Monday, September 23, 2013
Old School Blog for chapters 1 & 2
Pick one of the blog questions to explore (see the handout I gave you for the list).
Stick to one focus and write thoughtfully about the assigned reading.
In your response go back to the text and analyze specific sentences, images, and details that connect to your big idea.
Use the Tips for an Effective Blog for guidance. Include a fitting title as well as your name, Don't forget to proofread.
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ReplyDeleteI found many things from the first two chapters of the reading interesting, in particular I was intrigued by the social structure of the school, in that it is almost backwards from what we have here at Niskayuna. For example, it is stressed all throughout the first chapter how big of a deal it is at that particular academy to excel in academics. Supported through the many references to people’s writing skills and visitations of various authors and such to the school, it is evident that language arts proficiency is a big deal, although all students are worth something to the school, no matter what their skill is:
ReplyDelete"Like all schools, ours prized its jocks … The school liked its wrestlers and football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars … and least not of all, its scribblers.
If the school had a snobbery it would confess to, this was its pride in being a literary place-quite aside from the glamorous writers who visited three times a year."
Not only does the school board seems to have a healthy balance of appreciation for different types of kids, the students themselves seem to express that same interest, although they lean a bit more towards appreciation of literary achievement. This is much on the contrary to our social structure at Niskayuna, with the balance leaned slightly to the athletic side. Much like the students in the story are interested in those good at writing, the students at Niskayuna are interested in those who play sports; and just like athletics are almost regarded as an afterthought in terms of social status at the school depicted in a book, academics are the same way at Niskayuna.
I know this point can and will be argued, but let me leave you with this: which student is more likely to have more friends at Niskayuna, the kid who has straight A’s in every class, or the star lacrosse player? And now consider the same thing for the school in the book, and it is evident that there is a very clear difference between the two.
I totally agree with what you're saying in that it's interesting that the social structure of the school is very peculiar. It's strange that this school sort of promotes literary achievement but at the same time athletics and other activities are equal. Finally your statement at the end is about 100 percent true, sometimes I feel like we as people have to evaluate how we judge and treat people no matter what their skill is.
DeleteI see the main idea of what you are saying and totally agree but only to a certain extent. Academics are greatly prized in a way where it's not directly shown or flaunted. One can't really go around wearing a t-shirt declaring that they're A+ students or how they have the highest grades. Intelligence is not really a "talent" that can be talked about without thinking the other person is "bragging" or showing off. It's an individual thing which might separate you from your peers and no one wants to hear how you got a 100 on that extremely hard Biology test. School is basically about academics and that creates competition and no one wants to openly discuss their intellectuality, whereas sports are a talent that's not required but adds to your personality therefore elevating you in social circles.
DeleteA case study in characterization
ReplyDeleteEmil Friedman
The first couple chapters of Tobias Wolff’s “Old School” not only establish a setting and general cast of characters, but provide the reader with an introduction to the author’s writing style. Wolff’s characterization techniques are both literal and interpretive, and I found the author’s balance of the two to result in the book reading more like a non-fiction memoir (which is a huge success, in my opinion).
The leading reason that “Old School” seems so real, so touchable, is because the main characters are already so richly described, so early in the book. First, there’s a literal aspect to characterization; in other words, the part where the author states specific traits or other information.
Take Jeff Purcell (“Little Jeff”), for example. Physically, Jeff is described as a “Civil War general in a daguerreotype,” with a crew cut and habitually folded arms. This is consistent with Jeff’s described personality: a generally no-nonsense guy who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks (like when he informed our narrator that his “Suicide Note” story seemed as if it had been written after the story’s narrator blew his brains out). This is a realistic character archetype, allowing the reader to “classify” Jeff; this, I believe, is a measure of the success of a writer’s characterization.
Next comes Jeff’s “interpretive characterization.” It is stated that Jeff comes from a wealthy family, but his writing doesn’t necessarily reflect that. I believe that class and social injustice will eventually become one of the largest underlying themes of the novel, so the following quote is tremendously important: “He has written a ballad about a miner being sent deep into the earth to perish in a cave-in while the mine owner hand-feeds filet mignon to his hunting dogs…”
What does the reader now know about Jeff, and in this case, a major theme in the story? First, we can conclude that Jeff is a thoughtful guy. At a private prep school, it’s remarkable that Jeff is writing (and publishing) raw exposures of class division and unfairness in a school culture filled with the products of those who probably were fueling class division itself! Particularly as an editor of the school’s magazine, one could draw the conclusion that Jeff has a desire to spread his solid morals to his classmates; he’s maybe even a minor revolutionist of sorts. Another thought I had is that Purcell uses writing and publishing his writing as a way to go against and protest his rich, social family. This is pretty far out, but the mine owner feeding steak to his dogs might actually represent a character from Purcell’s real life. Maybe he grew up seeing this kind of injustice. Maybe he wants to acknowledge, empathize with, and expose “the other side of the coin” to both himself and his classmates after growing up in a family that was likely just following the status quo. (On the other hand, I could be looking way too far into a passage that the author intended to be simple!)
These are the kinds of tangents a good characterization should lead to, in my opinion. In short, Tobias Wolff participates in the quintessential English class mantra: “don’t just tell, but show!” Wolff really does show us the characters. He shows us their personalities. He shows us the connection between their personalities and their actions (in this case, their writing). This is what made the first couple chapters of “Old School” genuinely resonate with me.
I find it interesting that you viewed this book sort of like a non-fiction memoir because I had a similar idea also. The amount of description throughout the first two chapters of this book is unlike the amount in any other fiction book I have ever read. As a result of the extraordinary amount of detail, the reader has a clear picture in his head on the setting of the school, along with each characters actions. In addition, I also like how you clearly explain how Wolff develops his characters (using Purcell as an example), and then saying how and why this is good characterization.
DeleteI like how you portrayed Purcell. Another phrase I think shows his no-nonsense personality is the one about how he "resented Big Jeff... for imposing this odious nickname (Little Jeff) on him." Purcell definitely doesn't like being called Little Jeff, probably because it is a fairly silly name. The fact that this would resonate in him definitely helps prove that he's definitely a no-nonsense guy who's not afraid to say what he thinks.
DeleteI agree with what you are saying, I think that the writings of the characters in the story are meant to tell the reader about their personalities and their backgrounds. I liked how you really analyzed Purcell's writing to try to figure out more about his character. I think that that is what the author wants the reader to discover throughout the story. It's possible that Jeff writes about unfairness because that is what he has seen either from his family or even within the school.
DeleteNoah Rohde
ReplyDelete9.29.13
White
Old School BLog 1
Channeling Emotions to Your Writing
Upon reading the second chapter of Old School, I found it interesting that the narrator did not submit his poem about the fireman. First, it seemed the better in every way to the poem about the hunter and the elk. As the narrator raises questions about his poem, he does not really seem to have his heart in it.
Also, the narrator expresses his idea that he is, Sam, the rebellious hunter, who is a man of mystery and prestige. This, at least to me, told me that the narrator has no emotion behind this work. It implies want, and not raw emotions or feelings that would befit a winning submission of the literary contest. There is also a passage early in the book that compares the editor of the school newspaper to the great writers. “George’s benevolence did not serve his writing well. For all its fluent sympathy, it was toothless. I had some magazine pictures of Ernest Hemingway tacked above my desk. In one he was baring his choppers at the camera in a way that left no doubt of his capacity for rending and tearing, which seemed plainly connected to his strength as a writer” (Wolff 10). The poem about the Hunter has none of the qualities of a writer describes that the one about the fireman has.
