Compose an argument to be posted in this blog space using one of the following prompts. Use 2-3 direct quotations, and your notes in your response.
Prompts from Past Exams
1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid plot summary.
1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1988 prompt: In the short story recitatif, most of the main events happen in the main character, Twyla's head. She has a number of realizations over the years and they all happen when she runs into her old childhood roommate from the orphanage she lived in. Toni Morrison touches upon racial issues that were present in the late 1900’s by telling a story of a troubled girl. Her roommate Roberta was also troubled, which is why the two girls got along so well. However, this does not stay true when the two girls grow up. They have a number of run ins with each other, all unlike the others. The first is when Twyla is working as a waitress at a 24 hour diner and Roberta comes in with 2 men, one of which is playing with famous musician Jimi Hendrix. This fact makes Roberta feel superior to Twyla and when Twyla approaches her, she is embarrassed of even knowing her and doesn’t want anything to do with her. They have a short conversation in which Roberta brags about her great life and makes hurtful comments about Twyla’s. Afterwards, Twyla “was dismissed without anyone saying goodbye,” and that was the last they saw of each other for a while. This encounter hurt Twyla because her childhood best friend made her feel small and useless. The next realization came when Twyla ran into Roberta again, but this time Roberta greeted her with kindness and enthusiasm. Twyla was reluctant at first because she didn’t want to get her feelings hurt again, but this encounter went surprisingly well. The two old friends caught up and talked about their new lives without any backhanded comments or passive aggressiveness. This made Twyla realize that people change all the time and you never really know someone even if you think you do. Later that year, there was a protest at the school that the women’s children go to. Coincidentally, the childhood friends ended up on opposite sides of the protest. When they saw each other they had a heated argument that involved racial issues and past experiences. This argument brought up unresolved conflicts and feelings that both girls, but especially Twyla, had trouble dealing with because of current issues. Twyla dealt with a lot of personal awakenings and realizations during this story which were all triggered by run ins with her childhood roommate. The emotional trauma that she underwent when she was a child, directly related to the actions that she took when faced with controversial events throughout her lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the impact of Roberta on Twyla as time passes, no matter how old she got. Her trauma ran deep, so it stayed with her for a very long time.
DeleteTo address significant psychological events in a broader context, I’ll turn to a common example involving war. War is obviously a period where many develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. And although loss of limb or any physical injuries sustained from war are life altering events in themselves, I would argue psychological damage can cause the greatest distress to an individual’s life. To forever flinch at the sound of a large bang, to be haunted by the constant rain of bullets, to live with the knowledge of killing another individual- all such parts of PTSD victims of war require a strength of mind and will to overcome (though never fully), which I find greater then learning to live without a limb (though of course neither is easy).
ReplyDeleteAlthough Tomi Morrison in her short story Recitatif doesn’t relay any stories of war or PTSD trauma exactly, the question of what happened to Maggie after Twyla and Roberta left the orphanage posses to be a central question that defines the bounds of their relationship throughout time.
Maggie, a kitchen aid in the orphanage with a speech impediment and problems with walking, was often picked on by the orphan kids. In one instance, the girls had observed Maggie fall down and instead of going to her aid, remained scared off by the big girls who were laughing and taunting her. Yet the confusion of the events didn’t begin until almost 20 years later, when Twyla and Roberta run into each other at a grocery store and sit for coffee to catch up on the years. It is when Twyla brings up the topic of Maggie does Roberta change the details of the story and tell Twyla that Maggie had been pushed by the gar-girls. From then on, Twyla struggles with the question of what really happened on the day, yet she knew for sure that “Roberta had messed up [her] past somehow with that business about Maggie. [She] wouldn't forget a thing like that.”
It was only later that year, during the fall season as school was beginning once more that Roberta only effectively confused Twyla further with the details of Maggie. During a rally protesting the changes in busing kids to different schools, Roberta went so far as to accuse Twyla of “kick[ing] a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground, kick[ing] a black lady and hav[ing] the nerve to call me a bigot.” Beyond completely changing what she originally said, Roberta only effectively increased the tension felt between the two to outright hostility as during the protest Roberta and her side began rocking Twyla’s car. A tension that had started ever since that meeting at the diner had finally overflown to the end of what was once thought of as a friendship. And even though at the end Roberta admits she could longer remember if the details she mentioned (Maggie being black, Twyla kicking Maggie to the ground), the peak had been crossed and the damage done beyond repair. Twyla was forever traumatized about what she might have done to Maggie, and if not done, wanted to do. She wanted to hurt her, she might have hurt her, and the fact that she could possibly have ever wanted to hurt a handicapped person now defines her as having once been terrible, as perhaps now being terrible. The story has ended and the rest is just the sprinkling of salt on the meal.
