...Name: Course: Instructor: Date: It is primarily difficult to define Postmodernism literature due to its novelty in technique, versatile ideas, and its break from the traditional narrative writing. Basically “If on a winter's night a traveler” is a novel about the reading experience. When discussing the postmodern literature, Calvino’s novel of 1979 “If on a winter's night a traveler” definitely is a work that is worth to be examined within this context. While ascribing the features of the postmodern fiction to a specified work at times can prove to be an undertaking that is both controversial and challenging in nature. This novel has proven to be both fascinating and also to be innovative work of the fiction which is postmodern. “If on a winter's night a traveler” authored by Italo Calvino, is a postmodern novel since it deviates from the obvious objectivity provided by the omniscient external narration normally found in nearly all traditional books(Calvino & William, pp.13-18). All through chapter two, Calvino employs second person viewpoint, where he narrates of the readers of the novel, are the key characters in his plot. The author constantly employs the pronoun “you” in making the reader to feel more engaged in what is happening and points out directly the relationship between the author, the text, and the readers. Self-reflectivity also is found in nearly all postmodern novels are well-known to possess. Calvino’s novel portrays numerous remarkable literary devices...
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...Janey Bucy Mrs. Cavotta Literature, Period 3rd January 13, 2014 In Salman Rushdie's excellent book Haroun and the Sea of Stories, there's a striking scene near the beginning where Haroun, the child of a famous storyteller, confronts his father by repeating a line that was previously parroted by a narrow-minded neighbour: What's the use of stories that aren't even true? Haroun spends much of the story (which I gather might be imagined rather than true) making up for this mistake, through fantastic adventures in a universe where two factions are at war: those who tell stories, and those who want all stories to end and silence to reign. For this is where fiction is so much better: at the telling not of factual truths that anyone can observe, but of greater Truths about life, about what it means, what it's about, how to live it, how to enjoy it and be happy and find a purpose. To observe these Truths, one needs very good eyes indeed, and telling them directly is almost impossible. Instead, a great author must tell a story that illustrates the Truth that they experienced and observed. If they do it extremely well, it becomes a kind of distilled life experience that the reader assimilates and which changes their understanding of life in subtle and important ways. The plot concerns a boy who all but curses his father in a moment of despair by saying, cynically, ''What's the use of stories that aren't even true?'' As a consequence, the father becomes heartbroken, and loses...
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...Salman Rushdie's creation, Saleem Sinai, has a self-proclaimed "overpowering desire for form" (363). In writing his own autobiography Saleem seems to be after what Frank Kermode says every writer is a after: concordance. Concordance would allow Saleem to bring meaning to moments in the "middest" by elucidating (or creating) their coherence with moments in the past and future. While Kermode talks about providing this order primarily through an "imaginatively predicted future" (8), Saleem approaches the project by ordering everything in his past into neat, causal relationships, with each event a result of what preceded it. While he is frequently skeptical of the true order of the past, he never doubts its eminence; he is certain that everyone is "handcuffed to history" (482). His belief in the preeminence of the past, though, is distinctly different than the reality of time for the Saleem who emerges through that part of the novel that Gerard Genette calls "the event that consists of someone recounting something" (26) (Saleem-now, we can call this figure). Saleem-now is motivated to act not by the past, but instead by the uncertainty and ambiguity of the future. Saleem's construction of his own story is an effort to mitigate the lack of control he feels in looking toward the unknown future. To pacify himself he creates a world that is ordered but this world is contrary to his own reality. Saleem spends much of his energy in the story setting up neat causal relationships between...
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...Name: Course: Instructor: Date: It is primarily difficult to define Postmodernism literature due to its novelty in technique, versatile ideas, and its break from the traditional narrative writing. Basically “If on a winter's night a traveler” is a novel about the reading experience. When discussing the postmodern literature, Calvino’s novel of 1979 “If on a winter's night a traveler” definitely is a work that is worth to be examined within this context. While ascribing the features of the postmodern fiction to a specified work at times can prove to be an undertaking that is both controversial and challenging in nature. This novel has proven to be both fascinating and also to be innovative work of the fiction which is postmodern. “If on a winter's night a traveler” authored by Italo Calvino, is a postmodern novel since it deviates from the obvious objectivity provided by the omniscient external narration normally found in nearly all traditional books(Calvino & William, pp.13-18). All through chapter two, Calvino employs second person viewpoint, where he narrates of the readers of the novel, are the key characters in his plot. The author constantly employs the pronoun “you” in making the reader to feel more engaged in what is happening and points out directly the relationship between the author, the text, and the readers. Self-reflectivity also is found in nearly all postmodern novels are well-known to possess. Calvino’s novel portrays numerous remarkable literary devices...
