From idea to essay a rhetoric, Reader, and Handbook Eleventh Edition Jo Ray McCuen

Stephen King

Answers to Quiz

Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (458)

1. 
   The author is suggesting that inside each of us lurks a person with some kind of mental sickness. Whereas some people hide their mental sickness better than others, everyone falls into the category of being mentally ill. Have students discuss the validity of the author’s view. But first, have them give their definition of mental illness. For instance, can someone with a fear of flying airplanes be labeled as mentally ill? Surely a matter of degree becomes important here.
   
2. 
   The author believes that anyone attending a horror movie is “daring the nightmare.” By that he means that the viewer in essence is saying this: “Yes, I am afraid of the many demons that plague my life and mind, but when I watch this horror movie, I am daring that nightmare to overcome me. I am showing the demons that I can stand my ground.
   
3. 
   In paragraph 3, the author uses the analogy of a roller coaster because those boarding a roller coaster know that they are going to be somewhat frightened, but they board anyway, just to show that they can do it. Have students come up with another analogy. One student used the analogy of the glass floor at the top of a high rise in Toronto, Canada. The view through the glass floor is enormously frightening for most tourists because one feels sure that if walked on, the glass will break and one will fall through the air hundreds of stories to the cement sidewalk below. Knowing that the glass can’t possibly break does not seem to reassure the average visitor. Yet, hundreds of tourists each day force themselves to walk on the glass floor and look down—just to prove that they have the courage to do so.
   
4. 
   One reason we go to horror movies is to be convinced that we are not as utterly abnormal as the hideous devils or witches in these movies. In other words, compared with them, we are essentially normal. The author also points out the conservative, reactionary nature of horror movies. These movies never change; they always deal with hideous creatures who pervade the dark places of the world, and they always react against light and goodness.
   
5. 
   We are turned into children because horror movies make us see morality in terms of black and white, not shades of gray. In the world of horror movies the good and the bad are not at all the same, and we can see which is which clearly. We also become like children because we can freely let out our emotions. We can scream, gasp, or clench our teeth without embarrassment.
   
6. 
   In paragraph 9 the author uses the metaphor of a “potential lyncher” who resides in all of us. This lyncher needs to be let out to roll about and scream once in a while in order to keep him from getting out of control and causing real damage—which is what happens with crazy people. Another way of expressing this thought is to say that pent up emotions need occasional release through anger, love, fear, or some other socially acceptable channel.
   
7. 
   Here are some examples of informal English:
   

Paragraph 8: “clap you away in the funny farm” rather than “place you in a mental hospital.”

Paragraph 10: “our rotten little puke of a sister” rather than our “annoying monster of a sister.”

Paragraph 13: “man” used as a slang accent.

Paragraph 14: “gators” rather than “alligators.”

Because Stephen King is a powerful novelist and essay writer, he can get by with an occasional informal or slang expression. We do not encourage students to use slang or informal English because formal English is what they will be required to write throughout their college education and in the professional world.

8. 
   For King, sanity and insanity are a matter of degree. He believes all of us are insane, but society accepts certain forms of insanity, such as talking to yourself or making grimaces, but it does not accept other forms, such as carving up women.
   

9. 
   He promises to tell us why we crave horror movies—a promise he does fulfill by listing the reasons why we want to see them and what happens to us psychologically when we give in to this desire.
   
10. 
    He believes that in order for us to reveal the acceptable emotions of “love, friendship, loyalty, and kindness,” we must occasionally give vent to our less acceptable emotions. Have students suggest ways other than watching a horror movie to get rid of pent up emotions. Consider the following: exercising strenuously, listening to soft music, confiding in a good friend, or going for a long walk.
    

d, a, c, a, b

1. 
   Here are the other terms used: kidults, threshholders, emerging adult hood. All the terms connote the movement from one stage of life to another. Have students try to think of creative terms for the twixters. Here are examples from other countries: Canada: “boomerang kids,” England: “kippers,” (acronym for “kids in parents’ pockets eroding retirement savings” France: “Anguy syndrome” (from a 2001 film about a charming 28-year-old who refuses to move out of his parents’ apartment.) Germany: “nest hockers,” Italy: “mammones,” (for kids who won't give up their mother’s cooking) Japan: “freefers” (a combination of the words “free” and arbeiter,” (the German word for “worker). One student suggested delayed trail blazers. Another came up with ADs, for “adolescent adults.”
   