1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid plot summary.
ReplyDeleteIt is often easier to critique from the outside than to accept when you or your community has failed or acted immorally. As we discussed in class, fiction is an outlet through which social commentary can be made in a gentler way. Further proximity from a subject allows for harsh truths to be revealed, realizations that may be too truthful if told through real stories. Fiction offers a vehicle to inch culture slowly forward, even under strong oppressive forces. Toni Morrison uses fiction in her story, Recitatif, to inform her readers on social injustices, especially concerning the integration of schools. First, she gives us sympathy for both characters by describing their tough childhoods and the intimate memories which they shared. She describes “So we got along well- what with her leaving whole pieces of things on her plate and being nice about not asking questions.” If your first impression of someone is seeing them holding anti-integration signs, it is easy to feel so removed from them and therefore the causes that they support. By giving Roberta the audiences sympathy, she avoids the “but that's not me” narrative. In this way she forces the audience to examine the actions of a complex character, not judge through only one lens call it done. Morrison then begins to disrupt the plot of two innocent girls who get along despite their skin colors when the two meet years later at the diner. Roberta is rude and acts superior to Twyla, but at this point nothing concerning politics has been brought up. A detail as small as her condescending jeer at Twyla’s lack of pop-culture savvy is all that is mentioned. At this point, the audience is oblivious to the knowledge that Roberta will one day be on the wrong side of history. I appreciate that there was not yet the addition of politics because it testifies to the point that politics isn't just a name you vote for, it's the values you hold. The kind of person you are will be evident in your political standings, opinion on legislation isn't a trivial characteristic like blue eyes or brown hair, they are an extension of your beliefs.Years later, Twyla sees Roberta picketing against the integration of schools and the audience feels a sense of betrayal. Reading through a characters childhood means being heavily sympathetic and invested in their happiness, and we now find ourselves invested in the life of a women enforcing segregation. Morrison dubunked a frequently used attempt to conceal racism when Twyla exclaimed “well it's a free country.” This is used again and again, usually as a last resort if there is no moral, logical way to justify one's actions. It's the grown up equivalent to a little kids saying “because I want to” when they have no legitimate argument. In order to make lasting change, we must humanize both sides, both to show the oppressors that the victims feel the injustices, but also to show warn people that the oppressors are among us, none of us are free from blame for perpetuating these unjust systems because it often is seemingly fine people who do so. By revealing that racism is learned and not engrained, Morrison clears a path for dialogue, the first step towards effecting political change.
1988: One of the most important events in Recitatif is not a specific event, but rather a realization made by Twyla. Twyla tells the story through her memories, recalling specific details from her past living in a shelter. It is not until she is much older though that those memories are challenged. One particular memory that is challenged is the memory of the shelter’s cook Maggie falling down and a group of girls laughing at her. Years later, Roberta tells Twyla that Maggie was pushed and that the girls had kicked her once she was on the ground. Roberta also tells Twyla that Maggie was black. Twyla does not remember any of this and struggles with these memories for years. The significance of this is that by finding out this one detail, Twyla begins to question her own character. She wonders how she could ever do this to an old woman and why she could not remember such a thing. Twyla then comes to the realization that she had not actually kicked Maggie, but that she had wanted to, which was just as bad. Twyla compared Maggie to her mother, “Rocking, dancing, swaying in the night.” Twyla had wanted to be like the older girls, even though it meant being cruel to an old woman who could not fight back or tell anyone what happened. This realization also changes the way the reader views Twyla. After Roberta tells Twyla that they had kicked Maggie, it makes the reader upset with Twyla and wonder why she would do this, and if she was truly the way she was describing herself. Roberta also realizes that even though she didn’t kick Maggie when she was on the ground, she wanted to kick Maggie, and that “wanting to is doing it.” Roberta saw bits of herself and her mother in Maggie, because she thought Maggie was crazy. Roberta vocalizing this realization in the story reveals that Roberta was fearful when she was young and how that fear affected her in her real life. Throughout the story, Roberta and Twyla go through many transformations as they struggle with their memories and awakenings.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting about "Recitatif"is despite focusing on racial issues, it never specifies what race each character is. For example, Roberta nor Twyla are specified and Maggie’s race is up in question. In the beginning they are girls in a shelter who are vulnerable yet have found friendship in each other. However as they grow up, the society around them and their differing races cause further damage to their relationship as they feel the need to conform to what society instructs. While Roberta changed her attitude towards Twyla claiming the society around her saying, “you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was." while Twyla felt the opposite about the people who entered Howard-Johnsons. In addition Maggie becomes the breaking point between the two on what happened that day in the orchard. While Roberta claims she was a Black woman and they kicked her that day, Twyla claims she was not and it was only the older girls. However the conclusion to that day is that both girls felt the desire to hurt Maggie who could not scream but Twyla felt it rid of herself of blame of kicking her while Roberta still feels guilty for feeling so strongly of want to kick her. Maggie plays the role of an inbetween in the age of racial strife as her race is not specified but she is still oppressed for her disability by both races. The ending, Roberta asks “What the hell happened to Maggie?" which is never answered. While the open ended ending leaves the reader confused on what happened next, it really is a better way to explore why she was such a huge point for the girls.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn the story “Recitaff” by Toni Morrison, the idea of comfortable substance is challenged by the lives of both Roberta and Twlya. As the story starts of with the girls experiencing a sudden shift in their lives, the atmosphere and the mood of the story is presented as temporary and unknown. Morrison really focuses on that unknown and drives it along with the characters. As she presents such a storyline, you become faced with questions and theories about possibilities of each character and where they’ll end. Without too much detail on the separate chapters in their lives, Morrison focus on memories to enhance that “healthy confusion” that is essential to the final product of the story.
