Boys and Girls Passage IOC Outline

Introduction:

The short story Boys and Girls is from Munro’s first collection, published in 1968, Dance of the Happy Shades. The most prevalent theme that acts as a steady undercurrent throughout the story is the theme of coming of age. Munro reveals gender expectations that boys and girls must succumb to according to societal standards. This story reveals a gender hierarchy and dichotomy that separates boys and girls.

Sequential Passage Analysis

This passage is situated after the unnamed protagonist opened the gate for Flora to let her free, as the father and Henry Baily tried to kill her.

1.     Symbolism of Flora

·      There are various parallels drawn between Flora and the protagonist.

·      “Flora would never really get away.” Despite all her efforts she is aware in her subconscious that she can never stray from the restrictive societal norms. She is aware of the fact that society expects her to behave in a certain manner.

·      “I was Flora.” She saw Flora in herself.

·      Flora is entrapped by forces greater than herself, akin to the narrator.
·      Attempting to free Flora is symbolic of her attempt to flee from societal norms.

2.     Idolizing the father

·      As a male figure he is respected. This displays his dominance as a male figure.

·      “Your poor father.” The mother displays sympathy for her hardworking husband.

·      The mother is associated with the kitchen and domestic jobs, such as “planning dinner” and “ironing.”

·      “Bloody overalls.” Males did the more useful work and were more brave.

3.     Coming of age to succumb to gender roles.

·      Overdriven by society and is forced to conform, and ignore her own emotional conflict.

·      She begins to display a more feminine demeanor as she makes her “room fancy” with “old lace,” She Is also “fixing herself.”

·      Females associated with aesthetics and domestic service.

·      These traits are regarded as subordinate but are mandatory to possess as a female to gain acceptance.

·      She is separating her room from Laird’s, which displays a gender division.

·      “We did not sing at night any more” displays coming of age.

·      “You sound silly” said Laird, which demeans her value, yet she does not reply and remained silent in obedience.

4.     Dreams

·      Her personality as it burgeons and she realizes that the societal values do not coincide with her own.

·      At first her narrator has grand dreams of action, heroism, and acclaim, but later the daydreams show her as a passive beneficiary of someone else’s heroism. 

·      “A story might start off in the old way, with spectacular danger... I might rescue people.” These are regarded as roles of dominance, which in such a society is attributed to males. Her dreams shift to being about somebody rescuing her instead. This mimics the hopelessness that society perceives in women. As incapable beings that are solely concerned with aesthetics and domestic service for their male counterparts. Her dreams “concerned itself at great length with what (she) looked like.” Hence, she is inevitably embodying her prescribed role.

·      These differing fantasy roles show the strict split between the gender binary, and display her coming of age and conforming to her respective role.

·      This demonstrates the manipulation in the narrative structure.

Conclusion
Thus, this story illustrates the coming of age journey of an oblivious, yet ambitious, young girl into a gendered adult. Finally, at the end of the passage, the death of Flora is symbolic of the death of the protagonists attempt to transgress societal expectations.  

Individual Oral Commentary

Here is my practice IOC from an extract from The Moons of Jupiter:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5PjQy2qRuoKa0U3YUM4QmFGS2M/view

How to save a life

Isaac Slade is the lead vocalist of the renowned American band the Fray. This band cunningly crafts music that resonates with their audience and vocalize it with a lilting voice that delights our senses. It is easy to get carried away in their stunning voices, and neglect the deeper meaning behind their lyrics.

The song “How to save a life” was inspired by Slade’s experience working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teenagers. The teenagers underwent distress and a plethora of psychological difficulties. There was a 17-year-old boy he mentored that had a drug addiction. However, his family and friends approached him in an uncomforting manner as they threatened him rather than comforted him. They depreciated his acts, and constantly badgered him with remarks such as “quit taking drugs and cutting yourself or I wont talk to you again.” The young boy was in need for support. In the chorus, the singer laments that he was unable to save a friend because he did not know how to do so. The lyrics embark on the regret and sorrow Slade felt, as he was unable to “save a life.”

Inevitable, this song triggers melancholic emotions to those listening, as they begin to recognize how fragile individuals are. It is imperative to adopt methods that can comfort those suffering, rather than threaten them and make them feel like a burden. This causes those listening to feel empathetic towards this situation and those similar to it, and most prominently remain cautious of the way they deal with people. Finally, this teaches the importance of acquiring emotional intelligence. 

