Narrative Technique in DeLillo’s White Noise Essay

Narrative Technique in DeLillo’s White Noise American literature has evolved extensively over the course of the history of the republic, from the Puritan sermons which emphasized the importance of a solid individual relationship between the individual self and the omnipotent God to the parody of relativism we find in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. One of the recurring concerns of American fiction, though by no means restricted to American writing, is the position of the self with regard to the other, whether manifest as God, nature, the community, or another individual. Since at least the Modernist period, writers have explored the definitions and relationships of the self formally as well as thematically and narratively. Don DeLillo’s†¦show more content†¦Frank Lentricchia has written in detail of the postmodern narrative technique of movement from a first-person subjectivity to a third-person objectivity as integral to the American experience. This distancing of the reader from the reality of the novel has s everal functions. By telling a story through the eyes of Gladney, we experience contemporary mass culture, DeLillo’s favorite theme, as Gladney does; we experience the same (or similar) disillusion and confusion that Gladney does and we share in Gladney’s distancing of himself from his experience. In this way, the narrator’s state of mind is a mimetic reproduction of anyone in the reader’s reality. The objectified subject technique that DeLillo employs also serves as the site of DeLillo’s further explorations of character, perception, and action. By treating a character who treats himself and his experience as an object, DeLillo can cast his characters into roles not mimetically coherent. The identity and characteristics of the narrator in the novel evoke a number of questions of critical importance to our understanding of the whole work and the interaction of its parts. Rarely has a work of fiction so utterly interweaved the relationship between narrator and story narrated so neatly and successfully. The choice of Jack Gladney as the novel’s narrator, called DeLillo’s most important formal decision (Lentricchia 93), literally casts the entire work in a new light, shiftingShow MoreRelated The Power of the Family in White Noise Essay examples1139 Words   |  5 PagesThe Power of the Family in White Noise    Don Dellilos protagonist in his novel White Noise, Jack Gladney, has a nuclear family that is, ostensibly, a prime example of the disjointed nature way of the family of the 80s and 90s -- what with Jacks multiple past marriages and the fact that his children arent all related. Its basically the antipodal image of the 1950s nuclear family. Despite this surface-level disjointedness, it is his family and the extrasensory rapport thatRead MoreElements of Postmodernism in Ishmael Reeds Mumbo Jumbo, Don Delillos White Noise, Toni Morrisons Beloved and Thomas Pynchons the Crying of Lot 496348 Words   |  26 Pagesconsideration of difference, an insistent attention to the local cultures and undervalued constituencies that modernisms exaltation of unity and grand narrative often obscured, which can easily be observed by reading and analyzing some of the most important works of American postmodern fiction. Works such as Ishmael Reeds Mumbo Jumbo, Don DeLillos White Noise, Toni Morrisons Beloved and Thomas Pynchons The Crying of Lot 49 are only a few of many which contain all or some of postmodernisms most distinguishableRead MoreFeatures of Metafiction and Well Known Writers of the Genre Essay3025 Words   |  13 Pagestheory of mimesis (imitation) posits that there is a world out there, a world in which we all live and act, which we call â€Å"the real world†. What fiction does (for that matter any art) is to try and (re) present this world using narrative techniques (or artistic techniques)† (Thaninayagam 12). Historiographic metafiction is an offshoot of postmodern art form. The term historiographic metafiction was coined by Linda Hutcheon in her book A Poetics of Postmodernism : History, Theory, Fiction. AccordingRead MorePostmodernism in Literature5514 Words   |  23 Pagesas a whole, is difficult to define and there is little agreement on the exact characteristics, scope, and importance of postmodern literature. However, unifying features often coincide with Jean-Franà §ois Lyotards concept of the meta-narrative and little narrative, Jacques Derridas concept of play, and Jean Baudrillards simulacra. For example, instead of the modernist quest for meaning in a chaotic world, the postmodern author eschews, often playfully, the possibility of meaning, and theRead More Transcendence and Technology in William Gibsons Neuromancer3154 Words   |  13 PagesTranscendence and Technology in Neuromancer      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Where do we go from here? Case asks near the conclusion of William Gibsons novel Neuromancer (259). One answer suggested throughout most of the narrative is nowhere. True, geographically we are whisked around the urban centers of Earth in the near future, Chiba City, the Sprawl, Istanbul, and then to the orbital pleasure domes and corporate stronghold of Freeside and Straylight. The kind of movement to which I am referring is not overtly

