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use either of the TSIS metacommentary prompts that start with "Although"

Go on about how not being yourself puts you on a path to attract things that are drawn to and gravitating towards that fake self and overall wont make you happy because it appeals to a fake you and not what you really want

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Argue this point
(Use Paper Notes)

Close up ideas about Calla

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P5: How does Calla want others to see her?

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P5: How does Calla want others to see her?

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Argue this point
(Use Paper Notes)

Use quotes of how she wants others to see her

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Intro character

First line captures How she sees herself and how she wants others to see her (2 main points ab characters)(3rd is unhappiness as a result)

Use quotes of how she sees herself

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Argue this point
(Use Paper Notes)

Close up ideas about Val

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P2: How does Valeria want others to see her?

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P2: How does Valeria want others to see her?

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Argue this point
(Use Paper Notes)

Use quotes of how she wants others to see her

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Intro character

First line captures How she sees herself and how she wants others to see her (2 main points ab characters)(3rd is unhappiness as a result)

Use quotes of how she sees herself

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use Goffman epigraph (from sociology class week 7 reading)
broad entrance into happiness subject by talking about masks people put on and lead into socio ideas and introduce book

THESIS SOLIDIFIED

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1. “One of the producers. Well, the producer really. He says we have to ensure my mental stability or whatever, which is powerfully unnecessary because, like I keep telling him, it’s not a big deal. I don’t know what they think is going to happen.” (62)

2. “Calla,” she said quietly, “are you all right?”  “Who? Me?” The girl gave a smile as loud, in its way, as her scream. “Of course I’m all right! What else would I be?” (67)

3. ““It’s just if I tell you, she’ll know . She’ll fire you. She said so on the first morning after I changed the meeting time. And I don’t want you to go. Not until . . . not until we’re done shooting my scenes. Or I really won’t be able to sleep. Okay? Okay, Pearl?” She reached out and laid her hands over Pearl’s,” … “so can we talk about something else?” (69)

4. Pearl put a hand on Calla’s other arm so that she was holding the girl out in front of her. “What else did they do to you?” “You mean besides the bugs?” Calla shrugged and looked at her feet. “The other things I told you. Buried alive. The surgery where the anesthesia wears off.” “They didn’t actually—” “No. Just pretend. That’s why it stopped working. Because I knew it was pretend, I stopped being scared. So this week we did the bugs. The ocean is harder to do—sensors, a diving team.” “They’re traumatizing you.” “I’m fine .” (71)

5. ““You’re screaming in your sleep.” “Well, that’s what I do.” Calla extracted one of her arms from Pearl’s grip and lifted it in front of her face. A tiny bluish cellar bug ran the length of the limb. “I’m a screamer.” (72)

6. “Sometimes Calla liked to do gross things so that she could see the battle on people’s faces between their idea of her and the actual her of her.” (75)

7. “She believed in determination to the point of stupidity: lying in the pool of fake blood until it dried and stuck to your skin, practicing death faces in the mirror until you couldn’t look at your reflection for days, paying PAs for insults that no one would deliver to your face.” (77)

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1. “...he found that his wife’s features had become unfamiliar to him, shapes that had been arranged within the same frame but did not otherwise belong to one another. Elliot looked away. The idea that he might not know her after all was painful to him.” (45)

2. “When I stroke her, she arches her back to meet my hand, and I say, “Careful now,” unsure if I’m talking to her or to me.” (53)

3. “The judge pursed her lips. “The sentencing is over, Valeria. Now we all go home.” One corner of her mouth tugged down after she said this. She’d remembered that I would not be going home, that my father would go home alone; I would go to an asylum; my mother had gone in the ground. “Not the sentencing,” I said. “My punishment. Could you make it longer?” She peered at me, again shushing my lawyer. “Please.” (54)

4. “Do I love Elliot? I do. As much as someone like me is capable of such an emotion. Maybe I do not feel it as you do. How would we ever know how our feelings compare? There is no origin for the word love . It is one of the first words and has always meant only itself.” (56)

