Grace Hagenson

J. Robinson

AP American Literature

23 September 2007

Just how much damage can a group of kids cause? In today’s world, teenagers are not usually given much say in “grown-up affairs.” Perhaps it is thought that anyone under the age of eighteen does not possess enough mental and physical capacity to make a difference. However, there are many cases in which an unjust child can possess too much capability, and if used fully, can wreak havoc. Although Mean Girls and The Crucible are of completely different eras and backgrounds, the same central theme lies at the backbone: an unruly group of teenagers can cause a great amount of destruction. Moreover, one very influential girl can manipulate her peers to do things they may have never considered doing before.

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1952, is a recount of the horror that befell the town of Salem, known to many as the Salem Witch Trials. The girls were motivated out of fear for their town’s harsh religious righteousness.  Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey in 2004, is a tale of five girls that terrorize their high school.  Motivated out of desire for high social standing, the girls stomp through the halls of high school without the slightest consideration of who they are stomping on. It is clear to see that The Crucible and Mean Girls have many structural differences, but the similarities are far more interesting.

First and foremost, both movies wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the fact that a small group of seemingly innocent teenage girls hadn’t lied and manipulated the adults and their peers. Also, both movies have a “leader of the pack”. In The Crucible, the group leader is Abigail, who scares the rest of the girls into lying and turns the blame from them to the older people in the village. In one scene Abigail says in a fury, “Let either of you breathe a word about the other things, and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” (Miller 13) In Mean Girls, the leader of the group is Cady, who is in charge of the other girls and directs the flow of insults at other kids at the high school. During one scene in the movie, Cady says, “I had learned to control everyone around me.” (Mean Girls. Tina Fey. 2004.) Both Abigail and Cady carry on without any regard to a moral conscience and, when caught up in the moment, do things that they probably wouldn’t have previously.

“And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” (Miller, 13) Abigail was a bit different from the other girls. She had a dark past. She was so enthralled with Proctor that she broke the neck of a chicken and drank its blood. I believe it is fair to say that Abigail was an outsider. Likewise, Cady was born in Africa and was a new girl at the school. She knew nothing of the cruelties of the high school world. During one scene in the movie, Cady’s teacher almost loses her job because of a lie that Cady spreads about the teacher dealing drugs.  Despite their exile pasts, both of the girls became insiders. Abigail’s position switched when the girls realized what she was capable of. Cady became Miss. Popularity when she sabotaged Regina, the previous group leader. However their social incline, the two girls were raised to the status of group leader, although previously having been considered a “weirdo.”

The night that Abigail led the other girls in the woods to “dance”, she couldn’t have possibly known the horrendous outcome of what seemed to her a harmless way to make Proctor her man. When the finger was pointed at her, it was only natural for her to point it at someone else. Kill or be killed? Abigail never would have danced in the woods if she had known that Proctor would rather die than have his name ruined. Similarly, Cady didn’t anticipate the outcome of her claim to popularity to be Regina in a wheelchair and the entire school hating her. I can say with confidence that she would have never taken over Regina’s “position” has she known that soon she would have no friends, her parents would think her corrupt, and a rumor that she pushed Regina into an oncoming bus would arise. Both girls ended up with an outcome that they hadn’t intended.

Thus, when my father says to me “kids can’t do anything”, I just laugh at him. Doesn’t he know how much of an impact a steadfast group of teenagers can cause? Although The Crucible was set in an entire village and Mean Girls was only staged in a high school, they have a lot of similarities. In both movies, there is an insider (Cady and Abigail), who by their circumstances, become insiders. These insiders are very persuasive leaders, and can convince the other girls to commit unmoral acts that they wouldn’t have considered before. Both packs of girls run wild and savagely destroy the lives of other people to get what they want. What at first might have seemed innocent to the girls, soon took a sharp turn. Ultimately, in both The Crucible and Mean Girls, a scene of enormous panic and mass hysteria is created by a group of mere teenage girls.

Grace Hagenson

J. Robinson

AP American Literature

6 December 2007

Catherine Barkley: The Product of Many Failed Relationships

“You did say you loved me, didn’t you?” Catherine Barkley queried. It was but her third time seeing Frederic Henry. Because of Hemingway’s promiscuous and failed relationships with women, especially Agnes von Kurowsky, he portrays Catherine Barkley as a foolish and obsessive character throughout his semi-autobiographical novel, A Farewell to Arms. Not only does Catherine appear slightly deranged at the beginning, but she gradually becomes needier and completely devoid of individualism.