The temporary relationship that was formed between Roberta and Twyla is described when “We changed beds every night and for the whole four months we were there we never picked one out as our own permanent bed.” With the constant repetition of memories and flashbacks, the only thing that seems to tie the two together is their stay at the orphanage. We only revealed so much information which supports the concept of healthy confusion, to the point that such information becomes too vague, and any theory could eventually happen. I felt like at every stage in the story I was met with a slightly different Twyla and Roberta.
Throughout the story Morrison integrates the concept of memory and its hold and placement in the mind. What do we choose to remember? What do we choose to forget? Or is it unconscious? Reflecting on the girls relationship it is quite unusual. What is the probability of seeing a “friend” from the orphanage you stayed at when you were eight? I feel like every time the two reconvene they are rediscovering themselves and each other, “Suddenly, in just a pulse beat, twenty years disappeared and all of it came rushing back”. Every shift in Twyla and Roberta’s relationship relates to the reality of life and confusion held in all of us as we grow older. The ending is powerful as all the emotions seem to break free and out of confusion and a lost sense of hope, the two remain together, confusion and understanding pooling around another.
1986: Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
ReplyDeleteThe use of time is a fundamental element of our existence and in literature. Toni Morrison uses the element of time in a distinct way to portray the binary of Twyla and Roberta’s childhood and adulthood. Both their child and adulthood were vastly central to the story. In the first half of the story Twyla and Roberta were put in an orphanage at the age of eight, Twyla is black and Roberta is white. Twyla is brought in because her mother “danced all night” while Roberta was brought in because of her ill mom. Twyla was taught to hold prejudiced views on Roberta, but that soon was ceased and they began to regard and understand each other. They were fundamentally forced together because no one else would embrace them, “We didn't like each other all that much at first, but nobody else wanted to play with us because we weren't real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky. We were dumped” (Morrison 2). A decade later and the story shifts to portray Twyla and Roberta as adults. Twyla is working at a diner whereas Roberta is sitting in between two boys in one of the booths with big hair, makeup, and a cigarette. They have both grown but in very contrasting ways. Twyla seems to be the exact same, but on the other hand Roberta inhibits a luxurious, glamorous life. In a way Roberta seemed like she wanted to fit in with the big girls even as an adult like We jump a bit further and they bump into each other again at the store then shopping for Christmas trees, and school protests. The protest signs play a consequential role in this narrative and shows how the once young girls have evolved into women that publically speak their own opinions. Just like in “The Danger of a Single Story” you see a lot of stereotyping in “Recitatif.” This is mainly seen when Twyla and Roberta bump into each other as adults, “"Newburgh? No kidding?" She laughed then a private laugh that included the guys but only the guys, and they laughed with her” (Morrison 7). It was clear that Roberta and her fellow friends felt a bit superior in a way because of the racial differences in that time. Their memories from the past still continued to overwhelm them in their present days, and symbolically Twyla and Roberta stay endure as both adults and children at the same time.
1988: Throughout Tony Morrinson’s short story, “Recitatif”, the main character’s memories of her childhood have slowly faded away, she had relieved those moments so often they became unreliable, and by doing so, Twyla becomes vulnerable to having these recollections altered. The story is broken down into five different time periods. The first one being when Twyla and Roberta are both in a shelter, where they meet Maggie, an older, disabled women that is constantly tormented by the older kids, like the rest of the girls, they do not bother to be nice to her and even call her names, in a cruel attempt to find out whether she can hear or not. Years later, the two friends first meet again and Roberta, accompanied by two friends dismisses their friendship. Once again they meet, this time it is Roberta who establishes communication and suggests they should grab coffee to catch up. While talking about their lives twyla mentions an incident where, from her perspective, Maggie fell and the older girls laughed at her, however, Roberta reveals that that is not the whole truth, the older woman was in fact tackled, and kicked by the kids, who tore her clothes. This is the first time Twyla questions her past, she would go on to that again and again, each time her and Roberta’s path crossed, Twyle acquired new information about her past, and how she blocked all of it away. Her gradual discoveries and awakenings shape the past and affect the present, and future; and although there was no physical change, each time Twyla reached a questioning point, her perception of herself and those around her changed as well, molding her past and making her question even more what she had forgotten.
