I Lack Depth? Three Levels of Analysis

When I teach, I'm constantly experimenting with new approaches. Occasionally, I surprise myself with something that really works. In a literature class, a student asked me a very straightforward question:

"what do teachers mean when they say that my essay needs 'more depth'?

Usually, 'your essay needs more depth' is a euphemism that teachers use for 'you didn't read the book'. But this student knew the material very well and it was clear that they were looking for a definition of 'depth'. My answer led to this simple and powerful thinking tool. The "three levels of analysis" approach to reading.

Level 1 - The Story

What happened? The beginning, middle, end, characters, and conflict. This is usually easy to spot since the majority of stories in our culture are obsessed with the audience 'getting it'. But there is nothing inherently easy about this level of analysis. Simply grasping the story of some work is a major accomplishment.

Level 1 Questions:
What happened in the story?
What were the most important parts?

Level 2 - The Author

When I was in high school I hated considering the 'author's intentions' since it mangled my own personal interpretation of the story. Nonetheless, an understanding of the author is an important component to critical thinking. For instance, you can add depth to your understanding of Kosinski's The Painted Bird by discovering why he chose a child as a protagonist. For additional depth, understand the historical context (post-Holocaust) as well as the rationale for banning the book in Poland for 23 years.

Level 2 Questions:
Considering their life, why did the author write this work?
What did the author want us to think and feel?

Level 3 - Critical Analysis

These are our interpretations of the text with a particular emphasis on how it fits into the big picture. This often leads to discussing significance that the author did not directly intend (for instance if Charles Dickens should be considered a feminist). Level 3 requires an articulate worldview and most people are intimidated to begin their own school of thought. The easiest method for level 3 analysis is to study a popular critical worldview, such as a feminist, Marxist, or psychoanalytical perspective, and look for answers to their questions. One of my students wrote an interesting paper that approached KRS-One's Sound of Da Police as a postcolonial scholar.

Level 3 Questions:
What were the author's blindspots?
What does this story tell us about our culture?

Finally,

This approach made me realize that we teach these levels throughout a student's life without explicitly stating it. Children are expected to simply regurgitate the details of the plot. High school students are trained to consider the author's intentions. And University students learn to read texts through different critical approaches (Marxist, postcolonial, feminist etc.)

A hard-working high school student can get hung up on the first level of analysis. A sure indicator of this is that they treat the characters as if they were real people. This leads to theses about what characters should have done:

In Great Expectations, Pip would be happier if he forgot about Estella.

While this essay might have exceptional clarity and proof it lacks depth because it analyzes the plot and argues for different events. (as opposed to accepting the story as a fixed world with each event deliberately constructed by the author). What they should be arguing is:

Charles Dickens is trying to show his readers that Pip would be happier if he forgot about Estella.

This might seem like a slight variation but it is, in fact, a major shift in analysis -from the first level of story to the second level of the author's intentions. This allows the student to demonstrate an understanding of the author's life (historical context) and style (their contribution to the literary tradition). Finally, a similar thesis, which includes the third level of analysis, can look like this:

Dickens' choice to show his readers that Pip does not need Estella establishes him as an early feminist author.

That thesis is 'deep' considering that the student needs to demonstrate an understanding of all three levels: the plot, Dickens' intentions, and feminism.

Happy essay writing.

What is the What (33%)

I'm a very severe critic and few books that I read receive a passing grade. Recently, I've been thinking about my harsh review of Dave Eggers' book What is the What. It's hard to accuse the talented Eggers of taking a thoughtless, imperial approach but here I am.

The story is roughly based on Valentino Achak Deng's life and provides Western readers a way to learn about Sudan without reading Wikipedia. I find it hilarious (in a sad way) that both Eggers and Deng are clearly used to explaining that the book is not about 'Darfur'. My great great grand, Darfur is a region in Sudan where the media lets us know that there is authentic African "ethnic conflict" and "genocide". It is a catchphrase amoung wealthy white people who seek to create meaning in their own lives by toying with the idea of being the saviour of a distant, exotic 'other'. At one point in their life every wealthy white person imagines traveling to a far off land to save the Wretched of the Earth. This is an echo from the age of imperialism when Europeans cast themselves in a morality play as the rescuers of inferior Africans.