I can understand why the narrator would not share his poem to the school. The narrator mentions the reason for not submitting his work. The fireman “fragment” was too similar to the memories he was for his mother while growing up. To the narrator it would be giving too much of his person for the world to look over and criticize.
I think the narrator felt a sense of anger towards the fireman poem since it reminded him of bad times during his childhood, as described by the narrator. I believe that this anger caused him to dislike the poem, even though it clearly was written with more heart, and was most likely was a better poem than the hunter poem.
DeleteI, like you mentioned, think it's interesting how the narrator didn't submit his poem about the fireman because it resembled too much his life back at home. As we have learned earlier in the passage where the narrator had no idea that Bill White was jewish, people at this school are traditionally very inward about their personal lives. I find it interesting also how you said that his submitting the poem would be "giving too much of his person for the world to look over and criticize." This suggests that maybe our narrator comes from a background which he is embarassed about? Or maybe it simply relates back to the trend of the students being very private about thier lives. Either way, this states a lot about the personality of the narrator, and I think this would be a very interesting thing to look into in the future.
DeleteI like the way you went about talking about this idea. I agree that the fireman poem sounded like a better piece of work than the hunter/elk, and I wonder if not submitting it to the contest will manifest in the narrators life in some other way. If he ends up losing the contest, as is pretty safe to guess, will the fireman poem which actually displays his real talent become public somehow? Will he chose to make it so? What you mentioined about him being afraid to share so much of himself could actually be an opprotunity for character development.
DeleteI don't think that the narrator felt a sense of anger towards the fireman poem, I just think he was frustrated with it. While it does drag a reminder of his old home towards him, anger is not he word I would use. He's not angry about what his past life was like, I think he's trying to hide from it. Writing that poem brought back these memories he didn't want to have, so I feel like frustration is a better way to describe what he's feeling after he writes the fireman poem.
DeleteAdmirable Characters
ReplyDeleteJonathan Rettig
Throughout the first two chapters of the novel Old School by Tobias Wolff, many characters have been revealed to the reader. Each character is described in detail mostly through the narrator's perspective. Of these characters, some are more admirable than others. I believe that one of the most admirable characters revealed in this novel so far is Big Jeff Purcell, and one of the least admirable is Little Jeff Purcell.
I believe Big Jeff Purcell is an admirable character because all his actions are just so genuinely kind. Although he seems quite strange when it comes to carrying around a rat and the belief that human's destiny was to colonize other planets, this doesn't effect the fact that he is just genuinely a kind person. I also admire his vegetarianism because I too am vegetarian. I find his general caring nature towards living things is quite admirable and I think he is strong for enduring the jokes made about him in the name of his passions, such as animals and rockets.
One of the characters I find least admirable is little Jeff Purcell, just for the reason that he despises Big Jeff for something that isn't even his fault. He hates Big Jeff seemingly just because he is called Big Jeff and Little Jeff is called Little Jeff. They have spent so much time together that Little Jeff has developed a strong hatred for Big Jeff for seemingly no reason. It seems like Little Jeff just hates Big Jeff for being who he is, which seems awfully mean to me, being that Big Jeff is such a benevolent character."I know it sounds terrible, but I do, I wish they'd kicked him out...Big Jeff. Big Jeff. When I was a baby they actually stuck him in the same crib as me. It's true. They say you can't remember that far back but I do. That hound-dog face staring at me, you think I could forget that? Kindergarten-the desk in front of mine. Always fidgeting, always looking for something, always with his hand up."(Wolff 34-350). It seems like Little Jeff hates Big Jeff just for who he is, his face, and his actions, even though Big Jeff never seemed to do anything to deserve this hatred. I believe hating someone so genuinely kind is very wrong which is why I do not admire Little Jeff Purcell.
Melissa Stuart
DeleteI agree that Big Jeff seems like a very admirable character and Little Jeff has some immature qualities; however, I see where Little Jeff is coming from. I don't think Little Jeff necessarily hates Big Jeff, I think he is tired of always being around him and probably compared to him. I think people need their space and being with someone too much can lead to an unhealthy relationship. I think they also might have more history that we don't know about that could have resulted in Little Jeff's feelings towards Big Jeff.
Noah Daviero
DeleteAfter reading your entry, I began to realize exactly what the relationship was between little Jeff and big Jeff for the first time. Before, I never really understood that Little Jeff hated Big Jeff so much, and now I'm beginning to wonder whether there was some other real reason that Little Jeff didn't say, outside of kindergarten, that made Little Jeff hate Big Jeff.
Good Writing
ReplyDeleteLesley Yan Santos
Determining the quality of a piece of writing is difficult as it is subjective. People often grade writing based off of their personal experience and opinions. Due to the fact that not everyone has the same level of experience/opinions, different people will give different grades. This also goes along with the idea of a "standard". If your personal standard is very high, you may not be pleased with yourself when you write an essay that is deemed excellent by the general public. One must also take into account the relationship between the piece and the age of the writer (this is true for the audience as well as they must be able to understand what they are reading).
In many cases, assessing a piece of work can also be quite biased. This is even more so when you are reading the work of someone you know. Instead of grading the quality of the piece, you may find yourself grading the author and how much you like or dislike him/her. The same concept applies when looking at the subject or genre of a literary work. For example if someone lacks interest in vampires and romance, they may see "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyers as boring or not worth reading.
While you must like the topic in order to truly enjoy a piece, a "good" piece must follow the rules of English literature as well as any other given rules. For example, one must stay within the word limit for an essay or use the correct number of lines when writing a Haiku.
In my opinion, a "good" writing is generally very descriptive. When reading your work, one should be able to imagine themselves in the main characters shoes and feel as if their minds are one. As a writer, it is your job to make the reader emotional. A good way to achieve this feeling is to write about things that your audience can relate to. Writing is like music in the sense that there are certain parts that should be emphasized or brought out. By paying attention to the important details, you can crescendo to the climax of the piece and then finish off with a grand finale that will leave your audience begging for more.
I agree with all of the statements that you described in the first paragraph. The quality of a piece of writing can be very biased because everyone has different tastes of genres. I wrote about the same concept for my blog, and I noticed that you metioned the relationship between the piece of literature and the age of the author. This can be interpreted many ways but the way I saw it was, If a woman in her fourties were to write a 'chic' book, it obviously would not be as good as a girl in her twenties writing in the same genres. This point was something that I felt was important while judging a book, and I would have incoporated in my blog if I could re-do it.
DeleteJoy Keat
ReplyDeleteThe actual standards in Old School
The setting of Tobias Wolff’s Old School is in an all-boys prep school in the 1960’s. But I find it interesting how the values in this school are surprisingly different then you would’ve expected, especially from an all-boys school.
The protagonist says “ Like all schools, ours prized its jocks…The school liked its wrestlers and football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars, its singers and chess champs, its cheerleaders and actors and musicians and wits, and, not least of all, its scribblers.” (Page 4). The school highly prizes its writers and at the school there is a tradition where the boys will create a literary piece and one will be selected to have a private lesson with a great English writer, which creates competitiveness between students and rewards those who excel in writing.
