İNGİLİZ/AMERİKAN EDEBİYATI I - Deneme Sınavı - 11

Having started his career by writing jokes for newspapers, Allen did not stop adding comic elements to his fiction. Humor is an inseparable part of his writings. Moreover, he uses daily speech frequently in his writings. His literature is a good example of American humor. Moreover, both his films and literature are considered to be examples of postmodernism employing most of the postmodern techniques, particularly parody. The answer is D.

Originally a theory of architecture, postmodernism has its roots in the post-World War II period. Postmodernism later influenced philosophy, art, literature, film and culture. Although the exact time that it began as a movement is not clear, it is usually believed that it is a reaction to the loss of meaning after WWII and a reaction to modernist attitude. Actually, postmodernism is a continuation of modernism, a literary movement that dominated the literary world between late nineteenth century and 1940s, and makes use of most of the characteristics of modernism. Therefore, in order to understand what postmodernism is, one should have at least a basic understanding of modernism. The answer is B.

One of the basic techniques that the postmodernists used and still use to play is parody. Parody “imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular literary work in order to make fun of those same features”. The purpose of the parody is to present an ironical representation of the parodied text without being serious. The answer is D.

The story opens in a psychoanalyst’s office. Professor Sidney Kugelmass is complaining about his life and is disappointed that his marriage to his second wife Daphne did not turn out to be what he had expected. The answer is D.

“The Kugelmass Episode” is a parody of both modern American and Jewish society and through the central character Professor Sidney Kugelmass explores one of the central conflicts of the modern consumer society: dissatisfaction. The answer is C.

The protagonist and the antagonist of the story, Sidney Kugelmass is a professor of humanities at City College. The answer is A.

The type of the story cannot be explained by a single subgenre. As it explores the consciousness of Kugelmass, it has the characteristics of a character story. Also, the story falls into an action story because the action is as important as the characters. Moreover, as the story also reaccounts adventure, it can also be categorized as adventure story. Therefore, in the postmodern sense, The Kugelmass Episode is a simulacra, benefiting from intertextuality with its borrowing from various genres. The answer is E.

Self-reflexivity: The text referring to itself as a text. One of the examples of self-reflexivity is the language that Emma uses: “She spoke in the same fine English translation as the paperback” (lines 108-109). Madame Bovary is originally a French novel and the characters normally speak French. However, the version that Persky throws into the cabinet is the English translation which makes Emma speak English in the story. This shows the fictionality of the character, however, as the reader reads the story, that she is French is no more important and the reader simply looks over her using English, especially when she becomes a part of the modern world using daily language, even slang. Therefore, the distinction between reality and fiction is blurred. The answer is B.

When Louise enters her room, the first detail given about the room is “a comfortable, roomy armchair” in front of an open window (line 16). It is interesting that details about comfort and open window are given, normally people do not recognize such details when they are overcame by the exhaustion of death news. That Louise “sank” into a comfortable chair facing an open window, which implies her readiness for a new life and opportunities, symbolized by “the open window”, and that life is presented as comfortable, symbolized by the depiction of the chair.

The “open square before her house” symbolizes the lack of a superior authority over her will in her new life.

Clouds: Problems in marriage

Paradox: a sentence that has a conflict in it
Revealed in half-concealing
Joy that kills

While Louise is enjoying her freedom, the others in the house, namely Josephine and Richards are anxious about her. Josephine begs entrance to her room claiming that Louise is going to make herself ill. This paragraph is again significant in that it is the first time that the readers learn the central character’s name: Louise (line 69). This is not coincidental. Up until this point Louise is referred to as either Mrs. Mallard, which identifies her position in society as a wife, or just “she” an unidentified female character.Until Louise is left a widow, she is not addressed with her first name. However, it is the first name that is special for the individual, and the last name is used to describe the members of a family. In this perspective, until Louise declares her independence with her exclamation “Free! Body and soul free!”, she is not regarded as an individual, and her liberation gives her an identity.

This new state of individuality and independence is described as “a very elixir of life” by the author (line 71). This metaphor of “elixir of life” allows the readers to understand how Louise finds this new feeling pleasing and how it gives her a new strength to live and expresses her new state by claiming that she is not making herself ill (line 71). Her passion for her new life is strengthened in the next paragraph (lines 73-76) with her constant emphasis on the long life ahead of her. Contrary to the expectations of those around her, she is not weakened by the death of her husband, rather she is rejuvenated and wishes for an even longer life. This is also an irony as she has only a few minutes to live.

The description of Louise in this paragraph in lines 17-18 is also quite complicated. She is said to “have pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul”. This physical exhaustion has two meanings. The first straightforward meaning is that Louise is exhausted because she cried a lot and she is very sorry for her husband’s loss, and she feels deep sorrow. The other implied meaning is about the very nature of marriage and how Louise perceived it. Upon close investigation, it can be understood that Louise was not happy with her marriage both physically and spiritually. The exhaustion that is said to have “haunted her” therefore is considered to be a metaphor for marriage itself, and exhaustion here is personified. This type of representation in which a writer expresses something which can be interpreted in two ways is called double entendre. The reason why Kate Chopin preferred such kind of presentation is actually lies in the norms of the society. In those times, it was not possible for women to question their roles as women, daughters and wives.

Among the things that attract Louise’s attention are the fresh air, a peddler, a distant song and the twittering of the sparrows. To begin with, it is said that “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (lines 21-22). Here the fresh air is considered to be just the opposite of the oppressive atmosphere of her marriage. The distant song and the twittering of the sparrows are also noticed by Louise. These two, which indicate a positive mood and are usually considered to be inappropriate for mourners to recognize, are the things which imply the change in Louise’s mood. Moreover, the peddler who can be considered as trivial in the face of such serious situations is among the things that Louise recognizes. Normally, people are not expected to pay attention to details around them upon death news.

The plot reaches a climax, when Louise declares her freedom with the words “Free, free, free!”. Her realization of her freedom is very important because at this point Louise goes through a transformation and it is impossible to confine her to the limitations of the marriage institution. Therefore, this is the turning point of the story. After this point, there is no tension in the story until the end.

The story is written in third person limited omniscient point of view since the writer used third person narration, but all the events are presented from Louise’s perspective. This kind of narration allows the reader to go deep into the psychology of the central character, yet the perspectives of the other characters are not given. From the beginning to the end, all the fluctuations in Louise’s psychology are analyzed in detail.

“The Story of an Hour” is a highly symbolic story because of two reasons. First, it was almost impossible to talk about controversial issues very explicitly in the 19th century. With a careful use of symbols, many writers avoided harsh criticism especially from the society as uncovering the symbols require some sort of literary education or insight. Therefore, the story is rich in symbols. Below are the summaries for the symbols as they were discussed within context in the overall analysis part:

Open window: Readiness for a new life and opportunities, freedom
Roomy armchair: Comfort of self-assertion and free-will
Spring time: renewal, new beginning
Patches of blue sky: hope for the future, freedom
West: death
Louise’s descending the stairs: her fall

Kate Chopin was deeply influenced by the single, independent women who had brought her up; and especially her great grandmother’s mother who had been the first woman to divorce her husband in St. Louis (Wyatt, 1995). The correct option is D.

Chopin’s observations of the strong women in her family were very influential in her philosophy and literary works. The correct option is A.