Science Fiction Comparison When people’s lives are stripped away, and communication is lost, is the time when people prize companionship and affection the most. They crave to go back to the way their lives were before and something that was small before the destruction of their livelihood, is now what they depend on for their happiness. Both Rye and Dr. Jenkins experience longing for their pasts and they do anything to satisfy their nostalgia. In “Speech Sounds” and “The Portable Phonograph”, Octavia Butler and Walter Van Tilburg Clark describes the greed that the characters face, that causes destruction with both symbolism and the similarities of the characters. In “Speech Sounds” the main item that is envied for is communication. Since …show more content…
Rye was once a teacher, which makes her even more jealous of Obsidian when she discovers he can speak and read. She automatically loathes him because she cannot do the things she once did. This is significant because communication is something she longs for is ripped away from her and is given to someone else. Her ability to speak, read and write is a connection to her past, but she cannot go back to the way things once were. The symbolism of communication is related to “The Portable Phonograph” because the phonograph is the object that is envied as well. The phonograph represents Dr. Jenkin’s need for friends and company. With almost no form of communication or entertainment in this society, the group almost seems to worship the phonograph as, that is all they have. The use of the phonograph is only done at a special occasion, which for Dr. …show more content…
Jenkins are similar in the way that they both crave interaction with other people. Both of their worlds are torn apart and being with others is the only thing that can bring peace. Rye senses an instant connection with Obsidian, even though she is jealous of him since he can read and write, and she cannot. “learn to accept the state-of-nature conditions under which we live; these conditions are not something from which Butler’s characters can reliably escape” (Curtis 413). Rye learns to make the best of her situation when she decides to take those children with her, knowing she cannot bring her children back to life. She tries to make a bad situation better and gives hope for a better future. Dr. Jenkins does not care as much about the phonograph as much as he does about the company that comes along with it. He enjoys the people that visit him because that does not happen much in this society, and the phonograph is a way of bringing them together for something. This is significant to his character because he is lonely and a bit of interaction with these people could mean the world to him. Both character miss things from their pasts, and though they cannot go back to the way things once were, they savor the moments that bring them the joy they once
In his short story “Reading the Paper”, Ron Carlson uses the technique of switching between a normal morning routine and unexpected tragedies to show that the story is truly about reading the paper. After completing some of their morning tasks, such as doing the wash or getting timmy ready for school, the narrator hears someone knock on the back door. When the narrator opens up the door and sees a guy who had just escaped from prison, the escaped prisoner asks “if he can come in and rape [them] and cut [them] up a little bit”(1). Instead of being affected by this at all, the narrator then says, “after he does that, my coffee’s cold, so I pour a new cup”(1). This switch between experiencing a horrible event and continuing their morning routine of getting coffee isn’t normal.
Isolation, confinement and loneliness are major themes within Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. Without Isolation, confinement and loneliness, the novels would have an entirely different consequences and outcome. With the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper and Lennie from Of Mice and Men being isolated in the setting of the novels, there is no escape from achieving a positive resolution. Dialogue shows the confinement of Lennie’s and the narrator’s mental capacities, as well as foreshadowing, that demonstrates how the only way to gain a sense of freedom in both texts is to die.
American journalist and politician, Clare Boothe Luce, in her opening speech at the 1960 Women’s National Press Club meeting, prepares her audience, qualifying and defending her forthcoming criticism. Luce’s purpose is to provoke thought in the journalist’s minds on what journalism is really about at its core. She adopts a frank and humorous tone to best capture the attention of her intended audience of female journalists. Through, appealing to the ethos, logos, and pathos with flattery, syllogism, and rhetorical questioning to prepare the audience for her message: “the tendency of the American press to sacrifice journalistic integrity in favor of the perceived public demand for sensationalist stories.” In the first paragraph of her speech, Luce assures the audience that “[she is] happy and flattered to be a guest of honor…”
During the Progressive Era, women began reforms to address social, political, and economic issues within society. Some addressed the issues with education, healthcare, and political corruption. Others worked to raise wages and improve work conditions. Among these (women) is Carrie Chapman Catt, a leader of the women’s suffrage movement. Beginning her career as a national women’s rights activist in 1890, she was asked to address Congress about the proposed suffrage amendment shortly after two years.
Narrator and Sara’s Tone In Anzia Yezierska 's Bread Givers of 1952, a family of immigrant parents living in poverty in the ghetto of New York City struggle to survive. Sara and the narrator both had an awestruck tone towards Max. No matter who was talking, they speak so kind and fondly about Max. Besides their similarities, there were many differences in speed and purpose. When Sara was speaking, she had a very hasty tone where her words were repetitive and scattered.
On November 13th, 1969, Spiro Agnew, who was the Vice President at the time, gave the speech, Television News Coverage, about how news producers are becoming too powerful (Bibliography.com.) To successfully inform his audience, he uses many rhetorical strategies to keep everyone engaged and attentive. Agnew delivered an exceptional speech by using multiple techniques such as analogies, anaphoras, parallelism, and rhetorical questions to justify this problem to his audience. To help his audience understand what is being addressed, Agnew uses analogies to connect his ideas to familiar objects.
