9 Pieces of Analysis

Journal 6:
1. Word Choice

• the author uses a mid-level of vocab.; not too hard to understand, but still intelligent

Q: Why doesn't Camus use a higher level of vocab like the other translation?

2. Sentences

• passive verbs
• sentences vary between short/choppy and long and descriptive

Q: Why does Camus choose to write in the passive voice?

3. Images

• constantly describing the room he's in or where he is
• Meursault is very hot almost all the time; never really cold

Q: Why does Camus constantly describe how hot Meursault is and never when he is cold?

4. Symbols

• the sun and the sky

Q: Why does Camus continually describe the sun as a painful/negative symbol?

5. Figure of Speech

• Uses it in odd places or unexpected places

i.e. the metaphor of how his cell/going through the trial feels like his home/family

Q: Why does Camus use figurative language at such odd times?

6. Rhetorical Devices

• seems quite unorganized at times with the changing from long, lengthy sentences to short sentences
• the dialogue with Meursault seems to be short responses or comments

Q: Why does Camus make Meursault's speech/vocab similar to the narrator's?

7. Patterns

• author always states a fact of some sort at the beginning of each chapter

Q: Why does Camus start off each chapter like that?

8. Narrator

• he is an active participant

Q: Why did Camus choose to write this book in the first person?

9. Structure

• At times the author goes through a week of Meursault's life really fast by simply stating how long it has been, then most of the time the author goes at a very slow pace describing every little detail, object, person, etc.

Q: Why does Camus change his pace at times?

Thesis Statements:

1.Word Choice-Alexander

Camus uses simple words to describe so formal a book so that the reader can better understand the content and meaning of each aspect.

2. Sentences-Keegan

Camus only uses statements, no exclamations or questions, to create a mood of detachment from emotions.

3. Images-Alexander

Camus's purpose for including contrasting senses is to create this sense of black and white; no real emotion just simply physical reactions.

4. Symbols-Keegan

Camus has a lack of symbols so as to not get the reader too confused or distracted from his true theme of how lack of emotion affects one's life.

5. Figure of Speech-Athanasia

Camus doesn't create more obvious and deep metaphors so that the reader isn't confused as to what exactly the theme is of how lack of emotion affects one's life. He wants to keep it simple.

6. Rhetorical Devices-Athanasia

Camus shows more emotion and feeling in the narration than in the dialogue so as to create distance or distinction between Meursault and the narrator.

7. Patterns-Alexander

Camus continually contrasts black and white to be a metaphor for Meursault's character and how things to him are black and white; he either does something or he doesn't and it never really matters.

8. Narrator-Alexander

Camus chooses to write the novel in 1st person from Mersault's view because if it had been written in third person, the reader might not have been able to connect with Meursault as much because his actions from afar might have seemed less human.

9. Structure-Alexander

Camus chooses to include some of Meursault's seemingly unimportant thoughts so that the reader can fully understand Meursault's "black and white" personality and how meaningless even his thoughts are.

How my philosophy affects my opinion of the book

Journal 5:
Being that I am a Christian affects the way I feel about about a book entirely. Growing up with Christian morals and beliefs of how I should live my life affect my every thought. Therefore they affect my opinion of this, and any, book most certainly. My beliefs affect whether or not I connect with the characters, whether I connect with the narrator and ultimately whether I like the book or not. With The Stranger, it was hard at first and still is at times to see Meursault do things or act a certain way that just does not make sense to me or that i flat out don't agree with. This is because for me, just about everything in my life has meaning and purpose, whereas Meursault is the complete opposite. But I'm also open-minded in that if I believed that nothing had meaning, I might act somewhat similar to Meursault. Having beliefs is difficult when reading a book such as The Stranger, but as long as I keep an open-mind, I can connect with at least some of the aspects of the book.

Tracking Motifs in The Stranger

Journal 4:

Motifs= Sun the and the sky

• Sun-"By now the sun was overpowering. It shattered into little pieces on the sand and water"(Camus 55). The overpowering sun could be the tension between Meursault and Raymond coming to a peak while they walk on the beach.
• Sun-"[...] and I could feel my forehead swelling under the sun. All that heat was pressing down on me and making it hard for me to go on" (Camus 57). If the sun is a symbol of Meursault's emotions then they are hindering him from moving forward.
• Sun-"It was the same sun, the same light still shining on the same sand as before" (Camus 58). The sun seems to stay constant, even in times of trouble.

