Some Students Are Writing Mixed Sentence Structure: (They are combining subordinating conjunction with coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) or conjunctive adverbs.
While man must find meaning, but he lives in the existential vacuum.
Although we all must suffer, however we can use suffering to find meaning.
Although we want to avoid suffering, but it is precisely suffering that forces us to fulfull our life purpose.
Also students are using "although" incorrectly by placing a comma after it when "although" begins a dependent clause.
Although, Sherry drives a Camry, she wants a BMW.
Although, reading Man's Search for Meaning proved difficult, the book changed my life.
Pronoun Errors: Don't Change Your Pronouns
Here are some pronouns we use when writing essays:
one: One usually must wait for one's intellect to match one's spirit.
you (usually discouraged by professors): You must not run away from the fox and into the mouth of the lion. You must in other words embrace the smaller challenges to avoid catastrophe.
he (frowned upon in colleges): A person uninformed will often panic when he is faced with a difficult decision.
she (more acceptable in colleges) A person uninformed will often panic when she is faced with a difficult decision.
they (acceptable): When people join fanatical ideologies, they are often vulnerable to brainwashing and exploitation. They would be well advised to shun such extreme and fanatical groups.
We (acceptablity level varies; check with your professor): When we are confronted with the existential vacuum, we must ask ourselves, what is the antidote or the cure for such a vexing situation?
Incorrect pronoun changes
When a person stuffs himself with pizza they are overcome with upset stomach making you want to run to the bathroom. We should be moderate in our eating. That way you will not be embarrassed in social situations by a raging stomach that can afflict all of us. One must remember this principle if you are to be successful in life.
Pronoun Agreement Link
Using Pronouns Clearly
Pronoun Agreement Rules
Weak Or Questionable Thesis Examples
Ivan Ilyich lived a failed life.
Ivan Ilyich lived the "proper" life, which was his downfall.
Ivan Ilyich lived a horrible, lonely life.
Ivan Ilyich had a crappy marriage.
Ivan Ilyich's life had no meaning.
Ivan Ilyich didn't devote enough time to fixing his marriage. They should have gone into counseling.
Ivan Ilyich is a vain, pompous ass who deserved what he got.
Ivan got rich but could never get over his loneliness.
Ivan Ilyich is my hero for sticking to his guns.
Ivan Ilyich was a good man who was betrayed by an ungrateful family.
McMahon is unfair in his judgment of Ivan Ilyich who was simply a good man who got back-stabbed by a sick, superficial society.
Better Thesis
McMahon's interpretation of the novella fails in many ways, including ____________, ___________, ____________, and __________________.
Ivan Ilyich embodies the principle that "the ordinary life is the most terrible life at all." This becomes clear when we examine the ordinary and its dangerous consequences in the context of Viktor Frankl's existential vacuum. The consequences of Ivan Ilyich's refusal to embrace meaning and instead to live inside the existential vacuum are evidenced in the story in many ways including ___________________, ___________________, ____________________, _____________, and ____________________.
McMahon's Thesis
Without a life of meaning as described by Viktor Frankl, Ivan Ilyich foresakes his Higher Self and instead coddles his Infant Demon, a soul doomed to the existential vacuum evidenced by blind ambition, a toxic, hate-fueled marriage, virulent materialism (philistinism), narcissistic self-pity, and a complete surrender to the Assumed Consensus.
Symptoms of Ivan Ilyich's Existential Vacuum
1. Narcissism: all energies and attention directed toward the self so that external reality does not register. Such extreme self-centeredness, as evident in Ivan, is a form of insanity and is also called solipsism.
People become narcissistic because their lives lack meaning and in their boredom they turn inward, fretting about themselves. Self-centeredness is the natural obsession of a life without meaning.
2. Bitterness: inflated expectations of self-glory are never met so that the narcissist feels bitter, that he never got his due even though Ivan lives a life of status and privilege. The problem is that his status and privilege fail him and make him feel disappointed, bitter, and remorseful.
