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This graduation paper focuses on the analysis of the picture of American election system in the late 20th century and at the beginning of 21st century and some American core values as described in the novel “Deception point”, written by the famous thrilling novelist Dan Brown. This research includes three main parts with various aspects in the contents. The first part is introduction with some main reasons, aims and scope of the study. Part 2 of this thesis is devoted to some literature review in chapter 1 that include some theory about literature, novel the literature genre and some information about the writer Dan Brown and his famous novel “Deception Point”. Furthermore, Part 2 also concerns with the brief descriptions of American election system and some national core values. After that, the researcher takes an investigation of the election system and those values that can be seen through the novel. The last part of this research includes the conclusions for the whole thesis which sum up the main ideas that are analyzed in the previous parts, some limitations of the current research and suggestions for further studies of this novel.
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUGAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM AND SOME AMERICAN VALUES SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT” BY DAN BROWN Supervisor: Văn Thị Thanh Bình (M.A) Student : Phan Hồng Nhung Year of enrolment : QH2009 HÀ NỘI –2013 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP HỆ THỐNG BẦU CỬ Ở MỸ VÀ MỘT SỐ GIÁ TRỊ VĂN HÒA MỸ GẮN LIỀN VỚI VẤN ĐỀ CHÍNH TRỊ QUA TIỂU THUYẾT “ĐIỂM DỐI LỪA”- DAN BROWN Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Ths. Văn Thị Thanh Bình Sinh viên: Phan Hồng Nhung Khóa : QH2009 HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ABSTRACT II GRAPH AND ABBREVIATIONS III PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.RATIONALE 1 2.AIMS 1 3.SCOPE OF THE STUDIES 1 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 2 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 2 1.1. LITERATURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH A CULTURE 2 1.1.1. DEFINITION OF LITERATURE 2 1.1.2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LITERATURE AND CULTURE 3 1.2. LITERATURE GENRE: NOVEL 4 1.2.1. DEFINITION 4 1.2.2. ELEMENTS OF A NOVEL 4 1.2.2.1. Plot 4 1.2.2.2. Characters 5 1.2.2.3. Conflict 6 1.2.2.4. Settings 6 1.3. DAN BROWN AND THE NOVEL DECEPTION POINT 7 1.3.1. THE AUTHOR DAN BROWN 7 1.3.2. THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT” 8 1.3.2.1. Setting 8 1.3.2.2. Main characters 8 1.3.2.3. Plot 9 CHAPTER 2: AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM AND SOME NATIONAL VALUES 10 2.1. AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM 10 2.1.1. PRIMARY ROUND 10 2.1.2. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION 11 2.1.3. THE GENERAL ELECTION 12 2.2. ELECTION FINANCE 13 2.3. SOME AMERICAN VALUES 13 2.3.1. DEMOCRACY 14 2.3.2. LIBERTY 14 2.3.3. EQUALITY 15 2.3.4. TOLERANCE 15 CHAPTER 3: AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM AND SOME VALUES SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT” 16 3.1. AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL 16 3.1.1. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ROUND 17 3.1.1.1. Winning the Party Nomination (Primary round) 17 3.1.1.2. The requirements of presidential characteristics 19 3.1.2. COMPETING FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 23 3.1.2.1. Political campaign strategies by Senator Sexton and Republic Party 23 3.1.2.2. Political strategies by President Zach Herney and Democratic Party 26 3.2. DEMOCRACY AND SOME OTHER VALUES SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL 29 3.2.1. AMERICAN LAWS ENSURE THE DEMOCRATIC ATMOSPHERE 30 3.2.1.1. Divided government and limited time of presidential rime 30 3.2.1.2. Limited Legal amount of donation for presidential election 32 3.2.2. THE VALUES OF DEMOCRACY, LIBERTY, TOLERANCE AND EQUALITY IN SOME CHARACTERS OF THE NOVEL 37 3.2.2.1. Rachel Sexton with high appreciation of Democracy as well as love for liberty and tolerance 37 3.2.2.2. Gabrielle Ashe- a colored American woman with the love for Democracy and equality 40 PART 3: CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES 42 1.CONCLUSION 42 2.LIMITATIONS AND SUGESTION FOR FUTHER STUDIES 44 REFERENCES 44 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Phan Hồng Nhung from class QH2009.F1. E14, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Art (TEFL) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper for deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal condition established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Signature Phan Hồng Nhung ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to Mrs. Văn Thị Thanh Bình (M.A), my supervisor for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of this thesis. The blessing, help and guidance given by her time to time shall carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark. My very deep appreciation and sincere thanks go to my friends, Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Hà, Trần Thanh Ngân, Đỗ Thị Thúy Hiền, Phạm Thị Thùy Linh, Đinh Thùy Duyên and Nguyễn Linh Trang who have always been there for me, supporting me physically and mentally during the time I’m carrying out my research. Especially, I would like to take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to my brother Đỗ Hoài Văn for his constant consolation as well as his useful supply of materials concerning my study. Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my parents, Phan Văn Hải and Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền, my sister Phan Thu Huyền and my brother Phan Văn Hiệp for their indispensable support and compliment during the process of completing my thesis. Without them, I would not have enough strength and motivation to go to the end of this challenging road. i ABSTRACT This graduation paper focuses on the analysis of the picture of American election system in the late 20 th century and at the beginning of 21 st century and some American core values as described in the novel “Deception point”, written by the famous thrilling novelist Dan Brown. This research includes three main parts with various aspects in the contents. The first part is introduction with some main reasons, aims and scope of the study. Part 2 of this thesis is devoted to some literature review in chapter 1 that include some theory about literature, novel- the literature genre and some information about the writer Dan Brown and his famous novel “Deception Point”. Furthermore, Part 2 also concerns with the brief descriptions of American election system and some national core values. After that, the researcher takes an investigation of the election system and those values that can be seen through the novel. The last part of this research includes the conclusions for the whole thesis which sum up the main ideas that are analyzed in the previous parts, some limitations of the current research and suggestions for further studies of this novel. ii GRAPH AND ABBREVIATIONS 1. Graph Graph 1: The elements of a plot 2. Abbreviation FEC: Federal Election Commission PACs: Political Action Committees iii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. RATIONALE Dan Brown is the author of numerous best-selling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the best-selling novels of all time as well as the subject of heated debate among readers and scholars. I have first known about Dan Brown through the Film Da Vinci Code which is developed from the novel with the same title. At that time, I was deeply impressed by the author’s rich experience reflected in the film. Being attracted by Dan Brown’s way of writing with thrilling twists and turns, I was then indulged myself in reading his incredible series of fiction. Among them, the novel “Deception Point” has fascinated my imagination about the reality of American Democratic society as well as its political issue so much. Thus, it came to my mind on carrying out a research about this fascinating novel when choosing subject for my graduation paper. 2. AIMS The thesis aims to find out some features of American politics at the end of the 20 th century and beginning of the 21 st century by analyzing the national Democracy seen through the election system focusing on two rounds: primary and competing for general campaign. Furthermore, an analysis of some core beliefs and values of America which are attached to political issue of this country is also included in this graduation paper. 3. SCOPE OF THE STUDIES This thesis only focuses on small aspects of the whole novel, that is, American Democracy and some other American values attached to politics and election system as seen through the novel “Deception Point” written by Dan Brown. That is the reason why this research does not cover other issues depicted in the novel. The main 1 discussion of the thesis contains things about American politics, including American democracy, and American election system and election campaign. PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1. LITERATURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH A CULTURE 1.1.1. DEFINITION OF LITERATURE In general, depending on the contexts and the purposes of the users, literature is defined from different perspectives. Normally, in widest sense, literature is referred to anything that is in written form. We will come up with the perspective of “literature” with the definition from Oxford Dictionary which refers Literature as: “Literary work or production, the activity or profession of a man of letters; the realm of letters”. (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989) In this sense, we can see a general agreement that literature foregrounds language, and uses it in artistic ways as Terry Eagleton, an English literary theorist and critic, once said: “Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech” (Eagleton, 1996, P.2). Furthermore, for some other theorists, a work that is called literature must display excellence in its form and style. Besides, literature is realized as a body of writings in prose or verse, an imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value. However, literature is not only a perfect written work but it is also the slice of life that reflects the human experiences. Literature is something that reflects society, makes us think about ourselves and our society and allows us to enjoy language and beauty. Although literature is defined from different point of view, the literal works share the following initial characteristics: Literature is imaginative, Literature 2 [...]