Prompt 1: Heinrich

Pick one of the following four prompts about White Noise: “Heinrich,” “Ontology, Epistemology, and Jack (J.A.K.)?,” “The Most Photographed Barn in America,” or “The Society of Kids,” and write a well thought out, analytical response.  200-400 words, due by 11:59pm on Sunday 4/15.

Analyze the following quotes/scenes from Ch. 4 in the context of the novel at large thus far:

 
In Ch. 6, Jack and his son from another marriage, Heinrich, have a conversation about the weather. Well, Jack attempts to have a simple conversation about the weather, and Heinrich turns it into a phenomenological debate. Here’s an excerpt:

“Just give me an answer, okay, Heinrich?”

“The best I could do is make a guess.”

“Either it’s raining or it isn’t,” I said.

“Exactly. That’s my whole point. You’d be guessing. Six of one, half dozen of the other.”

[…]                                                                    

“It’s the stuff that falls from the sky and gets you what is called wet.”

“I’m not wet. Are you wet?”

“All right,” I said. “Very good.”

“No, seriously, are you wet?”

“First rate,” I told him. “A victory for uncertainty, randomness, and chaos. Science’s finest hour” (24).

There’s no need to frame this prompt further.

Prompt 2: Ontology, Epistemology, and Jack (J.A.K.)?

End of Ch. 4: “I am the false character that follows the name around” (17).

At the end of chapter 6, we have this scene of Jack lecturing about Hitler:

“When the showing ended, someone asked about the plot to kill Hitler. The discussion moved to plots in general. I found myself saying to the assembled heads, ‘All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots. Political plots, terrorist plots, lovers’ plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children’s games. We edge nearer death every time we plot. It is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot.’

“Is this true? Why did I say it? What does it mean?” (26).

Prompt 3: The Most Photographed Barn in America

In Ch. 3, Murray (the pop culture professor who wants to establish Elvis Studies in the same way Jack’s formed Hitler Studies) takes Jack to THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. He explains:

“We’re not here to capture an image, we’re here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies” (12).

And:

“They are taking pictures of taking pictures” (13).

How does this scene shape the novel at large, and what is DeLillo saying about postmodern life through this scene?

Prompt 4: The Society of Kids

In Ch. 11, Pop Culture Professor Murray makes the following statement:

I’m sorry you didn’t bring the kids.  I want to get to know small kids.  I tell my students they’re already too old to figure importantly in the making of society.  Minute by minute, they’re beginning to diverge from each other.  “Even as we sit here,” I tell them, “you are spinning out from the core, becoming less recognizable as a group, less targetable by advertisers and mass-producers of culture.  Kids are a true universal.  But you’re well beyond that, already beginning to drift, to feel estranged from the products you consume.  Who are they designed for?  What is your place in the marketing scheme?  Once you’re out of school, it is only a matter of time before you experience the vast loneliness and dissatisfaction of consumers who have lost their group identity.”  Then I tap my pencil on the table to indicate time passing ominously.  (49-50)