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...Scott Russell Sanders responds to an essay by Salman Rushdie, a writer who left his home country native India for England. Sanders explains through various tricolons, and hyperboles, why migration is not always a good thing. Sanders uses hyperboles to exaggerate the unknown fact that moving place to place, forcing cultures onto the next is not the pathway to success as Rushdie believes is. Sanders states “The habit of our industry and commerce has been to force identical schemes onto differing locals, as through the mind were a cookie-cutter and the land were dough.” By cookie cutter I think Sanders means forcing something to be what it is not, moving consistently you never have a chance of making a “durable home for yourself or your decedents.” You will never have any roots if you continue to move from place to place. Not enough respect goes into where we root ourselves as stated “when we cease to be migrants and become inhabitants, we might begin to pay enough heed and respect to where we are.” Sanders exaggerates that the one and only plus of migrating would be “to be a migrant is, perhaps, to be the only species of human being free of the shackles of nationalism.” He doesn’t mean...
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...Scott Sanders analyzes and responds to Salman Rushdie’s, a writer who left his native India to go to England, essay, where he describes the “effect of mass migration.” Salman wants to differ the type of “people who root themselves in ideas rather than places.” Sanders uses tautology to stimulate the similarities that many different people face but also uses tricolons to show their own different motivations. Scott Sanders uses tautology to emphasize similarities that different societies have. Americans are “restless movers”, we move to experience the feel of new places. Sanders’ tautology – “claims for the virtues of shifting ground are familiar and seductive to Americans, this nation of restless movers –“stimulates the use of similar words,...
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...William’s Lucky Day William was surfing the net when suddenly it was there. The dream job. He grabbed his phone and dialed the number, which was writing on the website. At first, no one answered, but suddenly a women’s voice replied “Hello, this is McDonalds’ manager, how can I help you?” William was not sure what to say. The women sounded so annoyed that William got frightened and was about to hang up. He finally manned up, and answered back with his kind and gentle voice “Hello, my name is William, and I stumbled over you website today, and saw you have a job offer” The women did not sound very enthusiastic, but she said that William could get an interview later this afternoon. William was speechless; he got so excited while trying to text his best friend Alex that he almost dropped his mobile. Eventually he got his nerves back on track, and texted Alex, saying that he had an interview later this afternoon. Few moments after William got a message back from Alex, saying he should go for it. William was thrilled and anxious at the same time while he was waiting. Finally the manager came out of his office, and asked William to step inside. The manager showed William around while he was asking William questions. The manager explained the daily routine of an employee at McDonald and how everything worked. They talked for quite a while, but eventually the manager asked his last question “Why do you think, you are qualified for this job?” “I have been working at our local co-op...
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...Haroun and the Sea of Stories SALMAN RUSHDIE Novel, 1990. Summary. In this story we encounter storytelling as a means of saving your identity, your relationship with your family, and perhaps even your life—which means that, in a sense, you are saving a world. The British-Indian author Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) had to go underground after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses in 1988. The book was considered blasphemous to Islam by the fundamentalist government of Iran, which issued a death warrant against him. He says that he reached a point where he was so distressed he wasn’t able to think of any stories to tell. But he worked himself out of his depression, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a book for children and other people who have a natural love for stories, is the result. This modern fairy tale has many surprising elements, but here we will focus just on the core issue: why stories have value. Haroun’s father Rashid is a professional storyteller and a very popular one. He usually tells cheerful stories, even though they live in a very sad city. Haroun is beginning to ask questions about his father’s storytelling: Where do the stories come from? From the great Story Sea, says Rashid, and you have to be a subscriber to the water, which comes from a tap installed by one of the Water-Genies. But Haroun doesn’t believe him. And now a sad thing happens in their lives: Haroun’s mother Soraya with the beautiful voice leaves her husband and child for another tenant...
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...Debating Speech This motion is the death of equality. First, I would like to specify the title of this motion and the opposition’s take on it. We believe that a ‘secular society’ refers to each religion being equal and respected within a society rather than the discrimination of those who hold religious beliefs. Second, I shall set out the main reasons why equality should come ahead of prejudice against people who cannot help the way they were born whilst my partner will tackle the outcry of ‘freedom of belief’, which will be the main argument from the proposition. We, the opposition, believe that as long as a person keeps their anti-equality beliefs to themselves, they should be allowed to have them so if a person in Ireland was against the Gay Marriage bill, they may of course keep this belief as long as they don’t use it to discriminate against others. Now, I would like everyone to think of a time about seventy years ago when, as a shop keeper, it was perfectly reasonable to discriminate against homosexuals, ethnic minorities and even women. Now that racism and sexism are openly criticised, we have become a more equal and fair society, so why was there any controversy over a homosexual couple wanting a shop to bake a cake with an anti-discriminatory message on it? I would like to emphasise that this service was offered by the baker and so refusing this couple and damaging emotional effects on the couple as they strove for equality and the recognition of their position in a...