ReplyDeleteMaggie serves as the conflict in the story, being seen as the marginalized outsider, her presence marks how cruel one can be, when they don’t expect any repercussions, but she also symbolizes both girl’s moms, in all they unawareness and incapabilities to help themselves. Although Roberta and Twyla don’t take part in her abuse, they want to, seeing in the woman the resentment they had for their moms. If Twyla's story was all we ever go to heer, our perception of her childhood and Maggie would be all we know, the half truths and omitted memories would be all we had to make up our minds about her situation, but because we have Roberta’s narrative as well, we can have a more well rounded opinion on what actually happened. The story ends abruptly, leaving us to wonder “what the hell happened to Maggie?” and while there is no answer, the frustrating ends leaves behind the message that we won’t always know how things turned out in real life, although we wish to discover the whole truth, often all we have are our unreliable memories.
1986:
ReplyDeleteThe forward passage of time is one of the few things that are guaranteed in this world. However, in the literary world, the passage of time is free to be manipulated at the authors will. As in “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, when time is accelerated, it has a profound effect of causing stark and instantaneous changes in characters. At the start of the story, Twyla and Roberta are young children, living in St. Bonny’s, amongst orphans. They are unique from the rest of the children, as instead being “real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky”, they are the “only ones dumped”, left there by their parents, and instead forced to turn to each other for companionship. They are shy and childlike, feeling excitement and sorrow, embarrassment and fear. They spend their days hiding from “gar girls”, older girls with lipstick and pencil eyebrows, failing classes, and all the while being there for each other. Then, Roberta leaves, and a sentence later eight years have passed. Roberta walks into the diner where Twyla works, a totally foreign individual. Twyla, who is older and more responsible, working a job and supporting herself, attempts to connect with her. However, gone is the quiet, illiterate child, and instead there is just the girl who “made the big girls look like nuns”, with her own lipstick and eyebrow pencil. Roberta laughs at her, and they part ways. The quick advancement of the story shows just how drastic the changes were for both of them, and emphasizes the harshness of the encounter. Immediately, the story advances to twelve years in the future. Again, the change is shown to be very large. Twyla and Roberta are both now married, and when they speak the earlier childhood connection is visible. It was as simple as “We both giggled. Really giggled. Suddenly, in just a pulse beat, twenty years disappeared and all of it came rushing back”. Morrison then shows another important piece of time acceleration as a storytelling tool: memory. They both remember an event involving Maggie differently, with Twyla claiming she fell, and Roberta remembering her being pushed. The vastness of the time that passed results in this discrepancy, and allows for it to be focused on in the way that it is, as Maggie is used a symbol to represent their younger selves, and their tortured past. And tortured it is, for the next time that they meet, Roberta claims Maggie was black, and they both kicked her when she was on the ground. This fact ends up being an important piece of the story, and their contemplation of their own history and terrible deeds leads to sleepless nights. To finish it all off, they meet again, and Roberta retracts her statements. Yet it is too late, they both remembered the event that we, as the reader, read about less than fifteen pages ago. While it is fresh for us, it is distant for them, and thus we can see the change in their viewpoints on it, and how this affects them. Instead of simply seeing the event, and being told how it affects them, the reader can experience these changes. Through Morrison’s use of accelerated time passage, jumping from meeting to meeting, the changes in both of their characters is visible, as is the effect of these changes on the enduring relationship between them. Seeing the past and the future as the present gives the reader the capability to take a fascinating examination of memory, childhood, change, and the power of relationships, through the telling of a story.
