Rebecca Klamen English 2150

Rebecca Klamen

ENG 2150, Dr. Blankenship

March 8

Paper 1: Rhetorical Analysis of a Cultural Artifact

Dear Dr. Blankenship and Writer’s Group:

What I’m analyzing: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Title for my paper: Curiously Familiar

Why I chose this topic: I love the book and the play, and think it’s purpose is so valuable

My process in writing this draft: At first I thought I would focus on the book, but realized it would be better to focus on the play

My thesis is: The Curious Incident aims to familiarize its audience with Asperger’s Syndrome.

How I support my thesis and organize my draft: I’m going to be honest, it is not the most organized paper. I realize

Who is the audience in my mind as I’m writing: Anyone who has not seen the play, but may or may not be familiar with Asperger’s Syndrome.

The biggest challenges have been: Not focusing on too much or too little. I don’t want to use every aspect of rhetorical analysis, but it’s not a good analysis if I just focus on the audience, for example. Also, I am aware that it is not formatted as a thesis essay should be, and know that that needs to be changed.

Here’s what I think is going well: I think that I was able to properly thresh out what I think the purpose and audience of the play is, and how they use ethos to properly bring out their goals.

Here’s what I think needs more work: The paper is obviously not done, as it does not even meet the page requirement. I think that I will need to focus on something else, I think that part of that will be what the stage and set does to add to the message and purpose.

Here are questions I have for you as you read:

I did not really put much about the plot itself, because I did not think it was necessary, but I was wondering if you think it is?

Also, are there any other points of rhetorical analysis that you think I should focus on?

 

Thank you for your time and your comments!

 

 

Rebecca Klamen

Rhetorical Analysis Paper

Curiously Familiar

When Mark Haddon wrote the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, it was the year 2003. One in 150 children had been diagnosed with Autism, or on the spectrum of Autism. It is now 1 in 68. The percentage of children with autism has more than doubled, but more than the diagnosis, is the public awareness. There are now TV Shows with Autistic characters, such as The Big Bang Theory and Parenthood. But when Mark Haddon wrote the best-selling novel about a boy with Asperger’s named Christopher, the topic was much less known. His book, now widely read, brought awareness to Asperger’s and Autism all over the world.

 

9 years later, in 2012, Simon Stephens adapted the novel into a play, and it quickly became a selling-out play in England. In 2014, a version of the play started appearing on Broadway, and within its first year, it won the Outer Critics Award, the Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award, and Tony Award for Best Play. This Broadway, while extremely entertaining, is not just entertainment. It has a message- a purpose.

 

The audience is two-fold- those who are well educated in Asperger’s Syndrome, and those who are not. This seems obvious, as if it covers the whole of population. In actuality, it does. Broadway Shows attract audience members of all kinds- anyone who lives in New York, and anyone who is coming to visit. But the play’s purpose is two-fold as well, to cater to its two audiences.

 

On one hand, for those who are well versed in Asperger’s Syndrome, either through career or because someone close to them has Asperger’s Syndrome, or just because of interest in the area, this play is familiar. It’s an opportunity for them to see that they are not alone- there is a whole community of people just like them in the world, dealing with the same daily struggles, overcoming the same challenging obstacles. It’s for them to be able to able to laugh along with the familiar moments, the things they see and love in their own friends and family with Asperger’s. It’s also for them to cry along with the familiar moments, the moments that they know all-too-well to be emotional and challenging and emotionally challenging.

 

On the other hand, this play has a dual purpose- for those who are not at all educated in Asperger’s Syndrome and its syndromes, this play aims to educate. It shows the world what it is like to live with someone with Asperger’s, the ups and the downs, and everything in between. It can shock some if they notice its limitations, but enlighten others who realize those limitations aren’t everything- and aren’t as limited as they may have previously thought.

 

The underlying purpose of this play, would be to familiarize. That itself has two implications, to either make well known, or to make familiar. These are the meanings of the purpose of the Curious Incident Play.

But the play doesn’t just educate its audience in what it’s like to live with someone who has Asperger’s. It actually, to the best that it can, educates the audience on what it’s like to actually live with Aspergers.

 

The beauty of theatre is the many aspects with which one is able to tell his story. It’s not just the script. It’s the drama, the sound, the music, the stage, the set and the props. The makers of the play have an abundance of resources to tell their story- and the makers of this play did just that. The audience gets to experience the inside of Christopher’s mind, thoughts and emotions. When there are many sounds at once, such as in the scene in the Subway Station, we may not have even noticed any of them. But because to Christopher, each of this sounds becomes extremely loud and overwhelming, the same is done for the audience as well. And suddenly- it becomes clear to each person sitting in the theatre, why they’ve seen strangers with Asperger’s covering their ears in public places, it even becomes clear why their own family members have done it. It allows the audience to experience what they’ve only known as fact, if they’ve even known it as fact.

 

Each character brilliantly plays on the pathos of the audience. We sympathize with Christopher for having to live in a world where he is different, but at the same time we sympathize with him being considered so different when is the same. We sympathize with Christopher’s father, who does everything he can to properly care for Christopher, yet is extremely emotionally overwhelmed. We sympathize with Christopher’s mother, for as much as we’re angry at her for running away with the neighbor and deserting Christopher,  feel her pain in that she loves her son and would love to be close to him. Every second of the play, every person in that room is connected, attached, to the characters on stage. Our pathos puts in a place that when a character screams, we scream inside. and when a character cries, there isn’t a dry eye.

 

At the end of the performance, the actors themselves stand outside of the theatre

collecting money for a cause that supports care and research for Asperger’s Syndrome. And because of the pathos that the play so brilliantly plays to for the entirety of the performance, I don’t think I saw anyone who walked by them without giving.

While it may be important to realize that people with Asperger’s Syndrome are different, and be able to experience what they experience, it is just as equally important for us to realize what it’s like to be different, and not be accepted in society. The third definition of familiarize, is to make accepted.  And I think that that is the most important aim of the play. While it is comforting for those who experience something similar to what is portrayed in the play, and extremely enlightening and educating for those who know nothing about it, the most important thing that this play does is send out the message that we should be accepting. Playing on our emotions, and putting us in the shoes of the character himself, really help to accomplish this goal.

Coming out of that theatre, I, along with everyone else, wanted to do more than just donate a few dollars to a hat. I wanted to be able to change something in the world. I felt what it was like for Christopher to feel different and alone, and the only thing I could think was that I did not want Christopher, or anyone like Christopher to ever have to feel that way. The purpose of the Broadway Play “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” aims to bring acceptance for those with Asperger’s, and anyone who feels different, to the world. And I believe it does just that.