I Hate My College Classes! Help!

Bored in Class?  Image by Cristiano Betta

I admit it freely.  I am a terrible student. 

I inadvertently make faces while professors are lecturing.  I doodle or stare at the clock.  I judge and compare professors' teaching abilities.  I lose patience when they repeat themselves or tediously beat the deadest horses.  I become Socratic, and I ask questions beyond the scope of the lesson to alleviate boredom.  I am guilty.

However, because of my past sins, I have learned a few ways to get through even the dullest or worst-taught courses.  There are three secrets to getting though a bad college course: show up, show off, and show initiative.

1. Show up!  Yes, even to the most tedious of your classes.

Showing up to class is of the utmost importance.  If the class or professor has disappointed you, the best thing to do is to keep showing up and giving him or her the chance to be redeemed.  Additionally, although you may not like the professor's teaching style in the classroom, showing up to class gives that professor a chance to get to know you, which makes him or her much more likely to help you out during office hours.  Trust me, students who skip class all semester and ask for help in the eleventh hour aren't going to make it.  Students who come to class every session and pop in to see the professor during office hours as the semester progresses are going to get the help they need.

2. Show off!  I'm not talking handstands; I'm talking papers.

If your knowledge base is beyond that of the majority of the other students in your class, chances are you are bored with the class.  Or maybe the topic is boring.  Well, the truth is you're going to be bored with jobs, people, circumstances, and situations throughout your entire life, so it's your job to find a way to get over it.  You can get over it by spending more time in your head, considering advanced concepts and planning your papers.  Take excellent notes during class that include not only key concepts from the lecture, but your own ideas.  Jot down potential thesis statements or hypothesis for investigation.   Create your outline and begin an annotated bibliography.   Find a way to make the research topic relevant to you.  Leave regurgitation and book reports to the masses, and use your papers as an opportunity to show off, stretch your knowledge base, and challenge yourself.  Would you be working on your paper if you weren't in class?  No?  Then go to class, take notes, and work on your original, inspiring, super-wow paper.

3. Show initiative!  Lead group projects and discussions.

Picture this: You've been furiously working on your thesis statement up in the first row when suddenly the room gets loud.  You look around.  It's not time to leave, but students are moving around.  It's time for group discussion. Instead of heading for the bathroom or hiding under your seat, take the opportunity to participate.  Really participate and put your leadership skills to the test.  It's something new and different, so it may wake you up.  You also get a chance to share your ideas with the group and get feedback.  Someone may say something insightful that changes your paper.  You might get an opportunity to explain or teach a concept.  Don't be bitter about it, and certainly don't get pompous.  Just help your classmates.  They need you, and it's a learning opportunity for both you and them.  Saying something or explaining something to someone out loud is much different than just simply knowing it "in your head."  Group discussion questions are great practice for essay questions on exams hint hint.


So, the next time you find yourself edging toward being a terrible student like me, just remember there are ways to turn it around.  Always show up for class, use what you can from class to complete original research that interests you, and take opportunities to get involved when they come your way.  It'll make your semester go by that much more smoothly.

Ars Poetica: When a Poet's Fly is More Than a Fly

Like a Fly, "Like a Little Rock"
Image by Maggie McCain

Ron Riekki's poem "Marquette Branch, Oct. 26, 2009" published in his poetry chapbook Leave Me Alone I'm Bleeding, is an exceptional example of Ars Poetica, a poem about how to write poetry.

What is Ars Poetica?  What Does Ars Poetica Mean?

The term Ars Poetica stems from Horace, who wrote a poem entitled "Ars Poetica" “sometime between 20 B.C.E. and 13 B.C.E.” (Academy of American Poets, 1997, para. 1). In the original, Horace offers advice to other writers about how to write good poetry. Over time, the term Ars Poetica has come to be used to describe any poem that offers advice about how to write poetry.

There are many famous examples of Ars Poetica, including poems by Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, and William Carlos Williams. However, none are better at explaining the poetic concepts of concrete diction and metaphor like Ron Riekki’s "Marquette Branch, Oct. 26, 2009." In this poem, he teaches the reader that in a poem, a fly can be much more than a fly.