1986: Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
ReplyDeleteThe manipulation of time used in the short story, “Recitatif" by Toni Morrison, speaks past the plot itself and shows a deeper meaning behind the characters. In many stories, the element of time is used to shed light on character development, which similarly in “Recitatif”, it is doing the same. But, it is also used to manipulate the development of Roberta and Twyla’s friendship. The story first began with when the two girls met in an orphanage in their growing years, both eight years old. Roberta’s mother was sick and Twyla’s mother was told to be dancing all night, which is why they were both put in. They bonded over their mothers in the beginning, starting their friendship and making the story start with them as children, “We didn't like each other all that much at first, but nobody else wanted to play with us because we weren't real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky. We were dumped” (2). The story then goes on to describe the separation she faced when Roberta left the orphanage, discontinuing their friendship until their next encounter - when the manipulation of time is used in the short story. The next encounter of the two is when both are older, Twyla working at a diner and Roberta being the customer, along with two other males, “I walked over to the booths, smiling and wondering if she would remember me. Or even if she wanted to remember me. Maybe she didn't want to be reminded of St. Bonny's,...” (6). This quote manipulates the sense of time appropriately because it shows the difference between Twyla and Roberta’s friendship when they were much younger in comparison to what it was in the restaurant. It’s effect on the short story plays a big role in the development of their friendship, for example when they meet again after this. Roberta runs into Twyla when she goes to get herself a cup of coffee. The two end up catching up, “we sat in a booth by the window and fell into recollection like veterans” (11)., which leads to a more positive reconciling after the last meeting. However, it doesn’t end so well when Roberta twists stories into Twyla’s mind about their past at St. Bonny’s. The two end up meeting twice more, and make good connections - again repeating this idea of the manipulation of time. The time allowed for the reader to view what the separation did for each character and who they became after each encounter. Without this, the short story would not have had the same effect or character development, and therefore the manipulation of time contributes to the wholeness of every work.
In "Recitatif" by Toni Morrison, a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude is produced. In the beginning, it is made clear that Twyla and Roberta are of different races, “It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning-it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race.” It is never made clear who is black and who is white. This shows that the color of one's skin is not what's important, it's who someone is as a person on the inside that matters. It can also make the audience think about some of their own prejudices and help to portray oppression. The story also focuses in on an older aged woman named Maggie who is looked down upon and mocked. Her presence in the story is also key to maintaining a balance of pleasure and disquietude.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what race Roberta or Twyla may be, they have a lot in common and are more similar than they are different. They were both neglected by their mothers and were of the same age, living together in a shelter. They have a special bond and know things about each other that no one else would know, “We got along all right, Roberta and me. Changed beds every night, got F's in civics and communication skills and gym...We were the only ones dumped and the only ones with F's in three classes including gym. So, we got along-what with her leaving whole pieces of things on her plate and being nice about no tasking questions.” Roberta and Twyla share a part of life together that is secret to everyone else, creating a sacred bond.
The role Maggie plays in the story is an outlet for everyone else's pain and suffering. She was described by Twyla saying, “Maggie couldn't talk. The kids said she had her tongue cut out, but I think she was just born that way: mute. She was old and sandy-colored and she worked in the kitchen. I don't know if she was nice or not. I just remember her legs like parentheses and how she rocked when she walked.” The girls saw a vulnerability in Maggie. Twyla imagines Maggie as her mother, Mary. When Maggie is being beaten in the orchard, Twyla invisions her mother, who has in her eyes, failed her and made her feel ashamed. For Roberta, Maggie represented her scared self, as both Roberta’s mom and Maggie were raised in an institution. After the shelter, Twyla and Roberta meet a couple times again. During one of these encounters, Roberta makes an accusation against Twyla saying, “Maybe I am different now, Twyla. But you're not. You're the same little state kid who kicked a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground. You kicked a black lady and you have the nerve to call me a bigot.” Roberta tells Twyla this but later admits it was not true saying, “I really wanted them to hurt her. I said we did it, too. You and me, but that's not true. And I don't want you to carry that around. It was just that I wanted to do it so bad that day-wanting to is doing it." Another disagreement between the two was Maggie's race, in the end, they both can’t quite remember. This shows that oppression is the main issue.
During this reading, "The Danger of the Single Story" came to mind when the girls would tease Maggie. None of them really knew anything about her due to her inability to speak. They were basing the way they felt about her on her appearance and attributes. The only story they knew about Maggie was that she was mute and walked and dressed differently. Throughout the story, the author keeps the races of the two main characters unknown. By doing so, many lessons and morals are portrayed. This in my opinion, was pleasurable as it made the story more interesting and brought you to more realizations. The story ended with never knowing what happened to Maggie in the end, and after her brutal beating. This provided the reader with anxiety and sadness, but it was an essential part of the story that created a balance of both pleasure and disquietude.
1985. A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work that produces this "healthy confusion." Write an essay in which you explain the sources of the "pleasure and disquietude" experienced by the readers of the work.
