1. At one point Annie Fang insists that all of the Fangs are the same. However, there seem to be distinct differences as the third-person narration moves closer to Annie’s or Buster’s filters. Choose a passage or two that is close to each character’s filter, and make an argument about how Annie’s and Buster’s filters are different from one another.
2. One of the most important things parents do is pass their values on to their children. What values have Caleb and Camille passed on to Annie and Buster? Find passages that support your answer.
3. In the readings for today, both Buster and Annie experience moments of clarity, perhaps even epiphany. Re-read both of these passages closely (Buster’s is his speech in front of the creative writing group, pages 129-131, while Annie’s is when she receives an email from the director of Date Due, pages 206-209). How does the author convey that these are important moments for Buster and Annie? Summarize their realizations. Why are they important?
4. Caleb and Camille are enigmatic characters. Choose at least two passages where the reader learns an important detail about one or both of them. Examine the passage closely, noting how Caleb and/or Camille are portrayed. Is the author encouraging the reader to view them in a certain way? How can you tell?
Post your answers as a comment on this post.
1.) Bottom of Page 64-69-- Buster is more easily manipulated and listens to others. Annie--Filter's reveal a more manipulative attitude and is more independent. Annie doesn't lie anymore, but Buster still does.
ReplyDelete2.) deep infatuation with art-- 142-143
Buster still has attachment to his parents way of life-- 152
3.) realizes that he is not a failure, he is establishing his own identity in art--he actually has talent apart from them. His art lies outside of his parents art.
Annie-- Annie realizes that she wants to separate herself from her parents art, and has decided to make her way in the world.
Represents a big transitional period in their lives when they realize they do not need their parents identities or art any longer.
4.) 184-185 Caleb sacrifices his own beliefs in terms of art, and removes all personal bias. He has taken "Hobart's definition of art" and is fiercely loyal to it. This reveals caleb's extreme passion and dedication to art.
112-113- Caleb and Camille have different reactions to the chicken sandwhiches. Camille is very much docile, and optimistic stating that it will work the next time. Caleb is furious that people "don't understand art" . Camille has a much more gentle manner and is generally more patient, while Caleb is impatient and passionate.
1. on 177, Annie gets mad at Buster for agreeing with the police officer that their parents might indeed be dead. She is very argumentative and is trying to tell the officer that it is all a show, and Buster is trying to make the tension in the room die down. He also seems to agree with the officer that there is a possibility of their death. From this, we see that Buster’s filter makes it seem like he is a lot more sensitive and worrisome, while Annie doesn’t grieve for her parents’ disappearance at all.
ReplyDeleteOn 149, we see Annie’s views about Buster getting shot in the face. She is very angry and doesn’t understand Buster’s feelings towards the event, because Buster doesn’t want to press charges and he still wants to be friends with Joseph.
2. One value is the importance that they place on family. If they didn’t have each other, Caleb and Camille’s work wouldn’t be as good, which is proven from the chicken sandwich incident. On page 173, Caleb says that Annie is a Fang, which “supersedes everything else.” Caleb and Camille also teach them the importance of art, passed down from Hobart, on page 190; whether or not art gets in the way of someone or something else, “Art, if you loved it, was worth any amount of unhappiness and pain.” This is definitely instilled on their kids. Another value the Fangs impart to the children is to not rely on other people. Throughout the story, the fangs never let anyone else in on what their family is doing and when the children go to visit Hobart, he confirms that the Fangs have almost no friends. Also, the kids have no concept of actions having consequences.
3. The speech is an important part for Buster because he is breaking out of this reserved shell and he seems to become more passionate about what he is doing. While he was a freelance writer, the question always popped up as to if he actually enjoyed what he is doing in the writing world. At this point and futher, he seems to become more passionate about the writing process and how it’s not about money.
Amber, Craig, Graham, Adam, and Caroline
Delete1. At one point Annie Fang insists that all of the Fangs are the same. However, there seem to be distinct differences as the third-person narration moves closer to Annie’s or Buster’s filters. Choose a passage or two that is close to each character’s filter, and make an argument about how Annie’s and Buster’s filters are different from one another.
ReplyDeleteAnnie’s Filter:
Buster’s Filter:
2. One of the most important things parents do is pass their values on to their children. What values have Caleb and Camille passed on to Annie and Buster? Find passages that support your answer.
