Douglas Coupland Essays

  • The Dynamic Use of Symbolism in Shampoo Planet

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Dynamic Use of Symbolism in Shampoo Planet Douglas Coupland has been called the voice of Generation X by his critics because of his writing techniques, which deal mainly with youthful ideals. Most of his works involve young characters searching for truth and answers for their self-involved questions. Despite many of his novels having a dim outlook, he incorporates humor and optimism into them, which creates a balance between wittiness and mockery. In Shampoo Planet Tyler Johnson, the narrator

  • Baby Boomers Are Jealous

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    media to the point that myself and my peers are described as a bunch of apathetic slackers unconcerned with family values, godless cynics resentful of the preceding generations. Since Douglas Coupland's Book Generation X came out in 1991, many things have been said about the twentysomethings. Labeled by Coupland and the media as Generation X. Although the name has stuck, Coupland's book is virtually impossible to find. Why is that? Could it be because Generation X describes us, me, everyone

  • The Gum Thief by Dougles Coupland

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    every individual has insecurities, which allows in experiencing the obstacles of life. According to The Toronto Star, “A terrific book….Coupland’s ear for dialogue is as sharp as his eye for social observation.” In the book The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland, Coupland depicts three different scenarios in which his characters – Roger, Bethany, and Steve and Gloria from a novel in the book called “Glove Pond” – lack the ability to transition their lives from dreams to reality. Their lack of success makes

  • Douglas Coupland’s Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture: an alternative voice

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Douglas Coupland’s Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture: an alternative voice On production of his first novel, Coupland was labelled by critics spokesman for a new lost generation - “Generation X” - those individuals aged between mid-twenties and mid-thirties who have come of age in an increasingly technological and materialistic bureaucratic society. As a consequence, they are emotionally scarred and alienated, reject conformity and search for some kind of meaning to life. When asked

  • What Is The Theme Of Player One By Douglas Coupland Player One

    1708 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this paper, I will argue that Douglas Coupland in "Player One", incorporates storytelling to highlight the loss of personal identity. This is evidently shown by appearance of Player One, also know as Rachel, technology becoming one, and the lack of rationality with time and setting. Throughout the novel, "Player One”, one of the main themes Coupland emphasis on is, “What is to Become of Us”. Coupland emphasis and brings light on to the fact that in the future there is no sense of “I”, there

  • Analysis Of 1, 000 Years (Life After God By Douglas Coupland

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    reasonable for a young child, to make such a choice in a young age. We live in a society where religion does not have a big influence on our everyday life. The short story 1,000 Years from the short story collection Life After God written by Douglas Coupland, is a story about a boy who are in state of flux, because he cannot figure out, which and how he wants to be settled with religion. The short story has a characteristic structure. You can separate the short story in to 3 sections. In the beginning

  • Frederic Douglas Slave Songs

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    expression of truth. In an environment which otherwise punished truth, slave songs were a subversive way to communicate the truthfulness of both sorrow and refusal to abandon hope. In Douglas’ narrative the slave songs express the hatred of slavery, dehumanization of the victims, and were often misinterpreted by Northerners. Douglas expresses his concern that listeners interpreted the slaves as happy and singing because of delight. If only the Northerners caught a glimpse of the lives the slaves led and melted

  • Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media by Susan Douglas

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    Media by Susan Douglas In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that

  • Dandelion Wine

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dandelion Wine Dandelion wine was a story about a twelve-year old boy named, Douglas Spaulding. Douglas was just a typical twelve year old boy, who lived to play, run around and do what any other twelve year old would do. Not a very physically fit person, but it didn't really seem to matter. He was a person who got what he wanted, not by whining for it, but by keeping his mind on whatever he wanted and setting out a goal for it. He was a happy boy and not many problems, till now, and he had a younger

  • The warmth of human emotion

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    warmth in regards to the characters Zoe and Douglas. As the story unfolds there is a sense of coldness surrounding the community. The setting stage for the action is in fact a community in a cold winter. Through warmth is how one reaches one’s own comfort level. It is noted to the extent that one must almost search for the warmth inside one’s self to achieve this comfort. In the case of Zoe she achieves warmth though emotional stability. Both Zoe and Douglas do search for this but by intention are both