• Sky-"It seemed as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire"(Camus 59). This metaphor makes the sky seem angry, mad, or revengeful.

My Philosophy

Journal 3:

Christianism

(My) Definition: All things were created in the likeness of God, the one and only God, who rules over all while also desiring a relationship with each individual human being.

Principles:

• God ultimately desires a relationship with everyone-God created us so that he could have someone to love and to love him back. He wants his people to rely on him and want to follow him as well as talk with him through prayer. He loves all that he has created.
• Along with giving us life, God gave his people free will- God didn't want a bunch of robots who only loved him because they were made to. He wanted everyone to have a choice.
• God is omnipotent or all-powerful- God created all things and is the ultimate ruler. He has all the power in the world and he has control over everything.
• God is also omnipresent- God is everywhere. He is in our surroundings as well as in the people in our lives. He follows us wherever we go and he never abandons anyone.
• One of the biggest characteristics of God is that he is omniscient- God is all-knowing. He knows the thoughts in our heads, he knows every word that is going to come out of our mouths even before we think of them. Ultimately God has a plan for each and every one of us therefore everything happens for a reason.
• By believing in him a person is given everlasting life in heaven- God promises to make a place in heaven for all those who believe in him. This is expressed multiple times throughout the Bible.
• Because God loves everyone, we should love everyone as well- We are taught in the Bible to love and respect God, as well as ourselves and others. Followers of Jesus strive to live their lives as he did, with love, compassion and an everlasting hope.

*All of these things are taught to us through the Bible which is his word and is the book of life.*

Stranger-(2/23/09)

Journal 2:
After his mother died Meursault does many things. He first goes to the Home where his mother is and then goes to her funeral. After two days he gets back home in the evening, which he is very happy about, and he sleeps because he is exhausted. The next morning he goes to the beach where he swims and flirts/hangs out with Marie Cardona. They spend the whole day together and then Marie spends the night. She then leaves very early the next morning, which is Sunday. Meursault wakes up and makes himself lunch instead of going to his usual restaurant and then he people-watches all day from his balcony. By the end of the day, he realizes that nothing has really changed since his mother's death, which is very peculiar to the reader.

Meursault's activities seem like distractions. It seems like he never really had a very close relationship with his mother and is therefore not very sad at her death. Because he feels this way/doesn't feel anything at all, he lives life normally; like he would have even if his mother hadn't died. All of his actions make him seem emotionless and very detached.

Camus probably created the protagonist, Meursault the way he did to show a pure example of existentialism, which is what the whole book is based on. Existentialism is the belief that everything in the world is meaningless. This belief can cause a person to show very little emotion towards anyone/anything because ultimately they believe that those things or people are and mean nothing. This sense of awareness is conveyed by the character of Meursault and is what Camus is trying to accomplish.

The Stranger-2 Different Translations (2/23/09)

Stranger Journal 1:
The two translations are different in that they each create a slightly different tone/mood. In the first translation, the narrator seems slightly less literate than in the second translation due to the sentence structure. But although the first translation might not be put together as well as the second, the first one seems to convey more of an emotion than the second. The second translation is clear-cut and to the point. Almost like the death of the mother is not that important to the narrator. For example, in the second translation, the narrator writes "After the funeral, though, the case will be closed, and everything will have a more official feel to it". This passage uses figure of speech when he writes, "the case will be closed" sending the message that he doesn't really care that his mother is dead; that all he cares about is the remorse the people around him feel for his lose. The first translation seems to be quick and choppy while the second, though shorter, expresses more emotion.

Ch 19 and 20 Journal (2/17/09)

Journal:
The structure creates an outline in a way for the text. The "outline" begins at each chapter and sets the stage for what is to come in that chapter. Most of the time the chapter will start off with a metaphor, or motif, etc. bringing the reader in. At times the metaphors or motifs at the beginnings of the chapters don't quite make sense until the end of the chapter or until the plot has revealed itself. But that first literary device that is used brings the reader in even though it might confuse them because that makes them want to understand and keep reading. The device used at the beginning tends to show up again throughout the chapter or is at least better understood by the end from what happens in that chapter. Those devices/structure helps the reader understand and relate better to the text/characters.

