Prose Close Reading Essay 2 (236-238)

Prose Passage 2: (236-238)

            The World Controller Mustapha Mond in Brave New World is characterized by his almost prophetic nature; with access to restricted books from the past, the knowledge of the basis for the current society, and the power to control the society’s future in his hands, Mond should be one of the most reliable characters in the novel. Huxley, however, uses this characterization along with repetition and contrasting diction to create irony, in order to show that the wise Mustapha Mond is just as conditioned as the rest of society.

            Huxley begins by portraying Mond to be one of the most knowledgeable men in the New World society. In a novel where the majority of intelligent commentary comes from the narrator himself, Huxley, it’s a surprise to see Mond discussing “political inefficiency” with ease, and he immediately stands out as a character that should be reliable simply for his extensive credentials (Huxley 237). In addition, Mond is not only aware of the conditioning that occurs in society, but is the cause of that conditioning; the man in charge of forcing citizens into happiness should have a thorough understanding of the workings of the society itself.

            Despite such an assumption, however, or perhaps because of this assumption, Huxley imbues devices such as anaphora, polyptoton, and anadiplosis to shed light on the facade of the World Controller’s supposed supreme knowledge. Though Mustapha Mond acts as though he has the hidden secrets to why the dystopian society is acceptable, it is crucial to note that these phrases of repetition render Mond to sound just as conditioned as the rest of the mindless society hypnotized to believe what the higher-ups believe they must. Mond’s characterization as an all-knowing being contrasts directly with his claim that “Passion and neurasthenia mean instability. And instability means the end of civilization”, a claim that relies solely on the idea that one concept leads to another, and the next leads to another, and the last leads to the destruction of all mankind (Huxley 237). The statement can’t be qualified as hyperbole; Huxley purposefully has Mond validate the conditioning of society through repetition in order to reveal that he is similarly conditioned through repetition, whether it is from an even more authoritative official or from his own attempts at rationalizing why an entire population should be forced to feel happiness.  

            A key component of Mond’s rationalization is that while society in the present has had to sacrifice ideals of nobility and heroism, the cost is more than worth it to banish instability. When Mond describes the society of the past with the society of his present, however, the diction used to describe the past is far more appealing than that used to describe the present. Mond proudly notes that current society is free from “objects of love to be fought for or defended” and instead is able to focus on “the natural impulses” (Huxley 237). Though Mond is making a strong case for the maintenance of stability, his word choice doesn’t make a strong case for the maintenance of humanity, and it is that which reveals that the all-powerful, all-knowing World Controller Mustapha Mond is not wise enough to know which is more desirable: stability or humanity.

            Huxley may have characterized Mond as a near prophetic intellect, but it is this characterization that allows Huxley to create irony in what the expectations of Mond’s intelligence are and what the realities of Mond’s intelligence are. Repetition and contrasting diction illuminate the great Mustapha Mond’s secret: that he, too, is conditioned to believe what he believes.

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman Close Reading Chart

	Examples from Text	Analysis
Linguistic	“the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns” (Whitman 2) “add, divide, and measure them,” (Whitman 3)	The stars, something that are meant to be distant and out-of-reach and more beautiful because of that, have been simplified to numbers on a page, organized and filed and grouped like something Earthly—the whole nature of the stars has been lost.
Semantic	“When I heard…When the proofs…When I was shown…When I sitting” (Whitman 1-4) “much applause in the lecture-/room” (Whitman 4-5)	Anaphora within the first four lines creates repetition, emphasizes how uninspiring a lecture about stars is when compared with the real thing. Enjambment in the lines creates a sense of distorted time, stretched out to accommodate speaker’s attitude towards the lecture room
Structural	“I heard the learn’d” (Whitman 1) “rising and gliding” (Whitman 7) “mystical moist…from time to time” (Whitman 8)	Consonance creates a dull, monotonous effect with the single syllable rhyme, whereas the double syllable rhyme is smoother, more natural, and more appealing to the tongue. Alliteration is used as well, along with another reference to time, which may be to contrast the difference in opinion on time outside vs. in the lecture room.
Cultural	“the learn’d astronomer,” (Whitman 1) “he lectured with much applause in the lecture-/room,” (Whitman 4-5)	In general, we tend to find academic experts to be the most fascinating, simply because their knowledge of their field is so clearly erudite; however, the assertion here is that no matter how intelligent man is, he still can’t compare with what comes perfectly in nature itself.

