post modernism - ap lang final

PostModernism

Leyna, Alyssa, Morgan, Sophia, & Shriya

Postmodernism

• 1950 - Present
• rejects objective truths and traditional writing styles
• dystopian fiction is a product of this era
• fragmented and filled with commentary
• breaking the fourth wall
• promotes the ideals of dark humor, parody, and unrealistic/unreliable narratives.

Progression of modernism

It's important to note that these are simplified explanations, and there are many diverse and complex interpretations of each period. Additionally, the transition between these periods is not always clearly defined, and there is often overlap and continuation of ideas and artistic practices between them.

A helpful visual

Questions so far?

Prominent Authors

George Orwell

Margaret Atwood

Kurt Vonnegut

Another author prominent more so in the time after his death because of the relevance to the literary time period of postmodernism. He wrote many books, essays, and critiques about social criticism and lucid prose. He is most known for 1984 and Animal Farm.

A very well-known novelist and poet for her gothic style of writing. She is important in the postmodernism literary time period because of her unique style of writing. She is most known for The Handmaid’s Tale.

One of the most prominent authors during this literary time period and well known for his satirical and dark humored stories. He is most known for Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle.

Unreliable Narration GAme

• Each student will be given a quote to read. One of the quotes contains unreliable narration, but only the person with that specific quote wil know it.

• Each student will take turns reading their passage out loud.
• As each passage is read, listen and pay attention to any inconsistencies, contradictions, or hints that may suggest unreliable narration.
• After each reading, engage in a discussion as a group. Share your observations, thoughts, and any suspicions you may have about the reliability of the narrator.
• Decide as a group which passage you believe contains the unreliable narration.
• The person who was assigned the unreliable passage should reveal their identity and explain why they believe their passage exhibits unreliable narration.
• Reflect as a group on the experience and discuss the impact of unreliable narration on the interpretation and understanding of a text.

There are a lot of different things that can be seen in the short stories read for homework, what did you notice and what can you connect from the information about postmodern literature that was just introduced?

discuss in groups

2 B R 0 2 B

• Dark Humor:
• This was very prominent in Kurt Vonnegut stories and in his postmodernism literature. It suggests the time and shows how people wanted to reject the idea of proper societal culture.
• Sentence Fragments:
• A common structure in postmodernism, Vonnegut uses this many times throughout the story to emphasize certain plot points and end paragraphs in a way that intrigues the reader.
• Unrealistic Narratives:
• This was seen in how the narratives of people living their lives at the age of 200+ and how one volunteers to die in order for another to be born. This is unrealistic to society today and there is no meaning to it.
• Meanings/No meaning at all:
• Postmodern literature emphasized the importance of how stories might not always have meaning or a set meaning, this story illustrates that the questions of the society at the time. It shows how the ideas and proper idealisms of the time were rejected in this story.

haPPy Endings

• Story Structure:
• This story is structured very differently from the first one. It has several different endings to one beginning. The tone and sentence fragments show the bluntness in the way Atwood goes about telling the story, suggesting that she was rejecting the idea of the social structure because of her different way of writing.
• Meanings:
• Part of postmodernism literature was the idea of telling the truths of the time period in a way that was guarded or dumbed down. There are different meanings in the story but also there are ones that suggest that the author wanted to highlight the problems with the world. Previous to postmodernism, there was the idea of sugar-coating the truth within a book, in this short story she directly tells the readers what she means by it. She also says in a commentary in the beginning that she didn’t mean to write it, it just took shape. This suggests that she wasn’t writing for purpose, a common idea represented throughout postmodernism literature.
• Dark Humor:
• There is not as much dark humor as what was in the Vonnegut story but it is still present as it is very up front about some endings and how the “only authentic ending” is the one where John and Mary die.
• Author commentary:
• A common practice from authors in this age of literature. It is present in this story with Atwood’s introduction and conclusion.

Happy Endings: What was different or similar about the two stories? What might it say about postmodern literature?

discuss in groups

Survival game

• Divide yourselves into groups of 3-5 members each. Each group will work together to find the postmodernism elements.
• Each group will receive a copy of an excerpt from the novel "1984." Take your time to read it carefully and pay attention to the themes and elements presented in the text.
• The postmodernism characteristics you are looking for are: Theme of paranoia, Magical Realism, Irony, Pressure to conform, and Distortion of time
• When your group finds the quote, call one of us over, and if the quote is correct, you will receive a card with the associated survival item.
• The first group to collect all 5 survival items wins!

1984

• Deconstruction of language and truth, influence of power:
• Language control through Newspeak, commenting on censorship.
• The Party's manipulation of history in "1984" shows that truth is relative. The concept of "doublethink" is a critique of power structures and the lack of independent thought.

• Fragmentation:
• The book involves altering historical records, creating fragmented versions of history → direct rejection of the “grand narrative”

• Simulation and hyperreality:
• The telescreens create a hyperreal environment where reality is mediated and controlled.
• Surveillance and manipulation of information contribute to a sense of hyperreality.

• Resistance and subversion:
• Winston's rebellion represents resistance against an oppressive system. Depicts the overwhelming power of the Party, challenging the possibility of a better future

One and Three Chairs, Joseph Kosuth

American Values and Ideals in The 1950s

• Society in the 1950s was very family oriented and many people were expected to get married and have children at a very young age. This was also a time when everybody tried to fit in and “keep up with the Joneses.” Conformity and tradition was a key concept during this era.
• Postmodernism rejects the traditional american values and ideals because originally people would settle and feel complete with what they had, until the modernism era when people would start to find initiative and explore new things. This lead to people always wanting something new and exciting, making people take what they already had for granted. Postmodernism is an era when people started to doubt. People began to question the new and exciting things that came from the modernism era. They also questioned conformity and brought attention to why it's meaningless and shouldn't be held as a high value in American society.

Literary Critique: 1984

• “The classic dystopian novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell was challenged in 1981 in Jackson County, FL because the book was ‘pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter.’...Whether you agree with the parents of Jackson County, FL or not, George Orwell modeled the society in ‘1984’ based on what he saw happening in Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. Students should read the book to learn more about the dangers of totalitarianism and the roles of truth, facts, and narrative spin within society.”

This literary critique on the book mentions the ways in which the novel “1984” was a debatable book, because mainly of its pro-communist components, making it banned from many libraries across the United States. The author of this review believes that even though pro-communist and sexually explicit statements are mentioned, they argue that these themes are essential to formulate the dystopian novel’s setting, to teach about the dangers of totalitarianism.

The end

hope you learned something new!