Idea Draft: Essay 1

Cat's Essay 1 Idea Draft:

Analyzing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao through "THE LARGER CONTEXT"'

Outline:
I. Introduction
-Hook
American painter and expressionist Kenneth Noland once shared, "For me, the context is everything - from that comes the understanding of everything."
In literature, social contexts have a large role in a text's development. Texts are written by individuals, but individuals are influenced by society. The historical, political, economic, religious, and even familial environments of any text shape the characters, events, and plots that occur. Social contexts also enable the intended audience to understand the author's purpose in writing their work.

-Thesis? (Very Rough)
In his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Diaz alludes to Marvel and DC comics to...
clarify Oscar's character, to add to the plot development, and to emphasize the theme of fuku, all of which are shaped by the historical context of Trujillo's regime in the Dominican Republic.
>Doesn't really make sense, need to make more concise.

II Body Paragraph 1
On the most basic level, one reason Diaz alludes to Marvel and DC comics is to establish Oscar's character.
-In this paragraph, share scholarly research on Marvel and DC Comics found on database, etc.
-Oscar's character
-Oscar's character development
-Diaz establishes who Oscar is, establishes him as a character and his identity
-Evidence - quotes about how Marvel and DC comics constitute Oscar's character/development
-Socially and culturally, Oscar is a non-conformist. Especially in Dominican culture, Oscar is considered an outsider, where men are expected to be masculine and romantic, as we see from Yunior's descriptions of Oscar, and how all of Lola's friends make fun of him. In this sense, Oscar can be considered a cultural hero. By being himself and true to his identity, Diaz is trying to make a point that people should be themselves because life is too short to wear a mask. So he alludes to the comics to emphasize Oscar's nerdy character, which then contributes to the theme of identity, Oscar's character development, etc.
-Possibly make connections to sociology class???  Deviant behavior. THERE CAN'T BE HARMONY IF WE ALL SING THE SAME NOTE - meaning you need to have people in society who are different (like Oscar) or else everything will be dull and boring.

-Quotes - about Diaz establishing Oscar's nerdy identity in relation to Marvel and DC comics
-"Could write in Elvish, could speak Chakobsa, could differentiate between a Slan, a Dorasai, and a Lensman in acute detail, knew more about the Marvel Universe than Stan Lee, and was a role-paying game fanatic" (21)
-"Oscar was a social introvert who trembled with fear during gym class and watched nerd British shows like Doctor Who and Blakes 7...." (22)

Quotes - about Oscar the Romantic -Love
-"You get the picture. His adolescent nerdliness vaporizing any iota of a chance he had for young love." (23)
-"His affection-that gravitational mass of love, fear, longing, desire, and lust that he directed at any and every girl in the vicinity without regard to looks, age, or availability-broke his heart each and every day." (23)

III Body Paragraph 2
Given Oscar's nerdy identity, Diaz uses Marvel and DC comics to illustrate how Oscar is a cultural hero in the context of Dominican society, where men are expected to be macho.
( I will talk about how the character development/establishment of identity in the first body paragraph is done to make a point about Dominican cultural norms/society etc.)

IV. Body Paragraph 3
Given Oscar's nerdy identity, Diaz uses Marvel and DC comics to emphasize Oscar's escape from a troubled reality - a flawed political context from the history of Trujillo's regime that sets up his troubled familial context.

FUKU

Quotes
>"Call it a whole lot of bad luck, outstanding karmic debt, or something else. (Fuku?) Whatever it was, the shit started coming at the family something awful and there are some people who would say it's never stopped" (248).
>"Oscar, as you might imagine, found this version of the Fall very very attractive. Appealed to the deep structures in his nerd brain. Mysterious himself on the first Island of the New World and then cut it off from everything else, who could send a curse to destroy his enemies- that was some New Age Lovecraft shit." (246)
>"But hey, it's only a story, with no solid evidence, the kind of shit only a nerd could love" (246) [Diaz is referring to the story of The Fall and Abelard. Marvel and DC comics are sci-fi based. Diaz uses Marvel and DC to emphasize how much Oscar loves sci-fi. Sci-fi is part of who Oscar is. Books and comics are Oscar's escape from the pain of the curse. He can relate to sci-fi. Just as we the common people love watching dramas and comedies because they are relatable.



. Conclusion
If possible, talk about personal connection to what I'm learning in sociology - mention the sociological imagination - to truly understand the troubles and behavior of the individual, one must examine their social context, from a societal level, the structures, institutions, history etc. In literature, we do the same, but within the framework of the novel.
Connect to larger purpose.
Diaz has created this character who is unlike most people. Because of his interests, behavior, and appearance, he is considered an outcast in societyIn this sense, Oscar can

Pouring Out My Ideas:

- The thesis should answer the question - how does this reference connect with Oscar, context, etc?

- CONTEXT
-Historical context of Abelard living in Trujillo's regime sets up Oscar's familial context (The Fall)
>"Call it a whole lot of bad luck, outstanding karmic debt, or something else. (Fuku?) Whatever it was, the shit started coming at the family something awful and there are some people who would say it's never stopped" (248).
>"Oscar, as you might imagine, found this version of the Fall very very attractive. Appealed to the deep structures in his nerd brain. Mysterious himself on the first Island of the New World and then cut it off from everything else, who could send a curse to destroy his enemies- that was some New Age Lovecraft shit." (246)
>"But hey, it's only a story, with no solid evidence, the kind of shit only a nerd could love" (246) [Diaz is referring to the story of The Fall and Abelard. Marvel and DC comics are sci-fi based. Diaz uses Marvel and DC to emphasize how much Oscar loves sci-fi. Sci-fi is part of who Oscar is. Books and comics are Oscar's escape from the pain of the curse. He can relate to sci-fi. Just as we the common people love watching dramas and comedies because they are relatable.
-Political context
>"Maybe you'll ask, Why was there no outcry in the papers, no actions among the civil rights groups, no opposition parties rallying to the cause? Nigger please: there were no papers, no civil rights groups, no opposition parties; there was only Trujillo" (247)
-Social context
>"Dominican" men are expected to be "hot" and romantic
>Junior performs the redemption program
>Same for girls, expected/socialized to fall in love with a man
>Perhaps Marvel and DC comics are Oscar's way to escape his flawed life
>Marvel and DC comics resonate with him because those kinds of stories are like mysteries, such as the mystery of The Fall

- THEME
-Identity
>Marvel and DC comics are who Oscar is, significant part of his life
> Fuku/Curse

Research - Scholarly sources. These are the sources I found on the NDNU database that I might use for researching Marvel and DC comics.
DK Publishing, Inc.The Marvel Comics Encyclopedia : The Complete Guide to the Characters of the Marvel Universe. 1st American ed. ed., DK Pub, 2006.

Now reading the ending with more purpose quotes:
p. 263 "Took down his childhood posters...tacked up Akira and Terminator 2" (Marvel)

When Díaz switches the time context to the 1940s, the narrator depicts the curse when they say, “Most of the folks you speak to prefer the story with a supernatural twist. They believe that not only did Trujillo want Abelard’s daughter, but when he couldn’t snatch her out of spite he put a fukú on the family’s ass. Which is why all the terrible shit that happened happened” (243).