2. 
   Social scientists are trying to answer the question, “Do the twixters refuse to grow up or is it that they simply can’t grow up? The essay seems to favor the idea that present economic and educational circumstances impede the twixter’s ability to grow up. Have students propose their own answers, backed up by personal experience.
   

3. 
   It is taking students much longer to finish college with a degree than it used to. The average student now takes five years before getting a diploma. According to Grossman, the reason for this extended time is that colleges no longer prepare students for life because a B.A. or B.S. is now so common that employers pay little attention to such degrees, taking them for granted. Colleges are often so out of step with the demands of the real world that vocational schools are experiencing an enrollment boom. Also, going to college has become extremely expensive, causing students to stay at home so as to avoid paying for room and board in addition to the high college tuition and textbook costs.
   

4. 
   This term is obviously a take off on the popular expression “thinking outside the box.” Thinking “outside the box” means using your imagination to go beyond the routine accomplishments of a company. Thinking “outside the book” means to leave the impractical ideas found in books and get down to the practical requirements of the work place. For instance, students who have completed their pre-medical school requirements will know little about healing patients. It is the hands-on experience that will turn them into accomplished doctors. Likewise, a student might learn the theory of accounting in a finance class, but until he has actually worked with real-life ledgers, he will not be ready to take his place in the world of finance. The author is criticizing colleges for not preparing students to enter the practical world and earn a decent income. Have student discuss whether or not this criticism is warranted.
   

5. 
   See paragraph 29 for an answer to this question. The twixters make up for the loss in family support by having friends with whom they throw cocktail parties, dinner partiers, and poker games. They stay in touch with their friends by taking advantage of the new technologies of cell phones, email, instant messaging, and online communities. According to authors Cagen and Watters, they also remain close to their parents and contact them by cell phone daily. Have students confirm or deny this new emphasis on friendship. We suggest that remaining close to parents and other wise adults can keep these twixters from getting into self-destructive lifestyles, such as taking drugs, drinking too much, or going into debt.
   

6. 
   See paragraph 33 for a partial answer to this question. According to Grossman, pop culture not only defines youth, but also shapes it. Various markets have noticed that while twixters are waiting to find out who and where they want to be, they spend considerable sums of money—propping up the markets for electronic gadgets like Game Boys, flat-screen TVs, Ipods, couture fashion, and expensive vacations. Other items to mention are joining exercise gyms and buying exotic cars. All these items are expensive and have caused numerous twixters to become debt ridden.
   

7. 
   They ignore such matters as paying into Social Security, having medical benefits, and setting up retirement plans. While they probably think of life as a long, long journey with the end still far away, if they throw all caution to the wind, they may find themselves like the grasshopper in Aesop’s fable, who frittered away her days in fun and gaiety, neglecting to work, while her neighbor, the hard-working ant, stashed away food for the winter. Have student think of the advice they would give twixters living only for the here and now.
   

8. 
   The following paragraphs contain figurative language: Paragraph 3: “Who are these . . . twentysome Peter Pans?" Peter Pan is the little boy in a children’s story who never grew up. This is an apt image to portray the twixters because they also don’t want to grow up. Paragraph 5: “…whatever cultural machinery used to turn kids into grownups has broken down.” The image of machinery cranking out people is effective. (But the machinery has broken down, so the kids are not coming out adults.) Paragraph 7: “Legally they’re adults, but they’re on the threshold, the doorway to adulthood, and they’re not going through it.” This metaphor of the threshold and doorway stresses the twixters’ reluctance to become adults—to walk over the threshold into adulthood. Paragraph 18: “To them, the period from 18 to 25 is a kind of sandbox, a chance to build castles and knock them down….” Again, this image reminds us that, in a way, twixters are still children. Paragraph 30: “Like Goldilocks, they want to find the one that’s just right.” This hopping about applies to their lovers as well as their jobs. Vivid images, including metaphors and similes, when aptly used, as they are by Grossman, add sparkle to an essay that could otherwise be dull.
   

9. 
   His style is direct, and his sentences flow coherently throughout the essay. He remains objective and does not become emotionally involved in the argument. At no point does he vilify or denigrate young people. In fact, he points out that our culture may need to accommodate twixters as a permanent stage in life.
   

10. 
    Grossman convinces by carefully analyzing the cause-effect relationship between society and the goals of young people facing adulthood. Grossman has done meticulous research for his essay. He quotes numerous scholars and social scientists. The essay is filled with quotations from experts in the field. This kind of documentation adds intellectual weight to the essay.
    

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