Article Evaluation
The article "Feed" seems to focus heavily on plot summary. Even the introduction summarizes, without using any references, and without mentioning the significance of the novel. The introduction and the overall article seem unbalanced because they do not include many scholarly references. The Talk page contains a section called "Upcoming Edits" which Grapefr00t added in 2012. It contains many scholarly journal articles, but the View History seems to show that none of them ever were added. The page seems out-of-date because no one has updated it significantly, few references exist, and its imbalance seems due to bland plot summary without any scholarly or contemporary context.
Plan of Action for Improving Absolom, Absolom!
In order to improve the article Absolom, Absolom!, I would start with the WkiProject Novels/ArticleTemplate. It lists the categories under which Wikipedia authors can categorize information. The article Light in August roughly follows this template. Because of the organization within this article, it seems more coherent and informative than Absolom, Absolom! Content from which Asolom, Absolom! might benefit includes a section called "Major Themes," which would synthesize scholarly articles; and a section about its significance and reception, which would include information about reviews of the book when it was first published and contemporary reviews.
In order to find scholarly information regarding themes, significance, and reception, I would search for articles on library databases, such as MLA and America: History and Life. I would look for biographies of Faulkner and encyclopedias of Southern literature at the library. I would search on Google Books for information about books published around the same time and about the literary scene of the time.
The style of the article could improve if it contained less plot summary. Currently, it sounds as if a person who did not know about how to search for articles or books about Faulkner and the historical context of the book wrote it. If it contained more historical or contemporary views regarding the book, it might sound less limited. Organization could improve if it followed the WikiProject Novels/ArticleTemplate. Several subheadings under the future "Themes" section, which the "Analysis" section currently seems to replace, could lead the article to inform readers about the influence of the book on individual people and society, and about the influence of people and society on the book.
Drafting
Background and Influences[edit]
Burroughs was influenced by a varied life and multiple careers, none of which lasted. He drifted until he was thirty-six (what does this mean?), served in the U.S. cavalry, and mined gold in Oregon. He was a cowboy in Idaho, a railroad policeman in Salt Lake City, and an entrepreneur who never quite succeeded in several attempts at opening a business ("quite" sounds informal and indirect. Where are the citations?). An avid reader, he eventually turned to pulp fiction for new material but was greatly disappointed by what it offered; he decided to write his own instead. Influenced by ancient myths like the Aeneid and Romulus and Remus, and possibly the Jungle Book, his own imagination was nonetheless the greatest source (that sounds like a general claim and the language seems unprofessional because of the run-on quality of the sentence and the use of the verb "was" when another could illustrate the meaning more precisely), many of the stories that he told he had told to himself just before he went to sleep, and he never visited Africa (run-on, lots of information. As a reader, I wonder: how do all these pieces of information fit together?). Tarzan first appeared in the All-Story magazine, which ran the entire length of the story and took up most of the magazine. Two years later, Tarzan was reprinted as a novel, and was reprinted multiple times in later years due to popularity. (This entire section would need citations after just about every sentence, probably.)
Themes[edit]
Heredity[edit]
Recent literary criticism often focuses on the identity of the eponymous protagonist of Tarzan of the Apes. Literary critics, such as Mikko Tuhkanen, J. Michelle Coughlan, Bijana Oklopčić, and Catherine Jurca often examine the themes of Tarzan’s humanity, sexuality, race, and social behavior.
Heredity plays an important role in Tarzan, and Burroughs even said in Writer’s Digest, “I was mainly interested in playing with the idea of a contest between heredity and environment. For this purpose I selected an infant child of a race strongly marked by hereditary characteristics of the finer and nobler sort, and at an age at which he could not have been influenced by association with creatures of his own kind I threw him into an environment as diametrically opposite that to which he had been born as I might well conceive”. The critic Jeff Burglund notices that although Tarzan was brought up in the jungle far from other humans, he is inexplicably drawn back to his parents’ cabin and the objects which he finds there. He discovers a capacity for gentlemanly behavior around Jane despite no one teaching it to him. Never having had a problem with eating enemy apes before, he is suddenly overcome with revulsion when he considers eating one of the African men he kills and refuses to do so; Burroughs wrote, “thus hereditary instinct” prevented him from cannibalism. Berglund claims that Tarzan inherits his instinct, and his actions are conditioned by his and genetic association with Anglo-civilization. (This section seems disorganized because several literary critics and themes are mentioned at the top, and only Tarzan and Berglund at the bottom. Informal language and a lengthy quotation exist. As a section, it's incoherent. As a paragraph, the second paragraph seems incoherent: not enough summary.)
