Muscle by Samuel Wilson Fussell
The Overcoat by Gogol
Winter Dreams
Bartleby
Connect Pascal with Sherwood Anderson short story "The Other Woman"
Have students write an argumentative thesis that addresses how one or more of the stories above are morality tales that illustrate the major themes in David Brooks' "The Moral Bucket List." Also see New Yorker's "David Brooks' Search for Meaning." And see Atlantic's "David Brooks' 5-Step Plan for Being Deep."
Or students can apply essay on narcissism to one or more of the stories.
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
In addition to the "Bartleby" assignment, you could have 1A students compare "The Overcoat" and "Winter Dreams."
Compare the way "The Overcoat" and "Winter Dreams" illuminate the theme of that the chimera of fame and elevated status cause us to become unhinged in a psychological and existential manner. Define the term "unhinged" in psychological and existential terms and show how the stories reveal this unhinging and dislocation.
What Does It Mean to Become Unhinged?
In English 1C, the students will define the term unhinged in the context of "The Overcoat" and "Winter Dreams."
When we study the psychological condition of being unhinged, we are addressing six distinguishing characteristics.
The first characteristic is our delusional self that creates false justifications for irrational behavior. “This thing is so cheap I can’t afford NOT to buy it.” “By buying the Seiko SBDX017 for two thousand dollars, I’ll stop buying six-hundred-dollar watches every four months or so, so that over a five-year period, the two-thousand-dollar Seiko will save me seven thousand dollars. I can’t afford NOT to buy the Seiko.”
The second characteristic is fear of facing our personal shortcomings, what amounts to having someone hand us our butt on a stick. The disparity between our self-image and our true self is too frightening for most of us to bear. We’d rather live with a flattering self-image. We’d rather believe we’re not wasting our lives on nonsense. We’re so desperate to avoid the truth of our personal shortcomings that we engage in diversionary behavior (avoiding the truth through various distractions and escapism) that makes us unhinged.
Related to the second, the third characteristic is the intoxication that overcomes us when we become an image of mythology, celebrity, fame, or power to others so that we see ourselves, not for who we really are, but through the lens of those who worship our mythical self.
The fourth characteristic of becoming unhinged is desire for some mirage or chimera that rips us apart from our powers of reason.
The fifth characteristic of becoming unhinged is obsessive-compulsive behavior that compromises our sense of self-possession and free will.
The sixth characteristic embodies all of the previous four, the state of disconnection, which causes intense anxiety and panic. We are desperate to not feel this disconnection, and we will resort to any extreme to not feel this anxiety. Our extreme behaviors exacerbate our condition, making us more anxious and feeling compelled to be even more extreme, thus creating a vicious cycle.
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