Journals ch16-18 (2/15/09)

Ch 16-17 Journal:
The Turner's marriage seems to be very similar to a lot of the other marriages on the muck, but compared to Janie and Tea Cake's it's quite different. Like a lot of the other married couples such as Sop-de-Bottom and his wife, the women in the relationship seem to have the overall power. Sop-de-Bottom's wife seems to have the power because she fights back when Sop-de-Bottom tries to beat her showing that she is a prideful woman. Then there's Mrs. Turner who is a very strong-willed woman which seems to make up for her husband's lack of manliness/strength, physical or mental. Mrs. Turner seems to hold the power in her marriage like a lot of other wives except for Janie. Janie is smitten with Tea Cake and she seems to think that she has no worth or happiness without him. This mindset of Janie's gives Tea Cake all the power. Even after he beats her she is still very submissive and people were surprised by, "the helpless way she hung on him"(Hurston 147). Janie, unlike Sop-de-Bottom's wife and Mrs. Turner, does not have the power in her marriage, but she instead gives it freely to Tea Cake.

Ch 18 Journal:
The title of Zora Neale Hurston's There Eyes Were Watching God has great significance in expressing the relationship between the characters and God. A lot of the characters seem to believe there is a God, but that they don't rely or look to him until they need him. The characters seem to think of God as this greater being that has more power than they could ever imagine which is seen through nature such as the hurricane. Hurston suggests during the process of this event that the characters hold great reverence for God, but that it is a reverence which comes out of fear.

Journal-3 Techniques (ch 13-15) 2/12/09

Journal:
1. p. 118-simile
"The room inside looked like the mouth of an alligator-gaped wide open to swallow something down."
Janie goes through so much throughout her life that one more thing could make her lose herself forever. One such thing is the state of panic that she went into after the $200 she had pinned to one of her shirts was gone. She frantically looked for it around the room, but truthfully she knew exactly where it was, with Tea Cake. Once this fact is realized she has to sit down to keep control of herself and the room seems to look like the mouth of an alligator to her. This simile was used not only to describe the room, but to also help the reader understand Janie's mood. Her thoughts were turning to denial and anger. She was scared and lonely, feeling like the world was crashing around her and she was going to be swallowed up by her sorrow and despair.

2. p. 128-metaphor/round character
"So her soul crawled out from its hiding place."
Tea Cake is very confident in himself and in Janie, but sometimes having too much confidence can get a man in trouble, but also create stronger relationships as is what happened with Janie and Tea Cake. One night when Tea Cake went gambling to try to win back Janie's $200 that he spent, he comes back to the hotel with two cuts from a fight he got in over winning a lot of money and asks Janie to fix him up. After Janie stitches him up Tea Cake falls asleep and Janie can't help but stare at him while her love for him grows even stronger. That's when, "her soul crawled out from its hiding place"(Hurston 128). This metaphor shows the deep change in Janie's character finally complete. She finally feels like the Janie she was meant to be, a confident, loving, woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it.

3. p. 136-personification
"A little seed of fear was growing into a tree."
Tea Cake is a very fun guy who just about everyone likes, but sometimes he is too friendly. For example, how a woman both Janie and Tea Cake worked with named Nunkie really seemed to like Tea Cake a lot. She would make him chase her by hitting him and then running away. This flirtation and the fact that Tea Cake flirted back made Janie very jealous and she began to question the stability of her and Tea Cake's relationship. Hurston personified Janie's fear with being like a seed that is turning into a tree showing that Janie's small seed of doubt in their relationship has grown now that she sees that flirtation going on between Nunkie and Tea Cake. This helps the reader understand the extent to which her fear has grown and how basically she is at her boiling point which allows the reader to predict what might happen in the future (i.e. a fight).

Journal-ch 11 & 12 (2/11/09)

Journal:
What motivates Janie is partially herself and partially Tea Cake. Mostly Tea Cake motivates her because he pushes her to think for herself by telling her, "Have de nerve tuh say whut you mean" (Hurston 109). He teaches her new things about the world, and herself and what she can do such as play checkers, which is something she was never asked or expected to do before. Tea Cake has faith in her, which makes her have faith in herself. Also now that Joe isn't around anymore to bring her down her self-confidence is rising because she feels free and no longer doing things on anyone else's terms, but hers.

Janie transformation into her true self is very evident throughout both chapter 11 and 12. She went through her 6 months of mourning for Joe where she wore all black and then the real Janie started to come out. She began to wear colors, she spoke her mind more often, and overall she completely changed. Everyone could feel it. Especially the townspeople for example, who saw her playing checkers and, "they liked it" (Hurston 101). It was obvious that Janie had become a more outspoken, active and confident woman.

