Summary and Analysis of Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Author
Robertson Davies

Setting
Deptford, Ontario
Various Part of Europe
Toronto

Characters
Dunstable Ramsay (Dunstan): The protagonist of the story, great ego and pride, serves as the fifth business of the story until the end of the story
Percy Boyd Staunton (Boy): life-long friend and nemesis of Dunstan, lives purely for material gain and personal success
Paul Dempster (Magnus Eisengrim): Magical magician who grows to resent Dunstan and everything regarding his mother and Deptford. Christ figure
Mrs. Dempster: The woman who Dunstan idolizes as a saint, performed three miracles.
Liesl: Bearded woman who offered a large quantity of insight into the dark folds of Dunstan's life.
Padre Blazon: Devout Jesuit and Mentor to Dustan, also provides insight
Leola: High School sweetheart to both Dunstan and Boy, but later becomes pitied by both until her death

Plot

Part 1: Mrs. Dempster

1. Introduction to Memoir: Dunstan is writing to a headmaster about some article that was written about him. The story follows.
2. As a boy, Dunstan coming come from playing dodges a snowball, which strikes Mrs. Dempster instead. Paul's premature birth ensues.
3. Dunstan begins to watch over Mrs. Dempster and Paul. He teaches Paul magic tricks.
4. Mrs. Dempster has sex with a hobo and becomes shunned by Deptford.
5. Mrs. Dempster brings Dunstan's brother back to life, significant increase of idolization.
6. Dunstan enlists in the WWI draft to escape his mother

Part 2: I Am Born Again

1. Earns the Victoria's Cross medal from brutally murdering a bunch of Germans in a machine gun nest, becomes national hero.
2. Wakes up in the hospital after being in a coma for months- missing a leg
3. Falls in love with nurse, Diana
4. Breaks up with Diana, who re-names him
5. Goes back to Deptford, parents are dead, Paul ran away, and decides to move to Toronto to attend University; becomes friends with Boy there

Part 3: My Fool-Saint

1. Gets degree in History
2. Boy earns money through some scheming, and becomes distinguished through an empire in sugar
3. Dunstan travels to Europe using the money he acquired through Boy, where he finds out that the hobo that Mrs. Dempster had sex with was "saved".
4. Briefly encounters Paul Dempster and Liesl in Europe

Part 4: Gyges and King Candaules

1. Back in Toronto, Boy tempts Dunstan with Leola
2. Dunstan is names Mary Dempster's guardian when her aunt dies, and is then obligated to care for her
3. Meets Padre Blazon back in Europe while working with Jesuit priests

Part 5: Liesl

1. Serves as interim headmaster during WWII, Boy is away at international philanthropic efforts, Leola dies with only Dunstan to manage the funeral
2. Boy asks Dunstan to step down as headmaster and he gets a sabbatical to travel to Mexico with.
3. Meets Paul again (now Magnus Eisengrim) and his bearded lady friend, Liesl. Joins their magic show as a writer
4. Liesl tells Dunstan that he is fifth business and has a sexualized brawl with her> she becomes his mentor

Part 6: The Soirée of Illusions

1. Boy remarries
2. Dunstan upsets Mrs. Dempster by telling her about Paul, and he becomes her enemy. He never visits her again until she dies
3. Dunstan introduces Paul and Boy to eachother in Toronto and reveals the long-kept secret of the rock in the snowball.
4. Paul kills Boy; Dunstan has a heart when he finds out at the Eisengrim show

*This plot summary may be a little too long, but I didn't think I could really condense it any more*

Quotes
“God is subtle, but He is not cruel” -Padre Blazon (pg. 179)
This quote is in reference to when Blazon is explaining to Dunstan that the misfortune of Mrs. Dempster's life was likely a small part of the greater work of God, therefor, Dunstan should not brood over the guilt he feels for her misfortune. Furthermore, Blazon explains that the greater workings of God are far too complex for the understanding of man, so the categorizing of "good" and "bad" is arbitrary in comparison. One must embrace the graduations of light and darkness within one's self, because the categories created by society are not always appropriate for the varying circumstances of life.