Teaching is the Essence of Ars Poetica

In Riekki’s poem, the speaker of the poem is teaching prisoners how to write poetry. This situation makes the poem an obvious example of Ars Poetica. What makes it such an effective example is that the poet has seamlessly integrated his advice for the prisoner-poets into a dialogue form that allows for the prisoner-poets to learn from the speaker. Simultaneously, this allows the reader of the poem to learn from the poet.

The two specific elements of poetry this poem teaches are the concepts of concrete diction and metaphor. The lesson hinges upon a hinge device the poet uses in the final stanza. The final stanza of this poem contains an ironic hinge: The speaker has a realization about poetry while having a dialogue with one of the prisoners. That hinge device draws attention to the lesson presented to the readers, the lesson that concrete diction and metaphor are essential concepts in understanding poetry.

Seeing the Everyday Tangible is the Essence of Concrete Diction

Concrete diction is a literary term that refers to words and phrases that name material things, tangible items, things that can be touched (Shakel & Ridl, 2008, pg. 1612). 

By offering advice and examples, the speaker teaches the prisoners and readers the definition of concrete diction. The first piece of advice the speaker offers the prisoners about concrete diction is in the first three lines of the poem: “First, I tell them not to write the obvious./ Don’t say that they’re prisoners./ Show that they’re prisoners” (Riekki, 2010, pg. 14). The speaker encourages the prisoners, in very accessible language, to move beyond the stereotype or cliché of “prison” and to find new ways to present the life they lead every day. This “showing” the speaker advises requires the use of concrete diction, a tangible piece of their everyday lives.

In the second stanza, the speaker offers the concrete, tangible example of “this fly strip” that “looks like it hasn’t been changed/ in eight years” (lines 7-9). He goes on to describe “all these flies” (line 14), and a “hard” (line 17) fly that is “like a little rock” (line 18), which are all example of the type of concrete diction required for effective comparison.

The Surprising Comparison is the Essence of Metaphor

A metaphor is a direct comparison that surprises the reader, and perhaps makes the reader think of something in a new or surprising way. A poet uses metaphor when he or she finds points of comparison between two things that are often thought of as dissimilar (Shakel & Ridl, 2008, pg. 1618).

At the end of Riekki’s "Marquette Branch, Oct. 26, 2009," the idea of concrete diction that was established early in the poem is used to teach the prisoners and readers the effective use of metaphor when one of the prisoners compares all of the prisoners to the “rotting” (Riekki, 2010, pg. 14, line 15) flies on the fly strip.

With a simple, “That’s us” (line 19) and “We’re those flies” (line 21), the prisoner, Troy, teaches the real lesson about poetry to both the speaker and the reader. Riekki’s prisoner, Troy, doesn’t say the prisoners are “like” the flies. He opts for the more poignant use of the metaphorical direct comparison, thereby demonstrating for the reader the use of metaphor as an effective literary device. Alongside the speaker, the reader has his or her realization about the use of effective metaphor. Excited by the realization, the speaker replies to the line, “We’re those flies” (line 21) with “Right, I say,/ exactly,/ if you understand that, you understand poetry” (lines 22-24).

Ron Riekki’s "Marquette Branch, Oct. 26, 2009" is an exceptional example of Ars Poetica, a poem about how to write poetry. Through the careful use of dialogue, irony, concrete diction, and metaphor, the poet teaches not only the meaning of these devices, but offers poignant examples.

Want to read more about poetry?  Try

Create a Poetry Chapbook
Publish Your Own Poetry Chapbook
The Shoe as Image in the Poetry of Amy Lowell and Charles Simic

References

• Academy of American Poets. (1997). Ars Poetica: Poems about Poetry. Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20035
• Riekki, R. (2010). Leave Me Alone I'm Bleeding. Tucker, GA: GypsyDaughter.
• Shakel, P. & Ridl, J. (2008). Approaching Literature: Writing, Reading, Thinking. (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Sentence Diagramming: Identifying Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences

In order to diagram a multi-clause sentence,
we must be able to identify each clause.

Understanding the difference between compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences requires an understanding of the parts of a sentence. 

Specifically, before we can analyze or diagram multi-clause sentences, we must be able to identify each of the clauses.

What is a Clause?

A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb.  There are two types of clauses, those that make a complete thought (independent clauses), and those that do not (dependent clauses).

