To begin with, I really liked the way you started your presentation. Your chocolate chip cookie activity was not only delicious, but it also helped me to understand the rest of your presentation. It is interesting to me that Salinger classified people into two groups: superficial, and innocent. Could this also be looked at as good and evil (the superficial group being the evil group, and the innocent group being the good)? In my presentation I saw a connection between innocent people and good people; if you remember, the Neanderthals in my novel were good, and they were also innocent until they were corrupted by the Homo Sapiens.
I also related to your presentation when you brought up the story of Adam and Eve, and the idea that when you gain knowledge you lose innocence. The Neanderthals were destroyed by the Homo Sapiens, who were far more knowledgeable, which to me really displays the destruction of innocence by knowledge. William Golding also served in WWII, and was disgusted by the human population just like Salinger ‘despised the superficial society around him’. Do you think that the idea of ‘knowledge gained=loss of innocence’ is a significant theme coming directly from the horrors of WWII?
The creative spin you added to your intro with your cookies presented quite a relevant introduction to the themes and works of Salinger. Thank you for beginning your presentation with both humor and good food, a perfect way to appeal to the audience. Watching your presentation, I also enjoyed your tweet, although I don’t remember you mentioning it at the time. After examining a plethora of presenters, many of the authors (including my own) that were chosen had more of a negative or dark tone to their lives and lifestyles; as an enlightening contrast, you highlighted Salinger’s sarcastic, humorous, and attractive side—a welcome alternative to the final day of presentations.
One of the points that you brought up was Salinger’s unfocused attention on plot. I appreciate how you noticed Salinger’s blatant attempts at commenting on society rather than worrying about plot. I remember in my books, there was also a lack of plot—but my author’s purpose was to create a mundane sense of suffering, rather than Salinger’s purpose of satire and exposing the negative sides of society. Another interesting topic you mentioned was Salinger’s focus on children and innocence; I loved how you mentioned the quest for “no-knowledge” through education (Salinger 65). As members of society, I think we all can put some thought into the above statement, considering the alternative, yet possible truths behind education instead of always submitting ourselves to the daily toils of our teenage years. All the paradoxes and contradictions you researched and emphasized resonated well in your final product. Thank you for capturing the tone and styles of Salinger throughout your promotional tools, paper, and presentation!
Hi Nick! I would like to say that I loved how you introduced your presentation. It was both engaging, and humorous, which I can appreciate after listening to multiple presentations. Most high school students are familiar with the term “phony” from J.D Salinger’s work, Catcher in the Rye, and I like how you took this knowledge and used it to your advantage by making a creative introduction with your cookies, which were delicious! The cookies tied in seamlessly to your presentation and I applaud you for doing such a great job. The tweets as well were a nice touch of comedic relief, including your title, Soul Searching with Salinger. It was a great incorporation of consonance. Describing Salinger’s commentary on society was an aspect that I can relate to with Julian Barnes’ novels that I chose. In the novel, Love, etc., Barnes describes this theory that there are two types of lovers in the world; those whom love is everything and those who find the most exciting part of life in the ‘etc.’, similar to the two groups you created: ego and innocence. We also see the theme of innocence in The Catcher in the Rye, and I was wondering if that was a main, or common, theme Salinger used throughout his novels? Similar to most of Barnes’ works which focus on the theme of love. Again, you did a fantastic job, and thank you for an interesting presentation!
Your presentation was very interesting from start to finish. The cookies were a great way to get the audience involved and engaged, and it was awesome how you used humor while still relating it to your presentation. I also thought your tweet was hilarious. I really enjoyed the idea of the two groups of ego and innocence. It was intriguing to hear your discussion of that contrast and how Salinger would characterize people in his works.
I thought the depth that you went into in examining Salinger's work was great. He's obviously and author a lot of us are familiar with, and the way you expanded on the things we already knew about him and explored different aspects of his writing in different pieces was very interesting. I found some comparisons in the time periods in which Salinger, and my author Oscar Wilde lived. The excess, materialism, and superficiality was very abundant during WIlde's time as well, and was often a focus of his writing, and I found myself thinking during your presentation that he would probably fall into the ego group. He was critical of some aspects of it but overall was a main component of it, and I found the contrast between him and Salinger, who couldn't seem to fit into that type of society, very interesting.
I really enjoyed your presentation because I had read Salinger's work before but I didn't know much about him or his other works. It was interesting that you focused on Salinger's use of innocence because that was a major theme in The Catcher in the Rye as well so I understood what you were talking about. Some of the short stories sound very intriguing. In your poem, the biblical reference was very strong in relation to your theme because the idea that as soon as Adam bit into the apple from the tree of wisdom, sin was introduced. That proves that Salinger is saying adulthood and experience ruins you.
The poem in general was very relevant and also a wonderful poem in general. The paradoxes included were a good touch and definitely helped in relating it to Salinger's work. You did a good job of explaining the characters and their meaning to the work. Franny seems like she conveys a lot of what Salinger is trying to say in his work, that people are desperate to escape being phony and she shows the separation in the two groups. I think you did a good job exploring the complexities of this author and you made me interested you read the books you chose!
