The Polarization Of Power

Emily Schwitzgebel

Ms. Wilson

AP Literature And Composition

13 January 2014

The Polarization Of Power: Synthesis Essay

**Theme: How power or voice (or lack of power or lack of voice) leads to the representation (or misrepresentation) of certain groups-within communities, societies, the world, etc.

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.

Signature: X Emily Schwitzgebel

The Polarization of Power

It is extremely dangerous, but also thoroughly rewarding. It is something earned, not carelessly given away. For some the lust is so strong they could not live without it, and for others, it is only a distant longing. Power. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Rainbow, Swimming Home, “The New Colossus,” and “The World Is Too Much With Us” (by Zora Neale Hurston, DH Lawrence, Deborah Levy, Emma Lazarus, and William Wordsworth, respectively), there is a constant desire for something better in life. It is natural for people to want what they do not already have, mankind is constantly searching for something greater, (either materialistic or hierarchical); while some would do anything to avoid the intimidating responsibility of power, others go out of their way to search for it: power is polarizing and different communities assign different values to it.

Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out what it is that they are looking for. Their lives are full of change, because they cannot settle down until they have found their own source of happiness. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie realizes that after several failed relationships what she has been missing is a voice of her own, and the power to share this voice. After taking a step back and reflecting on these relationships, Janie discovered that she was not content to be stepped on and silenced. From this moment on, “her soul crawled out from its hiding place” because she knew that what she wanted was to be treated as an individual with her own voice, not someone else’s (Hurston 128). Voice is equivalent to power, and for Janie, her voice had been kept quiet for too long, leaving her relatively powerless. She quickly became her own person and voice, leaving everyone else to hope “that she might fall to their level some day”, not because she held a position of power, but because she had finally settled down and had found what she wanted all along: a voice (Hurston 2). The Brangwen woman in The Rainbow felt the same way as Janie. She spent years of her life unsure of what it was that made her different from the people she surrounded herself with. Looking at her husband, the woman realized that he wanted something different than she did; “she craved to achieve this higher being”, while he—and all of the other Brangwen men—was perfectly content to never wonder about the things he did not have (Lawrence 56-58). The woman did not want to remain powerless only because she was a woman, and was not satisfied with the life led by the Brangwen men. Instead, “she […] wanted to know” all of the things which “poured unresolved into their veins” (Lawrence 38, 28-29). The Brangwen men did not strive to have anything other than what was handed to them on a silver platter, but the woman wanted more. She very much wanted the opportunity “to be of the fighting host” like the men in her life, and to feel powerful with knowledge (Lawrence 38-39).

 What is more powerful than opportunity? There are two kinds of people in the world: those who seize any opportunity that comes their way, and those who brush them off, taking the things that they have in their life for granted. America is nicknamed ‘The Land of Opportunity’ for those who venture through “the golden door” (Lazarus 14). Opportunity is power. It is an easy transport to something greater in life—a better job, a promotion, a friend, a marriage, a connection, a dream. Every connection made has the capability to help reach a goal, and setting a goal is how people move up in the world and become more and more powerful. Each day, people walk through that door “yearning to breath free” (Lazarus 11) in this land of opportunity. These are the first kinds of people, the ones who seize every opportunity possible. The United States has a reputation of laziness for a reason; there seems to be an abundance of food and money and jobs, when many other countries have scarcely enough to get by. In “The World Is Too Much With Us”, Wordsworth claims that “the world is too much with us” because when we are “getting and spending, we lay waste our powers” (Wordsworth 1, 2). As a democratic community, the United States does not place nearly as much value on power as the people coming to America from Africa, Asia, and Europe. The government has gone to huge efforts to make everyone’s voice heard equally, and when voice is power, United States citizens take this power for granted. People “are out of tune” with the world around them, choosing to ignore certain opportunities even when they are thrown at them, not actually willing to work for the things that they want in life (Wordsworth 8). Those who come from foreign communities, however, utilize every material that is given to them. While those born in the United States tend to be extremely materialistic, foreigners are more hierarchal. Power is not nearly as familiar to them, and so they work for it. Why would they come to the ‘Land of Opportunity’ at all if they were not looking for the chance to have a voice?

