Senior Writing Portfolio by Robert Mountel

By: Robbie Mountel 5/5/09

2 Senior Writing Portfolio is a collection of pieces written by Roncalli High School senior Robbie Mountel. This collection includes several essays written over prose pieces including novels such as Frankenstein, Slaughter House Five, and The Things They Carried. These essays offer insight as to the literary devices used by the respective authors of the books, as well as analyze any themes in the novels. Also included are essays over older works such as Euripides’ Helen and William Shakespeare’s great tragedy Othello. Another essay answers an open ended question that was once on the AP Literature Test about the role violence plays in great writing. Another primary focus of this collection is the examination of poetry. Essays in this collection include pieces over poetry written by John Donne, Langston Hughes, and Walt Whitman. These essays examine poetic devices such as allusions, metaphors, figurative language, and diction that the writers utilize. Also included in this compilation is an annotated bibliography that analyzes several articles written about the themes of Othello and a college application essay that was used in Mountel’s application process at the University of Notre Dame and at Purdue University. Senior Writing Portfolio covers a wide variety of literature and serves primarily to analyze these great works.

3 Table of Contents Compare and Contrast TTTC and SH5

Position Paper Short Stories

Frankenstein

Poetry Response

Whitman and Hughes

Position Paper-Helen

Annotated Bibliography-Othello

The Pawnbroker

Prose Response

Open Ended Question-Violence

College Essay

4 Compare and Contrast TTTC and SH5 It is possible for story-truth to be truer sometimes than literal truth. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the truth is expressed through a series of stories. These stories, however, are not entirely true. In Slaughter-House-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, facts about the main character’s life are used. While TTTC uses story truth and SH5 uses actual happening=truth, the truth of TTTC is portrayed much more clearly. Kurt Vonnegut opens the first chapter of the novel by stating “All this happened, more or less” (SH5, 1). This predominately invokes a sense of literal truth about the book. Throughout the novel, from the point where Billy is captured by Germans to when his plane crashes, the story is told as if it is fact. The truth is not questioned because most of the events, with the exception of the Trafalmadore narrative, are completely realistic and believable. O’Brien, on the other hand, states in the middle of the novel that “almost everything is invented.” At first this invokes a sense of being cheated or lied to by the author. However, there is actually much realism to O’Brien’s lies than to Vonnegut’s facts. In TTTC, Tim O’Brien kills an enemy soldier with a hand grenade. O’Brien repeatedly states that “his other eye was a star-shaped hole” (TTTC, 124). By doing this, the author portrays a sense of shock. The back story of the man that O’Brien killed is also told in the novel. This appeals to the emotions and allows one to feel what Tim O’Brien is going through. The truths of TTTC and SH5 are presented in drastically different ways. However, both methods of story telling allow the author to depict what actually happened. In this case, the story-truth of TTTC proves to be more realistic than the

5 happening truth of SH5. While most of the stories told by O’Brien are lies, similar events actually happened. By dressing up the stories the way O’Brien does, he is able to reveal his emotions throughout the war without literally stating the truth. In this instance, there proves to be great truth in O’Brien’s lies.

6 Position Paper Short Stories In the stories of “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka and “Sin Dolor” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the authors share a common purpose. The protagonists in both stories are exploited by the ones that they love. The purpose of both authors is to portray a theme of greed and senselessness toward the protagonists of each story. In Sin Dolor, Damaso’s family is far less than nice to him. Boyle characterizes the father as being cruel and unloving toward his son. Damaso’s father exploits him and treats him more like an animal than a son. In the story, the doctor proceeds to wander the streets of the city on a day after the boy has left him. He finds Damaso “stuck all over like a kind of hedgehog with perhaps twenty of those stainless steel skewers people use for making shish kebab, including one that projected through both of his cheeks.” The father’s willingness to force his son to mutilate himself in front of hundreds of people, simply because he himself would rather not work, is a terrible form of greed. The Doctor in “Sin Dolor” is equally guilty of fraudulently loving young Damaso. While he seems to intend to treat the boy more humanely, there is a part of him that only wants to exploit the boy. In the story when the doctor takes Damaso to his office and shows him that he is a connoisseur of scorpions, he doesn’t keep a very close eye on the boy. He seems as if he actually wants Damaso to touch the scorpion just to see if he will feel the pain. The main goal of the doctor is not in fact to help the boy escape his dreadful life at home with his family, but rather to make a name for himself as being one of the giants of the medical field. Boyle implies that, like the protagonist’s father, the doctor only cares for the boy out of greed and thirst for power.