“I was afraid and did not know what I feared, which is the worst kind of fear." -Dunstan (pg. 41)
In this part, Dunstan is helping the men of the town search for Mrs. Dempster. He is literally afraid because he is having trouble navigating the dangerous gravel pit, but also, he feels underlying angst to the array of dark possibilities of what may lie before him in the night. This quote also exemplifies the problems that Dunstan had with confronting and accepting the darkness of his life.

Theme
In today's society, people are so self-centered that they cannot recognize or appreciate truth.

~OR~

An individual must be willing to live by the dichotomy of their personal moral compass in order to reach individuation and create a meaningful mythology out of their life.

Response to Course Materials

These past couple of weeks have been interesting enough as far as school goes. AP Lit is still my favorite class, and is really the only class that I consistently enjoy. Exams are only two weeks away, and it is an understatement to say that I am worried. I don't have any experience with taking AP exams so it really will be a hit or a miss for me. I got my AP exam study guide, so I suppose I'll be alright.

One thing that we did toward the beginning of this unit was Critical lenses. There are so many different lenses to consider when reading a work. I'm still moderately confused on this one because it seems like lenses are more of a personal template for criticism rather than "different ways we can interpret". I mean, yeah I can understand how a feminist critic would interpret a work, but should I be applying it to my criticisms? Personally, I often find myself contemplating the psychological aspects of the literature we read in class. That's just how I think.

We also did another set of Open prompts. They are getting A LOT easier to do now. I do have a confession to make on the subject. I wrote my last open prompt part 2 using Fifth Business. This was probably a bad move on my part because we had not discussed it in class at the time. So, who ever reads this post, I hope you know this before you read my open prompt post because there is a 100% chance it is terrible. I think it will be interesting to look back and compare my thoughts on the book from when i wrote the essay and when we finish our in-class discussions.

We also finished Frankenstein. I don't really have much to say on this, and I think I talked about it a bit in my last RCM. Cool concepts, exceptional book, interesting intentions and effects.

Fifth business. Oh my, Fifth Business. Anyone in 6th hour probably has an idea of how much I love this book. It is my favorite work that we've read in class, BY FAR. There is just so much to think about from this book, every single event and detail serves a purpose, and I can not wait to unravel the mystery with my class. I also am anticipating some future conflicts in out class discussions because I feel that this book can be interpreted on a lot of different platforms.

30 seconds of mythology. I did it, it took like an hour, and it was interesting.

The End.

Summary and Analysis of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Author
Mary W. Shelley

Setting
18th century Europe
V.F. childhood: Genve
V.F. college: Inglolstatd
Walton's letters: on a ship in the arctic circle

Characters
Victor Frankenstein: The inventor of the creature and the protagonist of the novel. A man driven by ambition and scientific curiosity. His hubris is his tragic flaw and what drives him to ruin.
Elizabeth Lavenza: Sister and bride of Victor; is adopted into the family as a small child (depending on which version). Often spoken about with angelic features and represents ideal womanhood.
Caroline Frankenstein: Victor's mother. Her death is what causes Victor's desire to transcend death.
Alphonse Frankenstein: Victor's father.
*Victor's parents want the very best for him and spoiled him throughout his childhood, resulting in him growing up to have a god-like self image and selfishness.*
William Frankenstein: The youngest son of the Frankenstein family. Is killed by the creature and symbolizes the loss of innocence.
Henry Clerval: Victor's life-long friend and literary foil.
The Creature: The monster that is created by Victor, he is the mirror image of his creator.
Robert Walton: An explorer who Victor meets on a ship in the Arctic circle. Represent the common masses of the world in their exploration of knowledge and human capability. The only person to whom Victor can relate.

Plot
R.W.'s Letters:

1. Robert Walton, who is on a fearless expedition to the North Pole, and his crew take in an interesting weary traveler who is on the brink of death (Victor Frankenstein). 
2. After befriending the traveler, Walton is given the privileged to hear his long-concealed story.

Frankenstein's POV:

1. Victor tells of his privileged childhood, it is emphasized here how he was treated like a God by his parents and developed into a strong narcissism.
2. The family adopts an orphan named Elizabeth out of the kindness of their hearts, but also intends her to be Victor's bride. (Example of how they were willing to do anything to make Victor happy and social as possible--- evidence of his abnormal youth)
3. Henry Clerval is introduced as Victor's BFF.
4. Victor leaves to study in Inglolstadt, where his fervor for science and metaphysics grows immensely. His chemistry professor excites this passion, thus beginning Victor's unnatural obsession with the principles of life and the boundaries of death.
5. Victor creates the monster which escapes from the laboratory.
6. Victor learns through a letter from Elizabeth that his younger brother, William, has been murdered; On his way back to Geneva, he see a figure and assumes in terror that it is his creation
7. Justine drama
8. Victor flees from the stressful environment at home and meets the Monster while on a solitary hike in the mountains.

