27th Annual Student Research Conference
Reevaluating Our Schema for the Novel: A Cognitive Analysis of "A Visit From the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan
Zane T. DeZeeuw
Dr. Sarah Mohler, Faculty Mentor
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is a novel that challenges our perceptions as readers of what a storyline is. Each chapter has a different narrator, but each section still feels like a new story. As we read, we look for a complete story arc with rising action, climax, and falling action that aligns with our schema of a novel. A Visit From the Goon Squad challenges and asks us to revise our schema. Egans story shows readers that many small stories can reveal a deeper meaning for the story of life. Each narrator makes up a part of the others lives by influencing the field of possibilities that each character comes across in their life paths. This presentation will use elements of script and schema, deixis, and text world theory to bring to light how this story goes against our schematic plotline yet maintain readers attentions.
Keywords: cognitive science, english, schema, script, deixis, A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan, text world
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 111-4
Location: VH 1232
Time: 8:45