Literature Analysis #2: The Cherry Orchard

1.) Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

• The protagonist of the novel is Lyuba Ranevsky. After five years of being away from her home, she and her daughter Anya have finally returned due to her financial crisis. Everyone is rejoiced at their arrival, including  Lopakhin (family friend), Dunyasha (maid), Fiers (servant),  and Varya (adoptive daughter). Anya states that their poverty is partially due to her mothers excessive spending. Gayev, Ranevsky's brother, and Lopakhin brainstorm ideas as to what they should do with Ranevsky's cherry orchard. Lopakhin believes that the best thing to do is to cut down the trees, build cottages, and rent them out. Ranevsky rejects this idea because she cannot stand the idea of having to part with her trees. Throughout the course of the play, the characters each remember some sort of painful memory in their past.There are several love subplots intertwined throughout the play such as Lopakhin and Varya. In order to solve the financial crisis, the cherry orchard is auctioned off. Lopakhin is the one to buy it and precedes with his idea to build cottages on the land. Everyone then leaves the house. Rovenvsky leaves her home weeping. Everyone has forgotten Fier and he is left alone in the house. The last sound heard is the sound of the cherry trees being cut down.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

• The main theme is attachment to memories/the past. Ranevsky doesn't seem to take action against her financial issues but continues to contribute to them with her excessive spending. She refuses to adapt to her new life , she stays glued to her past and doesn't strive to make a better future for herself. 

3.)Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).


Towards the beginning of the play each of the characters sets off a different tone. Lubov's  character at the beginning creates a reminiscent and nostalgic tone. She walks around her home remembering what it was like when she lived there five years ago. For the most part Act 1 is set in this tone.

•  Lubov: My dear nursery, oh, you beautiful room. . . . I used to sleep here when I was a baby. [Weeps] And here I am like a little girl again. [Kisses her brother, VARYA, then her brother again] And Varya is just as she used to be, just like a nun. And I knew Dunyasha. [Kisses her.]
• Gaev: Right into the pocket! Once upon a time you and I used both to sleep in this room, and now I'm fifty-one; it does seem strange.

Anya later on begins talking to Varya, recalling why her mom  had left their home five years ago. This sets up a serious tone for the rest of the scene.

•  Anya: Father died six years ago, and a month later my brother Grisha was drowned in the river-- such a dear little boy of seven! Mother couldn't bear it; she went away, away, without looking round. . . . [Shudders] How I understand her; if only she knew!

 Each of the characters struggles with some unpleasant memory in their past. When they recall whatever unpleasant memory, there is a melancholy tone.

• Charlotte: I haven't a real passport. I don't know how old I am, and I think I'm young. When I was a little girl my father and mother used to go round fairs and give very good performances and I used to do the salto mortale and various little things. And when papa and mamma died a German lady took me to her and began to teach me... And where I came from and who I am, I don't know. . . . Who my parents were--perhaps they weren't married--I don't know. [Takes a cucumber out of her pocket and eats] I don't know anything. [Pause] I do want to talk, but I haven't anybody to talk to . . . I haven't anybody at all.

4.)4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.


Since it is a play, one literature technique the author heavily relies on is imagery. The opening scene is a strong example of this technique. It creates the image of warmth contrasting with the cold.

• "It is close on sunrise. It is May. The cherry-trees are in flower but it is chilly in the garden. There is an early frost."

This same quote also sets for the use of irony. The cherry-trees are beautiful and blooming and it is expected that there is warm weather. On the contrary, there is a frost. This reflects the ambivalent feelings of each of the characters upon their return home. Also how they struggle to balance their pleasant memories of the past and the not so pleasant memories of the present.

• Epikhodov: There's a frost this morning--three degrees, and the cherry-trees are all in flower. I can't approve of our climate.

Another literary technique used is indirect/direct characterization. A few of the characters are described directly by other characters. This can also be thought of as indirect characterization because it is how other characters react to them. 

• (Lopakhin to Dunyasha) You're too sensitive, Dunyasha. You dress just like a lady, and you do your hair like one too. You oughtn't. You should know your place.

The author also uses foreshadowing to show what will happen to the orchard towards the end of the novel. In this case, foreshadowing is used to show that the orchard will be sold. Lopakhin says that selling the orchard is the best way for the family to get out of their financial crisis;he ends up being the one that purchases the orchard. 

