Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle :: Kurt Vonnegut Cats Cradle Essays

Paradoxical Nature of Life Exposed in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut's apocalyptic novel, Cat's Cradle, might well be called an intricate network of paradox and irony. It is with such irony and paradox that Vonnegut himself describes his work as "poisoning minds with humanity...to encourage them to make a better world" (The Vonnegut Statement 107). In Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut does not tie his co-mingled plots into easy to digest bites as the short chapter structure of his story implies. Rather, he implores his reader to resolve the paradoxes and ironies of Cat's Cradle by simply allowing them to exist. By drawing our attention to the paradoxical nature of life, Vonnegut releases the reader from the necessity of creating meaning into a realm of infinite possibility. It appears that Vonnegut sees the impulse toward making a better world as fundamental to the human spirit; that when the obstacle of meaning is removed the reader, he supposes, will naturally improve the world. Like a dream filled with complex characters and situations which one is compelled to discuss and analyze the next day, Vonnegut uses dark humor to penetrate his reader's world. The Cornell medical student whom the narrator, Jonah, first interviews by mail turns out to be a midget. The brilliant nuclear physicist, the father of the atom bomb, is infantile. Writers and college professors are essential to human existence, and Boko-maru is a form of love that can happen anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. By creating new religious and scientific vocabularies, Vonnegut infiltrates the reader's very mind. Bokononist ideas and principles that are almost reasonable give the reader a temporary framework for interpretation, "'As it was supposed to happen,' Bokonon would say" (Cat's Cradle 63). Never too far from reality, "Bokonon tells us that it is very wrong to not to love everyone exactly the same. What does your religion say?" (CC 141). Vonnegut's prophet cuts close to the bone, and so he must in order to reach the philosophical roots of the reader's belief system. Yet, the security of any and every belief and interpretation of any and all of the characters is in one way or another polluted until there is nowhere to turn.

