Monday, January 20, 2020

Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story

Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story in MAUS  Ã‚      The use of the frame story, an overarching narrative used to connect a series of loosely related stories, pervades literature. An example of a frame story on a large scale - tying together a whole book-length work, not a simple short story - can be found in Art Spiegelman's graphic novel MAUS. Each of the narrative's six sections is framed with snatches of the interaction between Vladek and Art during the "interview" that supposedly occurred to create the book. This framing helps us learn about Vladek's character, which we would not know about from his rather flat, unemotional Holocaust narrative. In coming to understand this book, we must also take into account the fact that no work of literature exists in a vacuum, and all literature is affected by the social and cultural contexts of its author and its reader. MAUS is no exception. In MAUS, the use of frame stories helps to establish personal, social, and cultural context for the "main" stories told within. In this effort to give literary works some sort of context, it seems that there are three "filters" through which any work of literature can be viewed. The first of these is what I will call the "personal context", that is, the information we amass about the previous experiences of the protagonist and other central figures of the work. Clearly, what has happened to a person, real or fictional, in the past will indelibly inform their present and future actions and emotions. The second "filter" is the "social context": the relationships that characters form among themselves. (In MAUS, I will also refer to this as the "familial" context, since the central relationship in the book is... ...e graphic novel. This helps to clarify the cultural context in which Vladek views himself. In conclusion, three different types of context are established by the "frame story" in the book. These are the personal, social, and cultural contexts which I have described. Perhaps there are others, but these three seem to be the most central to understanding the interaction of literature with its background culture. As there is reader-response criticism, perhaps we might propose a school of culture-response criticism, devoted to understanding the ideas portrayed in literature in light of the surroundings in which they were created.   "Captured in a photograph, without a frame, You see her standing tall but you see no face to blame."   Tara MacLean, "Let Her Feel The Rain" Works Cited: Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York, Toronto: Random House, Inc. 1973. Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story in MAUS  Ã‚      The use of the frame story, an overarching narrative used to connect a series of loosely related stories, pervades literature. An example of a frame story on a large scale - tying together a whole book-length work, not a simple short story - can be found in Art Spiegelman's graphic novel MAUS. Each of the narrative's six sections is framed with snatches of the interaction between Vladek and Art during the "interview" that supposedly occurred to create the book. This framing helps us learn about Vladek's character, which we would not know about from his rather flat, unemotional Holocaust narrative. In coming to understand this book, we must also take into account the fact that no work of literature exists in a vacuum, and all literature is affected by the social and cultural contexts of its author and its reader. MAUS is no exception. In MAUS, the use of frame stories helps to establish personal, social, and cultural context for the "main" stories told within. In this effort to give literary works some sort of context, it seems that there are three "filters" through which any work of literature can be viewed. The first of these is what I will call the "personal context", that is, the information we amass about the previous experiences of the protagonist and other central figures of the work. Clearly, what has happened to a person, real or fictional, in the past will indelibly inform their present and future actions and emotions. The second "filter" is the "social context": the relationships that characters form among themselves. (In MAUS, I will also refer to this as the "familial" context, since the central relationship in the book is... ...e graphic novel. This helps to clarify the cultural context in which Vladek views himself. In conclusion, three different types of context are established by the "frame story" in the book. These are the personal, social, and cultural contexts which I have described. Perhaps there are others, but these three seem to be the most central to understanding the interaction of literature with its background culture. As there is reader-response criticism, perhaps we might propose a school of culture-response criticism, devoted to understanding the ideas portrayed in literature in light of the surroundings in which they were created.   "Captured in a photograph, without a frame, You see her standing tall but you see no face to blame."   Tara MacLean, "Let Her Feel The Rain" Works Cited: Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York, Toronto: Random House, Inc. 1973.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Effects of Longterm Imprisonment

CRJ 220 Effects of Longterm Imprisonment While the average time served in US prisons is 34 months, many inmates are serving sentences longer than this. According to a 2009 report by the Sentencing Project, 140,610 out of 2. 3 million inmates are serving a life sentence. However, with the possibility of parole, not all life sentences mean inmates spending their lives behind bars. Some inmates will return to society and face many challenges. One issue with long term imprisonment is the effect on family.While the inmates connection to his/her family may remain the same, the family moves on. Some spouses will divorce over the crime itself. The inmate now faces their long term sentence without the support of a significant other. Even those whose marriages survive the initial ordeal will encounter many more challenges along the way. Spouses are facing the prospect of spending a great period of their lives alone. The inmate knows this and will now have the added anxiety of wondering: will t hey find someone new, will they cheat?Children further complicate the matter. The child will grow up without a father or mother. At any age, the child will go through milestones that the inmate will miss: first words, first steps, first day of school, first date, graduation, marriage, grandchildren, etc. The long term inmate will likely miss one or more of these events. Young children may not remember their parent. They will likely have no relationship with the inmate. Even those who manage to form some kind of bond find it is very difficult to maintain from behind bars.The released inmate then has to be a part of a life that they were absent from for years. Another issue with long term imprisonment is employment. In five or more years, much can change. As society changes, technology advances. An inmate's prior skills, training and education may now be irrelevant. While â€Å"free† workers may face the same dilemma, they also are given time to gradually adjust to these change s and learn new skills. The inmate is thrown into these changes upon release. Even if their skills are still relevant, the inmate may lose their work skills after not using them in so ong. The long term inmate who was incarcerated at a younger age may not have had a chance to get an education or any job or skill training at all. Upon their release they may be 48 with the education of a 17 year old. Long term imprisonment may also have an effect on work ethic. Inmates have not been part of the work force for a long period of time. While some inmates are assigned jobs, not all are. Will those who don't have a diminished work ethic upon release? Will they remember how to function in a work environment?Another issue with long term imprisonment is the effect on mental health. Those sentenced to long terms may encounter psychological issues during their sentence and upon their release. Inmates may give up hope; those sentenced to life in prison give up the idea of ever gaining freedom. Th ough they may have a chance at parole, they know the chance of being released might be slim. There are inmates who commit suicide shortly after being sentenced because they can't deal with the extreme life change. Being in a prison environment for so long also can change a person.Inmates grow very accustomed to the prison lifestyle: waking up at a certain time, following a strict schedule, being watched at all times, following very strict rules. It can be difficult to adapt into being a â€Å"free† individual again: making your own decisions, knowing what to do without someone telling you what to do, giving yourself rules, etc. There are also the rules in prison versus the rules in society. Prison rules include not only the ones set by the institution itself, but also prison ‘norms' set by the inmates. These rules are very different from the ones we have in society.These rules can also change an inmate's personality. They may become more violent to protect themselves or prove their power to others, or become overly cautious and suspicious of people. These effects can carry over upon release. While some of the effects of long term imprisonment are beneficial to society and the inmate, many of the effects are harmful as well. The longer a prisoner is incarcerated, the more they will adapt to their environment and lose contact with the outside community. This adaptation can be difficult to reverse, even after release into society.