Number 1s: answer question 1
Number 2s: question 4
Number 3s: question 6
Number 4s: question 16
Number 5s: question 20
Number 6s: question 36
Also, we discussed stream of consciousness writing in class. Some points to remember about this are that this kind of writing is...
- an intense form of 1st person point of view--readers react intensely to Holden because of this.
- characterized by the free association of ideas...what is weighing on Holden's mind comes to the fore.
- full of personal symbolism--the hat, the ducks, the museum, the carousel, a catcher in the rye all mean something to him, so pay attention to what he says when he mentions these things
- full of discrepancy between his thoughts and his actions (Holden says negative things about people, but then will be nice to them).
- full of repeated sentence patterns and expressions to let readers know what Holden is really thinking about...
- "sort of", "and all" Holden uses this kind of hedging, imprecise language because his thoughts are imprecise...he's sorting things out. This may also show his youth and insecurity
- "That just about killed me"...very intense, odd expression used over and over. Could this be weighing on his mind?
- slang--he's young
- "goddamn", "chrissakes"--Holden is profane, negative, crass
- "ironical", "phony"--Holden is very concerned with these concepts; angered that things aren't the way he expected them to be and disgusted/confused by the falseness of the adult world.
- switches from "me" to "you" when discussing painful subjects in order to distance himself from them
