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NPoliti Midnight in Dostoevsky Essay
NPoliti Midnight in Dostoevsky Essay
NPoliti Midnight in Dostoevsky Essay
Robby and Todd, as members of this hypothetical audience themselves, also have no idea
what the coat really is, but have already convinced themselves of a side in their dichotomy
because of mental subjectivity. Both are adamant about their own opinions because they do
not want the other option to be true, and to either person, there exists an amount of certainty
that cannot be reversed, even by fact itself.
Ultimately, Don DeLillo is trying to prove to us that our need for certainty as a
society leads to our creation of an uncertain hyperreality through illogical logic. Best
represented by the escapades of Robby and Todd, the quest for absolute truth can never be
fully ascertained because the public is so adamant about their pre-conceived hypothetical
realities. The closer we move as a society to this way of thinking, the less chance there is
that absolute truth will ever exist in the future. As for a society that lacks absolute truth, we
as a society are left to form hypothetical situations as to what that futuristic society would be.
This process is even an example of leaving behind the boundaries set by pure logic and
setting forth a new kind of truth, one that exists not in reality, but is created rather by human
beings in their own quest for certainty.
Grade(largely)granted:B+
Funtoread,Nick!
Rubric/Grading Key:
1. The Essay has a clear and logical (pun intended) motive that is recurrent and clear.
Grade:9/10
I tried to imbue my essay with as much of the illustrated concept as possible. My recurring
motive (to use artistic terminology) was the idea of certainty becoming less and less certain,
an idea which I believe to have been nicely developed throughout the essay. I used
understandable and clear examples to illustrate my interpretation of DeLillos story, which
was the central goal of this Lit-Crit. Another motive was DeLillos satirization of historical
novel writing, which was prevalent in body paragraphs 1 and 2.
2. Any outside reference is clear and elaborate. Grade: 8.5/10
I actually really enjoyed researching the idea that DeLillo somewhat satirized a
Shakespearean way of thinking in body paragraph 1. It lead me to make interesting
connections between history and modern literature, which I believe to be true in the cases I
presented.
3. The essay and rubric are both, in themselves, self-referential. Grade: 9/10
Turning our attention to body paragraph 2 of the essay, the paragraph discussion Jenna and
Robby, I am including a hypothetical situation of what a modern audience might think about
when viewing Robby and Jennas relationship, when really this interpretation is solely my
own. In a sense, I tried to illustrate the same concept that DeLillo denounces, that of
adhering so much to ones own perspective of certainty that actual certainty is lost. I have no
clue how a modern audience would have actually reacted to Jenna and Robby in the story.
Secondly, if you look towards section 4 of the rubric, Grammar and Spelling choices, there
exists another element of certainty that a category as such would be featured in a common
English class atmosphere. I wanted to feed into my own certainty by including this section as
a reference to DeLillos concept of certainty, only I am creating a concrete certainty by
including the category. It is almost certain that you wouldve included a category like that
anyway, but in the same way not certain because I describe certainty from my interpretation
of reality.
4. Grammar and Spelling choices. Grade: 8.3/10
One of my most prevalent errors is my overuse of commas as punctual devices in sentences.
I realize this and will try to improve upon it in the future. Another recurring concept in my
writing is that of redundancy in sentences and in the overall form of paragraphs. I awarded
myself a B in this category thinking hypothetically of what you would have given me
otherwise in a section such as this. As for spelling, I ran spell-check through this essay so that
correct spelling could remain a certainty.
5. Mr. Phillipson had fun reading the essay. Grade: N/A
I was not able to give myself a grade on this section, as whatever grade I wouldve given
myself was directly dependent on my hypothetical reality of you sitting in a chair and reading
this Lit-Crit in full. This concept derives itself from DeLillos ultimate thesis that society is
driving itself into the ground by losing touch with absolute truth. Because I know that
whatever situation I imagined had the possibility of being both true and false led me to use
this section of the rubric to further illustrate my interpretation of DeLillos concepts.
Therefore, I will leave this section of the rubric blank because I chose not to adhere to my
version of reality in which you gave me a spectacular grade on this essay, even though my
mind wants to adamantly accept it as truth.
Grade: B+/A(Grade is also hypothetical)