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The books are in! You can pick up your copy at the front desk of the B&N at 41st. They will be under TSAS or Jesse Stallings. Or I suppose you could just ask for the title… We will begin discussing the novel on Monday, so try to get through the first chapter at least. Do not skip the Introduction. Eggers has some very interesting stuff to say, even before the story actually begins.
Your journal assignment over the weekend is to reflect on the novel.
Let me know what you think.
Also, if you read this and have a way to contact other members of the class, please spread the word. Ask them to do the same.
March 8, 2008 at 5:54 pm
there will be two copies on wednesday at steve sundry’s too
March 13, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Is the movement motif that you talk about actually the physical movement of the characters or is it the way the chapters abruptly “move” the story(one to two was a big shift, and definately two to three)?
March 13, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Good question. Both, actually, and I should have clarified. “Movement” or better, “advancement” is a major topic of this book. Eggers develops this into a theme in several stages (we’ll have to look at the book as a whole to figure these out), but we can begin to piece it together when we look at the various motifs that incorporate movement. The characters rarely sit still, and when Dave does his mind wanders. (We’ll talk about movement more tomorrow.)
Regarding the shifts between chapters, beginning with Dave’s mother in the hospital (Chapter 1) to the move to California (Chapter 2): This jump is connected through imagery of flight. Eggers ends the first chapter with Dave and Toph “flying up and over the quickly sketched trees and then to California” (45). [Side note: What do you think he’s saying with his “sketched” description of the trees?] The beginning of Chapter 2 follows this when the reader is asked to “picture [Dave and Toph] from above, as if . . . flying above us” (Eggers 47). If enough of these instances occur (flight, running, playing, sliding, etc.), we can begin to piece together a theme.
The 2 to 3 Chapter switch is a bit more complicated. There is a definite tonal transformation here, as Eggers moves from “religious people fall to their knees” (69) over Dave and Toph’s Frisbee skills, to the darker “enemies list” (72) in Chapter 3. This second switch doesn’t seem to fit with the flight imagery of the last transition, but maybe you can see something that I’ve missed.
What do you think? Was I clear in my explanation?
A motif is a literary device that contributes to a larger theme in a work.
A theme is a major message (sometimes a moral, sometimes a perspective or outlook) in a work.
A topic is more general than a theme. For example: “invasion” could be a topic of War of the Worlds. A major conflict occurs when two forces are in opposition (in this case, humans and aliens), and the outcome of the novel (and major events) show how the author wishes to portray the topic. This portrayal is called the/a theme. Determining the theme or message in a novel requires understanding how the author represents the topic, then interpreting the aspects of this representation to come to a conclusion based on the evidence presented.
That was longer than I intended.
March 13, 2008 at 4:04 pm
That’s really interesting, I didn’t catch that flying transition, it makes perfect sense though. Could the “quickly sketched trees” be another way to show movement? Sketching is typically a much faster way of drawing, maybe he’s showing the speed at which they’re moving compared to others/normal …that could work with the actual speed that they go to California and the speed that they at least seem to get over the deaths of their parents…
The second to third could maybe be that “all these people [are] impeding us, trifling with us, not knowing or caring who we are, what has happened”(70), which not only shows that the advancement has stopped, but goes with the second chapter ending,”No one has ever seen anything quite like it”(69).?.
Definitely need to finish this book to really analyze it though.
March 13, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Very cool. I agree with your sketched idea. I was thinking along the lines of “sketch=drawing=unreal” in a story that has been more or less realistic up to this point. It’s a bit odd that he’s describing the flying as if it happened.
Impeding, good. Maybe a tentative theme would be Dave’s obsession with movement, or compulsion to move. That would make him angry at those he perceives to be obstructions. This would also push him to move Toph, as well, as they are together against a world that (seemingly) wants to hold them back.