ReplyDeleteThe story Recitatif was one that confused in a solid and satisfactory way. In the first half of the story, Roberta introduces her mother. Twyla says "She was big. Bigger than any man and
on her chest was the biggest cross I'd ever seen. I swear it was six inches
long each way. And in the crook of her arm was the biggest Bible ever
made." This provides a healthy confusion in that readers would be confused about Roberta. How is her mother sick, and yet visiting her? Does this sickness have to do with her religious style? But that mystery is what makes Roberta interesting, and her role in Twyla's life relevant. Another point of confusion is Roberta's rise to higher class. She is found to be in "Diamonds on her hand, a
smart white summer dress" and readers begin to wonder how she ascended to her current status. Before she was not in the wealthy middle class neighborhoods, but she somehow found her way out. It satisfies us but also makes us question her methods. There is a uncomfortable satisfaction in this story, which allows for readers to continue through the story no matter how unsettling and off it might be. This is because there is a weird solidarity to the actions and timeline of these two girls, even when the character that is Maggie is still slightly off-putting and pitiable.
1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
ReplyDeleteI liked the use of time in the story. I like how it was written as a reflection on the past, Twyla telling the story as a grown woman. She wouldn't lie about what she did as a kid, so we could trust her as a narrator, but she also corrected the wrongs that she did as a kid. When they called to Maggie that one day, saying mean things like “dummy, dummy” and “bow-legged” she responded to her actions saying, “And it shames me even now to think there was somebody in there after all who heard us call her those names and couldn't tell on us.” She understands that she was a kid who didn't know better, but now that she's an adult it was unfair to Maggie for the two of them to be so harsh. Even when Roberta lies and tells Twyla that they kicked Maggie, Twyla is so upset by that idea of her doing that.
Another reason why I like how the time is set up in this story is how we can see the character development contrasts between Twyla and Roberta. We can see that throughout the years Twyla is gradually maturing and becoming more well rounded, being able to start a family and keep a job. Although we do see her set herself back by making signs and poking back at the school picketing, she does evaluate the situation and understand that her actions were not the smartest decisions, and does end up putting that event to rest. But with Roberta, we see that she goes up and down with her maturity levels. As a kid, my first impression of her was that she was simple, but kind and thoughtful. When Mary came to visit Twyla and didn't bring lunch, Roberta brought “a stack of grahams up to (her) later when the visit was over.” Then throughout the story we see her shift more. Like at Howard Johnsons, she was rude and looked down at Twyla, she acted so nasty. A lot must have happened between then and the time she got married because the next time we see her, she's all made up and talking about a family and a rich, smart husband, but at the same time she's telling lies about what happened to maggie at the shelter. She was all over the place and she was so hard to read, the more she was reintroduced into the story, the more I disliked her. Overall, the timeline used in the story made it so much stronger, because we could get a better insight on what was going on, not only in the past, but in the present.
In her short story, "Recitatif," Toni Morrison manipulates time to show how memories fade and change over the years, leading to the possibility of an eventual epiphany. When Twyla and Roberta first meet as 8 year olds, they are helpless. Victims to the orphanage system, they are confused, and trust nothing but each other. Twyla recalls dreaming of the orchards at the orphanage even after leaving, and that “Nothing really happened there… Maggie fell down there once.” At this point, Maggie, the mute, disabled kitchen woman, has little significance to Twyla. However, Morrison later speeds time forward about 20 years. Twyla meets Roberta for the first time in a while, and recalls aloud how Maggie fell. This is when Roberta tells Twyla that the older girls "knocked her down. Those girls pushed her down and tore her clothes. In the orchard." Twyla has no recollection of this and is deeply puzzled by it. Perhaps she has simply blocked it from memory, or perhaps it never truly happened, but for a simple fact that she has recalled for all of her life to be so suddenly altered was a jarring experience. Morrison brings us another few years into the future. Twyla still has not made peace with the last revelation, and this time, Roberta and Twyla meet under more strenuous circumstances. In a fit of rage Roberta tells Twyla, “you kicked a black lady who couldn't even scream.” This confuses Twyla even more, as she does not remember Maggie being black. To make matters worse, she does not remember kicking her. As she continues to ponder this for the next couple of months, she realizes “I didn’t kick her… but I sure wanted to.” Maggie is mute and disabled, and Twyla connects these disabilities to those of her mother, who was an unfit parent due to her “dancing.” Additionally, she realizes that, in many ways, Maggie was just like the worst version of herself: helpless. As an orphan, Twyla could not speak up for herself, and had very little say in her life. She realizes that it is likely this is why she hated Maggie so much. This realization brings Twyla peace, which she could not achieve in the moment, or even a few years after the fact. It took many years for her memories and mind to clear around the subject of Maggie, and by the time it did, she was able to realize what actually happened.