James Madison The Power of One - 1345 Words

What do you think of when you hear the name James Madison? Do you think of the Father of The Constitution? Or, do you think of the Fourth President of the United States of America? James Madison, born March 16, 1751 in Port Conway Virginia. He was the oldest of 11 children. He was a little man of about 5’4† would be one of the most influential leaders of the newly established America. Ranked by historians alongside Lincoln and Washington, James Madison would change the economic, social, political, and world standings of the United States of America. James was a very quick witted man since the time of his early childhood. He studied with a private tutor because he was often sickly, and at age 18 he left his home in Port Conway to go attend the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton). James graduated in two years after intensive study and working through summers. James graduated with an degree in ethics. He returned home in very poor health but, continued to study, with a major interest in law. Around this time, the affairs between America (the colonies) and Great Britain were quite shaky. Many spoke of revolution while others spoke of keeping strong ties with the great country. America was involved with a mercantilist policy with Britain. Britain was abusing its power over the colonies. Madison quickly became interested in politics between Britain and America. He was a strong supporter of a revolution and American-French ties. Madison gained his first experiencesShow MoreRelatedgovernment gave too much power Essay634 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Too Much Power By Elvisa Duderija The issues involving the Virginia plan gave too much power to the national government have been a popular topic amongst scholars for many years. The Virginia plan was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. There are many factors which influenced the development of the Virginia plan that gave too much power to theRead MoreEssay on The Similarities Between Mason and Madison 696 Words   |  3 PagesThroughout American history, many individuals have made reforms to the government. However, significant actions done by George Mason and James Madison still impact society today with the Bill of Rights and the implementation of a ‘check and balance’ government system. George Mason and James Madison were both influential figures in the creation of the United States’ government structure with their oppositions to prejudiced governments. George Mason, a figure in American History who stronglyRead MoreThe Contributions Of James Madison1383 Words   |  6 PagesWashington. Despite all the presidents that we have had in the past, one of them that stands out a lot the most due to his contributions that he did to America, that person is our fourth president James Madison. James Madison was certainly, one of the smartest and thoughtful presidents, James Madison set the most important precedent in United State history. James Madison served as the president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. James Madison beliefs that a strong central government was important to successfullyRead MoreThe Federalist Papers By John Jay1184 Words   |  5 PagesThe Federalist Papers Essay The Federalist Papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were wrote to convince the people of the states that the newly written constitution would be a vastly better system of government than the articles of confederation, and that the states should ratify it. The purpose of Federalist Paper No. 51 is to inform the reader of safeties created by the constitutional convention to maintain separate branches of government, and to protect theRead MoreThe End Of The Holocaust1607 Words   |  7 Pages6 million Jews. As tragic as it was, there was only one person behind it all; Adolf Hitler. Hitler, the dictator during the time, managed to transform peaceful and normal people into extreme haters towards the Jews. 158 years earlier, a man had introduced ideas that could have prevented these 6 million Jews from dying. That man was James Madison, also known as the Father of the US Constitution. In Philadelphia’s summer heat of 1787, James Madison along w ith 55 other delegates attended to what is nowRead MoreJames Madison : Virginian Representative And Father Of The Constitution1174 Words   |  5 Pages Garry Liu American Government 272146 James Madison: Virginian Representative and Father of the Constitution James Madison, the son of a farmer, was nicknamed the â€Å"Father of the Constitution† (Garrett Ward, 2) (Garrett Ward, 2) for his large role in ratifying the Constitution. He was also very well-known for his Federalist ideals which still are followed in our government today. Not only did Madison aid to formulate the Constitution but he also made the frame for the Bill of Rights andRead MoreJames Madison on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights Essay1010 Words   |  5 PagesJames Madison, an American statesman and political theorist that was present at the constitutional convention. Many of the ideas proposed by Madison are part of the reason that the Constitution has withstood the test of time. Madison was ultimately prepared to deal with one of the biggest problems this new government would face in his eyes, factions. Factions, which as defined by Madison are â€Å"a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actu atedRead MoreThe Federalist Paper By James Madison1728 Words   |  7 Pagesactually 3 men, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. They wrote the papers to convince the people of New York to vote to ratify the Constitution. These essays were published in newspapers throughout the state of New York. Federalist 10 was written by James Madison and was titled The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued). This essay was a continuation of Federalist 9. Federalists like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton thought thatRead MoreHow Did the Framers Guard Against Tyranny?1729 Words   |  7 Pagesrespected people in one place, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the southeast of the state, near New York. Because it is May, and just beginning to be summer, it is hot, and because all the windows are closed in the interest of secrecy, it is stifling as well. Fifty-five well known thinkers of the age, all white males, have come. They range i n age from James Madison, an up-and-comer and a prodigy who is twenty five to Benjamin Franklin, a wise, venerable, learned man who is eighty one. Delegates from elevenRead MoreThe Federalist Papers By James Madison, Alexander Hamilton And John Jay1513 Words   |  7 PagesThe Federalist papers are a group of eighty-five essays written collectively by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. The papers were written as an attempt to advocate and further the progress of the ratification of the United States Constitution. Federalist Number Ten is the first essay of the series written by James Madison. In this essay, Madison is attempting to convey the dangers of factions or political divisions within a governing body. He believes that any well thought out union

