The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

In Tennessee William's play, The Glass Menagerie (1945), he presents these characters-Tom, Laura, Amanda, Jim, and Mr. Wingfield- to illustrate their need to escape from reality and to go on an "adventure." Williams starts the story by showing the problems in the Wingfield family; Mr. Wingfield moved away, Amanda lives her life through her children, Laura is crippled, and Tom is never home. Williams reveals the purpose of his play when Tom, the narrator and the son of Amanda, is arguing with his mother in scene three. When reality is no longer intriguing, when it becomes too much to handle, when it doesn't go as planned, this is the time when humans "escape" in any possible way from reality so that they can obtain a sense of adventure. Amanda escape through trying to control her children's lives, by telling them about her past in hopes that they will lead a similar, but better, lifestyle. Laura escapes through her glass menagerie which are in the shape of animals; the glass pieces comfort her, since it is hard for her to make friends due to her shyness she found happiness in the glass animals. Tom escapes by going to the movies, watching other people's adventures, but he leaves at the end of the play to have his own adventure like his father who left and never returned, Jim escapes through his vision of gaining an executive division through completing speech classes. Williams concludes the play with a valuable lesson that Jim taught Laura; no one is perfect, "everyone has problems" (76), and there is no need to escape reality to hide the problems, but instead pix them, become "superior". Williams purpose is to give confidence to those with the "inferior complex" by showing them that they can escape, or they can become superior. he seems to target people with low self esteem, especially those who are physically challenged, because they are one of a kind and they should know that so they wont be inferior.

vocabulary

• Conglomerations- collection
• Mastication- chew up
• bombardments- attack as with artillery or bombs

tone

suspenseful,inspiring

rhetoric devices

• concrete sensory detail- "at the rise of the curtain, the audience is faced with the dark, grim rear wall of the Winfield tenement"(3).
• complex sentence- "late that winter and in the early spring realizing that extra money would be needed to properly feather the nest and plume the bird- she conducted a vigorous campaign on the telephone roping in subscribers to one of those magazines for matrons called the Homemaker's companion...." (19).
• telegraphic sentences- "yep. tomorrow." (42).
• description- "most of them are little animals made out of glass the tiniest little animals in the world" (82).
• monologue - "i didn't go to the moon, i went much further- for time is the longest distance between two places... and so goodbye..." (96-97).

discussion questions

1) Why does Amanda call Laura "sister" in the play when Laura is her daughter? is it just what they said on the 1940s?

2) Wouldn't this play be considered an allegory with superiority being one of its main themes carried throughout the play?

3) everyone is unique, so shouldn't everyone become superior, even the not so beautiful people that Jim mentions?

quote

"you are the only young man that I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes the present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don't plan for it" (45).

First Impression Of The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie by William Tennessee sounds interesting just based on its title, but you cannot, or should not judge a book by its cover. Therefore, after reading the introduction, the production notes, and finally scene one, I became hooked. Tennessee really brings out the magical approach of the play by basing it off of a memory, but also adding in a twist that i have yet to read. Tom is the narrator, but it seems as if Laura is the main character. Tennessee uses the animal menagerie that is owned by Laura as an indicator to his purpose, everyone has a scapegoat, a way out. I think the title change from The Gentlemen Caller to The Glass Menagerie was a wonderful idea because I dont think that the gentlemen caller is the main purpose, although it has an underlying purpose, I believe finding a way to escape reality is the main purpose. Laura escapes through her glass menagerie, Mr. Wingfield escapes through long distance, and I have yet to grasp how Tom and Amanda, his mother, escapes reality.

A Pleasant Trip to Italy and Fattorias

In Barbara Kingsolver's novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007), she narrates her trip away from her kids and the farm while illustrating the wonderful food in Italy consumed by her and her husband, Steven. She first describes the difficulty of  leaving last minute jobs undone until her arrival by making use of an analogy, comparing women going to the nail shop to her habit of gardening at the last minute. She then uses concrete imagery to describe the meals in Italy and the different courses such as the "secondos" that separates every meal in order to separate the completely different tastes. Lastly, she cites a quote that was on a billboard, "Nostro terra.../ E suo sapore" meaning "you can taste our dirt" (pg. 258). This quote implies the difference between America and Italy, where as in America most of the food is processed and in Italy it is all naturally and organically  grown. Kingsolver's purpose in the entirety of the fifteenth chapter of her novel is to illustrate the food cultural gap between Italy and America in order to spark the idea in the minds of Americans to change their food culture. Her intended audience seems to be Americans who dont eat organic food because Kingsolver want to convince them of the richness and goodness of organic food such as Italian food.

Vocabulary

• Scrupulously- precise

• Succinctly- terse

• Abashed- embarrass

• Consternation- great alarm or dismay

• Stupefaction- overwhelming

• Adamantly- unyielding

Tone

Fascinated, Reminiscent

Rhetorical Strategies

• Analogy: I confess to last-minute projects before big events... On the evening of my once-in-a-lifetime dinner at the White House with president and Mrs. Clinton, my hands were stained slightly purple because I'd been canning olives the day before... some divas get a manicure before a performance; I just try to make sure there's nothing real scary under my fingernails" (pg. 242-243).

• syntax: "His face fell" (pg. 242).

• Allusion: "I knew the Italian vocabulary of classical music, plus that one song from lady and the Tramp." (pg 244).

• Opinion:  "They close their eyes, raise their eyebrows into accent marks, and make sound of acute appreciation. It's fairly sexy" (pg 247).