The school also values and tries to enforce equality even though total equality is impossible to have, “Our school was proud of its hierarchy of characters and deeds… that it would wean us from habits of undue pride and deference...Class was a fact. Not just the clothes a boy wore, but how he wore them. How he spent his summers. The sports he knew how to play. His way of turning cold at the mention of money…Yet even in the act of kicking against it they were defined by it, and to some extent unconscious of it.” (Page 15-16) I find it intriguing about how wealthy you are continues to remain a dominant trait of your identity and that even in a prep school that stresses equality it remains unchanged.
I completely agree with you. I found it surprising as well that the school prizes its writers and not the jocks more. The school prizes both ends of the spectrum equally which I think is admirable. I also think that having a wealthy background stays with you in this prep school, you can tell how wealthy someone is based on the class and the sophistication he holds. No matter how hard the school tried, to get rid of the idea that richer people were treated better, you could tell the difference between a scholarship student and a wealthy student.
DeleteI also found it interesting how this all boys prep school prized its writers so much. Most schools tend to prize their athletes more than their great scholars, but not this prep school. I also like how you touched upon the wealth of the school. I agree that even though the administaration tries to make the school as eual as possible, people are still defined by their money and where they come from. The narrator had stated that scholarship students did not have to voice who they were and he himself did not which leads me to believe that despite the equality at the school wealth does have an effect on how you are viewed at the school.
DeleteWhat are some things about the culture of this school that strike you as interesting, strange, disturbing, or inspiring? How are those aspects of the school culture revealed in the text? How do those aspects of the school culture compare to your own experiences in Niskayuna?
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of the school I found interesting is how rules were perceived at this elite prep school. For instance the way the narrator described the no smoking rule made it seem as if rules were set in stone and if anyone dared to disobey they would immediately reap the consequences. The comparison of rules to “a commandment: Thou shalt not smoke (Wolff 30)” made me infer that the boys at this school rarely disobeyed but in that same paragraph, the narrator showed how the rules were continually broken and the boys didn’t abide by the strict rules. I think that this mirrors what many students do: break the rules even though they know that if they get caught there could be severe consequences.
This glimpse of rebellion also gave a hint to who the narrator was as an individual. He doesn’t seem that respectful of authority and seems to be ungrateful. As show in the book Frost the narrator “kept smoking anyway (Wolff 31)” despite the rule against smoking. Also when the narrator had the encounter with Dean Makepeace we learned that the narrator needs to “get those grades up (Wolff 21)” which makes me assume that he must not be appreciative of the scholarship he was given if he can’t even uphold the standard of having decent grades.
Another aspect of the school I found interesting was the way the boys dressed. When the narrator was describing how the boys looked through an outsiders perspective he stated how they “dressed so much alike…our clothes, the way we wore our hair, the very set of our mouths, all marked us like tribal tattoos (Wolff 35)”. The uniformity and sameness that the boys all shared struck me as odd. The way people look and dress are glimpses of who they are as a person. At Niskayuna people have all different styles and tend to wear a variety of different things. Also clothing tends to separate “groups” of people. For instance different sport groups might wear their jerseys to school showing everyone that they take pride in playing a particular sport. But at this prep school peoples identities seem to be smothered and blended in with the identity of the school itself: “pride in being a literary place (Wolff 4)”.
Precious, I think you're completely right with regards to individualism thus far in "OId School." The narrator does seem to be a little rebellious - he even states that he likes the "thrill" of breaking the smoking rule. However, I'm not sure I agree with your judging the narrator as ungrateful -- remember, he stopped smoking after thinking about all of the great things he has at the school in comparison to his at-home life.
DeleteI found it interesting how you talked about how clothes are used to get a sense of what kind of person there are, and how at Niskayuna style of clothing is used to express ones identity. I also noticed when reading the book how the protagonist was a bit careless when it came to grades and rules.
DeleteNoah Daviero
ReplyDeleteThe School in Old School
The private school that Tobias Wolff describes in Old School has some interesting and unusual things about it that make it distinctively unique and different than other schools of that time and now. “If the school had a snobbery it would confess to, this was its pride in being a literary place-quite aside from the glamorous writers who visited three times a year.” One of the unique things about the school is that it invites 3 great writers to the school each year to talk with the students. This unique experience for the students proves this a high-end private school. Another way you can tell this is a high-end school is because the first writer who is visiting is Robert Frost. Frost is most likely one of the five greatest poets ever, and having him at your school would be an honor that normal, public schools would never dream of.
Another peculiarity about this school is that the English teachers of this school hold much more respect than the teachers of other subjects. This student favoritism of them is not necessarily common in other schools, usually all teachers get respect and deference based on their teaching styles and quality of teaching, not on their subject. “These men [English teachers] seemed to us a kind of chivalric order… How did they command such deference?” This odd and unusual deference to English teachers shows that in this school, literacy and books are the most influential, not athletics, or math, or any other school subject like it would most likely be in another school.
These peculiarities, and the way that Tobias Wolff blends them into his writing, make Old School an interesting and different read than most other books written about high schools now. This difference, although partly because of a difference in time periods, is definitely mainly because of the way the school is characterized throughout the book.
Characterization
ReplyDeleteNoah Wilkerson
The way Tobias Wolff chose to portray his characters in is a very interesting one, one which I think is interconnected in on of the main theme of the book, the profundity of writing and how it connects to a man. When Wolff chose to discuss the narrator's contenders in the competition to meet Robert Frost, not only did the narrator speak about them personally, but he also chose to pair that description with a sample of each character's writing. George's benevolence of nature is further backed up by his writing, a stanza of poetry depicting a quiet scene of an old woman packing up her things, preparing to leave a theater. With this poem, George does not try to be controversial, settling to describe just the loneliness of old age, while the poem itself might be a bit boring. This again compounds with the narrator's opinion of George; a bit boring, but certainly skilled.
This is all in stark contrast to Jeff Purcell, another student that the narrator holds in high regard. Jeff is described as a cutthroat author, never one to withhold his opinion. He had strict standards he upheld himself and others too, and if they didn't meet those standards, Jeff would make sure they knew, so much as to bluntly criticize on of the author's own poems. His own writing is almost the exact opposite of George's; written with controversy in mind, almost to the point of being cartoonish.
Wolff's use of writing to represent characters is a very interesting choice, and one certainly fitting to the premise of the book. Naturally, with the narrator's goal of one day being a world-famous author, of course he would look at a man's literature as a representation of his character. It can also be seen in how we learn about the narrator's character through the way he describes his life through his own writing. For the purposes of the book, the method of using literature to convey a man's personality is very effective.
I don't think he necesarilly had super high regards for Jeff Purcell. The way he described him didn't really show very much respect. "...poised to strike down any innocent..." If the narrator wanted to portray Purcell in a positive manner, he wouldn't have described people he rejected as "innocents".
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEgalitarian Society
ReplyDeleteAlanna Deery
In the book, the main character tells us about his school starting somewhat defensively with "Ours was not a snobbish school". When his school is in fact a snobbish school and discriminates against class, gender and ability. Creating an egalitarian society within a school.
The narrator goes on to explain what his school promotes which includes famous names and great wealth. It prized its jocks, especially wrestlers, but also its 'cut throat' debaters, scholars, singers, chess champs etc... but above all its 'scribbles'. He tells us that his school's pride was in its literary achievement, and that even he himself is on the side of the english teachers not math nor science. By explaining to us that even his Dean was very into literature. And when writers come to visit the school, he says it is the choice focus over the election (he himself and even his friend Billy are focused on writing).
