semesters and previously resident professors, must be made by the last day of classes in May, or I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to read your paper. It’s best to start work at least a month in advance, so that I can review your proposal and research question, look at your preliminary bibliography, and comment about rough drafts.

My expectations for an acceptable paper: a research-supported study of a literary topic in American Literature using a primary source (and primary and secondary analysis). The topic should be focused and based upon a clear research question. The discussion questions I provide in my classes can often be a starting point for research topics. In most cases, the primary sources plus 2 or three reputable secondary sources used correctly will suffice, although you may go beyond this. You can find a list of Research Sources that contains a number of free online reference sources on my web site at jerrysiegel.net. You’re demonstrating your ability to use research to support a critical analysis—and, of course, your ability to write in English.

It will normally be 5-10 pages long, but I’m more concerned about quality and original work than I am about specific length. You’ll find information about writing techniques and research practices at my web site at jerrysiegel.net, where I’ve also posted an extensive list of free online research and reference sources, most of at least minimal quality and some quite good. I am also providing some instruction on writing literary papers and avoiding plagiarism during my American Literature classes and will distribute a small booklet on the subject at those sessions. This booklet, entitled Writing, Research, and Documentation: A Simplified Guide, is also available at my web site, jerrysiegel.net.

I expect papers to be printed out in 11 or 12 point type, double spaced, or submitted to me electronically (after I have agreed to read them) in the same format, as MSWord files. Please use security software on your computer so that you send me virus-free files.

Because these papers are being done in English and on American Literature topics, I expect you to follow American research ethics and practices, including complete, correct documentation for borrowed information (using MLA or APA format) and use of quotation marks to identify any words taken from any source. If the ideas or the words aren’t yours credit them. Be especially careful to follow these practices if you are not my student and have not had me explain these practices to you. Perhaps you have not had to follow them during your academic career so far. If you want me to read your paper, you do need to follow them now. Mainly, I’ll look for an honest attempt to follow those practices. They can be complicated, and small errors that don’t affect a paper’s meaning aren’t a significant concern for me. The most important documentation responsibility is giving credit where it’s due; clearly identify the words and ideas of others and you’ve done the most important part of documentation.

I take plagiarism and academic dishonesty very seriously. Please be sure any work you give me is original and uses correct documentation practices. “Writing, Research, and Documentation: A Simplified Guide” (mentioned above) explains research writing and documentation. If you don’t already have a copy or were unable to download it from the web site and need guidance in these skills, send me an e-mail at drgeraldsiegelahoo.com and I’ll be happy to send you a copy of the file. Don’t insult me and embarrass yourself by turning in a paper that you have purchased from a print shop, another student, or an internet source. Don’t waste my time and yours by turning in as original work and your own words blocks of material entirely or mainly cut and pasted from internet resources or term paper mills and printed out under your name. As Andrea Lunsford observes in The Everyday Writer, , “deliberate plagiarism . . . is particularly troubling because it represents dishonesty and deception: those who intentionally plagiarize present the hard thinking and hard work of someone else as their own, and they claim knowledge they really don’t have, thus deceiving their readers.” (206) I do check for this, I’m pretty good at spotting it, and it’s easy to find with some internet searching.

Apart from academic integrity issues, student research can be interesting to read; student critical writing can open up and support new insights that may differ from those in traditional scholarship. Student writers who do honest research work hard and learn from the experience. They deserve the approbation and thoughtful responses of their colleagues, and I hope that those of you choosing to do American Literature seminar papers take time to share what you’ve learned with others in your classes.

You are free to develop your own research topics, although I must approve both your general subject area and your restricted topic, which I must have in writing or email by 15 May. You need my approval before going on. You’ll find a list of useful free online research sources at my web page, http://jerrysiegel.net . Be sure you don’t pick too big a topic, and don’t even think about using other people’s papers, whether bought, borrowed, or cut and pasted from websites and study guides. You could just develop a workable topic from some of my study guide questions. I’m also listing a few possibilities below. These are just preliminary ideas.

Develop a seminar paper topic from any of our guide questions. For students not in my classes: you will find these questions under the names of the authors or in the American :Literature category on jerrysiegel.net.
Discuss Bradstreet’s incorporation into her poetry of the imagery of her everyday life.
How does Franklin’s Autobiography demonstrate his importance as an international figure?
How does the America shown in Sarah Kemble Knight's The Journal of Madame Knight reveal the culture of her day?
What were the sources and applications of Washington Irving's use of myth and legend in 2 specific works?
How did Puritanism have specific impacts upon two or more specific Hawthorne short stories?
Compare Hawthorne’s “The Maypole of Merry Mount” with Thomas Morton’s account of these events.
Explain Poe’s critical theories an explained in any two works besides “The Philosophy of Composition.”
Explain Poe's views of the theory and practice of fiction as expressed in two works of his own critical writing?
What relationships between individual and society does Melville present in Benito Cereno?
How does Melville use history in Billy Budd?
In what ways did Walden or Civil Disobedience function as social criticism?
How did Whitman change and develop Leaves of Grass over its various editions?
Discuss the notion that Whitman’s poetry is not devoid of any structure or shape, supporting your answer by specific references to two or more poems of at least 20 lines each.
An overview of Some Contemporary (19th century) Responses to The Awakening
What varying interpretations exist for the character of Mrs. Mallard in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”?
Is Frost’s work that of a cheerful New England poet who creates pleasant regional images, one who creates a troubling, frightening world bordered by anxiety, anguish, doubts, and darkness, or both? (Discuss at least two poems.)
Discuss the attitudes toward religion expressed in Stevens’ “Sunday Morning”
Discuss Hughes’ use of rhyme, rhythm, meter, and musical elements in at least three poems.
Discuss conflict in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” “That Evening Sun” or “The Bear.”
Discuss Faulkner’s use of innovative and specialized narrative methods in “Barn Burning.”
Characteristics and origins of Imagism
Faulkner's Use of Yoknapatawpha in two Stories
To what extent do the concepts of honor and tradition influence the action in “A Rose for Emily”?
Compare and contrast Faulkner’s characterizations (especially how he builds sympathy for the characters) of Emily in “A Rose for Emily” and Abner Snopes in “Barn Burning.”
Discuss the attitudes toward honor and patriotism implicit within “Soldier’s Home.”
Examine how a specific work uses, changes, and fictionalizes history of some sort.
Examine how an extended poetic work demonstrates the unique characteristics of the poet.
Develop comparisons and contrasts between two works of fiction that deal with similar themes.

Some vary narrowed topic drawn from one of these subject areas might also work.
Relate multiple works by an author to specific biographical backgrounds. (Many possible topics)
Feminism in American Literature (various aspects)
Literary Responses to War
The Harlem Renaissance (an aspect not covered in class)
A study of one of the following as regional or local color fiction:
• Jewett, “The Revolt of Mother”;
• Chesnutt, “The Sheriff’s Children”;
• Paul Dunbar, “The Lynching of Jube Benson;
• Alice Dunbar-Nelson, “The Goodness of St. Rocque”;
• Zona Gale, “Nobody Rich, Nobody Poor,”
• Bret Harte, “The Luck of Roaring Camp,”
A study of one of the following as naturalist fiction:
• Sinclair, The Jungle;
• London, The Call of the Wild;
• Crane: Maggie, A Girl of the Streets;
• Dreiser, Sister Carrie;
• Norris, McTeague;
• Garland, “Under the Lion’s Paw”

How can I find and use minimal research in my paper?

You may decide to do a paper which reflects mainly your own critical analysis of material. Still, research is part of the seminar paper, so choosing this approach means that you’ll need to find some relevant way to demonstrate your ability to use research as part of the paper. Remember that even two or three references are enough to show that you know how to use and credit sources. Writing, Research, and Documentation: A Simplified Guide, available at my web site, jerrysiegel.net, can show you how to document and use secondary sources. One useful approach: formulate some questions that you haven’t been able to answer as you wrote the paper, but which would add depth or support.

For example, while general biographical facts may not be particularly relevant, it’s often useful to know if specific events the writer experienced or knew about add information that clarifies or extends what you’ve written. Knowing that Twain grew up by the Mississippi and was a riverboat pilot there can help explain why he uses that setting, information useful to know if you decided to write about the role of the river in Huckleberry Finn.

A second way to use research is to test your judgment in your own critical analysis. Do any sites, even general ones, contain information that supports or disagrees with what you said? Support can add strength to your argument; disagreement may mean simply that you acknowledge a counter-argument and go ahead with your own interpretation. The following four sites are easy to use, and you’ll find others on my web site. For URLs and other contact details, see the “Research Sources (revised edition)” posting at my web site, jerrysiegel.net.

Free Online Reference Sources. This is a list of reference lists. I liked the Internet Public Library’s list of resources by subject.

The Oxford Companion to American Literature lists a variety of sources, although some are quite brief. Just enter your search terms—such as “Hemingway + Soldier’s Home”—in the “Search” box, and you’ll find several possible articles.

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide by Paul P. Reuben, includes many useful links and even brief student written biographies including the correct documentation. It’s important not to copy from this site without giving credit and using quotation marks for borrowed words, but the site can lead to easily accessible useful information.

Virtual Learning Resource Center has many useful links, including biographies and even a Cliffsnotes for 20th century poetry. The index is set up by author birthdates; to get information about William Carlos Williams, for example, you need to know that he was born between 1880 and 1890 (actually, 1883). You may need to install plug-ins to access all of the media at this site. The general site is http:://www.virtualrc.com; you’ll find literature sources at http:://www.virtualrc.com/literature.html.

Last updated 26 May 2010

Writing, Research, and Documentation

2010-05-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Writing, Research, and Documentation: A Simplified Guide

©2010 Gerald Siegel, Ph.D.
Professor of English, York College of Pennsylvania
Visiting Professor, FON University, Skopje, Macedonia

This guide was developed to provide a quick reference to American and Western European academic research practices for students, especially those currently studying American Literature, at FON University. It is not intended to be either a complete or exhaustive treatment of the topic of research writing, and it reflects only the opinions of the author, not necessarily those of FON University or York College of Pennsylvania.

Before you do research

Here are a few “dos and don’ts” to guide you as you confront tasks in literary analysis, whether they are brief course projects or extended seminar or research papers.

DO READ AND DECIDE: first decide whether research is even necessary. Research is done to get information you need, but don’t have on your own and can’t get through careful reading and analysis of a text alone. Research is one way of learning what you don’t already know, but you may be able to produce a work of literary analysis or criticism through what you have learned through your own reading and abilities.

If you’re working on a project for a class or a university requirement, read over the directions for the project carefully. Can it be answered from careful reading of primary texts or from what you already know and have learned? Does it require secondary research to get information you don’t already possess? Will secondary research (reading an article that explains how Faulkner’s fictional town of Jefferson resembles the real Oxford, Mississippi) be more efficient than primary research (taking a trip to Mississippi to compare the real town with the fictional descriptions)?

DO THINK: that first decision often means just thinking about the assignment or project and spending some time just preparing to write. If you’re unclear about a project, this is a good time to consult with your professor.

DO HAVE A RESEARCH GOAL: If you think you’ll need to use research, make sure your research, if you do it, has a clear and limited purpose. Be sure you’re answering a restricted and focused research question, one that’s worth answering. When you look for specific information that is relevant, you’re more efficient and can save time. You can just ignore the irrelevant: if you’re doing research on Faulkner’s Mississippi locations, information about the business success of one of his childhood acquaintances isn’t anything you need, even if a resource happens to mention it.

DON’T JUST SURF: do not, above all, just pick a word or two in the assignment and start surfing the web to see what you find. For print materials, don’t just skim a book or study guide you happened to find in hopes that you can create a book report that will look like a research paper. If you develop a focus early, you’ll be able to work more efficiently later. Purposeful research beginning with reputable sources and specific goals can proceed more efficiently and produce a stronger piece of criticism.

If you need to do research

Keep your sense of purpose in mind. Decide whether you are doing research to familiarize yourself with a topic about which you know absolutely nothing, to get more information than you already have on a topic, or to test and possibly confirm or reject analysis you have done about a topic.

While much writing you do will proceed from your own knowledge, sometimes you will have to locate information elsewhere: to do research. Some of that research will be primary, or research that is original with you, such as analysis of an actual text or using class information that you have learned from a course, but have since assimilated and made your own. Other research may be as simple as a trip to the files or an interview.

But often you may need to rely on library and online resource. Even if you could conduct the necessary research yourself, using articles, books, and other secondary sources could save you from having to "reinvent the wheel." Perhaps the information you need has already been discovered by someone else and published in a book or article. Reading that book or article very often will be more efficient than repeating the same research yourself.

Finding Information Sources

Your first step will be to find the materials you need by using your library's research and bibliographic sources. If you don’t have access to a compete library at your own institution, you may be able to find resources through other area libraries, both university ones and those sponsored by various agencies, such as the U.S. embassy’s American Corner libraries. If you are very fortunate, you may be able to locate exactly what you need through a library's computer catalog. You may also have access to any of a number of computerized databases and online resources through which you can access extensive bibliographies, articles, and primary texts. While some of these may not be available in your location or may charge, many others are available free to various groups. A brief listing of online materials is available for FON students and faculty at http://www.jerrysiegel.net under the heading “Research Sources.”

But very often your research will involve speaking with a reference librarian, if one is available, and using print information sources. Either in or out of libraries, you can also access information through a number of computerized information search services; using specific search tools can be more helpful than simply surfing the internet to see what’s out there about, say, William Faulkner. (Without narrowing your topic or using specialized search tools, you may find millions of possible hits including a number from term paper mills and other unethical or even illegal information hucksters.)

Going to visit Oxford, Mississippi, to compare what you find there with what’s described in a specific work of William Faulkner’s fiction as the town of Jefferson would be an example of primary research, as would reading several of his stories carefully and creating your own description of the town. Andrea Lunsford, in, The Everyday Writer, 4th ed. (Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2009), p. 169, describes this kind of research when she contrasts “primary sources [that] provide firsthand knowledge” with “secondary sources [that] report on or analyze the research of others.” Finding a book or study guide that provided a comparison of the real Oxford with the fictional Jefferson would be a good example of this kind of research.

Secondary sources can provide, among other things, explanatory or background information, differing views about your topic, and, perhaps most important, support for your own critical ideas and claims. Typically, even with carefully targeted research, you will initial find more possible works than you will actually use in writing your paper. Be wary of finding that every work you locate appears in your final version; this could be a sign that your paper may be an example of “cutting and pasting” rather than true research. It’s a good idea, nevertheless, to keep a list of full references to all of these possible works in your “working bibliography,” which is “a list of sources that you are considering using for your project” (Lunsford 182).

Taking Notes from Sources

Once you have located useful sources, either directly or with the aid of indices and reference guides like those described above, you are ready to gather the information you need. Most of the time, you'll take this information in the form of notes on your sources.

If the source you are using is extensive, consider doing a section at a time. Read the entire portion; then put the original away and write down your notes. You can always check those notes against the original for correctness and completeness before you go on to the next section. Some writers will try to use word processing and store notes as files. For those who prefer handwritten notes, note cards or small pieces of paper (either small sheets or half sheets) are handy for recording notes; the small size encourages putting only limited amounts of information on each card or slip. Unlike notes recorded sequentially on sheets of notebook paper, these small slips or cards can be arranged into various groupings as your document develops. If you feel you must take notes in sequence on notebook paper, try writing only on one side, and limit yourself to two, three, or four items per page. Record the source and page number on each note section. Then you can either use the notes in sequence or cut the sections apart and use them as note slips.

It's a good idea to note the source and page number on each note slip. If you quote from the source, be sure to place quotation marks around all quoted material in your notes. This practice will help you remember what is quoted and what is paraphrased when you begin writing a draft. As a rule, try to paraphrase or summarize rather than quote, so that your own style comes through. You will probably achieve a smoother style than if you had incorporated large amounts of undigested quotation into a piece of writing. Paraphrasing and summarizing help maintain a consistent style throughout a research-based work and are excellent ways to avoid inadvertent use another’s words as if they were your own.

Paraphrasing from Sources

Paraphrasing involves restating the ideas of a source in your own words and original syntax. Strictly speaking, a paraphrase should be about the same length as the original. In practice, however, paraphrases are often shorter than the source material, and in some cases, such as when you paraphrase technical or highly complex material, the paraphrase may actually be longer. If you do shorten the material as you paraphrase, be careful to avoid changing the meaning of the original. The paraphrase should mention all the main points of the original material in the same order. A special concern in paraphrasing is to guard against what Lunsford describes as “plagiarizing inadvertently” by instead being careful not to “simply substitute synonyms” and not to “imitate an author’s style” (195).

In most research situations, you will need to use appropriate documentation along with a paraphrase. Remember that footnotes and parenthetic or textual documentation are used to credit borrowed ideas. In addition, if you take the words and/or the syntax of the original, you'll need to include quotation marks around the borrowed words.

The following example illustrates proper and improper paraphrasing. The author of the samples is preparing informational notes to be sent to the supporters of a local public television station which will be presenting a series of programs about Southern writers. She begins by reading this passage from Michael Millgate's book William Faulkner (New York: Grove Press, 1961, p. 6).

Here is the original material, presented as a quotation:

"Just as it is impossible to identify Jefferson with Oxford completely, it is an exaggeration to say, as some critics have done, that the Sartorises of Faulkner's novels are the members of his own family. There can be no doubt, however, that Colonel Falkner is, in large degree, the original of Colonel John Sartoris of Sartoris, The Unvanquished, and, more briefly, of several other novels. Anyone who has read Sartoris and The Unvanquished will realize at once that many incidents in these books--the building of the railway, for example, the demotion of Sartoris from his first command, the shooting of Sartoris by Redmond--are based closely upon fact, or upon the legendary versions of original facts that Faulkner himself must have heard . . ." (Millgate 6).

Presented as a paraphrase and slightly shortened, the ideas might look like this:

Many of the people and events depicted in Faulkner's works do have apparent connections with actual figures and events associated with the author's own life. Faulkner's own great-grandfather Falkner, for example, was probably "the original of Colonel John Sartoris," a character who appears, with varying degrees of importance, in "several . . . novels." In addition, scenes from his works provide fictional versions of accounts with which Faulkner himself was personally familiar. Nevertheless, the parallels between actuality and Faulkner's fiction are not complete. The fictional town of Jefferson and the real Oxford, Mississippi, are not exactly alike, and, despite claims by some commentators, "the members of his [Faulkner's] own family" are not identical to the fictional Sartoris family (Millgate 6).

This sample uses the MLA documentation system, which identifies most works by the author’s last name plus the page or pages where the material appeared (shown in parentheses). Some internet sources have no actual page numbers and are identified by the author’s name alone. It’s even possible to document within the text by an extended citation; journalistic articles and books sometimes do this, and you will see examples of this practice throughout these instructions. For a discussion of other kinds of citations and of other documentation systems, see the Purdue OWL site or other similar resources..

For the most consistent style, paraphrases should avoid unnecessary quotation of the source; in that way, the promotional materials for the television series would reflect the author's style rather than that of Millgate. In the example above, a few word groups do come directly from the source, but are clearly identified as someone else's words by quotation marks. Indented block form can be used if the quotation is an extended one. Where one or more words is deleted from a quotation, the omission is shown by the three spaced periods (four if a sentence or more is cut). In the final sentence of the paraphrase, the author inserted an explanatory word of her own into a quoted phrase; the added word is identified by being placed in square brackets. Finally, the parenthetic note at the end of the paraphrase identifies the source of the information. Handled in this manner, the paraphrase could appropriately appear in the station program guide.

Even if an original is summarized, the same principles of documentation apply. The note at the end of the following passage--a passage entirely in the author's own words rather than those of the source--identifies the source of the information.

The apparent identification of Faulkner's life and fiction sometimes claimed exists, but only to a degree. Faulkner based his characters (such as the Sartoris family) and events in his fiction on people and facts he knew. Still, the parallels between reality and that fiction are not total (Millgate 6).

The following paraphrase is handled incorrectly. The excerpt doesn't show quotation through quotation marks or block form, but the Italicized phrases are Millgate’s words and not those of the student writer, so even though the entire passage is credited to the source, it is an example of plagiarism.

In the same way that one cannot identify Jefferson with Oxford in all ways, it would not be correct to claim, as some critics have said, that the Sartorises are members of Faulkner's own family. This would be an exaggeration. One cannot doubt, however, that Colonel Falkner is the original of Colonel John Sartoris (Millgate 6).

Finally, the following summary is done incorrectly, even though it is entirely paraphrased, because it fails to credit the source of the information. Again, the passage is thus plagiarized. In this case, the problem could be corrected by simply adding documentation (Millgate 6) after the borrowed ideas.

Many of the people and events depicted in Faulkner's works do have a connection with figures and events in real life.

Paraphrasing, then, is simply a way of presenting ideas from a source in your own words. To be effective, paraphrases should either avoid or clearly identify the words of the original. Changing a word or two or shuffling them around does not produce effective paraphrase.

As mentioned above, the parenthetic documentation system shown in this section is the system recommended by the Modern Language Association (or MLA). It has largely replaced more traditional systems of using footnotes and endnotes, although these forms can still be used and still occur in MLA papers when needed for explanation or comments. Other professional organizations (such as the American Psychological Association, or APA) recommend their own styles of documentation and issue manuals or guides explaining these systems. Each system will also follow certain prescribed formats for bibliographies or lists of "works cited" (MLA) or “references” (APA). If you are not sure of the style to use, check with your instructor or with the person for whom you are preparing the research-based report.

The works actually cited within a paper because their words or information were used are typically named at the end of an academic paper in an alphabetical list most often called “Works Cited” (MLA format) or “References” (APA). Works in this list would really have been cited in the paper, and any works cited in the paper should appear in this listing. (In some cases of journalistic writing, there may not be a separate list at the end because complete information was given through textual citations.) Although this article does not do so to save space, this list is normally on a separate page.

Some samples of typical MLA "Works Cited" entries include the following. Although this essay is single spaced to save paper for those making hard copies, most academic research (including the Works Cited) would usually be double spaced. Samples 9-13 are reprinted from Andrea Lunsford, The Everyday Writer, 4th ed. (Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2009), pp. 446-75. This list shows only a few samples of some common types of resources.

1. a book by one person
Doe, John A. Writing Clear Messages for International Audiences. New York: Useful Press, 2003. Print.

2. a book edited by one person
Moe, Mary. Essays in International Communication. London: Picadilly Books, 2008. Print.

3. a book by more than one person
Doe, John A., and Susan B. Roe. Persuasive Proposals. New York: Useful Press, 1998. Print.

4. an essay or chapter in a collection
Phelps, Phyllis. “Gender and Culture.” Writing Clear Messages for International Audiences. Ed. John Doe. New York: Useful Press, 2003. 245-76. Print.

5. an article in a journal which paginates each volume continuously
Doe, John A. "Clarity in Writing Styles." Journal of Professional Communication 12(2002): 16-23. Print.

6. an article in a journal which paginates each issue separately
Moe, Larry C. "Managing Conflict Today." Managerial Communicating Quarterly 34.2 (2008): 88-102. Print.

7. an article from a monthly or bimonthly magazine
Roe, Susan B. "Get Your Documentation Right." This Month's Business May 1993: 18-22. Print.

8. an article from a newspaper
Monroe, M. B. "Businesses Are Hiring Psychologists." Gotham City News 22 May 2009: 37B. Print. [Newspaper citations vary with the pagination and arrangement of the particular paper.]

9. a work from an online database
Goldman, William. “The Princess Bride Shooting Draft.” 1987. Internet Movie Script Database. Web. 12 June 2008.

10. an entry in an online reference work
“Tour de France.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006. Web. 21 May 2006.

11. a work from a web site
“Hand Off Public Broadcasting.” Media Matters for America. Media Matters for America. 24 May 2005. Web. 31 May 2005.

12. an entry in a wiki
“Federation Internationale de Football Association.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 June 2006. Web. 27 June 2006.

13. an article reprinted on a web site
Lee, Jennifer B. “I Think, Therefore IM.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 Sept. 2002. Web. 14 Nov. 2003.

14. a complete online website
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2008. Web. 16 April 2010.

15. a scholarly article reprinted online
Mansfield, Richard. "In the World of Victorian Drama." Events in Drama 12.3 (2008): 483- 505. Web. 6 April. 2010.

16. a work from an online study guide
Washington, Durthy A. CliffsNotes on Invisible Man. Web. 15 Apr 2010.

17. interviews
Zimmerman, Zoe. Personal interview. 6 June 2007.

Abercrombie, Albert. Telephone interview. 8 May 2007.

The form of specific citations will vary with the type of information you have borrowed; many other forms exist, especially for electronic sources. Resources such as the Purdue University Online Writing Laboratory or the MLA home page can provide details on how to handle secondary materials. The exact extent of documentation, of course, will depend upon the context in which you are writing. Formal papers, including much academic writing, will require meticulous documentation; an in-house study for only you and your assistants may need none; a memo-length training bulletin for internal use may call for a simple list of sources. Finally, remember that even a report relying upon research should be well written. The same writing and editing techniques that you would use to make any other document smooth and effective apply here, too.

Sources actually used and cited in a paper, article, or research study will, in MLA format, also appear on a separate page at the end of the work in an alphabetical list called a Works Cited list. Again, such tools as the Purdue University OWL or MLA sites can help with specifics.

Plagiarism and academic integrity (honesty and dishonesty)

This section is intended to clarify the notions of academic integrity and the concept of plagiarism. Academic honesty, which includes giving credit through documentation and indicating quotation for information and words taken from other sources, clearly differentiating between your own words and those of someone else, and presenting as original research work only that which you have done yourself, is taken seriously in American academic practices. For that reason among others, it is essential to reflect these practices when preparing and submitting research and criticism in courses in American Literature and American studies.

Although sometimes plagiarism is the result of lack of knowledge and incompetence rather than deliberate cheating, it’s still plagiarism and unethical. But sometimes, often when a student is under pressure of time or grades, it is conscious and deliberate. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty are serious infractions. Be sure that any work you submit for a course or publication is original and uses correct documentation practices. If you’re under pressures that seem impossible to handle, you should think first about talking with the professor concerned. A penalty for late submission is a small price to pay for retaining one’s honor.

Above all, one should never insult one’s professor and embarrass himself or herself by turning in a paper that was purchased from a print shop, another student, or an internet source. Similarly, don’t turn in as original work and your own words blocks of material entirely or mainly cut and pasted from internet resources or term paper mills and printed out under your name. Professors usually check for this and get pretty good at spotting it. At best, professors won’t accept such papers, and more severe penalties can follow. As Lunsford observes, “deliberate plagiarism . . . is particularly troubling because it represents dishonesty and deception: those who intentionally plagiarize present the hard thinking and hard work of someone else as their own, and they claim knowledge they really don’t have, thus deceiving their readers” (206). The damage to a reputation can last for a lifetime.