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...loud – not even in the debate about the significance meaning of the exact word – is on the one hand “giving the word more power than it deserves”, which is mentioned in the CBS News clip “Huckleberry Finn and the N-word debate”. On the other hand is the possibility of hurting other people of great important – but when it comes to having a “teachable movement”, which the author and teacher David Bradly describes in the CBS News clip, it can be important to get the problem on the table instead of mystifying the word. The originality of classic literature is under threat of the need to make everything inoffensive. This need is probably created by good intentions, but is at the same time leaning against an extreme controlling society. Like Salman Rushdie points out in his article “On Censorship” from The New Yorker; “Great art, or, let’s just say, more modestly, original art is never created in the safe middle ground, but always at the edge.” Is it not the purpose of classic literature, and art in general, to touch the reader at some point? By censoring the great works the essential meaning of writing becomes affected. Kakutani is a big critic to censor and convinces her audiences by her pathos-marked language and arguments, where she builds op a sense of solidarity and frightens her readers her exaggerated...
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...Valazia Sophorlrath IB English Mr. Tetenbaum October 28, 2015 Ocean of Feelings Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is a book about a boy whose mother had left the family for his neighbor, Mr. Sengupta, who did not like stories at all. Due to that tragedy, his father, Rashid, is not able to tell stories. Haroun goes on an adventure to bring back the joy of stories to his father. What do you think Rushdie's saying about the value of stories and how they make people feel? By looking at the roles stories play in Haroun’s society, we can see how important stories are to his father and how his situation with his family affects his ability to tell stories; this is important because it shows that in order for someone to persevere, they...
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...Review on The Prophet’s Hair by Salman Rushdie The Prophet’s hair is a magical realistic short story from the book ‘East, West’ written by Salman Rushdie. Rushdie is an author, novelist, essayist and sometimes a critic. He blends myth and fantasy in a world of reality and that is what he is famous for. The prophet’s hair is based on the story of the theft of the prophet Muhammad’s hair. Whoever comes in contact with this relic, faces strange or miraculous events. The story takes place in the early 1980’s during winter season in a rural area called Srinagar in India. Srinagar is a Kashmir valley. This story also depicts a setting that can be assumed as the beginning of the 20th century where religion and government structures were reaching its heights. The social environment revolves around money, honor, respectable values and religion; in this case the Islam. Every character is concerned about his place in society and his greed for money. The story is written in third person omniscient point of view. The writer as he describes the setting, moves from character to character narrating the story. In this short story, Hashim is the protagonist. He is the father of Huma and Atta. Hashim comes upon the stolen hair accidentally. He does not return the relic as greed consumes. He justifies his act as a community service basing it on the Islamic views of deity. Hashim turns into a religious hypocrite from a secular person. Hashim’s son Atta knows the truth about the hair and steals...
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...! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Jacob Grimes! Rushdie & Rauch v. Storck: Censorship! Salman Rushdie is one of the many opponents of censorship. Born to an Indian family in Britian, his books contain magical realism, historical fiction, and Eastern-Western connections. His works are often controversial, and in 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his death. Rushdie tells us that we are living in a censorious age where our voices are being censored in the name of “respect”. This need for “respect” extends beyond its traditional definition, and also means that one must not overtly disagree with what others say or think. Rushdie thinks this censorship will bring an end to the radical disagreements that shape a free society. ! ! Jonathan Rauch is an American journalist who is also an avid proponent of same-sex marriage. He agrees with Rushdie that censorship should be fought because it is being used to censor simple disagreements; not only people are losing face over voicing negative views about blacks, but also for speaking against advantaged groups such as Christians and men. Rauch argues that censorship’s goal of purifying the world is a futile effort. People typically see the world in terms of in-groups and out-groups, so there will always be prejudice. This prejudice is hard to pin down because it may be confused with misinformation. For example, a protestor saying “God Hates Fags” may be expressing a subjective statement...
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...Haroun and the Sea of Stories SALMAN RUSHDIE Novel, 1990. Summary. In this story we encounter storytelling as a means of saving your identity, your relationship with your family, and perhaps even your life—which means that, in a sense, you are saving a world. The British-Indian author Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) had to go underground after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses in 1988. The book was considered blasphemous to Islam by the fundamentalist government of Iran, which issued a death warrant against him. He says that he reached a point where he was so distressed he wasn’t able to think of any stories to tell. But he worked himself out of his depression, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a book for children and other people who have a natural love for stories, is the result. This modern fairy tale has many surprising elements, but here we will focus just on the core issue: why stories have value. Haroun’s father Rashid is a professional storyteller and a very popular one. He usually tells cheerful stories, even though they live in a very sad city. Haroun is beginning to ask questions about his father’s storytelling: Where do the stories come from? From the great Story Sea, says Rashid, and you have to be a subscriber to the water, which comes from a tap installed by one of the Water-Genies. But Haroun doesn’t believe him. And now a sad thing happens in their lives: Haroun’s mother Soraya with the beautiful voice leaves her husband and child for another tenant...
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