To begin with, I really liked the way you started your presentation. Your chocolate chip cookie activity was not only delicious, but it also helped me to understand the rest of your presentation. It is interesting to me that Salinger classified people into two groups: superficial, and innocent. Could this also be looked at as good and evil (the superficial group being the evil group, and the innocent group being the good)? In my presentation I saw a connection between innocent people and good people; if you remember, the Neanderthals in my novel were good, and they were also innocent until they were corrupted by the Homo Sapiens.
ReplyDeleteI also related to your presentation when you brought up the story of Adam and Eve, and the idea that when you gain knowledge you lose innocence. The Neanderthals were destroyed by the Homo Sapiens, who were far more knowledgeable, which to me really displays the destruction of innocence by knowledge. William Golding also served in WWII, and was disgusted by the human population just like Salinger ‘despised the superficial society around him’. Do you think that the idea of ‘knowledge gained=loss of innocence’ is a significant theme coming directly from the horrors of WWII?
The creative spin you added to your intro with your cookies presented quite a relevant introduction to the themes and works of Salinger. Thank you for beginning your presentation with both humor and good food, a perfect way to appeal to the audience. Watching your presentation, I also enjoyed your tweet, although I don’t remember you mentioning it at the time. After examining a plethora of presenters, many of the authors (including my own) that were chosen had more of a negative or dark tone to their lives and lifestyles; as an enlightening contrast, you highlighted Salinger’s sarcastic, humorous, and attractive side—a welcome alternative to the final day of presentations.
ReplyDeleteOne of the points that you brought up was Salinger’s unfocused attention on plot. I appreciate how you noticed Salinger’s blatant attempts at commenting on society rather than worrying about plot. I remember in my books, there was also a lack of plot—but my author’s purpose was to create a mundane sense of suffering, rather than Salinger’s purpose of satire and exposing the negative sides of society. Another interesting topic you mentioned was Salinger’s focus on children and innocence; I loved how you mentioned the quest for “no-knowledge” through education (Salinger 65). As members of society, I think we all can put some thought into the above statement, considering the alternative, yet possible truths behind education instead of always submitting ourselves to the daily toils of our teenage years. All the paradoxes and contradictions you researched and emphasized resonated well in your final product. Thank you for capturing the tone and styles of Salinger throughout your promotional tools, paper, and presentation!
Hi Nick! I would like to say that I loved how you introduced your presentation. It was both engaging, and humorous, which I can appreciate after listening to multiple presentations. Most high school students are familiar with the term “phony” from J.D Salinger’s work, Catcher in the Rye, and I like how you took this knowledge and used it to your advantage by making a creative introduction with your cookies, which were delicious! The cookies tied in seamlessly to your presentation and I applaud you for doing such a great job. The tweets as well were a nice touch of comedic relief, including your title, Soul Searching with Salinger. It was a great incorporation of consonance.
ReplyDeleteDescribing Salinger’s commentary on society was an aspect that I can relate to with Julian Barnes’ novels that I chose. In the novel, Love, etc., Barnes describes this theory that there are two types of lovers in the world; those whom love is everything and those who find the most exciting part of life in the ‘etc.’, similar to the two groups you created: ego and innocence. We also see the theme of innocence in The Catcher in the Rye, and I was wondering if that was a main, or common, theme Salinger used throughout his novels? Similar to most of Barnes’ works which focus on the theme of love. Again, you did a fantastic job, and thank you for an interesting presentation!
Your presentation was very interesting from start to finish. The cookies were a great way to get the audience involved and engaged, and it was awesome how you used humor while still relating it to your presentation. I also thought your tweet was hilarious. I really enjoyed the idea of the two groups of ego and innocence. It was intriguing to hear your discussion of that contrast and how Salinger would characterize people in his works.
ReplyDeleteI thought the depth that you went into in examining Salinger's work was great. He's obviously and author a lot of us are familiar with, and the way you expanded on the things we already knew about him and explored different aspects of his writing in different pieces was very interesting. I found some comparisons in the time periods in which Salinger, and my author Oscar Wilde lived. The excess, materialism, and superficiality was very abundant during WIlde's time as well, and was often a focus of his writing, and I found myself thinking during your presentation that he would probably fall into the ego group. He was critical of some aspects of it but overall was a main component of it, and I found the contrast between him and Salinger, who couldn't seem to fit into that type of society, very interesting.
I really enjoyed your presentation because I had read Salinger's work before but I didn't know much about him or his other works. It was interesting that you focused on Salinger's use of innocence because that was a major theme in The Catcher in the Rye as well so I understood what you were talking about. Some of the short stories sound very intriguing. In your poem, the biblical reference was very strong in relation to your theme because the idea that as soon as Adam bit into the apple from the tree of wisdom, sin was introduced. That proves that Salinger is saying adulthood and experience ruins you.
ReplyDeleteThe poem in general was very relevant and also a wonderful poem in general. The paradoxes included were a good touch and definitely helped in relating it to Salinger's work. You did a good job of explaining the characters and their meaning to the work. Franny seems like she conveys a lot of what Salinger is trying to say in his work, that people are desperate to escape being phony and she shows the separation in the two groups. I think you did a good job exploring the complexities of this author and you made me interested you read the books you chose!