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman Close Reading Essay

Read the following poem carefully. Then write a cohesive essay in which you show how the language of each stanza reveals the perceptions and feelings of the speaker.

            In “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” Walt Whitman inundates the first five lines with enjambment and repetition to contrast between the monotony of the lecture room and the fascination of the night sky, affirming that man’s attempts to analyze and explain facets of nature is incomparable to the beauty of nature itself.

            While enjambment occurs within every line of the poem, as the poem itself is only one sentence, the longest lines of enjambment are all within the description of the astronomer’s discussion of the stars, where the astronomer “lectured with much applause in the lecture/room” (Whitman 4-5). The length of each of these lines slows down the reading of the poem, and mimics how slowly time is passing by in the lecture room. Such a slow pacing creates a tone of apathy; there is a clear distance between the events in the room and any connection to the speaker. Though the speaker concedes that the astronomer is well-versed in the analysis of the stars, he is still unable to immerse himself in the “charts and diagrams”, to ever truly be drawn into what the lecturer is saying, instead only detachedly paying attention in the hopes that the mechanical analysis of stars will soon end (Whitman 3).

                        The enjambment of the first lines is reinforced by the anaphora of “When”, a word that precedes every descriptor of the events within the lecture room (Whitman 1-4). The repetitive use of the word before every clause creates a very static pace within the poem, one that is reflective of the dullness within the lecture-room itself. By using anaphora within these lines, the speaker’s sense of boredom is conveyed in that everything shown in the lecture room is uninteresting to the point of monotony, that the supposedly impressive figures the astronomer is presenting are nothing more than numbers on a page to the speaker; the beauty of the stars is diminished to nothing more than “proofs” and “figures” (Whitman 2).

            The speaker is, on the other hand, more than engaged when he observes the night sky “from time to time”, a notice that creates a tranquil ambience in the last half of the poem (Whitman 8). The phrasing of time now is not that of something painfully slow but something no longer of consequence—the speaker doesn’t feel the minutes passing by. There is nothing forced about the speaker’s observation of these stars, unlike the stars in the lecture room. The contrast between the speaker’s indifference towards the lecturer and his marvel at the night sky is conveyed by the enjambed lines, as time is distorted in each to adapt to the speaker’s attitude towards each.

            Whitman’s assertion that the simple beauty in observing stars is exponentially preferable to hearing a man explain their nature is embodied within Huxley’s message that man’s attempts at scientific progress tear away at man’s natural beauty and humanness. Rather than complicating what occurs perfectly in nature with scientific discoveries and mathematical proofs, Whitman, becoming "tired and sick" (Whitman 5) leaves the room to appreciate things as they are, not for what man has explained them to be. This theme directly relates to Huxley's perspective on the effect of progress on mankind, for as laudable as modern technologies are, they cannot compare with “the sea in peace”, with nature at its finest (Huxley 90). Once something is tampered with by man's hands-Bokanovsky's Process rendering natural birth superfluous as "mass production is at last applied to biology" (Huxley 7), a starry night dissected and explained "with much applause in the lecture room"(Whitman 4)-it loses its original meaning, and the singular beauty that came with it.

"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg Close Reading Chart

	Examples from Text	Analysis
Linguistic	“Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness!” (Ginsberg 3) “Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows!” (Ginsberg 7-8) “the wild eyes! the holy yells! They bad farewell! They jumped off the roof! to solitude! (Ginsberg 34)	Appositives characterize Moloch as all the following phrases, clearly can derive a negative connotation around this figure. The contrast between a jailhouse and a Congress shows irony; jailhouse symbolizes caged bird, Congress symbolizes free eagle. The reference to suicide in the lines connects Moloch’s actions with those of mankind, as both seem to strive to end the human race in turmoil.
Semantic	“Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo!” (Ginsberg 10-12) “Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks!” (Ginsberg 16)	The personification of Moloch is almost in a reversed style; rather than say that the machinery of Moloch is its mind, its already assumed that Moloch has a mind and blood and fingers—the humanistic imagery to describe Moloch falls in line with the idea that Moloch and mankind are one in the same.
Structural	“Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river! Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions!” (Ginsberg 29)	Each exclamatory remark serves as a point of emphasis for the word directly before it, which means that every single phrase within this section is emphasized. This creates an almost panicked air, almost imagine a public speaker screaming at the audience as a call to action.
Cultural	“Moloch! Robot apartments! invisible suburbs! skeleton treasuries! blind capitals! demonic industries! spectral nations! invincible madhouses!” (Ginsberg 24-25)	The contrast between the familiar nouns and the unfamiliar adjectives serves to characterize that what we believe industrialization to be—comfortable—is not what it is at all. Rather, it should be viewed as a dangerous, alien force with the potential to bring about man’s ruination.