The Role and Influence of Mass Media Free Essays

Topic 5: The role and influence of mass media Since the development of technology, mass media becomes an important part of modern society. It influences all areas; therefore, it is raising a question among people about what are the role and influence of mass media. The term mass media refers to the channels of communication (media) that exist to reach a large public audience (the mass of the population). We will write a custom essay sample on The Role and Influence of Mass Media or any similar topic only for you Order Now Mass media includes newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and more recently, the Internet (Kristin Susan, 2002). Mass media is an efficient supporter in education, policy, entertainment, finance, and all other fields. One function of mass media is education. Mass media supplies an enormous source of documentaries on a wide range of topics such as animals, behavior, geography, history, or art (Kristin Susan, 2002). The information is extremely helpful with students at any levels. Additionally, mass media contains many visual documentaries, which make learners easier to see and use theories rather than only reading text. Secondly, there are many educational children’s programs like teaching children to count or recognize words, or introducing them to different societies and cultures (Kristin Susan, 2002). There are also many programs which help parent to solve their kids’ problems. Fox example, the book â€Å"Good parent bad parenting†, which is published by Lulu. com publisher on February 2 in 2004, is one effective product of mass media which help parents to educate their children. The mass media is also a useful aid of policy. Almost all of politicians use the mass media to promote their positive images or political opinions. There is an example of using the mass media to advertise during his campaign of the United State President Barack Obama: The GOP group announced that they were going on air with a $25 million of advertising to buy in most of the major battleground states to counter a pro-Obama advertising campaign of the same amounts (â€Å"Obama campaign,† 2012). Moreover, some ministries use the mass media to introduce new policy and to take feedback from the populace. For instance, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport presented a new policy about taking fare of transport on Monday, January 1st 2012 (â€Å"The Ministry of transportation,† 2012). After a few days, they received many opinions among the public, which included positive and negative feedback so that they could correct this policy. Another important function of the mass media is entertainment. Since the development of the mass media, the entertainment industry has been more and more successful to approach the public. There are many entertainment programs available on TV, radio, or the Internet every day. The variety of entertainment programs make them suitable for all types of viewers. On TV nowadays, there are some special channels for people interested in travelling, discovering, cooking, shopping, etc. For example, cable TV has nearly one hundred of channels of all fields, which are very useful. One type of the mass media, advertising, brings benefits to both entertainment industry and economy. All producers use advertisements to introduce their products to public with an aim to sell goods. However, with the dense appearance of advertisements, advertising can be seen as one type of entertainment. Besides the positive influence, there is so much negative influence of the mass media. Firstly, the mass media contains so much unsuitable content that affect badly everyone, especially the children. Some violent programs on TV or on the Internet make children aggressive and make them use violence to solve their problems exactly like what they have seen on the mass media. A recent review of sixty-seven studies that investigated the influence of TV violence on aggression in children found that three-quarters of the studies claimed to find some association(Kristin Susan, 2002). One noticeable example about this issue is about the juvenile criminal named Le Van Luyen. He intended to kill four people in a family to rob their gold (â€Å"Le Van Luyen kill mercilessly,† 2011). His bloody crime was quite a disaster. However, it also has been available in mass media for a long time. Therefore, his images and crime were available on all types of mass media. This led to another terrible crime of a younger criminal named Dao Van Tai. He killed two people to rob property. When being asked by police, he admitted committing this crime by copying the crime of Le Van Luyen (â€Å"The second frightened murder,† n. d). Secondly, mass media sometimes invades people’s privacy. Celebrities and politicians are usually the victims because they receive more concern from society than others. The mass media industry sometimes uses private details to make profits rather than showing the full view of somebody’s live to the public; hence, mass media public their scandals or bad behaviour. These invasions are bad for their profession or even destroy their reputation. Mass media even is an origin of spreading out secret information of the government. Once the secret information is leaked out, it will be available all over the world rapidly through mass media. For example, the latest intelligence of the United States, which is flooded in all types of the mass media, is the secret information of the war in Afghanistan. The information really makes the United States nervous. Washington fears it may have lost even more highly sensitive material including an archive of tens of thousands of cable messages sent by US embassies around the world, reflecting arms deals, trade talks, secret meetings and uncensored opinion of other governments (â€Å"Afghanistan war log,† n. d). The mass media may contain misleading information, which has negative impact on the public. Since some information in the mass media is misreporting, misquoting, rumor, or exaggeration, people do not know which one is reliable; therefore, they waste time reading wrong information. That is so confusing! Mass media plays an important role in modern society. It can have positive influence on one side and negative impact on the other side. The public can not refuse its advantages by only seeing the disadvantages of the mass media. However, people must have an overlook to the mass media so that they can take advantages of mass media as much as they can! END WORDS COUNT: 994 REFERENCE LIST: 1. Book: Kristine, B. Susan, H. (2002), Academic encounters- Life in the society, New York, Cambridge. 2. Web document: Afghanistan war logs story behind biggest leak in intelligence history (n. d). Retrieved July 5, 2010, from http://www. guardian. co. uk The second frightened murder in Vinh Phuc (n. d). Retrieved April 19, 2012, from http://www. kenh14. vn Obama campaign: Crossroads ad campaign is â€Å"dishonest† (2012), from http://www. pilitico. com The Ministry of transportation explain the reasons for fare of transport (2012). Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www. vneconomy Le Van Luyen killed mercilessly people (n. d). Retrieved November, 2011, from http://www. vnexpress. net How to cite The Role and Influence of Mass Media, Papers