English Lit Coursework Essay

Compare the ways in which the authors present contrasting worlds/ places and their thematic significance in Othello and two other texts. In all of the novels; ‘Othello’, ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’, the authors, Shakespeare, Bronte and Fitzgerald, demonstrate how contrasting worlds disrupt equilibrium, especially the harmony or even possibility of relationships. The ultimate disruption within all of these texts is the barrier of class. In Wuthering Heights, Bronte compares the two houses; Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, to highlight the distance class creates between Heathcliff and Cathy, by embodying the characters and their values in the imagery of the houses. Wuthering Heights essentially is a deteriorating farm house. Bronte represents Heathcliff with this house, it’s anaesthetically pleasing and neglected, described as ‘a perfect misanthropist’s heaven’, giving reclusive and desolate connotations, reflecting the way Heathcliff becomes remote from society and isolated. On the other hand, Bronte describes Thrushcross Grange grandly, ‘carpeted with crimson’, ‘crimson covered chairs and tables’, this choice of colour gives rich connotations, of a ‘splendid place’, The choice of lexis ‘splendid’ giving an upper class tone . Nevertheless neither of Cathy or Heathcliff seems to prefer the luxurious Thrushcross Grange. Bronte does present Cathy to be superficial at times, but when Cathy tells Nelly about her dreams she explains that ‘heaven did not seem to be my home’ and that she ‘woke up sobbing for joy’ when she was flung ‘into the middle of the heath on top of Wuthering Heights’, Bronte uses this therefore to signify that Cathy sees Wuthering Heights and the moors as her heaven. Likewise she wants the window open when ill at Thrushcross Grange; here Bronte enforces the theme of imprisonment and entrapment, in a foreign world. Equally Thrushcross Grange has always been an alien and uncomfortable place to Heathcliff as we see when he chooses to grieve on the out skirting grounds of Thrushcross Grange in contrast with Edgar who stays inside. Nevertheless Bronte relates Cathy, a Linton to be, to Thrushcross Grange, a world of refinement and elegance, complimenting Cathy’s own descriptions as she grows into a lady Similarly to Wuthering Heights, Fitzgerald presents the comparison in class of two places, the buildings of East and West Egg in particular. West Egg is seen to be â€Å"the less fashionable of the two,† lacking in conventional aesthetics of refined and classy housing estates. This is shown by the fact Nick’s bungalow is carelessly built in the space between two mansions, this paints a garish image of clashing buildings. Whereas East Egg is ‘glittered’ with houses that are described as ‘white palaces’ with well kept lawns, suggesting well kept, good quality people, over all setting a lavish and opulent scene. Never the less, the houses themselves are concentrated on more so in Wuthering Heights as they are the dominant symbol of the two separate worlds, whereas Gatsby concentrates on the society around East Egg and West Egg, in order to emphasize the difference of the world Daisy and Tom inhabit in comparison to Gatsby’s world. Fitzgerald creates the symbolism of East and West Egg by choosing to rename Great Neck and Manhasset. West Egg is a place of newly rich settled opportunists, many like Gatsby who are seen to have acquired a fortune overnight and boast this through extravagant houses. West Egg has an overall vibrancy shown through ‘spectroscopic gayety’ with this Fitzgerald suggests a bright, colourful and energetic lifestyle. East Egg however is a fashionable part of Long Island, where the wealthy descendants, of a previous money making generation, live. In contrast with the West, they seem to be more withdrawn from enjoying themselves and proud of their ‘staid nobility’, with the exception of a few lapses at Gatsby’s parties. This lack of living for the moment comes across also in the way that they seem to want more in life in the East, but have no intentions of looking for it. Fitzgerald mocks the ambitionless simplicity of life that for example is demonstrated in Jordan and Daisy’s superficial conversation, ‘We ought to plan something’, ‘All right†¦ What’ll we plan? What do people plan? ‘ Similarly people lack genuine qualities, everything is based on etiquette and image, a prime example of this is when Mrs Sloane invites Gatsby to supper out of politeness but doesn’t expect him to actually come. Equally Shakespeare employs the theme of class, as a barrier between Othello and Desdemona, but unlike Bronte and Fitzgerald, he demonstrates the distinction through the discrimination drawn upon Othello. None the less, Shakespeare does use a comparison of two separate locations, Venice and Cypress. Shakespeare accomplishes a dramatic tone in the play Othello through the use of a variation of techniques, for example dramatic irony. Likewise Shakespeare uses contrasting worlds, for instance the contrast between Venice and Cyprus, Venice is portrayed to be a respected origin, it has a positive representation in the play, being the place in which Desdemona and Othello fell in love. Cypress on the other hand is surrounded in conflict, described as a ‘war-like isle’, a direct comparison to Venice; it is also the place where Othello and Desdemona’s love suffers. The two countries are essential to Shakespeare’s comparison between the worlds of war and love and how Othello struggles to find a balance between the two. ‘The warlike moor’ encounters the conflict between the roles of being an inexperienced loving husband and a hardened military soldier. He’s used to of course an all male environment, a soldier’s life style, uneducated in the domestic world of females. He can deal with the ‘flinty and steel couch of war’ yet is ‘little bless’d with the soft phrase of peace. Shakespeare devises Othello’s dialogue to show how he is more comfortable with language from the semantic field of war than pet nick names, calling Desdemona ‘My fair Warrior’. Othello may be respected for his military efforts, after all this is all we see him praised for, no credit is given to the fact he is marrying Desdemona even their wedding celebration is shared with a military celebration. Considering this Shakespeare presents him very much as an outsider, the only black protagonist, he doesn’t qualify as a gentleman, and is included in society purely as he is an acquaintance of Brabantio and Cassio.