5. “Elliot is out on the cold dark plains. I am inside burning. He doesn’t hear what I’m confessing, but also, I don’t tell him. He waits for me to tell him. Forty amusement park–goers die in the time he waits for me. I count them off by their screams.” (59)

6. "I had told Elliot I wasn’t good with children, but I hadn’t told him about the rest: my monstrous birth; my mother’s headaches; the unfortunate cats; the school friends who’d left our house crying because I was too fierce in my play; the hospital where I had passed my teenage years. All the people I had disabled or devoured. I hadn’t told him about Georg and my probation. About the smell of burnt skin, a whiff of which remained permanently in my nose. I hadn’t told him about that." (55)

7. "So when Rhett stopped eating, I knew it was my fault. I must have done something to make the boy wither. What I did, I did to protect us all, moving myself to the very edge of the scene. During Rhett’s weekends with Elliot, I went on work trips or booked the day up with errands and lunches. Then Rhett was put in the hospitals, this facility or that one, and the weekend visits ceased. I was expected to visit the facility on family days, of course, but I kept to the back of Elliot’s shoulder so that I was blocked from the boy’s view." (55)

8. “You think you are a toxin?”
I have not cried since I was a child. I must have cried when I was a child, though I cannot remember it. When Georg asked me that question, I felt the tears waiting there behind my eyes, like a person who holds his hand on the doorknob but dares not turn it and step through. (55)

9. I do not deserve happiness. I don’t want to know where to seek it. (55)

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"The girl shrugged. “Flynn and Marilee are just overprotective.” Her voice had grown aware, if not wary. Of course she’d have experience with people angling for something, would know the sound of a hidden motive."

PAGE 69

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“Calla lay in the center of the room, on her back in a glass tank. A glass coffin , Pearl’s mind amended. The girl was a source not just of sound but also motion, her hands brushing frantically over her own face and body, scrabbling at the glass walls, dark flecks flying from her fingertips. She was, Pearl realized, covered in bugs. Just then Calla turned. Her screams stopped for a single moment of silence as she caught sight of Pearl through the glass. Their eyes met. Then the screams started again, becoming Pearl’s name.”

PAGE 70

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Where does Calla begin?
Calla Pax’s name is referenced throughout the book in small instances where her celebrity/influencer status is made obvious. She is first mentioned on [page 16] by Rhett who refers to her films in his note entries. She has a more formal and relevant character presence in Chapter 7 The Screamer.

How does Calla Begin?
Calla’s character begins (as a real character and just a name-drop) when Pearl is given a special job assignment to administer and record the results of a daily Apricity test on her as she undergoes “filming” for a new project. She is a bubbly, high energy, clearly emotional-connection deprived, favorably endowed young adult who films horror movies where she is known for her iconic screams. She is a child star turned older star, who has been in the horror film industry from the age of 14. She is internally gentle and displays clear desires of a compassionate ear to confide in and converse with -- opposite from the cold and “by all means necessary” type of people she has around her at all times (Marilee and Flynn)

Where does Calla end?
Calla’s character makes her final appearance on [page 88] where she and Pearl say goodbye to each other as Calla embarks on a year long break from the entertainment industry to travel and also create media/press buzz when she makes a comeback. This follows her incident of being mobbed after leaving a crowd-surrounded public pod, unprotected.

How does Calla end?
Calla’s character at the end of the novel seems to be optimistic and content with the step away from her previous, torturous (literal) conditions. But she also takes this step away from the industry with an odd, similar optimism to return to it. Transformed on the outside with new hair, new makeup, new look, and a new composure, Pearl struggles to recognize this as the girl who she had encountered just days ago, but realizes that Calla is an unpredictable personality whose ambitions, principles, and goals go dangerously beyond her ability to intervene.

How does Calla change? (or not change?)