7 Gregor Samsa’s family in “The metamorphosis” does not seem to genuinely care about him at all. He is only viewed as a source of income for the family. Kafka characterizes Gregor’s mother, father, and sister as not genuinely caring about him for any reason other than money. Towards the beginning of Gregor’s transformation, his sister Grete begins to bring him food. However, towards the end of the novella, she is actually the one who suggests to the parents that they can no longer continue to house the creature, which eventually leads to Damaso’s demise. In the end, the family actually goes out on a walk and seems glad to be rid of the burden of taking care of Gregor. Kafka portrays the fact that the family only kept Gregor around at all because of his lucrative properties. The purpose of both Boyle and Kafka’s stories are to show the greed and selfishness of people. More specifically, the authors want to show how terrible this selfcenteredness is in order to teach the reader a lesson. In each story, the ones who should love the protagonist the most are, in fact, the ones who exploit them for money. The authors do this to show the reader how personal greed can destroy a family and cannot lead to good.

8 Frankenstein In tragedies, there is often one particular figure who serves as the source of all suffering in the story. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor serves as this tragic figure. All of the suffering brought upon Victor as well as the rest of his friends and family is brought upon by the monster that Victor created. This concept adds to the theme of the dangers of science as well as to the tragic mood of the entire work as a whole. Without the character of Victor, virtually no suffering in the novel would take place. His thirst for fame and self glory drives him to want to create life. He then creates a monster that he despises from the moment of its birth. In the moment after the creature is brought to life, Victor exclaims, "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?" (Shelley, 35) From the moment the monster is created, Victor knows that he will only be a disgusting cause of pain and suffering. Victor is ultimately responsible for numerous deaths in the novel as well as the suffering of many people that Victor knows and loves. On the day of Victor's wedding, a day that should be filled with joy and euphoria, Elizabeth instead seems to have a morose disposition because of the grave truth that she knows Victor is about to tell her. After Elizabeth is dead, Victor's father dies of sadness and remorse. Because Victor is responsible for bestowing life upon the monster, he is also responsible for the monster's behavior. Thus, Victor is ultimately to blame for the suffering of both his father and Elizabeth. Although the monster is actually the murderer of Elizabeth, William, and Henry, Victor is indirectly responsible due to the fact that he is the monster's creator. These murders are the source of the overall tragic theme of the story. When one thinks of

9 tragedy, they most often think of death and sorrow. This is exactly what Victor creates by constructing the monster. He creates a being that can do no good, but can only kill and destroy. It is the monster's purpose in life to make Victor miserable and to kill everyone he loves. Victors serves as an instrument that is used to create a product that only serves to inflict pain. Thus, Victor is ultimately responsible for the deaths of his wife Elizabeth, his brother William, his friend Henry, and his father. The theme of the dangers of science is prevalent in Frankenstein. There are many things that should not be tested scientifically, and Mary Shelley is implying that playing God is one of them. By creating life, Victor accomplishes absolutely nothing but causing suffering to others. Science can be a wonderful asset when used correctly, but when abused, it can be an immense source of suffering. The creation of the monster is a perfect example of this. In Frankenstein, Victor serves as a tragic figure that functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Victor's story is particularly tragic because he originally had good intentions in creating the monster. He wanted to contribute to science and he believed that the power to give life would lead to a plethora of scientific breakthroughs. However, his creation went terribly wrong and eventually destroyed his life as well as the lives of others. As a whole, the novel is dreadfully tragic, and Victor is the primary source of the pain and suffering.