Values: Freedom of expression and individuality
As stated in the book, “You two are great artists,” Hobart said as the two siblings walked back to their rental car. “You can separate reality from art. A lot of us can’t do that” (Page 204). This implies that Annie and Buster know how to separate reality from art, whereas others may not. For example, their their parents don’t. The parents view of art is highly valued by them, which makes it hard for them to distinguish it from reality.
3. In the readings for today, both Buster and Annie experience moments of clarity, perhaps even epiphany. Re-read both of these passages closely (Buster’s is his speech in front of the creative writing group, pages 129-131, while Annie’s is when she receives an email from the director of Date Due, pages 206-209). How does the author convey that these are important moments for Buster and Annie? Summarize their realizations. Why are they important?
To show the beginning of Buster’s epiphany, there is a clue in the passage, “Buster felt something click into place” (129). Buster realized that he writes to explore his fears of the unknown and unpredictable. This is important because his realization of this helps him to understand that he writes to control his fears and turn them into something that he can support and be excited about.
Annie’s moment of clarity is announced directly by the author in the sentence, “Annie could not helped but be moved” (209). This moment of clarity is where Annie realizes her individuality and that her future is distinct and distant from her parents’ futures. This is important because it will allow Annie to begin to make decisions that are for her career and not to save her parents from their crazy obsession with art.
4. Caleb and Camille are enigmatic characters. Choose at least two passages where the reader learns an important detail about one or both of them. Examine the passage closely, noting how Caleb and/or Camille are portrayed. Is the author encouraging the reader to view them in a certain way? How can you tell?
“He took a deep breath, held it, felt his body slip into a calm that he believed preceded sound decisions, and fired the rifle” (188). The sentences before this passage show Caleb’s anxiety about shooting Waxman, but as the time to act approaches he calms himself and prepares for the art. The author is encouraging the reader to see Caleb as a bundle of nerves before the shooting, something that is apparent by all of the movement and action before the calming breath. The calming breath is Caleb tuning out everything but the art.
Group 8:
ReplyDelete1. pg. 157: “Don’t let them do this to you, Buster,” she said, almost shouting, her anger against her parents amplified by the fact that Buster seemed to be falling for it. “This is what they want goddamn it. They want us to think they’re dead.”
pg 178: “Don’t cry, Annie.” Buster thought. They needed to be strong. The sheriff was wrong. Their parents were not dead. They were not trying to avoid Buster and Annie. They had devised a cunning and beautiful artistic statement about disappearing. They had done what they always did, made art out of confusion and strangenenss. And the Buster realized he was crying.
Buster believes the parents’ art brings the family together rather than destroys his and Annie’s lives. He feels out of place in the family- the least creative Fang. “the least of all Fangs”
Annie is a lot more angry with her parents and tired of them using her and Buster in their art.
2. They have passed on the value of art in a different form- art that is produced by getting a reaction from the crowd through an unexpected, often uncomfortable, experience. It is the reaction that is the art, not the action itself. They are taught to value how others react to their work, not just the work itself.
For example, Buster judges the value of his second work as “a spectacular failure”, due to the numerous negative reviews that it received. (pg.121)
They have passed on the value of being different through the way they act and dress, and the value in not conforming to society.
3. “...It mostly got awful reviews. At the time, it made me sick to my stomach. I wished I were dead. But that went away after a while. And then I just felt relieved that, even if people had hated it, I made it myself. I don’t know what I’m saying, really, but I guess it ‘s like having a kid, though I don’t have any kids. It’s yours, you made it, and no matter what happens, you have that pride of ownership. You love it, even if it didn’t amount to much.” (pg. 131)
Buster realizes that it is not the people’s reaction to his work that is important, it is his authorship of the work that is important to him. This also suggests that his view of his parents are shifted from artists who only viewed their children as a part of their art, to parents who valued their children as their children.
Annie realized that her creativity formed because of her parents and that they were an important part of her life.
4. When we learn that Camille hides the little pieces of artwork from her husband. She values this form of art but Caleb feels the exact opposite.
Pg. 124: “Their father, on several occasions throughout their childhood, had referred to painting and photography and drawing as dead forms of art, incapable of accurately reflecting the unwieldy nature of real life.”
When we find out the story about Caleb shooting his professor in the name of art. It shows his extreme passion.
Pg. 190: “Art, if you loved it, was worth any amount of happiness and pain.”