The Creature's POV:

1. The monster traveled very far after his birth and found refuge in a hovel adjacent to the cottage of an exiled French family. Here he observes the behavior of human life and longs desperately and hopelessly to be a part of it.
2. Determined to seek revenge on Victor, sets out for Geneva. There he wanders upon William and kills him and frames Justine.
3. The monster then demands that Victor make him a woman.

Frankenstein's POV:

1. Victor goes to England with Henry to build the new monster. 
2. He retreats to a desolate corner of Scotland (after ditching Henry) and begins to build her.
3. in fear of reproduction, he destroys the new monster before he can finish it, and the monster declares to "be with him on his wedding night". Here Victor exemplifies his narcissism by assuming that the monster would try to kill him, not Elizabeth.
4. Victor throws the mangled body parts into the lake, washes ashore, is accused of murder of Henry, falls into a fever, then is escorted him by his father.
5. Elizabeth is strangles to death on her wedding night by the monster, Victor's father dies of grief
6. Victor decides to spend the rest of his life pursuing the creature and to kill it.

R.W.'s Letters:

1. Victor dies after telling his story
2. The monster appears, talks to Walton about his regret for his actions but justifies them with his suffering, then declares that he will commit suicide. Then the monster leaves.

Quotes
"What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?" (10) -Robert Walton
On the surface, Walton is simply referring to how the sun never sets in the arctic circle during the winter, however, it can also be applied to the 18th century scientific idealism. The exploration and discovery of new scientific knowledge was not only necessary but inherently positive and pious. This aligns with Victor's point of view before and during the creation of the monster. This quote, which is placed very early in the novel, alludes to the parallelism between Frankenstein and Walton in terms of their expectations of their studies.

"I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on." (185) -The Monster
The Monster says this when expressing his suffering to Robert Walton over the body of Victor Frankenstein at the end of the book. This quote exemplifies the monster's self-pity and demand for empathy. It also shows how the monster justifies the motivation for his actions with his self-declared suffering. He also uses the word, "abortion", which is motif from the novel and supports that the monster was abandoned and shunned by his creator as well as the world.

Theme
When mankind's hubris causes society to reject the natural order, it leads to dire consequences.
Frankenstein's hubris the clearly the cause of every unnatural and tragic event in the story, but a point that Mary Shelley was trying to make throughout the entire novel was how society reacts to and subsequently rejects the unnatural "thing". Completely alienated from society, the monster has no one to relate to other than his creator, who also immediately rejected and shunned him. This rejection leads to the monster's acts of violence and revenge specifically on Victor's loved ones. Chaos stemming from the ego-maniacal and self-involved of the protagonist makes the point that Shelley is voicing the public fear or scientific exploration and discovery from her time period. Frankenstein serves as a warning against taking the privilege of free-will and human capability too far, and into the realm of unnatural actions which rebel against religious law and Providence.

Open Prompt Part Two: 2005

2005 Prompt: In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.

Open Prompt Part One: 2005 Student Responses

2005 Prompt: In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.

A: This essay is exceptional because its theme statement effectively assesses the prompt and formats the student's argument. The student clearly understands the format needed for a organized AP essay (ending each body paragraph with synthesis to the overall meaning of the work), and has a writing style which is clear and enticing. Great essay, it could use a bit more organization and transition between ideas, but succeeds at providing an in depth analysis of the work.

B: This essay is accomplished with a strong thesis and analysis of Nora's inward struggle and outward conformity. However, the writer does not effectively answer the prompt in the conclusion. He states that the author is commenting on the sexism of a specific society, however, the meaning of a work should be able to translate to any era and society throughout time. This essay does not look into the play with depth and lacks the caliber of writing that would be expected.

