F. Scott Fitzgerald lived a relatively hard life plagued by alcoholism and depression, yet was a powerful writer. Characters in his novels, such as Jay Gatsby from "The Great Gatsby" and Dick Diver from "Tender is the Night" seem to experience similar troubles. We know what Fitzgerald struggled with throughout his life; to what extent did he give his characters the same struggles? Was it a conscious decision, or a way of coping? In many cases the characters don't find peace, just as Fitzgerald didn't. How did Fitzgerald use his personal life, whether willingly or not, to influence his writing?
I think it is undeniable that Fitzgerald largely reflects upon his own life through the trials and tribulations of his fictional characters. Some of the parallels he draws are uncanny, however whether this was a conscious decision, or merely a demonstration of the artist's tendency to draw upon his own experiences, is difficult to ascertain. It would be interesting to look at essays written by Fitzgerald and critiques written about his works, as well as taking a closer look at his characters in order to craft a more solid perspective on the matter. – arhaydu8 years ago
I would love to read an article like this. To piggy-back off arhaydu a bit, looking at the wealth of Fitzgerald's different works, from the best-known novels to essays, as well as his short stories, is a must. Additionally, there is actually a slim volume out there titled On Booze. Relevant, and it is a quick, enjoyable read--shouldn't put too much more stress time-wise on the writing process for this article. – KatharineBooth8 years ago
That's quite interesting. In Stephen King's book "On Writing" he mentions having a connection with Jack Torrance form "The shining". Both Stephen King and Jack Torrance were struggling writers who had sunk into alcoholism. Writing characters similar to yourself is something that comes naturally. without having the intention of creating yourself on the page your are drawn to writing what you know. We can find many examples of this and it can easily be applied to Fitzgerald and his works. – ReidaBookman8 years ago
Reflect on how standardized tests are not preparing high school students for liberal arts courses in college. Liberal arts courses requires reading stamina, comprehension, and critical writing skills that are not taught in the classroom.
Oh, the heck yes! Thank goodness somebody said it. I was lucky because I always loved to read, but a lot of kids aren't born bookworms. I taught Freshman Comp as a grad student, and the lack of enthusiasm for reading, plus the lack of comprehension and skill, made me so mad for those students, I can't begin to tell you. – Stephanie M.8 years ago
Absolutely. I work as an ACT/SAT prep teacher and the tests do not teach kids to read critically or comprehensively. They only teach them to read for the answer or to barely understand main concepts. As a timed test, students don't have enough time to properly read every word and examine it like college students would be required to. They also are not required to write an essay based on the excerpt and are discouraged from bringing any outside knowledge to apply to the text. I would definitely say that standardized tests limit high school students from enjoying and pursuing reading. – krae298 years ago
Yes! I agree. Standardized tests teach students that answers are either right or wrong, and in literature that's not exactly true. As long as you back up your claim with evidence, then your answer could be correct. Literature is not all black and white, there's that gray area. And standardized tests hinder students from thinking beyond black and white. – simplykrizia8 years ago
Teaching to the test is the absolute death of critical thinking. Having taught college for years, I can confirm just how unprepared students are for college in general, even more so for any course that requires thinking outside the box. Teaching English was just as difficult. None of my courses use exams as a method of evaluation, which completely throws students off because they are required to read and write and think and analyze materials. Assigned reading was a constant component to the course, as were brief exercises to evaluate knowledge gained. Since students couldn’t use memorization to complete assignments, many of them struggled. Other students however, were relieved to able to think freely and not within the constraints of rote memorization and regurgitation. If high school students were periodically given the freedom to choose their own reading materials, reading and comprehension rates would likely become much higher.
