The Theme of Dehumanization in Breakfast of Champions Essay -- Breakfa

The Theme of Dehumanization in Breakfast of Champions "Dear Sir, poor sir, brave sir: You are an experiment by the Creator of the Universe." (Vonnegut 259) Imagine if this was addressed to you. What an awful feeling of betrayal and loneliness you would no doubt get. But what if next you heard this? "You are the only creature in the entire Universe who has free will. You are the only one who has to figure out what to do next-and why. Everybody else is a robot, a machine." (Vonnegut 259) Surely you would feel like your entire existence was a big joke, one at your expense. You would feel desensitized, remote, and detached from all human feeling. You would be a poor victim, someone taken hold of by the cold grasp of dehumanization. The American Heritage Dictionary defines dehumanize as "To deprive of human qualities or attributes" or "To render mechanical and routine". This certainly does a grand job at describing the callous, inhuman, and cold feeling you get when reading the novel Breakfast of Champions. In his book Breakfast of Champions , Kurt Vonnegut Jr. uses bold motifs, complex characterization, a plot of mundanity and shallowness, elementary diction, and satirical style to emphasize his main theme of dehumanization. In 1922, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Edith Vonnegut and Kurt Vonnegut Sr. At the age of 18 he graduated from Shortridge High School and pursued a degree in chemistry at Cornell University. (Bonner, par. 1) However, he left college in 1943 to serve his country in World War II. Upon return, Vonnegut continued his studies at the University of Chicago in the field of anthropology. (Encarta, par. 4) In 1950 He left his job and started writing full-time. Vonnegut's other works include ... ...his main theme of dehumanization. He does this using bold motifs, complex characterization, a plot of mundanity and shallowness, elementary diction, and satirical style. He shocks and confuses us with his style of writing, leaving us floundering with questions. Through all this he makes the human race seem empty and alone. But he is right in doing so, because we in fact are. 1 n : an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates 2 adj. : placed side by side often for comparison; "juxtaposed pictures" Bibliography: Vit, Marek. Home Page. http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/champions.html Bonner, Stephanie E. Home Page. http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/alter_ego.html Anonymous. Encarta. http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=76157250 Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions. New York, New York: Dell Publishing. 1973.

Part of Your World Essay

The song Part of Your World is from the movie The Little Mermaid and is sung by the main character, Ariel. This song embodies the ultimate goal of Ariel throughout the whole movie, which is to be a part of the world above the sea, land. As the song states, Ariel wishes to be â€Å"where the people are†. The title of this song comes straight from the lyrics themselves, in the chorus. In the song Ariel is singing to her friend, Flounder. She is trying to convey to him why she thinks the world on land is better than under the sea. She says â€Å"Flippin’ your fins, you don’t get too far, Legs are required for jumping, dancing,† this shows us some of what she would be able to do if she had legs instead of fins. She desires to be a human, not a mermaid. Another idea is that this song has a deeper meaning other than being a part of this world above the sea. As much as she is trying to convince Flounder of the beauties of the land, the metaphor of the song is showing us that to follow your dreams can be exciting. There are many other things to experience other than what is right in front of us. In this song there are many end rhymes; one specific example is this line â€Å"Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collections complete? † Neat and complete is an example of rhyming. Rhyming happens when there is a repetition of the concluding sounds. Neat and complete both sound like eat. End rhymes occur when the rhyming syllable is at the end of the line in the poem. This is a perfect example of end rhyme. Another poetic sound device in Part of Your World is repetition, which is found throughout this song. For example â€Å"Up where they walk, up where they run, Up where they stay all day in the sun,† the term â€Å"up where they† is repeated several times. Repetition is also found in this line â€Å"I wanna be where the people are, I wanna see, wanna see them dancin’,† I wanna is used throughout creating a beautiful poetic sound. This song makes great use of alliteration. Alliterations happen when a beginning consonant is repeated like in this example â€Å"Flippin’ your fins, you don’t get too far. The repetitive use of the letter f creates a fun and exciting poetic sound device. Rhyming, specifically end rhyming, repetitions, and alliterations are three important poetic devices that are found in this song. These help the song flow along smoothly and make the song more interesting for the listener. Previously I mentioned the use of a metaphor. Metaphor is an example of a figure of speech or figurative device. Another example of this is a hyp erbole. Hyperbole is used in this song to better emphasize just how much Ariel would like to be a part of this new world she describes. â€Å"Bet’cha on land they understand, Bet they don’t reprimand their daughters† is a hyperbole; hyperbole is an over-exaggeration used to better emphasize a point. Metaphor and hyperbole are two figurative devices used in this song. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, the writers of Part of Your World, use these various poetic and figurative devices beautifully in order to give you a better idea of Ariel’s desires and life goals. Jodi Benson does a beautiful job, as well, of conveying Ariel’s longing to visit this land above. One might believe the goal of this song truly is to allow the listener to look more broadly at his or her own life and decide if all needs are met. The figurative language in this song, hyperbole and metaphor, greater emphasize her goals and the poetic devices used make the song more enticing to the ear. This song gives the listener a hope for a greater future.

The Great Gatsby Essay - 936 Words

The Great Gatsby Essay By- Happy Bhoombla English- 3A Date-9/28/10 The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about a wealthy man named Gatsby. Gatsby lives a luxuriant life in West Egg of New York. Gatsby’s wealth has an unknown secret because nobody seems to know where his wealth emerged from. Despite of having so much fortune, Gatsby’s true American dream has not been achieved. In the great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald develops Gatsby as a failed American dream to show the impossibility of the American dream in the 1920’s. First of all Fitzgerald embodies Gatsby as a failed American dream during the time period by presenting Gatsby as a person who achieves happiness and materialism with money. Gatsby wants to†¦show more content†¦Gatsby has everything that he could wish for, except of love. Gatsby tried everything he could to achieve Daisy, but failed to do so. Gatsby always thought that Daisy actually loved him and that he was very close to achieving her. One time Gatsby showed Daisy all of his luxur ies in the house. Daisy was impressed by how rich and wealthy Gatsby has become as time passed. Daisy says â€Å"never seen so many shirts like these† (87). This quote shows how Daisy likes materialistic things. Gatsby worked hard on his dream unlike Tom. Tom Buchanan who is the husband of Daisy has no purpose and goal in his life except his affair with Myrtle. He never really loved Daisy. On the other hand when Gatsby showed all of his English shirts Daisy begins to cry and they plan their future plans of meeting each other. We can see how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby simply because of his wealth. She loves Gatsby but she loves his money more then she actually loves him. This goes to show how people’s mentality worked in the 1920’s. Daisy, Gatsby, and all other characters live a very superficial life. Gatsby wants to achieve Daisy by the means of fortune and how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby because of his wealth. Gatsby sees Daisy as a perfect woman without any blemish.No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what man will store up in his ghostly heart(101). Gatsby gets disappointed that the Daisy who he wants her to be. Gatsby alwaysShow MoreRelated Essay on The Great Gatsby1120 Words   |  5 PagesEssay on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel about a man who tries to win over a woman he had lost many years ago. Jay Gatsby is the hero in this novel because he stands out amongst the rich. Unlike the rest of the rich people in this novel Gatsby has moral values, and the rest of them can only grasp things of material value. Gatsby spends his whole life trying to hide the fact that he wasn’t like the others. Gatsby never fits in among them because what he perceives of them is allRead MoreGreat Gatsby Essay702 Words   |  3 PagesMyrtle? Gatsby himself? 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