The Disposable Rocket

It is hard to completely classify what it is like to be a man, or rather, to inhabit a male boy, but in his essay The Disposable Rocket John Updike gives it his best shot. A two time Pulitzer Prize winner and famous short story writer and novelist, Updike uses a masterful combination of anecdote and simile to cast a humorous tone and effectively cover many taboos. Written toward the end of his life, the essay acts as a sort of reflection on his own life as well as an arrangement of advice. Directed to young men the book offers insights on how many men live their lives and treat their bodies, establishing a strong ethos and casual tone through his frequent use of words like “I” and “we”.

Updike starts his essay by comparing the male body to a bank, stating its relatively low level of required maintenance in comparison to a female body. He then goes on to describe the tendency for men and boys to pursue danger and to be reckless. He recalls himself as a child and young adult by sharing a short narrative on his hobby of jumping off stairs. He next compares and contrasts the male and female bodies, delving into their physical makeup as well as the societal standards for the two. Updike reaches a taboo when it comes to describing the sexual aspect of the male body, but meets it well using humor and comparing the male genitalia to a little brother to whom you feel “both fond and impatient” (Updike 2). Updike then faces his own mortality, stating, “the thing serves well enough until sixty, which is my age now” (Updike 3). The essay is ended on comparison of being a man to being a teenager on a joyride with a friend, keeping the light and youthful tone the whole way through the essay.

This image shows the sensation of being along for the ride that Updike describes

Bop

Langston Hughes is a famous African-American poet and is considered to be a central member of the Harlem Renaissance. A movement in the 1920’s and ‘30’s that saw a massive rise in African American arts, all of which centered around Harlem, New York. The essay, Bop, was posted in the Chicago Defender in 1949, the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The Chicago Defender was directed towards an African American audience and, at the time, was the most important of the colored press. This essay is written for African Americans, and particularly those who are slow to action when it comes to their rights.

Hughes writes his essay in the narrative form, recalling a conversation between himself and a presumably younger neighbor named Simple. Simple sings a song that reminds Hughes of skat but Simple denies this. He then explains that Be-Bop is colored people’s music, and it cannot be imitated well by white people. Be-Bop is the sound of the brutality inflicted onto the black community by police. Through this narrative, Hughes highlights two things: first, the importance and uniqueness of African American culture, and second, he is calling his readers to action over the poor treatment of African Americans. He makes his first point through his unique use of onomatopoeia and gibberish. The words, which at first seem nonsensical, are made deeply meaningful because of the history of the black community. Finally, his call to action is culminated in the last two lines of the story. “‘Your explanation depresses me,’ I said. “Your nonsense depresses me,’ said Simple.” (Hughes 3). Through this dialogue Hughes states the way African Americans are treated is depressing, but then goes on to explain that even more depressing than that is the fact that there are those African Americans who think Be-Bop is just nonsense, and therefore are ignorant to their own suffering and not acting to help themselves.

This image shows an example of bebop music typical to the setting of the essay

Corn-Pone Opinions

The essay Corn-Pone Opinions deals with the nature of opinions and the idea of originality. Written by Mark Twain, known as the father of American literature, it utilizes the iconic wit, for which Twain is well known. Although the essay was never published in his lifetime, this work is believed to have been written in 1901, the turn of the twentieth century, a time where ideas were spreading around America faster than ever before.

Twain opens his essay with a story of the slave next door, who would give speeches while pretending to work. He recalls his particular speech where he claimed, “you tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I'll tell you what his ‘pinion is.” Twain goes on to further this idea, claiming that a true original opinion is incredibly rare, and although he does concede one may have at one point existed, he believes the occurrence was lost in time. He purposefully explains that one's opinion, although they may think it their own, is not original. We make our decisions based on the overwhelming opinion of others around us. We conform, if not knowingly then subconsciously to the group opinion. He argues his point well by? citing many different examples. He alludes to the famous saying, and at the time of the essay comic strip, “keeping up with the joneses” and uses a range of instances to support his claims, from politics, to religion, he even mentions the hoop skirt. He explains how one's political beliefs, or religious beliefs, are not wholly unique but rather are reflections of the overwhelming belief of the party. As a more basic example he shows how unknowingly the overall opinion of the hoop skirt changed and it went out of style. Although the final example is fairly outdated now, the hoop skirt was a simple everyday item well known to his audience at the time, which consisted primarily of the average American. Finally, Twain’s wit is seen best once the reader finishes the essay and realizes the irony, and near hypocrisy, in Twain’s argument. His claim was not his own, but rather something he had taken from the slave next door.

This Photo shows the kind of conformity in opinions and lack of originality that Twain highlights in his essay