Proper research practices and careful self-reviews and peer reviews can help avoid plagiarism problems. In some cases, awareness itself may be in part a cultural response to borrowed material. Lunsford provides a useful caution on this topic

Plagiarism as a Cultural Concept
Many cultures do not recognize Western notions of plagiarism, which rest on a belief that language and ideas can be owned by writers. Indeed, in many countries other than the United States, and even within some communities in the United States, using the words and ideas of others without attribution is considered a sign of deep respect as well as an indication of knowledge. In academic writing in the United States, however, you should credit all materials except those that are common knowledge, that are available in a wide variety of sources, or that are your own creations (photographs, drawings, and so on) or your own findings from field research (206).

Work in the field of American Literature or American Studies should adhere to those principles of acknowledging and crediting the words or ideas of others. Documentation and correct use of quotation marks or block form for extended quotations provides a way of giving this credit.

The Purdue OWL website also provides some specific insights into dealing with research and avoiding plagiarism:

Research-based writing in American institutions, both educational and corporate, is filled with rules that writers, particularly beginners, aren't aware of or don't know how to follow. Many of these rules have to do with research and proper citation. Gaining a familiarity of these rules, however, is critically important, as inadvertent mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism, which is the uncredited [sic] use (both intentional and unintentional) of somebody else's words or ideas.

While some cultures may not insist so heavily on documenting sources of words, ideas, images, sounds, etc., American culture does. A charge of plagiarism can have severe consequences, including expulsion from a university or loss of a job, not to mention a writer's loss of credibility and professional standing. This resource [the Purdue site], which does not reflect any official university policy, is designed to help you develop strategies for knowing how to avoid accidental plagiarism.

The site goes on to provide in-depth information about determining whether a particular situation is or is not plagiarism and practices to help you avoid it.

An error that has surfaced in some seminar papers and in-class projects is simply reprinting word-for-word blocks of material with no quotation marks or documentation, but combining these blocks. For example, notice this version of the two quotations on plagiarism, above.

Research-based writing in American institutions, both educational and corporate, is filled with rules that writers, particularly beginners, aren't aware of or don't know how to follow. Many of these rules have to do with research and proper citation. Many cultures do not recognize Western notions of plagiarism, which rest on a belief that language and ideas can be owned by writers. While some cultures may not insist so heavily on documenting sources of words, ideas, images, sounds, etc., American culture does.

All this version does is cut and paste blocks of type exactly from the sources, rather like an artist making a collage, but without any artistic purpose. But the author has not even taken notes on the material, let alone done anything with it, and has not even used quotes and documentation to show that it’s not his/her own writing. For a professor trying to evaluate the student’s writing, after the plagiarized material has been eliminated, there’s simply nothing to evaluate.

Lunsford (208) provides a useful set of guidelines to help students avoid plagiarism and its consequences. They are reprinted (with minor deletions) here:

• Maintain an accurate and thorough working bibliography.
• Establish a consistent note-taking system, listing sources and page numbers and clearly identifying all quotations, paraphrases, summaries, statistics, and visuals.
• Identify all quotations with quotation marks—both in your notes and in your essay. Be sure your summaries and paraphrases use your own words and sentence structures.
• Give a citation or note for each quotation, paraphrase, summary, arguable assertion or opinion, statistic, and visual that is from a source.
• Prepare an accurate and complete list of sources cited according to the required documentation style.

Finding help

The Purdue Online Writing Lab is an excellent resource for both writing advice and information and samples related to documentation including MLA and APA guidelines); It’s located at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/.

Good places to look for help in writing and documentation can be found in the Research Sources list at http://www.jerrysiegel.net.

A useful site with documentation links of different kind is the following: Dr. Charles Phillips Links to English Courses and Resources. at http://luna.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Webdocs/LINKS.htm

EasyBib: The Automatic Bibliography & Citation Maker. This offers help with citations. http://www.easybib.com/

The Paradigm Online Writing Assistant offers help with basic writing skills. It’s located at http://www.powa.org/.

For a starting point in locating reference sources available online, try FrontPage: University of Florida Free Online Reference Sources:
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Free_Online_Reference_Resources

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer, 4th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2008. Web. 16 April 2010.

Siegel, Gerald. Business and Professional Writing: A Guide to the Process, 2nd ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1994. Print.

Hemingway Guide Questions

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Hemingway Guide Questions

Big Two-Hearted River

1. Does “Big Two-Hearted River” give the impression of having in it a preponderance of submerged feeling, or meaning, or both? If so, how does Hemingway create that impression?

2. Discuss the apparent simplicity of Hemingway’s style. Is it as simple as it at first appears? How does Hemingway convey subtle and complex feelings? What role does imagery play in multiplying implications?

3. The story seems to center on Nick, the only human character who appears (except for the memories of Harry Hopkins). Does this technique result in a story in which nothing happens, or are there ways in which Nick’s behaviors and responses do create a “plot line”?

4. Does the use of “the” and “that” in “Big Two-Hearted River” support critic Walter Ong’s argument (quoted above) that these are crucial elements in Hemingway’s writing? Is a similar effect created by the use of “you” in such passages as “Ahead the river narrowed.... Nick thought”?

5. How useful is critic Philip Young’s interpretation of Nick as a “sick man”? Does it help to explain Nick’s thoughts and actions?

6. Is the judgment that “Big Two-Hearted River” is a story in which nothing happens justified?

7. Discuss Hemingway’s use of the landscape in “Big Two-Hearted River.”

8. The first two paragraphs of “Big Two-Hearted River” contrast the burned-over ground and the river. What is the effect of the first two paragraphs?

9. What is suggested by the fact that Nick watches “the trout keeping themselves steady in the current” for “a long time”? Does he identify them with his own efforts to keep himself steady?

10. When the landscape is described as “alive again” at the end of the story, what does this change imply about Nick’s recent experiences and his present state of mind?

11. Nick carefully observes rituals (such as the proper way to make camp, prepare food, catch bait, or fish). What purposes are served by these rituals? Is it Nick’s attempt to establish a stability, a comforting regularity and pattern that relieve him from the need to think or contemplate, relieve him from the workings of his mind? Does it help him to “choke it” when his mind is “starting to work”?

12. Is there anything in the story itself to support the conclusion that it’s about “coming back from the war”?

13. In the final seven paragraphs of “Big Two-Hearted River” Nick decides not to fish in the swamp, where “the river became smooth and deep” and the trees grew so close together that “You could not crash through the branches.” Why does Nick think that fishing in the swamp would be “tragic”? Why does he stop fishing, return to camp, and justify his actions with the thought (the last sentence of the story) that “There were plenty of days coming when he could fish the swamp”?

Soldier’s Home

1. From the information in the story, what can you determine about the setting of Krebs’ home?

2. What does the photograph of Krebs, the corporal, and the German girls reveal? What significance can be found in the contrast between this photograph and the one of Krebs and his fraternity brothers?

3. Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne were the sites of fierce and bloody fighting during World War I. What effects have these battles had on Krebs? Why do you think he won’t talk about them to then people at home?

4. Why does Krebs avoid complications and consequences? How has the war changed his attitudes toward work and women? How is his home town different from Germany and France? What is the conflict in the story?

5. Why do you think Hemingway refers to the protagonist as Krebs rather than Harold? What is the significance of his sister calling him “Hare”?

6. How does Krebs’ mother embody the community’s values? What does Krebs think of those values?

7. Why can’t Krebs pray with his mother?

8. What is the resolution to Krebs’ conflict?

9. Comment on the appropriateness of the story’s title.

10. Explain how Krebs’ war experiences are present throughout the story even though we gert no details about them.

11. What connections can you find between both of these stories and the events of Hemingway’s life?

Fitzgerald Guide Questions

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F. Scott Fitzgerald Guide Questions

“Bernice Bobs Her Hair”

1. How can these stories be placed, if at all, in terms of Fitzgerald’s life? In terms of the cultural and historical background?

2. In what ways do these stories reflect or differ from other Fitzgerald works you may have read?

3. What familiar Fitzgerald themes do you find repeated and/or developed in these stories?

4. Discuss the perceptions Fitzgerald presents in the two stories. Are they generally accurate or are they as outdated as the 1920s in which he flourished? Is even his fantasy rooted in the 1920s?

5. Is “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” merely an amusing anecdote, or does it reach deep into the problems of relations between the sexes and between those of the same sex?

6. What is the function of “Eau Claire” in “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”?

7. Why does Bernice decide to bob her hair? Why does she then regret it?

8. Is Bernice justified in the revenge she takes on Marjorie? What are your reactions to the ending?

9. How does Fitzgerald orchestrate the structure of events to make the bobbing of the hair and its aftermath the logical outcome of the situation?

10. How do you react to the society and the character types depicted in the story?

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

1. How does Fitzgerald, in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," use tone and style to create a world that is fantastical and dreamlike, yet realistic?

2. How does Fitzgerald employ humor in the story? In what ways is the idea of someone aging in reverse inherently humorous? How does Benjamin’s aging in reverse help you understand the story, the issues it deals with, and its characters?

3. By the time Benjamin takes over his father's company, his relationship with his father is dramatically different. Fitzgerald writes, "And if old Roger Button, now sixty-five years old, had failed at first to give a proper welcome to his son he atoned at last by bestowing on him what amounted to adulation." Benjamin's reverse aging is responsible for many of the highs and lows of his relationships with his father and his son. Do you think these relationships in some ways parallel those of all fathers and sons?

4. How does this story, though written almost a century ago, reflect our society's current attitude toward age and aging?

5. What is ironic about Benjamin marrying a "younger" woman? What does the story reveal about our perceptions of age and beauty?

6. The happier Benjamin becomes in his career, the more strained his marriage grows. Fitzgerald writes, "And here we come to an unpleasant subject which it will be well to pass over as quickly as possible. There was only one thing that worried Benjamin Button: his wife had ceased to attract him." Why does he fall out of love with Hildegarde?

7. How does Fitzgerald use Benjamin's condition to ridicule social norms?

8. When Benjamin returns from the war, Hildegarde, annoyed with his increasingly youthful appearance, says, "You're simply stubborn. You think you don't want to be like any one else....But just think how it would be if every one else looked at things as you do -- what would the world be like?" Later Fitzgerald writes of Roscoe, "It seemed to him that his father, in refusing to look sixty, had not behaved like a 'red-blooded he-man'...but in a curious and perverse manner." What is significant about their attitudes? How is it ironic that Hildegarde and Roscoe seem to believe that Benjamin should control his aging?

9. What does the story reveal about class and race issues?

10. In what ways would you call Benjamin’s being perceived as a source of shame or a threat symbolic? What would his otherness suggest about his society’s attitude toward him?

Common Message Formats

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Common Message Formats

[Note: in the print version, the various letters appear on separate pages. Figure 4 goes to a second page where the page 2 notation is shown. In some cases, spacing and indents have been altered from the original in this web version. The original has been e-mailed to students in Business Writing classes.]

Formats for letters, memos, reports, and other written messages may vary from one organization to another although certain characteristics do recur. A memo, for example, generally includes date/to/from/topic information in a heading and presents a message (usually an internal one) next. Letters contain such traditional elements as return and inside addresses, salutations, complimentary closes, and signature blocks. Both letters and memos are normally typed single spaced, with double spacing between paragraphs. (Figures 1 through 5 provide examples of some typical memo and letter formats, but in some cases spacing is compressed. Word processing programs also contain sample templates.)

Reports tend to vary in format more than do letters or memos. Some consist simply of brief forms to be completed, while others, especially long, formal reports, start to resemble books, having title pages, contents pages, abstracts, headings, graphics, and other specialized elements. A range of report formats exists between these extremes; memos with enumeration and/or headings and multiple page reports with headings and subheadings are two common variations. Organizational style guides and standard handbooks can provide other useful examples.

If you work for a particular organization for any length of time, you'll probably find yourself using correct formats almost automatically in familiar situations. Otherwise, format should be one of your last concerns in the "shaping" process. Until you know the final content and structure of your message (down to the exact wording), you could be wasting time by worrying about correct format for material you may never use. Perhaps more important, concern about format at the start of your writing process can lure you into viewing as final text what may really be preparing materials--free writing, potential subject matter, or random jottings.

Of course, format does matter. By creating a favorable appearance through appropriate formats, you can produce writing that displays professionalism and creates a favorable impression upon its readers.

Figure 1. Memo Format.
_____________________________________________________________
DATE: March 2, 20xx
TO: Mike Motta
FROM: Professor Rita Rhodes
SUBJECT: Writing the Memorandum

This message illustrates a typical memorandum, probably the most common variety of administrative communication. Most memorandums are relatively brief and intended for use within an organization. However, memorandums can vary widely in length and purpose, sometimes extending to multi-page reports.

1. This example uses a customary format, but different organizations will have their own modifications. Some formats, for example, eliminate such heading labels as "date" or "subject." Here, the date is in U.S. format. Often, memos will be written upon pre-printed forms. Most memos do contain at least the information shown in the headings above. Few contain salutations or complimentary closes.

2. Don't feel you must slavishly imitate this sample or any sample or model used in this class (unless, of course, you're asked to use a particular format for a specific assignment). For example, not all memos will contain a numbered list.You should use recognized formats of some sort. Handbooks and your other textbooks may contain additional useful examples of some.

3. Memorandums may or may not include lists, enumerations, headings, tables, and other guides to readability. The communication situation usually determines whether you should use such aids.

4. The style of a memorandum should be conversational, yet professional. Since you'll often be sending memorandums to people you know well, you have greater flexibility in adapting style to audience when you write memos than you would for many other communication contexts.

5. If your instructor asks you to do so, use correct memorandum format to write the message he or she assigns.

Figure 2. Letter in Full Block Format.
____________________________________________________________

4510 Winston Road
Portland, OR 97205-4321
8 July 8 20xx

Ms. Felicia Dushane
3422 Christopher Lane
Terra Haute, IN 47818-1234

Dear Ms. Dushane:

Here are the sample formats you requested when we spoke at the American Communication Association meeting last Friday. This series of letters illustrates some frequently used methods.

This letter is written in full block format, a simple format to remember and to type. All parts of the letter start at the left margin. Instead of a letterhead (which would also be acceptable), this version begins with your return address/date block. Your name would not appear here; it does, of course, appear below. Located four lines below is the inside address,the address of the person to whom you're writing. An alternate date format would be "20 March 20xx": because usage in some countries varies, avoid "3/2/xx" or 3.2.xx." This letter also illustrates use of the full nine-digit zip code.

A courtesy title (here Ms., although, of course, you could use Mr., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Doctor, Professor, Lieutenant, etc.) precedes your addressee's name. Letters usually include a courtesy title if the appropriate one is known to the writer. Sometimes names indicate the gender of the addressee and thus often suggest the appropriate courtesy title. In the case of names, like "Leslie" or "Chris," that could refer to either men or women, you may choose simply to use the full name without a courtesy title (for example, "Chris Kramer").

The salutation appears two line below the inside address. While the exact salutation may vary, the pattern shown here--"Dear" + a courtesy title + the addressee's last name--is the form most commonly used for business correspondence in the United States.

The text of the letter begins two lines below the salutation. Most letters (except for very short ones) are typed single-spaced with double spacing between paragraphs. Paragraph length varies, but four to sixteen lines is workable and easily readable.

The letter ends with a complimentary close, followed by four lines (for the signature) and a typed signature, often followed by the writer's job title. Frequently used complimentary closes include "Sincerely," "Yours truly," and "Cordially."

Sincerely,

Anthony Garcia
Communications Specialist

Figure 3. Letter in Semi-block Format.
____________________________________________________________
CCI [This letterhead is pre-printed and centered in the print version.]
Communications Consultants, Inc.
4510 Winston Rd., Portland, OR 97205

July 8, 19xx

Ms. Felicia Dushane
3422 Christopher Lane
Terra Haute, IN 47818

Dear Ms. Dushane:

This sample letter uses "semi-block" or "modified block" format and letterhead stationery. As in many variations of full block form, the main differences are in the placement of the date (or, if letterhead is not used, of the entire date/return address block) and of the complimentary close/signature block. Here, these sections begin at the center of the page. The result is a letter that is more balanced in appearance than that produced using the full block format.

If one of these "center line" elements (for example, a long address if no letterhead is used or a long job title) will not fit on the page using this format, all the elements can be started a few spaces to the left of the center line. Another approach locates the longest line in any of these elements, counts back this number of spaces from the right margin, and begins all lines in these elements at that indent setting.

The first two letters use "mixed punctuation" for the salutation and the complimentary close: a colon follows the salutation, and a comma follows the complimentary close. (The next letter in this series will illustrate "open punctuation," a practice which uses no punctuation in these positions.) Although so-called "friendly" personal letters may use a comma after the salutation as well as after the complimentary close, business letters generally do not, except for some sales and promotional messages.

Sincerely,

Anthony Garcia
Communications Specialist

Figure 4. Letter in Indented Semi-block Format.
____________________________________________________________

CCI
Communications Consultants, Inc.
4510 Winston Rd., Portland, OR 97205
(503) 555-6789

July 8, 19xx

Ms. Ingrid Weill
Director of Publications
Media Production Associates
8841 Eastwood Avenue
Scranton, PA 18547

Dear Ms. Weill

SUBJECT: SEMI-BLOCK FORMAT WITH INDENTED PARAGRAPHS

Here is an example of a semi-block letter with indented paragraphs, another step toward more attractive page make-up. This sample also illustrates use of "open" punctuation, a practice which eliminates the punctuation after the salutation and the complimentary close. If the name of the addressee were unavailable for this message, the position title ("Dear Director") could be used instead. If the writer and reader knew each other, in some cases "Dear Ingrid" might be acceptable.

In this form, each paragraph is indented 4-8 spaces (in the case of this sample, five spaces). The margins in these sample letters, 1" on all sides, are the default settings of several word processing programs and work well for most situations; some authorities suggest 1 1/4" for right and left margins and 1" for top and bottom. With letterhead stationary, the first line (usually the date) begins 2 to 2 1/2" from the top of the page.For A4 paper, the margins are metric and will differ. For short letters, the space between date line and inside address and that between complimentary close and typed signature may be adjusted; the margins may also be widened.

An optional "subject line" like that used here can be incorporated into most standard formats; it provides an easy way of indicating a message's topic without slowing the letter's opening. The actual word "subject" needn't always appear.

In practice, many organizations will have their own margin requirements, often contained in the organization's style manual. The margins suggested here apply to the standard 8 1/2" x 11" stationary used by U.S. private firms. The United States government and foreign organizations may use different paper sizes (such as A4) and margins. In any case, the most attractive letters result from having an appropriately wide "picture frame" of white space around the "picture" of the letter text itself.

Sometimes letters will extend beyond a single page. In such cases, the second (and subsequent) pages should be written on plain paper, not letterhead. While various

Ms. Ingrid Weill, July 8, 20xx, page 2 [A new page starts here in print version.]

heading formats are used, pages beyond the first, most include certain elements: the name of the addressee, the date, and the page number.

If you would like more information about possible formats or if you have any further questions, call me at the number above any day between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Sincerely

Anthony Garcia
Communications Specialist

Figure 5. Letter in AMS Simplified Format.
____________________________________________________________

CCI [This letterhead is pre-printed and centered in the print version.]
Communications Consultants, Inc.
4510 Winston Rd., Portland, OR 97205
(503) 555-6789

July 8, 20xx

Ms. Ingrid Weill
Media Production Associates
8841 Eastwood Avenue
Scranton, PA 18547
U. S. A.

AMS SIMPLIFIED FORMAT

Here, Ms. Weill, is another in the series of letter formats you requested.

Some years ago, the Administrative Management Society developed this style. Although this format has been used in only limited situations, it can be quite useful, especially for routine situations where salutations and complimentary closes (both of which this format eliminates in favor of a topic line and a typed signature) are inappropriate. For example, a request for a catalog or for reservations, especially when not addressed to any particular individual, lends itself well to this format.

Notice that the word "SUBJECT" does not actually appear in the subject line. The format uses open punctuation and capital letters in both the topic and signature lines. If the letter goes to an individual, that person's name can be mentioned early in the message, possibly in the opening sentence.

The letters following the typed signature indicate that Anthony Garcia dictated the letter and that it was typed by someone else with the initials "D.S." The letter "c" (for "copy"; "cc" is sometimes used to indicate a "carbon copy" or "courtesy copy") shows where copies of the letter were sent.

ANTHONY GARCIA, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

AG/ds
c: Scott N. Willard

Message Patterns

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MESSAGE PATTERNS: MEMOS, LETTERS, REPORTS, PROPOSALS

Using a process approach to writing (conscious steps of preparing, arranging, saying, and shaping) can help you make more efficient use of your time in a wide range of business and professional communication situations. Among the most common message types you may be writing will be the memorandum, the letter, the report, and the proposal. While all these kinds of documents should be marked by effective writing, each type also has certain characteristics of its own. This description looks briefly at traditional versions of these structural and stylistic attributes.

Memorandums and Letters

Preparing memorandums (or memoranda) will probably be one of the most frequent on-the-job tasks you will face. Memos are usually brief documents dealing with routine matters, and they normally remain within an organization. Most often informal documents, memorandums can be as simple as a completed form or as extensive as a policy statement on how to appeal personnel actions. Frequently a memorandum will get read by several audiences, a point to consider in deciding what to say and how to say it. A brief memorandum like that shown in figure 1 may begin as a message (sent either in writing or as e-mail) from one individual to another, but soon become widely disseminated. This particular memo, for example, may be copied by its immediate audience (here, Willa Clarke), attached to a cover memo (here, possibly one saying that this week's caseworker meeting date is changed), and either sent to every person in an entire division or posted on the division's bulletin board. Other types of memorandums may be placed in a file and used weeks or months later by individuals unknown to either the original sender or addressee. (This memo uses an American format for the date; other examples in the chapter will use the international format of date/month/year, Sometimes memos will use a briefer format, but that can confuse: the date in the example could be shown as 6/16/10 in an American document, but 16.6.10 in an international format. Common sense can clarify this entry, but a date such as April 6 or 6 April is obviously clearer when written out.)

Figure 1. Routine Memorandum.

Date: June 16, 20xx
To: Willa Clarke, Social Services Supervisor
From: Mike Corelli
Subject: Change in Caseworker Meeting Date

This week's caseworker meeting has been changed from Tuesday to Thursday afternoon at 2:00 in room 381. Ms. Imperiale, the district director, will describe the state's new records retention policy.

Yet memorandums can also be used for a variety of other reasons, such as reports or messages of transmittal. Although usually internal communications, they sometimes do get sent to customers and clients outside of the organization when the matter being discussed is a commonplace one. Memorandums for external audiences and those dealing with other than everyday concerns can pose special problems in structure.

Business letters, of course, differ from memos in format. Because they are generally perceived as more formal than memorandums, letters are sometimes used within organizations for significant situations, such as commendations, promotions, reprimands, hirings, and firings. But, more importantly, they most often are external communication. You are less likely to know the reader as well as you would someone within your own organization, so concern about persona and audience becomes more conscious. Letters also serve more frequently than memos to handle situations that are not routine. Like memos, they can also confirm in writing arrangements and relationships originally established by personal meetings, telephone or e-mail.

Contexts themselves may vary widely; you'll need to consider both your own objectives and, when you can determine it, your reader's likely reaction. Ideally, these will be the same. If, for example, your message complains about a product or service, conveying your dissatisfaction to your reader could result in several outcomes. Simply stating your case may lead your reader to note the information, but do nothing further; his/her response may be neutral. Possibly, if several complaints like yours arrive, she/he may then act to remedy the problem you and the others mentioned.

You could, of course, choose other approaches. If instead your message conveys your anger or attacks the reader, sarcastically or otherwise, the result may be either defensiveness or anger on the part of the reader. "Telling them off" may make you feel better, but is unlikely to remedy the situation and may even cut off communication entirely. On the other hand, you could seek a specific remedy, such as a refund, repair, or a replacement--remedies which, if the product or service were defective, your reader might interpret as routine matters to be dealt with in the normal course of business. Thus, your choice of persona and sense of context can help you to determine reader behavior and to obtain the feedback you want.

For these reasons, different structures have developed to handle many of the common letter and memorandum writing situations. These structures use familiar arranging strategies (deductive, inductive, and persuasive sequences) to deal with varying message contexts.

Routine and Positive Situations

A deductive (or direct) pattern, which begins with the message's main idea, is effective for situations in which you expect a positive reader response, either because you are conducting routine business or telling the reader something he or she wishes to hear. The deductive pattern works well, for example, when you are ordering something, asking for information, providing information, congratulating someone, or giving someone a positive response to a request or suggestion.

Since the business side of the message is your main concern in such writing, get to the point early--in the first paragraph. After you've stated your main idea, add any explanation or support needed to clarify that main idea. Then go on to further details, questions, or secondary concerns. Figure 2 illustrates an opening paragraph of a request organized in the direct pattern. {Some examples shown here will use the American date format of month/date/year.)

Figure 2. Routine Request.

Please cancel my subscription to Human Services Quarterly as of July 1. I would appreciate your sending the refund check to my home address, 2430 Center Street, Pine Hill, TX 75118.

Positive replies, like inquiries, should generally be organized by direct structure. Incidentally, although the opening of a reply may allude indirectly to the message being answered, starting out with comments such as "we have received your letter of June 7" tends to waste the impact of the potentially emphatic opening position. Such openings make sense only if you are unable to actually answer the request for some time and wish to at least assure your reader that he/she is not simply being ignored. Letters of this type should, if possible, go on to indicate approximately when the reader can expect an answer. Figure 3 illustrates a typical opening for a positive reply.

Figure 3. Positive Reply.

As you requested, your subscription to Human Services Quarterly has been canceled as of July 1. Your refund check for $36.00 will be sent to you by our subscription center within two weeks. [The letter might go on with promotional or good-will material.]

A variety of other situations can also be handled as routine or positive. An apology for an error, for example, because it is intended to make the reader feel better about whatever has happened, may be perceived in this way. Obviously, if the problem can be fixed, that’s the thing to do. But if there’s no solution (for example, a missed appointment), sometimes it’s best simply to first apologize, then explain what happened, and finally take steps to restore a normal business relationship. Above all, having apologized at the start, don’t repeat the apology at the end; once the message becomes positive, it should stay positive. A letter of resignation, if it is expected and follows earlier discussions of your intentions, may also be viewed as routine, but if unexpected, may generate a negative context. Thus, your awareness of context can affect the way you choose to structure your messages.

Negative Situations

When you expect resistance from your reader or have bad news to tell him or her, use an inductive (also called indirect or delayed) structure to prepare your reader for the negative information. The overall pacing of disappointing or negative messages tends to be more gradual than that of messages in direct structure; in this way, they can better manage emotional as well as business or intellectual responses. You might, for example, have to announce something the reader will dislike, such as a rent increase or a coming layoff. You may have to refuse a request or an adjustment. Or you may be able to offer only part of what the reader wants. Figure 4 illustrates typical opening material for a negative reply.

Figure 4. Negative Reply.

As you requested, the balance of your subscription has been canceled as of July 1. Refunds for unused portions of subscriptions are pro-rated based upon the number of issues remaining. Because you have already received four issues, you will be receiving a check within the next two weeks from our subscription service center for $24.00, the unused balance. [The letter would then go on to a good will closing, possibly including promotional or resale material.]