"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg Close Reading Essay

Read carefully the following poem by Allen Ginsberg about civilization. Then write an essay in which you describe the speaker’s attitude toward civilization. Using specific references to the text, show how the use of language reveals the speaker’s attitude.

            In “Howl”, Allen Ginsberg uses exclamatory phrases and reversed personification to create a tone of desperation, a plea for man to reject Moloch—the horrors of civilization incarnate—before it destroys that which makes a human, human.

            Every sentence within Part II ends with an exclamation point in order to lace Ginsberg’s warnings with a trace of panic. The appositives in “Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness!” are all exclamatory, and serve to emphasize the immediacy with which Moloch is pervading modern society, and how it’s necessary to take just as immediate action (Ginsberg II. 2) before Moloch’s destructive hand takes over all mankind. The poem itself is an appeal to man to understand the horrors that civilization and technology are enacting, and such an appeal requires a degree of passion, passion that Ginsberg conveys through exclamation. The pacing of the poem itself is reliant on the multiple exclamatory statements. When it is noted that Moloch has disposed of “Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions!”, the individual exclamation points create a sense of acceleration, of escalation, that the list of spiritual and mental goods Moloch has crushed does not and will not stop (Ginsberg II. 30).

            Ginsberg not only expresses the terrors of Moloch through exclamatory statements but through the personification of Moloch as well, granting Moloch—who has been identified as the dark heart of civilization—characteristics of something sentient, something living, something human. Moloch is given a “mind of pure machinery…blood of running money” to reinforce that not only is Moloch a symbol for the consequences of technology, but that it is not stagnant (Ginsberg II. 10). Because Moloch is given the qualities of a living organism, it must be capable of growth. By personifying Moloch into such a being, Ginsberg argues that Moloch is not a problem that will go away on its own—rather, it’s a problem that will continue to manifest itself. If mankind does not put an end to Moloch, Ginsberg asserts that Moloch will put an end to mankind.
            The similarities not only thematically but structurally between Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Huxley’s works are ubiquitous, and compound on one another to reinforce the identical themes of progress ruining mankind. Both Moloch and Belial act as divine figures interceding in the minds of men with the goal of pushing mankind into chaos and self-destruction. Both figures intervene through "the vast stone of war...pure machinery" (Ginsberg II. 9-11), with "flesh subordinated to iron and mind made the slave of wheel" (Huxley 52); in essence, both demonic figures dominate men through machines and technology, the very things society finds most representative of progress. And why do both Huxley and Ginsberg find progress to be so disadvantageous? Again, the reasoning is similar. Everything that makes life worth living, everything that makes humans and their experiences what they are, go "down the American river! Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions!" (Ginsberg II. 30-31), as all are sacrificed, in some sense, to the false god Moloch. Mankind unconsciously sacrifices to Belial as well with "the value of the individual soul fading away...old compunctions and compassions evaporating" (Huxley 56) to make room for the ideals the portrayed evil god wishes mankind to see. Enslaved by the gods of technology and progress, worshiping consumerism and mass production, humans in the works of both Huxley and Ginsberg portray the slow but sure downward spiral of mankind.

Prose Multiple Choice Set Questions and Answers

AP Multiple Choice 1 (227-229)