10 Poetry Response In A Hymn to God the Father, John Donne utilizes several literary techniques in order to convey his attitude to the reader. The poem describes a prayer in which the speaker converses with God. The attitude of the speaker throughout the work is very religious and repentant. Donne employs diction, form, and an allusion in order to convey his repentant attitude. In the first stanza of the poem, Donne asks, “Will thou forgive those sins through which I run?” (Donne, 3). These words imply that the speaker is an extremely sinful man due to the fact that he describes himself as running through sin. The phrase “wilt though forgive” indicates the author’s serious and repentant attitude. Asking forgiveness implies that one is somber and regretful of their sins, and wants nothing more than for those sins to be washed away. Throughout the poem, Donne uses a unique form to convey his purpose and attitude. The phrase “Wilt though forgive” is repeated four times in the first two stanzas of the poem. This suggests that the poem actually progresses from beginning to end. In the first two stanzas, the speaker is just beginning his confession by stating his minor sins. This progression from beginning to end can also be seen in the last line of each stanza. The first two stanzas and with the phrase “For I have more”, implying that the speaker has sins that he has not yet confessed. This contrasts with eh end of the poem in which he states “I have no more” (Donne, 18). In the last stanza of the poem, Donne also utilizes an allusion. He states, “Swear by thyself that at my death thy Sun” (Donne, 15). While this may literally imply that he

11 is talking about the Sun, the author is also alluding to the Son of God. This allusion to Jesus Christ reminds the reader that Donne is speaking to God and confessing his sins. Throughout the poem, Donne utilizes a plethora of literary devices in order to convey his repentant attitude to the reader. Through diction, form, and allusions the author exhibits his somber attitude and replays his conversation with God. These techniques allow the reader to really feel the regret of the speaker and to ultimately feel his repentance.

12 Whitman and Hughes In I Hear America Singing, by Walt Whitman, and I, Too Sing America, by Langston Hughes, the authors convey very different attitudes to the reader. But while these attitudes are radically different, they are still both patriotic in their own way. Whitman uses repetition and uniformity in his poem to convey a proud attitude while Hughes utilizes shifts in tone to create his angry, yet hopeful attitude. In I Hear America Singing, by Walt Whitman, the author uses both imagery and repetition to convey his attitude to the reader. At the beginning of each line, Whitman states a voice that he hears singing from a different occupation each time. He includes most of the major jobs from the time period such as a carpenter, a mechanic, a mason, a boatman, a shoemaker, a woodcutter, and even a mother. By stating each occupation, Whitman conveys that the song of each worker contributes to the song of America as a whole. This use of uniformity and repetition creates an attitude that is proud in the hardworking and diverse nation. In I, Too, Sing America, by Langston Hughes, the author uses poetic structure, as well as shifts to convey an attitude that is angry and frustrated, but also hopeful for the future. The first stanza is all about how Hughes is segregated and sent to “eat in the kitchen when company comes” (Hughes, 3-4). This stanza uses imagery to paint a picture about the unfairness of segregation. Between the first and second stanzas, a shift in attitude occurs. He states at the beginning of the second stanza that “tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes” (Hughes, 8-10). This contrasting imagery creates a shift in attitude from frustrated to hopeful about the future.

13 While Hughes’ poem is more resentful towards America than Whitman’s, both authors have a very patriotic attitude toward America. Whitman’s patriotism is more obvious than that of Hughes. Whitman uses diction that is mainly happy to describe the songs of different workers such as blithe, strong, delicious, and melodious (Whitman 2,8,10). These words portray Whitman’s love for his country. While Langston Hughes’ patriotism is not as obvious, it can still be seen in the title of the poem. By titling the poem, I, Too, Sing America, Whitman expresses that he too wants to be considered part of America. Although he is mistreated and segregated, Hughes is hopeful in America’s potential for equality. Both poets use different strategies to convey distinctly different attitudes. Whitman uses repetition and uniformity to create a proud attitude, while Hughes uses shifts to create attitudes that are both angry and hopeful. But while the poems are both unique, both also convey and attitude of patriotism and loyalty towards America.