  • Lincoln - Douglas Debate

    1709 Words  | 4 Pages

    Affirmative Case Introduction- "We must use every tool of diplomacy and law we have available, while maintaining both the capacity and the resolve to defend freedom. We must have the vision to explore new avenues when familiar ones seem closed. And we must go forward with a will as great as our goal – to build a practical peace that will endure through the remaining years of this century and far into the next.” Because I believe so strongly in the words of U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright

  • Role of Police Reports In the Law Enforcement Community

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    A discourse community is a community that shares common goals, language, and genres. Law enforcement officers belong to their own discourse community in which they are united in their overall purpose: to protect and serve. An oath they take when sworn in as officers. Law enforcement officers seem to speak a common language that, to a civilian, is foreign. We’ve all heard the famous “10-4” comment for “understood” or “got it” on police shows and in action movies. Pretty much everything that comes

  • Douglas Monroy's Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglas Monroy's "Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California" When Spaniards colonized California, they invaded the native Indians with foreign worldviews, weapons, and diseases. The distinct regional culture that resulted from this union in turn found itself invaded by Anglo-Americans with their peculiar social, legal, and economic ideals. Claiming that differences among these cultures could not be reconciled, Douglas Monroy traces the historical interaction

  • Douglas N. Husak's A Moral Right to Use Drugs

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglas N. Husak's A Moral Right to Use Drugs In Douglas N. Husak’s A Moral Right to Use Drugs he attempts to look at drug use from an impartial standpoint in order to determine what is the best legal status for currently illegal drugs. Husak first describes the current legal situation concerning drugs in America, citing figures that show how drug crimes now make up a large percentage of crimes in our country. Husak explains the disruption which this causes within the judicial system and it

  • Debates

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before engaging in the debates with Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln was relatively unknown in the political world and was just beginning his career in politics. Abraham Lincoln’s reputation was just starting to grow, and his life was about to make a drastic change. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a turning point in Abraham Lincoln’s political career. After being nominated to the Illinois legislature, Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech which caused much grief between the North

  • Review of Douglas E. Winter’s Thrilling Novel, Run

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    Review of Douglas E. Winter’s Thrilling Novel, Run If you’re in the market for a good thriller, the kind that you don’t put down, the kind that releases its grip on you once it’s through, look no further. Run grabbed my attention with its opening sentence and I found myself slipping into that helpless, blissful state of complete submission to the book, confident I was in the hands of a master storyteller. I chose to review this book primarily because none of my friends had heard of it, despite

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas Frederick Douglas, a slave born in Tuckahoe Maryland, was half white and half black. His mother was a black woman and his father a white man. Though he never knew his father, there was word that it was his master. Douglas wrote this narrative and I felt that it was very compelling. It really showed me the trials and tribulations that a black man went through during times of slavery. In his early years, Douglas lived on a farm where he watched many

  • Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass In reading The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, I, like others, found myself to be deeply moved. The way in which Mr. Douglass walked me through each stage of his “career” as a slave gave me a better understanding of the African American slaves’ struggle. I realized in reading this mans story that he was a gifted individual and I pondered over where his strength came from? It is true and obvious that Mr. Frederick Douglass was an extremely

  • The Use of Chiasmus to Highlight the Irony of Slavery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

    1516 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Use of Chiasmus to Highlight the Irony of Slavery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass According to Barton and Hudson's Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms, a chiasmus is a rhetorical scheme that is "particularly effective in creating irony through the reversal of accepted truths or familiar ideas" (189). Frederick Douglass uses the chiasmus throughout his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave to highlight the irony of slavery's existence in a country

  • Fredrick Douglas

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Douglas Monroy’s essay “The Creation and Re-creation of California Society,” the thesis is that studying history of California is not just about changes in state’s political concerns but is more about relation with human existence. First, he talks about land and liberty and how Californians settled at the landscape. Second, Douglas explains about the life in present day California. Last, he talks about Californios and Indios. Douglas Monroy’s purpose in writing this essay is to inform readers