            “’Because, finally, I preferred this,’ the Controller answered. ‘I was given the choice; to be sent to an island, where I could have got on with my pure science, or to be taken on to the Controllers’ Council with the prospect of succeeding in due course to an actual Controllership. I chose this and let the science go.’ After a little silence, ‘Sometimes,’ he added, ‘I rather regret the science. Happiness is a hard master—particularly other people’s happiness. A much harder master, if one isn’t conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth.’ He sighed, fell silent again, then continued in a brisker tone, ‘Well, duty’s duty, One can’t consult one’s own preference. I’m interested in truth, I like science. But truth’s a menace, science is a public danger. As dangerous as it’s been beneficent. It has given us the stablest equilibrium in history. Chinas’ was hopelessly insecure by comparison; even the primitive matriarchies weren’t steadier than we are. Thanks, I repeat, to science. But we can’t allow science to undo its own good work. That’s why we so carefully limit the scope of its researches—that’s why I almost got sent to an island. We don’t allow it to deal with any but the most immediate problems of the moment. All other enquiries are most sedulously discouraged. It’s curious,’ he went on after a little pause, ‘to read what people in the time of Our Ford used to write about scientific progress. They seemed to have imagined that it could be allowed to go on indefinitely, regardless of everything else. Knowledge was the highest good, truth the supreme value; all the rest was secondary and subordinate. True, ideas were beginning to change even then. Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t. And, of course, whenever the masses seized political power, then it was happiness rather than truth and beauty that mattered. Still, in spite of everything, unrestricted scientific research was still permitted. People still went on talking about truth and beauty as though they were the sovereign goods. Right up to the time of the Nine Years’ War. That made them change their tune all right. What’s the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when t eh anthrax bombs are popping all around you? That was when science first began to be controlled—after the Nine Years’ War. People were ready to have even their appetites controlled then. Anything for a quiet life. We’ve gone on controlling ever since. It hasn’t been very good for truth, of course. But it’s been very good for happiness. One can’t have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for. You’re paying for it, Mr. Watson—paying because you happen to be too much interested in beauty. I was too much interested in truth; I paid too.’

            ‘But you didn’t go to an island,’ said the Savage, breaking a long silence.

            The Controller smiled. ‘That’s how I paid. By choosing to serve happiness. Other people’s—not mine. It’s lucky,’ he added, after a pause, ‘that there are such a lot of islands in the world. I don’t know what we should do without them. Put you all in the lethal chamber, I suppose. By the way, Mr. Watson, would you like a tropical climate? The Marquesas, for example; or Samoa? Or something rather more bracing?’

            Helmholtz rose from his pneumatic chair. ‘I should like a thoroughly bad climate,’ he answered. ‘I believe one would write better if the climate were bad. If there were a lot of wind and storms, for example…’

            The Controller nodded his approbation. ‘I like your spirit, Mr. Watson. I like it very much indeed. As much as I officially disapprove of it.’

1. The ‘it’ in “As much as I officially disapprove of it” refers to

A. Mr. Watson’s spirit

B. Mr. Watson’s enjoyment of bad climates

C. Mr. Watson’s choice of island

D. Mr. Watson’s intelligence

E. Mr. Watson’s attitude towards the government

The specific allusion to Ford in line 15 best serves to

A. interest the reader with a modern reference

B. blame mass production for people’s shifting views

C. draw a parallel between the speaker and Ford

D. make the novel more relatable

E. reinforce the novel’s satirical purpose

3. The speaker believes all of the following except

A. that science is beneficial in small doses

B. in sacrificing truth and beauty for stability

C. that a comfortable life is admirable

D. that conditioning and controlling are not necessary for happiness

E. that a society free of worries is best

4. From lines 38-42, the reader can infer that

A. Mond wishes he were on an island

B. unfortunate circumstances bring about better writing

C. Mond secretly desires more people like Helmholtz

D. Helmholtz’s choice is admirable

E. Mond disapproves of Helmholtz

5. Mond perceives progress as

I. conditioned happiness

II. superfluous

III. scientific progress

A. II. only

B. III. only

C. I. and II. only

D. I. and III. only

E. I. II. and III.

Prose Multiple Choice Answer Guide

·         The correct answer is A. Mustapha Mond says “I like your spirit, Mr. Watson.”

·         B. is incorrect because Mr. Watson only states that he writes better in bad climates.

·         C. is incorrect because it was not Mr. Watson’s island choice but the reason behind his island choice that Mustapha Mond liked.

·         D. is incorrect because Mond is not appreciative of Mr. Watson’s intelligence but what he wishes to do with that intellect.

·         E. is incorrect because Mr. Watson’s attitude towards government was not mentioned.

·         The correct answer is E. It is clear when the author mentions that the seed was planted from the time of Ford that such values are mirrored in modern society.

·         A. is incorrect because it is too generic; any modern reference could accomplish the purpose of interesting the reader.

·         B. is incorrect because, though mass production is mentioned, Mond specifically states that science as a whole is the culprit.

·         C. is incorrect because, while a parallel is being drawn between the two separate societies, the speaker is not comparing himself to Ford.

·         D. is incorrect because it is too generic; any modern reference could make the novel more relatable.

·         The correct answer is C. Though Mond believes a comfortable life is necessary to ensure happiness, he does not find such people admirable.

·         A. is incorrect because Mond discusses how minimal science benefits society.