Another obvious discrimination is against gender as it is a boys only school, this may of course be for other reasons than just prejudice involving intelligence but it is obvious that one gender had been initially chosen over another for whatever reasons there may be. Lastly the narrator explains that “class was a fact” and that it was important what clothes the boys wore, how he spent his summers and sports he knew how to play.
When reading past his initial statement that it is not a snobbish school, you come to see that it is a very snobbish Egalitarian society based school that prizes the best students in whatever they are doing. The school also aids those with wealth and famous names. Not to mention that they have above all chosen just one subject only to focus their attention on and the school does not allow girls. The school allows students not to tell about their scholarship (implying it is a bad thing) and the boys class is well looked into by fellow peers. Overall I believe the school is an Egalitarian society that encourages some things and undermines others, that there is little equality and this may be bases for future struggles involving our narrator.
Sarah Cook
ReplyDeleteSelf Worth
Question 11: What are some things about the culture of this school that strike you as interesting, strange, disturbing, or inspiring? How are those aspects of the school culture revealed in the text? How do those aspects of the school culture compare to your own experiences in Niskayuna?
There are many things that I found interesting about the school. For one I thought it was interesting how there is a sense of equality through out the school. Every student seems to have some sort of worth and value, whether you are a jock, writer, reader, everyone seems to be treated equal. “ The school liked its wrestlers and football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars, its singers and chess champs, its cheerleaders and actors and musicians and wits, and not least of all, its scribblers.” (Wolff 4). The narrator describes how no matter what you are interested in you are viewed as an important part of the school. The narrator also talks about how what ever you did yourself the school would see your hard work and would show how the school valued what you did. “ And the other part of the idea was whatever you did do for yourself, the school would accept as proof of worth beyond any other consideration.” (Wolff 4)
The school in Old School is very different than Niskayuna High School.
I think that in today’s schools you don’t get acknowledged for your love of knowledge or how many chess championships you have won, or if you have written a beautiful poem. In today’s schools I think that the ones who get acknowledged are the students that play sports. During announcements at Niskayuna High School you never hear about how Science Olympiad did. You always hear how the sports teams did. I think that if students felt as important when they get a 100 on a test as students do when they score a goal, or basket or touch down that it would also help with a students confidence level. I wish that our high school could be a little more like the one in Old School.
Another part of the book I found interesting was the schools rule against no smoking. I find it interesting because the other describes the school being very strict and how if you break a rule there will be severe consequences. “ It was the same fate suffered by thieves and violators of the HonnorCode, and smoking was meant to be seen in that light, as betrayal of us all.” (Wolff 30) Although the narrator breaks the rule and still smokes even after many people have been caught and were asked to leave the school. This also applies to school now a day. Many kids still break rules even though they know that there will be severe consequences. Our school is similar in this way.
I found it very interesting that you mentioned how students that play sports get recognized more than students who excel in academics. I hadn't thought about it, but since you mentioned it, I realized how true that is. I think it is very important to make all students feel confident in their work, and I agree that if we called more attention to the students who do well in a class, they would try harder and maybe enjoy their experiences at school more.
DeleteI completely agree, the structure of the boarding school in Old School is something that seems impossible to achieve in Niskayuna. Claiming each student be equally important and special for their talents just would not happen because although academics is very important, there is a strong adittude towards sports where everybody knows what the score is for the latest football game, like you said and yet nobody knows how the Science Olympiad did. In Old School it seems that they treat academics like we do sports. The narrator seems to have no knowledge of sports in their school yet he knows exactly what are each person's writing strengths are.
DeleteCharacterization of the Narrator
ReplyDeleteJulia Wagner
In “Old School” by Tobias Wolff, although everything is described through the perspective of a narrator, you know very little about the narrator himself. I found this to be a very interesting writing technique. You don’t know what the boy looks like or even his name, but you learn about him through his thoughts and interpretations of situations, people and their actions.
For example, his thoughts on his competitors for the writing contest reveal that the narrator is honest but still self-confident. He realizes the strengths of his competitors and their advantages but he is still self-assured that he has a chance of winning. George Kellogg was one of the other students competing in the writing contest. He was the editor of the school’s literary review and had earned this position through hard work and dedication to literature. Even though the narrator wasn’t the editor of the Troubadour, he still was confident he had what it takes to win.
Another example of this characterizing style is when the narrator was called in to the Dean’s office for humming a Nazi marching song in front of Gershon. Of course he didn’t know what he was humming until Dean Makepeace told him, but nonetheless, he was thought to be guilty. During this part of the text you learn that the narrator is kind, honest and innocent. He would never hum a song like that on purpose, especially in front of a man such as Gershon. And even though Makepeace and Gershon both thought that he did it on purpose, he told the truth about what happened and soon convinced the dean that he didn’t mean to offend anyone.
This unique approach to characterization is intriguing and fascinating. You know so little about the appearance of the narrator, yet you know so much about his personality and thoughts. I find this appealing and a more comfortable way of getting to know a character rather than just a list of details and characteristics.
I agree with what you say about our narrator's character. I think it really said a lot when he was so genuinely upset about offending Gershon. This definitely indicates both the narrator's innocence and his truly good character.
DeleteI agree with you that it is a very intereseting way to write a book and not know a lot about the narrator. Usually you know everythingabout the narrator. How ever I find it more interesting t reading "Old School" because you don't know a lot about the narrator. It makes you have to make inferences and put pieces together. I also agree with you when you say that you are learning about the narrator through "his thoughts and interperpretations of situations, people and their actions."
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood VS Bad Writing
ReplyDeleteThe judgment of a piece of writing can be very biased. People often base writing off of their likes and dislikes which is different for everyone. They only read genres that they enjoy. One could like romantic adventurous books like The Mortal Instrument series while someone else could like the nonfiction genre. they set their mind on one type of genre and only read that and are not open to new types of literature. There are people who enjoy reading all types of genres. As a result, these people judge literature using various writing techniques and aspect. These could include the emotional level, the amount of description, various figures of speech, etc. Another type of judging is rating it by the cover. The metaphorical phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" is a very true and can be thoroughly appreciated. Just because a book's illustration and title may not be appealing does not mean it is a bad book.
I think that the difference between good writing and bad writing is that good writing gets the point across quickly without sugar coating it. The thesis of the writing should be very clear and understandable. This is only applicable for research papers and articles. For creative writing I think the emotion, the level of detail, and suspense is what brings a reader to really like the book or novel. These are key aspects of books that make it very interesting.
In Old School the author Tobias Wolff, does a good job of describing every small detail. The author also used a lot of emotion in his writing. "Don't play dumb with me, Boy. I'm not! I'm not playing dumb. What did I do wrong? the self-pity of this question brought me to tears" (Wolff 20). In this excerpt, the description and emotion can make the reader actually picture the scene with a boy sitting in the principal's office who is almost on the verge of tears. In my opinion this book can be classified as good writing.
The Want for Knowledge
ReplyDeleteThe activities that happen at school in the book “Old School” are very different from what goes on in Niskayuna. The argument could be made that it isn’t fair to compare Niskayuna to the narrator’s school, since Niskayuna is a public school, and the school that the narrator attends is private, but there are certain governing rules that are evident in most schools, no matter what type of school it is. The narrator’s school is an exception to these rules, making it very interesting.
