Blog Post 4

"THE HAMMER BANGED reveille on the rail outside camp HQ at five o’clock as always."

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (2005-03-16). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel (Kindle Location 135). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition. 

This quote expresses time. The end of the quote gives it away. "as always" means that he has done it more than once and that this is not Ivan's first time doing it. Since I have read the end, I see that "as always" means more than 1,000 days, and extreme measure.

The second quote:

There are two ends to a stick, and there’s more than one way of working. If it’s for human beings— make sure and do it properly. If it’s for the big man— just make it look good.

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (2005-03-16). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel (Kindle Locations 267-269). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition. 

This quote tells us that the prisoners have very little power, but when they can, they will resist the guards when they can. They will try their hardest when its for human beings, but when it isn't they just have to make it look good.

historical context- Blog post 3

1. How did historical events influence the ideas in the novel?  What cultural issues may have influenced, challenged, or inspired the author?
   
   
   The day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, is in fact, a historical fiction. But, according to Shmoop: "Though it's a work of fiction, One Day is set in the very real gulag prison system of the Soviet Union." One example of how the historical events influence the novel:
   "Go to the mess to stack bowls and carry them to the washers-up. You’d get something to eat, but there were too many volunteers, swarms of them. And the worst of it was that if there was anything left in a bowl, you couldn’t help licking it."
   
   
   Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (2005-03-16). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel (Kindle Locations 143-145). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition. 
   According to Wikipedia: "His experiences at Ekibastuz formed the basis for the book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." As you can clearly tell, the book was written because of his personal experiences, so the quote above is probably one of the horrible and un-human things he had to do.
   
   
   
   
   
   Another example:
   "Because he had eaten only cold food, and gone without his bread ration at breakfast, Shukhov felt emptier than usual.
   
   
   Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (2005-03-16). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel (Kindle Locations 569-570). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition. 
   
   
   
   
   Here, we can see how Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes Ivan denisovich's shortage of food, and this shortage is in fact, true: "To meet rising demand, prisoners worked longer and longer hours, and on lower food rations than ever before." Wikipedia. The book has a lot of different events from history and is very inspired from it.
   
   

lit analysis

How did the author use a particular literary technique (allusion, metaphor, imagery, symbolism, etc.) and what effect does this technique have on the reader?

"There is no worse moment than when you turn out for work parade in the morning. In the dark, in the freezing cold, with a hungry belly, and the whole day ahead of you. You lose the power of speech. You haven’t the slightest desire to talk to each other. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (2005-03-16). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel (Kindle Locations 429-431). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.

I think we see here in this quote that Denisovich is starving and can't speak no more. The author describes this scene with detail, and goes on to tell us that Denisovich can't speak anymore.

food is like another character in this book. And aside from worrying about keeping warm, food is the primary concern of a zek. Shukhov spends the bulk of the book thinking about food: planning what he's going to eat and when, scheming to get more food, longing for good food, worrying about bad food, etc.

Literary Analysis_Giulia

One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 
Week 5: pp. 134-167
 Lit. Analysis
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Answering question:  What theme or themes does the author explore in the novel?  Which passages in the text connect to theme?

 My Presentation:

*sents

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Literary Analysis - Bernardita

Literary Analysis - Bernardita

Throughout the novel, 'One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, there are a variety of different themes which are presented in certain ways but the one slight theme which is pretty easy to be found is, the theme of surviving. Through the character of Shukhov, Solzhenitsyn demostrates and shows how humanity can survive even in the harshest and  worst times. In the Stalin labor camp which Ivan was kept for ten long years, was a figure of 'attack to its prisoners' and 'physical and spiritual dignity' as SparkNotes states. From way the beginning the reader can sense how the living conditions there were just pure dreadful and almost intolerable. The outrageous and terrible temperature would lead so low, so cold and with that, barely the prisoners had any clothes to protect nor warm them, even their mattresses have no sheets and plus, there was lack of food.

Another theme which has been discovered through out the novel is the one massive treasure which was highly stolen from the prisoners at the Stalin's labor camp and that would be the slight and precious time wasted, ten or twenty five years of their lives. Everyone is this world of ours deserves at least a little bit of freedom, but the prisoners didn't have much despite the early mornings before their morning roll call or during their meals, which is highly precious and valuable to them. Those slight minutes of freedom, as mentioned before, are highly precious to every single prisoner in there. But it isn't just that it just happens in the Stalin labor camp but also around over globe. People's time have been wasted for nothing and taken for granted. Despite that, in the moment of them having to work or work extra is considered time stolen from them.

Literary Analysis - Ivanna Hidalgo

Ivanna Hidalgo
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovoich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Week #5 - Literary Analysis
Pages 134-167
 
To start of with, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is in chronological order since this book only represents one day in the life of Shukhov (Ivan). In other words, the book doesn't move back and forth between past and present. Secondly, caused to the reason that this book is only expressing one day, there are major details in experiences, opinions, and feelings Ivan had. Further, when something important occurs, Alexander Solzhenitsyn or the narrator expresses from Shukhov's point of view. However, it's hard to tell when Ivan Denisovich is talking and when Alexander Solzhenitsyn is, caused to his narrative technique, called free indirect discourse. In detail, free indirect discourse is a way of writing in which the narrator speaks in third person but shares a character’s private thoughts. As a deeper explanation, the character does not talk, yet the narrator communicates the character's thoughts. An example from the book takes place on page 41, "Writing letters now was like throwing stones into a bottomless pool. They sank without a trace. No point in telling the family which gang you worked in and what your foreman, Andrei Prokofyevich Tyurin, was like. Nowadays you had more to say to Kildigs, the Latvian, than to the folks at home." It explains how Ivan feels, but nothing proves that he is saying it. 

 

"Indirect Speech." Indirect Speech. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://www.slideshare.net/jbsaenz/indirect-speech-12518812>. 

Moreover, Alexander Solzhenitsyn might not have chosen to write in free indirect course for a specific reason, but as one sees it, it is just as if there were two brains. In addition, one thinks there are two brains because one person is expressing, but there are two people speaking. In conclusion, this type of writing influences us readers to think diversely and to expand more of what we do not read often.

Literary Analysis- Marina Dissinger

Marina Dissinger
One Day in the Life
Rotation #5
Literary Analysis

1. What theme or themes does the author explore in the novel?  Which passages in the text connect to theme?

The famous novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" contains numerous themes, but the one which seems most present in the novel is Respect. Alexandr became faous in 1962 with the publication of the novel in the leading Soviet leterary journal of the time, Novy Mir (New World).

Respect

Despite the horrible living conditions in the Gulag which they were imprisoned, the prisoners try their best to treat each other with respect and kindness. Although they live in inhumane circumstances, like receiving only 200 grams of bread per day (Solzenhenitsyn, 17), and sleeping in flat mattresses with holes in them (Solzenhenitsyn, 5), shows that they are able to overcome obstacles for the sake of respect. 

Source

One example is that although the guards call on the prisoners by number, the prisoners themselves do not repeat this action of turning humans into objects, but to respect each other and threat each other equally (Solzenhenitsyn, 14). This is clear in Shukhov’s ability to construct things, whether walls, knives, spoons, or friendships. He maintains his dignity not by openly rebelling against the system that confines him, but rather by living in a civilized manner despite it. Many actions that Shukhov takes demonstrates his respect towards things, like when always removes his cap before eating, and forces himself never to hurry through a meal. Unlike Fetyukov, he never begs, instead consistently demonstrating by his own example that it is possible to retain one’s dignity even under the most inhumane and undignified of circumstances.