The Catcher in the Rye : Critical Lens Essay
In order to complete this essay, you need to ask yourself: What would J.D. Salinger say in response to this quote, and how do you know?
Well, you know because of choices Salinger made when writing (ignore Grant’s protests). What themes are present, and how did he communicate these themes? Why, he communicated them through direct and indirect characterization, symbol, conflict, imagery, juxtaposition, and setting! In order for you to answer this question successfully, you must discuss at least 3 different devices—the organic form of a text suggests that all parts work together for the greater whole.
Please make use of your handouts, DNs, your text, and ME for help—DO NOT use online sources such as sparknotes or pinkmonkey—essays that smack of such sources will find their way to the trashcan.
è Use specific, contextualized, and developed examples
è Integrate all quotes
è Vary your sentences—don’t always start with “he”, vary the length of sentences (remember, short sentences can sound so cool!!!), and don’t sound like a robot—Grant hates robots.
è Try to integrate vocabulary words you’ve been learning—and DO NOT use slash words
è Proofread; I will not make corrections for you, but I will deduct points if errors are present
Choose ONE of the following quotes:
"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the ‘why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how’” (127).
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life - daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual" (122).
What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him" (166).
Above quotations reprinted from:
Frankl, Viktor E., Man's Search for Meaning, Washington Square Press, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1963.