3. Ennui, the boredom from becoming numb on the "hedonic treadmill." Also without meaning, the spirit sucuumbs to ennui, spiritual boredom.
4. philistine, Ivan has no interest in culture, the arts, or fashion except as a show to others, but without authentic passion he can only define himself by the things he buys for himself and as such he is a philistine.
5. Paranoia, the inflated self-importance of a narcissist like Ivan compels him to create scenarios in which fictitious enemies are plotting against him, trying to destroy him, and trying to overtake his empire. In truth, Ivan is his own worst enemy and he is being devoured by the existential vacuum.
One. What evidences that Ivan has declined in Part III to a petty man inclined to self-pity and an ugly sense of entitlement? Consider his missed job promotion and his increased financial “needs.” And consider his need to “punish those who don’t appreciate him.”
Two. Why does Ivan suffer from ennui during a summer leave from work? What demons must he confront without the bustle of his job?
In truth, Ivan's job is relief from the hell of his marriage. More than anything, his marriage is killing him both physically and spiritually. His marriage is the cornerstone of his phone life, a life wasted on mutual disrespect.
Three. How do Ivan’s misguided activities in Part III suggest he is reacting to the existential vacuum? Is he really “completely happy” or is the narrator being ironic, really meaning, “temporarily assuaged”?
Every time Ivan becomes bored or has a fight with his wife, he puts a band-aid on his crisis by buying a new toy, erecting a new household item, or getting a job promotion, but like a child bored with a toy, he soon grows sullen and begins to crave a new band-aid to feebly cover his deeper problem, which is his life has no meaning.
Thus the "death" of Ivan Ilyich is really about the death that results from the existential vacuum. The physical death is almost an afterthought.
Four. How does consumerism buoy Ivan’s marriage and give it a patina of loveliness and harmony? The same answer as above.
Five. What evidences soulless conformity in Ivan’s house? They have to buy things that will impress party guests.
Six. What suggests Ivan is always living just beyond his means? He is like a drug addict who needs to feed his libido ostentandi (drive to be ostentatious) with all his resources so that he is under constant financial burden.
Seven. How does Ivan’s professional conduct in Part III reveal him to be an abject hypocrite completely absent of empathy and a thoroughly wretched human being? He only behaves decently toward his underlings in front of others but when no one is watching he exacts cruelty upon his employees and thus reveals his true sadistic self, a barren man hungry for power to compensate for the existential vacuum.
Eight. Based on Ivan’s reading and consumer habits in Part III, how can we definitively say that he is a dreaded philistine? He only buys things to impress others, not himself. He has no appreciation for things other than as trophies.
Nine. How are Ivan’s home entertainments indicative of the Chanel No. 5 Moment? The Chanel No. 5 Moment (those moments we bathe in the glory of thinking we are the center of attention and admiration) feeds delusions of grandeur but it is also ethereal or short-lived and must be constantly recreated.
Like most people, Ivan's life is about enduring the excruciating intervals between one Chanel No. 5 Moment and the next. All the while, Ivan is dying inside.
Ten. What evidence in Part IV suggests neither Ivan nor his wife have ever matured or found meaning? At one point, they fight over the costs of party expenses to the point that they almost kill each other and get a divorce. Are the party costs the real issue? No, the real issue is that they live in a loveless marriage and they know deep down that they are wasting their lives on a fake marriage. As such, they lack self-respect and respect for each other.
Eleven. Why is Ivan’s wife torn by feelings of wanting Ivan to die and not wanting him to die?
Twelve. What is the response of Ivan’s wife and daughter to his worsening illness? See Part IV near the end.
Thirteen. How, so to speak, does Ivan see the vultures circling at the end of Part IV?
Fourteen. What evidence is there that Ivan is becoming more and more ostracized for his fatal illness? End of Part IV and Part V.
Fifteen. Ivan feels he is going insane in Part V. Explain. People live with their illusions about death while Ivan has lost his. The disparity between his worldview and theirs is surreal. Imagine, if you will, having a dream that you're on a school playground and everyone is having fun and laughing at which time you see a ferocious dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, approaching from a distant field. You scream to warn the others but they ignore you and continue playing. That's how Ivan feels.