• Complex sentences: "The farm hotel often has the word fattoria in its name. It sounds like a place designed to make you fat, and i can't argue with that, but it means "farm," deriving from the same root as factory- a place where things get made" (pg. 254).

Discussion

1) Why is there no one in Italy over 300 pounds?

2) Within Kingsolver's listing, can the lists also be explanatory?

3) Along with the habit of eating healthy food in healthy proportions and at a slow pace, would the world be spared from obesity?

Memorable Quote

"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers. In this case they were kind  enough to dumb down their expectations and patiently unscramble a romance language omelet" (pg. 245).

50 Years And A Broken Rule

In Barbara Kingsolver's novel, Animal Vegetable, Miracle (2007), her daughter, Camille, contributes to the

chapter with her story, "Happy Returns" about friends and family coming out to celebrate Barbara

Kingsolver's 50th birthday. Camille first recaps the chapter by articulating how birthdays are a "big deal" to

her family . She then gives a brief anecdote about the birthday invitation rule: you could only invite as many

people as the age you where turning, and her mom breaking the rule by inviting 150 people to her 50th

birthday celebration. She concludes with an example of two recipes that can be made in the early spring with

fresh fruit: Asian Vegetable Rolls and Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. her purpose is to connect with readers by

giving a personal story then establishing authority when challenging the audience to indulge in the recipes.

Vocabulary

• Prodigious- amazing, enormous

• Ubiquitous- everywhere at the same time

Tone 

cheerful, joyful, content

Rhetorical Strategies

• Colloquialism: "Right behind planting came the weeding, mulching, vigilance for bugs and birds worry 

over too much rain or not enough. (pg 102).

• Humor: "Rosemary and sage, blueberry and raspberry, fountain grass, blue sweetgrass, sunshine- 

colored roses, blue-and-white columbines, scarlet poppies, butterfly bush and "sunset"  echinacea- the

color scheme of my garden is "Crayola" (pg 107).

• Diction: "The food, when it came out, was applauded: the summer rolls were saucy, the lamb succulent, 

the frittata puffy and light" (pg 106).

• Description: ""The tree-year-olds were the first ones out on the flagstone dance floor, of course, 

followed closely by my seventy-five-year-old parents, the teenagers and the elders and the middle-aged, 

recklessly dancing across age categories" (pg 106). 

• Concrete Imagery: "with carrots you never know what you've got until you grab them by the green hair 

and tug them up. These turned out to be gorgeous, golden orange, thicker than thumbs, longer than my hand." 

(pg 105).

Discussion Questions

1) Was this really the first time the birthday invitation rule was broken?

2) what other sensory details does Kingsolver use?

3)  Is it "ok" to wish for rain or wish for it not too rain while still being thankful for the whether conditions?

Quotes

"This is what my friends bought... Rosemary and sage, blueberry and raspberry, fountain grass, blue 

sweetgrass, sunshine-colored roses, blue-and-white columbines, scarlet poppies, butterfly bush and "sunset"  

echinacea- the color scheme of my garden is "Crayola" (pg 107).

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

   In Barbara Kingsolver's  novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007), she argues that it is important for the  


following generations to learn where their food comes from and how it is made. Kingsolver first gives an anecdote  


about her and her families life in Tucson, Arizona by describing the drought and the water system. She then  


rationalizes a human's oil intake per year, which is 400 gallons, which is right behind vehicular oil use. In conclusion,


she verbalizes other countries' hatred towards American food. Kingsolver's purpose is to educate the audience  


about the food they are eating and why it is harming the society versus other countries who have a better food  


culture. she seems to have Americans in mind that live in places that are practically incapable of growing their own  


food near by because they have to have a lot of food shipped to them which adds to the oil intake.

Vocabulary

• deciduous- shedding leaves annually

• vagrant-homeless wonderer; nomad

• petulant- impatient or irritable

Tone

ironic, informative, candid

Rhetoric Strategies

• Listing: "This was the landscapes whose every face we knew: giant saguaro cacti, coyotes, mountains,  

the wicked sun reflecting off bare gravel" (pg. 1).

• Dialogue: "'Dang' she said, 'it's going to rain.' 'I hope so,' Steven said" (pg. 7).

• Narration: "My Kingsolver ancestors came from that county in Virginia; I'd grown up only a few hours away,

over the Kentucky line" (pg. 3).

• Jargon: "Biology teachers face kids in classrooms who may not even believe in the metamorphosis of  

bud to flower to fruit and seed, but rather some continuum of pansies becoming petunias becoming  

chrysanthemums; that's the only reality they witness as landscapers come to campuses and city parks  

and surreptitiously yank out one flower before it fades from its prime, replacing it with another" (pg. 11).

• Examples: "Most of those calories enter our mouths in form hardly recognizable as corn and soybeans, or

even vegetable in origin: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) owns up to its parentage, but lecithin, citric  

acid, maltodextrin,sorbitol, and xanthan gum, for example, are also manufactured from corn " (pg. 14)

Discussion Questions

1) The whole family is contributing to the writing in the book?

2) Does Kingsolver favor examples over imagery?

3) Since the food made in America is so harmful, is her novel suppose to shine light on the situation to farmers  

who can make a difference and chance the American food culture?

Memorable Quote

"Drink it we did, then, filled our coffee makers too, and mixed our children's juice concentrate with fluid that would 

gag a guppy" (pg. 4).