 Ernest Hemingway was an American who fought for the Italian force during World War 1, as did his character Frederic Henry. Hemingway and Henry both fell in love with British nurses. In A Farewell to Arms, Catherine Barkley falls in love with Frederic Henry, and never does her love sway. However, Agnes von Kurowsky, Hemingway’s British nurse, left him for an Italian man. In addition to his relationship with Kurowsky, Hemingway was married four times. Many of the events that took place in Frederic Henry’s life were congruent with events that occurred in Hemingway’s life; however, could Hemingway’s failed relationship with Kurowsky have led to the shady characterization of Catherine Barkley?

Initially, readers are introduced to Catherine Barkley, a lonely misanthrope; she is portrayed as a slightly insane damsel in distress. When she meets Henry, Catherine launches into a monologue about her first lover who died in the war. The second time the couple is together, Catherine pleads, “You will be good to me, won’t you?” (27). Hemingway doesn’t include very many details about how Frederic Henry is feeling throughout the novel; however, when Barkley asks this foolish question, Hemingway includes, “What the hell” (27). Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms based mostly upon his life, but naturally he would leave out the part where his British love dumped him. Hemingway’s bitterness and disappointment at the failed relationship between him and Kurowsky led to a slightly deranged and impractical characterization. Agnes must have been crazy, why else would she leave him?

The second visage of Catherine Barkley that readers see is completely obsessive and irresolute. Henry falls madly in love with her, yet she is constantly asking him “Don’t I make you a good wife?” (115). Barkley doesn’t have any quirks of passions of her own, aside from nursing. Everything she does pertains to Henry, saying things like, “You see? I’m good. I do what you want” (106). It is obvious, however, that Kurowsky wasn’t obsessed with Hemingway, as she did dump him. Yet, Hemingway characterizes Barkley, Kurowsky’s equal in the novel, as a love-possessed guppy. Millicent Bell calls her “a sort of inflated rubber doll woman available to the onanistic dreamer,” a woman that will “pop up” wherever Henry needs her (Spanier).

Although Catherine is completely void of any individualism, she is still a loveable character. Hemingway includes some favorable characteristics despite his bitterness towards his older, idolized, British nurse. Catherine shows a sense of humor when she says, “Don’t be cross darling. It was awfully funny. You looked about twenty feet broad and very affectionate holding the umbrella by the edges.” Nonetheless, Catherine is still the epitome of an infatuated, selfless, and pathetic girlfriend. She has no regard for her own wishes, as evident when she says things like “I’ll go any place any time you wish” (252). Catherine Barkley holds no very specific traits of her own, everything that Frederic loves, she loves. Everything that Frederic hates, she too hates. Leo Gurko said Catherine becomes Frederic Henry’s “leechlike shadow,” the siren luring the young man to his destruction through her isolating love (Spanier). The possibility exists that Hemingway, still bitter about Kurowsky’s love affair, portrayed Catherine, (Kurowsky’s equivalent) as an infatuated girlfriend. It is even more plausible that Hemingway’s fanatical characterization of the woman in his novel was due to other relationships. Hemingway was married four times, and was in presumably far more failed relations. Scores of women were obsessed with Heminway, just not Agnes con Kurowsky.

All in all, Hemingway creates a mystical woman. Catherine Barkley, a woman who plays a fatal game of seduction, falls madly in love with Frederic Henry, and is completely content with living within the cult of domesticity. A Farewell to Arms is far from picturesque. Yet Catherine Barkley is quite the pleasing character. Besides her sorrow from her first love dying in the war, Catherine is a chauvinist’s perfect woman: she loves Frederic, and will do whatever it takes to make their relationship work. Out of spite for Agnes von Kurowsky, and out of experience with many faulty relationships with various women, Hemingway’s portrayal of Catherine Barkley is skewed.

 Grace Hagenson

J. Robinson

AP American Literature

22 October 2007

 Modest Means of Fulfillment

I live in a two-story house in an almost quixotic location on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The six room house is almost vacant, being that only my mother, stepfather, and I inhabit it. We have a less than extravagant porch with rocking chairs and a placid view of the Atlantic Ocean. On certain days, such as today, when I am working on a more leisurely school assignment, the only presence I prefer is the whooshing and whistling sprays and crashes of the ocean, along with the steady symphony of a chorus of crickets.

