ROBERT MEYER FINAL LHU

PRELUDES- T.S. ELIOT

• POV: fragmented shifting perspectives; mostly 3rd person with “you” introduced later

• Movement: Modernism

• Themes:

  • urban alienation

  • repetition/routine

  • spiritual emptiness

  • fragmentation

  • modern city life

  • suffering / possible spiritual vision

  • hopelessness vs meaning

THE SOUND AND THE FURY- WILLIAM FAULKNER

• POV: multiple perspectives / stream of consciousness

  • Benjy: interior monologue

  • Quentin: stream of consciousness

  • Jason: more coherent interior monologue

• Movement: Modernism

• Themes:

  • fragmentation

  • time and memory

  • loss

  • decay of family

  • suffering

  • gender expectations

  • idealism vs cynicism

  • instability of truth

  • past affecting present

  • compassion (Caddy/Dilsey)

EVERYDAY USE- ALICE WALKER

• POV: 1st person (Mama)

• Movement: Contemporary realism / Postmodern elements

• Themes:

  • heritage

  • family conflict

  • education vs tradition

  • identity

  • appearance vs lived experience

  • class differences

  • motherhood

  • self-worth

  • performative vs lived culture

SHILOH- BOBBIE ANN MASON

• POV: 3rd person limited (Leroy)

• Movement: Realism (“shopping mall realism”)

• Themes:

  • grief

  • failing marriage

  • emotional distance

  • gender role confusion

  • change/growth

  • passivity

  • communication failure

  • loss

  • rebuilding vs separation

THE LAST OF THE MENU GIRLS- DENISE CHÁVEZ

• POV: 1st person

• Movement: Contemporary realism / multicultural literature

• Themes:

  • cultural identity

  • family

  • work/labor

  • memory

  • coming of age

  • gender expectations

  • community

  • Mexican-American / Chicana identity

LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE- JOHN BARTH

• POV: shifting / metafictional / unstable narration

• Movement: Postmodernism

• Themes:

  • metafiction

  • self-consciousness

  • confusion

  • identity

  • fiction vs reality

  • storytelling itself

  • fragmented meaning

  • sexuality/anxiety

  • playfulness and frustration

MODERNISM

The world is broken/confusing, BUT art and serious thinking might help create meaning.

Usually Includes:

• fragmentation

• alienation

• stream of consciousness

• multiple perspectives

• non-linear time

• search for meaning/order

• serious tone

Key Question:

“How do we find meaning in a broken modern world?”

POSTMODERNISM

There may not be one true meaning at all. Everything depends on perspective, language, interpretation, etc.

Usually Includes:

• metafiction

• irony/playfulness

• unstable meaning

• self-awareness

• confusing narration

• mixing reality and fiction

• questioning truth itself

Key Question:

“What if meaning itself is fake or unstable?”