Natalie Keller & Cori McGownd

AN ANALYSIS OF JOYCE CAROL OATES’S EXCERPT

FROM WE WERE THE MULVANEYS

“Because I was happy upon the heath,And smiled among the winter's snow,They clothed me in the clothes of death,And taught me to sing the notes of woe.”-Song of Experience: The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

What StatementThe author characterizes Judd Mulvaney as an innocent Romantic who shifts his perspective to an experienced Realist.

OverviewRomanticism

Other World

Realist

Literary Elements•Syntax•Diction• Juxtaposition•Tone Shifts•Repetition•Use of Parentheses•Foreshadowing• Irony•Symbolism•Point of View•Organization

Shifts in Syntax & Tone Proves Transition from Romanticism to

Other World

• Line 1-8 “That time in our lower driveway, by the brook…Fast-flowing clear water, shallow, shale beneath, and lots of leaves.”

• Tone: Carefree – line 2“I was straddling my bike staring down into the water.”

• Line 16-19 “I leaned farther and farther over the rail staring into the water and I was moving, moving helplessly forward, it seemed I was moving somehow upward, rising in the air, helpless.”

• Tone: Curious – line 15 “oh boy! we-ird! Scary and ticklish in the groin as I leaned farther…”

Romantic Other Worldly

Repetitious Phrases Prove Innocence•Line 16-19 “I leaned farther and farther over the rail staring into the water and I was moving, moving helplessly forward, it seemed I was moving somehow upward, rising in the air, helpless.”

•Line 18 & 19 •“helpless”•“moving”

Lack of Repetition in the Realist Perspective Reflects the Character’s Loss of Innocence

Of verbs: Lines 16-17• “moving, moving”

• “farther and farther”

Of Heartbeat Lines 20-23• “ONEtwothree ONEtwothree!”

• “Every heartbeat is past and gone! Every heartbeat is past and gone!”

About Death: Lines 34• “dying, dying, dying”

Of knowledge: Lines 39 and 66• “I didn't know”

• “not to know what I knew”

Repetition Earlier Within the Realist World

Use of Parentheses Foreshadows Realism•Line 9 – “The brook was flowing below left to right (east to west, though at a slant)”

•Line 11 – “and I stood immobile leaning on the railing (pretty damned rotten: I’d tell Dad it needed to be replaced with new planks, we could do it together)”

Use of Parenthesis Shows the Transition in Judd’s

Perspective, But Also Emphasizes His Constant

Struggle to Accept ItLine 43-45•“(Might as well buy our vehicles mud-colored to begin with, saves time, was dad’s logic)”

Irony Proves Shift from Romanticism to Realist

•Lifted off Earth to reassess his own life from new perspective

•Line 34-48 “Though on a farm living things are dying, dying, dying all the time, and many have been named, and others are born taking their places not even knowing that they are taking the places of those who have died.”

Symbolism of the Heart & Diction Proves Life

•Line 19-22 – “in that instant aware of my heart beating ONEtwothree! ONEtwothree! thinking Every heartbeat is past and gone!”

Point of View, Stream of Consciousness, & Organization

Proves Transition•Line 31-34 – “Every heartbeat is past and gone! Every heartbeat is past and gone! In a trance that was like a trance of fury, raging hurt Am I going to die? because I did not believe that Judd Mulvaney could die.”

•1st Paragraph- stream of consciousness•2nd Paragraph- “Them, too. All of them. Every heartbeat past and gone.” – Telegraphic

The Character’s Use of Tone & Voice Reflect His Shift in Perspective

Line 40-55 • “aged”• “rotted”• “scared”• “snag”• “terrible”

Line 42-46• “mud-colored Ford pickup”• “barreling up the drive, bouncing and rattling”• “the truck’s doors were neat curving white letters”

Tone Voice

Imagery Words are Used to Highlight the Differences Between the Romanticist World and Realist World.

Lines 17-22• “staring”• “moving”• “rising”• “beating”• “shiver”• “thinking”

Lines 42-46• “neat”• “curving”• “mud-colored”• “barreling”• “bouncing”• “rattling”

Romanticist World Realist World

Describes writing on the truck

Describes color of the truck

Describes actions of the truck

Verbs used to describe Judd

The Commas, Semicolons, and Colons represent that the revelation of Judd’s Understanding of Death has Shifted his

View Into a Realist One

Lines 38-39• “So I knew I wasn’t a dope, but I didn’t know– not really.”

Line54-58• “And I looked after them, these two people so remarkable to me, my dad who was like nobody else’s dad and my big brother who was– well, Mike Mulvaney: ‘Mule’ Mulvaney– and the most terrible thought came to me.”

Dialogue is Used to Show Judd’s Connection to Reality and People.

Line 51•“‘Hey Ranger-kid: what’s up?’”

How I Can Relate-- Death

•Great Grandmother dying while in elementary school

•Mr. Wade’s recent death

Child View Matured View