There's nothing wrong with caring about strangers but do we have to play make believe? Let's take a look at how What is the What was created.

The book is based on interviews with Deng combined with Eggers' research about the Lost Boys. It's a tough sell since it's a fictionlized memoir. Eggers constructs a character but keeps Deng's real name. What? Why not simply write a truthful biography? Well, in the introduction, Deng claims they turned to fiction because he couldn't faithfully reconstruct his childhood conversations. Smoke and mirrors. Don't trust Deng, he'll say anything to get you to donate to his fund and raise awareness about the plight of his loved ones in Sudan.

And rightfully so. There's something f*cked up going on here. The fact is, Deng's real story wasn't tragic enough. There's a real undercurrent in this novel that Eggers and Deng are selling tragedy. The more horrendous the better. The story is about Deng's difficult life. He experienced terrible things as an adult and as a child. But what's more tragic than him having to watch a childhood friend being eaten by a lion? What if it happens two or three times? The book becomes a sensational highlight reel.

"Sometimes I’d [Eggers] read a human rights report about a certain incident during the civil war, and would ask Val if he knew someone who had experienced that incident, or something like it. Sometimes he did know someone, and we could go from there, but other times I had to imagine it on my own. Some of these scenes were necessary to include, even if Val didn’t have personal experience with them." (see interview)

I think there's a more interesting story about how someone who survives an experience that is clearly traumatic and tragic would have to dress it up to sell it. I'm surprised Eggers wasn't tuned to that frequency. The book sacrifices sincerity for sensationalism. In the end, it encourages us to play imperialist make believe by encouraging us to gawk at tragedy.

*I was moved by the scene with Noriaki Takada's family.

Cool War

My brother proposed a video game in which you play as a mage who works a desk job to pay his mortgage. I added that the purpose of the game should be for the mage to purchase a video game so that they can play as a mage struggling to pay his mortgage within the game. He accused me of not knowing what's cool. What followed was a battle of images where I sought to use my knowledge of cool to attack his stronghold and push him off of cool hill. Little did I know that he was prepared to parry each attack. Who has won the battle of the cool (or are we all losers in this crazy thing called war)?

Round 1
My attack
His parry

Round 2
My attack
His parry

Round 3
My attack
His parry

Round 4
My attack
His parry

Round 5
My attack
His parry

So, who is the king of cool hill?

Serialized Novel

The previous entry is part of a project that I have embarked on with several friends. Inspired in part by the discovery that Charles Dickens wrote serialized novels (in bi-weekly installments for a newspaper) my friends and I are writing our own novels -with a new chapter every two weeks.

Care to join?

Chapter 1

"Identification." No answer from the stranger. "Identify." She ignores the security desk as she walks across the lobby. Her steps echo in the empty white dome. "Intruder. Who do you think you are?" The night guard puts his knuckles on the desk and rises to his full height. An animated tattoo of a snake crawling through a skull loops on his muscular forearm. It is his business to appear menacing. He has practiced this face in front of the mirror. He puts on his hat and authoritative tone. "This is your first warning. If you take another step you should know that I’m authorized to-"

Jana Berrin turns and gives him a brief glance. His hat is instantly under his arm as he looks straight ahead. His body becomes rigid like a soldier being inspected and his tone shifts to apologetic. "I didn't realize you'd be here so late Executive Berrin."

"I'm not here. I refuse to work late. Connect the executive lift." She watches as he nervously reaches for the switch. He realizes that he has summoned it too late. He should have recognized her, the instant she arrived. Now he has wasted precious seconds of an Executive’s time. She stands still and watches him. Does he dare proceed with regulations? He is painfully aware of each inefficient passing second in the large, soundless lobby.