Civilization[edit]
Another consistent theme in scholarly criticism is that of civilization (we mention only one author here; we can't say "consistent" unless we cite more), and the contrast between Tarzan’s upbringing and the civilized ideas introduced to him later (introduced by what? How does this relate to the story? These are questions that an unfamiliar reader might ask.). A focus on Tarzan’s ability to read and write, which sets him apart from the apes, the African villagers, and the lower-class sailors in the novel, leads to Tarzan recognizing himself as a human for the first time, and moreover as a man who is superior to others unlike himself; Jeff Berglund argued that this supported the idea within the novel that whiteness and literacy were naturally related to civilization, and to Tarzan’s growth into a perfectly civilized person. (Abrupt and unclear jump to Tukhanen.) However, the apparently civilized qualities of Tarzan, such as his interest in reading, threaten his survival as a human in the jungle according to Mikko Tuhkanen, who claims that Tarzan represents the fluidity of the definition of humanity. For Tukhanen, “[T]he human and the nonhuman become grotesquely indistinguishable” in the novel. Humans mistake apes for other humans , an ape tries to rape Jane, Tarzan finds a surrogate ape mother when he cries out like an ape (35), and he must act against his human instincts by jumping into a dangerous body of water in order to survive an attack from a lion. Because civilization seems to threaten human survival in Tarzan of the Apes, Tuhkanen claims that humans must contradict the expectations of civilization regarding the characteristics of humans (43). For Tukhanen, the novel exemplifies “queer ethics,” encouraging “perverse sexuality” along with other behaviors which Western civilization often discouraged
Racism[edit]
Tarzan’s representation in Western and American culture has often been examined in light of, from a modern perspective, racist themes. Bijana Oklopčić emphasizes the portrayal of race in Tarzan of the Apes. He claims that Tarzan represents white, male opposition to the “black rapist” stereotype which was prevalent in the Southern U.S. at the time of its publication because the language which describes apes parallels propaganda against people of African descent. Catherine Jurca also analyzes Tarzan in opposition to people of other races and classes. Jurca looks at how Tarzan defends his corner of civilization, his parents’ home, from the ‘savages’ who want to despoil it, reflecting an early twentieth-century American attitude; as darker-skinned immigrants flooded the country, especially urban areas, white Americans feared that their culture would be destroyed by newcomers who did not understand or care about it, and tried to protect the suburbs in the same way as Tarzan.
Escapism[edit]
The theme of escapism also appears in Tarzan, as Burroughs wrote stories that he told himself in order to get away from the real world to a more exciting place: given an unsatisfactory reality, “he consoled himself with an inner world where he was strong and handsome, adored by beautiful women and worshipped by exotic races”. Tarzan also appeals to a society which has found itself in an undesirable position and appeals to audiences as a powerful means of escaping it: Gore Vidal discusses a general sense of boredom and frustration in society, a desire to dominate the environment that stifled one; Catherine Jurca’s exploration of the American citizen’s desire to reconquer their perceived lost home has a similar ring; in both cases, Tarzan represented an adventurous figure that allowed the public to imagine a jungle of their own to rule.
J. Michelle Coughlan argues that Tarzan displays behavior which seems outside of the bounds of traditional manhood in her article “’Absolutely Punk’: Queer Economies of Desire in Tarzan of the Apes.” Coughlan analyzes Burroughs’ fans complaints regarding the “punk ending” in order to prove that contemporary readers understood Tarzan’s renunciation of Jane as unmanly. Later, he rescues Paul D’Arnot from Africans, similarly to how he rescued Jane from rape: many of the same phrases and words describe both adventures (185-86). D’Arnot later supports the reluctant Tarzan financially, similarly to how Jane dreads marrying for money (188-89). Coughlan suggests that the novel bends traditional Western gender roles; therefore, Tarzan unconsciously could feel homosexual desire for D’Arnot despite his apparent attraction for Jane, and D’Arnot could be treating Tarzan as a “kept m[a]n,” or paid sexual partner (186).