Song Lyrics

Step one, you say we need to talk
He walks, you say sit down, it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left, and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all, you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And I pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life
How to save a life

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life
How to save a life

David Foster Wallace & Alice Munro

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion.

The commencement speech “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace strives to communicate that true freedom acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious, sympathetic and empathetic. This can be achieved by gaining a heightened sense of awareness, straying from your “automatic” and “default setting” and to be “sacrificing your life for others, over and over.” In order to hold the ability to adjust one’s self to be able to be empathetic and emotionally intelligent, Wallace highlights the imperative nature of intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence involves mindfulness and self-awareness, which he illustrates through the didactic parable of the fish. Moreover, interpersonal intelligence encompasses the ability to have an “awareness of what is so real and essential” and an awareness of the emotions of those that besiege you, which is revealed through the supermarket anecdote. Wallace suggests that higher education teaches students to develop these qualities, and allow individuals to realize that they are not the center of the universe and to encourage them to be “well-adjusted” and “conscious.” This is of great importance as often times adults get sucked into a “day in, day out” routine that involves “boredom” and “petty frustration,” but when one makes conscious decisions they can extrapolate the meaningful aspects of life. Wallace articulates that higher education does not only teach content, but the ability to manage our emotions and gain empathy. Humans unconsciously see the worst in people when they appear to be in mere frustration, and repeat this habit indefinitely until it becomes a trivial routine. It is important to strive for self-awareness and gain control over how we conceptualize our surroundings; thus adopt a positive outlook on life.

Similarly, Alice Munro cunningly narrates stories surrounding the inexorable reality of day-to-day life events. Both Munro and Wallace implant the idea of emotional intelligence through expressing human’s natural inclination to fill some kind of void. Munro’s literary works consistently emphasize the theme of change and maturity. Those who advance and change are capable of shaping their lives in a more meaningful way, and are able to sustain and solidify relationships. This is revealed through many of her texts. In the story “Royal Beatings,” when Rose’s altered her perspective of Flo from a sullen and insensitive being to one who is sympathetic, she was able to grasp a positive outlook. This, therefore, allowed Rose to be more emotionally intelligent and empathetic to Flo’s circumstances. This is also evident in “Moons of Jupiter,” as Janet undergoes changes in order to be more empathetic towards her father and therefore mend broken relationships. The theme of change is repeated in “Family Furnishings,” “Passion,” “Boys and Girls” and so forth. Through Munro’s texts it is evident how a change in perspective can elevate one’s emotional intelligence and awareness, thus allow the character’s to be more secure.

Munro’s stories are directly correlated to the concept of emotional intelligence in the way that she centers her stories around realistic characters and possibilities. Wallace suggests that one must consider the circumstances and possibilities of those around us, they could possibly be screaming at their child because they have been awake for “three straight nights holding the hand of (their) husband who’s dying of bone cancer.”  In “Moons of Jupiter” the protagonist is holding the hand of her father who is dying of cancer. Munro emphasizes that these occurrences are possible and one must be empathetic towards these possibilities. Munro builds complex characters and reveals their intricate thoughts through a first person narration. This point of view allows the readers to fully sympathize with the complex characters, and gardens empathy from the audience. This point of view also allows the readers to engage with the narrator’s thoughts, feelings, motives and perspectives. This enables the readers to trace the character’s development and allows the readers to be involved in the story. Munro’s writing style allows the readers to pose questions and deduce conclusions, which exercises how they think and thus trains them to be compassionate. Munro also cunningly displays other characters in the same way that humans would perceive them when using their default settings. In the story “Royal Beatings” Rose automatically regards Flo as unsympathetic and hostile. Munro later reveals that when Rose changes her train of thought she was able to empathize with Flo and her struggles. In psychology, a theory is revealed that by human nature individuals are inclined to commit fundamental attribution error. That is, humans have the tendency to place undue emphasis on internal characteristics (dispositional factors) and disregard external factors (situational factors or circumstances). Munro and Wallace, alike, attempt to display that individuals can train their brains to stray from this unwanted pessimistic habit.