14 Position Paper-Helen Euripides has been hailed by many as one of the great authors of Greek tragedy. Throughout history, many famous authors have tried to translate the ancient works of Euripides. Rachel Hadas brings to the table a feministic view that is praising of Helen’s actions and sympathetic toward her lack of presence at the city of Troy during the famous Trojan War. Aristotle’s six elements of drama can be seen in virtually every modern work from books to movies. Rachel Hadas’ translation of Euripides’ Helen presents a feministic thought process and theme as well as modern diction and syntax. In the time of the Trojan War, women were thought of mainly as possessions to be won and traded. Women were not often thought of as being particularly intelligent or thoughtful. However, Hadas provides a very different view of women. She instead portrays Helen as a thoughtful and blameless part of the Trojan War. While many people in the drama seem to blame Helen for the war, Helen is portrayed as though she clearly had no choice or say in what has happened to her. Hadas is making a statement about women of this time and their lack of authority in society. Throughout the drama, a constant theme is the effects that women have on men. One clear way this theme can be seen is through the fact that an entire full-scale war is being waged over a single woman. However, another way that Hadas emphasizes women’s control is through the plan used by Helen and Menelaus to escape from Egypt. In line 830, Helen states, “What if the king were ignorant that you had ever come here.” This comment made by a woman sparks their elaborate plan to escape a very high security situation. The fact that Helen crafts the majority of this scheme accentuates Hadas’ feministic tendencies and thought processes.

15 While Helen was written hundreds of years ago in a completely different country, Rachel Hadas has created a translation that is extremely easy to read given the circumstances. She does this through simple yet descriptive diction and syntax. In line 822 when Helen is speaking with her husband Menelaus, Helen states, “You’ll see. The man who dares impossible deeds is not a hero but a fool.” The sentence structure of this passage is very easy to read and gets Hadas’ point across effectively. Hadas also uses a contraction in this passage. This underlines her use of modern diction by speaking as a real woman would speak, rather than further complicating the speech. Rachel Hadas’ feministic thought processes add to the author’s message in the work. Helen never had any control over what happened to her and was simply used as the property of men. Hadas depicts Helen as a strong woman who is capable of thinking for herself. This is done through the diction and syntax throughout the drama as well as through the theme. Hadas uses Aristotle’s elements of a drama to comment on the strength of women in society and to punctuate previous notions about women of that time period.

16 Annotated Bibliography-Othello Aubrey, James R. "Race and the Spectacle of the Monstrous in Othello." CLIO 22 no. 3 (Spring 1993): 221-38. James R. Aubrey’s main purpose in Race and the Spectacle of the Monstrous in Othello is to explain how Othello is portrayed as a monster. Aubrey offers information about how blacks were not often seen on stage by audiences. The mere sight of seeing Othello as a black person would have created feelings of monstrosity in the eyes of the audience. Rodrigo also portrays Othello as a monster in Act 1 when he refers to him as a black ram and later refers to the image of “the beast with two backs”. Aubrey includes an important quote from Aristotle that defines monstrosities as formations that are contrary to the usual. Due to the fact that Othello is black and is among other white characters, he is viewed as a monster.

West, Fred. "Iago the Psychopath." South Atlantic Bulletin 43 (Mar. 1978): 27-35 Fred West’s main purpose in Iago the Psychopath is to argue that William Shakespeare created an accurate portrait of a psychopath through the character of Iago. West argues that Iago possesses several traits that are traditionally seen not only in psychopathic characters, but also in real psychopaths. One such trait is that the character of Iago seems to be passionless, and rather cold in his pursuit of destroying Othello. West also argues that psychopaths often are more intelligent than normal beings. This trait is clearly portrayed in Iago. West utilizes the ideas of several other literary analysts including Coleridge, Cleckley, and Bradley. Their thoughts and ideas reinforce the argument that Iago is a psychopath.