Draft as of the Night of May 1, 2018
Themes[edit]
Recent literary criticism often focuses on the identity of the eponymous protagonist of Tarzan of the Apes. Literary critics, such as Jeff Berglund, Mikko Tuhkanen, J. Michelle Coughlan, Bijana Oklopčić, and Catherine Jurca examine the overlapping themes of Tarzan’s heredity, humanity, sexuality, race, and social behavior.
Heredity[edit]
Burroughs himself acknowledged the centrality of the theme of heredity in the novel. According to his biographer, John Taliaferro, he claimed In a Writer’s Digest, “I was mainly interested in playing with the idea of a contest between heredity and environment. For this purpose I selected an infant child of a race strongly marked by hereditary characteristics of the finer and nobler sort, and at an age at which he could not have been influenced by association with creatures of his own kind I threw him into an environment as diametrically opposite that to which he had been born as I might well conceive”. For Burroughs, the conflict between the aristocratic, inherited instincts of Tarzan and the wild, jungle environment forms the plot and protagonist of the novel.
The critic Jeff Burglund notices that although Tarzan was brought up in the jungle far from other humans, he is inexplicably drawn back to his parents’ cabin and the objects which he finds there. He discovers a capacity for gentlemanly behavior around Jane despite no one teaching it to him. Although the African tribes which he fights practice cannibalism, and he himself eats ape corpses, he suddenly feels revulsion when he considers eating one of the African men he kills. When he refuses to eat the African, Burroughs portrays "hereditary instinct” as the influence. His genetic association with upper-class, Western civilization conditions his actions more than his violent environment. Berglund claims that Tarzan could represent the stereotypical "scion of English stock" in colonialized countries. His racial superiority manifests itself through his behavior because it correlates with the ideals of Western civilization, whether he treats a woman politely or cannot force himself to eat an African.
Racism[edit]
Bijana Oklopčić emphasizes the portrayal of race in Tarzan of the Apes. He claims that Tarzan represents white, male opposition to the “black rapist” stereotype which was prevalent in the Southern U.S. at the time of its publication because the language which describes apes parallels propaganda against people of African descent. Catherine Jurca similarly analyzes Tarzan as opposed to tolerating the presence of people of other races and classes in favor of preserving his own culture. Jurca looks at how Tarzan defends his corner of civilization, his parents’ home, from the "savages" who want to despoil it, reflecting an early twentieth-century American attitude; as darker-skinned immigrants flooded the country, especially urban areas, white Americans feared that their culture would be destroyed by newcomers who did not understand or care about it, and tried to protect the suburbs in the same way as Tarzan tries to protect his home.
Civilization[edit]
Tarzan’s jungle upbringing and eventual exposure to Western civilization forms another common theme in literary criticism of the novel.
Berglund notes that Tarzan’s ability to read and write sets him apart from the apes, the African villagers, and the lower-class sailors in the novel. The difference between Tarzan and others culminates in Tarzan recognizing himself as a human for the first time; moreover, he is as a man who is superior to others unlike himself. Jeff Berglund argues that this realization exemplifies Burroughs' portrayal of whiteness and literacy as fundamental to civilization. Tarzan’s growth into a perfectly civilized person stems from his Western, white heritage, and learning to read and write.
However, Mikko Tuhkanen claims that the apparently civilized qualities of Tarzan, such as his interest in reading, threaten his survival as a human in the jungle. For Tuhkanen, Tarzan represents the fluidity with which humans should define themselves. He asserts, “[T]he human and the nonhuman become grotesquely indistinguishable” in the novel. Humans mistake apes for other humans , an ape tries to rape Jane, Tarzan finds a surrogate ape mother when he cries out like an ape, and he must act against his human instincts by jumping into a dangerous body of water in order to survive an attack from a lion. Because simian and human behavior blend, and because civilized habits seem to threaten human survival, Tuhkanen claims that humans must contradict the expectations of civilization regarding the characteristics of humans. For Tukhanen, the novel exemplifies “queer ethics,” encouraging “perverse sexuality” along with other behaviors which Western civilization often discouraged.
