Violence and the Constitution of the Novel

For every story, there are always multiple sides. Whether that story be as small as a feud between siblings, or the representation of an entire country, no side ever tells the clear truth, but rather the truth that will put themselves in the light. However, I feel that in analyzing both dispositions it is possible that, at the very least, a foundation for one solid truth, the real truth, will be put in place. In this case the stereotype of a violent Ireland which is portrayed throughout many novels versus a more peaceful Ireland that is misrepresented. While this reading was particularly difficult for me, I came across a few points which help re-sculpt my idea of Ireland.

To begin, my original ideology of Ireland was that people from Ireland like to eat, drink, be merry, and have an occasional scuffle outside of the Pub every now and then. I admit, this is awfully stereotypical of me, however, when "The Boondock Saints" is the only imagery of Ireland I know, please forgive me. When I began to read this reading, I did not feel so bad for my stereotyping since it appeared that a large majority feel the way I did about the Irish. Nonetheless, the more I read, the more I found that to be not so much the case.

"Certainly it is a striking fact that while traditional accounts of Irish history, historical as well as literary, constantly stress the endemic and excessive violence of the culture, the more detailed studies of agrarian disturbances tend to suggest that actual levels of violence were far lower than such representations imply," (Lloyd 141). Here Lloyd explains that through studying disturbances, Ireland may have had far less levels of violence than originally expected. To that the question rises, "How come, if there is proof of less violence, then Ireland is still portrayed as such?" On page 131 Lloyd gives us just one possible explanation to this question. He states, "The Irish novelists of the first half of the nineteenth century and their critics by and large assume that Irish conditions ought to English ones in order for the novel to thrive," (132). Therefore, it is a definite possibility that Irish writers portrayed Ireland and the Irish people the way they thought they needed to in order for their novels to succeed. I myself am a culprit of this, as in high school, I used to write what I thought my teacher's would grade well and to me this is the same concept. I could understand if this was the slant that the early nineteenth century Irish novelists took.

One thing I've learned about and will never forget is Heroification. Heroification is the act of leaving out details to make someone or something look better than it really is. This lead me to think that if textbooks and the media can take out bad things to make something look better, than perhaps bad things can be added or good things not talked about to make something seem worse. After a short amount of research, vilification is the very act of assassinating one's character. Lloyd gives an example of vilification on page 141 as he mentions, "in his important essay 'An End to Moral Economy', Tom Bartlett calculates that the virtually continual disturbances from 1760 to 1790 involved only fifty deaths, considerably fewer even than the 300 that resulted from the Gordon Riots of 1780. Other historians bear out this finding." Here both vilification and heroification are present in the same few sentences. Since the 300 deaths were a result of "state-sanctioned violence," (142) through the military of the Kingdom of Great Britain to prevent an uprising in the Catholic church, it is seen as orderly rather than violent. Thus, heroification is used to slant six times as many deaths as orderly, and vilification is used to make Ireland appear violent for deaths by public hand.

From all this, I feel that Ireland is no more violent than any other country, but rather is portrayed as such either from unhappy novelists, or unfair judgment cast down by governments who take care of the violence rather than the people.

First Blog

Hello English 263 peers,

My name is Jason Stauber. I was born in Milwaukee and lived there a majority of my life. I now live in Menomonee Falls, and work at Champps Americana in Brookfield. I am an Architectural Engineering major and I will hopefully be at MSOE in the Fall Semester. I have a chocolate lab puppy named Armani. I'd say he's pretty awesome. I like to dance, and I love music. I went to Wisconsin Lutheran High School on 84th and Bluemound. I like to spend my spare time doing really anything besides wasting it watching television, whether it be going bowling, renting a movie, hanging out with friends, or playing basketball.



Armani - He's a lot bigger now.

I signed up for this class because it seemed like a fun class which I would enjoy. In a previous class held by Professor Booker, the conversation was more on a peer level, rather than a classroom level and I feel I learned quite a bit. All of my previous English classes I felt like, "I don't want to be here," but I actually looked forward to the class. Also, I find that I do better academically when i am in classes that I enjoy and do not mind going to rather than something that does not interest me at all.

My personal favorite novel is "A Child Called It," by Dave Pelzer. I enjoyed this novel because of the drama of it, and the struggle that Dave went through to be where he is at. That being said, I am really unsure of the type of writing that interests me. I have not read many books in my life and am looking forward to reading new authors who offer different styles and plots. If I am looking for a book to read, I look for one that catches my attention immediately. I do not want to wait 150 pages before it gets good. I can not say I prefer fiction over non-fiction, or comedy over drama because I would enjoy all genre's with the right plot and if the plot's pace moves at a fast rate. I guess my impatience has a lot to do with what I read.

My personal history with English classes has not been one of enjoyment. It was not until English 102 and English 206 (technical writing) that I actually enjoyed going to class. In the past it was grammar this, punctuation that, but in my last two classes I learned how to be clear in my writing, and how to analyze and look deeper into writing which makes it much more interesting. I think that this online English class will be a good experience. The reason I feel that way is because having it online will force all students to interact leading to deeper conversation and new ways to look at things. I am not a fan of a class in which a majority of the students sit down and stare at they're desk the entire time while 2 people participate.

I do not really have any knowledge of Ireland except St. Patrick of the Lutheran faith, and even that the details are blurred. However, I will bring to the class a willingness to participate and talk about what we have read and my own ideas of analysis. I look forward to hearing the ideas of others and bringing what my thoughts are on literature in general, and the literature we will be reading in class.

I belong to facebook, and even that I am not addicted to as many. I go through my little spurts where I am on there often for a few days but majority of the time there is very little activity on my facebook account. I absolutely hate drama, and Facebook is a drama filled world with fights and other people's private business that I could care less about knowing. For example, If your boyfriend/girlfriend/friend/family and yourself are having problem, I wish the best for you, but would prefer not to read the details over the internet. This may be slightly off topic, but Jersey Shore is a perfect television example of this. I watched it once, and it is the worst show ever and should not be on TV. There may not be a guy punching a girl in the face on facebook, but I'm sure you get the point.



The city of Dubai. I'd really like to visit here because I love architecture and Dubai has some of the most amazing architecture in the world, included the world's only 7-star hotel called the Burj Al Arab. Hopefully one day I'll get there, and since they're economy is one of the worst in the world right now, hopefully they wont be bankrupt before I get there.

http://www.espn.com... I visit this site because I go to school and I work which leaves me very little time to enjoy sports. I am a huge sports fan.



As I mentioned I am a huge sports fan, and an even bigger packer fan. I find this particular clip interesting because I got to see Brett Farve have a Brett Farve moment for the Vikings, which definitely puts a smile on my face every time I see it.