Chimera

Write an extended definition paragraph of the chimera for your introductory paragraph.

What is a chimera?

A chimera is a seductive mirage that gets inside our head and feels so real to us that we love it more than life itself, and we pursue this chimera while at the same time rejecting the people around us.

A chimera is never real. It is always a mythical creature that fills our minds, yet it becomes for the person harboring the chimera the Ultimate Reality that casts all other considerations aside. We are dealing with the realm of an incurable obsession.

As our obsession with the chimera progresses, we deteriorate: We retreat into solipsism (Links to an external site.) (the delusions of our imaginary self cut off from reality), follow an addiction cycle as acute as any narcotics addict, and find ourselves so lacking in metacognition that recovering free agency becomes a lost possibility.

Examples of the Chimera in Fiction and Film:

The chimera’s devastation is shown with great power in “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The main character Dexter Green obsesses over Judy Jones whom he perceives to be the Ultimate Trophy Woman, and he sacrifices his sanity and life itself in his pursuit of her.

This theme of the chimera is also shown with great power in a masterfully played role by Julianne Moore, a hypochondriac in search of “purity,”  in the 1995 Todd Haynes film Safe.

Yet another film that does a fantastic job of showing the destruction of the chimera is the 2018 Netflix film Private Life, starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn.

One of the most famous chimera films ever is the 1941 Orson Welles production of Citizen Kane.

Perhaps the best film I’ve seen in the last decade or so, Jordan Peele’s horror movie Get Out, exposes a secret white supremacy cult that treats African-Americans like chimerical beings, and this racist cult literally tries to steal what they perceive to be the essence from African-Americans.

The Purpose of This Assignment:

It is important for all of us to have a strong grasp of the chimera as it exists in fiction, cinema, and our own lives. Why? Because the chimera is a universal affliction that can sabotage even the smartest of us. A good way to think of the chimera is the saying, “Too close to the trees to see the forest,” meaning we often obsess over something so badly we fail to see the bigger picture, namely, that this obsession is doing two things: serving as a substitute for a deep need that is making us feel empty inside, and compelling us to engage in self-destructive, addictive behavior. 

One effective way to understand the idea of the chimera is to think of it as an obsession that hijacks our brain, gets deep inside of us, and won’t let go, as we slowly twist and turn, and eventually succumb to madness. What’s crazy is that popular music of the last hundred years or so celebrates this descent into Crazy Town. The narrator of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” for example, is obsessed over what could have been and what will never be, and he’s pretty much toast.

As we study the power of the chimera in others and ourselves, we hopefully will develop a healthy skepticism of its allure and do our best to repel it.

Instructions for This Assignment

In an extended definition paragraph, do the following:

One. Write a single-sentence definition of the term. A single-sentence definition contains the term, the class, and its defining characteristics. Then flesh out those distinguishing characteristics with examples.

Example: Narcissism

Narcissism is a psychological disease in which the narcissist suffers from exaggerated grandiosity, an insatiable appetite for other people’s admiration, and an utter disregard for other people’s needs.

Breaking it down:

Narcissism is the term.

Psychological disease is the class.

Exaggerated grandiosity, an insatiable appetite for other people’s admiration, and an utter disregard for other people’s needs.

After the single-sentence definition, flesh out the definition with an example.

Narcissism is a psychological disease in which the narcissist suffers from exaggerated grandiosity, an insatiable appetite for other people’s admiration, and an utter disregard for other people’s needs. For example, I know a narcissistic couple, both nurses at the same hospital, who obsessively work out at the gym and take highly edited photos of each other posing in gardens, forests, and pastures, and they post these photos for their half million Instagram followers. This couple is addicted to Instagram fame, but deep down their lives are empty and full of rot despair. Even their relationship is a hollow artifice defined by the constant thirst for adulation, a mask they feebly wear to conceal their sorrows.

Apply the above to the chimera

So what is a chimera? Write a single-sentence definition with the class and distinguishing characteristics. Flesh out your paragraph with a gut-punching anecdote or example you’ve seen.

List of Requirements for This Assignment

1. Your extended definition of chimera should provide a strong framework for your body paragraphs as you analyze one of the stories or the Netflix comedy special Homecoming King.
2. Your extended definition should have a single-sentence definition, distinguishing characteristics, and compelling examples.
3. Your paragraph should have sufficient detail evidenced by a length of about 150-200.
4. Your paragraph should be uploaded as an attachment to Canvas.

Learning Objectives for Formative Assessment #1, Writing Extended Definition Paragraph for Your Chimera Essay

1. Develop a deeper understanding of the chimera as a force of self-destruction.
2. Develop a deeper grasp of the consequences of the chimera.
3. Learn how to design and structure an extended definition paragraph.

How I Break Down Your Grade for This Assignment of 25 Points

1. Clarity and usefulness of your extended definition paragraph for framing your story, movie, or Homecoming King analysis, 10 points.
2. Have sufficient details to establish a meaningful, authentic approach to the subject. A writer never wants to just “go through the motions,” that is to say, deliver a perfunctory effort. Deliver the degree of authenticity and meaning this subject deserves, 10 points.
3. Write full sentences and avoid sentence mechanics, spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Be especially mindful of avoiding comma splice and sentence fragments, 5 points. 

Your Sources for This Assignment:

The short story “Winter Dreams”  (Links to an external site.)by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Optional Sources If You Don’t Choose “Winter Dreams”

The Safdie Brothers’ film Uncut Gems, about a special opal that is supposed to have magical powers that can transform whoever possesses it.

Hasan Minhaj’s comedy special on Netflix, Homecoming King, in which Minhaj pursues “The Great White Princess.” What were the causes and effects behind Minhaj’s obsession with “The Great White Princess”?

The 1995 Todd Haynes film Safe in which a suburban housewife, Carol Wife, goes on an obsessive search for Safety and Purity. What are the causes and effects of Carol’s search for Safety and Purity?

The 2018 Netflix film Private Life, starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn, in which they play a frustrated couple who fail at their repeated attempts at conceiving a baby. What are the causes and effects of the couple’s obsession with having a baby? In what ways is having a baby a chimera for this couple? What kinds of problems does this couple think the baby chimera will solve?

The 1941 film Citizen Kane in which Charles Foster Kane amasses wealth and material objects as a substitute for his obsession with what he lost in his childhood: unconditional love (“Rosebud”). What are the causes and effects of Charles Foster Kane’s obsession?

The 2017 Jordan Peele horror film Get Out in which the white supremacy cult in the movie don’t see African-Americans as human beings but rather as chimerical beings, part superhuman, part subservient, part inferior, and part resource to be exploited and used for their own sinister purposes.