Calla hardly changes aside from the small “rebellious” acts of independence and actual autonomy. She does change in the way that she builds a more tangible bravery against the commands of Marilee (with the support and encouragement of Pearl) but throughout her appearance in the book, she is still encapsulated by the social and behavioral constructs outlined by the modern entertainment industry that thrives off the exploitation of young talent. To her defense, she is kept legally and financially binded by the adults around her whose livelihoods depend on her continuous fame and success no matter the ethical costs. On a different note however, Calla reveals parts of her humanity and emotions when she does open up to Pearl briefly about her fears. She lets Pearl question her night screams, even subtly telling her about the experiments she is undergoing. In the end, she remains under the control of the upkeep of her public image and continues to play along.

How does this Calla’s lack of change develop the theme?

Calla’s inconsistency with her true desires demonstrate the established theme in ways that are unique to her. Calla experiences a plethora of pressures, responsibilities, reputations, and exploitations and has been experiencing them since a young age. Her public image has been carefully crafted and developed by teams of PR professionals and press experts, so her fear of perceived weakness and vulnerability also carry the weight of widespread backlash and overwhelming hate for tainting the idea of her that the public holds onto -- the general public does not like to recognize that teenage girls are humans capable of faults and weaknesses too. It is almost as if her compliance is a brave acceptance of the restrictive circumstances around her, where she has no choice but to fear perceivable vulnerability as it threatens the construction of the Calla Pax brand that is greater than her right to free will and a normal life. Calla does not feel as if she has the choice to clarify that she is not a perfect product of media consumption (even tho literally no one is perfect), so she tucks away the real emotions and trauma that have accompanied her skewed version of a childhood/adolescence to sustain her celebrity image -- so much that she genuinely begins to believe that she is doing it out of choice, and not underlying/unofficial implications. This character binded by legal fine print and a toxic upbringing that defined her as a profitable product develops the theme perfectly.

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“When he puts his arms around me, his shirt smells like whatever he has been cooking, something with garlic. I try not to shake too hard in his arms. I try not to let my tears and snot stain his shoulder. Because I don’t want to harm anyone or anything, not even this shirt. Georg doesn’t care. He wraps his arm around the back of my head and holds my face to his shoulder firmly, and when I am done crying, he releases it.”

CHAPTER 6 // PAGE 60

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"Anger poured into Elliot, crackling and righteous, until he looked up and saw Val with her knees pulled up to her chest and her face sunk down between them, a little girl hiding from the world. His anger sloughed away.

'I wasn’t going to tell you,' she said, her voice muffled. 'Not ever. I knew I shouldn’t. But.' She lifted her head, her forehead marked from the press of her kneecaps. 'I wanted you to know—' ... '—a little ,' she interrupted. 'I wanted you to know a little. Can you be content with knowing only a little?'"

CHAPTER 5  //  PAGE 46

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Where does Val begin?
She is first mentioned by Pearl as Elliot’s (new) wife on [page 10] and later elaborated on as the peak of Elliot’s artistic career. Val’s life story begins and occurs within chapter 6 “Origin Story.”

How does Val Begin?
Begins as the mentioned new woman in Elliot’s life who has replaced Pearl after the affair. She is the pinpoint and muse of a series of creative successes for Elliot that reached a sharp decline after it had its run of timely press and clout. Her true story and background, however, begins with the chronological and intermittently anecdotal first-person narrative on [page 51]. It starts with her in the womb and coming out of it as a producer of problems for her mother.

Where does Val end?
Ends on [page 92] where her existence gets its final mention via Pearl. In between the gap of Val’s emotional moment with Georg and the present situation of chapter 10 (Elliot making his crawl back into Pearl’s security and assurance), she ends up in a new, undisclosed, fresh environment.

How does Val end?
Valeria has left Elliot and ended their marriage, where 3 months later their separation is followed by a complete and total abandonment of her old life/ existence as she decides to move states, quit her job, and ghost her friends. She is not presented in a physically present form but is a part of the final sections of the book as an mysterious-turned-apologetic photographer who keeps connections to Rhett (unbeknownst that it is Val and not Saff until the very end of the correspondence) from mid January to the beginning of summer.

How does Val change? (or not change?)

