Revise and post the paragraph you composed in class this morning, Friday, Nov. 20th.
In a topic-driven, well-developed paragraph, identify which motif you are following in your annotation and explain why this motif is of particular interest to you.
NOTE: After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and DO copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box so that I have record of your submission on Canvas. Thanks.
Amanda McMahon
ReplyDeleteProf. Kirk
ENGL 3353
20 November 2015
Motif
In Jonathan Safran-Foer's novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar continually creates inventions in his mind that would have altered his experience with Oskar's death. Oskar invents a skyscraper that moves up and down while the elevator stays in place. Oskar says "that could be extremely useful, because if you're ninety-fifth floor, and a place hits below you, the building could take you to the ground, and everyone could be safe" (3). Oskar also invents giant pockets that can hold people that he wants to be protected (74). Oskar invents a "Nature Hike Anklet" which leaves a trail of yellow paint behind the hiker so that they can be found easily if they go missing. He designed wedding rings "where each one takes the pulse of the person wearing it and send a signal to the other ring to flash red with each heartbeat" (106). Grandma also makes a couple of inventions. She has Oskar hold the end of a piece of yarn while he is in the bathtub so she knows that he is okay. Grandma also makes Oskar play Marco Polo where she says, "Oskar" and Oskar says, "I'm OK" (101). All of these inventions focus on protecting people and knowing where they are at all times, two things that Oskar wishes he could have done for his father.
Callie Brothers
ReplyDeleteProf. Kirk
ENGL 3353
20 November 2015
MOTIF
Throughout the content of Foer's novel, we understand that Oskar wears white. He focuses on this aspect because it is an issue that he deals with daily. He only wears white, his only focus is to do the same thing everyday, no exceptions, no changes. "...She also gave me a white blazer, because I only wear white clothes, and it's too big to wear so it will last me a long time."(3) Oskar only focuses on clothing, he describes his depression as wearing heavy boots, drudging through life, trying to weigh through the emotions of being found out. He also refers to pockets, "we need much bigger pockets..." (73) He describes needing pockets for each part of life; the universe, cities, families, friends, etc. Oskar is comfortable with concrete things, but has the mind based off of abstract things. His mind is to grown for a child of his age. There is too much pulling on him, weighing him down, like the gravity on earth. Foer uses Oskar to explore the mind of a child. Foer truly focuses on the emotions of a child, especially a child with a mature mind.
Sadie Wyant
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
ENGL 3353
20 November 2015
Motif – Heavy Boots
In Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar uses the phrase “heavy boots” to describe when he feels helplessly sad about something. Oskar gets heavy boots when he thinks about life in general. For example, he recalls reading A Brief History of Time and says, “I got incredibly heavy boots about how relatively insignificant life is” (beginning of The Only Animal). Oskar is far too mature/grown-up for his age, which leads to him contemplating deep existential things a child should never think about. “Heavy boots” describes Oskar as being weighed down, stuck to the earth and unable to fly like children should (with their imagination, of course).
Kelsey Wheatle
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
ENGl 3353
20 November 2015
Motif
In Foer's novel, the key that Oskar continuously searches for is a recurring motif throughout the content of the story. The key is more than a tangible object that Oskar searches for in order to fulfill his dad's dreams, the key is symbolic, and it is an image that Oskar's dad leaves him so Oskar can explore the world. Although the key might not mean much to the reader, it provides hope for Oskar, and it gives him a sense of purpose when he is tracking it down. Searching for the key gives Oskar a way to gain a broader perspective of the world, meet new people. and keep his idle mind away from negative thoughts that may lead to depression. Oskar loves the thrill of searching for the key, which is why even after he finds the key he wears it on a necklace and begins to search for what the key opens. Searching for the key was Oskar's dad's way of teaching him a lesson to open up to people, and to try to mend his broken heart.
Mikkaela Bailey
ReplyDeleteProf. Kirk
ENGL 3353
20 November 2015
Motif in Loud and Close
In Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the protagonist Oskar struggles with his understanding of the world through his religion. He has a cynical view of the world that was remedied through his dad’s explanations of difficult things (13). Now that his father is no longer here, he has nothing solid to believe in: “Even though I’m not anymore, I used to be an atheist, which means I didn’t believe in things that couldn’t be observed. I believed that once you’re dead, you’re dead forever, and you don’t feel anything, and you don’t even dream” (4). These beliefs left Oskar with a sense of hopelessness when they finally applied to his own life and family. Now, he would much rather believe that things are “complicated” so that he can still find hope in possibly seeing his dad again, or at the very least understanding that his dad is somewhere, not nowhere at all.