Thank you folks for a wonderful semester! I had fun and learnt a bit about teaching and was very glad to have you wonderful people in my class. Thanks again for making it worthwhile. Enjoy your summer now that you are free from your "enslaving" course work:)
I will be on campus next semester if you would like to collect your papers. If you want them back anytime after this week, please e-mail me. I will be in Berkshire to see Dr. Pruss on Monday morning just in case you want to collect your papers then.
The very best to you all!
-Sunita
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Paper 3 due on Wednesday, in hard copy only.
Please make sure to turn in Paper 3 in hard copy on Wednesday. Some of you had e-mailed your drafts for me to look over, but all final versions of Paper 3 need to be submitted in hard copy only. Thanks.
We'll discuss Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" and do some in-class writing on Wednesday.
We'll discuss Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" and do some in-class writing on Wednesday.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
For Wednesday's Class
1. Please discuss your opinions of Jing-mei's mother in Amy Tan's short story "Two Kinds" (1222). Do you think she's simply being a good mother who wishes the best for her child?
2. What do you think of the daughter, Jing-mei? Why does she turn against her mother? Does she give herself a chance to try and be her best? Please address any aspect of the story you wish to.
2. What do you think of the daughter, Jing-mei? Why does she turn against her mother? Does she give herself a chance to try and be her best? Please address any aspect of the story you wish to.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Please Post Your Response by Tuesday Evening.
1. What is your view of Connie in Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"? What do you think is the point of this story?
2. Discuss Oates' depiction of manhood in this story?
3. Your thoughts on the short story "Shiloh"?
2. Discuss Oates' depiction of manhood in this story?
3. Your thoughts on the short story "Shiloh"?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thesis Topics for Paper 3
Paper Topics for the Third & Last Paper
Thirty Percent of Your Grade
Due Date: Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Instructions for the Essay:
Minimum number of outside sources: Three LiterActive sources and one internet source used in class
No outside sources may be used that have not been shown in class (on Monday or during your Wednesday and Friday class).
All summaries, use of quotations, and/or use of ideas from sources must be cited appropriately using MLA Style citation form.
Write a well-developed essay with an interesting introduction, a debatable thesis statement, and paragraphs that build in interest. Write a conclusion that discusses the points of your essay without repeating yourself. You may discuss the relevance of your ideas to life today or the importance of the stories, or figure out some other way to end your essay, but do not repeat yourself, and do not start on a new topic.
Make sure each paragraph of the paper has strong evidence for your viewpoint with clear analysis, and that it is easy for your reader to understand how your evidence proves your paragraph’s idea and your thesis statement.
Topics to Choose From:
1.One definition of enslavement is taking complete control of a group of people against their wills (i.e., involuntarily) and doing whatever it takes in order to use them for your own benefit economically, sexually, socially, and in whatever other ways you wish to have authority over them. Select two stories that embody this definition of the term enslavement; briefly demonstrate the major way in which each story fulfills the above definition. Then, focus on the central issue of this question which is the following:
Upon first looking at the above definition, you would most likely say enslavement is not a part of American daily life. Think about what things in our culture and society control us most today? How are these things communicated to us? What is the vehicle in twentieth and twenty-first century America through which the above definition of enslavement is fulfilled? Provide concrete examples that this is the case and see if you can draw parallels between what is happening now and what you see happening in the two stories you selected. Don’t forget to include your LiterActive documents.
2.The value of life, land ownership, and human relationship is central to many stories we’ve read this semester. In diverse racial, cultural, social, political, and historical contexts, some characters we’ve encountered have shed their blood or risked their lives for a sense of belonging to a community and/or to a relationship.
For your final paper, write a fully developed literary analysis, using research, as assigned above, about one or two of the short stories read in class, in which you examine the way the author(s) use the literary devices of setting, plot, character, and point of view to relay a theme. Include a very brief biographical sketch of the author and a review of the literary criticism in your paper. In your thesis statement, be sure to identify a specific issue the protagonist struggle with and/or confronts. Your essay must demonstrate what the characters represent and what the story reveals (or what the stories reveal) about all of humanity.