Independent Clauses Make a Complete Thought

An independent clause makes a complete thought, and with the proper punctuation it can stand alone as a sentence.  Two or more independent clauses can be joined to create compound sentences.  Take a look at the following examples.  "S" stands for subject, and "V" stands for verb.

Independent clauses = [S + V + Complete Thought]

[Peter hunts the wolf].
[The ice cream is melting]. [Put it in the refrigerator]. (Understood "You")
[Jack climbed the beanstalk]; [he wishes he hadn’t].
[Cinderella cleaned the oven], and [she dug the well].

Dependent Clauses Do Not Make a Complete Thought

On the other hand, dependent clauses do not make a complete thought and cannot stand alone as sentences.  Dependent clauses often begin with pronominal adjectives, relative pronouns, or subordinating conjunctions.  As a matter of fact, another name for a dependent clause is subordinate clause.  Those dependent, or subordinate, clauses will behave like nouns, adjectives, or adverbs within a sentence.

A noun clause is a dependent clause that behaves like a noun.  A noun clause will begin with a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun.

An adverb clause is a dependent clause that behaves like an adverb, and modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.  An adverb clause usually begins with a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun.

An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun.  In an adjective clause, the relative pronoun or pronominal adjective might function within the clause as any other pronoun might: as a subject, object, or complement.

Here are more examples.  Again, "S" stands for subject, and "V" stands for verb. Independent clauses  are marked in green.

Dependent clauses =  [S + V – Complete Thought] + Independent Clause

[While Sleeping Beauty napped], the prince searched for her.
[Because it is cold outside], Cruella wears her Dalmatian wrap.
[As Mother always says], it is better to be safe than sorry.
Hens should always be wary of the fox, [as Chanticleer knows].

What is a Phrase?

Do not confuse phrases for clauses.  A phrase is a group of words that does not have a subject or a verb or both.  A phrase usually acts like a single part of speech in a sentence, and a phrase could be part of a larger clause.  The phrases below are marked in purple.

Examples of Phrases

Prepositional phrase: On the ferry, Sam proposed to Linda.
Infinitive phrase: To run near the lake is her favorite activity.
Gerund phrase: Running near the lake is her favorite activity.
Appositive phrase: Gerald, her favorite student, gave her flowers.
Participle phrase: The spot reserved for running is beautiful.

Compound and Complex Sentences

When we label sentences as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex, what we're describing is each sentence's clause structure.  In order to determine which type of sentence you're reading or writing, simply mark and label each clause.  Once you mark and label the clauses, you'll be able to determine the sentence type by using the following definitions.  Remember to mark the clauses,  not the phrases.

A simple sentence is made up of one independent clause.
A compound sentence is made up of more than one independent clause.
A complex sentence is made up of one independent and at least one dependent clause.
A compound-complex sentence is made up of more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Want to learn more about diagramming sentences?  

Take my complete online course, "Sentence Diagramming: From Beginner to Expert in 12 Lessons" on Udemy, or purchase my text, Diagramming Sentences: A Playful Way to Analyze Everyday Language (affiliate link) on Amazon.

   

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.


   

Create a Poetry Chapbook

A Collection of Poetry Chapbooks 

A poetry chapbook is the perfect way to collect a series of poems with satisfying artistic expression.  

You can keep these works of literary art as keepsakes, or you can give them to family and friends as personalized gifts.  Additionally, when you design your chapbooks to be easily reproduced, you can sell them or hand them out as marketing materials at poetry readings and events.

Whatever your purpose for creating your chapbook, there are three basic stages of chapbook planning and production: preproduction, production, and post-production.  All three phases of creation will include both artistic tasks and administrative tasks.

 

Preproduction

In the preproduction stage, you will make artistic choices about a budgeted finished product.

First, you must decide which of your poems you would like to collect as a series.  This requires that you make a decision about how each poem communicates or relates to the previous poem and the following poem, in order.  This decision can be made based on a common theme in the poems, the subjects of the poems, the chronology of the poems, your intended audience, or any other unifying factor.

Next, you get to decide how you want your finished chapbook to look.  Decide how you will bind your book, what length you’d like it to be, how the cover will look, and what size pages and types of materials you’ll use.  For example, you might want to bind your book using spiral binding, using brads, staples, sewing it by hand, or placing it in an origami box or brown paper lunch bag.  Your pages can be any shape or size, and your poems can be on pages together, or one per page.  Your poems can be handwritten, typed on a typewriter, created in a word processor, or spoken into an audio program.  You can decorate the pages by hand, with clip art, as scrapbook pages, or with artist’s colors.   You can print pages at a local print shop, on a home printer, at work when no one is looking, by creating digital images, or by typesetting.  Your options are limited only by your budget.  You can, however, find extremely creative ways to overcome budget restrictions.

