Timed Writing:
Saleem, raised in impossible wealth, was originally fated to poverty (his nurse switches him at birth with another baby boy). Although Saleem is raised with money, he is undoubtedly sympathetic towards the poor, believing that all people should be given equal amenities (an almost communist viewpoint). Saleem's opinions about economics display his understanding of both wealth and poverty, highlighting India's huge economic disparity. While his mother ignores the poor, as much of India's wealthy does, Saleem acknowledges poverty's presence and empathizes with it because it is a part of both him and India. Saleem's character is created as a paradox, representing both India's poverty and wealth.
Saleem's fate is not the only thing "inexplicably tied" to his country. His physical appearance resembles India's geography. Throughout Midnight's Children, Rushdie continuously harps on Saleem's giant, "cucumber nose" and oddly shaped head. The shape of Saleem's head resembles the shape of India and his nose resembles the mountains that run through it. His adoptive grandfather also had a giant nose that could sense danger--- a characteristic that his parents assumed was passed down to him. However, the reader knows that Saleem and his grandfather aren't actually related by blood. His nose is actually given to him by his British father (who his birth mother had an affair with). Britain was once a controlling part of India and Saleem's connection to it shows the powerful country's lasting impact on India. Saleem's tie to his adoptive grandfather and to Great Britain shows his tie to everyone in India, not just his own blood relations.
Saleem's nose has more of a purpose than just resembling India's geography. It has the power of sensing emotions and the future. These powers accompany Saleem's ability to hear the voices and thoughts of other Indian people. These senses overpower Saleem and allow Saleem to receive an unfiltered viewpoint of every Indian person. Saleem's own viewpoint is shaped by the viewpoints of every person in his country. When Saleem expresses changes he desires to make for his country, the audience trusts that these are the true changes that India needs and wants because of Saleem's ability to objectively view everyone's needs and desires in the country.
Saleem loses innocence and grows bitter and paranoid as the country begins to fall apart during the corrupt rule of Indira Gandhi. Saleem is haunted with nightmares and paranoid hallucinations of "green and black" surrounding a "widow" and his narration begins to fall apart and become unreliable. It is soon revealed that this green and black widow is Indira Gandhi. She orders the execution of all of India's midnight children when she learns of their special powers in fear that they will attempt to overpower her. Saleem is captured and put in a concentration camp with other Midnight Children-- some who are slaughtered. In this way, Saleem is destroying himself as Gandhi is part of India and she desires to execute him. Saleem's growing bitterness and hatred for the ruler is actually bitterness and hatred for himself.
After Gandhi is overthrown, Saleem begins to dissentegrate into ashes-- the same number of ashes as the number of people in India. When Saleem dies, he is returned to the country-- or himself-- and it becomes obvious that he is the exact embodiment of his surroundings.
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Reflection
I need to become a deep sea diver-- not an ice skater. Once again, I only skated across subject matter; I didn't dive into it. I would give myself a 6.
I managed to have a "reasonable analysis" of how cultural, physical, and geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. I was even able to analysis some of the complexity and symbolism in Midnight's Children (paradox, Saleem/India, nose, Gandhi, etc.) I was then able to connect this to how Saleem was shaped by his surroundings and how Saleem viewed the world. On time, I didn't struggle since I already knew the book that I was analyzing (yay for free response!!).
Despite my basic competence in analyzing the text, I was highly lacking in many areas. My analysis was "less thorough, less perceptive, and less specific" than the 9-8 essays. For example, the 9 essay that we normed in class started off with a direct quote from the text and used "apt and specific textual support" throughout the entire piece of writing while I only slightly paraphrased what was happening throughout the text. Although paraphrasing allows the reader to understand the "gist" of what was happening, it doesn't effectively dive deep into the text-- skimping on the book's complexity. Also, although my writing used decent diction, my essay didn't have the consistent command of elements of effective composition that would warrant a score of a 7.
In order to improve, I will have to practice, practice, practice. To practice effectively, I will set three goals for myself.
1. I will familiarize myself with more texts and more in depth. One of my issues was that I forgot a lot of the details of what happened in Salmon Rushdie's Midnight's Children. If I had remembered everything that occurred in the book, I would have done a better job at analyzing its complexity. In order to improve, I'll reread my summary notes for the book and note all the places complexity occurs. This will help me become "more specific".
2. I will dive into the meaning of the text more (aka examine complexity!). I will attempt to notice (and to include in my essays) the deeper and less noticeable meanings that lie within the piece. As I mentioned in my weaknesses, although I scraped the surface of many of the ideas, I didn't dive into them. To do this, I may reread Rushdie's novel to try to fish out things I may have missed. I will also do this with Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. This will come in handy later. My writing will become more "thorough and perceptive".
3. I haven't done this for a while, but I'm beginning to use overly flowery language and unnecessary words again. I will dive straight into the main points of the passage. This will not only save time, but it will make my writing more concise. I plan to do this by allowing myself time to proof my essay. This way, I can pick out my painfully verbose sentences and send them to their deathbeds. By the time I've completed AP Lit, I'll be able to get straight to the point.
4. This isn't really a separate goal, but I want to practice writing essays with the books I plan to use for the free response (Midnight's Children and The Namesake). This way, I can utilize my books more easily.
If I effectively accomplish these goals (and maintain them), by the time the AP test rolls around, I'll be a deep-sea diver.
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