Sexuality[edit]
J. Michelle Coughlan argues that Tarzan displays behavior which seems outside of the bounds of traditional manhood in her article “’Absolutely Punk’: Queer Economies of Desire in Tarzan of the Apes.” Coughlan analyzes Burroughs’ fans complaints regarding the “punk ending” in order to prove that contemporary readers understood Tarzan’s renunciation of Jane as unmanly. Later, he rescues Paul D’Arnot from Africans, similarly to how he rescued Jane from rape: many of the same phrases and words describe both adventures (185-86). D’Arnot later supports the reluctant Tarzan financially, similarly to how Jane dreads marrying for money (188-89). Coughlan suggests that the novel bends traditional Western gender roles; therefore, Tarzan unconsciously could feel homosexual desire for D’Arnot despite his apparent attraction for Jane, and D’Arnot could be treating Tarzan as a “kept m[a]n,” or paid sexual partner (186).
Talk Page Assignment
Suggestions for Further Improving the Article
According to the Wikipedia Manual of Style/Novels, character sections could benefit from brief summaries of each character, especially if the plot section does not cover the personalities or roles of all of the characters. A more comprehensive character section could improve the quality of the Tarzan of the Apes article.
We were wondering if an “African Animals” section is necessary. If it remains, readers might like explanations of the roles which the animals play in the story.
A Style section might benefit from biographies of Burroughs and histories of mainstream fiction during the early twentieth century in America. The following is a list of sources which our group used. A future editor probably would want to expand beyond these sources, especially in the history area.
Fenton, Robert W. (1967). The Big Swingers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Hart, James David (1950). The Popular Book: A History of America's Literary Taste. University of California Press.
Lupoff, Richard A. (2005). Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. University of Nebraska Press.
Taliaferro, John (1999). Tarzan Forever. New York, NY: Scribner.
The following source might list other sources which could provide historical, literary context:
Perkins, George B. (2002). HarperCollins Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: HarperResource.
The Background section which we began might benefit from summary of the process of the publication of Tarzan of the Apes. The magazine publisher’s expectations, the amount that it paid Burroughs, and the process through which Tarzan of the Apes was published in the form of a novel might be helpful. Perhaps knowing about the reaction of Burroughs’ wife and children to the story before it was published could be helpful.
The copyright issues which Burroughs experienced might explain publishing history topics, such as which publishers published the story.
Reviews from old newspapers might be useful for reception history. Sometimes, sources on Burroughs generalize about reception. Many claim that the story was extremely popular without referencing reviews of it. We would look for specific reviews, sales statistics, and advertisements for the story.
The Adaptations section might benefit from reviews.
The Process of Writing the Article
The group interpreted Wikipedia guidelines regarding scholarly language differently. One member leaned towards not referencing sources directly. She thought that this would help us to avoid argumentative language and original research. The other member leaned towards referencing sources in order to avoid plagiarism and to alert readers that we were not writing original research. We tried to mention the names of the sources in order to clarify language, and to avoid mentioning the names when that would seem repetitive.
One group member preferred short sentences. She thought that they conveyed ideas directly. The other member thought that short sentences did not seem like summary. She thought that they were unnecessary, and wrote longer sentences with several independent clauses and semicolons. We tried to give each other room to write according to individual styles; however, we simultaneously communicated about sentences which we found confusing. Because we communicated, the editing process happened without conflict. Rather than experiencing conflict, we understood the editing process on Wikipedia thoroughly because we asked questions, wrote individually, and edited each others’ writing.
One group member tried to write in the way in which many Wikipedia articles seem to articulate information. The other tried to write based on specific guidelines. We found flexibility in writing based on the guidelines. Different styles exist on Wikipedia because each editor thinks differently from others. Because we simultaneously tried to follow guidelines and to respect our individual interpretations of the guidelines, we accepted the ability of writing an article to form our minds through following guidelines, and the ability of writing an article to form Wikipedia through our individual expressions of information.
We thank each other for writing, and for reading each other’s writing. We thank Aschuet1 for the instruction in and outside of classes. We thank our peers, Lhovey2 and Jessehersh, for reviewing the first draft. We thank Wikipedia for the opportunity to learn about writing an online encyclopedia.