Munro’s writing style allows the readers to undergo the struggles that her characters experience. This allows the readers to understand the character’s emotions and witness the flashbacks and thoughts the characters cognitively appraise. This reinforces the reader’s sense of awareness of not only the world around them (interpersonal intelligence) but also makes the readers aware of the personal effects of certain circumstances (intrapersonal intelligence). Furthermore, Wallace highlights that higher education allows students to realize the world is much greater than their solipsistic self. He encourages the students to embrace the world around the and discard “unconscious” thinking and their “automatic” and “default setting.” He encourages them to choose what to worship in order to attain freedom. Real freedom “involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over.” Finally, stay mindful and aware your surroundings and internal feelings.

Banning the Burkini: Thoughts

France has recently banned he burkini, which is the Islamic full-body swimsuit. This item of clothing is not intended to be a hostile threat, rather it allows females who chose to wear the hijab to also enjoy the leisure activity of swimming. Muslim women wear it is to maintain modesty, but some non-Muslims wear it to protect themselves from the sun. This new legislation has sparked a controversial debate among people. This law was first passed in Cannes, as it has been said to be a health hazard and does not follow French values. Anyone who wishes to disregard this law will be fined, asked to change or leave the beach. However, the debate is whether this ban is secularism or security.

Many French people suggest that this ban is regressive, as it does not promote equality between men and women. However, Muslims claim otherwise. Muslim women willingly wear this hijab as a symbol of modesty that opposes ostentation, and in Islam males are also required to cover themselves. The burkini is intended to allow these women to enjoy themselves and is not intended to be a symbol of radical Islamism and terrorism. This decree, rather than promoting freedom and equality, has now restricted Muslim women from swimming.

However, I understand the tensions are high in France after 85 civilians were killed in Nice on Bastille Day. But, it is imperative to recognize the motives behind the burkini, and recognize that there is a large population of French Muslims that do not impose harm to the community.

A taste of Mykonos, Greece

The islands of Greece are so perfectly photogenic with those sugar cube houses and azure colored waters. The contrast of white and blue combined with golden sand and pink sunsets makes the visit all the more beautiful. The aura at the beach in the daylight is idyllic and tranquil. Just sitting on a sunbed by the beach can assuage all the stresses from the IB. The soothing zephyr and the view of the crystal clear water is simply unfathomable. The sound of the undulating water as it hits the shore is one that cannot be replaced. One will just get lost in the rhythmic percussion of the waves in the sand. At night, the views continue to emulate inimitable beauty. The incandescent sun begins to drool across the horizon. The luminescent clouds start to illuminate with hues of pink, orange and magenta. The sunset view is aesthetically pleasing to the mind and soul.

Aside from admiring the ineffable beauty, Mykonos offers a plethora of activities to enjoy. The beaches are facilitated with multifarious restaurants that allow you to indulge in palatable Greek flavors. The waiters tend to be young adults that have a loquacious nature and like to get to know their customers. At the beaches, hit songs are played throughout the day and night. The zealous people are there to party after sunset. The ebullient environment encourages the people to dance and enjoy their time. The crowds loved my baby brother, his young age and cute aesthetics encouraged people to approach us and speak to my family and I. He gave us an opportunity to confabulate with individuals from across the globe.

Many of the beaches in Mykonos offered water sports. A personal favorite is the sofa ride that involves thrashing the waves and a lot of screaming. Another popular place to visit is the city center. This area is a series of small lanes and beautiful bunting wherein individuals can chose to eat or shop. The buildings are no taller than 10 meters and are painted white with colored wood windows and stairs. A myriad of people enjoy socializing at this area as it has activities that please the horde, from seaside restaurants, to high end stores, to more affordable stores, to gelato stands, jewelry shopping, authentic Greek food, art stores, friendly people and so forth. There is a stone path that runs throughout the city, that is has white outskirts around each stone, which adds to the character.  

Finally, the hotel staff were indefatigable and always put in the extra effort to ensure that we enjoy our stay. They were ardent and readily conversed with their guests. They, too, were fans of my younger brother and all personally said good-bye to the little boy. Mykonos is the epitome of beauty and enjoyment. Albeit the island was rather exiguous, there was always something to do. If only my stay was not so ephemeral, as there was much more to explore.

Hope to see you soon Mykonos!