Page Range 5 –7 pages, not including the works cited pageObject.docx
- 1. Page Range: 5 –7 pages, not including the works cited page Objective: Don DeLillo’s White Noise (1985) is a postmodern novel that is critiquing the modern American culture by connecting consumerism to identity and at the center of it all is death. For this assignment, we will research and analyze the novel determining its literary importance using multiple sources. Prompt:For this essay, identify some of the observations/criticisms Don DeLillo is making in his novel White Noise about society in the 1980s and how these observations are still applicable to us today. Outside sources: To support your ideas, you will use: 1.concrete examples from the novel by directly citing key passages 2. 3 scholarly articles that offer an analysis on DeLillo’s White Noise you have found on the library’s database—do not use book reviews—to support your analysis 3.as an option, youmay also include additional articles that speak to pop culture either from our textbook or from periodicals found on the library databases or in the library. 4.Do not use google to research for articles on White Noise. 5.Do not use Wikipedia, blogs,or other questionable sources not considered to be an academic source. Directions: This essay will follow the general structure of an introductionwith a clearly stated thesis statement, body, and conclusion. When citing the authors from the textbook, be sure to adequately introduce the text(s) you will be using to support your points by author’s full name, title of work (either in italics for long works or in quotes for short works)and a brief summary of the text as it relates to the quoted passage. Use proper in-text citations for textual support and format the essay using MLA
- 2. guidelinesand include a works cited page for all borrowed material. Structure of your essay: This essay will move beyond a 5- paragrpah model. To make a cohesive and complicated argument, pick one main criticism you see this novel making about our American culture (in the 1980s). Once you identify that main criticism, then you will break down different observations DeLillo is making about that criticism in multiple (more than 3) body paragraphs. Each of these paragraphs will build upon the ideas explored in the previous paragraph to create a unified argument. Moreover, as the essay draws near to its end, extend on the criticism DeLillo is making to show how it is applicable to our society today. This could be in a paragraph or two before you conclude. As you can see, this essay will be more than 5 total paragraphs. Analyzing Literature: Analyzing literature can be similar to analyzing a non-fiction text. As you point out specific instances in the novel to show how DeLillo is criticizing the American culture, here are some literary techniques you can explore in your essay: 1.Narrative style isthe way the authors write their stories, such as being told in first-person, the postmodern elements, juxtaposing one person in the story against the other to highlight the differences of something, the arrangement of sentences/ syntax/paragraphs, and/or the structure of the narrative (such as chapter 21 being one long chapter compared to the shorter chapters), repetition of an idea to emphasize a point, and so on. Use of symbolism is when one thing is used to represent another in the story. Symbolism is usually connected to the theme to highlight something significant about the topic/theme being explored. Common types of symbolism are weather (spring = rebirth, winter = death), colors (black and white), locations (supermarket or college), objects in room (TV or radio), and even historical figures (Elvis or Hitler).Look for anything
- 3. described in the narrative that the author draws the reader’s attention to. Next, look for how it is described in relation to the main character and the conflict in the story. Use of figurative language,such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia (words sound like what they denote, such astap,cough,boom), or allusions, go beyond the literal meanings to give readers new insight. Descriptive details touch on as many, if not all, of the five senses and create a vivid image for the reader to help them gain insight on the experiences of the people in the story. Look for how thedetails in the story are being described. How do readers feel based on this description? How do readers think differently about the topic/theme (popular culture, death, family, etc.)or the characters(Jack, Murray, Babette)? Setting: can include weather, location where the scene takes place, buildings, the outside environment, and objects in the room. Setting can be significant and take on symbolic meanings that go beyond the literal, giving insight into the story’s themesand main criticism. Use of meta-narrative : to illustrate an authorial voice about the theme(s) being explored. These could be inserted in obscure places, such as at the end of the chapter or as a thought by a characteror a musing made by the main character, Jack. These passages will touch on what DeLillo hopes his readers will understand or come to know about the criticism he is making in the novel. See chapter 3, the secondparagraph for an example of a meta-narrative: “. . . to decipher the natural language of the culture” (DeLillo 9). Here, DeLillo is using the New York émigrés to show what DeLillo is doing in this novel: trying to decipher the natural language of the American culture during the 1980s (and possibly showing what our future holds). The conclusion gets at the heart of the argument and determines what the author wants readers to think by the end of the story. Did the story end on a positive note or a tragic one? For instance, the ending of White Noise is set at the supermarket: what argument is the story presenting based on its conclusion?