The ‘Land of Opportunity’ is simply not enticing to some people. Not everyone is interested in being powerful, and would prefer to share their voice either anonymously or not at all. In Swimming Home, Joe Jacob refused to read the writing of a long-time fan that came to see him because he believed that “to accept her language was to accept that she held him, her reader, in great esteem” and he did not want that kind of power (Levy 83). Joe shied away from all power and responsibility, choosing to share his deep, dark thoughts only in his poetry.  He was scared of what his peers and family might think if they heard him mouth his suicidal thoughts in a place other than on paper, where he was ‘JHJ’, not Joe. JHJ is powerful because he has the ability to share his emotions with his readers. His avid fan, Kitty, told him that “he writes about things [she] often think[s]”, and while the fictional JHJ can share his thoughts, Joe cannot (Levy 48). Joe is miserable with his life because he is powerless; JHJ has a voice, and has all of the power, but Joe just suffers in silence, not allowing the possibility that JHJ is actually him. Janie too, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, often times found that “she didn’t change her mind but she agreed with her mouth” (Hurston 63). Like Joe, Janie did not think that she even had the option to be powerful because she had given all power to her spouse. In her first few relationships, her spouse was her JHJ, and she stayed home, unhappy, with her thoughts. Power can be quite intimidating to some. It comes with a responsibility that not everyone is stable enough--or willing--to take.

There are two sides to everything, and order to get the full story, one must consider both sides. The people walking through the golden door are polar opposites of those living a spoiled American life. Some communities are already accustomed to a high social status, and their people are ravenously materialistic, placing only a small value on the hierarchy of power in their lives. Other communities learn to appreciate the materials they have been given, and would rather place their value on the very little power that they have, choosing to take opportunities as they are passing, and working hard to move up in the social status. The polarization of power leads to a different set of beliefs in each varying communities, keeping humans constantly on the prowl for something nearly unattainable.

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.

Lawrence, D. H. The Rainbow. New York: Modern Library, 1915. N. pag. Print.

Lazarus, Emma. "The New Colossus." N.p., 1883. Poem. 7 Jan. 2014.

Levy, Deborah. Swimming Home: A Novel. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2012. Print.

Wordsworth, William. "The World Is Too Much With Us." N.p., 1806. Poem. 7 Jan. 2014.

The Polarization Of Power

Food & Folklore Video

My Glog

Food Memoir--Chocolate Chip Cookies

Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

If the well-known ‘you are what you eat’ phrase really is true, then I guess I’d be considered quite boring. I am not—and have never been—an adventurous eater, I stick to the basics: macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, burgers, pizza, etc. I like it simple, bland, safe, and definitely familiar.

Familiar. Family. As Foster says in How To Read Literature Like a Professor, “The act of taking food into our bodies is so personal that we really only want to do it with people we’re very comfortable with” (Foster). After almost 18 years of living with them, I think it is safe to say that I’m comfortable with my family.

Every year my family drives eight hours to Pennsylvania to visit my grandparents. We have a family Christmas party where Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and siblings all on my Mother’s side of the family gather for the annual exchange.

I should probably explain that I am not the only one in my family who’s boring when it comes to food. We eat three meals per day like everybody else, but extensive time and preparation is not something that typically goes into a dish. I’m sure it would sicken some of the ‘foodies’ out there to know that I am more than content with my Kraft Mac’n Cheese from the box and some good old Tyson Chicken Nuggets.

Based on this information, it’s not surprising that much of the food at the Christmas party is pretty simple. Depending on the weather, the menu is either hamburgers and hot dogs, or sandwiches with assorted deli meats.

The Meaning of Food website points out that “There is no closer relationship than kin, and food plays a large part in defining family roles, rules, and traditions” (The Meaning of Food). While my family certainly doesn’t worship food, it has subconsciously defined family traditions. Every single year, without fail, every person brings some sort of snack or dessert, we say grace before getting our food, and the oldest family members get to go first in the food line; this Christmas party tradition has been going on for as long as I can remember.

The most worthy dessert is always Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies, passed down through four generations until finally reaching me:

2 ¼ c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Combine 1 c butter or shortening

¾ c granulated sugar

¾ c brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp water

Beat in 2 eggs. Add flour mixture. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop from tsp to greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 min.

By the time all of the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins leave my grandparent’s house, the cookies have been demolished. The sadness, however, is short-lived; inevitably my Grandmother pulls a gallon bag of the savory cookies out of the freezer, and the munching begins once again.

These chocolate chip cookies are the one thing I actually remember being taught how to make. We would stand in my Grandma’s kitchen, ‘accidentally’ dropping brown sugar on the counter so that we had to eat it, and popping chocolate chips into our mouths as if they were a health food. Mervyn Claxton says that “The techniques utilized to prepare and process foods and the ways of serving and consuming it, [...] can have an important influence on social and familial relationships.” (Culture, Food, and Identity, Sixth in a Series on Culture and Development, Mervyn Claxton). I think making cookies has certainly strengthened my relationship with someone who I see only once in a while.

