Tuesday with Morrie response
“Tuesday with Morris” Is structured at first. Like a school’s hand book, then It changes to a diary. Unlike the fiction work, chapters are not labeled one, two, three, and four. Instead, the first chapter was called “The Syllabus” which is an introduction to Morris, the author’s college professor, a significance figure in this book. The second chapter was called “The Student”, the chapter title refers to the author, who is the student of Morris’s.
It continues as “The Orientation” “The Classroom” “Taking Attendance”, these chapters tells us about the life of the author after the last time he’d seen Morris (after the author graduated). The author would insert a short conversation in italic text at the end of each chapter about the past conversation he used to have with Morris while he was a college student. The chapter changed into a diary structure after the author met Morris accidentally. He had learn that Morris was dying from a disease called SSL.
The author started seeing Morris every Tuesday and he wrote down what they had converse about: “The First Tuesday We Talk About the World”. The Second Tuesday We Talk About Feeling Sorry for Yourself” and so on… The author’s tone was as calm as his dying teacher. The content of the book itself is already interesting. The reader wants to know why and how Morris could stay so positively happy and serene while the disease is making him unable to wipe his behind. It differs from fiction novel because we already know the ending (Morris is going to die) but we still keep on reading.
Annie,2 Is the writer trying to elicit a certain response from the reader? Place this memoir in a cultural context and examine the social issues the author offers commentary on, either directly or indirectly. What argument is the writer making? Has this reading altered or enhanced your view of any particular social Issues? The social/culture issue is presented very clearly in this book. Morris and Album (the author) had had diverse discussions about life and the society they were living in. Album is trying to make us question ourselves: what we really need and what is the meaning of our life.
Morris said that we all are so busy with our lives we forget what’s really the important part of It. For example, the society is brainwashed by having the Idea In their head that owning things Is good. More money, more property, more otherwise, they have no perspective of what is really important anymore. People who goes around keep buying things and boasting around, Morris takes them as people who are “so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes”(125,Album). But not money nor power can be substitute for tender and care.
People are lost with their own meaning of life they are depending that on the society. They don’t cry because the society says it’s not okay to be weak, and they feel ashamed because the society makes them feel ashamed. People haven’t found their meaning of lives, that’s why hey keep running. The next car, the next house, the next Job, then it empties and they have to keep on running. They forget to be present of the actual purpose of being: a meeting with a lost friend but they’re thinking about their work, or someone coming for an advice and after listening to them they go “Uh-huh”.
The writer is trying to tell us that the society is lacking love, and not a lot of people had found their meaning of life, until they do, they will stop chasing things and finally be happy with the present. After reading this book, it had effect on me and enhanced my view of his social issue more. I now understood more to issue of why people act in such ways. Annie,3 Explore techniques the writer utilizes in developing character throughout the text. Include discussion of a memorable scene in the book that reveals character and explore how this scene relates to the whole of the text.
Album’s technique of developing character is to mention us the same thing every chapter: emphasizing Morris’s sick condition. Since the first day they had met accidentally and through out every Tuesday Album had met with Morris, he will always emphasize Morris’s SSL condition. The day Album accidentally met his teacher; he was embarrassed to see him and actually bending down to hide. The first Tuesday, Album describes to us how bad Morris’s condition was, and it got worst after many Tuesdays. Not only Morris’s condition was mentioned, but Album’s feelings toward it were also there.
On the Eleventh Tuesday, we could see how Morris had affect Album deeply: “Morris’s physical therapist had come earlier in the day, and I usually excused myself when nurses or specialists had business with him. But as the weeks passed and our time ran down, I was increasingly less self-conscious about he physical embarrassment. I wanted to be there. I wanted to observe everything. This was not like me, but then, neither were a lot of things that had happened these last few months in Morris’s house” (1 53, Album). He was telling us that he had developed through out the book.
The change of Album’s thoughts toward Morris’s condition is a clear character development. This scene shows us a new kind guy, not embarrassed by anything, which differs from the guy we first met in the start of the book. Morris had changed him and his view on many things. Album was actually impairing his present self to his previous self by saying “this was not like me”. Album was very successful in using the control group (Morris’s condition) and giving us his feelings towards it so we could see the change happening inside him, a brilliant character development technique.
Discuss how the writer’s experiences have affected and shaped her/his views. Album had his first encounter with death, not with Morris, but via his favorite uncle. His uncle, as he describe, is a very important person in his life. His uncle died from a heart attack and it said to have changed Album entirely. He stopped writing songs, stopped dreaming of becoming a musician, stopped going to parties and turned to school instead. He earned a Counselors degree and took the first Job offer: sports writer.
He ended up being someone he didn’t want to be, a person who’s writing about other people’s dreams instead of chasing his own. He lived a lonely life, and said his friends he knew in college had lost touch with him. His Jobs gets better, though, earning more salary and he starts owning things. He got a wife, but never had a family. He buried himself in accomplishments, because he believed that he loud control things and could squeeze every bit of happiness out before he died like his uncle. His life stayed busy that way until he was reminded of Morris.
Album’s life seems to be normal like everyone else, busy. He was the person who Morris had talk about; rushing to find their meaning of life. Album was walking right pass his true happiness, as what Morris had pointed out. He never saw the world in Morris’s point of view. He had embrace his uncle’s death as something totally miserable where else Morris accepted it welcome. It was because of the hardliner Album had had, and Morris pointing loving things out to him;how things he view as “happiness” turns out to be fake (his mansion, the society he lives in, his Job) and him taking things as granted (his wife).
Morris had changed his perspective in a positive way. Annie,5 Memoirs, in some way, typically contain coming of age stories addressing the quest to discover or define a person. Elements may include family, friendship, community, home, culture, values, education, rebellion, travel, politics… What does “coming of age” mean to your author? At first, Album’s quest of his life is to be happy with the life he was living. Making lots of money, work hard on his Journalism Job; try to get wealthier and wealthier. Morris, however, had changed his point of view entirely.
Morris had told Album the key happiness is not buying new things to satisfy you, or owning more things so you could be above other people. We put our values in the wrong things and it leads us to having a delusional lives. You don’t have to listen to the society in order to be happy. Morris reminds Album that you will always be in control of your own happiness, don’t let the media delude you, don’t let people around you deceive you with their rich social status. Social status or money earns you nowhere because in the end, we all die.
Those two things cannot be a substitute for care and tender. Be clear that the quest of Album’s life had changed and its elements include: family, friendship, home, love. He had tried to contact his cancer-fighter brother who left the family and flew to Spain for recovery. Even if his brother told him he doesn’t want to talk, he still has a good faith within himself and did not regret contacting him at all. After spending plenty of Tuesdays with Morris, “Coming of age” to Album means to build a little community of those you love and who love you.
