Linguistic Specific textual examples of what youve observed when reading at this levelcited in MLA format.

(You may use numbers or bullets here to take notes) She never quizzed my brother, because he was in charge of snow shovels and tractors, whereas I was supposed to provide the feminine glue that keeps families together, writing thank-you notes and remembering everybodys birthdays and name days(72) the whole thing a fiction created in the lifeboat where my grandparents made up their lives (72)

Semantic Im the descendant of a smuggling operation, too (71) They took turns reciting Homeric genealogies, full of falsifications and borrowings from real life, and sometimes they fought over this or that favorite real uncle or aunt, and had to bargain like casting directors (72) Gradually, as the nights passed, these fictional relatives began to crystallize in their minds (72) And here I am now, sketching it all out for you, dutifully oozing feminine glue (72) Eugenides usage of metaphors and imagery evoke Calliopes sarcastic tone of voice. She describes her life in terms of biology and immigration; however, she provides important thematic messages in her quips. This colloquial speech defines Calliopes acceptance of her situation by showing that she is not angry, but merely shows her understanding and small forms of regret of her life.

Structural Im the descendant of a smuggling operation, too (71) Every so often a hermaphrodite was born, a seeming girl who, in growing up, proved otherwise (72) Their honeymoon proceeded in reverse (72) And here I am now, sketching it all out for you, dutifully oozing feminine glue, but also with a dull pain in my chest, because I realize that genealogies tell you nothing (72) Calliope intervenes within her family history to add commentary to the piece, usually biological and present-day information for the reader. This adds humor to the piece, while adding personal context to her struggles of being a hermaphrodite, while telling the story as a first-person narrator throughout her familys story. However, it also provides the uniqueness of viewing the change in gender (through voice) of Calliope to Cal within the retelling of her life and her rebirths.

Cultural the gene first appeared in my bloodline sometime around 1750, in the body of one Penelope Evangelatos, my greatgrandmother to the ninth power (71) In the spirit of their shipboard con game, they continued to spin out false histories for themselves, inventing brothers and sisters with plausible names, cousins with moral shortcomings, in-laws with facial tics (72) Listen, Ive heard the following genealogy come out of my mothers mouth: Thats your cousin Melia. Shes Uncle Mikes sister Lucilles brother-in-law Stathiss daughter. You know Stathis the mailman, whos not too swift? (72) Calliope is narrating her origins by describing her Greek ancestry and the immediate immigration to America, where her direct family would be born. She describes this through a context of immigration for her gene to be smuggled into the country where she would be born twice as a hermaphrodite. In this approach, larger (more morally dubious) issues of sexism, ethnicity issues, and incest are taken more lightly to add substance to the novel and not take away from the main issue.

Demonstrate the development of complexity of thought at each level by writing a descriptive response to what youve written in the row above. (Analyze your thought patterns when observing the examples youve listed abovethese may also be in note-taking form)

Eugenides provides Calliopes backstory in four separate parts based on immigration on various familial generations. He uses humorous quips to add personality to the characters through Calliopes voice, but inserts various thematic messages to interfere to the readers response: gender roles, incest, intersexuality. He adds substance to his writing as a narrator to describe the inevitability and effect of each action upon Calliope, not even born yet.