‘A Christmas Story’ is a well known Christmas classic. The movie is watched countless times as the holiday season goes on. The book that the movie is based on is a collection of essays written published in a book called “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” by Jean Shepherd. The book titles ‘A Christmas Story’ reprints these essays.
The first essay is titled Duel in the Snow or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid. This essay is about the main character’s (named Ralphie in the movie) quest to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. He is blocked countless times by the ‘You’ll shoot your eye out’ response. He writes a theme for school about it and his teacher says the same thing. Even Santa is in league with the mothers of the world, because he tells Ralphie that he’ll shoot hi eye out. Eventually, Christmas is saved from the presents like Aunt Clara’s bunny slippers and Sandy Andies by his Old Man, who surprises everyone with the Red Ryder BB gun on Christmas day. The irony of it all is that Ralphie does shoot his eye out, in a manner of speaking. The recoil from his first shot knocks his glasses off his face and leaves a huge gash in his head. His glasses are ruined and he lies to his mother about how it happened, claiming an icicle fell off the garage and hit him in the head.
The second essay is The Counterfeit Secret Circle Member Gets the Message or The Asp Strikes Again. Ralphie talks about how he drops everything everyday to go home and listen to the Little Orphan Annie show at 5:15. At the end of every show, there is a message for all of the Secret circle members. Ralphie desperately wants to be a member, but to be one; he has to send in the seal from a can of Ovaltine. His family does not buy it, nor does anyone he knows. One day walking home from school he finds a can with the seal in it. He sends it in and anxiously waits for his secret decoder pin. When it finally comes, he is disappointed to find that the secret is ‘just a crummy commercial’.
The third essay is My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award that Heralded the Birth of Pop Art. The Old Man is a sucker for the puzzles in the paper. Everyday he does one. Once, he enters a contest that requires the knowledge of obscure sports trivia. He gets so far as to be a finalist in the contest. He gets a letter announcing that he a won a ‘major award’. When the box arrives, his major award turns out to be a lamp in the shape of a women’s leg. The Old Man thinks that it is the best prize ever and proudly displays it in the window. Ralphie’s mother, however, hates it. One day as she is watering her plants, the lamp falls off the table and breaks. The Old Man spends hours fruitlessly trying to put it back together. When he cannot, he buries it in the backyard.
The fourth essay is Grover Dill and the Tasmanian Devil. The top bully at Ralphie’s school is Grover Dill. He bullies everyone. On the way home from school, Dill jumps out at Ralphie from no where and pushes him. Ralphie gets up and launches at him, pushing him to the ground. He beats Dill’s head into the ground numerous times, while a stream of profanity the likes of which has not been heard since comes from his mouth. His mother pulls him from the fight and cleans him up. Ralphie is terrified of what his father will say; sure he will not make it alive to the next day. Surprisingly, his mother covers for him and mentions nothing of what he said only that h had a little fight. His father does not punish Ralphie, who then proceeds to get violently sick from relief.
The final essay in the book is The Grandstand Passion Play of Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds. Easter is always a big production in Ralphie’s house. His whole family goes to pick the ham. His mother prepares is days before hand, letting it slow cook. The aroma fills the whole house irresistibly. Their neighbors are a bunch of hillbillies who play Gene Autry records late at night and have numerous piles of junk in their backyard. They have an entire pack of hounds named either Big Red, Old Blue of Luke that they allow to roam free. These hounds break into the house and take the ham just moments before dinner time. The Old Man is so angry that he cannot speak expect to say that they are going out for Chinese food.
The movie titled A Christmas Story was written for the screen by Jean Shepherd, the same man who wrote these essays. It was released in 1983. While it was not noteworthy then, it has since become a Christmas favorite, played for 24 hours straight Christmas day on one television station. The movie is fairly true to the book it is based on: Grover Dill’s name is Scut Farkas, the Easter ham is a Christmas turkey and Ralphie’s Christmas day shooting takes place in the afternoon. However, the movie still portrays the ‘period and family details that make up the context and texture’ of the collected essays.
This edition of the collected essays is good material for AP Language because of the way Shepard writes. His tone is not at all colloquial and his word choice is amazing. This book is not hard to read, but it does not lack in meaning.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Crucible Response
The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller is very interesting. It addresses the issue of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The story is an interesting conflict between reason and religion. Two of the characters, John and Elizabeth Proctor are the ones who stand out against the accusations of witchcraft. While all others around them are swept up in accusing their neighbors of ‘sending out their spirits’ or killing others in Satan’s name, the Proctors say that they are not sure if they even believe that witches exist. This shows that they are willing to go against the theocracy of Salem; heresy in those days.
Miller uses language that now may be hard to understand at times. However, it correctly captures the passionate feelings of the speakers. For the readers of the script, it can be challenging and frustrating to read, but this just makes the emotions more potent.
One interesting aspect of the play is the sense of mob mentality that takes over at several keep points. One notable one is the scene in which Betty awakes from her stupor to find Tituba and Abigail accusing many people of Salem of witchcraft and joins in, without being asked to do so. One must assume that she is only doing so because the other women are, not because there was any real witchcraft going on. Also, in court, many women are added to the original list because their name is mentioned in court. This is a prime example of what Miller is trying to point out, that the mobocracy takes hold and governs Salem during this period.
