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Jakobson's Passing Analysis

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As we read through Passing, it’s critical to first understand Jakobson’s model of communication between the author and the reader as it plays an important role throughout the novella. Roman Jakobson, a structuralist theorist, came up with a map demonstrating how thoughts, ideas, and content get communicated throughout the reading process. To begin, the adresser, the author, sends a message to the addressee, the reader, which contains referential context ready for the addressee to code and then, creates a contact as connections become created through the text and soon, a relationship is made between the two (Parker 335-336). In this case, we can even view this model as a character or narrator being the adresser as they are the ones conveying …show more content…

Through Irene’s consistent change of indirect and direct discourse, it often leads some readers to have a hard time understanding what is being communicated and come to certain assumptions. From the very start, Clare sends countless letters to Irene in hopes to confide with one another after their unexpected encounter. In the letter, Clare directly discourses “for I am lonely, so lonely...cannot help longing to be with you again...it’s like an ache, a pain that never ceases” (Larsen 7). The loneliness, pain, and ache Clare psychologically feels describes the emotive functions of the text as it goes beyond the conative discourses. Clare wants the reader to feel the same pain she feels and by doing so, she illustrates her emotions detailed enough, that it would persuade any reader to immediately be interested in her desire for help. Before Irene even decides to read the letter, she already senses danger and anxiety as she indirectly discourses the letter to be “sly...bore” (Larsen 1) and “foolish” (Larsen 7). Even though Irene was stubborn and hesitated to open the letter, she still felt curious and soon, read

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It is when dealing with the status of Clare and Irene’s relationship with each other that things become much more stressful for Irene. She is interested in Clare romantically, and this interest is reciprocated, “…Clare had come softly into the room without knocking, and before Irene could greet her, had dropped a kiss on her dark curls. Looking at the woman before her, Irene Redfield had a sudden inexplicable onrush of affectionate feeling” (Larsen 45-46). Whenever Irene is with Clare, and even sometimes when she is not, all she thinks about is Clare. According to Irene, Clare is a manipulator and that provides an explanation as to why Irene would feel the way she does about Clare.

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Ann Landers once said, “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.” This quotation means that friendship is can be good, and bad.

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In addition, the search for self-identity is viewed as important in today’s society. Thus, these confliction attributes lead the reader to identify Edna as morally ambiguous. Categorizing complex characters as purely good or purely evil is not one of the easiest of tasks. As a result, it is best to characterize them as morally ambiguous. In Edna’s case, she is morally ambiguous due to her romantic affiliations and role-defying actions, but both are immensely vital to Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” as a complete whole.

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(CK: 54) If one remembers the glory of sensuous detail in the presentation of Madeleine in in The Serpent and the Rope or Shantha in The Cat and Shakespeare, one perhaps feels something frightening in the presentation of Irene, in such pathological terms, which precludes not only poetry but also the reality of human body as a

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While reading one of Clare’s letters, the narrator doesn’t properly communicate the actual description of the message as it sends two different interpretations to the readers. Not to mention that the phone calls between Clare and Irene also fails to communicate both viewpoints as the narrator only mentions one side of the direct discourse. On that note, the direct and indirect discourses of their face to face conversation demonstrates two different conative discussions, giving us a better insight of their true characteristics. As the end approaches with a mysterious tragedy, we are to question Irene as her dialogue and interpretation ineffectively matches the reader’s perspective, due to her outlook bordering between accidental and intentional motives. With the characters and narrator using different methods of communication, such as the letters, phone calls, and in person conversations, it leads us to question their integrity and whether the discourse accurately represents the climactic fallouts of the

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A suppressed, detached tone is formed as a result of figurative language, syntax, and diction in such situations. The use of specific figurative language, especially similes and imagery, is essential in the development of this detached, painful tone when Offred is describing her present feelings. For instance, when Offred describes her relationship with the Marthas, she recalls how their interactions include “soft and minor” voices that are as “mournful as pigeons in the eaves troughs.” (11) Imagery is used to illustrate the “closed face and pressed lips,” of the Marthas, and Offred herself is considered “like a disease, or any form of bad luck.” (10) It is evident that Offred feels alone and ostracized, and is not able to have a true connection with those around her.

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No multitude of words could have been more significant than these moments of silence , or more pregnant with the first felt throbbing of desire” (Pg. 30) the sexual impulses that had once died down first became awakened at this point of the novel. Edna Pontellier resurrected the optimistic view of lovemaking once more, but is usually never cognizant of the actions she commits. Ednas sexual awakening is split into two parts, emotionally and physically. Edna Pontelliers emotional sexual awakening is brought to life by the hands of Robert. When Robert leaves her the first time, she is upset, unable to believe he left so abruptly, and without saying goodbye.

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The point of view of “Geraldine Moore the Poet” is third person limited. The reader is limited to the point of view of only one character. In this story, it is the thoughts and feelings of Geraldine Moore. Proof of this can be found anywhere in the story. Toni Cade Bambara beings the story with, “Geraldine paused at the corner to pull her knee socks.”

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