Analyzing Language Different Types of Grammar

So you think you know grammar? All well and good, but which type of grammar do you know? Linguists are quick to remind us that there are different varieties of grammar--that is, different ways of describing and analyzing the structures and functions of language. One basic distinction worth making is that between descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar (also called usage). Both are concerned with rules--but in different ways. Specialists in descriptive grammar examine the rules or patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. In contrast, prescriptive grammarians (such as most editors and teachers) try to enforce rules about what they believe to be the correct uses of language. But thats just the beginning. Consider these varieties of grammar and take your pick. (For more information about a particular type, click on the highlighted term.) Comparative Grammar The analysis and comparison of the grammatical structures of related languages is known as comparative grammar. Contemporary work in comparative grammar is concerned with a faculty of language that provides an explanatory basis for how a human being can acquire a first language . . .. In this way, the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence establishes the relationship among all languages (R. Freidin, Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar. MIT Press, 1991). Generative Grammar Generative grammar includes the rules determining the structure and interpretation of sentences that speakers accept as belonging to the language. Simply put, a generative grammar is a theory of competence: a model of the psychological system of unconscious knowledge that underlies a speakers ability to produce and interpret utterances in a language (F. Parker and K. Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994). Mental Grammar The generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other speakers can understand is mental grammar. All humans are born with the capacity for constructing a Mental Grammar, given linguistic experience; this capacity for language is called the Language Faculty (Chomsky, 1965). A grammar formulated by a linguist is an idealized description of this Mental Grammar (P. W. Culicover and A. Nowak, Dynamical Grammar: Foundations of Syntax II. Oxford University Press, 2003). Pedagogical Grammar Grammatical analysis and instruction designed for second-language students. Pedagogical grammar is a slippery concept. The term is commonly used to denote (1) pedagogical process--the explicit treatment of elements of the target language systems as (part of) language teaching methodology; (2) pedagogical content--reference sources of one kind or another that present information about the target language system; and (3) combinations of process and content (D. Little, Words and Their Properties: Arguments for a Lexical Approach to Pedagogical Grammar. Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar, ed. by T. Odlin. Cambridge University Press, 1994). Performance Grammar A description of the syntax of English as it is actually used by speakers in dialogues. [P]erformance grammar . . . centers attention on language production; it is my belief that the problem of production must be dealt with before problems of reception and comprehension can properly be investigated (John Carroll, Promoting Language Skills. Perspectives on School Learning: Selected Writings of John B. Carroll, ed. by L. W. Anderson. Erlbaum, 1985). Reference Grammar A description of the grammar of a language, with explanations of the principles governing the construction of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Examples of contemporary reference grammars in English include A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, by Randolph Quirk et al. (1985), the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (1999), and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002). Theoretical Grammar The study of the essential components of any human language. Theoretical grammar or syntax is concerned with making completely explicit the formalisms of grammar, and in providing scientific arguments or explanations in favour of one account of grammar rather than another, in terms of a general theory of human language (A. Renouf and A. Kehoe, The Changing Face of Corpus Linguistics. Rodopi, 2003). Traditional Grammar The collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of the language. We say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction between what some people do with language and what they ought to do with it, according to a pre-established standard. . . . The chief goal of traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating a historical model of what supposedly constitutes proper language (J. D. Williams, The Teachers Grammar Book. Routledge, 2005). Transformational Grammar A theory of grammar that accounts for the constructions of a language by linguistic transformations and phrase structures. In transformational grammar, the term rule is used not for a precept set down by an external authority but for a principle that is unconsciously yet regularly followed in the production and interpretation of sentences. A rule is a direction for forming a sentence or a part of a sentence, which has been internalized by the native speaker (D. Bornstein, An Introduction to Transformational Grammar. University Press of America, 1984) Universal Grammar The system of categories, operations, and principles shared by all human languages and considered to be innate. Taken together, the linguistic principles of Universal Grammar constitute a theory of the organization of the initial state of the mind/brain of the language learner--that is, a theory of the human faculty for language (S. Crain and R. Thornton, Investigations in Universal Grammar. MIT Press, 2000). If 10 varieties of grammar arent enough for you, rest assured that new grammars are emerging all the time. Theres word grammar, for instance. And relational grammar. Not to mention case grammar, cognitive grammar, construction grammar, lexical functional grammar, lexicogrammar,  head-driven phrase structure grammar and many more.