One of the interesting things about the school is which students were most prized and popular. “The school liked its wrestlers and football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars, its singers and chess champs, its cheerleaders and actors and musicians and wits, and not least of all, its scribblers (Wolff 4).” It seems that the school values all the students, no matter what their talents consist of. In Niskayuna, along with most other high schools, students with like talents would band together, making cliques in which they would share their common interests. In the book, it seems as if all of the students were accepting of each other’s interests, and such cliques aren’t as evident.
Another way that the narrator’s school differs from Niskayuna is that it seems that all of the students care about their education, whereas in Niskayuna, some students probably wouldn’t care to take up some of the opportunities offered to them. The narrator’s school seems to be a very literature based school, as all of the students get excited for writers coming to their schools. “I’m not exaggerating the importance to us of these trophy meetings. We cared (Wolff 7).” The students at the school seem to work hard in order to get the best education possible, and they seem to have a lot of awards for students who try their absolute best.
I agree that our high school and the school in "Old School" are very different. Not only are they different in an academic sense but, as you said, they are different in a social sense as well. While not every single student and teacher will agree on everything at the school in the book, there have been no sign of cliques, while at Niskayuna, most people would agree they exist. I would also agree that academics differ, but I think the main reason that is so is because, as you said, Niskayuna is a public school while the narrators schools is a private school.
DeleteThe Narrator Behind the Curtain
ReplyDeleteGideon Schmidt
This book is written in such a first person that it could almost be a journal. That said, when skimming this book one might say that we really don’t know anything about the narrator. We don’t know much about his life in Seattle, where he came from, we don’t know exactly why he came to this school, or anything. We don’t even know his name! But on closer examination, we can really find out who our narrator-we’ll call him “Nate” for now, just to avoid confusion-really is. As if this book was really a journal, just by reading it, we can find out who Nate really is.
The first idea that should strike anyone is that Nate is very passionate about his writing. It looks to me like he just loves the English language. A good example of this can be found on page 5, where he discusses the English teachers as ones who “knew exactly what was most worth knowing.” This shows how Nate respects their knowledge of their language, and how he sees it as a force that most people would not recognize. His knowledge of how to use language to paint a picture is significant. Once again, on page 5, when he explains the wonders of his English teachers, he explains that “adept as they were at dissection, they would never leave a poem or a novel strewn about in pieces like some butchered frog reeking of formaldehyde. They’d stitch it back together with history and psychology, philosophy, religion, and even, on occasion, science.” This ability of Nate’s to use his words to draw a picture as easily as he might with a pencil shows how passionate he is about his writing and the English language in general.
Also, the incentives that his school offers for good writing are significant. Being a typical teenager, he follows the rule that if the incentives are great enough, no price is too much to pay. While I think that given how much Nate has shown about his love of language this would not be the difference between him being a passionate writer and something else, it certainly helped. No doubt when his writing was in its infancy the thought of someday being able to stroll through that garden talking to Robert Frost or Ernest Hemingway would have spurred him on, just like a kid who aspires to play professional baseball might be inspired by watching a Yankees game (unless they were playing the Astros).
Writing is a big part of who Nate is, but not all of it. He also has a sense of humor that is common with many of his friends and also helps shape who he is. One page 32, when he learns about how the fire in the field house started, the story is shaped so that there’s a funny aspect to the whole thing. Phrases like “the old field house” and “his (Big Jeff’s) missile cut a few loops” are not ones that he would have used if he was trying to convey a serious message about Purcell’s rocket-gone-astray. Clearly Nate has a sense of humor which conveys a somewhat flippant personality, through clearly he can turn it off, as he does in Dean Makepeace’s office on pages 19-20.
That also leads me to a third aspect of Nate’s personality; the somewhat oblivious and unknowing part. This part isn’t widely put out there. Like I said, it’s much like a journal, and often one might not want to really talk a lot about their weaknesses. But what Nate let slip about the general idea of the opposite sex at his school should have anybody that’s not thinking a little puzzled. His choice of the phrase “sexual static” on page 15 had me thinking a little bit. I interpreted this as “when the topic turns to girls, the noise-to-info ratio increases.” Also the incident with Gershon (pp 17-22) shows something similar, that a lack of knowledge in an area that somebody less isolated from the world might know a little more about.
I like how you characterized "Nate." I agree with you that he's actually a very intelligent and witty person. I think this was first discovered when he said something like, "Our school was not snobbish, or so it thought." (I take "or so it thought" to be a funny little jab at his school's culture.)
DeleteI find your interpretation of this book as a journal very interesting. What I noticed is that you also have a similar interpretation with Emil's blog, who considered this book almost like a "non-fiction" memoir. I like your "evidence" that this blog is like a journal though, such as the fact that we don't know the narrator's name or anything about his history. If you actually were writing in your journal, you'd constantly be using first person and would be describing the things that happen around you, just like in Old School.
DeleteI completely agree with what you said about the narrator's personality, and how the book could be regarded as almost a journal. In addition, I think it's important what you said at the end about his isolation from the world, that he is not as exposed to certain things as other kids of his age may be, and I think this is a theme which will turn up later in the book, as our narrator is confronted with more adultlike tasks, since, as we know, he is in his last year of school.
DeleteDilip Aaron
ReplyDeleteCulture of the School
One aspect of the school that I had found interesting was that activities taken place were all perceived equal. What I am saying is that people who are good at writing are popular. “The winner had his poem or story published in the school newspaper, and, later a photograph of him walking the headmaster’s garden with the visiting writer” (Wolff 6). To get a photograph in the headmaster’s garden is most likely a big deal because the headmaster is one of the most looked up men in the entire school. To win the contest is also referred as an utmost “honor”, “We contended for this honor by submitting a piece of our own work” (Wolff 6). In today’s world being good at writing is never considered as a “cool” thing to be good at, in today’s world it’s all about sports and activities that are too much academic. Wolff also talks about how the school is also good at football and squash but never compares them to be greater than academics in any sort of way. I find it interesting and peculiar that Wolff considers academics and athletics to be an equal in this elite prep school.
The aspect of equality in Old School has a totally different aspect in my experiences in Niskayuna. In Old School it’s nice to see that there is social balance in every personality of the boys, to athletics to academics. In this school you can feel that everyone fits together no matter what religion, class, or social status. The setting in this book is almost like an ideal society trying to be set for most schools today. As most people know Niskayuna is the typical public school where athletics tend to rule over academics. In the book the prep school likes to appreciate people who achieve literary achievement, but as in Niskayuna we tend to appreciate the athlete who excels in a certain sport and who everybody likes.
In today’s world and in most schools we know that the star athlete will be more popular than the student who excels in academics and is achieving the highest grades. As you can see in the book and in reality, there is a totally clear difference between these two societies.
I agree with your idea that within Old School, from what we hear from the narrator, more importance is placed upon academics than sports. However, I disagree with your opinion when you state that Old School has a balanced curriculum. I think that within Old School, there is a bias towards writing and English in general. The narrator states that everyone looks up to the English teachers, and that the school's authority figures were also published writers, or were friends with other writers. Another reason I do not think that Old School was a socially balanced place is because if everyone fit in, then why did Bill decide to hide his religion from everyone?