17 The Pawnbroker In “The Pawnbroker” by Maxine Kumin, a father passes away after many years of laboring on his feet as a pawnbroker. At the end of the poem, the children bear the pain after their provider in life dies. Kumin uses diction, imagery, and symbolism to depict the inside and outside worlds of the speaker. Kumin utilizes unique diction to describe the inward and outward lives of the speaker. The word “hurt” is used three times in the first, fourth, and fifth stanzas of the poem. This word is representative to the outside world of the speaker, in that it describes the physical pain of the father, or pawnbroker. The speaker also describes the feet of the pawnbroker as “tender and smooth” in the first stanza, as well as “graceful and clean” in the third stanza. These phrases are used to describe the inside, or emotional world of the speaker. By saying that his father’s feet were tender, smooth, graceful, and clean, the speaker is implying that the pawnbroker always had good and pure motives for all of his work. The pawnbroker’s primary focus in his life was to serve his family, no matter what the physical cost was. Kumin uses several forms of imagery to describe his physical and emotional life. The beginning of the poem describes the pain of human weight. The speaker describes “fifty years of standing behind the counter waiting on trade.” This insinuates the lifelong pain the Pawnbroker has suffered with at work. The pawnbroker’s emotional sorrows were ever present in his inability to face the pain of his children. He even says “The sight of his children barefoot gave him a pain.” His sacrificing for his children was returned to him however. His child said “I had from my father a love ingrown tight as an oyster.” The father to child relationship seemed to be mutual. The Pawnbroker had a difficult life

18 and through the visual imagery of painful feet, the reader is able to relate to some of his pains. As the physical and emotional worlds of the characters continues to develop in “The Pawnbroker”, Kumin utilizes symbolism to strengthen the already existing personalities. In line 1, Kumin makes this symbolic measure obvious in saying that “the symbol inside this poem is my father’s feet”. The father’s feet prove to be an important aspect of Kumin’s poem in that it becomes the gauge of the father’s love and devotion to his children’s future. As his physical agony and discomfort build, the children’s, and the father’s, emotional happiness rise. Line 9 offers one example of this balance system when the sight of his children barefoot gave him a pain. A pain not caused by anger but by the grief of seeing his hard work go unappreciated. With this delicate balance, the eventual death of the father will reverse the roles the characters possess and provide an interesting outlook on life. In the end, Kumin masterfully interweaves diction, imagery, and symbolism in order to portray the inside and outside worlds of the characters. As the father labored endlessly for his children, his inner emotions struggle to maintain sanity while his body begins to break down. This poem profoundly relates to the similarities of the modern economic status which requires parents to strive to make ends meet.

19 Prose Response In George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch, Dorthea Brooke is characterized as being a very unique individual. While Dorthea is described as being better looking than her sister Celia, it is in fact Celia who is preferred by suitors as being the better candidate for marriage. The author uses diction, similes, and allusions to convey his feelings that while Dorthea is very good looking, it is her erratic religious beliefs that seem to turn men away from her. Throughout the passage, the narrator uses a plethora of words that portray Dorthea as being beautiful. Eliot states that “her profile as well as her stature and bearing seem to gain the more dignity her plain garments” (Lines 5-7). By using the words stature, bearing, and dignity while talking about her plain dress, it can be perceived that it is no her clothes that make the narrator attracted to her, but rather her natural good looks. While much of the passage offers likeable traits about Dorthea, she is also characterized as having a religion that is “unusual” (Line 45). Eliot later uses the words “pagan” and “sensuous” (Line 59) to describe how Dorthea feels when riding on horseback. This choice of words adds to the overall feeling that Dorthea’s beliefs are very irregular. To convey the erratic religious beliefs of Dorthea, the narrator uses similes. He states that “Miss Brooke’s large eyes seemed, like her religion, too unusual and striking” (Lines 44-46). There is a dual meaning of this statement. The first is that Dorthea clearly had unusual religious beliefs. The second meaning is to further reiterate how beautiful the narrator thinks she is. Eliot also utilizes allusions in this passage to characterize his attitude toward Dorthea. He alludes to the Virgin Mary when he states that Dorthea “could wear sleeves

20 not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters” (Lines 3-5). By alluding to Mary, the narrator is commenting on how plain Dorthea’s clothes were. Mary is always portrayed, especially by Italian painters, as being a very simple and ordinary woman in plain dress. By comparing Dorthea to Mary, he is portraying the idea of beauty, regardless of clothing or wealth. The word choice of the narrator as well as his use of allusions and similes conveys his feelings about Dorthea. While she is better looking and more interesting than her sister, Celia is most often preferred by men. The narrator is interested in Dorthea, but thinks that because of her unusual religious tendencies and more wild behavior, she is not as good of a candidate for marriage.