To the untrained eye, a story could be viewed one-dimensionally; a tale might only appeal to emotion while logic is left out in the cold. Equally, logic may be forgotten while emotion is heavily focused on. However, through the use of Critical Lenses, readers can begin to see greater depth in literature. As readers find connections through Critical Lenses, they become more educated on various topics, more aware of social, political, and even logical abstractions. Instead of failing to retain the intent and content of the material, they even can remember details of stories more vividly when truly examining literature rather than reading it once for entertainment (or chore).
The New and Lonesome Normal Joyce Oates’s “Hi Howya Doin” depicts the violence that has captured and encapsulated today’s culture. The un-deemed murder of an innocent jogger in the end of this story validates and justifies the fear that so many individuals feel. In Oates’s short story, “Hi Howya Doin”, the protagonist is depicted as a “Good-looking husky guy six-foot-four in the late twenties or early thirties, Caucasian male…..solid built as a fire hydrant, carries himself like an athlete, or an ex-athlete” (214). Through the police report, giving the description of the protagonist, Oates foretells his surprising fate at the beginning of the story which in turn, creates tension and suspense for the reader as the protagonist goes about what
In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the protagonist, Offred, expresses her wish that her “story [is] different,” that it is “happier,” or at least “more active, less hesitant, less distracted” than it is ultimately portrayed (267). However, as her story is told, these characteristics are evident in the way she talks and acts, especially around those with authority. Hesitant to express her true thoughts and feelings, and distracted by memories from her previous life, Offred attempts to piece together her role in the society that has taken her freedom. The result is a compilation of moments, of memories, both from her present, her past, and even speculation about her future.
Stories are the foundation of relationships. They represent the shared lessons, the memories, and the feelings between people. But often times, those stories are mistakenly left unspoken; often times, the weight of the impending future mutes the stories, and what remains is nothing more than self-destructive questions and emotions that “add up to silence” (Lee. 23). In “A Story” by Li-Young Lee, Lee uses economic imagery of the transient present and the inevitable and fear-igniting future, a third person omniscient point of view that shifts between the father’s and son’s perspective and between the present and future, and emotional diction to depict the undying love between a father and a son shadowed by the fear of change and to illuminate the damage caused by silence and the differences between childhood and adulthood perception. “A Story” is essentially a pencil sketch of the juxtaposition between the father’s biggest fear and the beautiful present he is unable to enjoy.
Speech Sounds and Octavia Butler The science fiction short story “Speech Sounds” is written by American writer Octavia Butler, it was first published in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in December 1983. This story presents Rye, a survivor of a dystopian world ravaged by nuclear war, where the effects after the blast caused people to lose the ability of basic communication. Here we see Rye fight against external and internal conflicts such as fighting against the world she lives in and fighting against her own wavering state of mind or identity. Her solution to finding peace with both situations was to find if she had any living relatives left, being that the ones living with her have perished, and in that moment she recalls her Brother and
Speech Sounds 1) Summary A mysterious disease has swept across the nation and deprived many of their abilities of communication; speeches, literacy, as well as the lives of numerous people were lost. Rye, after the death of her family to the disease, was making a trip to Pasadena out of loneliness and desperation in search of her remaining relatives. While riding on the bus Rye encountered Obsidian, a man dressed in police uniform trying to restore peace in a society where miscommunication led to violence and government was obsolete.
In both these stories, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the themes of human heartbreak and materialism are closely examined, through the characters’ dreams, minds, and worlds. An example of this would be the portrayal of the main characters’ relationships with others, and their desperate attempts to impress others through assets. In both these stories, irony is a common theme, with materialism being at the crux of each characters’ eventual downfall, and their misguided ideals of love. The stories emphasize a bleak and depressing world; The opening paragraphs of “The Gift of the Magi” show that life is more heartache than joy: “life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating”.
- Vocal expression, the way the performer uses their voice to convey a character. Jo-Anne Bachorowski in Vocal Expression and Perception of Emotion states that “The expression of emotions in speech sounds and corresponding abilities to perceive such emotions are both fundamental aspects of human communication.” (1999) therefore, this element is an important aspect of the creation of the connection between the performer and the audience. - Inflection, Change in pitch or loudness of the voice. As the voice is a more permeable channel than the face, it is more challenging to control and therefore, is more likely to expose true feelings.
Aural means related to sense of hearing and oral related to verbal communication. Surely when the student is getting better in both listening and speaking they will reach communicative competence. Communicative competence refers to the level of language learning that enables language users to convey their message to others and to understand others’ messages within specific context (Hymes, 1972). Of course to reach this competence, both listening and speaking improvement is really needed. The Aural-Oral approach is very effective to be implemented in English Language Teaching in case to build communicative competence of student.