References
 | This is a user sandbox of
688GlRv. You can use it for testing or practicing edits. This is not the sandbox where you should draft your assigned article for a dashboard.wikiedu.org course. To find the right sandbox for your assignment, visit your Dashboard course page and follow the Sandbox Draft link for your assigned article in the My Articles section. |
Article Evaluation
The article "Feed" seems to focus heavily on plot summary. Even the introduction summarizes, without using any references, and without mentioning the significance of the novel. The introduction and the overall article seem unbalanced because they do not include many scholarly references. The Talk page contains a section called "Upcoming Edits" which Grapefr00t added in 2012. It contains many scholarly journal articles, but the View History seems to show that none of them ever were added. The page seems out-of-date because no one has updated it significantly, few references exist, and its imbalance seems due to bland plot summary without any scholarly or contemporary context.
Plan of Action for Improving Absolom, Absolom!
In order to improve the article Absolom, Absolom!, I would start with the WkiProject Novels/ArticleTemplate. It lists the categories under which Wikipedia authors can categorize information. The article Light in August roughly follows this template. Because of the organization within this article, it seems more coherent and informative than Absolom, Absolom! Content from which Asolom, Absolom! might benefit includes a section called "Major Themes," which would synthesize scholarly articles; and a section about its significance and reception, which would include information about reviews of the book when it was first published and contemporary reviews.
In order to find scholarly information regarding themes, significance, and reception, I would search for articles on library databases, such as MLA and America: History and Life. I would look for biographies of Faulkner and encyclopedias of Southern literature at the library. I would search on Google Books for information about books published around the same time and about the literary scene of the time.
The style of the article could improve if it contained less plot summary. Currently, it sounds as if a person who did not know about how to search for articles or books about Faulkner and the historical context of the book wrote it. If it contained more historical or contemporary views regarding the book, it might sound less limited. Organization could improve if it followed the WikiProject Novels/ArticleTemplate. Several subheadings under the future "Themes" section, which the "Analysis" section currently seems to replace, could lead the article to inform readers about the influence of the book on individual people and society, and about the influence of people and society on the book.
Drafting
Background and Influences[edit]
Burroughs was influenced by a varied life and multiple careers, none of which lasted. He drifted until he was thirty-six (what does this mean?), served in the U.S. cavalry, and mined gold in Oregon. He was a cowboy in Idaho, a railroad policeman in Salt Lake City, and an entrepreneur who never quite succeeded in several attempts at opening a business ("quite" sounds informal and indirect. Where are the citations?). An avid reader, he eventually turned to pulp fiction for new material but was greatly disappointed by what it offered; he decided to write his own instead. Influenced by ancient myths like the Aeneid and Romulus and Remus, and possibly the Jungle Book, his own imagination was nonetheless the greatest source (that sounds like a general claim and the language seems unprofessional because of the run-on quality of the sentence and the use of the verb "was" when another could illustrate the meaning more precisely), many of the stories that he told he had told to himself just before he went to sleep, and he never visited Africa (run-on, lots of information. As a reader, I wonder: how do all these pieces of information fit together?). Tarzan first appeared in the All-Story magazine, which ran the entire length of the story and took up most of the magazine. Two years later, Tarzan was reprinted as a novel, and was reprinted multiple times in later years due to popularity. (This entire section would need citations after just about every sentence, probably.)
Themes[edit]
Heredity[edit]
Recent literary criticism often focuses on the identity of the eponymous protagonist of Tarzan of the Apes. Literary critics, such as Mikko Tuhkanen, J. Michelle Coughlan, Bijana Oklopčić, and Catherine Jurca often examine the themes of Tarzan’s humanity, sexuality, race, and social behavior.
Heredity plays an important role in Tarzan, and Burroughs even said in Writer’s Digest, “I was mainly interested in playing with the idea of a contest between heredity and environment. For this purpose I selected an infant child of a race strongly marked by hereditary characteristics of the finer and nobler sort, and at an age at which he could not have been influenced by association with creatures of his own kind I threw him into an environment as diametrically opposite that to which he had been born as I might well conceive”. The critic Jeff Burglund notices that although Tarzan was brought up in the jungle far from other humans, he is inexplicably drawn back to his parents’ cabin and the objects which he finds there. He discovers a capacity for gentlemanly behavior around Jane despite no one teaching it to him. Never having had a problem with eating enemy apes before, he is suddenly overcome with revulsion when he considers eating one of the African men he kills and refuses to do so; Burroughs wrote, “thus hereditary instinct” prevented him from cannibalism. Berglund claims that Tarzan inherits his instinct, and his actions are conditioned by his and genetic association with Anglo-civilization. (This section seems disorganized because several literary critics and themes are mentioned at the top, and only Tarzan and Berglund at the bottom. Informal language and a lengthy quotation exist. As a section, it's incoherent. As a paragraph, the second paragraph seems incoherent: not enough summary.)