In this structure, you do not get to the main business point immediately. Instead, you first attempt to create an open communication climate and prepare your reader for the message's emotional impact by building a brief "buffer" of neutral or positive elements that will eventually lead to the main idea. The buffer, because it prepares your reader for that business point, should have some relation to the eventual topic, or the device will simply waste your reader's time, but the buffer should not signal either a "yes" or a "no."

Follow the buffer with an explanation in language that again does not signal an immediate "no." Avoid tell-tale signs of bad news such as beginning the second paragraph with "however" or "but." Be sure that this explanation precedes the refusal or the bad news; you owe the courtesy of such an explanation to your reader, who might ignore it if the negative material came first. Sometimes, in fact, an appropriate explanation can suggest or pave the way for discussion of alternatives that might accomplish much of what the reader originally wanted.

If you do a good job of explaining, in some situations you may not actually need to come right out and say "no." So long as you are clear about it and avoid misleading your reader, an implicit refusal may be all that you need include. For example, telling readers what they may do sometimes makes quite apparent what they may not do. Under most circumstances, a statement that all accountants will be needed for special audits 7-12 June, but that all other days in June remain available for vacations removes the need explicitly to deny a request for vacation days on 8-10 . Then you can go on with the task of reestablishing a cooperative spirit of "business as usual" and concern for your reader by message's end.

Effective negative messages, in short, downplay the negative. They provide a clear explanation for the bad news and avoid hiding behind "company policy." They use positive, not negative, language where possible. Instead of saying "I can't speak at your meeting on March 3," for example, a letter might explain, "I will be in Buffalo on March 3." Finally, effective negative messages de-emphasize the negative by putting the main idea in the middle of the message, by placing the negative information in a subordinate clause, and by ending on a positive note.

Of course, negative or disappointing news can be presented in a direct pattern; certain readers in certain circumstances will perceive this apparently negative information routine. Thus, not having an order arrive because the original order request contained insufficient information can easily become a routine request for that information; a second notice for a monthly payment may be simply a duplicate bill with "second notice" or "reminder" stamped at the top of the page. Be careful, however, that your reader, not simply you yourself, will react routinely. You may prefer getting bad news before you get an explanation, but letting this preference guide message construction can result in your sending a message that is writer, not reader, oriented.
Persuasive Situations

Messages that attempt to convince someone are another kind of communication often best served by inductive organizational patterns. Sales letters, memos trying to convince someone to adopt a policy or point of view, reports calling for action by the reader, and letters of application for employment are a few examples of such messages. Figure 5 illustrates the opening of a persuasive sales message.

Figure 5. Persuasive Message.

As a concerned professional, you realize the importance of staying current with the latest developments in the rapidly changing human services field. And you probably know that reading Human Services Quarterly enables over 10,000 of your colleagues to maintain that "up-to-date" edge as leaders in their profession.

Now you can join this well-informed group and enjoy a 20% saving over Human Services Quarterly's usual rates. [The rest of the message might show benefits of subscribing and then ask the reader to act be signing and returning a subscription card. Although the letter could ask for a check, it might simply call for a commitment thus: "No need to pay now. Just sign and return the card. We'll bill you later."]

Persuasive messages pose a special problem because very often your reader won't expect them and may therefore have no particular interest in what you have to say. In other cases, you will need to overcome different kinds of resistance to get the reader to act as you want or to change his or her mind. A special kind of delayed approach can sometimes succeed in such situations.

To remember this approach, think of the words "AIDA" (for "attention-interest-desire-action") or "AICA" (for "attention- interest-conviction-action). Begin by getting the reader's attention; very often, all you need to do is picture a reader benefit. Then, build your reader's interest in reading what you have to say by using details. Next, create a desire in the reader to buy what you're selling, do what you're requesting, or accept the idea you're suggesting. Last, ask for the action you want on the part of the reader. As with negative situations, moving readers through persuasive messages may require more deliberate pacing than that of the usual direct structure message. Take your reader through these stages gradually, and you improve your chances of getting the response you want.

Obviously, these patterns represent only general strategies, and exceptions will always exist. For instance, the writer of a fifth notice for an unpaid bill will probably spend little time on maintaining customer good will through a buffer, and promotional material sent to someone who has requested the information in the first place will not need to use an extended "attention" opening. Further, some messages will involve more than a single type of situation. For such messages, you will need to decide on your primary purpose (perhaps, for example, a persuasive approach to a combined persuasive-negative message) and emphasize that goal.

Reports

Reports vary widely in content, formality, function, length, and methods of preparation, but all have a common goal: the transmission of information, often information which specifically has been requested. Sometimes, but not always, that information may be accompanied by commentary or informed opinion.

Characteristics of Reports

Some reports, called "periodic reports," appear at regular intervals. The weekly progress report on a research project and the monthly admissions report for a college are typical examples. Other reports are generated in response to a situation; each time the particular situation occurs (for example, an accident or an arrest), a report follows. A third kind of report, the "special report," is usually a one-time job. A report to a manager comparing three possible microcomputers the company might consider purchasing would be one type of special report.

Reports also differ according to what they do with the information they contain. An "informational" report simply presents data or facts without further comment. The college admissions report that lists numbers of representatives' visits to different states and the number of applications from those states would be an informational report. "Interpretive" reports add explanatory remarks, but not opinion. An interpretive admissions report might point out that "15% of the representatives' visits are to schools in the Middle Atlantic region, but 40% of our applicants come from this area." An analytic report (or recommendation) adds opinion to interpretation: "I suggest that we cut representatives' time in the Midwest and Southeast so that they can spend more time in the Middle Atlantic area."

The tone of reports tends to be objective. Some reports, indeed, are simply entered into standard forms. Reports are sometimes done as memos and letters, but frequently, unlike letters and memos, reports do follow certain specified patterns often required by employers. Many reports, for reasons of readability and clarity, are divided into sections and use different levels of headings for the different portions. When reports are presented in a letter or memorandum format, headings are sometimes not used, but the topic sentences of different sections can provide a function similar to that of the headings.

Some long formal reports appear in formats that resemble those of books, complete with covers, title pages, and tables of contents. But, regardless of their complexity or simplicity, reports seek to present information in a clear, efficient manner; the various characteristics of reports are simply means to this end.

Graphics and Other Aids to Report Clarity

Lists and enumerations are common organizing devices used to present parts of reports. Charts, graphs, tables, and other graphic aids can clarify abstract and numerical concepts in reports; they can be prepared by hand, using compasses, protractors, rulers, and other simple tools, or they can be constructed through various photocopying and computer applications.

Most graphic aids share certain characteristics. Graphics used within a report typically have titles which clearly announce their topics, are identified by figure numbers, and frequently indicate the sources of their information. Tables simply put lists of figures into readable formats. Pie charts work well to show how an entire quantity is divided into its various parts (e.g., a breakdown of where a tax dollar goes). Bar graphs are effective for comparing quantities (for example, the number of clients served last year by five different groups of caseworkers), and line graphs are most effective for displaying numbers (such as interest rates) that change over a period time. Flow charts, maps, photographs, and cutaway diagrams are just a few other types of graphic aids that can help clarify reports and proposals.

Presentation programs, such as PowerPoint, can provide an effective means of showing graphics and key ideas for oral reports, and programs of this sort also allow you to incorporate video and sound into your report. However, some presenters tend to simply put an entire presentation into the program and then read aloud, word-for-word, what’s already printed on the slide—a sure way to weaken the presentation and bore the audience.

One simple and relatively low-tech tool in giving oral presentations, the overhead projector, allows you to put graphics (or, for that matter, some key ideas from your notes) onto transparencies and then to project the images from those transparencies onto a screen. It’s also possible to make transparencies of PowerPoint slides as a back-up in case computer problems arise. The transparencies guide you in your presentation, distract less than note cards, and help your audience. The overhead projector is easy to use. Simply place each transparency on a glass plate located over a light source, position the transparency so that you can read it just as if you were reading from a sheet of paper, focus the image (being careful not to block your readers' view of the screen), and speak (resisting the urge to read the transparencies word by word to your audience). You can also, with special equipment, use the overhead projector to project video and computer screen images if computer projection equipment is unavailable.

Proposals and Special Message Types

Proposals are a special kind of persuasive writing. They suggest changes and actions and attempt to convince their readers to follow these suggestions. The characteristics of effect tive persuasive writing are thus important considerations for the writer of a proposal. They often appear in a report format, but can also be presented as letters or memorandums. Typically, proposals suggest ways to solve a problem which exists, to improve a policy or procedure, to answer a question, or to present a benefit from a particular product or service.

They may have been requested, as in the case of a supervisor asking an expert on his staff to propose a new method of accounting for petty cash or a company replying to a "request for proposal" (RFP) from a government agency in hopes of obtaining a contract. Proposals of this sort are termed "solicited proposals." Other proposals (called "unsolicited proposals") are developed at the writer's own initiative in hopes of persuading the reader to act or to accept the proposal's ideas. A sales proposal or a proposal to a university dean advocating changes in campus parking regulations are examples of unsolicited proposals.

While the specific content of proposals will vary, they almost all discuss something happening over a period of time. In other words, most proposals include narration as well as persuasion. For this reason, much of the content of a proposal can be developed in a preparing stage based on the journalistic "5 W's and H" approach. Typical concerns might include the following:
Why should changes be made?
Why is the change an improvement over what exists now?
What problem needs solving?
What needs to be done to solve it?
What specific changes are involved?
What equipment and personnel will be needed?
Who will be in charge of making these changes?
When will work begin and end?
Where will the changes happen?
How, exactly, do you plan to make these changes?
How much will the changes cost?
How will the changes be financed?

Organization of proposals varies with the specific circumstances and with the arranging strategy you wish to use. But most effective proposals move quickly at the beginning, giving an overview of the problem and the solution without providing specific technical details. This opening is then followed by a more detailed discussion in which you may consider the nature of the problem more precisely, explain what you plan to do to solve the problem, and specify exactly how you plan to accomplish the work you propose to do. A concluding section might establish your qualifications to do the work (if this information seems appropriate), point out the reader benefits that will follow, and encourage action, which may simply mean approval of the proposed project. Headings, subheadings, enumerations, and graphics can help guide readers through proposals as they do for reports, and, like reports, proposals can appear in a variety of formats.

Many other types of professional messages share some of these characteristics with reports and proposals; adaptability and effective use of aids to readability make such documents accessible to multiple audiences with widely diverse backgrounds. Policies and procedures, for example, spell out what to do and how to do it in a variety of workplace situations; sick leave policies, chains of command, equal opportunity statements, safety bulletins, and grievance procedures are just a few examples of such documents. Bulletins and announcements are internal documents that, like many reports, are primarily informational; even more than reports, however, these messages reach audiences with disparate backgrounds within the organization. In contrast, press releases and news bulletins convey information to the general public; not only must they be clear to a wide range of readers, but they need to convey the most important information (the "5 W's and H" again) early. While these community and public information documents frequently disseminate information that is routine or persuasive (in sales situations), they can also be the primary means of defusing corporate crises. Clear reporting can make the difference.

Regardless of how letters, memos, reports, and proposals are developed and organized, take time to go through the steps of the PASS method in writing such messages. While formats and structures matter, the quality of your writing makes the biggest difference in the impact that writing will have upon its readers. The writing you do on the job can accomplish its goals more effectively as a result of your concern about and work with those skills.

This material is adapted from Gerald Siegel, Business and Professional Writing: A Guide to the Process, 2nd ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt, 1994.

Faulkner Guide Questions

2010-05-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Faulkner Guide Questions

“That Evening Sun”

1. “That Evening Sun” tells the story of Nancy and the different perceptions that the characters have of her dilemma. Who, exactly, is Nancy? How do the perceptions of her by father and mother, the children, and Nancy herself differ?

2. Consider in particular the different perceptions of the three children, ranging from Jason’s failure to understand to Caddy’s partial understanding to Quentin’s clear understanding of her probable fate, at the end of the story. What comments and responses in the story indicate these varying degrees of understanding for each?

3. To what extent does this story depict both conflict within different parts of society and between different parts of society?

4. Discuss Faulkner’s use of the imagery of sunset in “That Evening Sun, “suggested in the title and in the body of the story, to emphasize Nancy’s fear of the night and her foreboding of death.

5. Discuss Quentin’s expression of a characteristically Faulknerian attitude toward modernity, progress, and urban development.

6. Quentin uses ornate language, such phrases as “the soiled wearing of a whole week.” What does his language suggest about his sensitivity, education, and character?

7. At first Quentin fails to understand why Nancy refuses to cook the children’s breakfast: “So we thought it was whisky until that day they arrested her again.” Do subsequent events suggest that Caddy and Jason come to understand, as nine-year-old Quentin does, why Nancy refuses to leave her cabin and cook breakfast for the Compsons?

8. Discuss the varying perceptions of the three children, ranging from Jason’s failure to understand to Caddy’s partial understanding to Quentin’s clear understanding of Nancy’s dilemma and her probable fate, at the end of the story.

9. Discuss “That Evening Sun” as a story in which the white Compsons fail to meet their responsibilities to their black servant Nancy.

10. Consider the different kinds of conflicts revealed in this story, both within and between groups.

11. In class, you learned about the reactions of editor H.L. Mencken to the story. Discuss Mencken’s editorial omissions and restorations. Would they be considered “somewhat loud for a general magazine” today?

12. Quentin appears to accept the fact that Nancy will be killed. Does the father’s reaction suggest that he also believes that Nancy will be killed? Or do his reactions suggest that he believes that Nancy is not in danger? Does he seem unconcerned about her fate? Do his comments and actions suggest that he realizes that there is nothing he can do to save her?

“A Rose for Emily”

1. Contrast the order of events as they happen in the story with the order in which they are told. How does this plotting create interest and suspense? How else does Faulkner’s arrangement of incidents affect the reader?

2. What is the effect of the final paragraph of the story? How does it contribute to your understanding of Emily? Why is it important that we get this information last rather than at the beginning of the story?

3. What details foreshadow the conclusion of the story? To what extent can the reader anticipate the ending?

4. To what extent do concepts of honor and tradition influence the action in “A Rose for Emily”?

5. Faulkner uses a number of gothic elements in this plot: the imposing decrepit house, the decayed corpse, and the mysterious secret horrors connected with Emily’s life. How do these elements forward the plot and establish the atmosphere?

6. How does the information provided by the story’s exposition indicate the nature of the conflict in the story? How important is the way Emily was treated by her father? What does Emily’s southern heritage contribute to the story?

7. With whom or what must Emily contend? Why is it significant that Homer Barron is a construction foreman and a northerner?

8. In what sense does the narrator’s telling of the story serve as “A Rose for Emily”? Why do you think the narrator uses we rather than I?

9. Explain how Emily’s reasons for murdering Homer are related to her personal history and to the ways she handled previous conflicts?

10. Discuss how Faulkner’s treatment of the North and South contributes to the meaning of the story?

11. In both of the assigned stories, what terms and allusions pose special challenges for international readers? Does either story require specialized knowledge of American cultural history?

American Literature Critical Essay #2 Updated

2010-04-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

American Literature Critical Essay 2 (Updated 1 May 2010)

This assignment sheet contains added information about the second critical essay and the seminar paper. It has been updated as a result of discussion with students at the week 8 classes. Add this sheet to the original instructions or view the new combined version on the web site.

Special note on seminar papers: as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, either of these topic choices could also be turned into a possible seminar paper by expanding the topics (maybe more works, authors, or depth, such as a study of multiple Hughes or cummings poems—or those of another appropriate poet with whom you are familiar--as social criticism or a study of domestic and family conflict in multiple works by Hemingway and/or Faulkner or other writers of fiction). Unlike simple project papers, seminar papers do require use of the primary texts and at least 2-3 reputable research sources to support your generalization. You don’t have to do this topic if you choose to do a seminar paper; this is only a possible suggestion. Also, you don’t have to do your seminar paper with me. If you turn in a seminar paper, it will also be graded and scored as critical paper #2—you’re not required to do an added paper. Many other seminar topics are possible, of course.

Clearly label the paper you submit as to how you want it counted: Paper #2, Seminar Paper, or Both. Put this note right under your name. If you don’t label the paper, I will assume it is a paper #2 submission.

Deadlines: Paper #2 as shown on schedule (for printout) or 21 May (electronic submission). For Both or Seminar Paper, 11 May (printout) or 27 May (electronic submission). Any forms you need completed by me should be given to me at the American Literature colloquium or by appointment during earlier times when I am on campus. E-mail me to set up appointments, but remember that I am not on campus on an every day basis. I do expect to be on campus in Skopje on 3-4 and 10-11 May. I will be at Struga 13 May.

Specific situations:

3. If you plan to turn in project #2, but NOT a seminar paper.
• Just turn in the essay as shown on the schedule, in either print-out or electronic form.
• No research is required.
• The % average of your two papers will determine your project/assignment points.
4. If you plan to do a seminar paper AND project #2.
• Just turn in the seminar paper as explained above; it will count for both assignments. As a project, it gets graded; as a seminar paper, it’s evaluated pass/fail. (Warning: plagiarized papers fail.)
• Research as explained on the seminar paper handout is required. See section 4, below, for added topic choice information.
• Seminar papers must demonstrate at least limited command of the following skills: literary analysis; use of primary and secondary research; writing ability; English language use; producing a document of appropriate development and length (about 5-10 pages).
5. If you plan to do a seminar paper, but NOT project #2.
• Follow the instructions shown above in section 4.
• Research is required; must demonstrate the four skills; pass/fail (no grade).
6. Topic Information for seminar papers (See special note above.) Choose from four options.
• Develop your own expanded version of the topics of either critical essay, as described above.
• Begin with a study guide question from those I’ve provided— one that can be developed further into a seminar paper that demonstrates the skills listed in section 4, above.
• Choose any of the topic suggestions on the seminar paper guide sheet, and develop the paper from that starting point.
• If you wish, propose an alternative topic to me in a short written proposal that tells me the topic, explains exactly what you plan to do with that topic [for example, “the paper will show that ….”], and give citations for any primary sources and 3 or more of the specific secondary sources you have examined that you plan to use.

Toomer and Hurston Guide Questions

2010-04-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

Fiction of the 1920’s and 1930’s Guide Questions

Jean Toomer: "Blood-Burning Moon"

1. Who is to blame for the violence in this story--including the fight that starts the racial conflict? How are your sympathies managed in the story? What are your reactions to the themes of potential miscegenation, lynching, racial tensions?

2. Consider the story's structure. Are their elements that seem contrived or overly dependent on coincidence?

3. Discuss the significance of the physical scene in Blood-Burning Moon. How does the landscape have an effect on the characters? To what extent does the Southern locale determine the action of the plot?

4. How different would the story be in another setting, say, in the slums of the industrial North?

5. Comment more fully on the regional and ethnic qualities of the story. Is it limited by these? Does it transcend these? What seems to be the story's focus?

6. How does the three-part structure of Blood-Burning Moon relate to the three figures in the “love triangle”?

7. Comment on the symbolism in Blood-Burning Moon. The moon seems to be the central symbol, but note also the significant references to burning, glowing, etc.

8. What is the significance of the fact that both men die in the story? Is Toomer suggesting inevitable total destruction following racial conflict?

9. Are the primary motivations in Blood-Burning Moon racial? Does the story suggest that sexual desire or love is more fundamental to human actions than racial differences and racial antagonism?

10. What effect do the short poems that conclude each section have on the story as a whole?

11. How are Bob Stone and Tom Burwell alike? How are they fundamentally different?

12. Is Louisa a fully realized character? Does she function primarily as an individual or as a catalyst to bring Tom and Bob together?

Zora Neale Hurston: "The Gilded Six-Bits"

1. How does Hurston symbolize various stages in Missy May's life and her relationship with Joe. (Consider "gilded" vs. "gold" images, other symbols.)

2. How can this be approached as a different sort of maturation story?

3. How important is setting in this story? In what ways is that setting established? What use does the story make of dialect?

4. What is the effect on the reader of the description of the neat house and yard in the first three paragraphs of the story? Is that effect sustained or reinforced throughout the story?

5. What is accomplished by the use of an educated narrator of Hurston’s story?

6. Does the educated narrator provide a framework that helps to detach the reader from the characters in the story?

7. Hurston maintains a stylistic contrast between the standard English of the narrator and the dialect of the characters. To what extent is this contrast essential to the story?

8. Why is the “voice” of the narrator less necessary at the end of the story?

9. The narrator is omniscient but presents few of the thoughts of the characters. Why is that? Is the narrator reliable?

10. Does the omniscient narrator offer a perspective on the characters that they themselves lack and that an unassisted reader is unlikely to perceive?

11. Comment on the descriptive functions of the dialect. Comment on Hurston’s use of metaphors and similes in the African American dialect she presents:
a. “Turn it go, Joe”
b. “A real wife, not no dress and breath”
c. “puzzlegut,” “chuckle-headed,” “a pone behind his neck”
d. “You womens sho is hard to sense into things”
e. “making little feet for shoes”
f. “her ma used tuh fan her foot round.”

12. Does “God took pattern after pine tree and built you noble” ring true, or does it sound contrived?

13 . If the problem of adultery is not the main theme of The Gilded Six Bits, what is? Or does the story lack an identifiable, well-developed central idea or theme?

14. To the reader “Mr. Otis D. Slemmons, of spots and places—Memphis, Chicago, Jacksonville, Philadelphia and so on” is an obvious fraud. Why do the two main characters fail to see what the reader so quickly sees?

15. What besides Slemmons’ jargon, his bragging, and his appearance, suggests that he is a fraud?

16. Missie May’s assertion that she dislikes Slemmons, when she first discusses him, seems genuine. Why is that?

17. Slemmons is described as being a “heavy-set man wid his mouth full of gold teethes” and having “a pone [roll of fat] behind his neck.” Is his appeal to Missie May—even with his promises of money and his persistence—convincing?

18. Is Missie May’s explanation that she fell because “he said he was gointer give me dat gold money and he jes’ kept on after me” convincing?

19. What is suggested by the elaborate game, centered on money, that Joe and Missie May play? For what does it prepare the reader?

20. Does anything in the story suggest that Missie May’s character changes? Does Joe’s character change?

21. Is Joe’s response, when he discovers Missie May’s adultery with Slemmons, consistent with his character?

22. What might be Hurston’s response to the criticism that her stories lack adequate plots and adequate character development?

23. Identify key similarities and differences between this story and Toomer’s.

American Literature AJ484 Seminar Paper Information

2010-04-28T03:44:00.000-07:00

FON American Literature Seminar Paper Guidelines forAJ484 Students
Gerald Siegel, Ph.D. (Visiting Professor, Spring 2010)

I have been asked by several students, both those in my classes and those whom I’ve never seen before, to serve as a reader for their “seminar papers” topics that relate to American Literature. I will certainly consider doing this for qualified students during my stay at FON as a visiting professor. There are some guidelines for this. These remarks pertain specifically to seminar papers and only partly to the critical essay project for the second half of the semester. See the separate instructions for that assignment if you’re doing that assignment instead.

An obvious guideline. I leave and return to York College at the end of the semester, and I expect to be quite busy for various reasons during the month before I leave. So any requests, especially those by students from previous semesters and previously resident professors, must be made by the last day of classes in May, or I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to read your paper. It’s best to start work at least a month in advance, so that I can review your proposal and research question, look at your preliminary bibliography, and comment about rough drafts.

My expectations for an acceptable paper: a research-supported study of a literary topic in American Literature using a primary source (and primary and secondary analysis). The topic should be focused and based upon a clear research question. The discussion questions I provide in my classes can often be a starting point for research topics. In most cases, the primary sources plus 2 or three reputable secondary sources used correctly will suffice, although you may go beyond this. You’re demonstrating your ability to use research to support a critical analysis—and, of course, your ability to write in English.

It will normally be 5-10 pages long, but I’m more concerned about quality and original work than I am about specific length. You’ll find information about writing techniques and research practices at my web site at jerrysiegel.net, where I’ve also posted an extensive list of free online research and reference sources, most of at least minimal quality and some quite good. I am also providing some instruction on writing literary papers and avoiding plagiarism during my American Literature classes and will distribute a small booklet on the subject at those sessions.

I expect papers to be printed out in 11 or 12 point type, double spaced, or submitted to me electronically (after I have agreed to read them) in the same format, as MSWord files. Please use security software on your computer so that you send me virus-free files.

Because these papers are being done in English and on American Literature topics, I expect you to follow American research ethics and practices, including complete, correct documentation for borrowed information (using MLA or APA format) and use of quotation marks to identify any words taken from any source. If the ideas or the words aren’t yours credit them. Be especially careful to follow these practices if you are not my student and have not had me explain these practices to you. Perhaps you have not had to follow them during your academic career so far. If you want me to read your paper, you do now. Mainly, I’ll look for an honest attempt to follow those practices. They can be complicated, and small errors that don’t affect a paper’s meaning aren’t a significant concern for me. The most important documentation responsibility is giving credit where it’s due; clearly identify the words and ideas of others and you’ve done the most important part of documentation.

I take plagiarism and academic dishonesty very seriously. Please be sure any work you give me is original and uses correct documentation practices. I have written a short booklet explaining research writing and documentation. If you don’t already have a copy and need guidance in these skills, send me an e-mail at drgeraldsiegelahoo.com and I’ll be happy to send you a copy of the file. Don’t insult me and embarrass yourself by turning in a paper that you have purchased from a print shop, another student, or an internet source. Don’t waste my time and yours by turning in as original work and your own words blocks of material entirely or mainly cut and pasted from internet resources or term paper mills and printed out under your name. As Lunsford observes, “deliberate plagiarism . . . is particularly troubling because it represents dishonesty and deception: those who intentionally plagiarize present the hard thinking and hard work of someone else as their own, and they claim knowledge they really don’t have, thus deceiving their readers.” (206) I do check for this, I’m pretty good at spotting it, and it’s easy to find with some internet searching.

Apart from academic integrity issues, student research can be interesting to read; student critical writing can open up and support new insights that may differ from those in traditional scholarship. Student writers who do honest research work hard and learn from the experience. They deserve the approbation and thoughtful responses of their colleagues, and I hope that those of you choosing to do American Literature seminar papers take time to share what you’ve learned with others in your classes.

You are free to develop your own research topics, although I must approve both your general subject area and your restricted topic, which I must have in writing or email by 2 May. You need my approval before going on. You’ll find a list of useful free online research sources at my web page, http://jerrysiegel.net . Be sure you don’t pick too big a topic, and don’t even think about using other people’s papers, whether bought, borrowed, or cut and pasted from websites and study guides. You could just develop a workable topic from some of my study guide questions. I’m also listing a few possibilities below. These are just preliminary ideas.

