L.A. Noir Rhetorical Analysis Essay (Noir Novel)

  Order Description   * Prompt (Read Novel Double Indemnity by Cain and Red Wind by Chandler) In a thesis-driven analysis complemented by secondary sources, consider how the rhetoric of Chandler and/or Cain, with regard to the genre conventions of noir, work(s) to convey a specific message to a specific audience(s). Incorporate how this rhetoric holds up in the current social climate or for the authors’ contemporary audiences or both.       Some L.A. Noir Rhetorical Analysis Essay Questions that helps you to develop the essay ~ Gender ~ How are women portrayed in the text and what are the implications for their social roles? How are male characters depicted and what might this express about their social limitations? What role does the traditional nuclear American family take in noir? How is it commented on rhetorically? What about the power dynamics in 1930’s Los Angeles, who has power? How is masculinity/femininity portrayed in Noir? Who is associated with it? How does the convention of femme fetale shed light on feminine social power? What “type” of female does Chandler project in Red Wind? What about Cain’s Phyllis? How might the physical “house” be equated with “marriage” in Noir? ~ Ecology ~ How is Porter’s “Golden West” made inaccessible to people in noir? Is this an implied myth people believe in? How are people’s lives “typified by crushed hopes and shattered lives”? How are the wealthy characterized? How did they attain their wealth? At what cost? Where do you see consumerism and its affects in noir? Urbanization? How does the exterior reality of the urban “City Noir” affect the interior lives of its population? What similarities/differences does noir share with the Western genre? What about Naturalism? What ecological crises are implicated in post-depression Los Angeles? What is the current state of L.A. with regard to urbanization, ecology, and environmental issues? ~ Morality ~ How is morality complicated in Noir? How is it critiqued? What rhetorical techniques do author’s use to create identification/sympathy for certain morally compromising characters? What is the chief moral dilemma faced by the anti-hero? What has brought about this dilemma? What role does Hollywood have in the lives/actions of noir characters? How do author’s address what Porter calls “the Golden West” and the disappointment of the reality of Western lifestyles and the darker realities of noir? How is L.A. a “department store city”? How are concepts like “courage” and “family” complicated in Noir? Corrupt law enforcement is often the subject of many films noir, how does Chandler critique this via Marlowe? How does Cain critique big Insurance companies via Huff? Do we see this kind of corruption today? Is it in the newspapers or still being covered up? ~ Economy ~ How does money motivate characters in Noir? Who has wealth and who does not? What economic classes are depicte? What classes are excluded or obscured? What is the hardboiled detective’s attitude toward money? The upper class? the “middle” class? What opportunities are tenable to characters in noir? What role does money have on the perceived state of moral-decay in Los Angeles? How are buildings described (sturdy, cheap?) and how does this affect the lives of the cities inhabitants? What illicit businesses have been monetized and how does this affect law enforcement/criminal behavior? What about contemporary Los Angeles, i.e. silicon valley and the technology boom? Is there an even greater disparity between rich and poor now or has it always been there? What else is conceived of as “currency” in Noir? How might “cynicism” be deemed as currency?