ReplyDeleteA sense of confusion is a very useful tool for an author. In the short story “Recitatif,” by Toni Morrison, the author is able to confuse the reader in a healthy manner. Throughout the story, it follows the lives of two women who were briefly roommates in a shelter. With one woman being black, and the other white, this creates a unique relationship between the two. It is also not initially clear which of the two is black. Initially, the thought is that it would be Roberta, as Twyla says, “My mother won’t like you putting me in here.” She even clarifies that she is not speaking of the shelter itself, and implying it’s because of Roberta. This idea is shifted later in the story, as it is shown that Roberta is racist, and Twyla appears to be bothered by it. The moment that it was clear Twyla was unhappy with Roberta was when she said, “My ears were itching and I wanted to go home suddenly. This was all very well but she couldn't just comb her hair, wash her face and pretend everything was hunky-dory. After the Howard Johnson's snub. And no apology. Nothing.” Twyla was made very uncomfortable by some of the things Roberta said. After mentioning it, Roberta’s response was revealing of her true nature. "Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was," she said. At this moment, it became very clear that Twyla was black, and Roberta was not wholly comfortable with that. Twyla had thought that things were better between the two races, as she saw the two conversing and spending time together. Roberta appears to care more of her image than of her relationships. She married into wealth, yet does not even know her husband’s profession; she also cared what others thought if she were to be seen talking to Twyla, because she is black. This confusion was used well as it emphasized how little it truly mattered which one of them was white or black. It also allowed us to feel similar to how Twyla felt as she realized that her lifelong friend is racist. Using confusion is a useful tool to engage the reader and carry them through the story.
ReplyDelete1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
ReplyDeleteWhenever an author uses time as an element throughout I feel as though it is much more interesting. Flashbacks give a story a little extra flare to it. Throughout "Recitatif" by Toni Morrison, she used reflections from the past to bring the piece alive, I enjoyed the fact that she used Twyla’s past throughout the story. The story was truthful and there wasn’t a lie that I could see, she showed that she was mean to Maggie and even provided the language that she would use such as “dummy, dummy”, I felt as though there was nothing but truth throughout her story.
In “Recitatif” by Toni Mossison, my views about the story kept changing as I flipped each page. The way Toni Morrison revealed new information about the main characters bit-by-bit made me like one character at one moment and hate them the next. It was through this process that Tony Morrison created a healthy confusion.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of “Recitatif,” Morrison introduces us to Twyla and Roberta, the reader immediately feels a sense of satisfaction. When the reader hears that the girls “looked like salt and pepper standing there and that's what the other kids called us sometimes,” they see two girls who grew up in troubled childhoods come together. It is through this process of inserting small instances of dialogue that Morrison gives off the sense of pleasure. But, it is also through this process that she creates disquietude. Towards the middle of the piece when Morrison reveals more information about Maggie, the confusion appears. When Roberta says “You're the same little state kid who kicked a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground” the reader’s starts to experience disquietude. They learn that what they had believed to be true in reality is false. It is at this point the reader experiences the “healthy confusion” as they are confronted by two different truths and are unsure which one to believe.
This “healthy confusion” also ties in nicely with the single story as throughout the course of “Recitatif” the dialogues in the text serve as single stories, and the reader has to combine these stories together to understand what is actually going on.
Anuraag Nagraja
ReplyDelete1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
Toni Morrison's manipulation of time contributes greatly for how the reader understands and digests her literary work - Recitatif. Most stories left to right, either nonfiction or fiction, usually have one thing in common and that is that all the events that transpire happen not only in chronological order but also without interruption. It can be difficult to narrate a story and have different time intervals or different spacing between events. However, Morisson uses the chopping of time to bring greater depth to her work, as it shows how drastic impressions of the character can change to the reader or even how impressions of one character from another character can change. This time jumping is evident when she starts off the story at an orphanage called St. Bonnys where the reader is introduced to Twyla, Roberta, Mary and Roberta. This beginning is extremely crucial to the storyline because it shows the children as untainted and unaware of any prejudice - other than Twyla being taught by Mary prejudiced views of Roberta. This is important because as the story progresses we see that they're untainted views change dramastically and one can only assume that it is due to them being affected by societal expectations. The jumps in time allow for the reader to see how the characters jump in development and one has to infer as to how these changes occur rather than the reader just telling us. It also gives greater depth to each of the characters as some of the characters in the book like Roberta suddenly realize how much she's changed while other characters like Magiie have not changed in their childlike innocence. One pivotal event in the book that wasn't explained thoroughly is what happens revolving around Maggie getting hurt. What makes the event interesting is how the event is viewed differently by Twyla and Roberta. The huge passage of time between these childhood experiences to when the reconnect and talk about the event highlights their different stories. It shows how without even knowing, one can force the brain to maybe later the way we see things if it's deemed too hurtful. This is clearly the case with Roberta as by the end when exclaims about Maggie her prenotions of what actually happen are turned upside down. This realization is emphasised by the drastic passage of time because it means that the entire time between the intro to the end she had perceived what had transpired with Maggie differently.
1985
ReplyDeleteConfusion in the piece of literature is necessary because an audience needs to wonder and have sympathy and anger and be driven in any way possible farther into the story. “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison does this wonderfully. She begins the story with two orphans in an orphanage for only four months together. The plot seems straight forward; two girls living similar lives, experiencing the same type of abandonment. There are little , but random, anecdotes that are told about their time at the orphanage. So far, the audience is just learning about the similarities of the girls. The story jumps forward to when the girls are grown. There is a quick interaction where one of the girls, Roberta, was incredibly rude to Twyla, the other girl. There seems to be no reason for her to be rude, so Twyla leaves the scene with the “backs of [her] knees … damp”. Because the story is from her point of view, we feel uncomfortable and sympathetic for Twyla. Yet, there is still a level of confusion. It had seemed that Roberta had experienced the same tragedies as Twyla, why did she turn out so differently?
As the story continues, we can see each girls’ true character as their pasts and current lives are revealed. Twyla has settled for comfortable and Roberta has married rich. Their racial differences cut the scene. Twyla thinks that Roberta and her family and other people like her “think they own the world”. The audience must feel a level of uneasiness as both women protest for each of their children to go to school where they want. There seems to be no concluding pleasure in the story as it ends abruptly with the woman discovering that they both could only remember how they malicious their thoughts had been, even though they hadn’t acted on them. But to me, that ending is satisfying for all the confusion and misunderstanding in the story leads to the end where the two, very different, women were once two best friends, leading parallel, sad lives.
Promt 1985
ReplyDeleteRemember that time that you did that thing? It was that thing you did long ago, but only think about on a full moon. Sometimes you think about when you’re watching TV, and sometimes you think about it before you fall asleep at night. Whether or not this thing you did gives you a feeling of pleasure or disquietude, it still manages to stay with us in our thoughts. The short story, "Recitatif" by Toni Morrison, the reader experiences these feelings during times of connection and tension between the main characters, Twyla and Roberta, which strengthens the meaning of the story as a whole.
During the scene when Twyla and Roberta call maggie a dummy, Twyla later regrets her actions which is indicated when she says, “I think she could hear and didn't let on. And it shames me even now to think there was somebody in there after all who heard us call her those names and couldn't tell on us.” She tells us how she thought back to her actions with guilt and shame. But when Roberta confesses that the two of them did not actually kick her during there youth, Twyla feels the lift of the burden that once fueled her feelings of guilt. By understanding these feelings the way that the characters do, the reader is able to feel the disquietude and pleasure that comes from the shame that is later changed into understanding and growth. This duality of emotion shares the meaning of the story with the reader: Understanding that while it cannot be changed, you can come to terms with the past and change what you do in the present to make you future as fulfilling as it can be.
A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work that produces this "healthy confusion." Write an essay in which you explain the sources of the "pleasure and disquietude" experienced by the readers of the work.
ReplyDelete“Recitatif” by Toni Morrison makes the reader question their perspective and perception of race. The beginning of the short story points out the similarities between Twyla and Roberta: both had living parents yet live in a shelter, both were “eight years old and got F’s all the time.” The reader is informed that the girls are different races but not who is of what race, saying “...it didn’t matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there and that's what the other kids called us sometimes.” This invites a conversation about race and challenges one’s single story about a particular race. Twyla’s mother “danced all night” while Roberta’s mother was sick. Twyla claimed her mother would not like her being placed with Roberta. These are examples of simple facts of each girl’s life that could easily cause the reader to perceive the girls differently. Personally, I felt guilty as I assumed how each girl looked based on an event in their life, how they were described, or what their family was like. Much of my perception of stories is often based on my experiences in my life. Morrison’s ability to produce “healthy confusion” allows me to see outside of my bubble and grasp new perspectives of the world. My assumptions were challenged as there was never an answer given communicating an important message to the reader that the appearance of a single story does not mean only one exists.
1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
ReplyDeleteIn Recitatif, Toni Morrison plays around with time quite a bit. While she sticks to a general chronological theme, she utilizes suspension and acceleration of time. In doing this, she increases the impact and overall effectiveness of the story as a whole. The characters are more deeply developed and the story is more complex, not just one sided. For example, she starts out very slow, moving through their early years at the home and gives specifics details. Then, as the story progresses, she makes jumps to the future which gives more context into character identities and their past events. An interesting example of this is when Morrison jumps to Twyla working in the restaurant. She and Roberta reconnect after many years apart. This deepens the value of their past because it gives the audience a unique perspective. They are able to time travel in a way the characters cannot, making the message even more clear. I find it especially interesting how they have different memories of what happened when they were kids and how they have grown into full versions of themselves as adults. That is what is so cool about literature, it is almost like the reader is looking down on the story and they aren’t constricted by time like in real life. The author’s manipulation of time in a story allows for so many more takeaways and deeper thought.
Emily Swenson
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