I get most of my non-existent cooking skills from my Mom, and to this day she still cannot make the cookies; they just don’t taste the same. Luckily, I did not inherit the cookie gene.

My brothers and I have taken it upon ourselves to make sure that these cookies don’t die in our household. Every couple of months we spend some time making Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies. Mother’s Day is most common (since she can’t make them herself), but the occasional birthday is celebrated with cookies as well. We blast some music to get in the spirit, and have fun making a mess of the kitchen.

Chocolate chip cookies are familiar to me. They are simple (although much simpler to eat than to make), and they may be safe, but they are comfortable, and I wouldn’t want my family to be any other way.

"The Rainbow"

Original Essay:
Familiarity was "enough for the men" (1). Their power was automatic, and they never questioned what they had, because they just had it. Their power was generational, familiar, unknown. In D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow, he uses polysyndeton, repetition, and rhetorical questions to compare the woman to the Brangwen men, explaining that she wants something different from them: knowledge.

From the very first paragraph, Lawrence emphasizes that "it was enough" (4) for the men to live the same thing day in and day out. She then emphasizes that they have "warmth and generating and pain and death" (7-8), which is enough for them. This polysyndeton extends the list of what the men have, individualizing each word to make it seem important.

The second paragraph creates a tone shift, and the real topic of the passage is revealed. As it shifts from man to woman, Lawrence compares the woman to the Brangwen men described at the beginning. The woman "looked out to […] the world beyond" (18-19), while the men were "unable to turn around" (14). The author immediately characterizes the woman as different. "She faced outwards" (22-23) "whereas the Brangwen men faced inwards" (27-28). She is different, she is a woman, although living in the nineteenth century she did not have any opportunity to show it.

The woman "also wanted to know" (38), and have the power to do more with her life. This is why the vicar interests her so much, he has what she has wanted all along. In characterizing the vicar, Lawrence repeatedly uses the word "other" (41). This repetition emphasizes that he is on a different level, and cannot possibly be categorized in the same way that her husband is. No, the vicar had a way "of being that made Brangwen […] seem dull and local" (49-50), and she wants this.

The woman does not want familiarity for her children and herself. "She craved to achieve this higher being" (57), and wants to know "why?" (65).

Score:
My initial score for this essay is a five. Allie Specht scored it in this way because I tended to be "thin in my discussion of how Lawrence employs literary devices," but I did identify the devices correctly, and responded with a very "plausible reading of the passage."

I agree with this initial score. I spent too much time in analysis and too little time on writing. I knew what I was going to write about, and which quotes I wanted to include to prove my point, but I rushed through the writing and did not get to conclude the essay with the quote that I had chosen. I did not elaborate and expand on the things that I said in this essay, which significantly lowers the score of the essay. I demonstrated "adequate control of language," and while I did take the time to organize my essay before writing, it was not as "developed as 7-6 essays." I think that Allie gave my essay a fair score. I began my essay sounding much more clear and focused than I sounded at the end, because I was not thinking about what I was writing, I was too focused on the time limit, and getting to the conclusion.

Improvement:
Luckily, I could do a lot of things to improve this essay. One of the biggest things that could have helped me from the very beginning is dividing my time accordingly. As I mentioned, I spent the largest portion of my time simply planning for my essay, and then ran out of time writing. The problem with this is that the AP readers, obviously, do not know what I was thinking, they only see the writing, and in my case my essay was not finished and ended quite abruptly. Aside from planning, I also spent a long time reading the passage. In the future I need to read slowly and write notes, and then read again for the full impact. Instead, I read through it twice, writing notes both times, and not taking my time.

A second thing that would improve my essay is expanding and thoroughly explaining my ideas. I do not have a problem analyzing how the author employs literary devices for their purposes, but more often than not I do not explain myself thoroughly enough. After every technique/device I identify, I need to explain what effect it has on the purpose. I believe that this will keep my score in the upper half rather than the lower half. AP Comp spent a lot of time focusing on the 'SO WHAT?' and I wasn't thinking about that when I was writing my essay. By focusing on the ' so what', my essay will offer a more "persuasive analysis" and will seem to be more "effectively organized."

The third thing that I can improve about my essay is identification of literary devices. I know what they are--so that is not the problem--but in this particular essay I believe that if I had identified more literary devices it would make a "stronger case for my interpretation." An 8-9 essay "considers a variety of literary devices," and I only included three. After some class discussion I think that I could have found more than just these three devices, and I also could have found devices that were more critical to the characterization of the woman. The devices that I identified were correct, but may not have presented a strong case for interpretation.

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