... 1.3 DAN BROWN AND THE NOVEL DECEPTION POINT 1.3.1 THE AUTHOR DAN BROWN Dan Brown is the talent novelist of the most thrilling novels Brown' s novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in print This famous writer is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he spent time as an English teacher before turning his efforts fully to writing Dan Brown. .. of freedom is assured From the early days of the US, the Founders “embraced equality as a political principle, the principle that no men were inherently ordained to rule over other men” (Slaughter (2007) P.75) Thus, political equality begins with the value of equality in the eye of law This means the citizens receive the equal protection of the laws to fulfill their happiness and the right to participate... is eliminated by the ballotvoting based on the competitors’ qualifications including personal characteristics and political experience In this novel, Dan Brown proves it is true to say “Many are called but only few are chosen” 3.1.2 COMPETING FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN In general election campaign, the opponent candidates come to square up for the presidential campaign proper This stage witnesses... recommended.” 1.3.2 THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT” Deception Point is another fast-paced thriller of Dan Brown- the man behind the success of The Da Vinci Code The novel is about the Americans’ facing another Presidential election with two contrasting personalities It is not an incident that the St Petersburg Times gives Brown a great praise for his novel: “A taut, fast-paced, barnburner of a book There are no... brings along his or her own characteristics that both help Dan Brown to enlarge his plot and make the readers believe in his or her life beyond the boundaries of the story told in this novel Enjoying this novel, the readers will find out various types of characters which can be categorized into different blazons of characters that must include confidante, dynamic character and round character Obviously,... instrument for establishing and maintaining a stable Democracy 14 2.3.3 EQUALITY In the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson emphasized: “We hold the truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” This implies that from the beginning of the country, the Founders paid much attention to the creation of equality for everyone That is the reason why so many immigrants have dawn... mathematics teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy and a church organist mother, who was a professional musician Dan Brown was raised on a prep school campus where he developed a fascination with the paradoxical interplay between science and religion This has a great influence on the ideology in his novels later on Brown then attended Amherst College, graduating with a degree in English and Spanish in 1986 and spent... fulfill their happiness and the right to participate in choosing the government Americans citizens are protected with the social equality in which they are created equal chance to “make good, regardless of birth or breeding” Americans believe that each individual should have an equal chance to be successful, to enter the race to his or her success and compete against each other to win 2.3.4 TOLERANCE America... position in the party, President Zach Herney and Senator Sexton must satisfy the political qualities which include personal characteristics and political experience as the law has regulated For Mr Sedgewich Sexton, he has the ability to attract and impress the others with his appearance Under the pen of Dan Brown, Senator Sexton turns up as a kind man with “silver haired, silver- tongued political... proved by the large amount of “sympathy votes” during the Party nomination Like his opponent, the incumbent President Zach Herney has outstanding qualifications to become the leader of the US in four years and continue to run the race for his reelection However, Dan Brown depicts Zach Herney in a different way in which he focuses more on his talent rather than his physical looking 20 Unlike Senator Sexton, . Supervisor: Văn Thị Thanh Bình (M.A) Student : Phan Hồng Nhung Year of enrolment : QH2009 HÀ NỘI –2013 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP HỆ. VẤN ĐỀ CHÍNH TRỊ QUA TIỂU THUYẾT “ĐIỂM DỐI LỪA”- DAN BROWN Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Ths. Văn Thị Thanh Bình Sinh viên: Phan Hồng Nhung Khóa : QH2009 HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013 Table of Contents TABLE OF. Nhung ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to Mrs. Văn Thị Thanh Bình (M.A), my supervisor for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement