Madelyn Truitt, M.F.A.
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About
Published author, film critic, and educator. I have an MFA in English, BA in Theatre and English. I have taught media and film studies for more than a decade and have also worked as a freelance film critic since 1997. I've published anthologies on film and television topics as well as numerous book chapters and articles, mostly on media studies topics. My special areas of interest include Australian cinema, horror, the occult in cinema and TV, and color symbolism in visual narrative. I have also written many freelance articles on topics ranging from nutrition to aromatherapy.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Le Morte d'Arthur
There are two characters whose qualities and actions involve using supernatural powers or magic to affect the fates of other characters: Merlin and Morgan le Fay. Merlin is a wizard who can control... -
Answered a Question in And the Band Played On
The slow and inadequate response to the AIDS crisis by the federal government is now considered one of the most shameful chapters of contemporary American history. Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980... -
Answered a Question in Betrayal
Harold Pinter's play Betrayal is perhaps the first major example of a narrative portrayed in reverse chronological time. The Christopher Nolan film Memento uses this same storytelling conceit, as a... -
Answered a Question in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
One big difference between the short story and the film adaptation is that Joyce Carol Oates ends her story on a highly ambiguous note, suggesting Connie willingly goes off with Arnold Friend when... -
Answered a Question in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Despite being a minor character, Guiseppe Baldini has a profound impact upon the protagonist Grenouille's story arc. Baldini represents the bourgeoisie attitude towards perfume and is a purveyor of... -
Answered a Question in Waiting for Godot
The symbolism behind the lone tree in the landscape in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot has been the subject of a great deal of speculation and analysis. The tree is described as bare when the... -
Answered a Question in The Glass Menagerie
It has been said that this play, one of Tennessee William's best-loved works, is somewhat autobiographical. The character of Laura is based upon Williams' sister, Rose. By making Tom into a... -
Answered a Question in Into the Wild
On a pragmatic level, Chris Mccandless struggled with gaining the skills to survive on his own. His determination to live alone and far from the world of capitalism and greed that he abhorred was a... -
Answered a Question in Religion in the Thirteen Colonies
There are a few things to unpack in order to consider this question. The first is, how does one define the "founding" of America? Was it done by its native, indigenous inhabitants? Was it done by... -
Answered a Question in Babylon Revisited
It seems to me that two of the strongest themes of this story are self-doubt and victimhood. Charles appears to be very intent on gaining control of his life. His past misdeeds had drastic impacts... -
Answered a Question in The Hunger Games
There are two ways in which Katniss Everdeen changes as she reaches maturity in The Hunger Games. First of all, she undergoes the kinds of personal and emotional changes that other characters of... -
Answered a Question in Fever 1793
The yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia moved quickly and killed thousands of people. As mentioned in the previous answer, Dr. Benjamin Rush tried a number of herbal treatments to help patients.... -
Answered a Question in The Metamorphosis
In a general way, all of these objects represent ordinary things that Gregor once used in the course of a normal day. When he awakens to find himself turned into a cockroach, he cannot interact... -
Answered a Question in Sophie's Choice
This is not only the title of William Styron's novel but refers to a central plot point and revelation, one that affects the title character's entire life. The novel is told from the point of view... -
Answered a Question in The Masque of the Red Death
One way to look at this from a political framework is to acknowledge that Poe is making a statement about the decadence of the wealthy classes and how that decadence is a way of being in denial... -
Answered a Question in Love Medicine
This novel is all about family: the legacy a family can leave behind, and the influence of family members upon one another. Love Medicine is a novel that contains a series of related stories about... -
Answered a Question in The Handmaid's Tale
Part of answering this question depends upon how one wants to define "power." There is the kind of power Offred might have within the Republic of Gilead, a society that confers very little autonomy... -
Answered a Question in Mumbo Jumbo
The title of this novel is a common phrase that has been in widespread use for many years. The dictionary definition (from Google) of this seeming nonsense phrase is: "language or ritual causing or... -
Answered a Question in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
This well loved, critically-acclaimed novel by Patrick Suskind is a veritable wonderland of ironies, contradictions, and satirical portrayals of human behavior and societal hypocrisy. The notion of... -
Answered a Question in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
The story continually iterates Connie's sense of herself as being "different" or somehow exceptional in her own mind, even though most readers will recognize her as being a fairly normal teenage... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
The theme of pride in The Crucible has many implications and many possibilities for an interesting thesis statement and essay. There are also many ways to approach this theme: for example, one... -
Answered a Question in As You Like It
A secondary plot in As You Like It that enhances the play's romantic comedy feeling is the one involving Silvius and Phebe. The couple, a shepherd and shepherdess, live on the outskirts of the... -
Answered a Question in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
One example of the story's verbal irony is in Arnold Friend's name. One could interpret it as an almost literal expression of "An Old Friend," which is ironic, given that he is a stranger to... -