Civilization[edit]
Another consistent theme in scholarly criticism is that of civilization (we mention only one author here; we can't say "consistent" unless we cite more), and the contrast between Tarzan’s upbringing and the civilized ideas introduced to him later (introduced by what? How does this relate to the story? These are questions that an unfamiliar reader might ask.). A focus on Tarzan’s ability to read and write, which sets him apart from the apes, the African villagers, and the lower-class sailors in the novel, leads to Tarzan recognizing himself as a human for the first time, and moreover as a man who is superior to others unlike himself; Jeff Berglund argued that this supported the idea within the novel that whiteness and literacy were naturally related to civilization, and to Tarzan’s growth into a perfectly civilized person. (Abrupt and unclear jump to Tukhanen.) However, the apparently civilized qualities of Tarzan, such as his interest in reading, threaten his survival as a human in the jungle according to Mikko Tuhkanen, who claims that Tarzan represents the fluidity of the definition of humanity. For Tukhanen, “[T]he human and the nonhuman become grotesquely indistinguishable” in the novel. Humans mistake apes for other humans , an ape tries to rape Jane, Tarzan finds a surrogate ape mother when he cries out like an ape (35), and he must act against his human instincts by jumping into a dangerous body of water in order to survive an attack from a lion. Because civilization seems to threaten human survival in Tarzan of the Apes, Tuhkanen claims that humans must contradict the expectations of civilization regarding the characteristics of humans (43). For Tukhanen, the novel exemplifies “queer ethics,” encouraging “perverse sexuality” along with other behaviors which Western civilization often discouraged
Racism[edit]
Tarzan’s representation in Western and American culture has often been examined in light of, from a modern perspective, racist themes. Bijana Oklopčić emphasizes the portrayal of race in Tarzan of the Apes. He claims that Tarzan represents white, male opposition to the “black rapist” stereotype which was prevalent in the Southern U.S. at the time of its publication because the language which describes apes parallels propaganda against people of African descent. Catherine Jurca also analyzes Tarzan in opposition to people of other races and classes. Jurca looks at how Tarzan defends his corner of civilization, his parents’ home, from the ‘savages’ who want to despoil it, reflecting an early twentieth-century American attitude; as darker-skinned immigrants flooded the country, especially urban areas, white Americans feared that their culture would be destroyed by newcomers who did not understand or care about it, and tried to protect the suburbs in the same way as Tarzan.
Escapism[edit]
The theme of escapism also appears in Tarzan, as Burroughs wrote stories that he told himself in order to get away from the real world to a more exciting place: given an unsatisfactory reality, “he consoled himself with an inner world where he was strong and handsome, adored by beautiful women and worshipped by exotic races”. Tarzan also appeals to a society which has found itself in an undesirable position and appeals to audiences as a powerful means of escaping it: Gore Vidal discusses a general sense of boredom and frustration in society, a desire to dominate the environment that stifled one; Catherine Jurca’s exploration of the American citizen’s desire to reconquer their perceived lost home has a similar ring; in both cases, Tarzan represented an adventurous figure that allowed the public to imagine a jungle of their own to rule.
J. Michelle Coughlan argues that Tarzan displays behavior which seems outside of the bounds of traditional manhood in her article “’Absolutely Punk’: Queer Economies of Desire in Tarzan of the Apes.” Coughlan analyzes Burroughs’ fans complaints regarding the “punk ending” in order to prove that contemporary readers understood Tarzan’s renunciation of Jane as unmanly. Later, he rescues Paul D’Arnot from Africans, similarly to how he rescued Jane from rape: many of the same phrases and words describe both adventures (185-86). D’Arnot later supports the reluctant Tarzan financially, similarly to how Jane dreads marrying for money (188-89). Coughlan suggests that the novel bends traditional Western gender roles; therefore, Tarzan unconsciously could feel homosexual desire for D’Arnot despite his apparent attraction for Jane, and D’Arnot could be treating Tarzan as a “kept m[a]n,” or paid sexual partner (186).
