Heartbreaking+Work+Study+Questions

2A answers go here!

Eggers has been praised by many to have developed a new breakthrough way of writing a memoir. His combination of exaggeration and an outrageous style with self awareness allows him to demonstrate this new method of writing a memoir. Since Eggers has already broken the "normal" autobiography format, it is only expected that he takes over the "very official copyright page." Critics have fallen in love with his unconventional way of writing, the main reason why his book has gotten so much literary acclaim. Publishers probably want to highlight his uniqueness by allowing him to change the copyright page and even mocking the "acknowledgements" with his long rant and inclusion of a photo of a stapler. Eggers' unconventional route obviously would stir up strong opinions, either bad or good. But, no matter what, his book will be remembered when the thousands of other autobiographies will be forgotten. Readers will remember his book for his disruption of the formality of publication. Thus, Eggers is established as a unorthodox writer in the minds of many, allowing him to make a lasting impression. His extra changes he makes in to the book complete his established personality. -Jessie **
 * __Question #1__

Question #2: Eggers uses an unconventional writing style, characterized by an excess of vulgar language and ostensibly meaningless dialogue. He also employs subtle humor, which is consequently easy to relate to-almost cynical because the audience laughs at universal faults, which many of us share with Eggers. Furthermore, he moves quickly in subject, much like how a brain would think, careful not to exhaust any one thought. There are frequently long paragraphs without break, to simulate how a brain would connect thoughts together. Even the actual content supports this: "we are regular, I am regular. We are kicking back. I can kick back. I am kicking it back." While these stylistic traits could potentially harm a narrator in distinguishing his or herself, Eggers champions them and walks the fine line between just enough and way too much. These possibly negative attributes are more than compensated by a deeper, underlying message. He uses humor and vulgarity as a defensive mechanism, in order to mask and ignore the pain involved with his parents' deaths. This trend is made obvious with the change in his humor as the book progresses: from tongue in cheek, to slightly inconsiderate, to angry. The growth and relatability of the speaker, along with the unorthodox writing style, make Eggers a trusted narrator.

Examples: "The Mexican-Italian War... the dish's inferior, less pure incarnations" (87), "Do you have any black friends?... She has hair where?" (248) "These people are freaks." (272), and "Where are all the world's people...where are you motherfucking assholes?" (406) (light) (meaner) (angry) -Sean

__**Question #3**__ As Eggers mentions in his introduction to //A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius//, the first major theme of his memoir deals with one the unfriendly aspects of parent/child relationships. When parents prevent their children from fulfilling their desires, no matter how potentially dangerous or ludicrous the object of such longing, it is proven psychologically that, as a result, children sometime wish their parents would just disappear. However, when this fantasy is fulfilled, as sad an event as possible, Eggers admits that the “inducing sense of…infinite possibility” comes with a price tag; it’s price is an accompanying feeling of guilt. I do not think that Eggers ever finds a way to completely deal with the mixed emotions that surfaced after his parents’ deaths, but rather submerged into the hectic ordeal of the rest of his life. Managing his parent’s affairs, finding a job, selling almost everything owned by his parents, moving across the country, and trying to raise Toph in a normal, protected environment constitute only a handful of the responsibilities that burden the newly-made parent in his twenties. Although the conflicting emotions do not go away, more immediate and pressing issues take the forefront of Eggers’ conscience that allow Toph and himself to get by on a daily basis. There are instances where his desperately conflicted feelings are allowed to surface, for example attempting to get on MTV’s //Real World// and much of his inspiration for partaking in //Might// magazine comes from his inability to deal with the said emotions, and so his reaction is instead one of rebellion and a call to others with problems of similar magnitude. He surrounds himself with friends who know what it is like to lose one or more of their parents, so they all share a common, yet subtle, bond emotionally. Because all his friends understand the strong dislike of purging those emotions, Eggers is able to keep the mixed feelings compressed and, for the most part under control, even if he never does find a way to resolve them entirely.