Valeria is a unique model of transformation because we as readers experience her persona remain stagnant towards the other characters while knowing an interjecting, intimate look into her traumatic childhood. It is true that her circumstances shift from married to unmarried, from probationary punishment to American freedom, and from stuck to escaped. But overall, Valeria’s character remains paralyzed by the restraint of her guilt, unable to fully disclose her most influential life events to the people considered to be her family. She runs from transparency with Elliot about her confession, and runs from the reality she knows is contradictory to the narrative she has been fed her entire life. She does not challenge her burdens, but faces them without a clear direction and ultimately does what she is consistent with throughout the book: reclusing. She edges toward revelation but never reaches it.

How does this Val’s lack of change develop the theme?

Val is unable to overcome the guilt/shame/remorse of her trauma (weakness/vulnerability) and does not want anyone around her to have to, or be able to, face it too. If she cannot overcome it, how could others? So she lets it reside within the private knowledge of herself, her family, and her probation officer -- almost letting Elliot in too but leaving him before she could. She makes it clear that as much as her emotional needs are begging her to cope healthily, she is much more willing to internalize the emotional and psychological effects of keeping her deeply troubled past a complete mystery in order to preserve the untainted projection of herself (even though she was a mistress??). She keeps those around her at (calculated) bay, controlling how much personal information is known and is not.

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Characters establish, develop, or create the theme.
How and why does the path of Valeria/Calla exemplify your chosen theme?

THEME:
People present fabricated and filtered versions of themselves to the world around them based on how they view themselves and, consequently, want others to view them.

"I put up a front to other people that I constructed because of how I already see myself and how I want that self to appear to other people."

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In your essay, and perhaps especially in your transitions and conclusion, apply the ideas on “metacommentary” from Chapter 10 in They Say, I Say (we read it together in class Sep 29). Use templates if helpful to you.

Also: Use Chapter 7 from They Say, I Say, to address “So what?” In your conclusion, use one of the “Templates for Establishing Why Your Claims Matter” to tell your readers why your analysis matters.

You want to avoid/address “So what?” before your conclusion too, of course. So, think about your introduction and the body of your essay in these same terms, and write it so that any reader can answer both of the following questions as they read: “What’s going on here?” and  “Why should I care?”

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Cite the novel through direct quotation a minimum of 10 times.  Remember that key and defining images are important; they contribute to characterization and theme.

2--3 of your direct quotes might be shorter phrases/partial sentences. The majority of your direct quotes should be full sentences (or full pieces of dialogue).

It’s a given that you’ll also end up with some indirect quotation, paraphrase, and summary. Remember that direct quotation, indirect quotation and paraphrase all require in-text citation.

In text citations: use page #s--skip “Williams,” since once you’ve introduced her as the author, there’s no need to keep writing her name. E-book readers: Use page #s if you have them; if you don’t, you do need to use the chapter/paragraph format, clunky as it is. If you have to use that format, those citations eat up a lot of words, so you may go over our upper limit word count by as much as 100 words.

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Is each of your citations:  The best possible citation for its purpose?  —interesting?

Are any of your citations redundant of your own prose?  If so, you don’t need both. If a citation and your prose say the same thing, edit one or the other. Your prose should contextualize and/or interpret citations, as opposed to repeat what you cite.

Are your citations drawn from throughout the whole of the text and/or the whole of your characters’ arcs??

Are your citations successfully and smoothly integrated into your sentences?

Where your sentences include citation(s), do your sentences exhibit sentence variation? (That is: avoid relying on the same sentence structures/patterns when you cite.)

Is the novel always correctly cited?  That is, are your citations 100% accurate— no wrong words, no misspellings, no misquotes?

Are you sure your citations impart or illustrate what you intend them to? (The “roommate test” is helpful here: test out a point and your illustration/citation by asking a roommate/reader what they think you’re saying)

Do your citations include, on the one hand, enough context (synopsis and brief reference to the plot) that your essay makes sense?

... and on the other hand, not so much context that it morphs into unnecessary, bloated plot summary?