Answered a Question in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The story is not only separated into segments based upon the origins and maturing of the central character, but also has a unique narrative structure that portrays the story in an unusual way. The... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
Since one of the play's most dramatic set pieces is the appearance of the witches, it is important to note that Shakespeare's lifetime saw a pervasive belief in witchcraft that led to the... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
Abigail Williams is a central figure in the play and perhaps one of the most significant dramatic presences within it. The events of the play often turn on her actions, and her behavior could be... -
Answered a Question in Babylon Revisited
One way to interpret the main idea or theme of the story is in the title itself. The reference to "Babylon" is to the biblical city that was known for sin and debauchery. This refers to Charles's... -
Answered a Question in Dutchman
The two student answers contain some interesting possibilities for how one interprets the title of this play by Amiri Baraka (and the 1966 film version directed by Anthony Harvey). The image of the... -
Answered a Question in Arthurian Legends
Depending upon which version of the Arthurian legends one is reading, there are a number of different plot points in the narrative that might convey Arthur's heroism. Le Morte d'Artur by... -
Answered a Question in Different Seasons
I think the overarching message of this novel is the idea of how one defines moral righteousness. Andy was wrongly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. He was also treated horribly in prison... -
Answered a Question in The Handmaid's Tale
Most readers refer to this novel as an example of dystopia: this is usually a fictional example of a society that, by design, is oppressive, cruel, or destructive. The nation of Gilead came to... -
Answered a Question in Atonement
The issue of innocence touches many characters' lives in this story. When Lola is attacked, Briony confirms the accusation that Robbie is the one who raped her. Part of Briony's willingness to do... -
Answered a Question in Stephen King
Gordie is quite likely modeled after the young Stephen King. In his book Danse Macabre, which is a nonfiction book about horror literature and writing horror, King describes a frequent phenomenon:... -
Answered a Question in Akira Kurosawa
I think there are a number of strong themes in this anthology of short stories collected into one film (Kurosowa's final film). One theme seems to be the fear of death; we see this in the story... -
Answered a Question in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka chose to invite five people into his factory because he wants to find someone he could trust to inherit and carry on his legacy. It is ironic that the five people who find golden... -
Answered a Question in Romiette and Julio
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's best-loved plays, and it has inspired many modern productions and retellings, including Baz Luhrmann's iconic film Romeo + Juliet, featuring contemporary... -
Answered a Question in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Grenouille himself is a figure who offers a critique of these aspects of the Age of Reason described in the previous answer. Despite his humble origins, his extremely traumatic upbringing, and his... -
Answered a Question in Our Town
The "American Dream" is a trope that has been explored in many different works of literature, film and television, as well as music. There are a number of examples worthy of exploring. One of the... -
Answered a Question in Le Morte d'Arthur
If one applies Joseph Campbell's writings on the monomyth of the hero to Le Morte D'Arthur, we see that Arthur is indeed a heroic figure. Campbell's theory is called a "monomyth" because he found... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is not a poem but a full-length play by William Shakespeare. The play is written in two styles, however, prose and verse, and the verse could be seen as poetry since it adheres to... -
Answered a Question in Love Medicine
"Love medicine" refers to a specific practice that is part of the indigenous belief system represented in the novel. "Medicine" is not necessarily related to substances taken for health (like... -
Answered a Question in The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
First of all, corn is seen as both a food in its own right in its natural form (whether sold fresh, frozen, or canned) and as an ingredient (cornmeal, corn oil, or corn syrup). One issue that... -
Answered a Question in The Outsiders
The title The Outsiders is a clue to the "outsider" status of many of the characters in this novel. Ostensibly there are two cliques of teenagers who are in a sort of tacit war with each other: the... -
Answered a Question in The Quest of the Holy Grail
There are many versions of the story of King Arthur, the knights of the round table, and the search for the holy Grail. In some versions, Percival is known as the Grail Knight because he is... -
Answered a Question in The Playboy of the Western World
One level on which this text displays relevance to our contemporary social situation (or, to put it more accurately, a way in which we can discover relevance for our times within this play) is to... -
Answered a Question in Natalie Babbitt
This quote from Natalie Babbitt's well-loved novel Tuck Everlasting is a literary device known as a simile: an expression that uses the word "like" or "as" to make a comparison. The phrase "it was... -
Answered a Question in The Road
The novel posits a bleak future for humanity. The wife/mother decides she wants to leave, and it's not clear what happens to her, but it seems likely she left their home and let herself be taken by... -
Answered a Question in The Crucible
There are a number of literary elements present in this classic play by Arthur Miller. In addition to the two kinds of irony stated in the earlier response, one very obvious literary element is... -
Answered a Question in History
Another thing to consider when trying to answer this question is how one defines English literature. For centuries, English literature was defined as writing created by white men. When greater... -
Answered a Question in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The first answer given offers some very good insights in response to this question. I'd like to add that I think one major theme related to the portrayal of humanity in this novel is the notion...
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