 

Production

During the production phase, you get to create and reproduce your drafts and final chapbook.

Once you have planned how you want your chapbook to look and how much you want it to cost, you can begin creating your chapbook.  Enjoy the creation process by taking what you have planned in your preproduction stage and making a mock version of your chapbook.  Investigate vendors, choices, and materials as you work to be sure you do not overextend your budget.  Make tweaks and changes to your plans as needed or required by your expectations of the project.

Most importantly, be sure your chapbook is exactly right before calling your chapbook finished.  This means you should not rush through the process.  Carefully, frequently, and thoroughly check your spelling, page numbers, titles, layout, and any front or back matter information.   If you duplicate print versions of your chapbook with an error, that error will be costly.

 

Post-production

The post-production phase of the chapbook creation process includes marketing and distribution activities.

If your book is meant as a gift or keepsake, these decisions will be easy.  If you want to use your chapbook as a marketing tool or sales product, on the other hand, you have to decide where you will read your work, which events you are going to attend, where and how you will sell your product, and how much you will charge.  These decisions may require research and administrative patience.  For example, there are electronic or web sales options to consider, which may or may not require official copyright or ISBN’s.

Whatever decisions you make before, during, or after production of your chapbook, just keep in mind that the most important part of the process is your enjoyment of the act of creating and the satisfaction that comes with producing a chapbook of your own work.

Want to know more?

Would you like to take a complete online course about how to publish your own poetry chapbook? 


Try my Udemy course! Publish Your Own Poetry Chapbook

Want to read more about poetry or publishing?  

Which is the Better Publishing Platform? Amazon or Lulu?

The Importance of the Mission Statement in Small Press Publishing

Ars Poetica: When a Poet's Fly is More than a Fly

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Contact the author for permission to reuse.

Production Dramaturgy: What's a Dramaturg Do?

What does a dramaturg do?

A production dramaturg is a consultant and an advocate for the playwright's intentions. But what does a dramaturg do?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the definition of dramaturgy is "The art of the theater, especially the writing of plays."

That's a very simplistic definition for a very broad term, and it sounds an awful lot like what a playwright does. No wonder the term, thereby the purpose and function, is misunderstood by theatre professionals all over the world. "What in the world does a dramaturg do?" they ask. "Why should we hire one?" Saying that a dramaturg "does dramaturgy" or "the art of the theatre" is more than just a little vague.  It's a lot vague.

 

So What Does a Dramaturg Do?

Dramaturgs can be hired by theatres or directors as freelance production dramaturgs. They can be hired by theatres as literary managers, outreach coordinators, education supervisors and artistic directors. Playwrights can hire dramaturgs to act as script consultants and editors. Dramaturgy can be general and academic, the study of theatre history, or dramaturgy can be related to a specific production. Dramaturgy related to a specific production of a play, either new or old, is called production dramaturgy.

 

What are the Skills a Production Dramaturg Should Have?

Production dramaturgy seems to be the most cryptic function a dramaturg performs. The job description of a production dramaturg can be defined as follows: A production dramaturg is a consultant and an advocate for the playwright's intentions. His or her skill set should include

• Historical and cultural knowledge
• Efficient research and writing skills
• Patient and objective observation skills
• Playwriting experience
• Structural analysis skills
• Assertive and tactful communication skills
• An ability to work in collaboration with others

 

What Does a Production Dramaturg Do?

There is no step-by-step method that all dramaturgs use, just as there is no step-by-step method that all actors or designers use. There are only abilities, expectations, and understandings. Dramaturgs do their best to give production teams the information they need while not becoming exhaustive with too much information or too many observations. The key is to know the script and to analyze what the audience will need to know, or will need to be told through production choices, in order to fully appreciate the work of the playwright and production team.

Basic information dramaturgs should gather varies depending on the play and the requests of the director. However, a step-by-step method always begins by looking something like the following two lists.