DeleteEthan Schalekamp
ReplyDeleteOld School, New Perspective
When I recieved my copy of Old School, my heart sank a little. The title sounded, well, old, the cover illustration was monotonous and drab, and the concept piqued no interest. An elitist, boys only prep/boarding school in the 1960s. Upon reading the first few pages, however, I was pleasantly suprised. The culture of the school was so different from what I had expected that I was immediately pulled in. The deep intellectual personality of the school, its teachers, and its students was intriquing. I found it inspiring to read about how everyone, regardless of their wealthy backgrounds, displayed no sense of predisposed superiority and that each and every one of them were there for the sole purpose of developing themselves and the skills which they had been commended."You could never advance in it, you could only try not to lose it by talking too much about the debutante parties you went to or the Jaguar you earned by turning sixteen. And meanwhile, absent other distinctions, you were giving ground to a system of honors that valued nothing you hadn't done for yourself." (Wolff 4). Compared to Niskayuna, or any other public school, this is a remarkable thing and is also very respectable. I look around me at school and see people just trying to get through it. Doing what they can to look good and get decent grades, I myself admittedly being one of them. At this school, though, the kids are truly passionate bout their talents and academics, especially, as we have seen, their writing.
Melissa Stuart
ReplyDeleteDiscipline and Literature
The people in this school value literature, and the narrator himself even admits this “If the school had a snobbery it would confess to, this was its pride in being a literary place” (Wolff 4). It seems like the boys here are constantly writing and they have contests to encourage them to improve their writing. They also seem to have a lot of freedom when it comes to their writing, and each student has their own style, although I noticed that they all tend to write very sad stories and poems. The English teachers are shown much respect from their students, and are said to “carry themselves as if they too were intimates of Hemingway and also of Shakespeare and Hawthorne and Donne” (Wolff 5) , the narrator saying how he finds it amazing at their knowledge on other subjects.
I think an unspoken value of the school is discipline. The headmasters do no put up with any unacceptable behavior. Take the rule about smoking for example. In the 60’s we didn’t know just how dangerous smoking was, so it was pretty common. The school is very strict about smoking and has no problem kicking someone out if they fail to abide by this rule. Also, the way Dean Makepeace handled the situation with Gershon shows that he will not put up with any disrespect towards others; however he was fair once he understood the whole story.
I agree with what you say about the school's value of literature, and I especially like your assessment of their level of freedom. In most schools, students would be advised to write "school appropriate" things and would likely get into trouble if they didn't. At this school though, It seems like everything goes, if it has literary worth.
DeleteAdmirable Characters
ReplyDeleteIn this blog post, I decided I would like to discuss who the most admirable, and least admirable, characters in this book are. One character I really admire is the narrator's roommate, Bill White. He seems to be a very good writer, which is obviously something he values. However, at the same time, he seems to be quite modest about this and isn't at all condescending. I really find that quite admirable, because a lot of times when someone is very talented at something, they tend to brag about it and look down at people who aren't as talented. I think it's impressive that Bill White wrote an entire novel, and from the passage shown in the book, it looked quite good and complex. It appeared to me that Bill White was a better writer than the narrator, but he obviously didn't make that clear to the narrator.
One character who I have trouble admiring in the book is actually the narrator. He seems to be very critical of other characters in the book. One example of this is when he was criticizing his friend, Jeff Purcell. "...poised to strike down every innocent who presumed to offer us a manuscript." I think the narrator might be suggesting the Jeff Purcell was very critical of other's writing, while at times the narrator was very critical of Jeff himself. Also, I think the narrator probably wasn't as good at writing as he thought he was. Yes, he was there on a scholarship, but he felt like he was one of the best writers in a school full of very talented writers. This was most likely not the case.
Narrator’s dedication to school
ReplyDeleteBy Priyanka Vijay
Tobias Wolff’s Old School portrays an all boys prep school to be quite the contrary to the stereotype we all ponder. You would think an all boys prep school would be filled with rich and lavishly brought up students who are unusually smart and are destined to go to a school of the Ivy league caliber, Right? This book gave me new perspective on the competition in private schools. Old School shows that the boys are very hardworking and care more about literature and becoming the next Robert Frost instead of being jocks and kids who show off their good fortune. The narrator is extremely dedicated to this school because he knows this school is everything he has and in order to become a famous writer like his idol, Robert Frost, he can’t do anything to mess it up.
The unnamed narrator speaks about his classmates in a way that shows he knows his competition well and knows their weaknesses. His ultimate goal is to win an audience with his favorite idolized writer, Robert Frost. To win, he has to win a poetry contest competing with very smart kids who share his love of poetry.”Aside from being good, it would have to stand out from those of my competitors. But at least I knew-barring some dark horse like Hurst-who my competitors were. There were three.”(Wolff 8). The narrator wouldn’t dare risk losing this opportunity to meet his idol especially since he is a scholarship student.
In chapter 2, the narrator talks about his addiction to smoking cigarettes and how being caught smoking would get him banished from the elite prep school. He was smoking even though there were new rules enacted because of the incident with the fire caused by cigarettes. “Thou shalt not smoke. Get caught and you were out; no discussion, no exceptions.”(Wolff 30). He realises he has to quit his dirty secret or else he is risking his future. “I got up and collected my suicide kit of cigarettes and lighter and holder from their hiding places and went to the bathroom at the end of the hall and stuffed it all into the trash can. I never smoked at school again.”(Wolff 31). The thought of him leaving this distinguished preparatory academy forces him to cut out bad habits and focus on his future.
I do not think that he, the unnamed narrator, quit smoking because he was worried that he would not become a famous writer. It was my interpretation that he quit smoking because he almost got caught.
DeleteAlso, I do agree that this book portrays private schools in a different light. All of the boys at this school seem to be smart and focused on their future. Although, in the present day, this is not true. If you go to a private school now their is more of a chance that the students attending are there because they have money and can afford the tuition, not because they are academically gifted.
Although I generally agree with your blog entry, I believe that it is possible that although the narrator doesn't believe that the school is snobby and only for the rich, it still could be. I think that the narrator doesn't want to believe that the school he attends is for rich, genius and snobby kids so he says it isn't. It certainly seems that way to me though. It seems that everyone there is very talented at writing, but I would be surprised if anyone that attended this school came from a childhood of poverty.
DeleteElite Auras
ReplyDeleteFareena Aslam
The book is set up in a manor which requires you to take into account the author's perspective but also thread in your own perception of what the author might think to be something else. In the very first chapter the author begins to describe the discreet and silent social structure of their school. "Our school was not a snobbish school, or so it believed." This quote is indirectly telling the reader that despite being not talked about the boys who attended the school were mainly very wealthy.
Later on in chapter.1, the unnamed author informs the readers that wealth was trivial in their school and the image you created for yourself was based upon your achievements and talent but then he goes on to mention the qualities of the typical rich kids at his school. I feel like wealth is a topic that is not discussed openly in their school but deep down everyone knows who stands where in the "hierarchy". They avoid the topic of wealth so they can't be blatantly accused of getting special treatment. The boys at the school are also extremely competitive and want to be known for what they have accomplished. In the first chapter, the narrator also states that scholarship students have the choice of not revealing themselves. This statement was highlighted in my mind as I read on because when he says this he might have known a scholarship student or might even be one himself. He seems really sour and put off as he mentions these little things about wealth. Analyzing these little things that the author has given us an insight to, I feel like the social structure is really strong and there but it's hidden by the a thin veil which the school believes to be talent and handwork. In the end, the talent and wealth are miscible and create a more powerful position for the students.
