Love Medicine

Love Medicine
Detail of beadwork from an Ojibwe medicine pouch

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Icarus Girl Themes

I'm stumped! What is a good theme and where are some starting points for me? I don't want a confusing topic.

48 comments:

Samantha said...
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Jessica Deckard said...

Crossing over between the Bush world and the real world.

Situations in Jess's hospital room where she looks down, in Africa when she gets in the car accident, the dream with the hot coals in the mouth.

M P H said...

My theme's in my head. I don't want anybody jacking my idea.

Christine Schmidt said...

elloooo puppett :)

Ace de la Vergne said...

Theme:
The purpose(s) Tilly serves for Jessamy and the purpose(s) Jessamy serves for Tilly.

andrewmcdaniel said...

A good theme would be the occurring theme of the Nigerian lifestyle vs. the English lifestlye.

Christine Schmidt said...

secretly sam LIKES papers.. do not let her fool you! gypsy.

jmartinez said...

a theme would be the reoccurring themes of twins in the story. and the connection between Tilly and Jess.

Unknown said...

A good theme could be the way Jess is raised.
The father's English Upbringing VS. The mother's Nigerian Upbringing & the confusion it causes Jess & how it could be a factor in her screaming fits

Anonymous said...

Good Themes:
1. Jess - Imagination vs. Supersticion (actual poltergeist)

Examples:
Actual Poltergeist- when Shivs "introduced" to TillyTilly and somewhat acknowledges her presence.

Imagination: when Jess's parents question her behavior and actions and she blames TillyTilly.

Chet Vaughn said...

Theme:
How parents and a child's upbringing by those parents effect their life and who they are.

brantmcconnell said...

i agree with jacob

Sarah said...

I want to incorporate the long armed lady, Jess, Tilly, and Fern into a theme but I'm still trying to figure out how...any ideas?

Unknown said...

a good theme could be that TillyTilly could be an alter ego of Jess.
Jess is quiet and reserved and TillyTilly is this energetic "person."

Christine Schmidt said...

A good theme would be Jessamy's struggle with her identity through her name(s), Tilly, and her transition from England to Nigeria.

Ace de la Vergne said...

who is the long armed lady and what is she supposed to represent? why is she so scary and yet at times beautiful?

brantmcconnell said...
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brantmcconnell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
M P H said...
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brantmcconnell said...

a good theme would be tying together jess herritage and why people make fun of her in class

NDiMaggio45 said...

i also twins would be a good theme

Sarah said...

A doppelgänger (pronunciation (help·info)) or fetch is the fictional ghostly double of a living person, a sinister form of bilocation. Doppelgänger is the German word for a ghostly double of a living person. The word comes from doppel meaning "double" and gänger translated as "goer". The term has, in the vernacular, come to refer to any double of a person, most commonly in reference to a so-called evil twin, or to bilocation. Alternately, the word is used to describe a phenomenon where you catch your own image out of the corner of your eye. In some mythologies, seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death.

Unknown said...

A good theme would be how Jess's upbringing has affected her mental state. Some examples of Jess's uncontrollable mental state are Jess's fits at school and hatred towards her teachers, her paranoia about her mother hitting her, and her fear of speaking to her family the phone.

brantmcconnell said...

yeah nick i also twins

jmartinez said...

woot woot

Emily A said...

theme idea:
Jess and her struggle with growing up and the choices given her that aren't really choices
ex. Her father asks her if she wants to go back to school. She knows he wants her to say yes so she does. Its not really a choice.

brantmcconnell said...

w00t w00t u n00b

Mister Dee said...

Fantasy vs. reality- maybe Tilly just exists in Jess's mind, but she has become so obsessed with her imaginary friend that it interferes with her life

aperky said...

how does the yellow wallpaper and the icarus girl relate to each other... how are jess and the narrator alike?

andrew pancamo said...

theme: what is tillytilly, imagination, an effect of a mental problem, or a real ghost/poltergeist?

danield said...