• LOPAKHIN. [Looks at his watch] If we can't think of anything and don't make up our minds to anything, then on August 22, both the cherry orchard and the whole estate will be up for auction. Make up your mind! I swear there's no other way out, I'll swear it again.

In the play there is also some symbolism. The most prominent symbol that I found was the character Fiers. He always mentions how it was "back then" much like elderly people stereo-typically do. He symbolizes the past, something that the characters of the novel struggle to let go of. At the end of the novel he is forgotten by everyone  and is left behind while everyone departs Ranevsky's home. He lies alone on a couch. This symbolizes each of the characters moving on and perhaps letting go of whatever was preventing them from going on with their lives.

• Fiers: " In the old days, forty or fifty years back, they dried the cherries, soaked them and pickled them, and made jam of them, and it used to happen that . . ."

Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)

• I believe that the extensive use of technology has changed my thinking in a positive manner. Because it is much easier to research something, I want to learn more because it is much faster to do so. I admit that there are plenty of distractions when using the internet but I think that with time it will be easier for us to control ourselves from being distracted. It will only take time and practice to keep ourselves from getting distracted. If we set priorities of whatever it is that we want to accomplish, it is more difficult to get distracted. I do this and it works for me. However, there are times when I do get distracted and start looking up random stuff on the web. Even then I think it's a somewhat positive thing to get distracted. I am still learning, it may not be what I am supposed to be focusing on at the moment but it's still valid. Learning knew information has been made easier/faster but I don't necessarily think that easier/faster means that we are getting lazier.It just means that we are getting the ability to accomplish more in a less amount of time. Not only that, but to access more information in general. Before smart phones and 2.0 existed, learning and doing research was perhaps a more tedious task because it required more effort and time. Now it's much easier to do this, so I think that it motivates others to strive to learn more rather then make them lazy. It only makes information more available to us. It can turn into something that may potentially make us lazy but as long as we have control, technology can only contribute to our learning in a positive manner.

In Search Of

-I almost feel a little uncomfortable using the internet. I also feel a little cheated because I'm not getting the entire spectrum of an idea or subject when I look it up.


I started off by opening up three different tabs, each with a different search engine (Dogpile, Ask, duckduckgo). On each tab I typed in "Who was William Shakespeare?" I looked at each tab and saw that each one gave me different results. They had some similar articles so I looked at the ones they had in common and then to the ones that they didn't have in common. The one page that they did share in common was Shakespeare's Wikipedia page. I then picked one of the results from each search engine and use that to piece my information together. Each bullet point represents the main points of the three sources that I used. This is what I found:

• Each of the sources that I used stated that there is not much information on him.  He attended grammar school in Stratford. He married Anne Hathaway and had three children with her. He lived a comfortable life money-wise, but was never wealthy. He is not only known for his plays but for his poetry (sonnets). Also,  that his authorship has always been questioned. He is highly recognized for his use of language. He had a tremendous vocabulary and is also known for his usage of puns.Something I did not know was that he collaborated with John Fletcher and together they wrote two plays.                                                                 -http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Shakespeare,+William
• He is thought to be the greatest dramatist of all time. This source gave an extensive critique on how all of his works have no "meaning." Many of his plays hint at things that happened to him or other throughout his life. For example, the death of Ophelia. It's never actually stated how she died, this reflects what happened to a women that lived in his village. This source mostly states where all of his inspirations came from.  Another small piece of information that I found was that he was a teacher for the Roman Catholic Houghton family.                                                                                                       -http://kirjasto.sci.fi/shakespe.htm
• Shakespeare was born 1564 and died 1616. He was a poet, playwright, and an actor. He had seven siblings although only four of them survived to adulthood. His father was a prominent man in Stratford and was part of the town council. His mom inherited a lot of land from her father. Anne Hathaway, his wife, was eight years older than him. He made a great deal of money by purchasing leases of real estate near Stratford. He went to grammar school but never actually attended a university.                                         -http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm

*Combining these three sources, I was able to gather information on his work, inspirations, and his personal life.

