Eric BarkmanMaster Of The

Universe

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Table of Contents

Page 1- Title

Page 2- Table of Contents

Page 3- Essay 2

Page 5- Essay 3

Page 7- Essay 6

Page 10- Essay 7

Page 11- Essay 8

Page 13- Essay 9

Page 14- Essay 10

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Reflection

This year I have evolved much as a writer. Most of the improvements have been through my

creative writing class and not through AP lit. In creative writing, I began to deepen my characterization in

my writings and expand my descriptions of setting. Because of the deadlines in the class, I actually

finished some of my works which is a vast improvement from years past. I completed a short story

entitled “Minds in the Dark” that I submitted to Prelude’s. I always discovered the vast importance and

effectiveness of creating a rough outline. This skill aided me the most in my final project. We had to write

a script for a TV show. Most of the students decided to write an original episode for an already

preexisting show, but I, with my vast and immeasurable creative powers, created a pilot episode for a

complete original show. I outlined so well that the pilot episode, titled “The Art”, made it all the way to

the page requirements without even covering half of the outline. As for the AP Lit class, I learned very

few new things, and for the most part the class reiterated what I have been taught the last four years. I

found that an “audience” belongs nowhere within a formal essay. Also, the writer must take a stern stand

on the gender of the speaker. Using he/she is ill advised and ruins the flow of the work. Also, commas can

be helpful, but their usefulness runs out when the rhythm of the piece is bogged down with breaks and

pauses. Other than this points, my formal essays continue to be the most excellent works of BS every

created by a Roncalli Student.

Thank you and have a great day,

Eric Barkman, Master of the Universe

p.s. If this reflection proves off topic, I remind you that you said general reflection over our improvements in writing for this year. How do you like them apples?

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Essay 2

In Graham Greene’s “The Destructors”, a group of boys pass through a threshold into a new

chapter of their lives. The children lose their innocence in a destroyed district of post WWII London and

realize the power of adulthood. Greene masterfully establishes the plot and various symbols to convey this

message of lost innocence.

At the beginning of the story, the boys wish to spend their day on a fruitless task of trying to attain

the most free rides on the British bus system. A new initiate the gang proposes a new plan: to completely

destroy the house of the elder, Old Misery, next to their hangout. T, the new initiate, gains the groups

approval for this task. The boys first began to enter into maturity here when the young fifteen year old

uses organizational skills, a trait not seen in the group before, to allocate separate items to bring. The next

day, T again organizes the group and separates them according to distinct tasks. Blackie, the old leader of

the gang, notices this as well. “He had at once the impression of organization, very different from the old

happy-go-lucky ways”. The boys become so engrossed in their destruction that they do not even

communicate with each other except concerning their specific tasks. When T finds money, he burns it

instead of giving in to childish yearning to keep the small sum for himself. In the end, the boys even use

sly deception to trap Old Misery in his own out house in order to finish the demolition. Through the

course of events, the boys transform from semi innocent ruffians to young man with power over

something greater than themselves.

Coming from higher society, T leads the boys in their transformation. His real name, Trevor, and

its broken down from foreshadow the destruction that the gang will wreck. The boys start from the bottom

and began their journey upward to the top. All, besides T, came from fairly humble and common origins

while Old Misery’s house stood as a delicate remembrance of its once former glory in the derelict district.

The passage of time made the house weaker while the boys enter into their first stage in the chronicles of

their lives and find more strength. Exerting force and will, the gang topples down the higher society

standards along with the once expensive home. Along with the physical destruction of Old Misery’s, the

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boys indirectly destroy their innocence. “We’d be like worms, don’t you see, in an apple. When we came

out again there’d be nothing there”. T lays out his plan of action and unknowingly compares the gang’s

changes. Like T and his dream, the worms destroy the apple to create something new and grow. Greene

depicts the power of the destruction as a form of creation. T creates a new architectural image in the ruins

of the house. The boys create a new identity for themselves in the chaos made by their ordered tasks of

demolition.

T and his friends undergo a change in their identity from boys to young men. Through their

actions, they both destroy and create physically and mentally. In the new world left by the aftermath of

WWII, a small group of boys in London attempt to find themselves just as the rest of the world also

evolved and changed into a new identities and entities.

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Essay 3

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, she paints a dark in gloomy landscape weaved in with

themes of the ignorance of man’s pride in attempting to manipulate and control nature. Victor

Frankenstein exemplifies perfectly greed, ignorance, and pride as his tragic flaws that throw him into a

downward spiral which leads to his own destruction. Not only do these flaws serve to propagate his

torture, but they also inflict suffering onto all those around him.

