Does not follow directions : resisting the narrator's lead in the novel, Ellen Foster
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Jamy L. Gearhart (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
Abstract: When readers read, it is all too easy to sink back into the comfort zone of
suspended disbelief and uncritical thought. Readers may find that they are
outraged or reassured over what they read, without taking the time to reflect on
why the text is affecting them the way that it does or to discover if the text is even
accurately portraying a situation.
This thesis will review and discuss how scotosis, defined by Paula
Mathieu as a “rationalized [act] of selective blindness that [occurs] by allowing
information to be discounted or unexamined” (114-115), operates within the
framework of the novel by Kaye Gibbons, Ellen Foster. In this novel, Ellen
repeatedly denigrates the character, Aunt Nadine. Readers are led to condemn
Nadine as a bad character, based solely on the way Ellen presents her. The
reality is that Nadine tries to assist Ellen on several different occasions.
Selective blindness can be discerned when the following questions are
asked of the text: What is problematic about Ellen as a narrator? How are the
characters framed? What assumptions are we asked to make? What facts are
we asked to ignore? What are we expected to dismiss? At the end of this thesis,
the story of Ellen Foster will be told from Aunt Nadine’s point of view, to show
how radically perspective can change the tone of a story and how pertinent
information can be dismissed by a reader.
Does not follow directions : resisting the narrator's lead in the novel, Ellen Foster
PDF (Portable Document Format)
165 KB
Created on 1/1/2009
Views: 4754
Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
- Language: English
- Date: 2009
- Keywords
- Gibbons Kaye 1960-Ellen Foster--Criticism and interpretation, Point of view (Literature)
- Subjects
- Gibbons, Kaye, 1960- Ellen Foster -- Criticism and interpretation
- Point of view (Literature)