Notes on Hamlet

As we started reading this play I was hidebound and did not want to give this play a chance because I believed that I would not understand it. As I did begin to understand what was happening I began to enjoy it a little or at least more than what I thought I would have. The ghost appearing in the beginning of the play caught my attention right away because I am highly interested in the supernatural. My initial impression of Hamlet was that he was a depressed man mourning over his father's death and mother's marriage to his uncle. Then I began to think of him as a crazy, psychotic man. Now that I understand his scheme for his revenge I think that he might actually be a genius. I was surprised at his elaborate thinking on acting out his revenge.I think that this play will end with the death of Claudius and Hamlet with the lesson being that revenge is wrong and not worth attempting. Hamlet will have gotten what he wanted but at a high price. 

Who Was Shakespeare?

• William Shakespeare is believed to be the greatest playwright ever. He was born in Stratford in 1582. He was the son of the glove-maker John Shakespeare. He had three children with his wife Anne Hathway. He lived in London for 25 years where he wrote most of his plays. He died 1616 on his 52nd birthday. He started his own association The Lord Chamberlain's Men. The highest form of education he received was grammar school in Startford. 

*(Ironically, an article on the film "Anonymous" came up when I searched for 'Who was Shakespeare' on duckduckgo.com )
I found that Shakespeare authorship has been questioned since the 1780's and that there is no proof that he ever really wrote anything. Also, that William Shakespeare is believed to be a pen name. I even found an article stating that he was actually a woman...

Bibliography:
http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/showbiz/shakespeare/newsid_3539000/3539058.stm
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/shakespeare.htm

• Many students, if not most, dread reading Shakespeare because of the level of difficulty of his writing. I think that this is the main reason because most of his plays and poems are interesting. This is also how I feel about Shakespeare. I still struggle interpreting Shakespeare's writing and am only able to get the gist of what is happening. I am never fully aware of what is exactly happening or being said. Now that I am to at least understand the main ideas, I enjoy the plays more than I would have if I didn't .

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

Facebook caught my attention but then made me lose interest for the same exact reason: everyone had one (well at least everyone that I knew). It didn't want one because I knew it would probably end up like my MySpace account- never used. I avoided making an account until this past summer. I attended a leadership institute and met plenty of new people. I became convinced that making a Facebook account would be the best way to stay in touch with them. So far, it has been my main source of communication with them besides text messaging. This is the main benefit that I see to using Facebook. I do not do much with my account other than to message people. I do not post anything so I think I might face less privacy issues than the person who regularly posts. The main risk I see with Facebook is privacy. Meaning, posting things that you may not necessarily want others to know about you. After reading the article, I am now aware of the startling statistic of 7.5 million kids under 12 are now using Facebook. I knew that there was a lot of young kids using Facebook but I didn't think it was that many. I think that this is a big issue that can have a huge effect on kids, mostly negative. Most of these kids have low maturity levels and do not think twice about what they post. This is a big risk on their part.

(Don't) Be Hamlet

           Hamlet you have had a rough two months, but what is two months compared to the rest of your life? Right now you are being confronted with the decision of ending your life or " to continue to bear those ills" with which you are faced. I could understand you pondering over this idea but ultimately I think that you should continue to live  and make the most of it. Do not let two months of your life define whether you should continue to live.
         To begin with, you have expressed uncertainty at the idea of ending your life and to some extent, fear. There is fear and uncertainty because you do not know what exists after death. "But that the dread of something after death/The undiscovered country..." The fact that you are having doubts lets me know that you are perhaps not willing to kill yourself because of these doubts or you would have followed through with this a long time ago.
          At some point you state that "conscience does make cowards of us all." The only way that I would view you as a coward is if you were to end your life, not the you thinking of it. If you were to kill yourself, you would be viewed as a coward because you could not be strong enough to kill yourself. Not only this, but you will be giving your uncle more of a satisfaction for being able to kill your father but being able to get rid of you. Do not give him that satisfaction. Admiration would be what you will receive if you are able to  continue living.
                   In continuation, you have also expressed that it is against your religious practice to commit suicide. This is another reason for you not to end your life. The idea of  " the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to" is very appealing. It's even more appealing and pleasurable to think how much stronger of a person you will be after you have faced and passed through all of this adversity. Change your outlook on the situation. Taking on a more positive outlook and changing your attitude may help you to better cope with what you are going through.
        In conclusion, I know that you are going through a difficult situation but have been too quick to think that you should end your life. I know that what you are going through right now may not be what you had pictured your life to be, but you must keep in mind that there are others going through situations far worse than you. Now to quote Mary Engelbreit, " If you don;t like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."