The School's Real Values
ReplyDeleteby Danielle Duguid
In Old School the school claims to have an egalitarian society, where every activity and everybody are of equal importance. On one of the first pages of the book the narrator says, “The school liked its wrestlers and its football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars. its singers and chess champs, its cheerleaders and actors and musicians and wits, and, not least of all, its scribblers.” (Wolff, 4) Although they claim this, it is not true, especially since it is impossible to value everything equally in such a competitive environment.
Though the narrator claims that the school values all fields, they seem to especially value writers. The dean himself is associated with many writers such as Robert Frost and Hemingway, and has also written a book of poems. The boarding school also rewards writers by bringing in a famous author to talk to the winner of the contest. Another reason why it seems that writing is greatly valued in the school is all the characters that we have been introduced to so far have been great writers. This could also just be because since the narrator is a writer he becomes friends with all writers too.
Yet another ideal that the school has lead itself to believe is that their school is not snobbish. “Everyone did chores. Scholarship students could declare themselves or not, as they wished; the school itself gave no sign.” (Wolff, 3) If the students in the school treated everybody equally then why should scholarship students not want to say that they got in for free? Once you show that you are different then society, no matter where you are, starts to judge you and fit you in certain categories. The narrator writes a poem remarkably similar to his own life that is touching and meaningful yet he does not submit it into the contest because he does not want the other students to know about his life. This starts to make you believe if he ever told them he was a scholarship student or if he did not because he was ashamed.
You have a very good point here--if a society was truly egalitarian, surely, no one would be afraid of showing who they are and what they do. If the school was truly egalitarian, the scholarship students wouldn't be hesitant to declare that they were scholarship students and no one, (the narrator included) would hesitate to share his feelings and experiences. But they are, because they are afraid they will be judged and looked at differently. Personally, I don't think a society can ever truly be egalitarian, because there will always be that hesitation to reveal certain personal things due to fear of being criticized.
DeleteAlso, I think that we see this special value in writers maybe not only because the school truly does, but because our narrator is a writer and sees his school differently than maybe an athlete would.
The Power of Description
ReplyDeletePatrick Chi
Throughout the first two chapters of “Old School” by Tobias Wolff, I have already realized that this is unlike any other book I have read in the past. What’s so different to me is the level of description that Wolff uses when he describes the setting of this book. The author goes so in depth that essentially every aspect of the narrator’s life is covered, with the most emphasis being placed on his school and his classmates. As a result of this extensive description, there are no questions in the readers mind about what is going on in the book.
From the very first page, Wolff goes into a deep description about the school that the narrator attends. Immediately, the reader is able to understand that the school prides itself in its accomplishments in literature, bringing in renowned authors from all over the country to their school. However, the school also doesn’t leave anybody behind, and celebrates the achievements of all of its students: “The school liked its wrestlers and football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars, its singers and chess champs, its cheerleaders and actors and musicians and wits, and, not least of all, its scribblers” (Wolff 4).
In addition to setting, the author also pays attention to the way that he describes the characters. Throughout the first chapter, the author clearly explains the writing styles and personalities of every classmate he introduces, from Bill White to Purcell. Moreover, the author’s descriptions are so detailed that we get a clear sense on all the characters. For example, he writes: “Purcell habitually kept his arms folded across his chest like a Civil War general in a daguerreotype. This bellicose pose suited him.” (Wolff 13) This phrase, along with many others, paints a picture in the readers mind about Purcell’s demeanor leaving no questions in his/her mind.
However, this brings up a different question: Why does the author go to such extremes when establishing the setting of the book? In my opinion, there are two explanations for this: the first being that the reader will have a clear picture of what’s going on in the story, and the second being that the author will be able to set up more conflicts in the future. In the first chapter, we already see some examples of “setups” for conflict, the most important one being the narrator’s knowledge that he’s Jewish. Who would’ve known that this information would be significant when we find out that he worked for a Nazi when he was younger, and was humming a Nazi marching song during school? I predict that this sequence of events will continue further along, which will add even more excitement to the book.
Impact of others on originality
ReplyDeleteVeronica Liu
An unique concept could be one that is formed from a person’s own conclusion when examining multiple sources of information that influences the individual. While it is very difficult to escape the influence of other writers and thinkers, an idea can be formed that is still original. My former art teacher once told me that in order to kick start our own creativity, we should look to multiple sources of what other people have already done, and build off of their ideas.
In Old School by Tobias Wolff, the narrator is inspired by the people around him. His writing imitates his teachers and his favorite writers, as he mentions in chapter 1 “all of us owed someone, Hemingway or Cummings or Kerouac- or all of them, and more. … Once [the idea] crystalized, consciousness of influence would have doomed the collective and necessary fantasy that our work was purely our own.” (Wolff 14). I would also say he is influenced by his friends and their writing. In the first chapter, he introduces his friends and analyzes both the pros and cons of their writing styles. By being familiar with their work, I would assume he would try to not make the same mistakes as them while he competes against them.
Not only is the narrator influenced by other writers, but his writing is also inspired by the events that happen at his school. After the fire at his school, he writes a poem about a fireman that he noticed that night. “I started a new poem that night. It was the fire that got me going…” In the book Old School, the narrator is always in contact with and always being motivated by others around him. As a result, his original writing exemplifies the influence of these people. His collection of unfinished poems and his firefighter story are both examples of the narrator’s original work. Therefore, the narrator’s original work is impacted by other writers and thinkers.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis is a valid point. It is really difficult to come up with totally original ideas because almost everything you know and think about has been taight to you or influenced by someone else. I think the narrator in Old School has a keen sense of his surroundings and is very detail oriented, especially with other people. He tends to notice a lot of things about others such as their body language and their actions and specifically, their words. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for his community and surroundings to inspire him in his writing.
DeleteThe Values of the School (Question #10)
ReplyDeleteAnjuli Smith
Within the first few pages, the narrator has already set up for us how we should perceive his school. Seeing as they take scholarship kids, this obviously isn’t just an elite school for the sons of CEO’s and heirs; it's a place for actual learning and achievement.
The value of learning seems to be the prevailing belief at this school. After all, some of these students have been rewarded for placing an emphasis on learning--they are given the opportunity to be at this school, no matter their background.
There is an unspoken rule there, that everyone is equal, reinforced by the fact that everyone does chores. They don’t consider it a snobbish school, and it seems the students try their hardest to keep it that way. There is a system of honors there that values nothing the students haven’t done themselves.
“Whatever you did do for yourself, the school would accept as proof of worth beyond any other consideration” (Wolff 4).
There are many opportunities for a student to prove himself, for “the school liked it’s wrestlers and football players but also its cutthroat debaters and brilliant scholars, its singers and chess champs, its cheerleaders and musicians and actors and wits, and, not least of all, its scribblers” (Wolff 4).
That last term, is the key to this story. It would seem that this school’s writers and english professors are valued the highest. This value might be influenced by the fact that the headmaster was once a “scribbler” with Robert Frost or that the dean knows Hemingway. But somehow, maybe only unconsciously, the rest of the school (including the other professors) envies and reveres the writers.
I agree that the school isn't just an elite school for rich kids and there is a lot of emphasis placed on learning, but I thought that the school not being snobbish was just the narrator saying that.
Delete"Class was a fact. Not just the clothes a boy wore, but how he wore them. How he spent his summers. The sports he knew how to play. His way of turning cold at the mention of money…Yet even in the act of kicking against it they were defined by it, and to some extent unconscious of it.” (Wolfe 15-16)
So, while the school is not just for rich kids, it's easier to be "defined" by these different characteristics if you have the opportunity/money to do/have all of these things. If things like clothes and how people wear their clothes defines them, it's pretty easy to see that the school is definitely snobbish. The students may not see it as snobbish, but that seems more because they only see and believe what they want to see and believe.