Develop a seminar paper topic from any of our guide questions.
Discuss Bradstreet’s incorporation into her poetry of the imagery of her everyday life.
How does Franklin’s Autobiography demonstrate his importance as an international figure?
How does the America shown in Sarah Kemble Knight's The Journal of Madame Knight reveal the culture of her day?
What were the sources and applications of Washington Irving's use of myth and legend in 2 specific works?
How did Puritanism have specific impacts upon two or more specific Hawthorne short stories?
Compare Hawthorne’s “The Maypole of Merry Mount” with Thomas Morton’s account of these events.
Explain Poe’s critical theories an explained in any two works besides “The Philosophy of Composition.”
Explain Poe's views of the theory and practice of fiction as expressed in two works of his own critical writing?
What relationships between individual and society does Melville present in Benito Cereno?
How does Melville use history in Billy Budd?
In what ways did Walden or Civil Disobedience function as social criticism?
How did Whitman change and develop Leaves of Grass over its various editions?
Discuss the notion that Whitman’s poetry is not devoid of any structure or shape, supporting your answer by specific references to two or more poems of at least 20 lines each.
An overview of Some Contemporary (19th century) Responses to The Awakening
What varying interpretations exist for the character of Mrs. Mallard in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”?
Is Frost’s work that of a cheerful New England poet who creates pleasant regional images, a poet who creates a troubling, frightening world bordered by anxiety, anguish, doubts, and darkness, or both? (Discuss at least two poems.)
Discuss the attitudes toward religion expressed in Stevens’ “Sunday Morning”
Discuss Hughes’ use of rhyme, rhythm, meter, and musical elements in at least three poems.
Discuss conflict in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” “That Evening Sun” or “The Bear.”
Discuss Faulkner’s use of innovative and specialized narrative methods in “Barn Burning.”
Characteristics and origins of Imagism
Faulkner's Use of Yoknapatawpha in two Stories
To what extent do the concepts of honor and tradition influence the action in “A Rose for Emily”?
Compare and contrast Faulkner’s characterizations (especially how he builds sympathy for the characters) of Emily in “A Rose for Emily” and Abner Snopes in “Barn Burning.”
Discuss the attitudes toward honor and patriotism implicit within “Soldier’s Home.”
Examine how a specific work uses, changes, and fictionalizes history of some sort.
Examine how an extended poetic work demonstrates the unique characteristics of the poet.
Develop comparisons and contrasts between two works of fiction that deal with similar themes.

Some vary narrowed topic drawn from one of these subject areas might also work.
Relate multiple works by an author to specific biographical backgrounds. (Many possible topics)
Feminism in American Literature (various aspects)
Literary Responses to War
The Harlem Renaissance (an aspect not covered in class)
A study of one of the following as regional or local color fiction:
• Jewett, “The Revolt of Mother”;
• Chesnutt, “The Sheriff’s Children”;
• Paul Dunbar, “The Lynching of Jube Benson;
• Alice Dunbar-Nelson, “The Goodness of St. Rocque”;
• Zona Gale, “Nobody Rich, Nobody Poor,”
• Bret Harte, “The Luck of Roaring Camp,”
A study of one of the following as naturalist fiction:
• Sinclair, The Jungle;
• London, The Call of the Wild;
• Crane: Maggie, A Girl of the Streets;
• Dreiser, Sister Carrie;
• Norris, McTeague;
• Garland, “Under the Lion’s Paw”

Hughes Guide Questions

2010-04-26T11:38:00.001-07:00

FON American Literature Langston Hughes Guide Questions

1. Discuss the connections between the narrator and his ancestors in The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

2. Comment on Hughes choice of free verse for this poem.

3. What is the connection between rivers that The Negro Speaks of Rivers implies?

4. In The Negro Speaks of Rivers, what is the poetic effect of the repetition of “I,” “I’ve known,” “My soul has grown deep like the rivers”? Does it produce greater emphasis, greater musicality? Does it become tedious?

5. What do you think is the political stance of the speaker in Un-American Investigators?

6. What is the historical background of the poem Un-American Investigators? Learn what you can about the U.S. House of Representatives’ Special Committee on Un-American Activities. How is this background information relevant to an understanding of this poem?

7. How does the speaker characterize the investigators in this poem? How does he use imagery and other techniques to achieve that characterization?

8. In Cross, what do you think has caused the speaker to retract his or her hard feelings about his or her parents?

9. Discuss possible meanings of the title of Cross.

10. Why do you think the speaker regrets having “cursed” his or her father and mother? Is it possible to determine if the speaker is male or female? Why or why not?

11. What informs the speaker’s attitude toward life?

12. Explain the allusion made in the first line of each stanza of Song for a Dark Girl. How is the allusion ironic?

13. What is “the use of prayers” in this poem? Is the question answered? What leads to your conclusion?

14. Discuss the relationship between love and hatred in this poem.

Cullen Guide Questions

2010-04-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

FON American Literature Countee Cullen Guide Questions

1. Discuss the themes of exile and Africa and the image of the sun in Cullen’s poetry.

2. Comment on Cullen’s use of irony and tone in For a Lady I Know.

3. What is the psychological effect that Cullen is trying to achieve in "Incident"? What is the effect of the poem's title and the poem's content? Why does Cullen call the eight-year-old a "Baltimorean"? What is the source of racism as shown here? Is it more powerful for being less definite?

4. In Incident, what distinctions can you find between the feelings of the narrator and those of the author?

5. What traditional form does Cullen use in From the Dark Tower, and what, if anything, does he accomplish by using this structure?

6. How is color imagery employed in the poem?

7. Comment on the presence of the image pattern of water and fire (coolness and heat) in the ending of Heritage.

8. Characterize the speaker of Heritage. What problems and conflicts is this speaker depicted as encountering?

9. Explain the use of meter, especially the handling of trochaic tetrameter and pentameter.

10. Discuss the religious attitudes evident in Cullen’s poetry, particularly in Heritage.

11. Does Cullen’s poetry create “representative” black people? What representative dilemmas, ideas, and aspirations are prominent in his poems?

12. Critic Arthur Davis has observed that Cullen often “states or implies that the Negro in America is a perpetual alien, an exile from a beautiful sun-drenched Africa, his lost homeland.” In which poems can you detect these themes?

13. Discuss Cullen’s use of color imagery, irony, meter, and traditional forms in his poetry. In particular, how does he employ traditional devices in various poems? Which poems do you think make the best use of these devices, and why?

Schedule--Second Half of Semester

2010-04-23T02:01:00.000-07:00

FON American Literature Second Half Schedule

Except for “Trifles” and some of the writing materials, all of these selections should be in the course pack, although they may be in different sections of that pack. Let me know in advance if you find some materials have been accidentally omitted and I will make alternate arrangements to get them for you.

The page numbers here refer to McMichael, 9/ed., vol 2. +Many of the readings can also be found in the 1985 concise edition. Others are in the supplementary materials in the course pack. #These works can also be accessed online through Project Gutenberg, Wikisources, or the e-collections of the University of Adelaide and the Online Library.”Trifles” is on the web site. This schedule is tentative, subject to changes in the university events calendar. *Some may be deleted in the final listing.

On the following schedule, sessions marked JS are being conducted mainly by Dr. Jerry Siegel and those marked ES are being conducted by Ms. Elida Bahtijaroska. This schedule is subject to change; it will be incorporated within the next few weeks into a revised syllabus version which you will find at jerrysiegel.net. JS

Skopje
Because each meeting with me is scheduled for two class periods, notice that up to two topics are listed for each of those sessions. JS

7. Week of 19-23 April
Writing about literature and literary research; discussion of course writing tasks. Modern American Drama: Glaspell: Trifles (available online). JS

New Directions in Poetry. cummings, 1334: In just-, 1335; Buffalo Bill's defunct,1336; r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, 1339; anyone lived in a pretty how town, 1339; *l(a), 1341. EB

8. Week of 26-30 April
Continue Glaspell: Trifles (available online). Stevens, 1381: *Peter Quince at the Clavier; Anecdote of the Jar, 1390; Idea of Order at Key West, 1391 JS

W. C. Williams, 1395: Spring and All, 1401; The Red Wheelbarrow, 1404; This is Just to Say, 1406. EB

9. Week of 3-7 May
Continue Stevens. Harlem Renaissance. Cullen, 1445: For a Lady I Know, 1446; Incident, 1447; *From the Dark Tower, 1447; +Heritage, 1289. New Directions in Fiction. Toomer, 1452: +Blood-Burning Moon, 1453. JS

+Langston Hughes: The Negro Speaks of Rivers; Harlem; Un-American Investigators; Cross; Song for a Dark Girl. EB

10. Week of 10-14 May
New Directions in Fiction. Hurston, 1462: +The Gilded Six-Bits, 1467. Faulkner, 1529: That Evening Sun, 1530 +1760. *+A Rose For Emily +1771. Critical essay #2 due (This date could also change. This could be a version of your seminar paper; it would also count as the second half project.) Possible review session. JS

Fitzgerald, 1481: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 1483. #+The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. EB

11. Week of 17-21 May (These sessions will probably be rescheduled.)

Hemingway, 1515: *Big Two-Hearted River, 1516. +Soldier’s Home. EB

Struga
Because each meeting with me is scheduled for four class periods, notice that up to four topics are listed for each of those sessions. JS

7. Week of 19-23 April

New Directions in Poetry. cummings, 1334: In just-, 1335; *Buffalo Bill's defunct,1336; r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, 1339; *anyone lived in a pretty how town, 1339; *l(a), 1341. EB

8. Week of 26-30 April

Writing about literature and literary research; discussion of course writing tasks. Modern American Drama: Glaspell: Trifles (available online). Stevens, 1381: *Peter Quince at the Clavier, 1382; Anecdote of the Jar, 1390; Idea of Order at Key West, 1391. Harlem Renaissance. Cullen, 1445: For a Lady I Know, 1446; Incident, 1447; From the Dark Tower, 1447; +Heritage, 1289. JS

W. C. Williams, 1395: Spring and All, 1401; The Red Wheelbarrow, 1404; This is Just to Say, 1406. EB

9. Week of 3-7 May

+Langston Hughes: The Negro Speaks of Rivers; Harlem; Un-American Investigators; Cross; Song for a Dark Girl. EB

10. Week of 10-14 May

Conclude Stevens and Cullen. New Directions in Fiction. Toomer, 1452: +Blood-Burning Moon, 1453. Hurston, 1462: +The Gilded Six-Bits, 1467. Faulkner, 1529: That Evening Sun, 1530 +1760. *+A Rose For Emily +1771. Possible review session. JS

Fitzgerald, 1481: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 1483. #+The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. EB

11. Week of 17-21 May

Hemingway, 1515: *Big Two-Hearted River, 1516. +Soldier’s Home. Possible Review session. EB.

Last updated 3 May 2010

Williams Guide Questions

2010-04-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

American Literature Williams Guide Questions

1. Williams felt that American speech was distinct from English: how does his poetry idioms, syntax, and punctuation to suggest these unique qualities? To what extent does he capture the rhythms of American speech?

2. What is the main image used in “Spring and All”? How is the poem developed through contrasts? What stylistic devices does Williams use to create a feeling of nervous excitement? (Notice, for example, his use of word connotations and his delay of the main verb until line 15; consider connotation, rhythm, the relation of syntax to verse line)

3. What is the principal image of “Spring and All”? Spring? Its emergence? Nature ruined by urban industrialism?

4. What is the relevance of the first line of “Spring and All”?

5. What are the strengths and/or limitations you find in “The Red Wheelbarrow” as imagist poetry? Can only the poet really know what mental associations are involved--how much “depends,” or can the poem be appreciated as a way to appreciate the beauty and significance of ordinary objects—or do you think the value of the poem lies elsewhere?

6. Is it likely that the majority of those who read “The Red Wheelbarrow” would regard it as a successful poem, or not? Why?

7. Notice the rhythms of the lines. “The Red Wheelbarrow” is largely iambic. But the final word in each of the last three stanzas is trochaic: "barrow," "water," and "chickens." What is the effect of the shift in stress patterns?

8. To what extent can “This is Just to Say” be considered an effective example of imagist poetry?

9. William Carlos Williams explained his most famous dictum, "No ideas but in things," as follows: “The poet does not ... permit himself to go beyond the thought to be discovered in the context of that with which he is dealing.... Not to talk in vague categories, but to write particularly, as a physician works, upon a patient, upon the thing before him, in the particular to discover the universal.” It has been said that, “One of the qualities which keeps Williams from pessimism is his faith in the sensual, the earthy, the real. He is firm in his conviction that everything in existence is good in its own right, even a plum, stolen in an early-morning icebox raid, becomes a statement on the sweetness of life.” To what extent do you find this philosophical position illustrated in “This is Just to Say”?

Stevens Guide Questions

2010-04-23T01:52:00.000-07:00

Wallace Stevens Guide Questions

1. Identify or explain the following references and terms used in the Stevens poems: a. Peter Quince b. clavier c. anecdote d. slovenly e. Key West f. artificer

2. How does Stevens develop parallels between music, sensuality, and beauty in “Peter Quince at the Clavier”? How does he use musical effects within the poem?

3. How does he link different art forms in this poem?

4. What does the poem say about permanence and art?

5. How is the jar in “Anecdote of the Jar” different from its surroundings? What effect does the jar’s placement have upon the “slovenly wilderness”?

6. Stevens’ poem begins and ends with its setting, Tennessee. Discuss why Stevens might have chosen this place.

7. What relationships does “The Anecdote of the Jar” suggest exist between art and nature? Consider, for example, what happens to the landscape in the poem after the jar is placed on the hill.

8. In what sense might this poem be regarded as an anecdote about the power and limitations of art and nature?

9. What does the poem say about the importance of establishing a point of view for the imagination to take toward reality?

10. Describe the aesthetic concepts developed in “The Idea of Order at Key West.” What relationship does Stevens suggest exists between a natural setting and the uses made of that setting by made “objects” of various sorts? What effect does the singer have upon the seaside setting?

11. “The Idea of Order at Key West” contains two poems or singers: the woman who sings and the poem's speaker. Analyze the relationship that exists between the two of them.

12. The poets in this unit all also worked in other fields besides poetry. What were those fields, and how, if at all, do you think their poetry was influenced by their other areas of interest?

cummings Guide Questions

2010-04-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

FON American Literature: e. e. cummings Guide Questions

1. How does cummings’ use of typography and the poem as an object affect his poetry? How do word choice, syntax, and line construction play a major role in his poems? Consider a variety of poems in your response.

2. What is the effect of e e cummings’ rejection of traditional capitalization and punctuation rules in his poems? (Take note of words which are capitalized.)

3. Would the poetic devices of “in Just-“ still have their effect if the words of the poem were set in conventional stanzas of, for example, five lines each?

4. Discuss how the success of the poem “in Just-,” its transmission of feeling, is aided by various poetic devices, such as:
a. the tactile and visual effects of “mud-luscious” and “puddle-wonderful”
b. the aural effects of “far and wee”
c. the effect of motion created by running names together and varying spacing, as in the “whistles far and wee” line
d. the symbolic implications of “goat-footed”
e. the ambiguity of the phrase “in Just- / spring.”

5. Is “Buffalo Bill’s defunct” a pronouncement that even frontier heroes have to die? Is Bill merely a comic circus faker in his old age?

6. In “Buffalo Bill’s defunct,” how is “defunct” different from “dead”?

7. What is gained in “Buffalo Bill’s defunct” by running numbers together? And why “blueeyed” boy? The typographical placement of “Jesus” allows it to refer to the lines that both precede and follow it. What is gained by that?

8. What words are included in the poem “l(a)”? If you wrote it out on one line, what would it say? How does the arrangement of lines contribute to the theme?

9. How much does interest in poems like “r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r” and “1(a” depend upon just trying to decipher the poems? Once deciphered, do they lose their ability to maintain reader interest?

10. What kind of story is narrated in “anyone lived in a pretty how town”? Who are the main characters? How can “anyone lived in a pretty how town” be read as a poem of ideal lovers. Do lines 9 and 10 suggest that it is a poem on the tragedy of growing up

11. cummings sometimes used one part of speech in a sentence position where "normal" grammatical structure requires another part of speech. For example, in “anyone lived in a pretty how town,” the adverb “how” is used between an adjective and noun, where adverbs never occur in ordinary usage, and the verbs “didn’t” and “did” are used like nouns, as the objects of “sang” and “danced.” Also, indefinite pronouns (“anyone,” “someone”) are used in contexts in which they normally would not make sense.

12. Find other examples of this type of “ungrammaticality” in this and other poems. What are the effects of violating grammatical rules in this way?

13. How do sound and sense match up in “anyone lived in a pretty how town”?

14. Comment on the matching of sound to sense—the rising and falling of the bells in line 2.

15.Discuss the critical judgment that Cummings’s poetry is merely a sentimental barrage, a shuffling of “monotonous vague counters: ‘death,’ ‘flower,’ ‘rain,’ ‘spring,’ and others.”

16. What relationships between cummings’ poetry and his other efforts in the arts can help us understand his poetry?

Trifles Guide Questions

2010-04-07T03:28:00.000-07:00

Glaspell: Trifles Guide Questions

1. As Lewis Hale's narrative suggests, the murder of John Wright triggers all of the remaining action of the play. If Wright's death is so central to the story, why doesn't Glaspell open the play with a scene depicting his murder or one depicting Hale's discovery of the body?

2. Why do the women go to so much trouble to hide the evidence from the county attorney? What explains Mrs. Peters' sudden change of allegiance?

3. If Trifles is about the deep social and emotional conflict between men and women, is there a winner at the end of the play? If so, who is it? If not, what message does that convey?

4. How does Glaspell establish the division between the men’s view of things and the women’s view? What is the difference between the two?

5. Note that two of the three men have official titles (Sheriff and County Attorney). Is this a commentary here on the ways in which social roles inhibit the exercise of individual sensibility and conscience? What do the official titles, as opposed to the women’s titles—“Mrs.”—suggest about power relations between the sexes.

6. What is the significance of the play’s title?

7. The play contains a number of unusual terms. What is meant by the following? a, party telephone b. roller towels c. red up d. pleating e. cupboard f. Ladies Aid g. tippet h. close (describing Wright)

8. What is the significance of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale moving “a little closer together” when the men speak critically of Minnie Wright?

9. Compare the positions of the men and women at the beginning and end of the play. How are their relative positions of dramatic significance?

10. What is the thematic and symbolic significance of the dead bird? Why is it significant that the bird is a canary?

11. What does the play suggest about the relation between laws and justice? Is the choice that Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale make the right choice?

12. Why does the county attorney prefer to discuss the details of evidence upstairs and out of hearing of the women (and the audience)? What significance is there in Glaspell's physical placement of the men's and women's actions?

13. Trifles was written and produced at the height of the women suffrage movement, just a couple of years before women won the right to vote in 1920. Women at the time also could not serve on juries in all but four states, an inequity emphasized by the ironic title of the short-story version of this play, "A Jury of Her Peers." Can you find other examples in the play where the men and the women read evidence differently. Whose interpretations are more nuanced and thoughtful? What argument(s) about male and female judgment and decision-making abilities does Glaspell seem to be making?

Writing Process Overview

2010-04-07T02:48:00.000-07:00

Writing Process Overview

Approaching writing as a process can avoid many of these problems, and many introductory writing courses have taken such an approach to writing. In them, students invent, organize, and write over an extended period, moving back and forth through different stages of the process. Eventually, after a series of revisions, a final draft emerges. While this approach to writing may take time, certain elements can work for writers in business, education, human services, literary studies, and many other professions.

The notion of writing as process can work for many writing contexts. Although these comments are intended for use with the English language and American and Western European cultures, the principles can be applied for written tasks in other languages as well.

Much workplace and academic writing involves completing some sort of communication transaction, often within a limited time span. The job to be completed may be routine—interpreting a literary text, examining the impact of a writer’s life with that writer’s fiction, completing a pre-sentencing investigation, bidding for a contract, describing the diagnoses of patients in a hospital, answering a customer inquiry about an order. Often, even if the specific situation isn't one you've encountered before, simple literary analysis , using information gained in class and lectures, or on-the-job experience will provide all the necessary background.

Evidence suggests that, faced with the realities of such academic or workplace communication, effective writers move through a linear sequence rather than through the series of communication "loops" often associated with the writing process. But these writers do go through a clear writing process, and they characteristically spend more time on the other stages of that writing process than they spend generating the actual draft that others will see.

Most writers may go through the same operations. But the successful ones control that sequence. As a result, written communication becomes less threatening, and the messages produced do the job the first time. Awareness of what happens during the process of writing can help lead to that control.

The PASS System for Writing

The characteristic stages of writing involve four major activities:
Preparing to convey information
Arranging your ideas so that a reader can follow them
Saying what you wish in conventional written prose
Shaping that prose for clarity, correctness, and effect

The acronym PASS provides a convenient reminder of these stages of the writing process (described in table 1). Remembering the four stages and consciously working with each separately can make writing easier and more productive than trying to generate a completed written product in a single (often overwhelming) operation.

TABLE 1: STAGES OF THE PASS SYSTEM

PREPARING
Think through situation read texts carefully
Respond/react to message received or the writing task; read texts carefully
Review previous similar situations on file
Decide upon purpose/goals
Decide on persona/audience
Assess difficulty of communication situation
Match preparation to time available
Use formal invention strategies
Decide if you need to do research; if necessary, do that research (primary/secondary)

ARRANGING
Sequence
Consider familiar strategies (including files)
Group/cluster ideas
Organize from lists; try informal strategies like numbering the order of the ideas in the lists
Develop trees, grids, organizing diagrams, etc.
Outline
Develop subtopics, support
Select/delete the information you’ll use.

SAYING
Produce drafts
Refine/revise drafts
Add/delete material
Check content against goals
Develop graphics, documentation

SHAPING
Revise paragraphs
Revise sentences
Revise for appropriate style
Revise for appropriate tone
Revise for suitable diction and syntax
Edit for correctness, grammar, mechanics, and usage, and correct translation aspects
Edit for conciseness
Proofread
Adopt appropriate formats
Meet any special requirements (e.g., seminar paper policies and research practices)

Movement back and forth between the different stages--especially adjacent ones--characterizes much writing. Still, evidence suggests that writers in business and the professions tend to complete one stage at a time. If a piece of writing involves several sections, of course, each section can go through the stages of the process separately. During the final shaping, the entire message or report emerges. At this point, various features of word processing programs (such as the red and green underlines of Microsoft Word) can alert you to possible problems.

Each stage also involves a variety of specific operations. A controlled composing process includes using these operations in any number of sequences within a given stage of the writing process. Different people use different operations within each stage. As you become a more confident writer, you may decide to modify the approaches suggested in table 1 to reflect your own writing habits. If you encounter a problem as you go through the writing process, very often you can move back to the previous stage and find a step that will solve the problem without your having to rewrite the entire document.

Since the specific concerns are smaller with a process approach, writing becomes less formidable. Separating invention and thinking about the writing task, then organizing those ideas, next writing a draft, and then finally revising the draft and doing needed proofreading allows you to control the writing process. In some cases, you may find that adding headings can clarify organization or that analysis and careful reading may make research unnecessary. For all but the simplest tasks, approaching writing as a process can save needless work and generate a document—the product of this process—that does its job effectively.

Robert Frost Poems

2010-03-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Robert Frost Poems

Birches (Robert Frost)

WHEN I see birches bend to left and right
Across the line of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.
Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them 5
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells 10
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed 15
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun. 20
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm
(Now am I free to be poetical?)
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows— 25
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father's trees
By riding them down over and over again 30
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away 35
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, 40
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.