If You Want to Read the Story Online, Here It Is:
Online Short Story
Revisiting the Writing Assignment
In the beginning of Part II we read that "Ivan Illych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible." Develop a thesis with 4 or 5 mapping components that explain this opening line in the context of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Successful, A-level essays will include additional examples from personal experience.
The same assignment worded differently:
Ivan is obsessed with a "proper" and "correct" life and those things that were "proper" and "correct" failed him. Explain by developing a thesis with 4 or 5 mapping components.
Failed Thesis Statements That Address the Essay Topic
Too general or broad
Too obvious
Thesis doesn't lend itself to mapping components or body paragraph topic sentences
Better example of a thesis that addresses the topic:
Story Questions
1. How does provisional self-interest raise its ugly head in the opening scene? Death is not a time to contemplate the loss of life, the meaning of life, or the service we might assert to the loved ones of the dead. Rather, death is nothing more than a possible job promotion. One less person exists between us and our goal. The death of others should be celebrated.
The second thing death means is this: "Oh, crap, I've got to go to a funeral. What a pain in the ass, man."
2. What is the role of schadenfreude in the opening scene? The failure, demise, and even death of others means my possible success. And relief. "It is he who is dead and not I."
3. How in effect is death rude in the opening scene evidenced by the resentment in the men’s inner thoughts? Ivan made a mess of things. What's amazing in the opening scene is that Ivan's colleagues act as if Ivan's illness and eventual death was part of "an act," an exercise of self-attention, impudence (offensively bold, immodest behavior). "But what really was the matter with him?" "The doctors couldn't say." In other words, they question the authenticity of his illness. Somehow, Ivan's troubles were the result of a moral flaw that inconvenienced others.
4. Describe Peter’s fearful reaction to the corpse and connect that reaction with something Franz Kafka wrote: “The fear of death is the fear of an unfulfilled life.” Also, Peter is a coward who doesn't want to face the reality that death usually doesn't come instantly. Rather we suffer a long time before it arrives. Secondly, we die alone. We have to be at peace with ourselves and people in the hell of the existential vacuum are never content to be alone. They live in abject fear.
5. How does Gerasim’s acceptance of death in Part I complement Viktor Frankl’s idea that death completes life? "It's God's will. We shall all come to it someday." He accepts death as part of life. Like Frankl writes, death complements and fulfills life.
6. How are Peter and Gerasim counterparts to one another? Peter is a coward who lives a life of self-interest and as such is not worthy of suffering. Gerasim is committed to service toward others.
7. How does the opening of Part II complement Viktor Frankl’s main message about choosing meaning? "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible." As Frankl writes, the ordinary life, one of self-interest and the existential vacuum, is a form of hell.
8. In Part II, how is Ivan painted as a man who follows the morality of conformity? What is such a morality? What are its limitations?
9. How does Ivan conform to Pascal’s life of diversion and appearances?
10. How does Ivan couch his infidelity within social acceptance in Part II? How does his handling of the matter paint him as being full of B.S.?
11. With Ivan’s pursuit of power and comfort, how do you define “worldliness”? Playing the sycophant game; be a sycophant and someday have your own sycophants.
12. How is Ivan’s life a heartless life, one that’s all calculation and no heart?
13. Why does Ivan’s wife abruptly become a petulant malcontent and how is this a stereotype of the wife in marriage? In fact, Ivan too is a petulant malcontent. They hate each other because they use each others as commodities for achieving their vanity.
14. Why does Ivan try to create an existence outside of his family life and how does this support the contention made at the beginning of Part II?
15. How and why does Ivan’s marriage become a bottomless cesspool of arguments and incriminations? In other words, his marriage has become a hell from which he cannot escape except from work and adultery. Apparently, Tolstoy saw this as the common condition.
16. How does Ivan’s sense of power compensate for his impotent home life?
17. Is it possible that the stress in his marriage killed him? Broke down his immune system? Explain.