A Dramaturg's Pre-Rehearsal Tasks

• Make a vocabulary list and define any ambiguous phrases or allusions.
• Find character name meanings and research historical or real people.
• Read reviews and pertinent criticism and theory of previous performances.
• When possible and appropriate, communicate with the playwright.
• Put together a timeline of important events related to the setting of the play.
• Put together a timeline of important events related to the period when the play was written.
• Make a list of images and complete an appropriate structural analysis.
• Make translations.
• Write or find an appropriate playwright biography.
• Find sensory media, artifacts or objects that help define the world of the play.
• Prepare packets of information, online reference pages, and a presentation for the cast and crew.
• Be prepared to answer any and all questions.

 

A Dramaturg's Rehearsal and Production Tasks

• Sit near the director to answer and ask questions.
• Observe character and "world of play" consistency.
• Write and revise program notes.
• Plan lobby displays.
• Prepare audience outreach information or handouts.
• Take notes.
• Plan and execute talkback sessions.
• Be prepared to answer any and all questions.

Again, not all dramaturgs work this way. More may be asked of the dramaturg by the cast and crew per production, and less may be needed. A dramaturg must always consider the needs of the specific cast, crew, director, theatre, or audience for each and every production and dramaturgical task.


Did you find this essay helpful?  Do you have additional questions?  Please feel free to leave a comment or question.  I like them.


Want to read more about theatre?  Try 
Ancient Greek Theatre: Origins of the Term Deus Ex Machina.




Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact for permission to reuse.

An Example of Existentialism as Literary Analysis; "Love in L.A."

   

Sometimes the kinds of questions we ask about literature are the very questions philosophers ask in perpetuity.

In Dagberto Gilb's short story, Love in L.A., the situational irony within the story points to its existentialist underpinnings. The ending makes the reader question the main character's unethical motivations. Upon further examination, readers find that this main character simply makes choices that lead him toward greater comfort and freedom.

Situational Irony

This story indicates that like all of the referenced drivers sitting in traffic, all people can be divided into two types: those who are like Jake, the irresponsible winner, and those who are like Mariana, the responsible loser. Good things do not happen to good people in the world of this story, and bad things do not happen to bad people. Even more, Jake behaves as though he is, as Comte might say, alone in an indifferent universe. He shows no indication of fear of punishment for his actions and choices. This character knows there will be no divine retribution. As readers, we find ourselves reacting in a very primal way when Jake drives away from the scene of the crime having gotten away with such abysmal behavior. "It isn't fair," readers cry. However, rewards and punishments in this world are not doled out in a way most people have come to think of as “fair,” and therein lies the situational irony.

Existentialist Underpinnings

Even deeper into the heart of the story and the situation, there can be found existentialist underpinnings. Jake, and therefore those like him, choose to act, no matter what the situation, with an eye only toward self - with a "natural attitude of self preservation" (Appignanesi & Zarate, 2002, p. 24). The only love within this story is the love of self. More specifically, even after behaving despicably and irresponsibly toward Mariana, Jake thinks only of his own material comforts within the confines of his car. It's here the narrative voice gets to the heart of this existentialist character with the use of the word "freedom." Not only has this character escaped justice, but pride is indicated when the narrator tells the reader, “His sense of freedom swelled as he drove into the now moving street traffic” (Gilb, 1993, p. 63). Jake is free from any of the conventions that tie him to the responsibility to make honorable or noble decisions. He is free to make any choice at all without punishment.

To Jake, and those like him, there are no values to uphold and no moral gauge to appease. In this world, the world of the story, the situational irony within the story points directly to its existentialist underpinnings.

References

• Gilb, D. (1993). Love in L.A.. In Schakel, P. & Ridl, J. (Eds.), Approaching literature: Writing+reading+thinking. (2nd ed.), (pp. 60 - 63). Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s.
• Appignanesi, R., & Zarate, O. (2002). Introducing Existentialism. New York; Lanham, Md.: Totem Books.

 

 

Need More Help Writing About Literature?

• Writing about "A Rose for Emily" 
• Writing about "The Rocking Horse Winner"
• Diagramming Mina Loy's "Letters of the Unliving" as a Method of Close Reading

 

Conspicuous Consumption In Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner"

Antique Rocking Horse, photo by Thomas Quine

I first read The Rocking-Horse Winner as a class assignment over twenty years ago. I remember my teacher smartly lecturing the class with erudite lucidity about its theme, which she then asked us to write about in essay responses. 

