The brief wondrous life of oscar wao analysis 740 words. Yunior initially tries to help oscar as a way to impress lola, whom he would like to date. Sep 30, 2007 in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, diaz, the author of a book of sexy, diamondsharp stories called drown, shows impressive highlow dexterity, flashing his geek credentials. Yunior even calls himself the watcher, underscoring his outsider status in the story. In the end, yunior has a similar dream of oscar holding a blank book, and it is this dream that eventually prompts him to write down oscar s story. Yuniors narration melds ghetto patois with smart cultural dissembling and oscars constant references to geek lore. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao literature tv tropes. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao 2007 read online.
Yunior says as much when he namedrops the cultural critic edouard glissanta brief allusion in a book that drops cultural references like an snl skit. Narration in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao the aquila. For me, these references were another reason i found myself tiring of this novel. It is a saga of dominicana family starting in the republic during the horrendous period of trujillos reign, one of the a to z around the world personal challenge d is dominican republic. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao includes numerous references to nerd pop culture. The character of yunior the narrator in the brief wondrous life of. The journey from intertextuality to metafiction in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. How yuniors narrative in the brief wondrous life of oscar. Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd whofrom the new jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sisterdreams of becoming the dominican j. The story is told through his former roommate at rutgers, yunior, who comes off as a bit dickish when he is first introduced into. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao becomes an exercise in offering up a marvelous history of the dominican republic through the point of view of a fantasy nerd.
These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz. Youve probably thought it, so were just going to say it. First, diaz shares the name of his protagonist, oscar wao. Sep 06, 2017 if you take the full sum of references in footnotes, oscars speech, yuniors asides, they span an almost encyclopedic knowledge of dominican history, fantasy and scifi lore around the 1970s. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in new jersey in the united states, where diaz was raised, and it deals with the dominican republic experience under dictator rafael trujillo. Both male and female sexuality seems to be a vicious circle, or a continuous game of cat and mouse. The annotated oscar wao notes and translations for the. Discussion questions forthe brief wondrous life of oscar wao. With a premise that taps adolescent fantasy, captain marvel is the alter ego of billy batson. What is the significance of the footnotes in the brief. Learn the important quotes in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao and the chapters theyre from, including why theyre important and what they mean in the context of the book. Sep 28, 2011 superficially, diazs and oscars obsession with genre seems to undermine any effort to connect with real american culture.
Identity and the dominican experience in america mueller, bethany. Lie detectors should be going off in your head right. Oscar wao, with its riot of references and multilingual approach, gives us permission to stay unsure, to get comfortable in our lack of understanding, while giving us enough to keep us hooked. Yunior was also the narrator in diaz first novel the brief wondrous life of oscar wao in 2.
Trujillo, one of the twentieth centurys most infamous dictators, ruled the dominican. How the brief wondrous life of oscar wao changed the future. Book 1, preface quotes for those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of dominican history. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao analysis 1079 words. Sep 11, 2012 but oscar waos many scenes of brutal violence, including rape, required a strong stomach. Marvelous history of the dominican republic in junot diazs. Yunior, the narrator of the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, references trujillo throughout the narration. Introduction winner of the pulitzer prize for fiction, the brief wondrous life of oscar wao tells the story of oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a new jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the dominican j. May 27, 2014 the brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz is filled with racist remarks, vulgar language and stereotypes. Perhaps, yunior suggests, its the very last thing that oscar ever wrote. The character of yunior the narrator in the brief wondrous. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao themes gradesaver. Yunior in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao shmoop.
But if these years have taught me anything it is this. Within its relatively compact span, the brief wondrous life of oscar wao contains an unruly. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao quotes and analysis. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao is a work of metafiction, framed as a book that yunior writes as a way of grappling with the meaning of oscars fate, the curse that snarls its way through the cabral family tree, and yuniors own identity. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. He writes the novel the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. In oscar wao, love often has a direct connection to violence. The voice belongs, for the most part, to yunior, who only gradually.
The the brief wondrous life of oscar wao quotes below are all either spoken by yunior the narrator or refer to yunior the narrator. In this book, we see the victimization and also the dominance of female persuasion. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in new jersey in the united states, where diaz was raised and deals explicitly with the dominican republic experience under dictator rafael trujillo. Rather than just provide factual background, yunior s narrative continues in the footnotes just as it does in the body of the novel. If you take the full sum of references in footnotes, oscar s speech, yunior s asides, they span an almost encyclopedic knowledge of dominican history, fantasy and scifi lore around the 1970s. In the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, a new america emerges oscar villalon, chronicle book editor published 4. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz, paperback. In oscar wao, yunior crafts a story that spans three generations of the cabral.
The brief wondrous life of oscar wao may channel lethem and chabons use of geekpop to explore an outsiders mindset, but its really the. So pervasive is the objectification of women in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, and so matter of factly does the narrativeby which i mean yuniortreat it that at first one might almost assume that neither he nor diaz are aware of it, that the emotional pummeling that the book delivers to female readers and, one hopes, male readers as. Oscars and yuniors journey to manhood by mackenzie vanbeest yunior, the narrator of junot diazs the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, is portrayed as a true dominican male. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao chapter 7 summary and. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. We see many references to sexuality and gender dominance in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao, a novel composed by junot diaz, oscar wao tells in what presents to be an oral conversation, consisting in part youth with popular cultural references to fantasy and scifi, or american hiphop, and of spanish slang extracted from the language of puerto rican, dominican, cuban, and south.
