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please write feedback for 2 peers' Text-in-Context Essay

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please write feedback for 2 peers' Text-in-Context Essay. Please read it before working on this assignment and keep the format. In your feedback, answer the following questions in your feedback:

 

• At this point, do not address spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Remember that these are rough drafts which may not have been proofread yet.

1. What expectations do you form about the paper based on the paper's title? If the paper doesn't have a title, or if the title doesn't fit the paper's theme (or there is no title), what suggestions do you have for a title?

2. What is the paper's thesis or main message? Do you get some indication about what the thesis will be from the introduction?

3. How do the secondary sources support the writer's main points; what do they add to the discussion of this story? If the writer isn't using any secondary sources, what suggestions do you have for the types of sources that might be helpful to this writer?

4. What is most successful about this draft?

5. What final recommendations do you have for this writer?

1st peer’s comparative analysis:

Materialism and Unhappiness: A Text-in-Context Analysis of “The Necklace”

Many people dream of living a more luxurious life and wish to climb higher in the social class ladder. Some long for things that they cannot afford like the newest phone, expensive brand clothing or to socialize with the rich and the famous. However, what happens when desiring these material things so strongly makes them unhappy with the reality of their lives? “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant follows a young woman who is deeply dissatisfied with her financial and social place in life because she aches to be a woman of wealth and finer things. “The Necklace” is a realist story which illustrates how social class division and materialistic values can negatively affect a person’s mental and physical well-being as experienced by the main character in the story.

“The Necklace” was written in 1884 and it is important to understand society at the time to better comprehend the main character and story. At the time the story was written Realist Literature, like the stories written by Guy De Maupassant, were extremely popular. Realism is a form of art or literature which depicts everyday working- or lower-class people and things in a realistic way, rather than an exaggerated or romantic view. This story realistically portrays the middle to lower-middle class character, Mathilde Loisel, and her struggle with accepting that she is not part of the luxurious upper class. At the time that the story was written, French society was highly divided between the three social classes- the very wealthy upper class, the middle class, and the poorer laborers of the lower class. Maupassant points out that “with women there is neither caste nor rank; and beauty, grace, and charm act instead of family and birth” as women of the time held no rank, and their worth was with their looks and attractive personality instead. The French social classes and how they were viewed play a large role in the misery experienced by Mathilde.

Although life in nineteenth century France may seem very different from what life looks like now, it is similar when considering the division of social classes which is still evident in life today, even in the United States. This division continues to have negative effects on individuals of different class status. An individual’s social class plays a large role in their ability to obtain healthcare, afford housing and food or enjoy nonessential luxuries. People of lower class “experience worse health outcomes, are subjected to increased social devaluation and exclusion, and report reduced subjective well-being,” (Piff and Moskowitz) they also experience more anxiety and depression. Those of higher-class experience more of the opposite, with greater access to healthcare, luxuries, and higher wellbeing. Other researchers have conducted studies on social class which have shown that social class also effects a person’s perception of themselves when they are conscious of their lower social standing, “people from lower objective social class backgrounds have reduced self-esteem relative to their upper-class counterparts, and this association is statistically explained by subjective perceptions of social class rank in comparison to others.” (Kraus and Park) Research continues to prove that lower social class creates difficulties to both the physical and mental health of those affected.

Along with one’s social class experience one may also endure classism which Bernice Lott explains as, “classism denotes negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors directed toward those with less power, who are socially devalued. Lott also describes research which has shown that “those from working-class backgrounds remembered the shame and anxiety they experienced in situations where their clothing or food appeared to violate middle-class norms” This prejudice and shame stemming from one’s social class explains the shame and anxiety felt by Mathilde when the thought of attending an event without nice jewelry made her not want to attend at all, “No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich.” (Maupassant) The shame caused by classism among social classes certainly contributes to negative mental wellbeing.