Mimicking-Abstract Nouns Journal

Journal 4:
So Beth began to live in denial. Denial, that lion with claws dripping with defiance who waited in the night ready to pounce. The proud one who lived in a cage like a box without slits to it, and without an escape. What need does denial have for an escape, and what light can shine in his place? He crouches in his cage that sits in the shadows. Crouches restless and concentrated all night with his claws out, waiting for the key to release him. Been crouching ever since he was caged in a way that he would have to stay until let go. She was bound to feel a tear from his claws inside her at any moment. She was angry and hurt too. Poor Beth! He ought to be strung up by his toes. She stood with him in service so that he might seek repentance, but Steve did not. That majestic being could handle all things, but seemed distant at this time. He'd be forgiven just as soon as that demon left his body. He didn't need to say sorry. That's what he thought. But her heart told her the opposite, so she understood. And then if he didn't, the next morning she knew what she had to do, because the children began to see the stress and anger in the walls of the tiny apartment. The children who dared not go into the place where tensions were high and they did not go into the bedroom. Just sat behind the door and listened. Rejection, that clawing lion, had been unleashed.

Journal 3 (ch 4) 2/509

Journal 3:
1. p. 28- Tone
"Let colored folks build things too if dey wants to crow over somethin'."
Zora Neale Hurston expresses a tone of anger or at least some frustration within this passage. She is explaining why Joe Starks is on the road and sort of where he is going or at least his goal. She expresses anger or frustration through the words she has chosen with the sharp consonance (i.e. the use of "c" twice). Typically, the use of harsh consonance tends to display anger especially since it is written like a demand almost. She is trying to portray the importance of colored folks needing to be able to build their on towns, houses, etc. and have a sense of equality and community.

2. p. 29- Hyperbole
"'You ain't got no mo' business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday!'"
Hurston uses the character Joe Starks to express the surprise of Janie saying that she plows. Starks exaggerates somewhat in his statement, but his meaning behind this very significant to that time period when women were "supposed" to stay and work in the kitchen all day and be pampered, which is what Starks believed as opposed to Killicks', Janie's husband, who believes that the wife should help or be wherever she is needed or requested. Basically, through this hyperbole Hurston points out the different points of view on the role of the wife.

3. p. 29- Symbol
"Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon."
This passage identifies a small symbol. This statement is said by the narrator who is discussing Starks and who he is. The symbol is the horizon which embodies the future. It was also said before that he had always "wanted to be a big voice"(p. 28) meaning he wanted to help out his people in gaining equality and freedom from segregation. This he talks about " for the far horizon" or the future. This is saying that Starks has a positive outlook on what will happen in the future as far as gaining freedom and having no more segregation.

4. p. 31- Simile
"Logan with his shovel looked like a black bear doing some clumsy dance on his hind legs."
This passage gives the reader a good image of what Logan Killicks looks like using a simile. Saying that he looks like a black bear reveals the image that he is a big, strong and at times a ferocious man. But then the simile ends with saying that he looks clumsy. This portrays him as maybe being strong, just not the most coordinated or sophisticated man. This simile helps the reader understand his character through the use of a simile.

5. p. 32- Epiphany
"What was she losing so much time for? A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her."
This scene depicts the revelation Janie has about her life. She is very unhappy with the way her husband treats her and she feels a sudden urge to get out of that life once she realizes that she can just leave. That she can go marry a man who wants to treat her like she wants to be treated and not have to deal with the "needs" or constant demands of her current husband. This epiphany helps her to move onto a new chapter in her life and slowly begin to fully realize her freedom and independence.

Journals 2/4/09

Journal 1:
The narration differs from the dialect in many ways. The biggest difference is in the use of "proper/correct English". The narrator uses very proper English, using full words instead of slurring them together or using slang, whereas the dialect uses a lot of slang and slurring of words. The dialect is Southern which might account for the slang since southerners have an accent. Both get their point across, while one is simply clearer than the other.

Journal 2:
The setting plays a very important part in any story. In this book the setting establishes the tone of the story while also affecting the text, characterization and motivation. This book is set in the South where the main character, Janie Crawford, comes home after many things happen in her life. The gossip surrounding her arrival for instance, sets the tone of suspicion and curiosity in trying to figure out why she is back home when she left so happy and seemingly well-off. The discovery of the answer to that question lies within finding Janie's motivation. The setting affects both the atmosphere of the book and the motivation of the character sometimes in subtle, but usually significant ways.