So was I once myself a swinger of birches;
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood 45
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over. 50
May no fate wilfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree, 55
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. 60

The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20

Trifles (Susan Glaspell)

2010-03-14T03:16:00.000-07:00

"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell (1916)
Scene: The kitchen in the now abandoned farmhouse of John Wright, a gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order--unwashed pans under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the breadbox, a dish towel on the table--other signs of incompleted work. At the rear the outer door opens,and the Sheriff comes in, followed by the county Attorney and Hale. The Sheriff and Hale are men in middle life, the county Attorney is a young man; all are much bundled up and go at once to the stove. They are followed by the two women--the Sheriff's Wife first; she is a slight wiry woman, a thin nervous face. Mrs. Hale is larger and would ordinarily be called more comfortable looking, but she is disturbed now and looks fearfully about as she enters. The women have come in slowly and stand close together near the door.
COUNTY ATTORNEY (rubbing his hands). This feels good. Come up to the fire, ladies.
MRS. PETERS (after taking a step forward). I'm not--cold.
SHERIFF (unbuttoning his overcoat and stepping away from the stove as if to the beginning of official business). Now, Mr. Hale, before we move things about, you explain to Mr. Henderson just what you saw when you came here yesterday morning.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. By the way, has anything been moved? Are things just as you left them yesterday?
SHERIFF (looking about). It's just the same. When it dropped below zer0 last night, I thought I'd better send Frank out this morning to make a fire for us--no use getting pneumonia with a big case on; but I told him not to touch anything except the stove--and you know Frank.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Somebody should have been left here yesterday.
SHERIFF. Oh--yesterday. When I had to send Frank to Morris Center for that man who went crazy--I want you to know I had my hands full yesterday. I knew you could get back from Omaha by today, and as long as I went over everything here myself-
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Well, Mr. Hale, tell just what happened when you came here yesterday morning.
HALE. Harry and I had started to town with a load of potatoes. We came along the road from my place; and as I got here, I said, "I'm going to see if I can't get John Wright to go in with me on a party telephone." I spoke to Wright about it once before, and he put me off, saying folks talked too much anyway, and all he asked was peace and quiet--I guess you know about how much he talked himself; but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didn't know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John--
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Let's talk about that later, Mr. Hale. I do want to talk about that, but tell now just what happened when you got to the house.
HALE. I didn't hear or see anything; I knocked at the door, and still it was all quiet inside. I knew they must be up, it was past eight o'clock. so I knocked again, and I thought I heard somebody say, "Come in." I wasn't sure, I'm not sure yet, but I opened the door--this door (indicating the door by which the two women are still standing), and there in that rocker-- (pointing to it) sat Mrs. Wright. (They all look at the rocker.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY. What--was she doing?
HALE. She was rockin' back and forth. She had her apron in her hand and was kind of--pleating it.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. And how did she--look?
HALE. Well, she looked queer.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. How do you mean--queer?
HALE. Well, as if she didn't know what she was going to do next. And kind of done up.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. How did she seem to feel about your coming?
HALE. Why, I don't think she minded--one way or other. She didn't pay much attention. I said, "How do, Mrs. Wright, it's cold, ain't it?" And she said, "Is it?"--and went on kind of pleating at her apron. Well, I was surprised; she didn't ask me to come up to the stove, or to set down, but just sat there, not even looking at me, so I said, "I want to see John." And then she--laughed. I guess you would call it a laugh. I thought of Harry and the team outside, so I said a little sharp:"Can't I see John?" "No," she says, kind o' dull like. "Ain't he home?" says I. "Yes," says she, "he's home." "Then why can't I see him?" I asked her, out of patience. "'Cause he's dead," says she. "Dead?" says I. She just nodded her head, not getting a bit excited, but rockin' back and forth. "Why--where is he?" says I, not knowing what to say. She just pointed upstairs--like that (himself pointing to the room above). I got up, with the idea of going up there. I talked from there to here--then I says, "Why, what did he die of?" "He died of a rope around his neck," says she, and just went on pleatin' at her apron. Well, I went out and called Harry. I thought I might--need help. We went upstairs, and there he was lying'--
COUNTY ATTORNEY. I think I'd rather have you go into that upstairs, where you can point in all out. Just go on now with the rest of the story.
HALE. Well, my first thought was to get that rope off. I looked...(Stops, his face twitches.)...but Harry, he went up to him, and he said, "No, he's dead all right, and we'd better not touch anything." So we went back downstairs. She was still sitting that same way. "Has anybody been notified?" I asked." "No," says she, unconcerned. "Who did this, Mrs. Wright?" said Harry. He said it business-like--and she stopped pleatin' of her apron. "I don't know," she says. "You don't know?" says Harry. "No," says she, "Weren't you sleepin' in the bed with him?" says Harry. "Yes," says she, "but I was on the inside." "Somebody slipped a rope round his neck and strangled him, and you didn't wake up?" says Harry. "I didn't wake up," she said after him. We must 'a looked as if we didn't see how that could be, for after a minute she said, "I sleep sound." Harry was going to ask her more questions, but I said maybe we ought to let her tell her story first to the coroner, or the sheriff, so Harry went fast as he could to Rivers' place, where there's a telephone.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. And what did Mrs. Wright do when she knew that you had gone for the coroner.
HALE. she moved from that chair to this over here... (Pointing to a small chair in the corner)...and just sat there with her hand held together and looking down. I got a feeling that I ought to make some conversation, so I said I had come in to see if John wanted to put in a telephone, and at that she started to laugh, and then she stopped and looked at me--scared.
(The County Attorney, who has had his notebook out, makes a note.) I dunno, maybe it wasn't scared. I wouldn't like to say it was. Soon Harry got back, and then Dr. Lloyd came, and you, Mr. Peters, and so I guess that's all I know that you don't.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. (looking around). I guess we'll go upstairs first--and then out to the barn and around there. (To the Sheriff). You're convinced that there was nothing important here--nothing that would point to any motive?
SHERIFF. Nothing here but kitchen things.
(The County Attorney, after again looking around the kitchen, opens the door of a cupboard closet. He gets up on a chair and looks on a shelf. Pulls his hand away, sticky.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Here's a nice mess.
(The women draw nearer.)
MRS. PETERS (to the other woman). Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. (To the Lawyer). She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire'd go out and her jars would break.
SHERIFF. Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. I guess before we're through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about.
HALE. Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.
(The two women move a little closer together.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY (with the gallantry of a young politician). And yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? (The women do not unbend. He goes to the sink, takes dipperful of water form the pail and, pouring it into a basin, washes his hands. Starts to wipe them on the roller towel, turns it for a cleaner place.) Dirty towels! (Kicks his foot against the pans under the sink.) Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?
MRS. HALE (stiffly). There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. To be sure. And yet... (With a little bow to her.) ...I know there are some Dickson county farmhouses which do not have such roller towels. (He gives it a pull to expose its full length again.)
MRS. HALE. Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men's hands aren't always as clean as they might be.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Ah, loyal to your sex, I see. But you and Mrs. Wright were neighbors. I suppose you were friends, too.
MRS. HALE (shaking her head.) I've not seen much of her of late years. I've not been in this house--it's more than a year.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. And why was that? You didn't like her?
MRS. HALE. I liked her all well enough. Farmers' wives have their hands full, Mr. Henderson. And then--
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Yes--?
MRS. HALE (looking about.) It never seemed a very cheerful place.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. No--it's not cheerful. I shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct.
MRS. HALE. Well, I don't know as Wright had, either.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. You mean that they didn't get on very well?
MRS. HALE. No, I don't mean anything. But I don't think a place'd be any cheerfuller for John Wright's being in it.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. I'd like to talk more of that a little later. I want to get the lay of things upstairs now. (He goes to the left, where three steps lead to a stair door.)
SHERIFF. I suppose anything Mrs. Peters does'll be all right. She was to take in some clothes for her, you know, and a few little things. We left in such a hurry yesterday.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Yes, but I would like to see what you take, Mrs. Peters, and keep an eye out for anything that might be of use to us.
MRS. PETERS. Yes, Mr. Henderson.
(The women listen to the men's steps on the stairs, then look about the kitchen.)
MRS. HALE. I'd hate to have men coming into my kitchen, snooping around and criticizing. (She arranges the pans under sink which the Lawyer had shoved out of place.)
MRS. PETERS. Of course it's no more than their duty.
MRS. HALE. Duty's all right, but I guess that deputy sheriff that came out to make the fire might have got a little of this on. (Gives the roller towel a pull.) Wish I'd thought of that sooner. Seems mean to talk about her for not having things slicked up when she had to come away in such a hurry.
MRS. PETERS. (who has gone to a small table in the left rear corner of the room, and lifted on end of a towel that covers a pan). She had bread set. (Stands still.)
MRS. HALE (eyes fixed on a loaf of bread beside the breadbox, which is on a low shelf at the other side of the room. Moves slowly toward it.)she was going to put this in there. (Picks up loaf, then abruptly drops it. In a manner of returning to familiar things.) It's a shame about her fruit. I wonder if it's all gone. (Gets up on the chair and looks.) I think there's some here that's all right, Mrs. Peters. Yes--here; (Holding it toward the window.) This is cherries, too. (Looking again.) I declare I believe that's the only one. (Gets down, bottle in her hand. Goes to the sink and wipes it off on the outside.) She'll feel awful bad after all her hard work in the hot weather. I remember the afternoon I put up my cherries last summer.
(She puts the bottle on the big kitchen table, center of the room, front table. With a sigh, is about to sit down in the rocking chair. Before she is seated realizes what chair it is; with a slow look at it, steps back. The chair, which she has touched, rocks back and forth.)
MRS. PETERS. Well, I must get those things from the front room closet. [She goes to the door at the right, but after looking into the other room, steps back.] You coming with me, Mrs. Hale? You could help me carry them. (They go into the other room; reappear, Mrs. Peters carrying a dress and skirt, Mrs. Hale following with a pair of shoes.)
MRS. PETERS. My, it's cold in there. (She puts the cloth on the big table, and hurries to the stove.)
MRS HALE (examining the skirt). Wright was close. I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies' Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was MInnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that--oh, that was thirty years ago. This all you was to take?
MRS. PETERS. She said she wanted an apron. Funny thing to want, for there isn't much to get you dirty in jail, goodness knows. But I suppose just to make her feel more natural. She said they was in the top drawer in this cupboard. Yes, here. And then her little shawl that always hung behind the door. (Opens stair door and looks.) Yes, here it is. (Quickly shuts door leading upstairs..)
MRS. HALE (abruptly moving toward her.) Mrs. Peters?
MRS. PETERS. Do you think she did it?
MRS. PETERS (in a frightened voice.) Oh, I don't know.
MRS. HALE. Well, I don't think she did. Asking for an apron and her little shawl. Worrying about her fruit.
MRS. PETERS (starts to speak, glances up, where footsteps are heard in the room above. In a low voice.) Mrs. Peters says it looks bad for her. Mr. Henderson is awful sarcastic in speech, and he'll make fun of her sayin' she didn't wake up.
MRS. HALE. Well, I guess John Wright didn't wake when they was slipping that rope under his neck.
MRS. PETERS. No, it's strange. It must have been done awful crafty and still. They say it was such a --funny way to kill a man, rigging it all up like that.
MRS. HALE. That's just what Mr. Hale said. There was a gun in the house. He says that's what he can't understand.
MRS. PETERS. Mr. Henderson said coming out that what was needed for the case was a motive; something to show anger or--sudden feeling.
MRS. HALE (who is standing by the table). Well, I don't see any signs of anger around here. (she puts her hand on the dish towel which lies on the table, stands looking down at the table, one half of which is clean, the other half messy.) It's wiped here. (Makes a move as if to finish work, then turns and looks at loaf of bread outside the breadbox. Drops towel. In that voice of coming back to familiar things. ) Wonder how they are finding things upstairs? I hope she had it a little more there. You know, it seems kind of sneaking. Locking her up in town and then coming out here and trying to get her own house to turn against her!
MRS. PETERS. But, Mrs. Hale, the law is the law.
MRS. HALE. I s'pose 'tis. (Unbuttoning her coat.) Better loosen up your things, Mrs. Peters. You won't feel them when you go out. (Mrs. Peters takes off her fur tippet, goes to hang it on hook at the back of room, stands looking at the under part of the small corner table.)
MRS. PETERS. She was piecing a quilt. (She brings the large sewing basket, and they look at the bright pieces.)
MRS. HALE. It's log cabin pattern. Pretty, isn't it? I wonder if she was goin' to quilt or just knot it? (Footsteps have been heard coming down the stairs. The Sheriff enters, followed by Hale and the County Attorney.)
SHERIFF. They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it. (The men laugh, the women look abashed.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY (rubbing his hands over the stove). Frank's fire didn't do much up there, did it? Well, let's go out to the barn and get that cleared up. (The men go outside.)
MRS. HALE (resentfully). I don't know as there's anything so strange, our takin' up our time with little things while we're waiting for them to get the evidence. (She sits down at the big table, smoothing out a block with decision.) I don't see as it's anything to laugh about.
MRS. PETERS. (apologetically). Of course they've got awful important things on their minds. (Pulls up a chair and joins Mrs. Hale at the table.)
MRS. HALE (examining another block.) Mrs. Peters, look at this one. Here, this is the one she was working on, and look at the sewing! All the rest of it has been so nice and even. And look at this! It's all over the place! Why, it looks as if she didn't know what she was about! (After she has said this, they look at each other, then start to glance back at the door. After an instant Mrs. Hale has pulled at a knot and ripped the sewing.)
MRS. PETERS. Oh, what are you doing, Mrs. Hale?
MRS. HALE (mildly). Just pulling out a stitch or two that's not sewed very good. (Threading a needle). Bad sewing always made me fidgety.
MRS. PETERS. (nervously). I don't think we ought to touch things.
MRS. HALE. I'll just finish up this end. (Suddenly stopping and leaning forward.) Mrs. Peters?
MRS. PETERS. Yes, Mrs. Hale?
MRS. HALE. What do you suppose she was so nervous about?
MRS. PETERS. Oh--I don't know. I don't know as she was nervous. I sometimes sew awful queer when I'm just tired. (Mrs. Hale starts to say something looks at Mrs. Peters, then goes on sewing.) Well, I must get these things wrapped up. They may be through sooner than we think. (Putting apron and other things together.) I wonder where I can find a piece of paper, and string.
MRS. HALE. In that cupboard, maybe.
MRS. PETER. (looking in cupboard). Why, here's a birdcage. (Holds it up.) Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale?
MRS. HALE. Why, I don't know whether she did or not--I've not been here for so long. There was a man around last year selling canaries cheap, but I don't know as she took one; maybe she did. She used to sing real pretty herself.
MRS. PETERS. (glancing around). Seems funny to think of a bird here. But she must have had one, or why should she have a cage? I wonder what happened to it?
MRS. HALE. I s'pose maybe the cat got it.
MRS. PETERS. No, she didn't have a cat. She's got that feeling some people have about cats--being afraid of them. My cat got in her room, and she was real upset and asked me to take it out.
MRS. HALE. My sister Bessie was like that. Queer, ain't it?
MRS. PETERS. (examining the cage). Why, look at this door. It's broke. One hinge is pulled apart.
MRS. HALE. (looking, too.) Looks as if someone must have been rough with it.
MRS. PETERS. Why, yes. (she brings the cage forward and puts it on the table.)
MRS. HALE. I wish if they're going to find any evidence they'd be about it. I don't like this place.
MRS. PETERS. But I'm awful glad you came with me, Mrs. Hale. It would be lonesome of me sitting here alone.
MRS. HALE. It would, wouldn't it? (Dropping her sewing). But I tell you what I do wish, Mrs. Peters. I wish I had come over sometimes she was here. I-- (Looking around the room.)--wish I had.
MRS. PETERS. But of course you were awful busy, Mrs. Hale---your house and your children.
MRS. HALE. I could've come. I stayed away because it weren't cheerful--and that's why I ought to have come. I--I've never liked this place. Maybe because it's down in a hollow, and you don't see the road. I dunno what it is, but it's a lonesome place and always was. I wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes. I can see now--(Shakes her head.)
MRS. PETERS. Well, you mustn't reproach yourself, Mrs. Hale. Somehow we just don't see how it is with other folks until--something comes up.
MRS. HALE. Not having children makes less work--but it makes a quiet house, and Wright out to work all day, and no company when he did come in. Did you know John Wright, Mrs. Peters?
MRS. PETERS. Not to know him; I've seen him in town. They say he was a good man.
MRS. HALE. Yes--good; he didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him. (Shivers.) Like a raw wind that gets to the bone. (Pauses, her eye falling on the cage.) I should think she would 'a wanted a bird. But what do you suppose went with it?
MRS. PETERS. I don't know, unless it got sick and died. (She reaches over and swings the broken door, swings it again; both women watch it.)
MRS.> HALE. She--come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself--real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and--fluttery. How--she--did--change. (Silence; then as if struck by a happy thought and relieved to get back to everyday things.) Tell you what, Mrs. Peters, why don't you take the quilt in with you? It might take up her mind.
MRS. PETERS. Why, I think that's a real nice idea, Mrs. Hale. There couldn't possible be any objection to it, could there? Now, just what would I take? I wonder if her patches are in here--and her things. (They look in the sewing basket.)
MRS. HALE. Here's some red. I expect this has got sewing things in it (Brings out a fancy box.) What a pretty box. Looks like something somebody would give you. Maybe her scissors are in here. (Opens box. Suddenly puts her hand to her nose.) Why-- (Mrs. Peters bend nearer, then turns her face away.) There's something wrapped up in this piece of silk.
MRS. PETERS. Why, this isn't her scissors.
MRS. HALE (lifting the silk.) Oh, Mrs. Peters--it's-- (Mrs. Peters bend closer.)
MRS. PETERS. It's the bird.
MRS. HALE (jumping up.) But, Mrs. Peters--look at it. Its neck! Look at its neck! It's all--other side to.
MRS. PETERS. Somebody--wrung--its neck.
(Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension of horror. Steps are heard outside. Mrs. Hale slips box under quilt pieces, and sinks into her chair. Enter Sheriff and County Attorney. Mrs. Peters rises.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY (as one turning from serious thing to little pleasantries). Well, ladies, have you decided whether she was going to quilt it or knot it?
MRS. PETERS. We think she was going to--knot it.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Well, that's interesting, I'm sure. (Seeing the birdcage.) Has the bird flown?
MRS. HALE (putting more quilt pieces over the box.) We think the--cat got it.
COUNTY ATTORNEY (preoccupied). Is there a cat?
(Mrs. Hale glances in a quick covert way at Mrs. Peters.
) MRS. PETERS. Well, not now. They're superstitious, you know. They leave.
COUNTY ATTORNEY (to Sheriff Peters, continuing an interrupted conversation.) No sign at all of anyone having come from the outside. Their own rope. Now let's go up again and go over it piece by piece. (They start upstairs.) It would have to have been someone who knew just the--
(Mrs. Peters sits down. The two women sit there not looking at one another, but as if peering into something and at the same time holding back. When they talk now, it is the manner of feeling their way over strange ground, as if afraid of what they are saying, but as if they cannot help saying it.) MRS. HALE. She liked the bird. She was going to bury it in that pretty box.
MRS. PETERS. (in a whisper). When I was a girl--my kitten--there was a boy took a hatchet, and before my eyes--and before I could get there--(Covers her face an instant.) If they hadn't held me back, I would have-- (Catches herself, looks upstairs, where steps are heard, falters weakly.)--hurt him.
MRS. HALE (with a slow look around her.) I wonder how it would seem never to have had any children around. (Pause.) No, Wright wouldn't like the bird--a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too.
MRS. PETERS (moving uneasily). We don't know who killed the bird.
MRS. HALE. I knew John Wright.
MRS. PETERS. It was an awful thing was done in this house that night, Mrs. Hale. Killing a man while he slept, slipping a rope around his neck that choked the life out of him.
MRS. HALE. His neck, Choked the life out of him.
(Her hand goes out and rests on the birdcage.) MRS. PETERS (with a rising voice). We don't know who killed him. We don't know.
MRS. HALE (her own feeling not interrupted.) If there'd been years and years of nothing, then a bird to sing to you, it would be awful--still, after the bird was still.
MRS. PETERS (something within her speaking). I know what stillness is. When we homesteaded in Dakota, and my first baby died--after he was two years old, and me with no other then--
MRS. HALE (moving). How soon do you suppose they'll be through, looking for evidence?
MRS. PETERS. I know what stillness is. (Pulling herself back). The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale. MRS. HALE (not as if answering that). I wish you'd seen MInnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. (A look around the room). Oh, I wish I'd come over here once in a while! That was a crime! That was a crime! Who's going to punish that?
MRS. Peters (looking upstairs). We mustn't--take on.
MRS. HALE. I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be--for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things--it's all just a different kind of the same thing. (Brushes her eyes, noticing the bottle of fruit, reaches out for it.) If I was you, I wouldn't tell her her fruit was gone. Tell her it ain't. Tell her it's all right. Take this in to prove it to her. She--she may never know whether it was broke or not.
MRS. PETERS (takes the bottle, looks about for something to wrap it in; takes petticoat from the clothes brought from the other room, very nervously begins winding this around the bottle. In a false voice). My, it's a good thing the men couldn't hear us. Wouldn't they just laugh! Getting all stirred up over a little thing like a--dead canary. As if that could have anything to do with--with--wouldn't they laugh!
(The men are heard coming downstairs.) MRS. HALE (under her breath). Maybe they would--maybe they wouldn't.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. No, Peters, it's all perfectly clear except a reason for doing it. But you know juries when it comes to women. If there was some definite thing. Something to show--something to make a story about--a thing that would connect up with this strange way of doing it.
(The women's eyes meet for an instant. Enter Hale from outer door.)
HALE. Well, I've got the team around. Pretty cold out there.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. I'm going to stay here awhile by myself (To the Sheriff). You can send Frank out for me, can't you? I want to go over everything. I'm not satisfied that we can't do better.
SHERIFF. Do you want to see what Mrs. Peters is going to take in?
(The Lawyer goes to the table, picks up the apron, laughs.) COUNTY ATTORNEY. Oh I guess they're not very dangerous things the ladies have picked up. (Moves a few things about, disturbing the quilt pieces which cover the box. Steps back.) No, Mrs. Peters doesn't need supervising. For that matter, a sheriff's wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?
MRS. PETERS. Not--just that way.
SHERIFF (chuckling). Married to the law. (Moves toward the other room.) I just want you to come in here a minute, George. We ought to take a look at these windows.
COUNTY ATTORNEY (scoffingly). Oh, windows!
SHERIFF. We'll be right out, Mr. Hale.
(Hale goes outside. The Sheriff follows the County Attorney into the other room. Then Mrs. Hale rises, hands tight together, looking intensely at Mrs. Peters, whose eyes take a slow turn, finally meeting Mrs. Hale's. A moment Mrs. Hale holds her, then her own eyes point the way to where the box is concealed. Suddenly Mrs. Peters throws back quilt pieces and tries to put the box in the bag she is wearing. It is too big. She opens box, starts to take the bird out, cannot touch it, goes to pieces, stands there helpless. Sound of a knob turning in the other room. Mrs. Hale snatches the box and puts it in the pocket of her big coat. Enter County Attorney and Sheriff.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY (facetiously). Well, Henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to--what is it you call it, ladies!
MRS. HALE (her hand against her pocket). We call it--knot it, Mr. Henderson.
Taken from Homepage, Ann Matthews Woodlief, English Dept. Virginia Commonwealth University. Accessed 24 February 2010.

The Hairy Ape (Eugene O'Neill)

2010-03-14T03:02:00.000-07:00

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Title: The Hairy Ape (Author: Eugene O'Neill)

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Release Date: May, 2003
First Posted: October 10, 2001

Language: English

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“
THE HAIRY APE"
A Comedy of Ancient and Modern Life
In Eight Scenes

By EUGENE O'NEILL

CHARACTERS
ROBERT SMITH, "YANK"
PADDY
LONG
MILDRED DOUGLAS
HER AUNT
SECOND ENGINEER
A GUARD
A SECRETARY OF AN ORGANIZATION
STOKERS, LADIES, GENTLEMEN, ETC.