Sep 06, 2007 the brief wondrous life of oscar wao 2007 is a novel written by dominican republic author junot diaz. Cataloguing cultural references in oscar wao huffpost. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao audiobook by junot. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao essays are academic essays for citation. After i obtained a digital version of oscar wao, i didnt just tag every single cultural reference in the book. The book took junot diaz eleven years to write, and was his first novel. Get an answer for what is the significance of the footnotes in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. But oscar wao s many scenes of brutal violence, including rape, required a strong stomach. In the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, diaz, the author of a book of sexy. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao kindle edition by diaz, junot. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Junot diaz was born in the dominican republic and raised in new jersey. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao literature essay samples. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao analysis 1691 words 7 pages.
In oscar wao, love often has a direct connection to. Lord of the rings rub up against references to melville and garcia marquez. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao junot diaz books. Textual territory and narrative power in junot diazs the brief. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao quotes by junot diaz. Wao ends with a quote from the final letter oscar sent from the dominican republic to his sister lola. On the other hand, yunior claims to not like geeky and kiddie pop culture at all. How junot diaz wrote a sexist character, but not a sexist book. I also discovered and digitally connected each reference to every other book that mentions that selfsame detail. Yunior s narration melds ghetto patois with smart cultural dissembling and oscar s constant references to geek lore. That made me chuckle, and im in agreement despite how much i truly enjoyed this book. How to teach the brief wondrous life of oscar wao prestwick.
Nov 18, 2012 yunior says as much when he namedrops the cultural critic edouard glissanta brief allusion in a book that drops cultural references like an snl skit. First novel prize, 44 the dayton peace prize in fiction, the national book critics. Now that diazs second book, a novel called the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, has finally arrived, younger writers will find that the bar. But for its brief mention, theres a lot that glissants writings can contribute to the reading of oscar wao. It won the pulitzer prize for fiction and numerous other awards. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. Oscar wao, a teenage dominicanamerican, is obsessed with geek culture in junot diazs the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. Masculinity in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao.
These genres include comic books, japanese anime, scifi tv shows, and fantasy novelsa few of oscar s favorite things. The way that yunior describes oscar reveals that he too shares the same traits of being nerdy. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao quotes course hero. Junot diazs novel, wondrous life of oscar wao, wins pulitzer. How yuniors narrative in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao acts as an archival history. The book centers on the story of oscar and his familyand yet the majority of the book is narrated by yunior, who is not part of the family, and only plays a relatively minor role in the events of the story. From the opening epigraph, a quote from galactus, to the final pages, the entire text is shot through with genre references, both wellknown and obscure. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao won the pulitzer prize for fiction in 2008. Yunior talks about how oscar reads books and does nerdy things however, yunior fails to end this topic and picks up on the idea of books. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz books. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao, which won the 2008 pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle. And some older writerswe know who we aremight want to think about stepping up their game.
Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, the brief wondrous life of oscar wao is a literary triumph that confirms junot diaz as one of the most exciting writers of our time. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao is a work of metafiction, framed as a book that yunior writes as a way of grappling with the meaning of oscar s fate, the curse that snarls its way through the cabral family tree, and yunior s own identity. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao is a novel written by dominican american author junot diaz and published in 2007. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao was also a new york times notable book of 2007 and time magazines book of the year. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz. Throughout the novel, the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, written by junot diaz, sex and masculinity is the vital element in being a dominican male. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao quotes from litcharts. On the one hand, yunior references the genres constantly. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao book 1, preface. The story is set both in the united states and in the dominican republic. This construction provides an opportunity for students to discuss the process of storytelling as. Winner of the pulitzer prize for fiction, the brief wondrous life of oscar wao tells the. In the brief and wondrous life of oscar wao, by juno diaz, references to fuku and zafa, through galactus and the mongoose explain power and powerlessness in the cabral family line. How yuniors narrative in the brief wondrous life of oscar wao.
The brief wondrous life of oscar wao is not about oscars life and it definitely wasnt wondrous. Reading guide for the brief wondrous life of oscar wao by. I have to wonder what diaz can do if he werent given permission to use yunior at all. While i am a selfproclaimed book nerd, i admittedly have not seen star wars, star trek or the marvel or dc movies i havent read the comic books, either.
In the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, junot diaz filters his themes of family, love, alienation, and violence through multiple narrators mainly yunior. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao study guide gradesaver. That relationship between the two texts is the basis for my masters thesis work. Im a new man, you see, a new man, a new man diaz 326. This theme ranges from domestic violence to extreme gut. How the brief wondrous life of oscar wao changed the. How yuniors narrative in the brief wondrous life of. The image of the blank page also appears in the last section of the book, when oscar dreams of a man holding a blank book. Diaz has assembled such a project by examining the concept of hegemonic masculinity, which is defined as the configuration of gender practice whichguarantees the dominant position of men and the. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao analysis shmoop. Yuniors ambivalence about the fantastic episodes that the novel produces later on must be read against the backdrop of the introductions establishment of a marvelous past but.
The brief wondrous life of oscar wao 2007 about book. The question and answer section for the brief wondrous life of oscar wao is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. By blaming bad luck on super natural energy, magic realism becomes a solution to where the curse may have come from and how the characters can rid themselves of it. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao makes extensive use of footnotes to the point that many of the characters are developed in the footnotes in addition to the story.
The end of this book is pretty powerful, dont you think. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao book depository. The pulitzer prize the national book critics circle award the. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao questions and answers.
The brief wondrous life of oscar wao is written in three languages. Oscar wao shows a novelist engaged with the culture, high and low, and its polyglot language. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao quotes from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. As such, the text is teaming with intertextuality and references to contemporary or pop culture, like j. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao received high acclaim from book critics, appearing in over thirtyfive bestoftheyear book lists. In the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, a new america. The brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot diaz reading.
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