Smoker’s Regret
ReplyDeleteEric Koessler
Value is a fundamental part of the school. Academics is very important to the people who attend the school, along with personal achievement. The school is known for its literary focus, something it demonstrates by hosting a number of famous writers and having its very own writing magazine. However, when someone goes against one of these values, spoken or unspoken, the consequences are often swift and, sometimes, unjustly harsh.
One of the first values you catch on to is snobbery. Although the narrator of the school is it is of the opposite, it is apparent that there is an aura of superiority in the school. The narrator reveals that he himself is on a scholarship, and thus not from a rich background; however, he acts like he is of the same class as everyone else because the school looks down upon those who do not have a high social status, one of the unspoken rules of the school.
Smoking, or the absence of it, is another value, brought to the attention of the reader due to the fire. Anyone who speaks is immediately sent home without discussion or announcement, something I think is unjust. The school lost several of its students a number of years ago in a fire, and although the school said it was started from a cigarette, it is not possible that they could know that for a fact after the entire building burnt down. Even if the blaze was started by a cigarette, it is improbable that another fire will start because of one. Therefore, I believe such a strict and unforgiving punishment is too harsh and unnecessary for something that is not a true problem.
Although the school body might say otherwise, the school is a place of unstated rules and norms that the students, knowingly or not, live under. If you follow these rules, you are treated with respect and dignity; however, anyone who strays from the path will find harshness and a lack of sympathy, even for seemingly unimportant offences.
Identity
ReplyDeleteJill Armenia
The narrator of old school has an interesting personality. He comes from a not so wealthy past, and clearly is not like the other boys at his school. However, since he has been given the opportunity to attend this school, he decides to shape his own identity and become one of the elite prep-school boys that the rest of his classmates are. He clearly wants to be where he is and he seems to really love what he is doing as he references books he has read and talks freely and happily about his teachers whom he admires. The problem for him is that since he is not really upper class, it probably affects the way he is perceived even if the other boys don't know about his social standing.
You can clearly see in chapter 2 that the narrator has a separate life from what he shows the rest of his classmates. Sure, he behaves well and tries to fit in, but he will never be one of these boys when he is alone. His past has surely had too much influence on him for him to be able to change himself enough to truly be an upper class kid. You can clearly see this through his addiction to cigarettes which none of the other boys at the school would ever so much as try to get away with.
I think the narrator tries to change himself in this story but he has a difficult time. Yes, he can change his identity to some extent, but I think he will always be different from the rest of the boys even if he doesn't show it on the outside. After a certain point, it seems to me that you can't really change your identity, you either have to be yourself or you have to be a really good actor.
I agree with your point about having to be either yourself or a very good actor and that the narrator is different from the rest of the boys at his school. However, in chapter 2 it does mention that he is not the only boy who smokes at the school. In fact, "two or three smokers a year got the boot, given just enough time to pack and call their parents" (Wolff 30). So although, I do agree with the rest of your entry, he is not the only boy who tries to get away with smoking. Maybe they, like him, are also unable to truly fit into this environment?
DeleteAfter reading chapters 1-2 of Old School by Tobias Wolff, it would seem that the main character is very insecure. I think he is insecure about how he fits in with the rest of the students at the school, which is strange because you would think he wouldn't worry about that at all after repeating over and over that the school was not snobbish and valued learning over anything. I also think it's odd how he tries to fit in, or rather just feel better about himself. He seems to like to separate himself from everyone else at the school. One example of this would be when he would not say to Gershon that he was Jewish, even when him admitting his Jewish background could have cleared him of any wrongdoings that he did not purposefully commit. He also does not want to admit that the other students are as good, if not better, writers as himself. He constantly insults other peoples writing, and other people in general.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting how he smoked a lot in school, but not before then. He seemed to be smoking more for the thrill than to appease any addiction, as shown by the fact that he quit easily soon after almost getting caught. It would seem the narrator is a thrill-seeking, extremely insecure teenager who constantly tries to put himself above others whilst separating himself from them in an effort to be able to judge them without judging himself.
#9
ReplyDeleteThe answer to the question is very simple. What's makes my writing good? The best answer is that you just enjoy reading it, whether it gives you good insights on new topics, or does something extraordinary and shatters the earths view, people should enjoy reading it no matter what. It doesn't need to make you laugh and put a smile on your face to enjoy it, but you need to want to read it. Old school is like this. A very drab and serious topic in a book that I can't put down. I love to read things, pardon my redundancy, that I love to read. In my opinion, that's what makes good writing.
However, looking at the characters in the book, they would probably define it differently. Writing to them needs to dive into the deepest and darkest voids in our minds and pull out the deepest, darkest ideas. The characters in the book write about some very twisted and odd ideas, especially for high school students. One talks about the loneliness of old age, and unless he is secretly an old man, he shouldn't be writing about it. All these characters see what makes authors great, and that is taking the tragedy and mystery of their lives and translating it into art. I think they got the art part down, but they're making up false experiences. One talks about a woman having an affair on her husband. Bill is talking about love and betrayal, which I doubt as a high school student he has any experience with, and at least not to this degree. What's even funnier than that is that he goes to an all boys school, so I doubt he's had that many girlfriends.
Authors have to have experience to discuss serious ideas. If not, then you're making up ideas with very little evidence. Look at Robert frost, he dropped out of college which gives a background to some of his ideas. Look at two roads diverged in a yellow wood. He is using his experience and channeling memories from his decisions he's made. Hemingway fought in the military which led to the basis for many of his novels. These boys have aloft to write about, looking at the remnants of World War Two and seeing how their parents interact. I was reading the story on gershon and thought it was incredible which was a story the narrator had actually experienced. I doubt the narrator had ever killed a elk. His other story about the fireman, he said hit close to home, so why not submit that? He couldn't hide behind darkness and what an author should be, but in reality, the ability to express deep, stress on REAL, emotion, is key. Who doesn't want to read that.
The Narrator's writing
ReplyDeleteAshley Groesbeck
In chapters one and two of Old School by Tobias Wolff I found it interesting that the narrator chose to submit the elk-hunter poem over the fire fighter poem. The reader still does not know much about the narrator but we can learn more about him through his writings. I thought that the narrator should of submitted the fire fighter poem because even though the poems were not provided in the story, the fire fighter poem seemed like it was a better poem. The narrator seamed very uncertain about the elk-hunter poem and the fire fighter poem appeared to have a lot of emotion in it and was written on the spur of the moment. It was interesting how much detail was put into the fire fighter poem, how just from looking at the fire fighter, the boy could tell in detail what the firefighter did the next morning and how he felt.
But, the narrator did not want to submit that poem, not because it wasn't a good poem but because it told too much about him, "It was too close to home. It was home..." (Wolff 36). Although it is extremely unlikely that anyone would read into his poem so much that they would be able to tell from it that it was about his life and understand more about his family struggles, for some reason he would not submit it. A lot of emotion came out of the narrator in the fire fighter poem which made me want to know more about his background and know what troubled him so much "But I didn't enjoy writing this poem." (Wolff 36). Why did the narrator want to be so closed off, is he afraid of what the others at the school will think of him? Maybe he feels that he has to put up barriers because he might be different from the other kids at the school.