SCENE I
SCENE—The firemen's forecastle of a transatlantic liner an hour after sailing from New York for the voyage across. Tiers of narrow, steel bunks, three deep, on all sides. An entrance in rear. Benches on the floor before the bunks. The room is crowded with men, shouting, cursing, laughing, singing—a confused, inchoate uproar swelling into a sort of unity, a meaning—the bewildered, furious, baffled defiance of a beast in a cage. Nearly all the men are drunk. Many bottles are passed from hand to hand. All are dressed in dungaree pants, heavy ugly shoes. Some wear singlets, but the majority are stripped to the waist.
The treatment of this scene, or of any other scene in the play, should by no means be naturalistic. The effect sought after is a cramped space in the bowels of a ship, imprisoned by white steel. The lines of bunks, the uprights supporting them, cross each other like the steel framework of a cage. The ceiling crushes down upon the men's heads. They cannot stand upright. This accentuates the natural stooping posture which shovelling coal and the resultant over-development of back and shoulder muscles have given them. The men themselves should resemble those pictures in which the appearance of Neanderthal Man is guessed at. All are hairy-chested, with long arms of tremendous power, and low, receding brows above their small, fierce, resentful eyes. All the civilized white races are represented, but except for the slight differentiation in color of hair, skin, eyes, all these men are alike.
The curtain rises on a tumult of sound. YANK is seated in the foreground. He seems broader, fiercer, more truculent, more powerful, more sure of himself than the rest. They respect his superior strength—the grudging respect of fear. Then, too, he represents to them a self-expression, the very last word in what they are, their most highly developed individual.
VOICES—Gif me trink dere, you!
'Ave a wet!
Salute!
Gesundheit!
Skoal!
Drunk as a lord, God stiffen you!
Here's how!
Luck!
Pass back that bottle, damn you!
Pourin' it down his neck!
Ho, Froggy! Where the devil have you been?
La Touraine.
I hit him smash in yaw, py Gott!
Jenkins—the First—he's a rotten swine—
And the coppers nabbed him—and I run—
I like peer better. It don't pig head gif you.
A slut, I'm sayin'! She robbed me aslape—
To hell with 'em all!
You're a bloody liar!
Say dot again!
[Commotion. Two men about to fight are pulled apart.]
No scrappin' now!
To-night—
See who's the best man!
Bloody Dutchman!
To-night on the for'ard square.
I'll bet on Dutchy.
He packa da wallop, I tella you!
Shut up, Wop!
No fightin', maties. We're all chums, ain't we?
[A voice starts bawling a song.]
"Beer, beer, glorious beer!
Fill yourselves right up to here."
YANK—[For the first time seeming to take notice of the uproar about him, turns around threateningly—in a tone of contemptuous authority.] "Choke off dat noise! Where d'yuh get dat beer stuff? Beer, hell! Beer's for goils—and Dutchmen. Me for somep'n wit a kick to it! Gimme a drink, one of youse guys. [Several bottles are eagerly offered. He takes a tremendous gulp at one of them; then, keeping the bottle in his hand, glares belligerently at the owner, who hastens to acquiesce in this robbery by saying:] All righto, Yank. Keep it and have another." [Yank contemptuously turns his back on the crowd again. For a second there is an embarrassed silence. Then—]
VOICES—We must be passing the Hook. She's beginning to roll to it. Six days in hell—and then Southampton. Py Yesus, I vish somepody take my first vatch for me! Gittin' seasick, Square-head? Drink up and forget it! What's in your bottle? Gin. Dot's nigger trink. Absinthe? It's doped. You'll go off your chump, Froggy! Cochon! Whiskey, that's the ticket! Where's Paddy? Going asleep. Sing us that whiskey song, Paddy. [They all turn to an old, wizened Irishman who is dozing, very drunk, on the benches forward. His face is extremely monkey-like with all the sad, patient pathos of that animal in his small eyes.] Singa da song, Caruso Pat! He's gettin' old. The drink is too much for him. He's too drunk.
PADDY—[Blinking about him, starts to his feet resentfully, swaying, holding on to the edge of a bunk.] I'm never too drunk to sing. 'Tis only when I'm dead to the world I'd be wishful to sing at all. [With a sort of sad contempt.] "Whiskey Johnny," ye want? A chanty, ye want? Now that's a queer wish from the ugly like of you, God help you. But no matther. [He starts to sing in a thin, nasal, doleful tone:]
Oh, whiskey is the life of man!
Whiskey! O Johnny!
[They all join in on this.]
Oh, whiskey is the life of man!
Whiskey for my Johnny! [Again chorus]
Oh, whiskey drove my old man mad!
Whiskey! O Johnny!
Oh, whiskey drove my old man mad!
Whiskey for my Johnny!
YANK—[Again turning around scornfully.] Aw hell! Nix on dat old sailing ship stuff! All dat bull's dead, see? And you're dead, too, yuh damned old Harp, on'y yuh don't know it. Take it easy, see. Give us a rest. Nix on de loud noise. [With a cynical grin.] Can't youse see I'm tryin' to t'ink?
ALL—[Repeating the word after him as one with same cynical amused mockery.] Think! [The chorused word has a brazen metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a general uproar of hard, barking laughter.]
VOICES—Don't be cracking your head wid ut, Yank.
You gat headache, py yingo!
One thing about it—it rhymes with drink!
Ha, ha, ha!
Drink, don't think!
Drink, don't think!
Drink, don't think!
[A whole chorus of voices has taken up this refrain, stamping on the floor, pounding on the benches with fists.]
YANK—[Taking a gulp from his bottle—good-naturedly.] Aw right. Can de noise. I got yuh de foist time. [The uproar subsides. A very drunken sentimental tenor begins to sing:]
"Far away in Canada,
Far across the sea,
There's a lass who fondly waits
Making a home for me—"
YANK—[Fiercely contemptuous.] Shut up, yuh lousey boob! Where d'yuh get dat tripe? Home? Home, hell! I'll make a home for yuh! I'll knock yuh dead. Home! T'hell wit home! Where d'yuh get dat tripe? Dis is home, see? What d'yuh want wit home? [Proudly.] I runned away from mine when I was a kid. On'y too glad to beat it, dat was me. Home was lickings for me, dat's all. But yuh can bet your shoit noone ain't never licked me since! Wanter try it, any of youse? Huh! I guess not. [In a more placated but still contemptuous tone.] Goils waitin' for yuh, huh? Aw, hell! Dat's all tripe. Dey don't wait for noone. Dey'd double-cross yuh for a nickel. Dey're all tarts, get me? Treat 'em rough, dat's me. To hell wit 'em. Tarts, dat's what, de whole bunch of 'em.
LONG—[Very drunk, jumps on a bench excitedly, gesticulating with a bottle in his hand.] Listen 'ere, Comrades! Yank 'ere is right. 'E says this 'ere stinkin' ship is our 'ome. And 'e says as 'ome is 'ell. And 'e's right! This is 'ell. We lives in 'ell, Comrades—and right enough we'll die in it. [Raging.] And who's ter blame, I arsks yer? We ain't. We wasn't born this rotten way. All men is born free and ekal. That's in the bleedin' Bible, maties. But what d'they care for the Bible—them lazy, bloated swine what travels first cabin? Them's the ones. They dragged us down 'til we're on'y wage slaves in the bowels of a bloody ship, sweatin', burnin' up, eatin' coal dust! Hit's them's ter blame—the damned capitalist clarss! [There had been a gradual murmur of contemptuous resentment rising among the men until now he is interrupted by a storm of catcalls, hisses, boos, hard laughter.]
VOICES—Turn it off!
Shut up!
Sit down!
Closa da face!
Tamn fool! (Etc.)
YANK—[Standing up and glaring at Long.] Sit down before I knock yuh down! [Long makes haste to efface himself. Yank goes on contemptuously.] De Bible, huh? De Cap'tlist class, huh? Aw nix on dat Salvation Army-Socialist bull. Git a soapbox! Hire a hall! Come and be saved, huh? Jerk us to Jesus, huh? Aw g'wan! I've listened to lots of guys like you, see, Yuh're all wrong. Wanter know what I t'ink? Yuh ain't no good for noone. Yuh're de bunk. Yuh ain't got no noive, get me? Yuh're yellow, dat's what. Yellow, dat's you. Say! What's dem slobs in de foist cabin got to do wit us? We're better men dan dey are, ain't we? Sure! One of us guys could clean up de whole mob wit one mit. Put one of 'em down here for one watch in de stokehole, what'd happen? Dey'd carry him off on a stretcher. Dem boids don't amount to nothin'. Dey're just baggage. Who makes dis old tub run? Ain't it us guys? Well den, we belong, don't we? We belong and dey don't. Dat's all. [A loud chorus of approval. Yank goes on] As for dis bein' hell—aw, nuts! Yuh lost your noive, dat's what. Dis is a man's job, get me? It belongs. It runs dis tub. No stiffs need apply. But yuh're a stiff, see? Yuh're yellow, dat's you.
VOICES—[With a great hard pride in them.]
Righto!
A man's job!
Talk is cheap, Long.
He never could hold up his end. <
Divil take him!
Yank's right. We make it go.
Py Gott, Yank say right ting!
We don't need noone cryin' over us.
Makin' speeches.
Throw him out!
Yellow!
Chuck him overboard!
I'll break his jaw for him!
[They crowd around Long threateningly.]
YANK—[Half good-natured again—contemptuously.] Aw, take it easy. Leave him alone. He ain't woith a punch. Drink up. Here's how, whoever owns dis. [He takes a long swallow from his bottle. All drink with him. In a flash all is hilarious amiability again, back-slapping, loud talk, etc.]
PADDY—[Who has been sitting in a blinking, melancholy daze—suddenly cries out in a voice full of old sorrow.] We belong to this, you're saying? We make the ship to go, you're saying? Yerra then, that Almighty God have pity on us! [His voice runs into the wail of a keen, he rocks back and forth on his bench. The men stare at him, startled and impressed in spite of themselves.] Oh, to be back in the fine days of my youth, ochone! Oh, there was fine beautiful ships them days—clippers wid tall masts touching the sky—fine strong men in them—men that was sons of the sea as if 'twas the mother that bore them. Oh, the clean skins of them, and the clear eyes, the straight backs and full chests of them! Brave men they was, and bold men surely! We'd be sailing out, bound down round the Horn maybe. We'd be making sail in the dawn, with a fair breeze, singing a chanty song wid no care to it. And astern the land would be sinking low and dying out, but we'd give it no heed but a laugh, and never a look behind. For the day that was, was enough, for we was free men—and I'm thinking 'tis only slaves do be giving heed to the day that's gone or the day to come—until they're old like me. [With a sort of religious exaltation.] Oh, to be scudding south again wid the power of the Trade Wind driving her on steady through the nights and the days! Full sail on her! Nights and days! Nights when the foam of the wake would be flaming wid fire, when the sky'd be blazing and winking wid stars. Or the full of the moon maybe. Then you'd see her driving through the gray night, her sails stretching aloft all silver and white, not a sound on the deck, the lot of us dreaming dreams, till you'd believe 'twas no real ship at all you was on but a ghost ship like the Flying Dutchman they say does be roaming the seas forevermore widout touching a port. And there was the days, too. A warm sun on the clean decks. Sun warming the blood of you, and wind over the miles of shiny green ocean like strong drink to your lungs. Work—aye, hard work—but who'd mind that at all? Sure, you worked under the sky and 'twas work wid skill and daring to it. And wid the day done, in the dog watch, smoking me pipe at ease, the lookout would be raising land maybe, and we'd see the mountains of South Americy wid the red fire of the setting sun painting their white tops and the clouds floating by them! [His tone of exaltation ceases. He goes on mournfully.] Yerra, what's the use of talking? 'Tis a dead man's whisper. [To Yank resentfully.] 'Twas them days men belonged to ships, not now. 'Twas them days a ship was part of the sea, and a man was part of a ship, and the sea joined all together and made it one. [Scornfully.] Is it one wid this you'd be, Yank—black smoke from the funnels smudging the sea, smudging the decks—the bloody engines pounding and throbbing and shaking—wid divil a sight of sun or a breath of clean air—choking our lungs wid coal dust—breaking our backs and hearts in the hell of the stokehole—feeding the bloody furnace—feeding our lives along wid the coal, I'm thinking—caged in by steel from a sight of the sky like bloody apes in the Zoo! [With a harsh laugh.] Ho-ho, divil mend you! Is it to belong to that you're wishing? Is it a flesh and blood wheel of the engines you'd be?
YANK—[Who has been listening with a contemptuous sneer, barks out the answer.] Sure ting! Dat's me! What about it?
PADDY—[As if to himself—with great sorrow.] Me time is past due. That a great wave wid sun in the heart of it may sweep me over the side sometime I'd be dreaming of the days that's gone!
YANK—Aw, yuh crazy Mick! [He springs to his feet and advances on Paddy threateningly—then stops, fighting some queer struggle within himself—lets his hands fall to his sides—contemptuously.] Aw, take it easy. Yuh're aw right, at dat. Yuh're bugs, dat's all—nutty as a cuckoo. All dat tripe yuh been pullin'—Aw, dat's all right. On'y it's dead, get me? Yuh don't belong no more, see. Yuh don't get de stuff. Yuh're too old. [Disgustedly.] But aw say, come up for air onct in a while, can't yuh? See what's happened since yuh croaked. [He suddenly bursts forth vehemently, growing more and more excited.] Say! Sure! Sure I meant it! What de hell—Say, lemme talk! Hey! Hey, you old Harp! Hey, youse guys! Say, listen to me—wait a moment—I gotter talk, see. I belong and he don't. He's dead but I'm livin'. Listen to me! Sure I'm part of de engines! Why de hell not! Dey move, don't dey? Dey're speed, ain't dey? Dey smash trou, don't dey? Twenty-five knots a hour! Dat's goin' some! Dat's new stuff! Dat belongs! But him, he's too old. He gets dizzy. Say, listen. All dat crazy tripe about nights and days; all dat crazy tripe about stars and moons; all dat crazy tripe about suns and winds, fresh air and de rest of it—Aw hell, dat's all a dope dream! Hittin' de pipe of de past, dat's what he's doin'. He's old and don't belong no more. But me, I'm young! I'm in de pink! I move wit it! It, get me! I mean de ting dat's de guts of all dis. It ploughs trou all de tripe he's been sayin'. It blows dat up! It knocks dat dead! It slams dat off en de face of de oith! It, get me! De engines and de coal and de smoke and all de rest of it! He can't breathe and swallow coal dust, but I kin, see? Dat's fresh air for me! Dat's food for me! I'm new, get me? Hell in de stokehole? Sure! It takes a man to work in hell. Hell, sure, dat's my fav'rite climate. I eat it up! I git fat on it! It's me makes it hot! It's me makes it roar! It's me makes it move! Sure, on'y for me everyting stops. It all goes dead, get me? De noise and smoke and all de engines movin' de woild, dey stop. Dere ain't nothin' no more! Dat's what I'm sayin'. Everyting else dat makes de woild move, somep'n makes it move. It can't move witout somep'n else, see? Den yuh get down to me. I'm at de bottom, get me! Dere ain't nothin' foither. I'm de end! I'm de start! I start somep'n and de woild moves! It—dat's me!—de new dat's moiderin' de old! I'm de ting in coal dat makes it boin; I'm steam and oil for de engines; I'm de ting in noise dat makes yuh hear it; I'm smoke and express trains and steamers and factory whistles; I'm de ting in gold dat makes it money! And I'm what makes iron into steel! Steel, dat stands for de whole ting! And I'm steel—steel—steel! I'm de muscles in steel, de punch behind it! [As he says this he pounds with his fist against the steel bunks. All the men, roused to a pitch of frenzied self-glorification by his speech, do likewise. There is a deafening metallic roar, through which Yank's voice can be heard bellowing.] Slaves, hell! We run de whole woiks. All de rich guys dat tink dey're somep'n, dey ain't nothin'! Dey don't belong. But us guys, we're in de move, we're at de bottom, de whole ting is us! [Paddy from the start of Yank's speech has been taking one gulp after another from his bottle, at first frightenedly, as if he were afraid to listen, then desperately, as if to drown his senses, but finally has achieved complete indifferent, even amused, drunkenness. Yank sees his lips moving. He quells the uproar with a shout.] Hey, youse guys, take it easy! Wait a moment! De nutty Harp is sayin' someth'n.
PADDY—[Is heard now—throws his head back with a mocking burst of laughter.] Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho—-
YANK—[Drawing back his fist, with a snarl.] Aw! Look out who yuh're givin' the bark!
PADDY—[Begins to sing the "Muler of Dee" with enormous good-nature.]
"I care for nobody, no, not I,
And nobody cares for me."
YANK—[Good-natured himself in a flash, interrupts PADDY with a slap on the bare back like a report.] Dat's de stuff! Now yuh're gettin' wise to somep'n. Care for nobody, dat's de dope! To hell wit 'em all! And nix on nobody else carin'. I kin care for myself, get me! [Eight bells sound, muffled, vibrating through the steel walls as if some enormous brazen gong were imbedded in the heart of the ship. All the men jump up mechanically, fie through the door silently close upon each other's heels in what is very like a prisoners lockstep. YANK slaps PADDY on the back.] Our watch, yuh old Harp! [Mockingly.] Come on down in hell. Eat up de coal dust. Drink in de heat. It's it, see! Act like yuh liked it, yuh better—or croak yuhself.
PADDY—[With jovial defiance.] To the divil wid it! I'll not report this watch. Let thim log me and be damned. I'm no slave the like of you. I'll be sittin' here at me ease, and drinking, and thinking, and dreaming dreams.
YANK—[Contemptuously.] Tinkin' and dreamin', what'll that get yuh? What's tinkin' got to do wit it? We move, don't we? Speed, ain't it? Fog, dat's all you stand for. But we drive trou dat, don't we? We split dat up and smash trou—twenty-five knots a hour! [Turns his back on Paddy scornfully.] Aw, yuh make me sick! Yuh don't belong! [He strides out the door in rear. Paddy hums to himself, blinking drowsily.]
[Curtain]

SCENE II

SCENE—Two days out. A section of the promenade deck. MILDRED DOUGLAS and her aunt are discovered reclining in deck chairs. The former is a girl of twenty, slender, delicate, with a pale, pretty face marred by a self-conscious expression of disdainful superiority. She looks fretful, nervous and discontented, bored by her own anemia. Her aunt is a pompous and proud—and fat—old lady. She is a type even to the point of a double chin and lorgnettes. She is dressed pretentiously, as if afraid her face alone would never indicate her position in life. MILDRED is dressed all in white.
The impression to be conveyed by this scene is one of the beautiful, vivid life of the sea all about—sunshine on the deck in a great flood, the fresh sea wind blowing across it. In the midst of this, these two incongruous, artificial figures, inert and disharmonious, the elder like a gray lump of dough touched up with rouge, the younger looking as if the vitality of her stock had been sapped before she was conceived, so that she is the expression not of its life energy but merely of the artificialities that energy had won for itself in the spending.
MILDRED—[Looking up with affected dreaminess.] How the black smoke swirls back against the sky! Is it not beautiful?
AUNT—[Without looking up.] I dislike smoke of any kind.
MILDRED—My great-grandmother smoked a pipe—a clay pipe.
AUNT—[Ruffling.] Vulgar!
MILDRED—She was too distant a relative to be vulgar. Time mellows pipes.
AUNT—[Pretending boredom but irritated.] Did the sociology you took up at college teach you that—to play the ghoul on every possible occasion, excavating old bones? Why not let your great-grandmother rest in her grave?
MILDRED—[Dreamily.] With her pipe beside her—puffing in Paradise.
AUNT—[With spite.] Yes, you are a natural born ghoul. You are even getting to look like one, my dear.
MILDRED—[In a passionless tone.] I detest you, Aunt. [Looking at her critically.] Do you know what you remind me of? Of a cold pork pudding against a background of linoleum tablecloth in the kitchen of a—but the possibilities are wearisome. [She closes her eyes.]
AUNT—[With a bitter laugh.] Merci for your candor. But since I am and must be your chaperone—in appearance, at least—let us patch up some sort of armed truce. For my part you are quite free to indulge any pose of eccentricity that beguiles you—as long as you observe the amenities—
MILDRED—[Drawling.] The inanities?
AUNT—[Going on as if she hadn't heard.] After exhausting the morbid thrills of social service work on New York's East Side—how they must have hated you, by the way, the poor that you made so much poorer in their own eyes!—you are now bent on making your slumming international. Well, I hope Whitechapel will provide the needed nerve tonic. Do not ask me to chaperone you there, however. I told your father I would not. I loathe deformity. We will hire an army of detectives and you may investigate everything—they allow you to see.
MILDRED—[Protesting with a trace of genuine earnestness.] Please do not mock at my attempts to discover how the other half lives. Give me credit for some sort of groping sincerity in that at least. I would like to help them. I would like to be some use in the world. Is it my fault I don't know how? I would like to be sincere, to touch life somewhere. [With weary bitterness.] But I'm afraid I have neither the vitality nor integrity. All that was burnt out in our stock before I was born. Grandfather's blast furnaces, flaming to the sky, melting steel, making millions—then father keeping those home fires burning, making more millions—and little me at the tail-end of it all. I'm a waste product in the Bessemer process—like the millions. Or rather, I inherit the acquired trait of the by-product, wealth, but none of the energy, none of the strength of the steel that made it. I am sired by gold and darned by it, as they say at the race track—damned in more ways than one, [She laughs mirthlessly].
AUNT—[Unimpressed—superciliously.] You seem to be going in for sincerity to-day. It isn't becoming to you, really—except as an obvious pose. Be as artificial as you are, I advise. There's a sort of sincerity in that, you know. And, after all, you must confess you like that better.
MILDRED—[Again affected and bored.] Yes, I suppose I do. Pardon me for my outburst. When a leopard complains of its spots, it must sound rather grotesque. [In a mocking tone.] Purr, little leopard. Purr, scratch, tear, kill, gorge yourself and be happy—only stay in the jungle where your spots are camouflage. In a cage they make you conspicuous.
AUNT—I don't know what you are talking about.
MILDRED—It would be rude to talk about anything to you. Let's just talk. [She looks at her wrist watch.] Well, thank goodness, it's about time for them to come for me. That ought to give me a new thrill, Aunt.
AUNT—[Affectedly troubled.] You don't mean to say you're really going? The dirt—the heat must be frightful—
MILDRED—Grandfather started as a puddler. I should have inherited an immunity to heat that would make a salamander shiver. It will be fun to put it to the test.
AUNT—But don't you have to have the captain's—or someone's—permission to visit the stokehole?
MILDRED—[With a triumphant smile.] I have it—both his and the chief engineer's. Oh, they didn't want to at first, in spite of my social service credentials. They didn't seem a bit anxious that I should investigate how the other half lives and works on a ship. So I had to tell them that my father, the president of Nazareth Steel, chairman of the board of directors of this line, had told me it would be all right.
AUNT—He didn't.
MILDRED—How naive age makes one! But I said he did, Aunt. I even said he had given me a letter to them—which I had lost. And they were afraid to take the chance that I might be lying. [Excitedly.] So it's ho! for the stokehole. The second engineer is to escort me. [Looking at her watch again.] It's time. And here he comes, I think. [The SECOND ENGINEER enters, He is a husky, fine-looking man of thirty-five or so. He stops before the two and tips his cap, visibly embarrassed and ill-at-ease.]
SECOND ENGINEER—Miss Douglas?
MILDRED—Yes. [Throwing off her rugs and getting to her feet.] Are we all ready to start?
SECOND ENGINEER—In just a second, ma'am. I'm waiting for the Fourth. He's coming along.
MILDRED—[With a scornful smile.] You don't care to shoulder this responsibility alone, is that it?
SECOND ENGINEER—[Forcing a smile.] Two are better than one. [Disturbed by her eyes, glances out to sea—blurts out.] A fine day we're having.
MILDRED—Is it?
SECOND ENGINEER—A nice warm breeze—
MILDRED—It feels cold to me.
SECOND ENGINEER—But it's hot enough in the sun—
MILDRED—Not hot enough for me. I don't like Nature. I was never athletic.
SECOND ENGINEER—[Forcing a smile.] Well, you'll find it hot enough where you're going.
MILDRED—Do you mean hell?
SECOND ENGINEER—[Flabbergasted, decides to laugh.] Ho-ho! No, I mean the stokehole.
MILDRED—My grandfather was a puddler. He played with boiling steel.
SECOND ENGINEER—[All at sea—uneasily.] Is that so? Hum, you'll excuse me, ma'am, but are you intending to wear that dress.
MILDRED—Why not?
SECOND ENGINEER—You'll likely rub against oil and dirt. It can't be helped.
MILDRED—It doesn't matter. I have lots of white dresses.
SECOND ENGINEER—I have an old coat you might throw over—
MILDRED—I have fifty dresses like this. I will throw this one into the sea when I come back. That ought to wash it clean, don't you think?
SECOND ENGINEER—[Doggedly.] There's ladders to climb down that are none too clean—and dark alleyways—
MILDRED—I will wear this very dress and none other.
SECOND ENGINEER—No offence meant. It's none of my business. I was only warning you—
MILDRED—Warning? That sounds thrilling.
SECOND ENGINEER—[Looking down the deck—with a sigh of relief.]—There's the Fourth now. He's waiting for us. If you'll come—
MILDRED—Go on. I'll follow you. [He goes. Mildred turns a mocking smile on her aunt.] An oaf—but a handsome, virile oaf.
AUNT—[Scornfully.] Poser!
MILDRED—Take care. He said there were dark alleyways—
AUNT—[In the same tone.] Poser!
MILDRED—[Biting her lips angrily.] You are right. But would that my millions were not so anemically chaste!
AUNT—Yes, for a fresh pose I have no doubt you would drag the name of Douglas in the gutter!
MILDRED—From which it sprang. Good-by, Aunt. Don't pray too hard that I may fall into the fiery furnace.
AUNT—Poser!
MILDRED—[Viciously.] Old hag! [She slaps her aunt insultingly across the face and walks off, laughing gaily.]
AUNT—[Screams after her.] I said poser!
[Curtain]

SCENE III

SCENE—The stokehole. In the rear, the dimly-outlined bulks of the furnaces and boilers. High overhead one hanging electric bulb sheds just enough light through the murky air laden with coal dust to pile up masses of shadows everywhere. A line of men, stripped to the waist, is before the furnace doors. They bend over, looking neither to right nor left, handling their shovels as if they were part of their bodies, with a strange, awkward, swinging rhythm. They use the shovels to throw open the furnace doors. Then from these fiery round holes in the black a flood of terrific light and heat pours full upon the men who are outlined in silhouette in the crouching, inhuman attitudes of chained gorillas. The men shovel with a rhythmic motion, swinging as on a pivot from the coal which lies in heaps on the floor behind to hurl it into the flaming mouths before them. There is a tumult of noise—the brazen clang of the furnace doors as they are flung open or slammed shut, the grating, teeth-gritting grind of steel against steel, of crunching coal. This clash of sounds stuns one's ears with its rending dissonance. But there is order in it, rhythm, a mechanical regulated recurrence, a tempo. And rising above all, making the air hum with the quiver of liberated energy, the roar of leaping flames in the furnaces, the monotonous throbbing beat of the engines.
As the curtain rises, the furnace doors are shut. The men are taking a breathing spell. One or two are arranging the coal behind them, pulling it into more accessible heaps. The others can be dimly made out leaning on their shovels in relaxed attitudes of exhaustion.
PADDY—[From somewhere in the line—plaintively.] Yerra, will this divil's own watch nivir end? Me back is broke. I'm destroyed entirely.
YANK—[From the center of the line—with exuberant scorn.] Aw, yuh make me sick! Lie down and croak, why don't yuh? Always beefin', dat's you! Say, dis is a cinch! Dis was made for me! It's my meat, get me! [A whistle is blown—a thin, shrill note from somewhere overhead in the darkness. Yank curses without resentment.] Dere's de damn engineer crakin' de whip. He tinks we're loafin'.
PADDY—[Vindictively.] God stiffen him!
YANK—[In an exultant tone of command.] Come on, youse guys! Git into de game! She's gittin' hungry! Pile some grub in her! Trow it into her belly! Come on now, all of youse! Open her up! [At this last all the men, who have followed his movements of getting into position, throw open their furnace doors with a deafening clang. The fiery light floods over their shoulders as they bend round for the coal. Rivulets of sooty sweat have traced maps on their backs. The enlarged muscles form bunches of high light and shadow.]
YANK—[Chanting a count as he shovels without seeming effort.] One—two—tree—[His voice rising exultantly in the joy of battle.] Dat's de stuff! Let her have it! All togedder now! Sling it into her! Let her ride! Shoot de piece now! Call de toin on her! Drive her into it! Feel her move! Watch her smoke! Speed, dat's her middle name! Give her coal, youse guys! Coal, dat's her booze! Drink it up, baby! Let's see yuh sprint! Dig in and gain a lap! Dere she go-o-es [This last in the chanting formula of the gallery gods at the six-day bike race. He slams his furnace door shut. The others do likewise with as much unison as their wearied bodies will permit. The effect is of one fiery eye after another being blotted out with a series of accompanying bangs.]
PADDY—[Groaning.] Me back is broke. I'm bate out—bate—[There is a pause. Then the inexorable whistle sounds again from the dim regions above the electric light. There is a growl of cursing rage from all sides.]
YANK—[Shaking his fist upward—contemptuously.] Take it easy dere, you! Who d'yuh tinks runnin' dis game, me or you? When I git ready, we move. Not before! When I git ready, get me!
VOICES—[Approvingly.] That's the stuff!
Yank tal him, py golly!
Yank ain't affeerd.
Goot poy, Yank!
Give him hell!
Tell 'im 'e's a bloody swine!
Bloody slave-driver!
YANK—[Contemptuously.] He ain't got no noive. He's yellow, get me? All de engineers is yellow. Dey got streaks a mile wide. Aw, to hell wit him! Let's move, youse guys. We had a rest. Come on, she needs it! Give her pep! It ain't for him. Him and his whistle, dey don't belong. But we belong, see! We gotter feed de baby! Come on! [He turns and flings his furnace door open. They all follow his lead. At this instant the Second and Fourth Engineers enter from the darkness on the left with Mildred between them. She starts, turns paler, her pose is crumbling, she shivers with fright in spite of the blazing heat, but forces herself to leave the Engineers and take a few steps nearer the men. She is right behind Yank. All this happens quickly while the men have their backs turned.]
YANK—Come on, youse guys! [He is turning to get coal when the whistle sounds again in a peremptory, irritating note. This drives Yank into a sudden fury. While the other men have turned full around and stopped dumfounded by the spectacle of Mildred standing there in her white dress, Yank does not turn far enough to see her. Besides, his head is thrown back, he blinks upward through the murk trying to find the owner of the whistle, he brandishes his shovel murderously over his head in one hand, pounding on his chest, gorilla-like, with the other, shouting:] Toin off dat whistle! Come down outa dere, yuh yellow, brass-buttoned, Belfast bum, yuh! Come down and I'll knock yer brains out! Yuh lousey, stinkin', yellow mut of a Catholic-moiderin' bastard! Come down and I'll moider yuh! Pullin' dat whistle on me, huh? I'll show yuh! I'll crash yer skull in! I'll drive yer teet' down yer troat! I'll slam yer nose trou de back of yer head! I'll cut yer guts out for a nickel, yuh lousey boob, yuh dirty, crummy, muck-eatin' son of a—
[Suddenly he becomes conscious of all the other men staring at something directly behind his back. He whirls defensively with a snarling, murderous growl, crouching to spring, his lips drawn back o'ver his teeth, his small eyes gleaming ferociously. He sees Mildred, like a white apparition in the full light from the open furnace doors. He glares into her eyes, turned to stone. As for her, during his speech she has listened, paralyzed with horror, terror, her whole personality crushed, beaten in, collapsed, by the terrific impact of this unknown, abysmal brutality, naked and shameless. As she looks at his gorilla face, as his eyes bore into hers, she utters a low, choking cry and shrinks away from him, putting both hands up before her eyes to shut out the sight of his face, to protect her own. This startles Yank to a reaction. His mouth falls open, his eyes grow bewildered.]
MILDRED—[About to faint—to the Engineers, who now have her one by each arm—whimperingly.] Take me away! Oh, the filthy beast! [She faints. They carry her quickly back, disappearing in the darkness at the left, rear. An iron door clangs shut. Rage and bewildered fury rush back on Yank. He feels himself insulted in some unknown fashion in the very heart of his pride. He roars:] God damn yuh! [And hurls his shovel after them at the door which has just closed. It hits the steel bulkhead with a clang and falls clattering on the steel floor. From overhead the whistle sounds again in a long, angry, insistent command.]
[Curtain]