The crickets surround me and provide an eerie sort of company, but a comfort nonetheless. I can not see them, yet I know they are there. I wonder if the crickets can distinguish each others chirps, or if one chirp is engulfed by the vast orchestra of the others. My limited knowledge of biology tells me that one sex, either female or male, calls to the other in search of a mate, and also that the only purpose of an insect’s life is to procreate. The cries from the chaotic foliage of my backyard resound monotonously in search of their life’s only mission, for what else is there to do in a life but to strive to fulfill a mission? I admire the little green bodies for staying so steadfast to their mission. However short these little creature’s lives may be, they imbibe themselves entirely with the only thing they know how to do. I turn my attention from the soft chirps of the crickets and drink in the serenity of the ocean.

It must be something in the magnitude of the ocean that makes me feel so small, yet my life so significant. Gazing out into the enormity of the ocean, and on to where the emerald greens hold hands with the horizon, I feel as if anything can happen. The tides come in. The tides go out. There is an endless cycle of repetition, yet every tide is also different. With every tide comes a new grain of sand. With every tide comes a new deceased animal or plant. Every tide represents an endless number of possibilities, any of which I wish I could foresee, but know that such a plea is impossible. The pinks and purples of dusk saunter on the horizon and whisper secrets into the infinite knowledge of the Atlantic like a small child whispering already-presumed facts into a mother‘s ear. Oh, how I long to quench my thirst with the secrets of the vast body of water before me.

The soft noises of dusk soon become the creepy noises of night, and at this time I feel it necessary to retire to the safety of an illuminated house. As I lay in bed, I am uneasy about what decisions I will make about my life and profession that will ultimately become my identity. I know not whether I want to become a doctor, a lawyer, an economist, a politician, or a writer, so I proceed in going to my classes and sinking into my cyclic day. I think about my purpose in this life and try to focus on the bigger picture, and also where my modest life will fit into this bigger picture. As I lay in bed, I am comforted that whatever decisions I will make about my life and profession will shine with my wonderful identity. I take a sip of the water on my bed stand and listen to the little creatures as they sing me a lullaby outside my window.

Grace Hagenson

AP American Literature

J. Robinson

December 2007

The Battle that Will Decide the War

No one could have foreseen the events that took place within the last eight years of the Bush administration. On September 11, 2001, innocent citizens were murdered in New York City and our nation’s capital. The cries of outrage were heard. George W. Bush declared a War on Terror; however, the terror in the Middle East has yet to subside. With a violation of national security, the immigration flag went up, and along with it shouts of concern about our unprotected borders. The generation of children whose parents were killed on September 11, whose parents went to fight a battle in Iraq, who have seen the huge divide in the country over this war, are now filled with fervor. These children will be voting come November 2008. Andrew Kohut, director of the nonpartisan Pew center, said “This is the first time since the 1970s that young people have voted significantly differently than the rest of the country. I think it’s the times. It’s the war.” (Milligan) Because of these traumatic events that have occurred during the Bush administration, the election of 2008 will be one of intense passion, and also one in which the youth of America are predicted to be a compelling force.   

The Issues

Along with the core issue that Americans are focusing on-the War on Terror-there are many other questions that we want answered. How can we shake the chains of foreign fuel dependence? What novel energy resources can replace oil? What is the best health care choice for the majority of citizens? How should the United States handle the impending immigration crisis? How can we bring our troops back safely, while still protecting our security on home soil? What role should the federal government play in education? America wants a candidate that can confidently answer these questions. From which party will this magical candidate arise? Thus far the youth of America are looking toward a Democrat. Membership director of the UCSB College Democrats, Evan Ingardia, said “I think Obama is really focusing on the youth more so than the others. Optimizing social network groups is a really prominent thing going on right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if during election time candidates started text messaging.” (Snedden) Text messaging is an unknown, but candidates are definitely starting to target college age students, with new internet phenomenons such as facebook and myspace.  There are 18 million students projected to be enrolled in college this year, which is a very large and liberal voting arena. “College age students are obviously very well educated, so they look like a high potential group and are concentrated in a certain area, so they are geographically appealing,” said chairman of the Dept. of Political Science at Harvard U., John Woolley, “If you can figure some way to mobilize those pockets around the country, then maybe you can make some kind of impact in the election.” (Snedden) With 16 candidates in the race for presidency before the Iowa caucus, there is no way to crystal ball who is going to win the election this early. With that said, it is never too early to start researching what they’re all about, and Hilary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and Barack Obama are definitely top fore-runners in the vote. All the questions I mentioned above will undoubtedly be factored into the voting ballot, but the top question on my mind, and many voters’ minds, is what to do about Iraq. 