Sadly, her lecture was completely lost on me, and I received the following note on my completed essay: "You clearly do not understand the theme of this story. Reread." No amount of reading could have clarified the story for me at that time, though. At that age, I simply had no basis for comparative response and no experience with distant mothers or superior class pursuits.

Years have gone by, however, and I've learned not only to recognize these, but to name and learn from them. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for the world, Lawrence's theme is still relevant today. Therefore, it is with bittersweet redemption I assert my thesis: In D.H. Lawrence's short story The Rocking-Horse Winner, the author uses irony to warn readers against living lives of conspicuous consumption.

Conspicuous Consumption

Although not directly used within the text of the story, the phrase "conspicuous consumption" was first used by Thorsten Veblen in his book The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899, thirty-four years before the publication of D.H. Lawrence's short story. As simplified by Professor Jim Reid in the first paragraph of a Web page dedicated to its definition, the phrase refers to "the act of purchasing and using certain goods and services, not in order to survive, but rather to identify oneself to others as having superior wealth and social standing" (2008). Several references to this theory can be found throughout the story.

Sense of Belonging

In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator tells us the mother feels no love for her family and that her children are aware of her lack of love for them. We are told her love for her husband has "turned to dust" and that her three children react to her "coldly" (Lawrence, 1933, pg. 291). However, in an ironic juxtaposition of images that follow throughout the story, there are echoes of conspicuous consumption. For example, in the second paragraph the images turn from dust and hard-heartedness to "a pleasant house," "a garden," the idea of superiority, and a sense that the family is fighting to belong to an upper social class. These not only follow, but supersede the lack of love in the household. "There must be more money!" the house whispers several times, echoing the mother's ultimate desire. The mother's heart, we come to understand, belongs not to her family, but for her desire to belong with a superior society.

"Filthy Lucker"

Further irony in the story is fueled by Paul's mistaken use of "filthy lucker" for the phrase "filthy lucre" (pg. 293). Defined originally as simply "money," it is used idiomatically to suggest money that has been earned dishonestly or at the expense of health or decency (filthy lucre, n.d.). Paul's misuse of the phrase and timid attempt to talk to his mother about the family's financial situation brings about an even more damaging mistaken use of words. When Paul asks his mother for the meaning of "lucky," she uses "lucky" as a noun, defining it for Paul as those who "'will always get more money'" (pg. 293). Therefore, in an attempt to be his mother's definition of "lucky," Paul sets about earning "filthy lucre" by riding his magical rocking horse until he knows the names of the racetrack winners, then betting on horses with the help of his uncle and the gardener. The three dishonestly keep these actions a secret from the rest of the family, and gambling on horses is a habit we later find out has lead to "damage" in the family (pg. 300). Paul becomes, indeed, a "filthy lucker," feeding into his mother's conspicuous consumption by caring more for money than for his health or decency.

Change of Heart

Furthermore, Lawrence ends the story with an inevitable ironic twist that drives home the lesson that conspicuous consumption is a way of life to be avoided. Just as the mother has a change of heart and begins to care for her son - stepping away from a social event to do so - the truth is revealed and Paul is lost. Her change of heart comes too late to save her son. His last words, which are indicative of his mother's misuse of the word lucky, are full of bitter irony. "'Mother, did I ever tell you? I'm lucky,'" he says (pg. 302). His mother's and his own materialistic pursuits are quite literally the death of him.

The ironic use of words and twisted intentions in The Rocking-Horse Winner are the techniques through which Lawrence delivers his still-relevant lesson. We must beware conspicuous consumption or be willing to suffer the consequences.

References

• filthy lucre. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Retrieved July 02, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/filthy lucre
• Lawrence, D. H. (1933). The Rocking-Horse Winner. In Perrine, L. & Arp, T. R. (Eds.), Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. (6th ed.), (pp. 291 - 303). Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Company.
• Reid, J. H. (2008). Conspicuous Consumption. Retrieved from http://lilt.ilstu.edu/jhreid/foi/conspicuous_consumption.htm

 

Need More Help Writing about Literature?

Try

• Writing about "A Rose for Emily"
• Writing about "Love in L.A."
• The Shoe as Image in the Poetry of Amy Lowell and Charles Simic

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.