SCENE IV

SCENE—The firemen's forecastle. Yank's watch has just come off duty and had dinner. Their faces and bodies shine from a soap and water scrubbing but around their eyes, where a hasty dousing does not touch, the coal dust sticks like black make-up, giving them a queer, sinister expression. Yank has not washed either face or body. He stands out in contrast to them, a blackened, brooding figure. He is seated forward on a bench in the exact attitude of Rodin's "The Thinker." The others, most of them smoking pipes, are staring at Yank half-apprehensively, as if fearing an outburst; half-amusedly, as if they saw a joke somewhere that tickled them.
VOICES—He ain't ate nothin'.
Py golly, a fallar gat gat grub in him.
Divil a lie.
Yank feeda da fire, no feeda da face.
Ha-ha.
He ain't even washed hisself.
He's forgot.
Hey, Yank, you forgot to wash.
YANK—[Sullenly.] Forgot nothin'! To hell wit washin'.
VOICES—It'll stick to you. It'll get under your skin. Give yer the bleedin' itch, that's wot. It makes spots on you—like a leopard. Like a piebald nigger, you mean. Better wash up, Yank. You sleep better. Wash up, Yank. Wash up! Wash up!
YANK—[Resentfully.] Aw say, youse guys. Lemme alone. Can't youse see I'm tryin' to tink?
ALL—[Repeating the word after him as one with cynical mockery.] Think! [The word has a brazen, metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a chorus of hard, barking laughter.]
YANK—[Springing to his feet and glaring at them belligerently.] Yes, tink! Tink, dat's what I said! What about it? [They are silent, puzzled by his sudden resentment at what used to be one of his jokes. Yank sits down again in the same attitude of "The Thinker."]
VOICES—Leave him alone.
He's got a grouch on.
Why wouldn't he?
PADDY—[With a wink at the others.] Sure I know what's the matther. 'Tis aisy to see. He's fallen in love, I'm telling you.
ALL—[Repeating the word after him as one with cynical mockery.] Love! [The word has a brazen, metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a chorus of hard, barking laughter.]
YANK—[With a contemptuous snort.] Love, hell! Hate, dat's what. I've fallen in hate, get me?
PADDY—[Philosophically] 'Twould take a wise man to tell one from the other. [With a bitter, ironical scorn, increasing as he goes on.] But I'm telling you it's love that's in it. Sure what else but love for us poor bastes in the stokehole would be bringing a fine lady, dressed like a white quane, down a mile of ladders and steps to be havin' a look at us? [A growl of anger goes up from all sides.]
LONG—[Jumping on a bench—hecticly] Hinsultin' us! Hinsultin' us, the bloody cow! And them bloody engineers! What right 'as they got to be exhibitin' us 's if we was bleedin' monkeys in a menagerie? Did we sign for hinsults to our dignity as 'onest workers? Is that in the ship's articles? You kin bloody well bet it ain't! But I knows why they done it. I arsked a deck steward 'o she was and 'e told me. 'Er old man's a bleedin' millionaire, a bloody Capitalist! 'E's got enuf bloody gold to sink this bleedin' ship! 'E makes arf the bloody steel in the world! 'E owns this bloody boat! And you and me, comrades, we're 'is slaves! And the skipper and mates and engineers, they're 'is slaves! And she's 'is bloody daughter and we're all 'er slaves, too! And she gives 'er orders as 'ow she wants to see the bloody animals below decks and down they takes 'er! [There is a roar of rage from all sides.]
YANK—[Blinking at him bewilderedly.] Say! Wait a moment! Is all dat straight goods?
LONG—Straight as string! The bleedin' steward as waits on 'em, 'e told me about 'er. And what're we goin' ter do, I arsks yer? 'Ave we got ter swaller 'er hinsults like dogs? It ain't in the ship's articles. I tell yer we got a case. We kin go ter law—
YANK—[With abysmal contempt.] Hell! Law!
ALL—[Repeating the word after him as one with cynical mockery.] Law! [The word has a brazen metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a chorus of hard, barking laughter.]
LONG—[Feeling the ground slipping from under his feet—desperately.] As voters and citizens we kin force the bloody governments—
YANK—[With abysmal contempt.] Hell! Governments!
ALL—[Repeating the word after him as one with cynical mockery.] Governments! [The word has a brazen metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a chorus of hard, barking laughter.]
LONG—[Hysterically.] We're free and equal in the sight of God—
YANK—[With abysmal contempt.] Hell! God!
ALL—[Repeating the word after him as one with cynical mockery.] God! [The word has a brazen metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a chorus of hard, barking laughter.]
YANK—[Witheringly.] Aw, join de Salvation Army!
ALL—Sit down! Shut up! Damn fool! Sea-lawyer! [Long slinks back out of sight.]
PADDY—[Continuing the trend of his thoughts as if he had never been interrupted—bitterly.] And there she was standing behind us, and the Second pointing at us like a man you'd hear in a circus would be saying: In this cage is a queerer kind of baboon than ever you'd find in darkest Africy. We roast them in their own sweat—and be damned if you won't hear some of thim saying they like it! [He glances scornfully at Yank.]
YANK—[With a bewildered uncertain growl.] Aw!
PADDY—And there was Yank roarin' curses and turning round wid his shovel to brain her—and she looked at him, and him at her—
YANK—[Slowly.] She was all white. I tought she was a ghost. Sure.
PADDY—[With heavy, biting sarcasm.] 'Twas love at first sight, divil a doubt of it! If you'd seen the endearin' look on her pale mug when she shrivelled away with her hands over her eyes to shut out the sight of him! Sure, 'twas as if she'd seen a great hairy ape escaped from the Zoo!
YANK—[Stung—with a growl of rage.] Aw!
PADDY—And the loving way Yank heaved his shovel at the skull of her, only she was out the door! [A grin breaking over his face.] 'Twas touching, I'm telling you! It put the touch of home, swate home in the stokehole. [There is a roar of laughter from all.]
YANK—[Glaring at Paddy menacingly.] Aw, choke dat off, see!
PADDY—[Not heeding him—to the others.] And her grabbin' at the Second's arm for protection. [With a grotesque imitation of a woman's voice.] Kiss me, Engineer dear, for it's dark down here and me old man's in Wall Street making money! Hug me tight, darlin', for I'm afeerd in the dark and me mother's on deck makin' eyes at the skipper! [Another roar of laughter.]
YANK—[Threateningly.] Say! What yuh tryin' to do, kid me, yuh old Harp?
PADDY—Divil a bit! Ain't I wishin' myself you'd brained her?
YANK—[Fiercely.] I'll brain her! I'll brain her yet, wait 'n' see! [Coming over to Paddy—slowly.] Say, is dat what she called me—a hairy ape?
PADDY—She looked it at you if she didn't say the word itself.
YANK—[Grinning horribly.] Hairy ape, huh? Sure! Dat's de way she looked at me, aw right. Hairy ape! So dat's me, huh? [Bursting into rage—as if she were still in front of him.] Yuh skinny tart! Yuh white-faced bum, yuh! I'll show yuh who's a ape! [Turning to the others, bewilderment seizing him again.] Say, youse guys. I was bawlin' him out for pullin' de whistle on us. You heard me. And den I seen youse lookin' at somep'n and I tought he'd sneaked down to come up in back of me, and I hopped round to knock him dead wit de shovel. And dere she was wit de light on her! Christ, yuh coulda pushed me over with a finger! I was scared, get me? Sure! I tought she was a ghost, see? She was all in white like dey wrap around stiffs. You seen her. Kin yuh blame me? She didn't belong, dat's what. And den when I come to and seen it was a real skoit and seen de way she was lookin' at me—like Paddy said—Christ, I was sore, get me? I don't stand for dat stuff from nobody. And I flung de shovel—on'y she'd beat it. [Furiously.] I wished it'd banged her! I wished it'd knocked her block off!
LONG—And be 'anged for murder or 'lectrocuted? She ain't bleedin' well worth it.
YANK—I don't give a damn what! I'd be square wit her, wouldn't I? Tink I wanter let her put somep'n over on me? Tink I'm goin' to let her git away wit dat stuff? Yuh don't know me! Noone ain't never put nothin' over on me and got away wit it, see!—not dat kind of stuff—no guy and no skoit neither! I'll fix her! Maybe she'll come down again—
VOICE—No chance, Yank. You scared her out of a year's growth.
YANK—I scared her? Why de hell should I scare her? Who de hell is she? Ain't she de same as me? Hairy ape, huh? [With his old confident bravado.] I'll show her I'm better'n her, if she on'y knew it. I belong and she don't, see! I move and she's dead! Twenty-five knots a hour, dats me! Dat carries her but I make dat. She's on'y baggage. Sure! [Again bewilderedly.] But, Christ, she was funny lookin'! Did yuh pipe her hands? White and skinny. Yuh could see de bones trough 'em. And her mush, dat was dead white, too. And her eyes, dey was like dey'd seen a ghost. Me, dat was! Sure! Hairy ape! Ghost, huh? Look at dat arm! [He extends his right arm, swelling out the great muscles.] I coulda took her wit dat, wit' just my little finger even, and broke her in two. [Again bewilderedly.] Say, who is dat skoit, huh? What is she? What's she come from? Who made her? Who give her de noive to look at me like dat? Dis ting's got my goat right. I don't get her. She's new to me. What does a skoit like her mean, huh? She don't belong, get me! I can't see her. [With growing anger.] But one ting I'm wise to, aw right, aw right! Youse all kin bet your shoits I'll git even wit her. I'll show her if she tinks she—She grinds de organ and I'm on de string, huh? I'll fix her! Let her come down again and I'll fling her in de furnace! She'll move den! She won't shiver at nothin', den! Speed, dat'll be her! She'll belong den! [He grins horribly.]
PADDY—She'll never come. She's had her belly-full, I'm telling you. She'll be in bed now, I'm thinking, wid ten doctors and nurses feedin' her salts to clean the fear out of her.
YANK—[Enraged.] Yuh tink I made her sick, too, do yuh? Just lookin' at me, huh? Hairy ape, huh? [In a frenzy of rage.] I'll fix her! I'll tell her where to git off! She'll git down on her knees and take it back or I'll bust de face offen her! [Shaking one fist upward and beating on his chest with the other.] I'll find yuh! I'm comin', d'yuh hear? I'll fix yuh, God damn yuh! [He makes a rush for the door.]
VOICES—Stop him!
He'll get shot!
He'll murder her!
Trip him up!
Hold him!
He's gone crazy!
Gott, he's strong!
Hold him down!
Look out for a kick!
Pin his arms!
[They have all piled on him and, after a fierce struggle, by sheer weight of numbers have borne him to the floor just inside the door.]
PADDY—[Who has remained detached.] Kape him down till he's cooled off. [Scornfully.] Yerra, Yank, you're a great fool. Is it payin' attention at all you are to the like of that skinny sow widout one drop of rale blood in her?
YANK—[Frenziedly, from the bottom of the heap.] She done me doit! She done me doit, didn't she? I'll git square wit her! I'll get her some way! Git offen me, youse guys! Lemme up! I'll show her who's a ape!
[Curtain]

SCENE V

SCENE—Three weeks later. A corner of Fifth Avenue in the Fifties on a fine, Sunday morning. A general atmosphere of clean, well-tidied, wide street; a flood of mellow, tempered sunshine; gentle, genteel breezes. In the rear, the show windows of two shops, a jewelry establishment on the corner, a furrier's next to it. Here the adornments of extreme wealth are tantalizingly displayed. The jeweler's window is gaudy with glittering diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls, etc., fashioned in ornate tiaras, crowns, necklaces, collars, etc. From each piece hangs an enormous tag from which a dollar sign and numerals in intermittent electric lights wink out the incredible prices. The same in the furrier's. Rich furs of all varieties hang there bathed in a downpour of artificial light. The general effect is of a background of magnificence cheapened and made grotesque by commercialism, a background in tawdry disharmony with the clear light and sunshine on the street itself.
Up the side street Yank and Long come swaggering. Long is dressed in shore clothes, wears a black Windsor tie, cloth cap. Yank is in his dirty dungarees. A fireman's cap with black peak is cocked defiantly on the side of his head. He has not shaved for days and around his fierce, resentful eyes—as around those of Long to a lesser degree—the black smudge of coal dust still sticks like make-up. They hesitate and stand together at the corner, swaggering, looking about them with a forced, defiant contempt.
LONG—[Indicating it all with an oratorical gesture.] Well, 'ere we are. Fif' Avenoo. This 'ere's their bleedin' private lane, as yer might say. [Bitterly.] We're trespassers 'ere. Proletarians keep orf the grass!
YANK—[Dully.] I don't see no grass, yuh boob. [Staring at the sidewalk.] Clean, ain't it? Yuh could eat a fried egg offen it. The white wings got some job sweepin' dis up. [Looking up and down the avenue—surlily.] Where's all de white-collar stiffs yuh said was here—and de skoits—her kind?
LONG—In church, blarst 'em! Arskin' Jesus to give 'em more money.
YANK—Choich, huh? I useter go to choich onct—sure—when I was a kid. Me old man and woman, dey made me. Dey never went demselves, dough. Always got too big a head on Sunday mornin', dat was dem. [With a grin.] Dey was scrappers for fair, bot' of dem. On Satiday nights when dey bot' got a skinful dey could put up a bout oughter been staged at de Garden. When dey got trough dere wasn't a chair or table wit a leg under it. Or else dey bot' jumped on me for somep'n. Dat was where I loined to take punishment. [With a grin and a swagger.] I'm a chip offen de old block, get me?
LONG—Did yer old man follow the sea?
YANK—Naw. Worked along shore. I runned away when me old lady croaked wit de tremens. I helped at truckin' and in de market. Den I shipped in de stokehole. Sure. Dat belongs. De rest was nothin'. [Looking around him.] I ain't never seen dis before. De Brooklyn waterfront, dat was where I was dragged up. [Taking a deep breath.] Dis ain't so bad at dat, huh?
LONG—Not bad? Well, we pays for it wiv our bloody sweat, if yer wants to know!
YANK—[With sudden angry disgust.] Aw, hell! I don't see noone, see—like her. All dis gives me a pain. It don't belong. Say, ain't dere a backroom around dis dump? Let's go shoot a ball. All dis is too clean and quiet and dolled-up, get me! It gives me a pain.
LONG—Wait and yer'll bloody well see—
YANK—I don't wait for noone. I keep on de move. Say, what yuh drag me up here for, anyway? Tryin' to kid me, yuh simp, yuh?
LONG—Yer wants to get back at her, don't yer? That's what yer been saying' every bloomin' 'our since she hinsulted yer.
YANK—[Vehemently.] Sure ting I do! Didn't I try to git even wit her in Southampton? Didn't I sneak on de dock and wait for her by de gangplank? I was goin' to spit in her pale mug, see! Sure, right in her pop-eyes! Dat woulda made me even, see? But no chanct. Dere was a whole army of plain clothes bulls around. Dey spotted me and gimme de bum's rush. I never seen her. But I'll git square wit her yet, you watch! [Furiously.] De lousey tart! She tinks she kin get away wit moider—but not wit me! I'll fix her! I'll tink of a way!
LONG—[As disgusted as he dares to be.] Ain't that why I brought yer up 'ere—to show yer? Yer been lookin' at this 'ere 'ole affair wrong. Yer been actin' an' talkin' 's if it was all a bleedin' personal matter between yer and that bloody cow. I wants to convince yer she was on'y a representative of 'er clarss. I wants to awaken yer bloody clarss consciousness. Then yer'll see it's 'er clarss yer've got to fight, not 'er alone. There's a 'ole mob of 'em like 'er, Gawd blind 'em!
YANK—[Spitting on his hands—belligerently.] De more de merrier when I gits started. Bring on de gang!
LONG—Yer'll see 'em in arf a mo', when that church lets out. [He turns and sees the window display in the two stores for the first time.] Blimey! Look at that, will yer? [They both walk back and stand looking in the jewelers. Long flies into a fury.] Just look at this 'ere bloomin' mess! Just look at it! Look at the bleedin' prices on 'em—more'n our 'old bloody stokehole makes in ten voyages sweatin' in 'ell! And they—her and her bloody clarss—buys 'em for toys to dangle on 'em! One of these 'ere would buy scoff for a starvin' family for a year!
YANK—Aw, cut de sob stuff! T' hell wit de starvin' family! Yuh'll be passin' de hat to me next. [With naive admiration.] Say, dem tings is pretty, huh? Bet yuh dey'd hock for a piece of change aw right. [Then turning away, bored.] But, aw hell, what good are dey? Let her have 'em. Dey don't belong no more'n she does. [With a gesture of sweeping the jewelers into oblivion.] All dat don't count, get me?
LONG—[Who has moved to the furriers—indignantly.] And I s'pose this 'ere don't count neither—skins of poor, 'armless animals slaughtered so as 'er and 'ers can keep their bleedin' noses warm!
YANK—[Who has been staring at something inside—with queer excitement.] Take a slant at dat! Give it de once-over! Monkey fur—two t'ousand bucks! [Bewilderedly.] Is dat straight goods—monkey fur? What de hell—?
LONG—[Bitterly.] It's straight enuf. [With grim humor.] They wouldn't bloody well pay that for a 'airy ape's skin—no, nor for the 'ole livin' ape with all 'is 'ead, and body, and soul thrown in!
YANK—[Clenching his fists, his face growing pale with rage as if the skin in the window were a personal insult.] Trowin' it up in my face! Christ! I'll fix her!
LONG—[Excitedly.] Church is out. 'Ere they come, the bleedin' swine. [After a glance at Yank's lowering face—uneasily.] Easy goes, Comrade. Keep yer bloomin' temper. Remember force defeats itself. It ain't our weapon. We must impress our demands through peaceful means—the votes of the on-marching proletarians of the bloody world!
YANK—[With abysmal contempt.] Votes, hell! Votes is a joke, see. Votes for women! Let dem do it!
LONG—[Still more uneasily.] Calm, now. Treat 'em wiv the proper contempt. Observe the bleedin' parasites but 'old yer 'orses.
YANK—[Angrily.] Git away from me! Yuh're yellow, dat's what. Force, dat's me! De punch, dat's me every time, see! [The crowd from church enter from the right, sauntering slowly and affectedly, their heads held stiffly up, looking neither to right nor left, talking in toneless, simpering voices. The women are rouged, calcimined, dyed, overdressed to the nth degree. The men are in Prince Alberts, high hats, spats, canes, etc. A procession of gaudy marionettes, yet with something of the relentless horror of Frankensteins in their detached, mechanical unawareness.]
VOICES—Dear Doctor Caiaphas! He is so sincere!
What was the sermon? I dozed off.
About the radicals, my dear—and the false doctrines that are being preached.
We must organize a hundred per cent American bazaar.
And let everyone contribute one one-hundredth percent of their income tax.
What an original idea!
We can devote the proceeds to rehabilitating the veil of the temple.
But that has been done so many times.
YANK—[Glaring from one to the other of them—with an insulting snort of scorn.] Huh! Huh! [Without seeming to see him, they make wide detours to avoid the spot where he stands in the middle of the sidewalk.]
LONG—[Frightenedly.] Keep yer bloomin' mouth shut, I tells yer.
YANK—[Viciously.] G'wan! Tell it to Sweeney! [He swaggers away and deliberately lurches into a top-hatted gentleman, then glares at him pugnaciously.] Say, who d'yuh tink yuh're bumpin'? Tink yuh own de oith?
GENTLEMAN—[Coldly and affectedly.] I beg your pardon. [He has not looked at YANK and passes on without a glance, leaving him bewildered.]
LONG—[Rushing up and grabbing YANK's arm.] 'Ere! Come away! This wasn't what I meant. Yer'll 'ave the bloody coppers down on us.
YANK—[Savagely—giving him a push that sends him sprawling.] G'wan!
LONG—[Picks himself up—hysterically.] I'll pop orf then. This ain't what I meant. And whatever 'appens, yer can't blame me. [He slinks off left.]
YANK—T' hell wit youse! [He approaches a lady—with a vicious grin and a smirking wink.] Hello, Kiddo. How's every little ting? Got anyting on for to-night? I know an old boiler down to de docks we kin crawl into. [The lady stalks by without a look, without a change of pace. YANK turns to others—insultingly.] Holy smokes, what a mug! Go hide yuhself before de horses shy at yuh. Gee, pipe de heinie on dat one! Say, youse, yuh look like de stoin of a ferryboat. Paint and powder! All dolled up to kill! Yuh look like stiffs laid out for de boneyard! Aw, g'wan, de lot of youse! Yuh give me de eye-ache. Yuh don't belong, get me! Look at me, why don't youse dare? I belong, dat's me! [Pointing to a skyscraper across the street which is in process of construction—with bravado.] See dat building goin' up dere? See de steel work? Steel, dat's me! Youse guys live on it and tink yuh're somep'n. But I'm IN it, see! I'm de hoistin' engine dat makes it go up! I'm it—de inside and bottom of it! Sure! I'm steel and steam and smoke and de rest of it! It moves—speed—twenty-five stories up—and me at de top and bottom—movin'! Youse simps don't move. Yuh're on'y dolls I winds up to see 'm spin. Yuh're de garbage, get me—de leavins—de ashes we dump over de side! Now, whata yuh gotto say? [But as they seem neither to see nor hear him, he flies into a fury.] Bums! Pigs! Tarts! Bitches! [He turns in a rage on the men, bumping viciously into them but not jarring them the least bit. Rather it is he who recoils after each collision. He keeps growling.] Git off de oith! G'wan, yuh bum! Look where yuh're goin,' can't yuh? Git outa here! Fight, why don't yuh? Put up yer mits! Don't be a dog! Fight or I'll knock yuh dead! [But, without seeming to see him, they all answer with mechanical affected politeness:] I beg your pardon. [Then at a cry from one of the women, they all scurry to the furrier's window.]
THE WOMAN—[Ecstatically, with a gasp of delight.] Monkey fur! [The whole crowd of men and women chorus after her in the same tone of affected delight.] Monkey fur!
YANK—[With a jerk of his head back on his shoulders, as if he had received a punch full in the face—raging.] I see yuh, all in white! I see yuh, yuh white-faced tart, yuh! Hairy ape, huh? I'll hairy ape yuh! [He bends down and grips at the street curbing as if to pluck it out and hurl it. Foiled in this, snarling with passion, he leaps to the lamp-post on the corner and tries to pull it up for a club. Just at that moment a bus is heard rumbling up. A fat, high-hatted, spatted gentleman runs out from the side street. He calls out plaintively: "Bus! Bus! Stop there!" and runs full tilt into the bending, straining YANK, who is bowled off his balance.]
YANK—[Seeing a fight—with a roar of joy as he springs to his feet.] At last! Bus, huh? I'll bust yuh! [He lets drive a terrific swing, his fist landing full on the fat gentleman's face. But the gentleman stands unmoved as if nothing had happened.]
GENTLEMAN—I beg your pardon. [Then irritably.] You have made me lose my bus. [He claps his hands and begins to scream:] Officer! Officer! [Many police whistles shrill out on the instant and a whole platoon of policemen rush in on YANK from all sides. He tries to fight but is clubbed to the pavement and fallen upon. The crowd at the window have not moved or noticed this disturbance. The clanging gong of the patrol wagon approaches with a clamoring din.]
[Curtain]

