Norton Reader
According to Pollitt, a conservative view has this effect on the literary canon that includes books such as Fairyland
What is, due to the more progressive qualities of Fairyland, a conservative view would not want this book in schools, or for anyone to read?
“I too believe that some books are profound, more complex, more essential to an understanding of our culture than others (pg 1047)."
The name that Fadiman prefers to be called
What is Ms. Fadiman?
"I am, by process of elimination, Ms. Fadiman. I can't be Miss Fadiman because I'm married. I can't be Mrs. Fadiman because my husband's name is Mr. Colt. I can't be Mrs. Colt because my name is still Fadiman. I am, to my surprise, the very woman for whom Ms. was invented (pg 519)."
According to Orwell, this language is used to make extreme situations and conditions less severe
What is political language?
“Political Language, - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists- is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind(pg 550)."
Describe Steven and Alysia Abbott's relationship
It was complex, but close-knit.
“Growing up, I fantasized about having a bigger family. Now especially I longed for someone to help with the quotidian work of caring for dad. But on another, equally powerful level, I also relished the intimacy of our one-on-one relationship (pg 293).”
The speaker of Fairyland
Who is Alysia Abbott?
In her memoir, Abbott reflected upon her life growing up to a single, gay father. This experience helped shape her to become the independent, open-minded person that she is today.
In Pollit's fantasy world of readers Fairyland be ___ at schools
What is most likely read?
"School might frankly be the place where one read the books that are a little off-putting, that have gone a little cold, that you might pass over because they do not address, in reader-friendly contemporary fashion, the issues most immediately at stake in modern life (pg 1050)."
Fadiman's feelings towards the use of his instead of both his or her
What is she does not see its novelty?
"I said 'to each his own' until about five years ago, believing what my sixth-grade grammar textbook, Easy English Exercises, had told me: That 'or her' was 'understood,' just as womankind was understood to be lurking somewhere within 'mankind' (pg 521)."
Orwell believes that this has caused the decline of the English language
What is a combination of political and economical causes as well as causes becoming effects and affects becoming causes?
“Now, it is clear that the decline of the language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely(pg 540)."
Alysia Abbott feels this way after her dad passes.
What is regretful?
“it didn’t occur to me until after dad died that the lack of long-term boyfriend in his life was due, at least in part, to my overreaching presence in our apartment as a teenager. I scoured. I was rude (pg 308)."
The occasion of Fairyland
What is in response to Steven Abbott's death?
This memoir was written a decade or so after Abbott’s father, Steven passed away due to AIDs. After processing his death, Abbott wrote this memoir to not only reflect on her father’s life, but the lives that he shaped including her own.
True or False: Fairyland meets the guidelines of what a book should entail based off of its exclusivity
What is true?
“By all means, say the liberals, let’s have great books and a shared culture. But let’s make sure that all the different kinds of greatness are represented and that the culture we share reflects the true range of human experience (pg 1048)."
The connection between The His'Er Problem and Fairyland
What is they both discuss the lives of groups who face prejudice?
"I believe that although my father and E.B. White were not misogynists, they didn't really see women, and their language reflected and reinforced that blind spot (pg. 521)."
The number of "elementary" rules needed to keep English concise
What are six?
Never use a metaphor simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print
never use a long word where a short one will do
if it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out
never use the passive where you can use the active
never use a foreign phrase the scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent
break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
Abbott considered the losses of AIDS to be taught as gay history rather than ___ history.
What is American?
“The heavy warlike losses of the AIDS years were relegated to queer studies classrooms, taught as gay history and not American history"
The audience of Fairyland
What is open-minded readers?
The intended audience of this memoir is open-minded readers who want to learn more about Abbott’s experience growing up around the LGBTQ+ community and Steven’s life defying stereotypes. The audience could be either straight and cis or queer.
What is to honor Steven Abbott and to continue his work in LGBTQ+ advocacy?
Memorial Drive was written to honor Steven Abbott after he died through an avenue that he loved most- writing. This aided Alysia Abbott in processing her grief. More than anything though, the memoir helped to destigmatize the hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community. By sharing an account of what it was like to grow up surrounded by queer people, Abbott conveyed the idea that they shouldn’t be treated differently due to their sexuality or their gender identity. In this manner, Memorial Drive also serves as a call to action to better address the AIDs epidemic.
The tone of Fairyland
What is reflective, somber, and compassionate?