It is clear from the start that John and Elizabeth have their issues in their marriage. Elizabeth has not fully forgiven John for his affair with Abigail, their former servant. So it is somewhat surprising how hard John fights to keep Elizabeth from being taken into custody and sent to jail. He forces the men who come to take her to give him proof of her ‘witchcraft’ and even attempt to physically prevent them from taking her away. John is furious that Abby accused her of this and he is angry with his servant, Mary, for not saying that she will deny Abby’s claims in court. The anger that John displays is evidence of his disbelief in witchcraft and his disillusion in the government of his town.
It is noteworthy to mention the integrity of the girls who name the so-called witches, mostly Abigail Williams. The girls often change their stories from one minute to the next and contradict one another and even themselves. One would think that the adults of the story would notice this and become suspicious, but they seem too eager to believe it. It almost seems as if the people of Salem want there to witches afoot, as if it would make those not accused better in the eyes of God.
At first, the book is reminiscent of The Scarlet Letter, by Hawthorne. The setting and time are similar, as are the circumstances of the story. In the Scarlet Letter, the story is set in 17th century Boston. The main character, Hester Prynne, is an adulteress and is persecuted accordingly. Both this society and the one in Salem are theocratic, that is governed in accordance with religion. The story of The Crucible, however, has to do more directly with religion. While Hester is accused of breaking God’s laws, the accused witches of The Crucible are said to be working with the devil.
Initially, the Reverend Hale seems comparable to Reverend Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter. Upon further inspection, however, the two are nothing alike. Hale is a man of strong religious conviction; he will not change his mind about those accused of sorcery even though he has himself proclaimed their goodness. Hale has committed no crime in the eyes of the other characters, or in his own eyes. Dimmesdale is crushed daily under his own guilt of adultery.
Of course, the manuscript of The Crucible can be compared to the movie of its own title. The movie was first released in November 1996 and its screenplay was also written by Arthur Miller.
The Crucible is an important addition to the AP Language curriculum because of its intricate use of an outdated style of English. The dialogue used occasionally requires a trip to the dictionary. It also makes the reader think about what is being said in layman’s terms. This makes it easier to relate to the actual story and accounts from each of the characters.
Miller uses language that now may be hard to understand at times. However, it correctly captures the passionate feelings of the speakers. For the readers of the script, it can be challenging and frustrating to read, but this just makes the emotions more potent.
One interesting aspect of the play is the sense of mob mentality that takes over at several keep points. One notable one is the scene in which Betty awakes from her stupor to find Tituba and Abigail accusing many people of Salem of witchcraft and joins in, without being asked to do so. One must assume that she is only doing so because the other women are, not because there was any real witchcraft going on. Also, in court, many women are added to the original list because their name is mentioned in court. This is a prime example of what Miller is trying to point out, that the mobocracy takes hold and governs Salem during this period.
It is clear from the start that John and Elizabeth have their issues in their marriage. Elizabeth has not fully forgiven John for his affair with Abigail, their former servant. So it is somewhat surprising how hard John fights to keep Elizabeth from being taken into custody and sent to jail. He forces the men who come to take her to give him proof of her ‘witchcraft’ and even attempt to physically prevent them from taking her away. John is furious that Abby accused her of this and he is angry with his servant, Mary, for not saying that she will deny Abby’s claims in court. The anger that John displays is evidence of his disbelief in witchcraft and his disillusion in the government of his town.
It is noteworthy to mention the integrity of the girls who name the so-called witches, mostly Abigail Williams. The girls often change their stories from one minute to the next and contradict one another and even themselves. One would think that the adults of the story would notice this and become suspicious, but they seem too eager to believe it. It almost seems as if the people of Salem want there to witches afoot, as if it would make those not accused better in the eyes of God.
At first, the book is reminiscent of The Scarlet Letter, by Hawthorne. The setting and time are similar, as are the circumstances of the story. In the Scarlet Letter, the story is set in 17th century Boston. The main character, Hester Prynne, is an adulteress and is persecuted accordingly. Both this society and the one in Salem are theocratic, that is governed in accordance with religion. The story of The Crucible, however, has to do more directly with religion. While Hester is accused of breaking God’s laws, the accused witches of The Crucible are said to be working with the devil.
Initially, the Reverend Hale seems comparable to Reverend Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter. Upon further inspection, however, the two are nothing alike. Hale is a man of strong religious conviction; he will not change his mind about those accused of sorcery even though he has himself proclaimed their goodness. Hale has committed no crime in the eyes of the other characters, or in his own eyes. Dimmesdale is crushed daily under his own guilt of adultery.
Of course, the manuscript of The Crucible can be compared to the movie of its own title. The movie was first released in November 1996 and its screenplay was also written by Arthur Miller.
The Crucible is an important addition to the AP Language curriculum because of its intricate use of an outdated style of English. The dialogue used occasionally requires a trip to the dictionary. It also makes the reader think about what is being said in layman’s terms. This makes it easier to relate to the actual story and accounts from each of the characters.
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