Along with classism, materialism also plays a part in Mathilde’s unhappiness as Maupassant described, “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for the delicacies and all the luxuries.” Psychologist Tim Kasser explains that people tend to have materialistic values for two reasons, “First, people are more materialistic when they are exposed to messages that suggest such pursuits are important, whether through their parents and friends, society, or the media. Second, and somewhat less obvious — people are more materialistic when they feel insecure or threatened, whether because of rejection, economic fears or thoughts of their own death.” Zimmerman, an experimental psychologist provides coinciding information, “materialistic individuals do tend to be more insecure, and in laboratory settings when people have been made to feel more insecure, they’ve responded with higher levels of materialism.” Considering those reasons, it is clear how Mathilde grew to be materialistic, and why it pained her to not have the materialistic things she dreamed of, or even to see her old friend “who was rich, and whom she did not like to go see anymore, because she suffered so much when she came back.” The combination of societal views of her based on her social class and her insecurity from such views developed the materialism which appears as greediness and lack of gratitude but reaches deeper into her feelings of wanting to be regarded as more than a lower-middle class woman. “She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.” (Maupassant)

Despite the many odds against happiness for those not belonging to the rich upper class, there are many middle and lower-class individuals who do feel positively about their lives. Research has shown that “upper class individuals exhibited greater self-oriented feelings of pride and contentment, as well as greater amusement, whereas lower class individuals exhibited more other-oriented feelings of compassion and love, as well as awe.” (Piff and Moskowitz) Other psychologists agree that it is important to avoid comparisons to others to avoid feeling of envy toward those of higher social class, or scorn towards those who of lower social class. (Fiske) It is also important to focus on forming strong relationships with others, and avoid the idea that happiness lies in what one owns, “the happiness we imagine ourselves experiencing at the thought of owning a product is probably transient at best, and when we feel like we need a product to be happy we’re likely just fooling ourselves.” (Zimmerman)

Ultimately, social class and an individual’s high preoccupation with obtaining wealth and higher social status can contribute to general unhappiness and lower satisfaction in life. The negative effects of classism on people of middle to lower class can create feelings of shame which may foster materialistic values due to the envy felt when comparing oneself to those of higher social class. Maupassant drew from the highly divided social classes of his time to show how this division, classism, and materialism all at play can be detrimental to person’s self esteem and happiness, as shown with the character Mathilde. However, an individual’s social class is not a lifetime sentence to despair and dissatisfaction if they are able to deeper significance within themselves and their loved ones.

2nd peer’s comparative analysis::

Fear of Honesty

When we are children lying becomes natural. Even as adults we lie daily. Whether it’s a good morning to a friend. When they ask us how we are doing, and we respond with great. When deep don’t we are having we could be having a terrible day, we have kids that are sick, or even can be money issues. We stray away from complete honesty, so we don’t have to talk about it. Most people do not like confrontation. Some people have a very hard time opening up. There are many reasons we decide to lie or even bend the truth. In the short story “The Necklace,” Guy De Maupassant uses materialism and the value of one character to show that honesty is the best policy whether it's for yourself and others.

Mme Loisel is a poor woman that daydreams about a life she wishes she could have. The joys of beautiful jewels and dresses. She finds herself invited to a ball with nothing to wear. Her husband gives up the money he was saving for his wife to be happy and buy a dress. This is not quite enough for her. She decides she needs jewelry to look the part. She borrows a necklace from a dear friend, and during the ball, the necklace gets lost. Now when she has the opportunity, to tell the truth of what had happened, she lies. She is so worried about how much she believes the necklace cost. Her husband takes on many different jobs to make the money to buy a new necklace and replace the new one with the old one. They spent 10 years working off the debt to acquire the replacement. When she finally has it all paid off, she gets the nerve, to tell the truth just to find out it was costume jewelry. Her friend tells her if she would have told her the truth she would have known that. This would have spared Mme Loisel and her husband 10 years of all the hard work they put into getting the money. Honesty would have saved them 10 years.

In the story, Maupassant describes Mme Loisel as a “pretty and charming girl.” She didn’t have a dowry nor was she going to wed a rich man. She married a clerk. Loisel didn’t have much. She was in anguish over her lack of wealth. She often daydreamed of the materials that the wealthy women had. This made her angry to think about. This made her compare herself to the women who had everything she didn’t. It's hard to not be jealous of what others have and this causes us to make a judgment on our own lives. When people compare their lives to others they tend to overlook what they have. Loisel tells her husband she needs a beautiful dress and jewelry so that she may look distinguished at the ball. These materialistic needs she has come from comparing her life to others. This causes her to lie to herself and she believes she isn’t wealthy in her own life. She must not need these items to be happy in her life. In the Journal “A Concept of Materialism and Well-Being” The author states, “Materialistic people will feel satisfied through acquisition of possessions, financial success, attaining status and having the right image.” (Aisyahrani, Handayani, Dewi, and Muhtar) Loisel had many materials in her life but lacked the strength to believe that those were everything she needed. So, she lied to herself and her husband and said she needed them. Which started the downfall of the story.