Group 3 Part 1:
ReplyDelete1. Buster seems more sensitive to the surrounding environment, and more malleable to people’s expectations and reactions.
pg. 179 when Annie comes up with the plan to “make a list of subjects” who would’ve helped their parents hide and Buster goes along with all her plans to be a capable person even though he “doesn’t understand” and “wanted so badly to take a nap.”
pg. 144 during the Romeo & Juliet fiasco when Buster gives in to Annie’s wishes for an authentic production of the play and kisses her even though he doesn’t want to because she wants him to.
Annie is harsher towards her parents and angrier than Buster and seems to need to be in control and is almost manipulative.
pg. 149 when Annie reads Suzanne’s story and almost decides to throw it away as part of the task of “keeping her brother from falling in love with this strange girl.” She is worried about Suzanne and Joseph pulling Buster away from her.
pg. 198 you can see Annie trying to control the situation by forcing Hobart to tell them what he knows and her anger towards her parents when she balls her fists, but also her love for them as she’s jealous of how much they loved Hobart
2. A value that the parents have passed on to their children is the value for art. We see that Buster and Annie both imbibe art into their lives in the future. They also seem to have passed on the idea of creating a reaction in people. For example, Annie seems to create a reaction when she walks onto the scene topless. Everyone on set is surprised and furthermore, the public is surprised as well. Furthermore, Buster creates a reaction in people during the entire potato gun incident. They both seem to get a feeling of numbness before they put themselves into the situation. This could potentially have been passed down as well. As far as values go, I feel like the entire Fang family seems to value art over anything and everything. They go to extremes to appreciate the value of art. For example, Annie goes to the extent of kissing her brother in the Romeo and Juliet play because she values art so much.
Group 7
ReplyDelete1. Buster: Uneasy and itching in one of his father’s ancient tweed suits, Buster sat on the sofa in the registrar’s office, the secretaries ignoring him, as he clutched a copy of his second novel. Not for a million dollars would have have claimed authorship of the book in his hands if the secretaries, popping gum and filled with petty grievances, had demanded a reason for his presence in the school
Annie: As she stood there, naked from the waist up, while the extras and crew and her costar and just about every single person involved in the movie all stared at her, Annie told herself that it was all about control. She was controlling the situation. She was totally, without a doubt, in control.
Annie’s filter portrays her confidence and self assurance, and like in the example passage, she seems to be comfortable taking control of her environment and the people around her. On the other hand, Buster seems to feel awkward and uncomfortable in any social setting and seems easily influenced by outside forces. Buster seems to be extremely malleable and prone to emotion concerning just about everything (i.e. falling in love with a girl after reading a paper she wrote) while nothing negative seems to affect Annie’s disposition for too long.
2. The value and importance of art has definitely been passed on to Annie and Buster; although they never seemed to enjoy taking part in the Fang family productions, both of their careers are in the arts (Buster with literature and Annie with film). They both seem to strive towards and enjoy art that is “difficult,” as Buster wrote novels that received negative reviews and Annie finds acting in independent films most rewarding. This is certainly a quality that Caleb and Camille centered their life around, as Caleb mentions that “great art is difficult” (116).
3. Buster and Annie’s realizations are especially important because they both realize that someone appreciates their talents. Buster’s book got awful reviews but Lucas Kizza loved it and the entire creative writing class seems to identify with him about their motivations behind writing. Annie’s old director sends her an email asking her to play a part in her new movie because she recognized her talent as an actress despite the tabloids saying she was crazy. This separates them from the “Fang family productions” and gives them worth beyond being child A and child B.
4. The baby sputtered and spit, drool covering her onesie, darkening the fabric. Held loosely in Camille’s arms, she reached for Caleb and he let her hands, soft and barely corporeal, worry his face. She lightly tapped his eyes and mouth and nose as if to say, “Here, here, here,” or “Mine, mine, mine.” He smiled.
“We made her,” Camille said.
“Ill-conceived,” Caleb thought, and then he said, “Handcrafted by the finest artisans.”
“Your father and I are getting older, entering the twilight of our artistic careers, I’m afraid. Still, I’m a good ten years younger than him and, god forbid, if he dies before I do, what am I going to do?... I’ve been painting these little, I don’t know what to call them, scenes. If your father found out, good Lord, it would be such a betrayal to him.” -Camille
From these passages, we can tell that there is some unspoken tension between Caleb and Camille. Caleb hid his initial resentment to Annie being born in order to not upset Camille, while Camille hides her paintings for fear of Caleb finding out, as he doesn’t appreciate visual art as true art. Their lack of honesty, even to each other, brings about the question of how honest they are to themselves as well as to their children. This is especially seen when Camille and Caleb set up the Romeo and Juliet chaos without the knowledge of Annie and Buster.