Hilary Rodham Clinton

According to the CNN election poll, the leading Democratic candidate as of November 2007 is former first lady, Hilary Rodham Clinton. (Election Center) An avid supporter of abortion rights and a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border, Clinton is taking huge strides as one of the first women to be high in the race for presidency. As for the violation of our borders, Clinton would work to create a legal path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and allow them to receive Social Security benefits. On a more conservative note, Clinton is also in favor of a wall on the US-Mexican border, and of increased spending on Border Patrol. She does not support same sex marriage, although she does hold up civil unions and opposes a constitutional amendment gay marraige. On education, Clinton has proposed “America’s Better Classroom Act” and “The Healthy, High Performance Act of 2001.” Environmentally conscious, she has consistently voted to increase CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, supports ethanol use, and she plans to double tax breaks on hybrid and clean diesel vehicles. Clinton’s health care plan requires that all Americans be covered through a variety of means: government programs, employers, and individual purchases. Her health care plan includes-among many other things-disease prevention for high-cost preventable diseases, allowance of more generic drugs to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and legalization of the re-importation of drugs. Regarding the War on Terror, Clinton originally voted pro-war; however, she said that if she’d known then what she knows now, she would have voted differently. (As I’m sure many would love to go back in time.) She proposed the “Iraq Troop Protection and Reduction Act”, which would have redeployed the troops 90 days after it had passed, and left behind a small fleet in charge of keeping the area stable. In the CNN poll, Clinton pulled 40% of the votes, while Obama trailed behind with 30% and Giuliani lastly at 24%.  Recently, Clinton has become aware of Obama’s heavy campaigning aimed toward voters ages 18-25. A study by the Washington Post said, “But now Senator Hilary Clinton is seeking to swim in that same pool of voters—unveiling a major push for young minds and basking in new poll results that show she is winning them over.” (Cillizza) If the youth turn out to be as powerful force as seems plausible, the struggle to win the novel minds’ satisfaction could turn into yet another political slugfest. 

Rudy Giuliani

On the other side of the political spectrum is leading Republican candidate and former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani. In CNN’s latest poll, Giuliani pulled 24% of the votes, lagging behind Hilary Clinton. (Election Center) Giuliani’s view on immigration is not too different from Hilary’s; likewise, he believes that illegal immigrants should have the right to Social Security and food stamps, and that they should undergo a legal path to citizenship. Rudy argues for a “borders first” approach to the immigration dilemma. He believes that aliens must pay back taxes, speak English and learn United States history before gaining citizenship. Same sex marriage, he does not support. He does, however, support domestic partnerships. As mayor of New York, Giuliani lowered the student-teacher ratios and rid of the BOE, initiating instead a mayor-appointed Commissioner of Education. He has not taken a firm stand on the issue of alternate energy resources, stating vaguely that he supports ethanol, would subsidize hybrid vehicles, and would allow more exploration off the coasts for oil. It is peculiar, though, that he has accepted over twice the amount of his campaign dollars from oil and gas companies than any other source. When it comes to health care, this former member of the Department of Justice is anti-government. Giuliani thinks that any solution to a health care crisis, although he doesn’t think there is necessarily a crisis, is found in free markets, through offering tax exemptions up to 7,500 per individual and 15,000 per family. As for the “war” in Iraq, Giuliani avidly opposes setting a timetable for the removal of troops, and believes that failure in the Middle East will lead to a greater regional conflict. Unlike Clinton, Giuliani has stayed steadfast to his view in 2003, which was in support of the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq; however, he acknowledges that mistakes have been made and that it could very well continue for many years to come.