__**Question #4**__ For most of us, being handed the responsibility to raise your eight-year-old brother while you’re still twenty-one is a feat almost impossible to imagine. But for Eggers, his twisted and sometimes childish humor mixed with his genuine sincerity and desire both to protect and to set an example for his brother, Toph, make him an admirable “parent.” The comic and admirable parts of Eggers’ parenting blend into an amalgam that is oftentimes difficult to separate apart. Although Eggers tries to give Toph a “normal” childhood, his own youthfulness, as revealed by his frequent teasing of Toph’s “urine-smelling” hat or his sock-sliding game, makes Toph’s everyday life much more humorous than normal. Eggers’ disorganized and spontaneous character and his constant teasing make his parenting very comical for readers. For Toph, this part of his brother’s parenting may keep things “fresh” and “fun,” perhaps partly making up for the absence of real parents. But Eggers’ comical disorganization could also deprive Toph of any semblance to a proper upbringing. For example, though Eggers’ forgetfulness and many times lack of punctuality are indeed comic, they definitely leave a negative impact on Toph’s upbringing. Eggers’ parenting is admirable in that, below all the sarcasm and humor, he is sincerely willing to sacrifice his life to take care of Toph the best he knows how. He obviously loves his brother very much and dedicates himself to filling in the parental gap in Toph’s life. In the scene where Eggers leaves Toph with the babysitter to take a night off at a bar, Eggers’ exaggerated imagination reveals his protectiveness and his overwhelming fear that something bad would happen if he leaves Toph. Toph certainly benefits from having a brother who loves him enough to give up a large part of his life to raise him, but at times even Eggers’ admirable desire to raise Toph properly is not enough give Toph a truly normal childhood. - Laura

Though the main theme for Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius would be the death of both his parents, Egger's mother was emphasis more in this book. Egger had a close relationship with his family and on the surface it may seem that their famiy seems "typical", but only momentary does Egger mention their family problems. Due to his father's inappropriate behaviors as an alcoholic, Egger never felt as much pain to the loss of his father than to the loss of his mother. The death of Egger's mother clearly made a huge impact, even preparing for his mother's death was unbearable. When his mother had a nonstop nosebleed and Egger was trying to find the best way for her to spend her last moments, you can sense the worry, the fear, and the unwillingness for the event to happen. As you can see from the book, his mother's story was written in the beginning of the book and only towards the middle part of the book (during the interview) does Egger mention his father's problem with drinking and Egger's fear for getting "spanked" when his father is drunk. His mother seem to be the mentor and the parent who has been there for Egger as he was growing up, even when his father started to abuse them, his mother would stand up and stop this action. Egger turned away from a traditional memoir with his fear of writing a sentimental driven novel that conjured up ghost of the past which was too painful to face. Though the book may seem like one big joke, you can still sense the sincerity in his voice and the immediacy of his life stories. This book was, in a way, his chance to embrace what has happened, reflect on it, and finally accept it, especially since he didn't even have a proper burial for his parents. His descriptions of the funeral was awkward and different but Egger healed a little as he write about their death. His feelings for his parents have not completely resolved but surely assuaged. - Amy
 * __Question #5__**

__**Question #6**__ The section of, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, dealing with the business of launching and producing Might magazine reveals many of the concerns, desires, and frustrations that thoughtful, energetic twenty-something year olds have, such as their concerns for the future, financial concerns, desires to be noticed and to be someone, and their frustrations with the people of the world. In the middle part of this section, Eggers writes how they were not yet making any money on Might magazine, they were just spending. This statement from the memoir depicts Egger’s own financial concerns, however small they may have been, and also those of his co-workers and friends. Moreover, throughout the entire memoir, Eggers constantly states how people in America need to do something big, how people his age, and himself, want to be noticed for something. These thoughts, which tie into their desires, illustrates to the audience their concerns about who they are, and the future itself. The desires of Eggers and people his age are clearly depicted throughout this section of the memoir, such as during the MTV interview when Egger’s states, “The lattice is my people, collective youth, people like me, hearts ripe, brains aglow…I see us as one, as a vast matrix, an army, a whole, each one of us responsible to one another, because no one else it.” This quote from Egger’s portrays how Eggers, and his co-workers, and other energetic twenty year olds wish to be noticed, to be known for something, while at the same time wish to be a part of something bigger, something that will make a difference. These desires are again underscored throughout the memoir when Eggers and his co-workers repeatedly discuss how people need to wake up and do something about the world. These desires directly tie into their frustrations with the world and the citizens of America. In much of this section of the memoir, such as when Might magazine is just getting up and running, Eggers writes how they wished to get people’s attentions, and get them to do something big. He writes about how they loved young people who were making a difference in the world, people around their age who were doing something big. This section of the memoir dealing with Might magazine gives great insight into the thoughts of the young, energetic twenty-something year olds in contemporary America and how they lived their life. - Amie

