ELA 10

• Thesis: Wed., May 18
• Quotations selected:  Mon., May 23
• Rough Draft Workshops:  Wed-Thurs. May 25-26 
• Final Draft:  Friday, May 27

Chisnell's Sample Essay

1.  Falsehood -- promises that produce nothing, confidence produced by fear, friends without friendship, smiles without sincerity, good times manufactured like a caterer's production, romance without love, pleasure without enjoyment, warning without victory, thrills without consumption and motion

2.  Emotions reduced to Reactions -- Reactions to events are pre- packaged according to sentimentalized ideals.  We know what we are supposed to say during grief so we say it, regardless of feelings.

3.  Adultery

4.  Illusion vs. Reality

5.  Wealth without Purpose = Self-destructive

*                  6.  Ideals based solely on materialism is ultimately destructive

*                  7.  Amer. ideal has been corrupted by adopting materialism as its means!

8.  Time -- the present is chaos, full of unpredictable change; the past is stable, controlled, always the same.  We have a Need for Control.  We must repeat the past or buy stability; Gatsby tries to buy the past -- notice the difference.

Lost Generation	Post-WWI writers of 1920s; lives and hopes shattered by war; led down the glory trail to death not for noble, patriotic ideals, but for the greedy, materialistic gains of power groups; DON'T TRUST SENTIMENT; Reality is Truth and Truth is harsh!  Life is Futile; life is nothing.  Includes Hemingway, Faulkner, Anderson, Fitzgerald, Joyce, etc.
Depersonification	(part of Lost Generation) -- move from skilled --> unskilled; simple --> technical; need for education --> lack of need; morality --> lack of morality;  WE BECOME AN AMORAL SOCIETY THAT HAS LOST ITS WAY AND, WORSE, DOESN'T CARE
American Dream	the Puritan Ethic)  A kind of romantic expectation, a belief in the possibility of achieving some kind of glowing future through hard work and sincere  devotion.  Of course, the Lost Generation doesn't believe in this!
American Literary Realism	an attempt at an objective portrayal of contemporary social reality.  Also contains all of the dark vision of the Realist.
Elements of ALR --	1)Author attempts an objective presentation of world 2)Characters are usually upper class and therefore educated --they should know right from wrong (no excuses!) 3) Free Will exists; characters can make the correct choices through REASON (not necessarily a positive trait); if a character fails to use REASON, he must be held responsible! 4) In ALR, characters DO fail to use Reason, especially the subjects of these books, who are typically Romantic 5) Idealism = Sentimentalism = BAD