– mazzamura8 years ago
Playing devil's advocate here. While standardized tests can limit a student's ability to become an avid reader, with correct guidance, standardized tests can act as a stepping stone to learn how to read textbooks and look for the pertinent information when reading a passage. Having tutored students in ACT/SAT, I find students who struggle with reading comprehension are better equipped to increase their reading stamina once they have started preparing for standardized tests. Additionally, standardized tests cannot be the only reason to blame for lack of preparation for liberal arts courses. Transitioning from high school to college can often be a struggle, especially for those who do not have a strong background in English or other social sciences, which can also act as a deterrent for avid reading. There are many factors that play a role in lack of preparation for liberal arts courses. – vaidyadoc8 years ago
To play devil's advocate again,preparing for any standardized tests teaches a student to search strictly for answers. SAT prep courses teaches you to read the first two sentences in each paragraph and pay attention to transitional sentences to find answers. In liberal arts courses students are not expected to find answers, they are expected to know how to elaborate and write critical responses to texts. – authoressalicia8 years ago
Creative Nonfiction (CNF) has been one of the hottest and most expansive literary genres since the mid-90s, but many still fail to understand the concept of the genre. As a genre that tells truthful stories in an artful and engaging way, there can be roadblocks to the genre's validity when it comes to the use of creative liberty.
How has the mainstream introduction of CNF altered the way we read and trust our authors? How can CNF be directed within the periphery of the public mainstream in a way that credits the genre with more than just memoir? Additionally, how do we deal with the ethical dilemmas that creative liberties create within the genre?
This is a very interesting topic that I know all too well, as someone who loves using imagery and creative literary tools in my writing, I've encountered issues between how realistic the writing sounds. Creative Nonfiction can fall into a gray area for many writers as they want to tell their true story realistically and honestly, to a point where there isn't much room for creative freedom. I feel the balance can be made, and introducing more creativity and freedom to nonfiction can add a new layer to honest and truthful story telling. – theanding8 years ago
Love the topic! I enjoy reading memoir, but I do think that's all that comes to mind when most people hear "creative nonfiction." I haven't found a non-memoir CNF work I enjoy in awhile. I hope to see a lot of non-memoir works mentioned in the post. – Stephanie M.8 years ago
This idea is a great topic! I teach English Comp. and at this moment, the students are preparing to write their narrative essays. I reviewed some of the student's drafts, and their narratives are like reading an instructional piece where they are putting together a machine with a thousand bolts and nuts. They are afraid of being creative because they feel like they will lie about what happened. I ask them to rely on descriptive writing and think about their five senses when they tell their stories. I also tell them to remember how they felt at specific times during their stories. They find this challenging. I think I may know the answer to dealing with ethical dilemmas--tell the truth. I would be interested in digging more into the perception of CNF in the mainstream and research both your questions. I think the outcome will be interesting and exciting. – Vchelle8 years ago
What if you stumbled across the most beautiful poem you'd ever read while browsing the Internet, only to learn that it was created by a computer program. Would it lose it's value? Would "A Raisin in the Sun" lose it's value if it was written by, say, a white man, or would it retain its message?
Between "Biographical Fallacy" (Wimsatt & Beardsley, 1946) and "Death of the Author" (Barthes, 1967), I can't help feeling this topic has been done to death (no pun intended). I'll admit, your invoking of Hansbury, however, might provide a somewhat fresh take. It's one thing to talk about authorial biography and intent when it's simply a matter of literary interpretation, but race does seem to complicate these matters. I could see the whole article just being about that; however, I'd be very surprised if even that hasn't been done before. – ProtoCanon8 years ago
I think art can, and should, stand alone anonymously. Knowing the author or artist can influence our reaction to it. – Jeffrey Toney8 years ago
I have always thought that the poem, or any piece of literature, can be interpreted as a stand alone piece, irrespective of the author. As such, the reader can always delve into the rationale behind why an author was stimulated to write what they did, but the words themselves carry more weight than the author. – NateSumislaski8 years ago
Extremely interesting topic! I think it just depends on how you are reading it. New Criticism and close reading basically don't take the author into consideration. If you want to analyze a work from a biographical and/or historical standpoint, then maybe the author does matter--who says you can't analyze a computer program? To produce a great poem, that program has to somehow be programmed to follow the expectations of what a "great" poem is, for example. That will lead us to the programmer(s). – James Zhan8 years ago
I would lean towards saying author doesn't matter. Take Beowulf, for example. It has no known author, is centuries old, yet continues to be taught in high schools and colleges across the United States. If one changes their opinion of a work simply based on its author, they are not truly accepting the work on the basis of its content, but rather on the name attached to it. – ngm12048 years ago
St. Nick/Santa Claus is often presented as a jolly, warm, and overall positive spirit of the holiday season. However, a closer look at other culture's "St. Nick" figures (creepier ones like Krampus) and the like could present a darker side. Aside from that, the article would also discuss or look at the deeper motivations behind the St. Nick figure. Why make toys? Why distribute them? What is his motivation? In some ways Santa can be considered "chaotic good"–a figure operating generally for good under their own moral structure. No one has told St. Nick to do these things, he does so of his own volition and for his own reasons. Whose system of morals does the Santa judge children by? What would happen if children were judged on a different system of morals–perhaps "good" children were no longer the traditional moral good, but rather the most ambitious or the most cunning children? Additionally, the santa *punishes* bad children. This goes against the traditional "reform" system where those who are bad are brought gently to good. Krampus type figures even bodily kidnap or harm children to punish them. (A fun and possibly seasonal article.)