Theme: Life in Nigeria vs Life in England, or all the doubles in general from the book.

Jessica Deckard said...

1) Negative views of literacy and literature

Sarah uses her writing as an escape from her family duties and parental duties.
She's out of it when writing.
Jess rewrites Little Women - what does Oyeyemi think about that book? Why that one? Is it just a typical book kids read, or is it something about that plot?

Bo W said...

Theme: Jess can never fit in with the rest of her peers, and how that contributes to her personality
2 Scenes: On the first trip to Nigeria, where the guy at the airport called her Oyinbo; she had a fight with Colleen at school because Colleen threw her Little Women on the ground

Hana said...

i like the nigerian vs english culture that a few of you have mentioned. there is such a distinct different between the two that are noticable even through everday actions like the parenting styles of daniel and sarah

aperky said...

scenes from the icarus girl: when jess is with tilly at the park and no one else can see tilly..nobody but jess has seen tilly

scenes from the yellow wallpaper: the narrator trying to catch the women behind the wallpaper to prove shes not crazy

garrett said...

WHAT IS TILLYTILLY

through out the book the reader doesnt truly know what tillytilly is she seems real in the beginning of the book but the more you learn about jess the more you begin to think tilly is not real

smilari said...

a good theme could be how Jessy always seems to be the in between of two opposite pairs

examples could be: Nigeria and England
Shivs and Tilly Tilly
Black and White

Ellie Simmons said...

A theme could be the Jess's lack of diffrentating between reality and the world where she sees TillyTilly. This occurs when Jess tells her parents that TillyTilly is making her do horrible things, and when Jess goes to the canival for hours with TillyTilly.

Isabel said...

Theme: Time loss both in Icarus Girl and Yellow Wallpaper

Ex: Icarus Girl-falling through the stairs for 6 hours!

Ex:Yellow Wallpaper-caught up in wallpaper and loses hours staring at it!

makenzie kozojet said...

1. Comparing and contrasting Jess and Tilly Tilly. How does Jess change when Tilly Tilly is part of Jess vs. when Jess is just with Tilly Tilly?
2. The scene when Jess is on the phone with Shivs and Tilly Tilly takes over Jess. Another scene is the bathroom when Jess is fighting with Tilly Tilly in the mirror.

rbreaux said...

theme:
parenting styles
I know that someone has already said some stuff about this
The mother (Sarah) has different styles of dealing with Jess at different times in the book

At times sarah is very hard on Jess even when it is very obvious that Jess needs some kind of help because she is having some mental problems

Then at other times Sarah is understanding like when she drops jess off at school one day even though they are late she calls Jess back over to make sure Jess is ok

I think that part of it is Sarah's own upbringing and her culture
she seems embarrassed about Jess when jess goes off in a screaming fit. Instead of trying to help her she throws her in the basement.

Isma said...

The difference in cultures between Nigeria and England. How Sarah and Daniel differ from each other and so on...

Maryclaire said...

Jess's connection to Tilly's actions, and the effect it has on Jess. All the people that Tilly “gets” because they wronged Jess, and why Jess seems to not be able to get rid of Tilly or stop her, like with the mirror.

Isabel said...

Theme: Time loss in both Icarus Girl and Yellow Wallpaper

Ex: Icarus-Jessy falls though the stairs for 6 hours!
Ex: Yellow-she spends all day and night thinking and looking at the wallpaper!

Katie said...

Jess's different relationships with Tilly Tilly. Her fear of Tiily, at times, and how sometimes she wants her around.

examples-

When she looks in the mirror and is scared

When she is being mocked by Collen

smilari said...

theme; How jess matures during the book from relying on Tilly Tilly as a friend to questioning her methods

Unknown said...

Can anyone remember what the Yoruban word the cab driver called Jess in Nigeria the first time they went?

Lawrence said...

he calls her oyinbo it means some one who has come from so far away and they are a stranger.