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How do I write a critical lens essay? Interpret or explain what you think the quote means.
Then, pick TWO books (underline titles) that support what you said the quote means. [Don’t forget the authors!!!].
Agree or disagree with your interpretation of the quote.
Choose supporting examples that are literary terms and elements (themes, conflicts, POV, setting, etc.) that best help you prove your opinion of the quote.
Use your examples to prove your interpretation of the quote. YOU MUST HAVE TWO EXAMPLES PER BOOK!!!
BE SPECIFIC WITH SPECIFIC DETAILS FROM THE NOVEL, PLAY, OR MEMOIR!!!
REMEMBER: SPECIFIC DETAILS….SPECIFIC DETAILS…SPECIFIC DETAILS from each work.
Night, Elie WieselSetting Point of View Characters Conflicts Themes
WWII
Sighet, Transylvania
Auschwitz, Poland [concentration/extermination camp]
Buna [sub-camp of A.]
Gleiwitz, Poland [sub-camp of A.]
Buchenwald, Poland [concentration camp]
First person
Controlled language allows events to speak for themselves and is in sharp contrast to the reality about which it speaks.
Wiesel waited 10 years before writing Night.
Eliezer Wiesel: narrator, 14
Chlomo Wiesel: his dad, well respected in Jewish community
Eliezer’s mother
Tzipora: E’s sister
Moche the Beadle: Elie’s religious teacher
Martha: servant of Wiesels
Mdme Schaechter: prophet = screams about fire.
Man v. Man: Rabbi El.’s son leaves him to ensure his own survival
Bread thrown on the train pits each man vs. the other
Man v. Self: Elie losing his faith in God
Man v. Society: Mosche warns them that they are in mortal danger. They ignore him, and face the conditions in the camps.
Faith is important in times of desolation.
Extreme hatred, if unchecked, can result in horror.
If good people stand by and do nothing, evils will abound.
Others?
Characters, continued
Dr. Mengele: Nazi, decides who lives and who dies at their camp.
Stein of Antwerp: wife Reisal is related to Mrs. Weisel
Juliek: plays the violin
Franek: another prisoner
Yossi and Tibi: brothers
Idek: Jewish man in charge of their block/ whips Elie for seeing him doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.
Akiba Drumer: prisoner
Zalman: prisoner
Rabbi Eliahou: very religious / well loved / son abandons him during the run to Gleiwitz.
Meir Katz:
Night: Symbols
Fire: Madame Sch. screams that she sees flames and death. It symbolizes their fate once they arrive in the concentration camp. They must work in order to avoid the flames of death.
Night = darkness. This novel is a period of darkness, not only for Elie but also for all the Jews.
Nazis: symbolize the hatred of one group of people toward another.
Moshe the Beadle symbolizes unused knowledge.
Mr. Wiesel: symbolizes Ellie’s will to live. When he dies, Ellie’s will is broken.
Themes, more
Maintaining faith in a benevolent God is difficult to do in times of continued tragedy.
People turn on each other when they, themselves, are abused.
Lord of the Flies, William GoldingSetting Characters Conflicts Symbols Themes
WWII
Deserted, idyllic island
In the Pacific Ocean
Point of View
Third Person, omniscient narrator
Foreshadowing
Simon’s convo w/ pig’s head = his death
Rocks & Roger
Ralph
Piggy
Simon
Sam ’N Eric
Percival
Henry
Jack
Roger
Bill
Robert
Maurice
The Little ’uns
Birthmark Boy
Naval officer
Parachutist
Man v. Man
Man v. Self
Man v. Society
Man v. Nature
Piggy’s glasses: intelligence
The conch: order /power / civilization
The island: Eden / perfect place
Face Paint: hides faces to allow for savagery
The Beast: fear / themselves
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely:
Jack gains power, then steals fire & P’s glasses, beats a kid randomly, and sets fire to the island to hunt down & kill Ralph.
At his heart, man is a beast.
The boys have everything they need to survive and have fun. Yet they still have the same problems the adults have. Others?
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William ShakespeareSetting Characters Conflicts Symbols ThemesRome
44BC
Point of View
It’s a play; there isn’t one
Characters:
Soothsayer: warns JC of death on 3/15/44
Artemidorus: teacher/ writes warning letter.
Caesar: wants to be emperor.
Antony: loyal friend of JC/ turns crowd vs. B and starts a war.
Calpurnia: JC’s wife/ has dream of JCs death
Brutus: becomes leader of conspirators/ wants to kill JC b/c he fears JC will become a dictator.
Portia: B’s wife/ to prove her worth, stabs self in leg/ kill self by swallowing hot coals.
Cassius: despises JC/ leader of the conspiracy, convinces Brutus to join.
Casca: stabs JC 1st
Man v. Man
Conspirators kill Caesar before he gains too much power.
Man v. Self: Brutus: should I kill Caesar or not?
Man v. Society
weather
Portents and omens
Eagles replaced by crows before battles at end
The will: deception used by Antony to sway the crowd away from Brutus.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely:
Antony, Octavius & Lepidus create a hit list of 300 Romans
Language/Words have the power to manipulate and/or inspire.
Antony’s funeral oration
Don’t be mindless sheep. Think about what leaders are saying and why they are saying it.
Others?
Themes, continued
Power can go to one’s head: Antony takes power and abuses it with JC’s will/ also he makes a “hit list” of people to kill once the conspirators have left and he, Octavius, and Lepidus have formed the 2nd Triumvirate.
The Color of Water, James McBrideSetting Point of View Characters Conflicts Themes
New York: Brooklyn, Queens
Virginia
Kentucky (summers / James “bad” period to stay w/ his sister Jack)
Oberlin, Ohio
Wilmington, Delaware
First person (2 narrator)
Andrew Dennis McBride: 1st husband
TatehMamehSamDee Dee
Chicken Man: his death spurs James to get back on the “right track”
James McBride: main character/ narrator
Ruth McBrideJordan
Hunter Jordan: 2nd husband
Peter: her 1st boyfriend
Frances: childhood friend
Man vs. self: James struggles to identify who he is /Ruth changes who she is when she moves to NY
Man vs. Man: Ruth vs. her dad who sexually molests her.
Finding yourself through mistakes, struggles and hardships.Ex: James questions the color difference b/t himself and his mother so he doesn’t understand who he is when he is younger, but eventually he investigates his mother’s past and discovers who she is
Themes continued
When Ruth married her first husband, her family disowned her. So she had to find her own path through life with her husband and children
She also changes her religion to one that is more relevant to her and her new life.
Symbols
Color: what color is God? Is he black or white? The minister says he’s all colors / James’s brother then says he’s gray/ James’s mother says God is the color of water = water has no color.
Bicycle: her way of grieving/ escape from grief after husband dies. James is embarrassed b/c it showed she was different from others.
Names (changing them): change of identity. Rachel when in U.S. / Ruth when she moved to N.Y.