Interesting topic! I like it. But it might help to ground it in some specific movie versions of Santa. Maybe even including the Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss? – Ben Hufbauer8 years ago
Great topic; there are many, many Santas you could explore. The Santa from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer would be one of my favorites for this topic because he is so respected, but spends much of the film acting like a jerk toward Rudolph, the elves, etc. Tim Allen's version is another great one because at first he doesn't even want to *be* Santa. (Actually, that opens up a whole new batch of topics like, what does being Santa mean? Who is considered worthy to take the role? What are Santa stories trying to communicate to real people about this figure, and is he *just* for children in the modern world? Anyway, my two cents. – Stephanie M.8 years ago
Why was Dune so successful despite being largely inaccessible to a mainstream audience? How did Herbert manage to write the best-selling sci-fi novel of all time (surpassing classics such as the works of Asimov and Wells)? While rumors of its reboot arise, why might a major studio (Legendary Entertainment) take on such a sprawling project?
Overall, what is the appeal of Dune, and why has it been so enduring?
Are we entering an era of lost rights for women? Are our futures as bleak as Margaret Atwood predicted in 1986? Analyze Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale in its portrayal of women and its implications in modern day politics. Discuss the importance of the book as speculative fiction and the aspects of Gilead possible in modern society.
This is a very relevant topic and I look forward to it being explored. We may not have reached Gilead just yet, but some people would certainly will us that direction. Is there a difference today because we have people fighting it? What about the people at the time of the novel's writing that were fighting this same thing? (Has the fight changed at all?) – Mariel Tishma8 years ago
The tall, noble and beautiful elf has become almost a cliche in fantasy at this point, but this was not always so. As Tolkien traces in his landmark essay, "On Fairy Stories," from Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" and Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" up to his time, elves had been diminutive creatures of mischief, cutesy and not worth taking seriously. Beginning with Tolkien, and his reliance on Northern European mythology to craft his legendarium, analyze this shift in the treatment of the Elf, and what it meant for fantasy as a genre. Also, compare Tolkien's Elf with a more modern one, and look at recent deviations of the now archetypal elf.
Great topic! A portion of this article should definitely be devoted to the portrayal of Christmas elves, as a complete 180 deviation from the kind seen in Tolkein. How did the archetype of a tall, noble, immortal warrior turn into the short, subservient toy-makers (or tree-dwelling cookie-makers, or nocturnal shoe-makers, etc) that's become so ubiquitous in our contemporary lore? – ProtoCanon8 years ago
The writer could also stand to look into pixies/imps/brownies and other fae folk for this topic. More than a few of them have gotten mixed together. – Mariel Tishma8 years ago
Oh, the possibilities.... I'd highly suggest devoting a whole section of the topic to the Christmas elf, since they have about 1000 incarnations themselves. I've seen them as whimsical humans (Buddy in "Elf"), a Nordic-looking stop-motion troupe ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer") and as children with silver-specked cheeks (The Santa Clause franchise). – Stephanie M.8 years ago