C: Right off from the start this essay has technical errors; NEVER restate the prompts and ALWAYS include the author's full name with the first mention of the work's title. This essay does not have a clear thesis in the introductory paragraph. The questioning of identity of the protagonist is completely different than the inward struggle vs. outward conformity mentioned in the prompt. The writer does not discuss the meaning of the work at all and fails to answer the prompt entirely.

Response to Course Materials

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are finished! We finally finished reading and analyzing the play... kind of. I don't think our class actually came up with a theme statement for the play, which supports our title as the least-productive class! Overall, I really liked the play. I missed a lot of class over the past couple of weeks, so I think I may have missed quite a bit of class discussion and analysis. This is a real bummer because out of all of the works that we have gone over in class, this one may be the one that we could use the most during the AP exam essay. Like what I said in the previous RCM post, when we were in the middle of our discussion process, R&G really tripped me up. Now I am contemplating the meaning of life during basically every past-time, from long car rides to the boring parts of physics class. Who am I kidding? I contemplate the meaning of life in every part of Physics class. That shit is boring.

The next thing we did on blogger was our peer reviews. I got some interesting comments from some interesting people, which is always fun. I also got some great feedback that I am definitely going to use during my editing session. Last time we got comments, I completely forgot to do my blog revisions on time and it totally came back to bite me! Not happening again, and this time I'll do even better. Just as Jimmy Carter once said, "You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can."

Frankenstein was also started during this past couple of weeks. I have yet to form an opinion on the book. I also would like to point out that this is the first work that we have read that was not created primarily to be performed on stage!

We also found out through the Kahoots how terrible we actually are at learning on our own. The
whole Critical lenses and literary eras was difficult, but I think I got the jest of it.

Open prompts are getting a LOT easier. The second time around, I kind of had a feel for what I was supposed to be doing. I also think that my essay that I wrote turned out 100x better. I went to Schuler's on a Sunday afternoon (it was surprisingly not busy) and sat in the corner and got to work. I may have gotten too deep on the open prompt, but hey you only live once, right?

Open Prompt Part Two: 2004

2004 Prompt: Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Open Prompt Part One: 2004 Student Responses

2004 Prompt: Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

N: This essay on the novel, Candide, is very persuasive on the topic of how the main character manages to raise  question, answer it, and not answer it at the same time. Much like the philosopher who wrote the novel in the first place, the author of this essay leaves the answer to the question open to interpretation. I mostly think that this is a good thing. Additionally, I got the feeling that the essay-writer had a list of words that they were going to use on their AP exam. Overall the author lacks originality and is generally repetitive.

J: While the writer makes understanding the novel easy for the reader, he may have dwelled on the plot more than needed, ultimately creating a defect in analysis. Well, to be quite honest, this essay is just like every other one. Too general (due to the lack of time), too vague (due to lack of physical materials during the thought processing), and poorly articulated (due to the fact that it was written by a high schooler). Needs work.

UU: too general not enough plot points. This author is incredibly vague with everything that he brings to the essay. The plot is hardly discussed, which disrupts the reader due to the fact that we are not expected to be familiar with any work that is being brought up in the essays. The theme statement is also vague, in that I have no idea what it actually is. Finally, the relation to answering the prompt is also incredible inadequate because it leaves the question too open. No novel goes without a purpose, and while contemplation is required upon finishing, the resolutions that the reader reaches should be alike in some ways. This essay was also way too short and failed to expand on idea properly.

Summary and Analysis of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Author
Tom Stoppard

Setting
1. Traveling along an undistinguished road to Elsinore
2. Elsinore
3. The boat to England
*In reality, the entire play takes place within the theater car*

Characters
Rosencrantz: Gentleman and childhood friend of Hamlet. Simple-minded, content, adventurous and analyzing but remains reserved in expression.
Guildenstern: Gentleman and childhood friend of Hamlet. Tries way too hard to seem educated and powerful. Constantly in battle with, and disconnected to the intellectual concepts of the world.
The Player: Leader of the Tragedians. Constantly in power and in the position of manipulation with the other characters.
Tragedians: Group of traveling actors.

Plot

Act One

1. R & G play a game of coins and banter
2. They realize that they were sent for, but fail to remember what for.
3. The Player and the Tragedians are introduced and offer to perform child pornography. The Player manipulates R & G into allowing them to perform in Elsinore through a bet.
4. Suddenly, they arrive in Elsinore and are thrown into the middle of the first confrontation between Hamlet and Ophelia, the proceed to become involved in the drama of Hamlet. 
5. "off-stage" they try to play the question game but fail, then are reinserted into Hamlet.