Draft as of the Night of May 1, 2018
Themes[edit]
Recent literary criticism often focuses on the identity of the eponymous protagonist of Tarzan of the Apes. Literary critics, such as Jeff Berglund, Mikko Tuhkanen, J. Michelle Coughlan, Bijana Oklopčić, and Catherine Jurca examine the overlapping themes of Tarzan’s heredity, humanity, sexuality, race, and social behavior.
Heredity[edit]
Burroughs himself acknowledged the centrality of the theme of heredity in the novel. According to his biographer, John Taliaferro, he claimed In a Writer’s Digest, “I was mainly interested in playing with the idea of a contest between heredity and environment. For this purpose I selected an infant child of a race strongly marked by hereditary characteristics of the finer and nobler sort, and at an age at which he could not have been influenced by association with creatures of his own kind I threw him into an environment as diametrically opposite that to which he had been born as I might well conceive”. For Burroughs, the conflict between the aristocratic, inherited instincts of Tarzan and the wild, jungle environment forms the plot and protagonist of the novel.
The critic Jeff Burglund notices that although Tarzan was brought up in the jungle far from other humans, he is inexplicably drawn back to his parents’ cabin and the objects which he finds there. He discovers a capacity for gentlemanly behavior around Jane despite no one teaching it to him. Although the African tribes which he fights practice cannibalism, and he himself eats ape corpses, he suddenly feels revulsion when he considers eating one of the African men he kills. When he refuses to eat the African, Burroughs portrays "hereditary instinct” as the influence. His genetic association with upper-class, Western civilization conditions his actions more than his violent environment. Berglund claims that Tarzan could represent the stereotypical "scion of English stock" in colonialized countries. His racial superiority manifests itself through his behavior because it correlates with the ideals of Western civilization, whether he treats a woman politely or cannot force himself to eat an African.
Racism[edit]
Bijana Oklopčić emphasizes the portrayal of race in Tarzan of the Apes. He claims that Tarzan represents white, male opposition to the “black rapist” stereotype which was prevalent in the Southern U.S. at the time of its publication because the language which describes apes parallels propaganda against people of African descent. Catherine Jurca similarly analyzes Tarzan as opposed to tolerating the presence of people of other races and classes in favor of preserving his own culture. Jurca looks at how Tarzan defends his corner of civilization, his parents’ home, from the "savages" who want to despoil it, reflecting an early twentieth-century American attitude; as darker-skinned immigrants flooded the country, especially urban areas, white Americans feared that their culture would be destroyed by newcomers who did not understand or care about it, and tried to protect the suburbs in the same way as Tarzan tries to protect his home.
Civilization[edit]
Tarzan’s jungle upbringing and eventual exposure to Western civilization forms another common theme in literary criticism of the novel.
Berglund notes that Tarzan’s ability to read and write sets him apart from the apes, the African villagers, and the lower-class sailors in the novel. The difference between Tarzan and others culminates in Tarzan recognizing himself as a human for the first time; moreover, he is as a man who is superior to others unlike himself. Jeff Berglund argues that this realization exemplifies Burroughs' portrayal of whiteness and literacy as fundamental to civilization. Tarzan’s growth into a perfectly civilized person stems from his Western, white heritage, and learning to read and write.
However, Mikko Tuhkanen claims that the apparently civilized qualities of Tarzan, such as his interest in reading, threaten his survival as a human in the jungle. For Tuhkanen, Tarzan represents the fluidity with which humans should define themselves. He asserts, “[T]he human and the nonhuman become grotesquely indistinguishable” in the novel. Humans mistake apes for other humans , an ape tries to rape Jane, Tarzan finds a surrogate ape mother when he cries out like an ape, and he must act against his human instincts by jumping into a dangerous body of water in order to survive an attack from a lion. Because simian and human behavior blend, and because civilized habits seem to threaten human survival, Tuhkanen claims that humans must contradict the expectations of civilization regarding the characteristics of humans. For Tukhanen, the novel exemplifies “queer ethics,” encouraging “perverse sexuality” along with other behaviors which Western civilization often discouraged.