Mme Loisel suffers from envy of these beautiful women that have all the riches she doesn’t. In the article “On Envy,” written by Arthur Dobrin he states, “Envy arises from feelings of inadequacy, a sense of hollowness and unworthiness. Closing the gap between what others have and what you want by having others lose what they have is to bolster yourself at another’s expense, always a risky enterprise.” (Dobrin) Dobrin explains that we all have what we truly need, we just have to be able to see it. We need to look in the right places. Envy is a very dangerous feeling that causes someone to overlook the things to cherish in their own life. Dobrin explains in great detail how envy is a bad feeling that in time can only get worse. Being envious of those other women made Loisel angry and weep. She even has a hard time visiting her old friend from school who ends up loaning her the Necklace because she gets so upset each time she has to leave and come back to her own life. Seeing what Mme. Forestier has and what Loisel thinks her life lacks makes her in so much pain. Envy is just one of the feelings that cause many people to lie.

When Mme. Loisel attends the ball she has a very best of time. Its until she arrives back that she realizes this Necklace that she believes is very expensive is missing. Now at this point, she should have immediately looked for it and told her friend it was lost. This is not an easy thing to do. No one enjoys admitting they have made a mistake. Especially if that mistake can cost her a great deal of money. Maupassant describes Loisel's reaction while her husband went back to look, “She waited all day, in the same condition of mad fear before this terrible calamity.” (Maupassant) The fear that Maupassant describes helps readers understand just how fearful she is. Now she has to tell her friend the truth, but she doesn’t.

Fear of honesty is a hard feeling to cope with. In the Journal, “The Truth About Lying and What It Does to the Body” Bill Sullivan, a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine writes what happens to the body physically when someone lies. The author writes about what goes on in the brain and the nervous system when someone tells a lie. This is how the polygraph test works. He explains the physical attributes that come with lying and why some people work so hard, to be honest. Sullivan states. “Knowing that dishonesty risks irrevocable damage to one’s reputation, lying is an inherently stressful activity. When we engage in deceit, our respiratory and heart rates increase, we start to sweat, our mouth goes dry, and our voice can shake.” (Sullivan) In “The Necklace” Loisel's husband tells her to write her friend a letter and lie so they have some time to keep looking. They lost all hope of finding this necklace, Maupassant describes Loisel as “had aged 5 years” (Maupassant). This was just in a week. This is the stress that she had caused upon herself by keeping this lie. This could have been evaded if they just went straight to Mme. Forestier.

Mme Loisel and her husband spent the next 10 years borrowing money and working themselves to the bone to make the money for the replacement necklace. When she had given the replacement to Mme Forestier without telling her what happened she knew she had done wrong. “Mme. Loisel now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover, all of a sudden, with heroism. That dreadful debt must be paid. She would pay it.” (Maupassant) If she had just been honest would it have changed anything? At this point in the story, she had not the strength to try. A quote from the article “It Takes Courage to Tel the Truth-The Journey of Loving and Letting Go,” says, “Telling the truth is a relentless act of courage which invites strength and tempers the heart.” (Gordon) Meaning even though it may be hard to do the relief it may give you, to tell the truth over holding onto lies will ease your heart. In the end, after she paid off the debt, this made her feel a bit relieved to finally accept the truth and tell her friend. When she did her friend explained that the jewelry was just costume jewelry. It wasn’t worth much. She should have just told her and she could have spared her all the misery for the last ten years. One could have only imagined the pain in her hard from hearing this. If she had just been honest.

Furthermore, the journey Mme Loisel goes through in “The Necklace” takes her through endless pain and misery. She had one night that she was able to feel like she was someone special. Like the woman she envied. Was this worth it in the end? She had done one thing right by replacing the necklace which wasted 10 years of her happiness. If she merely just told the truth she would have been able to live those ten years enjoying them with her husband. Materialism and value that is portrayed through Mme Loisel show readers that honesty is the best policy whether it's for yourself and others.