Use of Pastiche in English Prose

Use of Pastiche in English Prose A text that borrows or imitates the style, words, or ideas of other writers. Unlike a parody, which aims for a comic or satiric effect, a pastiche is often intended as a compliment (or an homage) to the original writer(s)though it may just be a hodgepodge of borrowed words and ideas. Examples and Observations: The pastiche prose form openly mimes the content and mannerisms of another written work. Its a respectful, if often jocular, an homage to the work that inspired it. (Its literary cousin is the parody, but that imitation subtly or savagely satirizes its source material.) The pastiche implicitly says, I appreciate this author, the characters, and the fictive world . . . and my imitation is sincere flattery.The affection for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his immortal Sherlock Holmes is evident in August Derleths stories about brilliant, deerstalker-wearing Solar Pons of 7B Praed St.(Mort Castle, Write Like Poe. The Complete Handbook Of Novel Writing, 2nd ed. Writers Digest Books, 2010)The secret mechanism of a pastiche is the fact that a style is not just a unique set of linguistic operations: a style is not just a prose style. A style is also a quality of vision. It is also its subject matter. A pastiche transfers the prose style to a new content (while parody transfers the prose style to an inadmissible and scandalous content): it is, therefore, a way of testing out the limits of a style.(Adam Thirlwell, The Delighted States. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) Parody and Pastiche in The SimpsonsParody attacks a particular text or genre, making fun of how that text or genre operates. Pastiche merely imitates or repeats for mildly ironic amusement, whereas parody is actively critical. For instance, when an episode of The Simpsons loosely follows the plot of Citizen Kane (rendering Mr. Burns as Kane), no real critique is offered of Orson Welless masterpiece, making this pastiche. Yet on a weekly basis, The Simpsons plays with generic conventions of the traditional family sitcom. It also mocks forms of advertising and . . . it occasionally lambastes the form and format of news, all with critical intent, thereby making such instances bona fide parody.(Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson, The State of Satire, the Satire of the State. Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. New York University Press, 2009)Pastiche in Green Days American Idiot (Musical)The sheer volume of the stage band’s music and the frenet ic rush of action provide constant energy. But tunes recalling the 1950s pastiche of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or, during We’re Coming Home Again, the Phil Spectoresque Springsteen of Born to Run, have few punk credentials. The indulgent-youths versus dutiful-wives combat of Too Much Too Soon also shows how much [Bilie Joe] Armstrong’s characters are [Jack] Kerouac boys and girls at base, American idiots and ennui unchanged.(Nick Hasted, Green Day’s American Idiot, Hammersmith Apollo, London. The Independent, December 5, 2012) Pastiche in Peter PanThe apparent contradiction whereby war converts into a game is weirdly captured in Baden-Powells favorite play, J.M. Barries Peter Pan (1904), which he saw many times in the years he was gestating Scouting for Boys. In the Neverland of the play, Peters boys, the pirates, and the Indians relentlessly track after one another in a literal vicious circle that, though it is on one level all burlesque, an excessive late Imperial pastiche of the commonplaces of childrens fiction, is also deadly seriousas the final carnage on Captain Hooks ship vividly dramatizes.(Elleke Boehmer, introduction to Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship by Robert Baden-Powell, 1908; Rpt. 2004)Samuel Becketts Use of Pastiche[Samuel] Becketts cutting and pasting his reading onto his own stock of prose produced a discourse that Giles Deleuze might call rhizomatic or a technique Frederic Jameson might call pastiche. That is, these early works are finally assemblages, intertextual layerings, palimpsests, the effect of which is to produce (if not reproduce) a multiplicity of meanings in a manner that will come to be thought Postmodern in the second half of the twentieth century. . . .Postmodern pastiche would suggest that the only style possible in contemporary culture is travesty or mimicry of past stylesquite the opposite of what Beckett was developing. Intertext or assemblage or pastiche allowed Beckett to assault the idea of style and so (or thereby) develop his own . . ..(S.E. Gontarski, Style and the Man: Samuel Beckett and the Art of Pastiche. Samuel Beckett Today: Pastiches, Parodies Other Imitations, ed. by Marius Buning, Matthijs Engelberts, and Sjef Houppermans. Rodopi, 2002) Fredric Jameson on PasticheHence, once again, pastiche: in a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, all that is left is to imitate dead styles, to speak through the masks and with the voices of the styles in the imaginary museum. But this means that contemporary or postmodernist art is going to be about art itself in a new kind of way; even more, it means that one of its essential messages will involve the necessary failure of art and the aesthetic, the failure of the new, the imprisonment in the past.(Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism and Consumer Society. The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern, 1983-1998. Verso, 1998)