Sexuality[edit]
J. Michelle Coughlan argues that Tarzan displays behavior which seems outside of the bounds of traditional manhood in her article “’Absolutely Punk’: Queer Economies of Desire in Tarzan of the Apes.” Coughlan analyzes Burroughs’ fans complaints regarding the “punk ending” in order to prove that contemporary readers understood Tarzan’s renunciation of Jane as unmanly. Later, he rescues Paul D’Arnot from Africans, similarly to how he rescued Jane from rape: many of the same phrases and words describe both adventures (185-86). D’Arnot later supports the reluctant Tarzan financially, similarly to how Jane dreads marrying for money (188-89). Coughlan suggests that the novel bends traditional Western gender roles; therefore, Tarzan unconsciously could feel homosexual desire for D’Arnot despite his apparent attraction for Jane, and D’Arnot could be treating Tarzan as a “kept m[a]n,” or paid sexual partner (186).
Talk Page Assignment
Suggestions for Further Improving the Article
According to the Wikipedia Manual of Style/Novels, character sections could benefit from brief summaries of each character, especially if the plot section does not cover the personalities or roles of all of the characters. A more comprehensive character section could improve the quality of the Tarzan of the Apes article.
We were wondering if an “African Animals” section is necessary. If it remains, readers might like explanations of the roles which the animals play in the story.
A Style section might benefit from biographies of Burroughs and histories of mainstream fiction during the early twentieth century in America. The following is a list of sources which our group used. A future editor probably would want to expand beyond these sources, especially in the history area.
Fenton, Robert W. (1967). The Big Swingers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Hart, James David (1950). The Popular Book: A History of America's Literary Taste. University of California Press.
Lupoff, Richard A. (2005). Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. University of Nebraska Press.
Taliaferro, John (1999). Tarzan Forever. New York, NY: Scribner.
The following source might list other sources which could provide historical, literary context:
Perkins, George B. (2002). HarperCollins Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: HarperResource.
The Background section which we began might benefit from summary of the process of the publication of Tarzan of the Apes. The magazine publisher’s expectations, the amount that it paid Burroughs, and the process through which Tarzan of the Apes was published in the form of a novel might be helpful. Perhaps knowing about the reaction of Burroughs’ wife and children to the story before it was published could be helpful.
The copyright issues which Burroughs experienced might explain publishing history topics, such as which publishers published the story.
Reviews from old newspapers might be useful for reception history. Sometimes, sources on Burroughs generalize about reception. Many claim that the story was extremely popular without referencing reviews of it. We would look for specific reviews, sales statistics, and advertisements for the story.
The Adaptations section might benefit from reviews.
The Process of Writing the Article
The group interpreted Wikipedia guidelines regarding scholarly language differently. One member leaned towards not referencing sources directly. She thought that this would help us to avoid argumentative language and original research. The other member leaned towards referencing sources in order to avoid plagiarism and to alert readers that we were not writing original research. We tried to mention the names of the sources in order to clarify language, and to avoid mentioning the names when that would seem repetitive.
One group member preferred short sentences. She thought that they conveyed ideas directly. The other member thought that short sentences did not seem like summary. She thought that they were unnecessary, and wrote longer sentences with several independent clauses and semicolons. We tried to give each other room to write according to individual styles; however, we simultaneously communicated about sentences which we found confusing. Because we communicated, the editing process happened without conflict. Rather than experiencing conflict, we understood the editing process on Wikipedia thoroughly because we asked questions, wrote individually, and edited each others’ writing.
One group member tried to write in the way in which many Wikipedia articles seem to articulate information. The other tried to write based on specific guidelines. We found flexibility in writing based on the guidelines. Different styles exist on Wikipedia because each editor thinks differently from others. Because we simultaneously tried to follow guidelines and to respect our individual interpretations of the guidelines, we accepted the ability of writing an article to form our minds through following guidelines, and the ability of writing an article to form Wikipedia through our individual expressions of information.
We thank each other for writing, and for reading each other’s writing. We thank Aschuet1 for the instruction in and outside of classes. We thank our peers, Lhovey2 and Jessehersh, for reviewing the first draft. We thank Wikipedia for the opportunity to learn about writing an online encyclopedia.
References
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