“Memento mori.” The night guard’s mind snaps frantically into action to craft a response. Unfortunately its only conclusion is that he should say something relevant and clever immediately. Mercifully, she points to the snake slithering through the skull on his arm.
“My tattoo?” He asks. She smiles,
“A reminder that we are mortal?”
“Oh. No, it means I was wounded in action. From my time in the service. My unit’s retirement gift.”
“Were you regen’d by OrMod?”
“Yes Executive, by an OrMod joint project with Build.” She whistles respectfully as she inspects his body. They share a smile.
“Your hand? This arm?”
“My face.”
“No...” Fascinated, she moves closer to appreciate the detailed wrinkles on the cheekbone, the hair follicles on his upper lip, and the light web of blood vessels in the eye.
“Yes. It wasn’t a consumer procedure.” He adds with pride. “It ranked as the first 99 restoration.” She nods with an expert’s understanding of the significance. Berrin had pushed for OrMod to prioritize their development of facial reconstruction while the general market was still focused on skin pigments.
“To think they could have sculpted you any face and you wanted this ugly one back.” She winks, he laughs.
“If you think this is bad you should have seen me after the blast. All this meat was split open and peeled back-” He catches himself. “Forgive me, Executive Berrin, my manners…” She raises a hand in polite dismissal. He has heard about Jana Berrin from the other night shift staff. He didn’t believe that they had actually spoken to an Executive. Yet now he sees for himself the friendly person behind the pretentious regal portraits.
The elevator arrives; she nods and turns to leave.

"Executive Berrin, since it’s after hours and since we're supposed to be on high alert. I'll need a full sample." She turns and he immediately realizes his mistake. Her face carries the cold indifference of the powerful. He becomes aware that he’s risking his employment. Greater still, his entire consumer relationship with OrMod is being weighed in that look.

Then she smiles, amused at being slowed down by these common measures. They know that the building’s automated Sentinel is actively archiving both of them. The floor is measuring their weight, and a myriad of hidden scanners are correlating bone length, capillary maps, and registered eyeprints. Nonetheless, she offers her arm.

He approaches but hesitates to touch her skin. She is Executive class. Jana Berrin takes the cylinder from his hand without any sign of frustration and injects herself. Then she inserts the sample into the terminal. Immediately the reading announces a 94% match. She smiles and walks toward the elevator.

“Your cloak. That’s why I didn’t recognize you. You’re wearing a new cloak.”
“Perceptive.” The lift door closes.

The night guard sits at his desk and relives the experience. His mind practices the story, deciding what parts his co-workers need not hear. Across the city, Jana Berrin is sleeping. At the top of the OrMod tower, a figure with Jana Berrin’s body, Rei Kent’s eyes, and Daria-Zeh Motema’s memories moves proficiently through security and into the core office.

Desensitive

I have killed many things. Terrorists, counterterrorists, pedestrians, goombas, orcs, Pharaohman, soldiers, the Flood, robots, The Squids (the entire gang), Odin, and many more. I have no doubt that a crude goal (get to the end, gain XP, clear the screen of enemies, beat the clock) creates a mentality where living things are transformed into expendable obstacles. Indeed, in some video games I go out of my way to kill things in order to improve my character's stats. This is the process of desensitization that mainstream news networks advertise.

I have yet to hear about the higher brow literary desensitization.

I was reading Kosinski's The Painted Bird last night and I reached the part, early in the book, where the main character watches a group of boys torture a squirrel by lighting it on fire. I wasn't emotionally affected at all because I found myself musing over what the author wanted the squirrel to symbolize.

Desensitization is the process of accepting violence. This occurs when it is overshadowed by a goal (as in video games and war) or by assigning it symbolic value (as in literature and politics).

While looking for an image of a Goomba being stomped I stumbled on these two wonderful sites:
Stitched pixel art
Video Game haLOLz

China's Female Athletes

I hear a lot about Phelps and Bolt and not enough about China's female athletes who are dominating the Olympics. Take a look at the medal count.

Right now they account for 30/55 medals for China -including 17 gold. (The closest competitors are the female athletes from the USA. They have garnered 29 medals -5 gold)

I can understand why our North American bullshit tyrannical body type culture would turn a blind eye to women's weightlifting. But, c'mon Capitalism, this is the time for shooters. Give those FPS video game playing 13-year-old boys a role model like Du Li. Who wouldn't want to sport that sweet jersey?

So, Cap, where can I get one?