Group 3 Part 2:
ReplyDelete3. Buster’s speech in the creative writing group and Annie’s email are both significantly important, mainly because of their steep decline throughout their whole development into adulthood. Buster lost his drive to write his books, and ends up writing less than favorable new articles that pique no interest in him. He is submerged in the concept of the potato gun, and clearly falls apart. With the creative writing group, he is forced to relay his thoughts on the concept of writing, on how to create it. He is forced to come back to writing, as Lucas Kizza constantly praises him and applauds him for his literary genius. With Annie, her life spirals down after a series of bad decisions including a topless scene, sleeping with a reporter from Esquire, her co-star lesbian fiasco, and ex-boyfriend troubles. So far, it is seen that Annie cannot make decisions that well and have to rely on her surrounding environment to make a decision. Date Due was one of the high points in her life after being nominated for an Oscar. With the director’s email in the midst of Annie’s demise, it gave her hope to fix and mend her broken life, beginning with the decision to find her parents and fix Buster in the process as well.
4. I think Caleb and Camille can be considered selfish. They haven’t seen Annie and Buster in years and the first thing that comes to their mind when they are picking Annie up from the airport is to create another scene. Most parents normally are excited to see their children after an extremely long time and want to talk and catch up on their lives. Rather than doing that, Caleb and Camille seem to put art as a priority. I also think that Caleb is more selfish than Camille. He doesn’t respect the art that Camille valued prior to meeting Caleb. He thinks that art involved painting and art that does not involve motion is not considered art. He throws a glass at the wall and says that it was an example of art. He then picks up the pieces of glass in his hand and says that this isn’t art. Camille hides the miniature paintings she has made in Annie’s closet to avoid getting her husband angry when he sees them. Also, the entire plan was put together by Caleb. the idea of setting up scenes was Caleb’s. Furthermore, when the chicken sandwich idea didn’t create the reaction that he wanted, Caleb became angry and was frustrated. Camille tried to calm her husband down but it was obvious that Caleb was not happy with the entire situation. I also think the parents lack compassion. If I came home with an injury, my parents would be working to heal it rather than taking me in public and performing a scene for their own pleasure. They would care more about my comfort rather than their personal entertainment. Caleb and Camille have no compassion in regards to Buster. Furthermore, the refer to their children as A and B and never use their actually names. I wouldn’t feel loved if I was given one letter as my nickname and was treated like an object in the art rather than a child.
1. Annie: “Maybe she was going crazy. She didn’t feel crazy, but she was sure that this was not the way that sane people behaved.” p. 60
ReplyDeleteAnnie has a particular image of who she wants to be and when she does not attain this image, she is frazzled and goes “crazy.” In this instance, she has created a horrible image and created questions surrounding her sanity because she hasn’t become the person she wants to be and spirals out of control.
Buster: “To ease the sting of being forgotten, Buster leafed through the papers until he found a story called ‘The Damaged Boy.’ He liked the sound of that.” p. 133
This passage shows Buster’s true nature. He feels sad and is coasting through life, feeling like he means nothing. He likes the sound of the damaged boy because he identifies with him. The boy in the story is a character Buster identifies with because he sees himself in the boy and the pain he feels.
2. Annie: “Maybe she was going crazy. She didn’t feel crazy, but she was sure that this was not the way that sane people behaved.” p. 60
Annie has a particular image of who she wants to be and when she does not attain this image, she is frazzled and goes “crazy.” In this instance, she has created a horrible image and created questions surrounding her sanity because she hasn’t become the person she wants to be and spirals out of control.
Buster: “To ease the sting of being forgotten, Buster leafed through the papers until he found a story called ‘The Damaged Boy.’ He liked the sound of that.” p. 133
This passage shows Buster’s true nature. He feels sad and is coasting through life, feeling like he means nothing. He likes the sound of the damaged boy because he identifies with him. The boy in the story is a character Buster identifies with because he sees himself in the boy and the pain he feels.
3. Buster: It appears at the beginning of his speech Buster is going on his rant. The rant has a purpose for him though. The authors shows that the rant gives Buster clarity into why he writes and a purpose he has searched for in himself. Buster talks about how even though his writings may be bad he still he is the creator of it.