Foreign Language Requirements for College Admissions

Foreign Language Requirements for College Admissions Foreign language requirements vary from school to school, and the exact requirement is often not clear for any individual school. For example, is the minimum requirement really adequate? Do language classes in middle school count? If a college requires 4 years of a language, does a high score on the AP fulfill the requirement? Requirements and Recommendations In general, competitive colleges require at least two years of foreign language classes in high school. As youll see below, Stanford University would like to see three or more years, and Harvard University urges applicants to take four years. These classes should be in the same language- colleges would much prefer to see proficiency in one language than a superficial smattering of several languages. When a college recommends two or more years of a language, they are clearly signaling that language study beyond two years would strengthen your application. Indeed, no matter where you apply for college, a demonstrated proficiency in a second language will improve your chances of being admitted. Life in college and after college is becoming increasingly globalized, so strength in a second language carries a lot of weight with admissions counselors. That said, students who have just the minimum can win admission if their applications demonstrate strengths in other areas. Some less competitive schools dont even have a high school language requirement and assume some students will simply study a language once they get to college. If you score a 4 or 5 on an AP language exam, most colleges will consider that evidence of adequate high school foreign language preparation (and youre likely to get course credit in college). Check with the schools to which you apply to find out exactly what their Advanced Placement policies are. Which Foreign Language Is Best In general, colleges want to see foreign language proficiency, and they dont really care which language you study. Most students, in fact, have few choices. Many schools offer just a couple of languages such as French and Spanish. That said, it can be a plus if your study of a foreign language aligns with your career goals. German and Chinese are both valuable languages for students interested in business, and strong French skills would be ideal for someone who wants to teach English or work in public health in Francophone Africa. In 2018, when Harvard Universitys Dean of Admissions testified in court about the schools admissions policies, he revealed that students who studied Greek and Latin and showed an interest in the ancient classics had a slight edge over many other applicants. On the whole, however, study the language that you are most interested in learning. Let your passions guide you. Where would you be most interested in traveling? What language is most likely to intersect with your future plans? If you might study abroad, where would you go? Examples of Foreign Language Requirements The table below shows the foreign language requirement at several competitive colleges. School Language Requirement Carleton College 2 or more years Georgia Tech 2 years Harvard University 4 years recommended MIT 2 years Stanford University 3 or more years UCLA 2 years required; 3 recommended University of Illinois 2 years University of Michigan 2 years required; 4 recommended Williams College 4 years recommeneded Keep in mind that 2 years truly is a minimum, and you will be a stronger applicant at places like MIT and the University of Illinois if you take three or four years. Also, its important to understand what a year means in the context of college admissions. If you began a language in 7th grade, typically 7th and 8th grade will count as a single year, and they should show up on your high school transcript as a unit of a foreign language. If you take a true college class at a college, a single semester of a language will typically be the equivalent of a year of high school language (and those credits are likely to transfer to your college). If you take a dual enrollment class through a collaboration between your high school and a college, those classes are often a single-semester college class spread out over the course of a full year of high school. Strategies if Your High School Doesnt Offer Adequate Language Classes If youre a high achiever and want to graduate from high school with three or four years of language classes but your high school offers only introductory-level classes, you still have options. First of all, when colleges evaluate your high school academic record, they want to see that you have taken the most challenging classes available to you. They recognize the significant disparity between schools. If upper-level and AP language classes simply arent an option at your school, colleges shouldnt penalize you for not taking classes that dont exist. That said, colleges want to enroll students who are well prepared for college, for these students are much more likely to persist and succeed if admitted. The reality is that some high schools do a much better job at college preparation than others. If youre at a school that struggles to deliver anything beyond remedial education, your best bet may be to take matters into your own hands. Talk to your guidance counselor to see what opportunities exist in your region. Typical options include Taking language classes at a local community college. You are likely to find evening or weekend courses that work with your high school schedule, or you may be able to take an early morning or late afternoon college class during a high school class period.Taking online language classes. If there is no college in your area, you can find many options for online college language classes. You may even be able to get high school credit for an online college course. Ideally, youll want a course that includes audio or video conferencing so that you can develop the listening and conversational skills that are so important to language learning. Be forewarned that many colleges will not transfer language credits earned online.Self-studying to take an AP language exam. There are lots of programs out there such as Rosetta Stone, Rocket Languages, and Babbel that can help you learn speaking, reading, and writing skills. An AP study guide can help guide your self-study so that you are targeting ma terial that is likely to be on the exam. Travel that immerses you in a foreign language can also be extremely beneficial. Ideally, youd want to take the AP exam your junior year so that youll have the score in hand when you apply to colleges. Earning a 4 or 5 on the exam (and perhaps a 3) is a convincing way to demonstrate your language knowledge. Note that this option is only good for self-motivated students. Languages and International Students If English is not your first language, you most likely wont need to worry about foreign language courses as part of your college education. When a student from China takes the AP Chinese exam or a student from Argentina takes AP Spanish, the exam results arent going to impress anyone in a significant way.   For non-native English speakers, the much bigger issue will be demonstrating strong English language skills. A high score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Pearson Test of English (PTE), or a similar exam will be an important part of a successful application to colleges in the U.S. A Final Word About Foreign Language Requirements As you consider whether or not to take a foreign language in your junior and senior years of high school, keep in mind that your academic record is almost always the most important part of your college application. Colleges will want to see that you have taken the most challenging courses available to you. If you choose a study hall or an elective course over a language, the admissions folks at highly selective colleges wont view that decision positively.