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_Andrea_Proj 2_Tell_PLAN for 1st Version

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Subject: Self Worth

Character: Val

Thoughts/Connections: Val has transparently negative and low quality self perceptions about her existence. Riddled with a guilt that was strengthened over the years of her mother's disdain, shifted blame for her illness, and ultimately, her death, Val does not see herself as worthy of positive feelings toward herself or from others. She went her life always being made felt like her own idea of herself was incorrect and an underrepresentation of the "malice" her mother had imposed upon her intentions. Val has an engrained mindset that she is only capable of causing destruction and damage around her and that she draws the same energy in the direction of her loved ones. She believes the emotionally crippling narrative that her mother pushed as it is the only thing she left behind before burning herself alive, making her daughter a witness to it, and (in death) still putting it all on her daughter's shoulders.

Feeling about Theme: Moving towards theme of the human toll caused by shame and guilt

Subject: Dehumanization

Character: Calla

Thoughts/Connections: Calla is seen as an object of the entertainment/film industry -- representing nothing more to the general public than an abstract existence of a person overshadowed by the monetary and social value she is capable of providing. Her own emotions and trauma are dismissed and invalidated for the sake of people around her "improving" her craft. When the sides are weighed of what is more important, her wellbeing and opinions sink to the bottom of insignificance. To Flynn and to Marilee, she is a means of making money and reaping the benefits of wealth, power, and fame in the entertainment world without the public scrutiny of being a public figure.

Feeling about Theme: I sense the author moving toward a grander theme of the complexity of happiness and what it means to an individual.

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TTMG Notes CH 6-10

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TTMG Notes CH 1-5

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#2 Unity of Purpose in the Body of Your Essay

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#2 Unity of Purpose in the Body of Your Essay

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Everything you write has one purpose: To support the theme you’ve proposed in your thesis statement. How and why does the path of character A exemplify your chosen theme? How and why does the path of character B exemplify your chosen theme? Remember that one effective structure is to analyze how one character establishes/creates/exemplifies your stated theme, and how one character establishes/creates/exemplifies the theme’s opposite, or inverse, or negative case.

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See: Last several weeks of class, all of your work along the way. In your introduction, establish text and context (what you’re talking about, and why). Include your thesis statement, which will be phrased something like, “A close reading reveals one of Williams’ [prominent] [important] [key] [most interesting] themes to be: ….”.

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Present a thematic literary analysis of Tell the Machine Goodnight, through separate analyses of 2 characters and author Katie Williams’ diction (words + word order; vocabulary + syntax)  & imagery (literal + figurative)

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People present filtered and fabricated versions of themselves to the world around them based on the internal and external factors that shape how they view themselves and, consequently, want others to view them.

SIMPLE:
My upbringing and life experiences + the influence of society  shape the way that I look and think about myself and consequently shapes the altered persona that I display for other people to perceive

VAL and CALLA similarity:
I'm afraid of being seen for all I am (good and bad), so I am going to hide/ignore the parts that could cause judgement or negative opinions so I can keep being seen as the person I want people to see me as, and building invisible barriers to the deeper, unveiled sides of me.

NOTES/OTHER IDEAS:
- Our fear of vulnerability/weakness makes it so that we reject/hide/withhold certain soft spots as a means of asserting/maintaining control over how others perceive us and limiting the extent of their exposure to us

- Natural inclination of self preservation and protection

Exerting social and interpersonal control

It deeply affects the ability to connect and establish deeper relationships since there is such a lack of trust in oneself and in others

Isolating because it holds people prisoner to their weaknesses as something only they have experienced and know about, like a secret actively being kept

You’re constantly enveloped in the fear and shame surrounding your vulnerabilities since you must be actively thinking about it to prevent its surfacing

You’ll be successful at crafting and puppeteering a persona to your liking, while always feeling like an imposter to it or dishonest/untruthful/not fully immersed or accepted

Further magnified by feelings of shame, guilt, control, penance, insecurity, and low self worth/esteem

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                         SUBJECT: Projection of Self

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                         SUBJECT: Projection of Self