Reframing Narrative to Overcome Racial Stereotypes in August Wilson's Fences
August Wilson stated, “If black folks would recognize themselves as Africans and not be afraid to respond to the world as Africans, then they would make their contributions to the world as Africans.” I argue that Troy counters cultural stereotypes in society to show strength and humanity through rewriting oral narratives, altering the meaning of songs, and using improvisation to overcome barriers in his life. My research synthesizes ideas of Troy working to find his identity amongst white society by turning to his roots, and the idea that by reframing his stories allows Troy to show how he can contribute to the world in his own way and overcome stereotypes of African American men.
Cinema Creativity Struggle
With the growing number of remakes and sequels, Hollywood has lost much of what I would consider to be creativity. Movies are made for their ability to make money for the studios rather than the for the quality and aesthetic value. Looking at examples such as Saw, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Departed, my research argues that creativity is not remaking, making sequels, or making books into movies. I call for movies to go back to their roots. Many movies in the old days are hard for people to follow now due to the depth of plots and characters that we are not use to with movies that grab an audience due to explosions and such rather than dialogue and depth.
Who's Owning Who: Climbing the Social Ladder Through Manipulation in Edith Wharton's "The Other Two"
Taking place in a time when women were seen as weak and inferior, Alice in Edith Wharton's "The Other Two" gained strength through manipulating herself to the top of the social ladder. She does this through the various men that she marries. Alice also uses society's ideals of women in order to seem more feminine. In this act, Alice is able to manipulate society and the men that she marries in order to better her status in society.
Subverting "Trifles" To Control Men
Using Louis Althusser's essay on Subversion and Containment, I argue that this is exemplified in the short story, "Trifles." As the women in the story see the things in the room and twist them to see things in a woman's viewpoint. The women are working to understand why the woman killed her husband. As the notice the little things around the house that the men do not understand since they are not women, they are able to become true jurors for their peer by hiding the evidence that could condemn her to a male jury. I argue that by doing this, the women subvert then contain their convictions.