Annie: The author conveys that Annie’s reading of Lucy’s email was an important moment based on her reaction to it. This is the first time in a while that Annie has actually felt moved or inspired by something. This is important because it shows that Annie is healing in a way. She was just floating on not really caring or thinking about her actions because she had nothing to inspire her or make her want to work hard. This new project “rekindled her spirit” in a way and made her ready to dive into a project that means something to her.
4. Buster: It appears at the beginning of his speech Buster is going on his rant. The rant has a purpose for him though. The authors shows that the rant gives Buster clarity into why he writes and a purpose he has searched for in himself. Buster talks about how even though his writings may be bad he still he is the creator of it.
Annie: The author conveys that Annie’s reading of Lucy’s email was an important moment based on her reaction to it. This is the first time in a while that Annie has actually felt moved or inspired by something. This is important because it shows that Annie is healing in a way. She was just floating on not really caring or thinking about her actions because she had nothing to inspire her or make her want to work hard. This new project “rekindled her spirit” in a way and made her ready to dive into a project that means something to her.
Page 162: when Camille tells him that she is pregnant, Caleb is immediately consumed with panic and dread. His first thought is that "children kill art." This idea is the starting point of Caleb's habit of putting art before his family. He subjects his children to crazy stunts and public humiliation and justifies it as art.
Group 5^^^
Delete1.
ReplyDeletepage 75: Buster talks about how he idolizes his sister, and how even though she was falling into “something disastrous and depressing” he knew that “he probably couldn’t help her.” This shows that Annie, even though she has fallen into a dark hole that used to be her life, she is still the more successful Fang and Buster remains the “lesser” Fang who can offer no help.
Page 9: when Annie calls her brother to ask his opinion on the topless scene; “Buster said that she should climb out of the window of the bathroom and run away, which was his solution to most problems.” he supported this statement by saying that she should “get the hell out of there before they talk you into doing something that you don’t want to do”
Page 63: “she was the beautiful Fang, the one who could insert herself into a situation and gain the attention of anyone, which allowed for the other Fang’s to continue their actions.” “Buster understood that she was the beautiful one, and Buster was, well, not the beautiful one.
Also the relationship that Annie and Buster have with their parents….Annie’s isn’t as good, or accepting as Buster’s. Buster may not be fond of their actions, but he doesn’t hesitate to call them when he’s in trouble. Annie on the other hand, even after knowing her brother was at home did not want to come home until later. Also once their parents go missing Buster is concerned and questions things, Annie has full confidence that they are playing a joke and planned their whole disappearance.
2.
Artistic
creativity, want to pick the path that isn’t normal or typical
yet ironically they pushed their children away from this world….
page 125: When Buster goes to talk to the Kids at the community college, Kizza tells Buster that he believes “with such an artistic family, I imagine your development was only hindered by the outside world.”
Kizza’s comment helps readers to realize not only the influence the Fangs had on their children, but also the influence the world believes the parents had on their children. In many ways, Caleb and Camille were selfish in their artistic endeavors and created a world for Annie and Buster that they had no choice other than to live in. Buster and Annie both carried their parent’s values into their own lives, but also shut their parents out at the same time. Annie does this more so than Buster, yet ironically, Annie is child who creates her father’s idea of real art.
3.
“she wondered if this is how Lucy saw her, a woman incapable of being harmed by the terrible choices she would always make.” She responds to the e-mail and says “I love it, I’m in” with no hesitation, she appreciates Lucy considering her for the part.
Buster just starts talking about how he thinks about things that everyone else thinks about, but no one ever actually admits to, or talks about out loud. That is what he writes about.. the kids engage in this part of his conversation as one student says “I think about that kind of stuff a lot.” Buster- “Well that’s why I write I guess. These weird thoughts come to my head, and I don’t even really want to think about it, but I can’t let go of it until I take it as far as I can, until I reach some kind of ending, and I can move on…” Buster is able to express what writing is to him.
4.
Annie’s discovery of Camille’s art collection sparks an interesting moment in the family’s relationship. It appears that Caleb is hindering artistic expressions that do not coincide with his own. The fact that Camille feels that she must hide this “dead” and stale art from her husband depicts the unique relationship the couple has. This moment gives insight to Caleb’s dominance.
In the passage where Camille finds out she is pregnant with Annie, we are able to learn more about Camille and Caleb as people. Camille is able to separate art from real life, but Caleb only has one view of the world. Caleb is not as supporting once Annie is born, and only does tasks such as change diapers and feed Annie, yet Camille gives Annie the love and nurture she needs.
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