·         B. is incorrect because Mond specifically states that truth and beauty must be traded for comfort and happiness.

·         D. is incorrect because Mond believes a collection of individuals with differing opinions must be conditioned and controlled to be happy

·         E. is incorrect because Mond mentions that after the Nine Years’ War, a worry-free society did come about, and that is the society Mond approves of.

·         The correct answer is D. Mond likes Helmholtz’s spirit, therefore approves of it

·         A. is incorrect because Mond has accepted the trade-off between science on a private island and his position as World Controller

·         B. is incorrect because the statement applies only to Helmholtz, not to society as a whole

·         C. is incorrect because, though Mond can appreciate Helmholtz’s fighting spirit, he needs most of society to be mindless in order to ensure their happiness

·         E. is incorrect because Mond says he officially disapproves of Helmholtz, not that he actually does

·         The correct choice is A. II. is the only correct answer because Mond believes current society is perfect, the “stablest equilibrium in history”. There is, then, no need for progress.

·         All other choices contain I. and III., which are incorrect because I. and III. imply that society needs to progress when Mond asserts that it doesn’t.

Poetry Multiple Choice Set Questions and Answers

AP Multiple Choice 2 (236-238)

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

1. Lines 1-4 are an example of

A. polysyndeton

B. anaphora
C. appositive

D. anadiplosis

E. metaphor

2. The primary purpose of the enjambment in lines 4-5 is to

A. emphasize the word room

B. convey the speaker’s disregard for lectures
C. lengthen the first five lines of the poem
D. contrast lines 1-3 with lines 4-5
E. create a sense of slowed time

3. All of the following characterize the speaker’s attitude except

A. enjoyment of the night sky

B. detached from the lecturer
C. unimpressed by the lecturer
D. bored by the lecturer

E. irritation with the lecturer

4. From the poem, the reader can infer that

A. the speaker is a lover of nature

B. the lecturer is well-renowned
C. the speaker prefers the lecturer to the night sky

D. nature is most beautiful in its original form
E. the lecturer over-analyzed the stars

5. The purpose of the last two lines is to

I. emphasize the night sky’s beauty
II. reiterate the motif of time

III. contrast with the first five lines

A. II. only    B. III. only       C. II. and III. only   D. I. and III. only            E. I. II. and III.

Poetry Multiple Choice Answer Guide

• The correct choice is B. An anaphora is when the same word is used to start subsequent clauses or sentences, as seen in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”
• A. is incorrect because polysyndeton describes different tenses of one word
• C. is incorrect because appositives are multiple nouns or noun phrases
• D. is incorrect because anadiplosis is when the last word and first word of subsequent clauses or sentences are the same
• E. is incorrect because a metaphor is used to compare figuratively

• The correct choice is E. The enjambed lines allow the poem to be read slower, which creates the sense of more time in between events.
• A. is incorrect because the word room does not contribute to author purpose
• B. is incorrect because the speaker is not disregarding lectures in these lines, he is only disinterested in the one lecture he’s attending
• C. is incorrect because the enjambment itself does not add length
• D. is incorrect because lines 1-3 are enjambed as well

• The correct choice is E. Though the speaker was discomfited by the lecturer, there is no evidence to support that the lecturer irritated him.
• A. is incorrect because the speaker notes the perfect silence under the night sky.
• B. is incorrect because the speaker was not drawn into the lecture.
• C. is incorrect because in comparison with the night sky, the speaker was unimpressed with the figures and charts offered by the lecturer.
• D. is incorrect because the lecturer was so lethargic that the speaker left the room.

• The correct choice is E. The speaker discusses the motif of voice between the lecturer’s explanation and the perfect silence in observing the stars, leading to the conclusion that the lecturer actually over-talked the subject of stars.
• A. is incorrect because the speaker enjoys the night sky, not necessarily nature.
• B. is incorrect because no information is given on the lecturer.
• C. is incorrect because the speaker actually prefers the opposite.
• D. is incorrect because this is stating an opinion, not something the speaker believes. The wording is tricky with this answer choice.

• The correct choice is D. The beauty of the night sky is emphasized through the contrast between the first five lines and the last four lines. The tone shift between the two sections denotes a contrast, a contrast made evident as the speaker enjoys himself in the outdoors, whereas he was “tired and sick” in the room.
• All other choices are incorrect because they either contain II. which is incorrect because time is only mentioned once, or they do not contain both I. and III.