21 Open Ended Question-Violence In modern times, violence is often thought of as a needless and terrible concept. However, in great literature, violence is rarely without reason and nearly always contributes to the meaning of the work. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, two brief scenes of violence are essential to the meaning of the work as a whole. Towards the end of the play, both Romeo and Juliet take their own lives after thinking that the other is dead. These acts of violence, Romeo drinking poison and Juliet stabbing herself, are critical to the theme of forbidden love in the play. If this act of violence had not occurred, the play would have ended happily with Romeo and Juliet each still being alive. However, their deaths are essential to the tragic sense of the work. By their deaths, Shakespeare ties together the fitting, yet tragic end of the fight between the Capulets and Montagues. The violent deaths of Romeo and Juliet are the result of needless fighting between the Capulets and Montagues. This needless fighting is another theme of the play. The two families do not even remember what they are fighting about, just that they are each other’s sworn enemy. Another act of violence, the death of Tibolt, exemplifies this anger between the families. He is a casualty in the seemingly aimless fight between the two families. Tibolt’s death escalates the tension between the Montagues and Capulets, and thus makes the love of Romeo and Juliet even more deadly. The needless deaths of Romeo and Juliet are symbolic of the needless fighting between the two families. Neither Romeo nor Juliet knows that the other was not really dead when they committed suicide, just as neither family really knew why they were

22 fighting. These brief acts of violence are essential to the tragic ending as well as the central theme of forbidden love in the play.

23 College Essay Ever since I was a young boy, the subjects that I have excelled in have been math and science. Everything from algebra to physics to chemistry has always fascinated me. I like knowing how things work and why they work the way they do. Because of this curiosity and willingness to learn, I have made it a priority to find a career that I am interested in. This has led me to decide that engineering is the clear career choice for me. A college education will allow me to pursue both my personal and professional goals. Throughout my life, it has always been one of my goals to challenge myself. In high school, I have taken the most rigorous course schedule possible. When scheduling my senior courses, it was very tempting to only take the classes that I needed to take to achieve academic honors. However, because of my willingness to be challenged, I decided to take a schedule that involved as many honors and advanced placement courses that I could take. This has allowed me to challenge myself and to see what I am capable of accomplishing. I believe that continuing my education at a college level will allow me to continue the goal of challenging myself. Another one of my goals has been to have a career that I really enjoy. Since the subjects that I both excel at and enjoy are math and science, I believe that engineering is the clear choice for me. I have attended the Engineering Explore Program at Eli Lilly in order to give me a better understanding of what engineers do and what type of engineering I may be interested in. This experience has allowed me to see the type of environment an engineer works in, what an engineer does on a typical day to day basis, and has given me insight into the type of projects that different classes of engineers work on. I have concluded that engineering is something that I would really enjoy as a career.

24 While money isn’t everything, it is also one of my goals to obtain a job that pays reasonably well. Due to the ever increasing demand for engineers, I believe that a degree in engineering will aid me in this goal. With the vast rate at which technology is advancing in today’s world, there is a huge demand for engineers. Nearly every major company of any sort, whether it is Sony or Eli Lilly, requires engineers to advance their company. This growing desire for engineers will help me to achieve my goal of obtaining a job that pays well. A college degree in engineering will help me to pursue my dreams of challenging myself, obtaining an enjoyable job, and making a sufficient amount of money. But above all, a college education in engineering will allow me to obtain the knowledge I need to understand how a device works, and then create a better way of doing it. A college education is essential to the accomplishment of my personal and professional goals.