Act Two

1. Fade in at the end of their conversation with Hamlet, the one where Hamlet makes complete fools of them. "were you sent for?"
2. Try to figure out where they are again using a train of thought referring to the wind and sun, ultimately getting nowhere.
3. Player has long dialogue about what it means to be an actor
4. Hamlet's play disturbs Elsinore and R & G are asked to look for Polonius' body
5. They "capture" him and are ordered to escort him to England.

Act Three

1. On the boat to England R & G read the letter they were given and discover that they are escorting Hamlet to his death.
2. Hamlet switches out the letters and escape from the ship with a bunch of pirates; The Tragedians appear on the ship
3. Guildenstern kills the Player, but, to G's surprise, it was a fake death with a stage prop (example of how the Player is in control)
4. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead
5. Horatio gives final speech in Hamlet and the lights fall.

Quotes
"Words, words. They're all we have to go on." (41) -Guildenstern
This is something that G says during one of his rambling banters with R. From the reader's perspective, this statement is very true. Everything in the textual version of the play is written out in words, We aren't watching the play, so we have no visual aid other than the literal lettering. This is important because there is so much in this play that can be overlooked and misunderstood because we are not physically watching it, much like how R & G are often left in the dark. Here is a connection between the text-audience and the characters.

Theme
Okay, so here is the thing. We didn't really finish this in our class, so I don't really have anything specific to write about. HOWEVER, the concept of this play's theme is not totally lost because I managed to write my open prompt essay blog post using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. So, when it comes to AP essay studying time, the sure-fire option for me will be to designate 3-4 hours of staring at a wall and contemplating the meaning of life in accordance to this play. That's basically what I did in class, and I think it did me wonders. Here, ambiguity and disorganization is key.

Response to Course Materials

Well it has been a long while since the last time that we  responded to course materials. Before Christmas! Wow.

A long long time ago we were finishing up Hamlet, and I remember like 3 weeks of discussion. I really like Hamlet over all. The whole idea of the play is pretty easy to relate to: young fella being forced to come home and deal with all the unbearable drama that he wanted to escape when he initially left. Anybody else feel the same way? I know that just being a high schooler on the cusp of graduation fosters feelings similar to our prince Hamlet.

Final Exams were not at all bad in this class. At all. I was really pleased with my group considering we had such a hard time figuring out what we were actually going to talk about... I wish we could have group projects for finals in all of my classes!

Something that we recently started doing on our blogs is open prompt posts. This is new to me, I didn't really know how to do them really, so I winged it. At least part one was harder for me because I am TERRIBLE at editing/criticizing other people's work especially on AP essays. The part two blog post was easier because I just treated it like writing a free response essay, it was probably terrible but there was no hour of contemplation before beginning. Overall, I think they will become easier the more that we do them.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. We started reading, finished reading, and started discussing the play and it certainly is interesting. I think this may be the hardest work that we have read so far because so much of the content relies on stage direction and visual aid that you can't really get from just reading it aloud as a class. I would also like to comment on how depressing our general discussions in class have been. I kept catching myself zoning out and pondering the meaning of life. At least its sixth hour so I'm not out of it for the rest of my classes. Is there a God? Is there a point? Do we have free will? Even if we do have free will, what is the point of using it if it is for nothing in the end? This play is tripping me out.

Open Prompt Part Two: 2003

2003 Prompt: According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.

Open Prompt Part One: 2003 Student Responses

2003 Prompt:
According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.

Summary and Analysis of Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Author

William Shakespeare

Setting

The setting of Hamlet is in Elsinore, Denmark, and is centered around the royal court. Late middle ages.

Characters

Hamlet: Prince of Denmark

Claudius: King of Denmark, and Hamlet's Uncle

Gertrude: the Queen; Hamlet's mother, and recently remarried

The ghost: the late King, Hamlet's father

Polonius: an elderly Councilor of State

Laertes: son of Polonius

Ophelia: daughter of Polonius

Horatio: Hamlet's friend

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: courtiers, and formerly fellow students of Hamlet

Fortinbras: Prince of Norway