English

The Terrace Gazette Maxson goes down swinging

By Joe Student

This is where your first story will go. It will be a summary of the events of the act that you have just finished. In it, be sure to include at least two quotes which help to make the plot clear to the reader.

You should also make sure to dis- cuss what is going on with each of the major characters. Be sure to address Troy, Rose, and Cory at the very least. Let us know what each is doing, what each is saying, and what is motivating each to be acting they way that he or she is. Any less will not recieve credit.

Here’s an example: During Act II of August Wilson’s

play Fences, Rose expresses her dis- gust for Troy’s cheating, telling him that he “ought to have stayed upstairs,” (68) where he belonged. It is clear from this passage that Rose is saddened by Troy’s revelation of infidelity. When she speaks to him, she speaks to him like a child. He is chastized the same way one would speak to a toddler who has done wrong. It is clear she has pity for him, though it is not clear that she will stay with him.

This is where you’ll put a caption for the illustration that you choose for the reading. The caption should tell us what is happening in the image, and why that scene is important in the play.

The Requirements

1 story that summarizes the chapter and provides a discussion of the thoughts, actions, and motivations of at least Troy, Rose, and Cory

2 pictures. 1 should illustrate a major scene in the reading, the other should illustrate a particu- lar character. Each needs a cap- tion.

1 story that provides a detailed analysis of a char- acter through the lens of a particular theme in the text.

1 story that provides opin- ion. It can criticize a charac- ter, praise another, whatever. It needs evidence.

Your character analysis needs a picture and a caption that explains it as well. This is Willie Mays playing Stickball.

Bono believes racist boss By Bill Student

This is where you’ll discuss one of the major charac- ters in the text. Make sure that you provide an analysis of the character, especially focusing on what the character’s thoughts, words, and actions say about what is imporant to the character.

You’ll also be asked to examine that character through the lens of a particular theme in the play. For example, you could discuss Troy as embodying a man who cannot move beyond the past. As you do this, be sure that you bring in specific examples from the text to support your claims.

A really well done analysis of a characer will also pay

attention to why the character is acting the way that the characeter is the way he or she is acting. This will help to provide some insight into his or her life.

Here’s a quick example: In the play Fences the character Bono is especially inter-

esting. In some ways, he represents a black man who has accepted the place dictated to him by the society that sur- rounds him. At one point, while he and Troy were discuss- ing Troy’s desire to file a complaint with his employers, Bono voiced his concern for Troy’s job not by suggest- ing that he is being careless, but that he should be careful because he is challenging racial barriers. Troy is convinced that he is in the right, but Bono says that the “white fel- lows” suspect he will be fired after Troy’s complaint is dealt with.

It is Bono’s reliance on the advice of white employ- ees that tips his hand. Clearly, Bono does not trust that Troy’s gamble will pay off. Troy has challenged the com- pany policy that allows for white workers to drive garbage trucks, saying that “[h]ell, anybody can drive a truck, (2). However, without a valid driver’s license, Troy is simply causing a scene. Bono recognizes this and sees the prob- lems that Troy’s actions will cause, but he fails to see the importance of these actions. He does not recognize that as Troy stands up sto challenge company policy that the he is simultaneously challenging the belief that blacks are any less than whites.

This dichotomy exists throughout the entire book; on one hand, characters are trying to “make it” in a white world, on the other, they are sitting back and allowing for the white world to dictate the terms of their existence.

Cory is an idiot By Bill Student

This is the opinion piece that you’ll write. You can write about any section of the story, about any charac- ter, about any theme. It doesn’t matter.

Just make sure that you support your opinion with some facts taken from the text. Make darn sure that you support yourself well.

Here’s an example: First thing first, I should clarify that headline. Cory

turned out okay, but not before he made the greivous mistake of letting his father nearly ruin his life.

Of course, he seems to have pulled everything togeth- er just fine, but he hasn’t been home in seven years, and fails to realize the profound effect that his father has had on his life.

One can infer that he never went to college. He didn’t get to play football, and he certainly never followed his dream of being a professional football player. Whether he wanted to or not, he has let his father’s choices deter- mine his life. Worse, he has adopted the same stubbor- ness of his father, a fact which is lost on him.

It is not, however, lost on his mother. Rose tells him in no uncertain terms that he is just like his father. “You Troy Maxson all over again,” she said.

Cory, in his sheer idiocy, cries “I don’t want to be Troy Maxson. I want to be me.”

This is representative of the exact kind of idiocy that Cory embodies. He claims that he wants to be him- self, but he hasn’t followed through with his goals. He has found a job that can’t be taken, just like his father wanted. He has failed to live for himself.