Once Victor is studying by himself in Ingolstadt, he exhibits his first flaw which leads to his

others. He aims to control the power of god and create a creature of his own design. During one of his

inner monologues before the creature is imbued with life, Victor states that he will create a whole species

of sentient beings that will follow and look up to him as a child does to a father. Not only does Victor

wish to make a mass of disciples for himself, he also desires to cheat the natural order of things and

escape death. He never for one second stops to meditate on the consequences of what his endeavors could

bring about. During his mad obsession with controlling nature, he neglects all those who love him as he

spends endless hours in his laboratory toiling away on his experiment. Victor does not keep in contact

with his family and friends back in Geneva and does not even have the care to send them word of his well

being.

In thinking he can control life, death, and nature, Victor shows his unending ignorance. He

believes that man can learn to manipulate anything and everything in the world and bend it to his will.

Once he does realize the secret to life, he forgets the old saying “With great power comes great

responsibility”. When the creature comes to life, Victor runs from all the duties he owes to the poor

wretch. One of the ideas which fueled his quest, the desire to control a species, is lost as he runs from his

creation. Victor does not realize his own folly in not only creating a creature superior in strength to

himself but also abandoning it at the moment of its conception. Instead of guiding and instructing the

creature, he leaves it to fend for itself in a cruel and harsh world that rejects it.

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For the majority of the novel, Frankenstein’s pride inhibits him from correctly solving the

problems which he created. He finally realizes the folly of his action, but instead of seeking assistance

from others, he decides to try to tackle the creature by himself. Victor continually pushes away his family

and causes them grief in his attempt to keep them innocent from his mistakes. In the end, this mindset

kills off most of his family and friends. Towards the climax of the story, he believes the monster’s threat

of “I will be with you on your wedding night” means that the creature will attempt to murder him on that

date. Victor’s pride proves his ultimate downfall as he somewhat adequately prepares himself by carrying

a pistol and dagger but leaves Elizabeth, the creature’s target, by herself in order to search the house for

the monster.

A man who began with everything and ended with nothing, Victor Frankenstein displays many

traits of a tragic hero. Through his own accord and machinations, he successfully sent himself and his

friends and family through a dark and relentless hell. Victor’s greed, ignorance, and pride show the

weakness of humanity as a whole in their attempt to control and manipulate all around them without

proper guidance or aid.

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Essay 4

In the poem “One Art”, Elizabeth Bishop paints an image of a lover laminating and reflecting over

what is lost. Through his use of direct addresses and personal experience, the speaker conveys her

emotions.

As if written like a letter, the poem seems to initiate a conversation between the speaker and the

audience. At the start of the second stanza, she says “Lose something everyday”. Through this, she is

instructing his lost lover to become accustomed to the pain and inconvenience of loss. In the last stanza,

she says “In losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied”. She demonstrates his

remorse in lying and instigating the events that led to the separation. se also tries to console her lover in

saying that losing is not a disaster.

Throughout most of the piece, the speaker recounts all of her loses and how they did not end in

disaster. She moved many times, and even left her native continent to live in a foreign one. Even though

she was stricken with grief after she left her homes, she went on living. Through these examples, she is

imploring and promising her lost lover that life will go on. All of these inflicted sadness, and the recent

loss is reflected through her recounting of her former sorrows.

The speaker, most likely an elder, has experienced much and reflects upon her long life. Through

her direct address and personal examples, she apologizes and attempts to relieve her own guilt while

trying to console her lover in her time of grief.

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Essay 6

In Rachel Hadas’s Helen, many of Aristotle’s elements of drama are shown. The story centers

around the two main protagonists, Helen and Menelaus, and intertwines their incredible struggle with base

human feelings and emotions.

Stemming from the well known epic, The Illiad, Helen draws from much of the plot established in

the earlier story. Helen has spent the last seventeen years in exile. Her strife originates from a conflict

between the gods. Three goddesses arguing about their beauty allowed Paris, the prince of Troy, to settle

the dispute. Aphrodite, one of the goddesses, bribed Paris with the prize of Helen of Sparta. Hera, one of

the other three goddesses, tricked Paris by sending with him a phantom Helen and sending Hermes to take

the real queen to Egypt. Helen begins with the queen lamenting over her current situation. She recounts

the story of her family including the story of Zeus, disguised as a swan, courting her mother, Leda.

During her long monologue, she describes one of the reasons of her struggle, “My beauty was the bait”.