__**Question #7**__ The greatest dilemma memoir writers face involves deciding whether or not to write their memoirs in the first place. Feelings of guilt are often associated with writing stories involving friends and family- an act which can be interpreted as exploiting their' feelings and personal matters. The first epigraph Dave Eggers considered for __A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius__, "Why not just write what happened?", refers to a memoirist's need to decide which factual events to include in their writing and to decide how to sensitively exercise artistic license in their portrayals of the chosen events. For obvious practical reasons, every detail of every occurrence in the author's life cannot be recorded in a memoir, and authors must deliberately shape their descriptions of important events to fit their thematic purposes. Memoirists therefore have both the power and responsibility to respectfully portray people and events with relative truthfulness and to protect identities if needed."Ooh, look at me, I'm Dave, I'm writing a book! With all my thoughts in it! La la la!", the second epigraph Eggers considered, refers to Clearly, writing a memoir is not an easy task. Donna


 * __Question #8__**

 Eggers judge himself so harshly for returning to the family’s old house in Lake Forest and for trying to retrieve his mother’s ashes because this proves to Eggers that he can’t stop reminiscing about the past when his parents were alive and that he can’t move on. This means that he’ll still be conscious of the conflicting emotions of grief and guilt for his parents. Also, the fact that Eggers didn’t retrieve his mother’s ashes in the beginning and didn’t care about it makes him feel even more guilty and sorry for his mother. Eggers states “that I should not have come here, that because I am looking for bad things they being given to me…that because I have been asking for this and more it will get worse and more brutal.” Eggers don’t want to be “trapped” in the past but he wants to move on. However, the fact that Eggers isn’t successful makes him to be harsh to himself for returning to the family’s old house and for trying to retrieve his mother’s ashes. This trip doesn’t provide his story with a sense of closure but instead worsens the situation for Eggers. All his conflicting emotions such as grief, guilt, anger, regretful explode after he retrieves his mother’s ashes. There is definitely a central revelation to Egger’s narrative, a significant development. After retrieving his mother’s ashes, Eggers is overwhelmed by his avoided emotions that arise. He is so overwhelmed that it seems as if he’s paranoid. As he throws his mother’s cremains to the ocean he becomes extremely sentimental. Then, he reminisces about the past, all the memories with his family in church and thinks about how his mom would act. In the end, he shouts out his ferocious anger and hatred towards his careless neighbors, his mom’s friends, the world.

MJ

__**Question 9**__

During the interview for MTV's The Real World, Eggers mentions "the lattice" twice; the first time is to explain, and the second time is to reiterate his point on how he wants to appeal to millions of people that can relate to him. Before he mentions this term, he explains to the interviewer that he wants to "dilute" his suffering by sharing it. We can think of the lattice as similar to its usage in chemistry in which the lattice is a structure that holds ions together. In context, Eggers uses this idea to describe how the relationships between people form connections, which make up "the lattice." It is a generation of people, a figurative "snowshoe" where the fibers are made up of individual connections with people. Eggers uses the image of "the lattice" to convey unification among individuals. At the end of his interview, he uses the term again to demonstrate his desire to relate to millions of other people.

Vincent Li

Dave Eggers’ constant mix between childish humor and serious passion help create his strong writing and character. Eggers constantly mocks himself as a parent and incorporates chunks of dialogue between him and the rest of his family members which is followed by a series of humorous yet riddling remarks played throughout his mind. In a particular scene when Eggers ponders about having a baby sitter for Toph but ends up ranting about a “suitable” girlfriend for himself and ruling them out “Toph-wise,” it is clear that that his burdens of self consciousness are overlapped between his role as Toph’s guardian and an adolescent. Eggers considers if “she is too young and unthoughtful and does not appreciate the importance of creating for Toph as a simple childhood as possible, she is not seen again...If she treats him like a hearing-impaired dog or worse, like a //child//, she is not seen again.” These thoughtful conversations between him and his mind with considerations towards Toph amplify the burdens he has to address. It ultimately builds himself as a strong character with multiple levels of humor and sincerity. This style of writing is also greatly praised by critics around the world and his detailed accounts of himself trying to act as a parent yet holding values of a teenager makes his writing complex, dynamic and memorable. Not only does Eggers describe scenes, such as the hospital room with his dying mother, with vivid imagery, he also incorporates black humor where he jokes about his mother’s wigs and irregular breathing. As tongue in cheek as it may be, Eggers has his own reasons for creating a work that is both self conscious and self devouring despite of his comical writing style. His writing breaks all ordinary boundaries and his unconventional writing style provided with great strength allows readers to witness his unforgettable memoir. -Tim
 * __Question 10__**