 Barack Obama 

The second Democratic candidate that is giving Hilary a run for her money is Barack Obama. Obama supported Bush-backed legislation to provide a legal path to citizenship, improve border security technology, and construct a fence along the border of the United States and Mexico. Barack has been a key player in the immigration debate, proposing three amendments that were included in the Senate Immigration Reform Bill in 2006. These three amendments mandated that jobs be offered to American workers before foreign workers, require that all employers show proof of legality, and also fund for the FBI to conduct better background searches. Although he does not support same sex marriage, he also does not support a constitutional ban on the subject. Civil unions, he does, however, back. For his approach to education, Obama narrows in on funding and incentives for teachers. He also wishes to bridge the gap between middle income and low income students. As for his plan to reduce our dependence on foreign fuel sources and save the environment, Obama has a detailed one. Accordingly, fuel economy standards would increase 4% each year, a renewable diesel standard would be implemented, and people who use clean transportation fuels would enjoy tax breaks. This young candidate is also very prepared for his stance on health care, in which he proposes a three-point solution: coverage for all, modern techniques to increase efficiency and a core focus on preventative health. On all of these focal points, Obama knows how he is going to do it, including such ideas as expanding Medicaid to target all children, tracking disparities, and keeping electronic medical records. Barack Obama has been passionately opposed to the War on Terror ever since the beginning, and has proposed an amendment to set a timetable on the removal of troops from Iraq. Barack Obama seems to have a pretty comprehensive plan for each question, but the underlying question still lingers: does he have enough experience? This 41-year-old senator from Illinois is among the youngest of the political candidates. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School and then became a senator in Illinois. Recently, Oprah Winfrey has started campaigning with Obama, giving speeches about his credence. “I don’t just love him. I respect him. I think he’s a fresh new voice in politics. I think what he can do for this country would be amazing,” Winfrey said. (Boedeker) Oprah could help Obama target the older, female audience from which Obama could use votes. Oprah doesn’t make Obama any stronger as a politician, she does, however, bring massive amounts of publicity, which thus makes people take a second look at his platform. 

The Youth Force

With the primary elections coming up in January and the finals next November, there is time enough for anything to happen. Although the polls are forecasting Hilary Clinton right now, one wrong word could pale the support of thousands of Americans. Young people are stepping away from the shadow of their parents beliefs this election, and instead are being guided by a different code of justice; a report by the IOP said “Young people are driven by a strong moralistic streak — not so much on conservative social issues such as abortion and gay marriage, but on matters such as poverty, climate change, and the genocide in Darfur.” (Milligan) The Election of 2008 will decide the fate of our troops in Iraq. Do we send more in? Do we withdraw them immediately? Do we withdraw them gradually? Voters will ultimately decide by which candidate they choose. Senator Hilary Clinton proposed the “Iraq Troop Protection and Reduction Act”, which would have redeployed the troops 90 days after it had passed, and left behind a small fleet in charge of keeping the area stable. Senator Barack Obama would set a timetable on the removal of Iraq, to which Rudy Giuliani is passionately opposed. Giuliani believes we need to do what it takes to come out of Iraq successful, which would presumably depend on one’s interpretation of “successful.”In a poll I conducted via facebook and myspace of high school and college students, I found that the leading candidate thus far is Barack Obama, as shown in the table below. I was actually somewhat surprised to find that the poll turned out Democratic, since the majority of people I polled were from the relatively conservative town of Emerald Isle, North Carolina-or nearby anyway. When asked how closely their votes coincided with the views of their parents, 61% of these pollsters answered “somewhat”, compared with 23% who responded “not at all.” In another vote I conducted of eligible voters at Croatan High School, all the seventeen students asked if they planned on voting replied with “yes”. Ian Christine, a 19-year-old freshman at Fordham College, summarizes the feelings of most: “People checked out. And we got selfish. I realize now that there’s too much at stake around the world to check out.” (Milligan)

Choosing the correct candidate is not easy, especially when the differences in their platforms are so minute. Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton have very similar platforms, but will potentially be two very different presidents. Even the Republican, Giuliani, shares many of the same views on abortion, same sex marriage, and immigration. Harvard University’s Institute of Politics conducts ongoing polls and studies of America’s youth, and their views on politics. “The most interesting aspect of the survey relates less to candidate preferences than to the indication that young people are focusing on the issues facing America, and this cohort of nearly 30 million 18-24 year-olds is substantial and likely to have a significant impact in the upcoming election,” said IOP Director and former U.S. Representative (R-IA) James A. Leach. In Harvard’s study, the leading Democrat for youth voters is Barack Obama, and the leading Republican is Rudy Giuliani. 41% of 18-24 year olds say that they will definitely be voting in the primary elections, while 61% say they will definitely be voting in the general election next year. The events of the Bush administration and the United State’s current situation in Iraq has left many Americans politically uneasy, so it is good to see that instead of “checking out”, like Ian Christie said, young Americans (and probably most Americans) feel that they must do something about it.

On September 11, 2001, 2,974 American citizens-people like you and I-died. 3,800 soldiers have died in Iraq. An estimated 1, 220, 580 Iraqis have died violently since the war begun. Just how many is too many? One thing is for certain: The United States would be more than willing to pull out of the mess in Iraq-peacefully. Is it possible to pull out peacefully? If we did pull out, would it endanger our lives? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I do know one thing: In honor of the lives lost on 9/11 and in Iraq, and in honor of our soldiers fighting overseas, I will not sit on my couch next November. I will be contributing to the youth force in the general election of 2008.