Her physical appearance serves as her tragic flaw. Aphrodite chooses Helen as the bribe because she was

the most attractive mortal. The entrance of one of the Greek warriors who fought in the Trojan War

further enunciates the reason for her grief. Teucer curses the Spartan queen. “Oh my god! What horrid

sight appalls/ my vision? For surely what I see/ is that vile woman, vicious enemy,/ my ruin and the bane

of all of us.” Unintentionally, Helen caused the deaths of thousands of Greeks and the mass genocide and

destruction of the state of Troy. Despite her reputation among the Greeks, she exhibits kindness to Teucer

by hurrying him to the Oracle so that the new king would not kill him. She then shows a mixture of two

base human emotions: grief and hope. During her dialogue with her servants, she constantly sways from

these two feelings. She then shows hesitation and fear when they suggest going to see the Oracle to learn

the fate of her husband. Throughout the story, Helen must constantly overcome the situation caused by

her tragic flaw: her beauty. Her beauty indirectly caused her exile, the Trojan war, and the deaths of

thousands of Greeks and Trojans.

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Spurned by the betrayal of Paris and his phantom wife, Menelaus collects his forces and unites

with his brother, Agamemnon, and all the armies of Greece. He retrieved his faux queen and aided in the

destruction of Troy. After the great war, the king spent seven years sailing endlessly on the sea. Through

the will of the gods, he met endless obstacles that prevented him from returning to his native Sparta.

Similar to his wife, Menelaus begins his role in the play with his own lamentation. He shows immense

sadness over the condition and situation he has come to. Once a great a powerful king, the grieving hero

comes to the palace battered and adorned with rags in order to beg for food and supplies. Later, Menelaus

emotionally begs for Theonoe’s aid. He appeals to her sense of justice and demonstrates his love for his

wife. In order to safely escape Egypt, the Spartan King shows cunning when he acts as a simple Greek

sailor in order to trick the Egyptian King. Menelaus demonstrates immense determination to get his wife

back through his ten years of battling, his seven of wondering, and his humbleness in attempting to save

the lives of his sailors and escape with his wife.

Helen exemplifies Aristotle’s element of drama through the depth and progression of the Helen

and Menelaus. Because of their human flaws and struggles, they become immersed in a epic situation, and

through their redeeming qualities, they finally are reunited after seventeen long years of separation.

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Essay 7

In the first article, “‘Put out the light’ in Othello’, Rodney Edgecombe concentrates on Othello’s

soliloquy before his murder of his wife. He constantly analyzes and decrypts the vague statements made

in the monologue. Edgecombe first contrasts Othello’s line of “Put out the light, and then put out the

light:”. At first glance, the phrase can be interpreted as “First put ou this candle, and then snuff out her

life.” Others may interpret it as Othello questioning his motives after stating them. Edgecombe connects

the first light he puts out as Desdemona life and then the second light as her supposed crime, adultery.

Othello’s murder is then viewed as an ritualistic action with a higher purpose. He believes that killing his

wife will prevent other women from committing adultery against their husbands. Edgecombe draws

comparison from Lady Macbeth’s murder of Duncan to Othello’s. In both, they provoke the heavens to

conceal their most horrid crime.

In the second article, “Shakespeare’s Othello”, Steve Cassal begins by focusing on Othello asking

“But why should honor outlive honesty?” Cassal draws the conclusion that Desdemona personifies

chastity or honesty and that Othello personifies honor. This assumption agrees with the play since Othello

really does outlive Desdemona. Cassal then compares the virtues of honor and honesty. Othello drew his

honor from public opinion of himself while Desdemona drew her honesty from personal integrity. Emilia

is then considered for the personification of honesty since before her death she has a long outpouring of

truth. During the time period, the male image of honesty was to be loyal and truthful while the female

image consisted of being chaste. During the lapse from civilization, Emilia embraces both images by

being first faithful to her husband and then being loyal to Desdemona and truthful.

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Essay 8

“The Pawnbroker” Group Essay

                To deal with difficult situations, such as the death of a father, poets often write to express their

grief.  Eloquently weaving a tale spanning before and after a traumatic event, Maxine Kumin expresses

her feelings about her father and the love he gave her.  In “The Pawnbroker”, she utilizes diction,

symbolism, and imagery to connect the speaker’s inner emotions to the outside world.

                In regards to diction, Maxine Kumin utilizes contrasting phrases, such as firsthand and

secondhand, to connect the inside and outside worlds of the speaker.  Stating “Every good thing in my life

was secondhand” refers to the fact that her father’s profession of pawnbroker provided her with

previously-owned possessions.  While her possessions were previously-owned, the speaker’s father gave

her unconditional love firsthand.  Kumin also uses “in hock” to connect the outside and inside worlds. 

