Jennifer Egan Essays
Time & Titles College
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Titles of literary works do not exist frivolously. Just like any other literary element, titles enhance a reader’s understanding of the novel; unlike other literary elements, the title is a “stand-alone” element in that it is the first impression...
A Visit into the Minds of the Goon Squad 12th Grade
A Visit from the Goon Squad
In Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From The Goon Squad, each chapter brings with it a different point of view that adds new dimensions that build upon the story arc. To emphasize characters’ thoughts and feelings and to offer different perspectives of...
“Pure Language” and the Dirtying of Technology in Egan's Novel College
A Visit from the Goon Squad
In the digital era, children are exposed to digital devices and the internet practically at birth through iPods, iPads, and iMacs--an element of modern childhood completely foreign to the parents raising these children. In the chapter “Pure...
Fish as Symbols for the Acceptance of Reality in 'A Visit from the Goon Squad' College
A Visit from the Goon Squad
At first, references to fish in Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From The Goon Squad seem fleeting and insignificant. Fish appear to serve as nothing more than dinner for Lou’s family or an odd prop for Scotty to carry around. Upon further investigation,...
To Save Time in a Bottle: Confronting the Past and Distorting Reality with Scottie, Robert, and Bennie 12th Grade
A Visit from the Goon Squad
In her novel A Visit From The Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan addresses the illusion of attaining a falsified variation of reality (a gilded outlook on life's "Point B"), in addition to the impossibility of relinquishing responsibility for a conflicted...
Egan, Sasha, and Questionable Adulthood: The Downfall of American Democracy as Told by Punk Rock College
A Visit from the Goon Squad
If you look up “America” in Jennifer Egan’s personal dictionary, you would probably discover an entry similar to this: “America /əˈmɛrɪkə / noun: A decaying, nervous country that would be the perfect allegorical topic of a novel. Synonyms: Sasha...