SCENE VI

SCENE—Night of the following day. A row of cells in the prison on Blackwells Island. The cells extend back diagonally from right front to left rear. They do not stop, but disappear in the dark background as if they ran on, numberless, into infinity. One electric bulb from the low ceiling of the narrow corridor sheds its light through the heavy steel bars of the cell at the extreme front and reveals part of the interior. YANK can be seen within, crouched on the edge of his cot in the attitude of Rodin's "The Thinker." His face is spotted with black and blue bruises. A blood-stained bandage is wrapped around his head.
YANK—[Suddenly starting as if awakening from a dream, reaches out and shakes the bars—aloud to himself, wonderingly.] Steel. Dis is de Zoo, huh? [A burst of hard, barking laughter comes from the unseen occupants of the cells, runs back down the tier, and abruptly ceases.]
VOICES—[Mockingly.] The Zoo? That's a new name for this coop—a damn good name! Steel, eh? You said a mouthful. This is the old iron house. Who is that boob talkin'? He's the bloke they brung in out of his head. The bulls had beat him up fierce.
YANK—[Dully.] I musta been dreamin'. I tought I was in a cage at de Zoo—but de apes don't talk, do dey?
VOICES—[With mocking laughter.] You're in a cage aw right.
A coop!
A pen!
A sty!
A kennel! [Hard laughter—a pause.]
Say, guy! Who are you? No, never mind lying. What are you?
Yes, tell us your sad story. What's your game?
What did they jug yuh for?
YANK—[Dully.] I was a fireman—stokin' on de liners. [Then with sudden rage, rattling his cell bars.] I'm a hairy ape, get me? And I'll bust youse all in de jaw if yuh don't lay off kiddin' me.
VOICES—Huh! You're a hard boiled duck ain't you!
When you spit, it bounces! [Laughter.]
Aw, can it. He's a regular guy. Ain't you?
What did he say he was—a ape?
YANK—[Defiantly.] Sure ting! Ain't dat what youse all are—apes? [A silence. Then a furious rattling of bars from down the corridor.]
A VOICE—[Thick with rage.] I'll show yuh who's a ape, yuh bum!
VOICES—Ssshh! Nix!
Can de noise!
Piano!
You'll have the guard down on us!
YANK—[Scornfully.] De guard? Yuh mean de keeper, don't yuh? [Angry exclamations from all the cells.]
VOICE—[Placatingly.] Aw, don't pay no attention to him. He's off his nut from the beatin'-up he got. Say, you guy! We're waitin' to hear what they landed you for—or ain't yuh tellin'?
YANK—Sure, I'll tell youse. Sure! Why de hell not? On'y—youse won't get me. Nobody gets me but me, see? I started to tell de Judge and all he says was: "Toity days to tink it over." Tink it over! Christ, dat's all I been doin' for weeks! [After a pause.] I was tryin' to git even wit someone, see?—someone dat done me doit.
VOICES—[Cynically.] De old stuff, I bet. Your goil, huh?
Give yuh the double-cross, huh?
That's them every time!
Did yuh beat up de odder guy?
YANK—[Disgustedly] Aw, yuh're all wrong! Sure dere was a skoit in it—but not what youse mean, not dat old tripe. Dis was a new kind of skoit. She was dolled up all in white—in de stokehole. I tought she was a ghost. Sure. [A pause.]
VOICES—[Whispering.] Gee, he's still nutty.
Let him rave. It's fun listenin'.
YANK—[Unheeding—groping in his thoughts.] Her hands—dey was skinny and white like dey wasn't real but painted on somep'n. Dere was a million miles from me to her—twenty-five knots a hour. She was like some dead ting de cat brung in. Sure, dat's what. She didn't belong. She belonged in de window of a toy store, or on de top of a garbage can, see! Sure! [He breaks out angrily.] But would yuh believe it, she had de noive to do me doit. She lamped me like she was seein' somep'n broke loose from de menagerie. Christ, yuh'd oughter seen her eyes! [He rattles the bars of his cell furiously.] But I'll get back at her yet, you watch! And if I can't find her I'll take it out on de gang she runs wit. I'm wise to where dey hangs out now. I'll show her who belongs! I'll show her who's in de move and who ain't. You watch my smoke!
VOICES—[Serious and joking.] Dat's de talkin'!
Take her for all she's got!
What was this dame, anyway? Who was she, eh?
YANK—I dunno. First cabin stiff. Her old man's a millionaire, dey says—name of Douglas.
VOICES—Douglas? That's the president of the Steel Trust, I bet.
Sure. I seen his mug in de papers.
He's filthy with dough.
VOICE—Hey, feller, take a tip from me. If you want to get back at that dame, you better join the Wobblies. You'll get some action then.
YANK—Wobblies? What de hell's dat?
VOICE—Ain't you ever heard of the I. W. W.?
YANK—Naw. What is it?
VOICE—A gang of blokes—a tough gang. I been readin' about 'em to-day in the paper. The guard give me the Sunday Times. There's a long spiel about 'em. It's from a speech made in the Senate by a guy named Senator Queen. [He is in the cell next to YANK's. There is a rustling of paper.] Wait'll I see if I got light enough and I'll read you. Listen. [He reads:] "There is a menace existing in this country to-day which threatens the vitals of our fair Republic—as foul a menace against the very life-blood of the American Eagle as was the foul conspiracy of Cataline against the eagles of ancient Rome!"
VOICE [Disgustedly.] Aw hell! Tell him to salt de tail of dat eagle!
VOICE—[Reading:] "I refer to that devil's brew of rascals, jailbirds, murderers and cutthroats who libel all honest working men by calling themselves the Industrial Workers of the World; but in the light of their nefarious plots, I call them the Industrious WRECKERS of the World!"
YANK—[With vengeful satisfaction.] Wreckers, dat's de right dope! Dat belongs! Me for dem!
VOICE—Ssshh! [Reading.] "This fiendish organization is a foul ulcer on the fair body of our Democracy—"
VOICE—Democracy, hell! Give him the boid, fellers—the raspberry! [They do.]
VOICE—Ssshh! [Reading:] "Like Cato I say to this senate, the I. W. W. must be destroyed! For they represent an ever-present dagger pointed at the heart of the greatest nation the world has ever known, where all men are born free and equal, with equal opportunities to all, where the Founding Fathers have guaranteed to each one happiness, where Truth, Honor, Liberty, Justice, and the Brotherhood of Man are a religion absorbed with one's mother's milk, taught at our father's knee, sealed, signed, and stamped upon in the glorious Constitution of these United States!" [A perfect storm of hisses, catcalls, boos, and hard laughter.]
VOICES—[Scornfully.] Hurrah for de Fort' of July!
Pass de hat!
Liberty!
Justice!
Honor!
Opportunity!
Brotherhood!
ALL—[With abysmal scorn.] Aw, hell!
VOICE—Give that Queen Senator guy the bark! All togedder now—one—two—tree—[A terrific chorus of barking and yapping.]
GUARD—[From a distance.] Quiet there, youse—or I'll git the hose. [The noise subsides.]
YANK—[With growling rage.] I'd like to catch dat senator guy alone for a second. I'd loin him some trute!
VOICE—Ssshh! Here's where he gits down to cases on the Wobblies. [Reads:] "They plot with fire in one hand and dynamite in the other. They stop not before murder to gain their ends, nor at the outraging of defenceless womanhood. They would tear down society, put the lowest scum in the seats of the mighty, turn Almighty God's revealed plan for the world topsy-turvy, and make of our sweet and lovely civilization a shambles, a desolation where man, God's masterpiece, would soon degenerate back to the ape!"
VOICE—[To YANK.] Hey, you guy. There's your ape stuff again.
YANK—[With a growl of fury.] I got him. So dey blow up tings, do dey? Dey turn tings round, do dey? Hey, lend me dat paper, will yuh?
VOICE—Sure. Give it to him. On'y keep it to yourself, see. We don't wanter listen to no more of that slop.
VOICE—Here you are. Hide it under your mattress.
YANK—[Reaching out.] Tanks. I can't read much but I kin manage. [He sits, the paper in the hand at his side, in the attitude of Rodin's "The Thinker." A pause. Several snores from down the corridor. Suddenly YANK jumps to his feet with a furious groan as if some appalling thought had crashed on him—bewilderedly.] Sure—her old man—president of de Steel Trust—makes half de steel in de world—steel—where I tought I belonged—drivin' trou—movin'—in dat—to make HER—and cage me in for her to spit on! Christ [He shakes the bars of his cell door till the whole tier trembles. Irritated, protesting exclamations from those awakened or trying to get to sleep.] He made dis—dis cage! Steel! IT don't belong, dat's what! Cages, cells, locks, bolts, bars—dat's what it means!—holdin' me down wit him at de top! But I'll drive trou! Fire, dat melts it! I'll be fire—under de heap—fire dat never goes out—hot as hell—breakin' out in de night—[While he has been saying this last he has shaken his cell door to a clanging accompaniment. As he comes to the "breakin' out" he seizes one bar with both hands and, putting his two feet up against the others so that his position is parallel to the floor like a monkey's, he gives a great wrench backwards. The bar bends like a licorice stick under his tremendous strength. Just at this moment the PRISON GUARD rushes in, dragging a hose behind him.]
GUARD—[Angrily.] I'll loin youse bums to wake me up! [Sees YANK.] Hello, it's you, huh? Got the D.T.s, hey? Well, I'll cure 'em. I'll drown your snakes for yuh! [Noticing the bar.] Hell, look at dat bar bended! On'y a bug is strong enough for dat!
YANK—[Glaring at him.] Or a hairy ape, yuh big yellow bum! Look out! Here I come! [He grabs another bar.]
GUARD—[Scared now—yelling off left.] Toin de hoose on, Ben!—full pressure! And call de others—and a strait jacket! [The curtain is falling. As it hides YANK from view, there is a splattering smash as the stream of water hits the steel of YANK's cell.]
[Curtain]

SCENE VII

SCENE—Nearly a month later. An I. W. W. local near the waterfront, showing the interior of a front room on the ground floor, and the street outside. Moonlight on the narrow street, buildings massed in black shadow. The interior of the room, which is general assembly room, office, and reading room, resembles some dingy settlement boys club. A desk and high stool are in one corner. A table with papers, stacks of pamphlets, chairs about it, is at center. The whole is decidedly cheap, banal, commonplace and unmysterious as a room could well be. The secretary is perched on the stool making entries in a large ledger. An eye shade casts his face into shadows. Eight or ten men, longshoremen, iron workers, and the like, are grouped about the table. Two are playing checkers. One is writing a letter. Most of them are smoking pipes. A big signboard is on the wall at the rear, "Industrial Workers of the World—Local No. 57."
YANK—[Comes down the street outside. He is dressed as in Scene Five. He moves cautiously, mysteriously. He comes to a point opposite the door; tiptoes softly up to it, listens, is impressed by the silence within, knocks carefully, as if he were guessing at the password to some secret rite. Listens. No answer. Knocks again a bit louder. No answer. Knocks impatiently, much louder.]
SECRETARY—[Turning around on his stool.] What the devil is that—someone knocking? [Shouts:] Come in, why don't you? [All the men in the room look up. YANK opens the door slowly, gingerly, as if afraid of an ambush. He looks around for secret doors, mystery, is taken aback by the commonplaceness of the room and the men in it, thinks he may have gotten in the wrong place, then sees the signboard on the wall and is reassured.]
YANK—[Blurts out.] Hello.
MEN—[Reservedly.] Hello.
YANK—[More easily.] I tought I'd bumped into de wrong dump.
SECRETARY—[Scrutinizing him carefully.] Maybe you have. Are you a member?
YANK—Naw, not yet. Dat's what I come for—to join.
SECRETARY—That's easy. What's your job—longshore?
YANK—Naw. Fireman—stoker on de liners.
SECRETARY—[With satisfaction.] Welcome to our city. Glad to know you people are waking up at last. We haven't got many members in your line.
YANK—Naw. Dey're all dead to de woild.
SECRETARY—Well, you can help to wake 'em. What's your name? I'll make out your card.
YANK—[Confused.] Name? Lemme tink.
SECRETARY—[Sharply.] Don't you know your own name?
YANK—Sure; but I been just Yank for so long—Bob, dat's it—Bob Smith.
SECRETARY—[Writing.] Robert Smith. [Fills out the rest of card.] Here you are. Cost you half a dollar.
YANK—Is dat all—four bits? Dat's easy. [Gives the SECRETARY the money.]
SECRETARY—[Throwing it in drawer.] Thanks. Well, make yourself at home. No introductions needed. There's literature on the table. Take some of those pamphlets with you to distribute aboard ship. They may bring results. Sow the seed, only go about it right. Don't get caught and fired. We got plenty out of work. What we need is men who can hold their jobs—and work for us at the same time.
YANK—Sure. [But he still stands, embarrassed and uneasy.]
SECRETARY—[Looking at him—curiously.] What did you knock for? Think we had a coon in uniform to open doors?
YANK—Naw. I tought it was locked—and dat yuh'd wanter give me the once-over trou a peep-hole or somep'n to see if I was right.
SECRETARY—[Alert and suspicious but with an easy laugh.] Think we were running a crap game? That door is never locked. What put that in your nut?
YANK—[With a knowing grin, convinced that this is all camouflage, a part of the secrecy.] Dis burg is full of bulls, ain't it?
SECRETARY—[Sharply.] What have the cops got to do with us? We're breaking no laws.
YANK—[With a knowing wink.] Sure. Youse wouldn't for woilds. Sure. I'm wise to dat.
SECRETARY—You seem to be wise to a lot of stuff none of us knows about.
YANK—[With another wink.] Aw, dat's aw right, see. [Then made a bit resentful by the suspicious glances from all sides.] Aw, can it! Youse needn't put me trou de toid degree. Can't youse see I belong? Sure! I'm reg'lar. I'll stick, get me? I'll shoot de woiks for youse. Dat's why I wanted to join in.
SECRETARY—[Breezily, feeling him out.] That's the right spirit. Only are you sure you understand what you've joined? It's all plain and above board; still, some guys get a wrong slant on us. [Sharply.] What's your notion of the purpose of the I. W. W.?
YANK—Aw, I know all about it.
SECRETARY—[Sarcastically.] Well, give us some of your valuable information.
YANK—[Cunningly.] I know enough not to speak outa my toin. [Then resentfully again.] Aw, say! I'm reg'lar. I'm wise to de game. I know yuh got to watch your step wit a stranger. For all youse know, I might be a plain-clothes dick, or somep'n, dat's what yuh're tinkin', huh? Aw, forget it! I belong, see? Ask any guy down to de docks if I don't.
SECRETARY—Who said you didn't?
YANK—After I'm 'nitiated, I'll show yuh.
SECRETARY—[Astounded.] Initiated? There's no initiation.
YANK—[Disappointed.] Ain't there no password—no grip nor nothin'?
SECRETARY—What'd you think this is—the Elks—or the Black Hand?
YANK—De Elks, hell! De Black Hand, dey're a lot of yellow backstickin' Ginees. Naw. Dis is a man's gang, ain't it?
SECRETARY—You said it! That's why we stand on our two feet in the open. We got no secrets.
YANK—[Surprised but admiringly.] Yuh mean to say yuh always run wide open—like dis?
SECRETARY—Exactly.
YANK—Den yuh sure got your noive wit youse!
SECRETARY—[Sharply.] Just what was it made you want to join us? Come out with that straight.
YANK—Yuh call me? Well, I got noive, too! Here's my hand. Yuh wanter blow tings up, don't yuh? Well, dat's me! I belong!
SECRETARY—[With pretended carelessness.] You mean change the unequal conditions of society by legitimate direct action—or with dynamite?
YANK—Dynamite! Blow it offen de oith—steel—all de cages—all de factories, steamers, buildings, jails—de Steel Trust and all dat makes it go.
SECRETARY—So—that's your idea, eh? And did you have any special job in that line you wanted to propose to us. [He makes a sign to the men, who get up cautiously one by one and group behind YANK.]
YANK—[Boldly.] Sure, I'll come out wit it. I'll show youse I'm one of de gang. Dere's dat millionaire guy, Douglas—
SECRETARY—President of the Steel Trust, you mean? Do you want to assassinate him?
YANK—Naw, dat don't get yuh nothin'. I mean blow up de factory, de woiks, where he makes de steel. Dat's what I'm after—to blow up de steel, knock all de steel in de woild up to de moon. Dat'll fix tings! [Eagerly, with a touch of bravado.] I'll do it by me lonesome! I'll show yuh! Tell me where his woiks is, how to git there, all de dope. Gimme de stuff, de old butter—and watch me do de rest! Watch de smoke and see it move! I don't give a damn if dey nab me—long as it's done! I'll soive life for it—and give 'em de laugh! [Half to himself.] And I'll write her a letter and tell her de hairy ape done it. Dat'll square tings.
SECRETARY—[Stepping away from YANK.] Very interesting. [He gives a signal. The men, huskies all, throw themselves on YANK and before he knows it they have his legs and arms pinioned. But he is too flabbergasted to make a struggle, anyway. They feel him over for weapons.]
MAN—No gat, no knife. Shall we give him what's what and put the boots to him?
SECRETARY—No. He isn't worth the trouble we'd get into. He's too stupid. [He comes closer and laughs mockingly in YANK'S face.] Ho-ho! By God, this is the biggest joke they've put up on us yet. Hey, you Joke! Who sent you—Burns or Pinkerton? No, by God, you're such a bonehead I'll bet you're in the Secret Service! Well, you dirty spy, you rotten agent provocator, you can go back and tell whatever skunk is paying you blood-money for betraying your brothers that he's wasting his coin. You couldn't catch a cold. And tell him that all he'll ever get on us, or ever has got, is just his own sneaking plots that he's framed up to put us in jail. We are what our manifesto says we are, neither more or less—and we'll give him a copy of that any time he calls. And as for you—[He glares scornfully at YANK, who is sunk in an oblivious stupor.] Oh, hell, what's the use of talking? You're a brainless ape.
YANK—[Aroused by the word to fierce but futile struggles.] What's dat, yuh Sheeny bum, yuh!
SECRETARY—Throw him out, boys. [In spite of his struggles, this is done with gusto and eclat. Propelled by several parting kicks, YANK lands sprawling in the middle of the narrow cobbled street. With a growl he starts to get up and storm the closed door, but stops bewildered by the confusion in his brain, pathetically impotent. He sits there, brooding, in as near to the attitude of Rodin's "Thinker" as he can get in his position.]
YANK—[Bitterly.] So dem boids don't tink I belong, neider. Aw, to hell wit 'em! Dey're in de wrong pew—de same old bull—soapboxes and Salvation Army—no guts! Cut out an hour offen de job a day and make me happy! Gimme a dollar more a day and make me happy! Tree square a day, and cauliflowers in de front yard—ekal rights—a woman and kids—a lousey vote—and I'm all fixed for Jesus, huh? Aw, hell! What does dat get yuh? Dis ting's in your inside, but it ain't your belly. Feedin' your face—sinkers and coffee—dat don't touch it. It's way down—at de bottom. Yuh can't grab it, and yuh can't stop it. It moves, and everyting moves. It stops and de whole woild stops. Dat's me now—I don't tick, see?—I'm a busted Ingersoll, dat's what. Steel was me, and I owned de woild. Now I ain't steel, and de woild owns me. Aw, hell! I can't see—it's all dark, get me? It's all wrong! [He turns a bitter mocking face up like an ape gibbering at the moon.] Say, youse up dere, Man in de Moon, yuh look so wise, gimme de answer, huh? Slip me de inside dope, de information right from de stable—where do I get off at, huh?
A POLICEMAN—[Who has come up the street in time to hear this last—with grim humor.] You'll get off at the station, you boob, if you don't get up out of that and keep movin'.
YANK—[Looking up at him—with a hard, bitter laugh.] Sure! Lock me up! Put me in a cage! Dat's de on'y answer yuh know. G'wan, lock me up!
POLICEMAN—What you been doin'?
YANK—Enuf to gimme life for! I was born, see? Sure, dat's de charge. Write it in de blotter. I was born, get me!
POLICEMAN—[Jocosely.] God pity your old woman! [Then matter-of-fact.] But I've no time for kidding. You're soused. I'd run you in but it's too long a walk to the station. Come on now, get up, or I'll fan your ears with this club. Beat it now! [He hauls YANK to his feet.]
YANK—[In a vague mocking tone.] Say, where do I go from here?
POLICEMAN—[Giving him a push—with a grin, indifferently.] Go to hell.
[Curtain]

SCENE VIII

SCENE—Twilight of the next day. The monkey house at the Zoo. One spot of clear gray light falls on the front of one cage so that the interior can be seen. The other cages are vague, shrouded in shadow from which chatterings pitched in a conversational tone can be heard. On the one cage a sign from which the word "gorilla" stands out. The gigantic animal himself is seen squatting on his haunches on a bench in much the same attitude as Rodin's "Thinker." YANK enters from the left. Immediately a chorus of angry chattering and screeching breaks out. The gorilla turns his eyes but makes no sound or move.
YANK—[With a hard, bitter laugh.] Welcome to your city, huh? Hail, hail, de gang's all here! [At the sound of his voice the chattering dies away into an attentive silence. YANK walks up to the gorilla's cage and, leaning over the railing, stares in at its occupant, who stares back at him, silent and motionless. There is a pause of dead stillness. Then YANK begins to talk in a friendly confidential tone, half-mockingly, but with a deep undercurrent of sympathy.] Say, yuh're some hard-lookin' guy, ain't yuh? I seen lots of tough nuts dat de gang called gorillas, but yuh're de foist real one I ever seen. Some chest yuh got, and shoulders, and dem arms and mits! I bet yuh got a punch in eider fist dat'd knock 'em all silly! [This with genuine admiration. The gorilla, as if he understood, stands upright, swelling out his chest and pounding on it with his fist. YANK grins sympathetically.] Sure, I get yuh. Yuh challenge de whole woild, huh? Yuh got what I was sayin' even if yuh muffed de woids. [Then bitterness creeping in.] And why wouldn't yuh get me? Ain't we both members of de same club—de Hairy Apes? [They stare at each other—a pause—then YANK goes on slowly and bitterly.] So yuh're what she seen when she looked at me, de white-faced tart! I was you to her, get me? On'y outa de cage—broke out—free to moider her, see? Sure! Dat's what she tought. She wasn't wise dat I was in a cage, too—worser'n yours—sure—a damn sight—'cause you got some chanct to bust loose—but me—[He grows confused.] Aw, hell! It's all wrong, ain't it? [A pause.] I s'pose yuh wanter know what I'm doin' here, huh? I been warmin' a bench down to de Battery—ever since last night. Sure. I seen de sun come up. Dat was pretty, too—all red and pink and green. I was lookin' at de skyscrapers—steel—and all de ships comin' in, sailin' out, all over de oith—and dey was steel, too. De sun was warm, dey wasn't no clouds, and dere was a breeze blowin'. Sure, it was great stuff. I got it aw right—what Paddy said about dat bein' de right dope—on'y I couldn't get IN it, see? I couldn't belong in dat. It was over my head. And I kept tinkin'—and den I beat it up here to see what youse was like. And I waited till dey was all gone to git yuh alone. Say, how d'yuh feel sittin' in dat pen all de time, havin' to stand for 'em comin' and starin' at yuh—de white-faced, skinny tarts and de boobs what marry 'em—makin' fun of yuh, laughin' at yuh, gittin' scared of yuh—damn 'em! [He pounds on the rail with his fist. The gorilla rattles the bars of his cage and snarls. All the other monkeys set up an angry chattering in the darkness. YANK goes on excitedly.] Sure! Dat's de way it hits me, too. On'y yuh're lucky, see? Yuh don't belong wit 'em and yuh know it. But me, I belong wit 'em—but I don't, see? Dey don't belong wit me, dat's what. Get me? Tinkin' is hard—[He passes one hand across his forehead with a painful gesture. The gorilla growls impatiently. YANK goes on gropingly.] It's dis way, what I'm drivin' at. Youse can sit and dope dream in de past, green woods, de jungle and de rest of it. Den yuh belong and dey don't. Den yuh kin laugh at 'em, see? Yuh're de champ of de woild. But me—I ain't got no past to tink in, nor nothin' dat's comin', on'y what's now—and dat don't belong. Sure, you're de best off! Yuh can't tink, can yuh? Yuh can't talk neider. But I kin make a bluff at talkin' and tinkin'—a'most git away wit it—a'most!—and dat's where de joker comes in. [He laughs.] I ain't on oith and I ain't in heaven, get me? I'm in de middle tryin' to separate 'em, takin' all de woist punches from bot' of 'em. Maybe dat's what dey call hell, huh? But you, yuh're at de bottom. You belong! Sure! Yuh're de on'y one in de woild dat does, yuh lucky stiff! [The gorilla growls proudly.] And dat's why dey gotter put yuh in a cage, see? [The gorilla roars angrily.] Sure! Yuh get me. It beats it when you try to tink it or talk it—it's way down—deep—behind—you 'n' me we feel it. Sure! Bot' members of dis club! [He laughs—then in a savage tone.] What de hell! T' hell wit it! A little action, dat's our meat! Dat belongs! Knock 'em down and keep bustin' 'em till dey croaks yuh wit a gat—wit steel! Sure! Are yuh game? Dey've looked at youse, ain't dey—in a cage? Wanter git even? Wanter wind up like a sport 'stead of croakin' slow in dere? [The gorilla roars an emphatic affirmative. YANK goes on with a sort of furious exaltation.] Sure! Yuh're reg'lar! Yuh'll stick to de finish! Me 'n' you, huh?—bot' members of this club! We'll put up one last star bout dat'll knock 'em offen deir seats! Dey'll have to make de cages stronger after we're trou! [The gorilla is straining at his bars, growling, hopping from one foot to the other. YANK takes a jimmy from under his coat and forces the lock on the cage door. He throws this open.] Pardon from de governor! Step out and shake hands! I'll take yuh for a walk down Fif' Avenoo. We'll knock 'em offen de oith and croak wit de band playin'. Come on, Brother. [The gorilla scrambles gingerly out of his cage. Goes to YANK and stands looking at him. YANK keeps his mocking tone—holds out his hand.] Shake—de secret grip of our order. [Something, the tone of mockery, perhaps, suddenly enrages the animal. With a spring he wraps his huge arms around YANK in a murderous hug. There is a crackling snap of crushed ribs—a gasping cry, still mocking, from YANK.] Hey, I didn't say, kiss me. [The gorilla lets the crushed body slip to the floor; stands over it uncertainly, considering; then picks it up, throws it in the cage, shuts the door, and shuffles off menacingly into the darkness at left. A great uproar of frightened chattering and whimpering comes from the other cages. Then YANK moves, groaning, opening his eyes, and there is silence. He mutters painfully.] Say—dey oughter match him—wit Zybszko. He got me, aw right. I'm trou. Even him didn't tink I belonged. [Then, with sudden passionate despair.] Christ, where do I get off at? Where do I fit in? [Checking himself as suddenly.] Aw, what de hell! No squakin', see! No quittin', get me! Croak wit your boots on! [He grabs hold of the bars of the cage and hauls himself painfully to his feet—looks around him bewilderedly—forces a mocking laugh.] In de cage, huh? [In the strident tones of a circus barker.] Ladies and gents, step forward and take a slant at de one and only—[His voice weakening]—one and original—Hairy Ape from de wilds of—[He slips in a heap on the floor and dies. The monkeys set up a chattering, whimpering wail. And, perhaps, the Hairy Ape at last belongs.]
[Curtain]

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T. S. Eliot Guide Questions

2010-03-11T03:57:00.000-08:00

FON American Literature T. S. Eliot Guide Questions

1. Is The “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” a love song in any traditional sense? In any modern sense?

2. What is suggested by the name “Prufrock”?

3. Who is “you” in the first line? What is the effect of the imagery in the opening lines? How, if at all does the identity of the “you” seem to shift throughout the poem?

4. Note that in Eliot’s poem the “you” of the first line becomes “we” in the final stanza. Are “I” and “you” the same as “we”? Is “we” all the J. Alfred Prufrocks of the world?

5. Which of the following best describes “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”?

a. It is a dramatic monologue like those written by the English poet Robert Browning, with a speaker and a listener.

b. It is an interior monologue in which the speaker, “I,” addresses his alter ego, “you.”

c. It is a poem spoken by “I” to “you” the reader.

6. What is suggested by the poem’s repeated references to Michelangelo? Do they suggest that in this society even Michelangelo becomes merely the subject of meaningless social parley, inconsequential small talk?

7. What is the effect of the allusions in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” to the sea and to its creatures, real and mythical?

8. Line 92 of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” alludes to Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” (lines 41–42). How is Marvell’s famous carpe diem poem ironically suited to the meaning of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”?

9. Are Prufrock’s attitudes the same at the end as at the beginning of the poem? Or does the language imply a change?

10. Eliot has been described as having a “long-standing detestation of women.” Discuss his treatment of women in his poems, especially in “The Waste Land.” Is the picture of them always negative? Have they any redeeming features?

11. How does the seduction of the typist in “The Waste Land” compare to the way Prufrock thinks about women in his Love Song?

12. Is “The Waste Land” devoid of social criticism? How does it use images of dryness and sterility to convey the sense of a postwar spiritual wasteland? How does he develop past/present contrasts in the poem?

13. How does Eliot use myth and allusion in “The Waste Land”? How does he deal with religion?

14. In “Journey of the Magi”, in what time of life is the Magus?

15. In “Journey of the Magi,” what is implied by the statement that the birth of Christ was “like Death, our death” (line 39)?

16. How is Eliot important to the development of modernist poetry in America? How can his role be compared with and contrasted to that of Frost?

Peer Review of Reports and Proposals

2010-03-11T03:52:00.000-08:00

Business Writing Short Report/ Proposal Draft Basic Peer Review

Draft written by (print): ____________________________________________________

Reviewed by (print): _____________________________________________ Date________

_____1. Format, appearance, and related elements: effective document design that is appropriate for the task; correctness, spacing, margins, documentation, headings [or topic sentences serving same function]; paragraphing; visual aids; parts of report; format appropriate to purpose.

_____2. Diction/syntax: correct use of idiomatic English and specialized business vocabulary; word choice; correct, effective sentences; coherence within paragraphs, appropriate to audience, suitable level of formality/register.

_____3. Correctness: editing and proofreading: grammar, mechanics, punctuation, spelling, usage.

_____4. Style: coherence between paragraphs and overall; conciseness; conversational yet professional style; reader sensitivity/appropriate tone; consistent tone; sense of audience; sense of context; courtesy; avoids belaboring the obvious; aids to readability (such as transitions).

_____5. Clarity: clear, effective organization that recognizes, but does not slavishly follow, organization of samples in task; unity--stresses relevant information and avoids irrelevancy; structure; completeness; contains all necessary parts/ documents; logical, thorough development of ideas; adapts general report and proposal concepts to the specific situation; support of generalizations.

_____6. General impression upon reader and overall response to draft: correct content--relevance to assigned task/topic; realistic, defensible handling of task problem; professionalism; maturity and originality of approach; value of content; appropriate level of development and length overall.

Additional suggestions and critique information should go below or on reverse side.

For each area, weight the skills thus: 5=Mastery of writing skills; outstanding and no problems; 4=Sound command of writing skills; very good; acceptable business quality; may have limited or minor problems that don’t affect meaning; 3=adequate writing skills; for teaching purposes, but not business quality; one or two major problems or a group of minor problems need further attention; 2=limited writing skills and competency, multiple problems and/or frequent minor problems; 1=minimal writing skills and competency, but attempts the skills listed; 0=weak writing skills; lacks competency in this area.
Last updated March 2010