While describing her father’s response to seeing his children barefoot, he asks “Where are your shoes? In

hock?”.  After the death of the speaker’s father, the speaker states “no longer in hock to himself”

connecting the speaker’s inner emotions to the outside world..

                Kumin weaves multiple symbols in her writing to mold many hidden, deeper meanings into her

poetry.  Maxine Kumin paints a symbol of her socio-economic situation when she speaks of how her

father feels when she says “The sight of his children barefoot gave him a pain.”  He is upset that he has to

work long hours to try and make ends meet, but he still cannot afford to buy his children shoes.  This

reveals her father’s love and care for her and her siblings as well as his strong work ethic as in the

beginning stanza it starts off about how “my father’s feet which, after fifty years of standing behind the

counter waiting on trade…”

                Throughout the piece, Maxine Kumin provides definite scenes and sights to convey her sense of

introverted perspective of her outside surroundings.  She first describes her father and his profession.  He

stands like a clerk, waiting for trade.  Eventually, once he receives trade such as from “A red cap porter

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whose ticket ran out”, her father hands down many of the items being pawned to Maxine.  Her guilt at this

way of life is constantly beat down on her.  “He overtook my in the thicket and beat my black heart

white”.   The pawnshop stayed open late on the weekends, and police officers stood watch outside to keep

peace and order.  Many items came into his possession that he constantly worked on their pricings from

“watches, cameras, typewriters” to “cheap diamond rings and thoroughbred silver”.  Once he died,

Maxine and her brothers chose to celebrate his memory with drink.  While he was bring prepared for

cremation, the family opened up an old scotch bottle and eased their pains.

                Maxine Kumin’s  “The Pawnbroker” provides a glimpse into her external world as well as her

internal nature.  The author utilizes diction, symbolism, and imagery to paint her life.  She reflects

bittersweetly on the memory of her father and shows her hidden feelings for the man after his death.

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Essay 9

In her novel Obasan, Joy Kogawa reflects on the internment of her family and Japanese

Americans. Through the extensive use of figurative language and imagery, she conveys her feelings of

immense loss and pain.

Kogawa’s family relocates from the coast to the interior. The bleak weather of “rain, cloud, mist”

mirror the grief of her people. The internment camps, in the Canadian heartland, stand far way from

civilization. During their internment, the Japanese are to be the “hammers and chisels” to help shape the

wilderness to the government’s liking. They are “the fragments of fragments”, already people separated

from their true culture and now be driven from their new home. All Japanese Canadians ride to the

interior from the “scholarly and illiterate” to “the fierce and the docile”. These beginning phrases help to

develop the fleeting sense of pride and worth felt by the internees.

In the second half of the passage, Kogawa develops the specific scene of the train ride to show the

weariness of her people. The overly packed train proves uncomfortable as it “smells of oil and soot and

orange peels and lurches groggily.” Their belongings submerge the passengers in a sea of boxes, bags,

and baskets. A young woman sits on the train a few days after she has given premature birth. She is void

of all supplies needed to take care of her infant. Even though she feels sympathy, the young Kogawa is

too frightened to help out the mother.

During WWII, many people found themselves as prisoners in their own country. Even during their

immense hardship, the Japanese Canadians pulled together as a community. This form of surrogate family

becomes apparent with titles such as “ojisan” or “obasan” for aunt and uncle.

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Essay 10

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the protagonist sways between a multitude of conflicting emotions and

feelings. Othello’s mind tears from his love for Desdemona and Iago’s hateful plotting.

At the beginning of the play, Barbantio accuses Othello of charming his daughter with witchcraft.

This scene in the Venetian assembly chamber reveals Othello and Desdemona’s love for each other. This

love propels the plot forward and not brings Desdemona to Cyprus but also her servant and Iago’s wife

Emilia. For the first half of the play, Othello defends and stands by his wife’s honor in the face of

Barbantio’s blatant slanders and Iago’s more subtle influence.

During the third act, Iago’s plotting successfully takes hold of Othello. Once the soldier hints at an

adulterous relationship between Desdemona and Cassio, Othello begin to grow suspicious. His suspicion

seems to be confirmed through Cassio’s possession of the handkerchief. The general then chooses

revenge instead of a peaceful resolution and plays into Iago’s hands. He throws aside all loyalty and

caring for his wife and lieutenant and plots to kill them both. His inner conflict reveals itself in earnest in

the monologue before he slays his wife. He professes his love and how that love pains him to do what he

believes he must do.

Through this play, Shakespeare reveals the inner conflict that most humans experience on a

grander stage. Othello clearly exemplifies this conflict with his love and fear, but also Desdemona and

Emilia reveals this with the split between husband and friend.

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