3.In the story “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,” the narrator makes broad generalizations about what a guy can expect when dating females of different racial/ethnic backgrounds; these generalizations are less than flattering and are, frankly, prejudicial. Why would a writer like Diaz, a Dominican who immigrated to the United States at the ages of seven and received his MFA from Cornell University, indulge in this type of language and writing. To what end? What could he be trying to accomplish by including these prejudicial stereotypes? Justify your viewpoint with textual evidence and LiterActive documents.
4.When a person is raised in an abusive environment, often she or he grows up with low self-esteem because of the way s/he has been treated through his or her lifetime. A person may feel less than when meeting with constant disapproval of a parent with unrealistic expectations of that individual throughout his/her childhood or when a person’s race makes the teacher expect less of that student than of others, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of a student who learns less than others. Many early childhood situations that silence a person have an impact on a person’s self-image later in life.
Select three stories we have read and figure out how and why the major characters have become emotionally enslaved to their or in their dysfunctional relationships (whether it be with their romantic partners or whether it enmeshment in their families of origin). Explain what makes these characters feel less than; use your text to support your argument; make sure you analyze the passages you select and that your thesis does not just focus on a single character but discuss the issue of the impact of the way we are treated in society or perceived by society and the level at which we function emotionally in our lives. Make the thesis inclusive.
5. In his letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund, dated August 31, 1835, Existentialist Philosopher, Soren, Kierkegaard writes:
What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing (emphasis added).
Rejecting the conventional and systematic way of doing things, the existentialist characters seeks to find his/her own meaning to life in his/her own way. Consequently, s/he is often alienated from the majority though s/he chooses to have the freedom to seek what is important and meaningful to him/her rather than to blindly follow the crowd. Using Kafka’s A Hunger Artist and one more story we have read this semester, of your own choice, discuss the way society treats characters who depart from the social constructs to find their own meanings. Explain why society treats people who don’t follow social constructs in this way. Find evidence for your viewpoint and be sure to use LiterActive and to relate it to today’s world.
6. Consider the story, The Lottery the article, The Newest Abuse Excuse for Violence Against Women, and the short film, Submission. How do these reflect community and traditions within communities? How are these similar, and what do these similarities mean? How are they different, and what do these differences represent?
Thirty Percent of Your Grade
Due Date: Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Instructions for the Essay:
Minimum number of outside sources: Three LiterActive sources and one internet source used in class
No outside sources may be used that have not been shown in class (on Monday or during your Wednesday and Friday class).
All summaries, use of quotations, and/or use of ideas from sources must be cited appropriately using MLA Style citation form.
Write a well-developed essay with an interesting introduction, a debatable thesis statement, and paragraphs that build in interest. Write a conclusion that discusses the points of your essay without repeating yourself. You may discuss the relevance of your ideas to life today or the importance of the stories, or figure out some other way to end your essay, but do not repeat yourself, and do not start on a new topic.
Make sure each paragraph of the paper has strong evidence for your viewpoint with clear analysis, and that it is easy for your reader to understand how your evidence proves your paragraph’s idea and your thesis statement.
Topics to Choose From:
1.One definition of enslavement is taking complete control of a group of people against their wills (i.e., involuntarily) and doing whatever it takes in order to use them for your own benefit economically, sexually, socially, and in whatever other ways you wish to have authority over them. Select two stories that embody this definition of the term enslavement; briefly demonstrate the major way in which each story fulfills the above definition. Then, focus on the central issue of this question which is the following:
Upon first looking at the above definition, you would most likely say enslavement is not a part of American daily life. Think about what things in our culture and society control us most today? How are these things communicated to us? What is the vehicle in twentieth and twenty-first century America through which the above definition of enslavement is fulfilled? Provide concrete examples that this is the case and see if you can draw parallels between what is happening now and what you see happening in the two stories you selected. Don’t forget to include your LiterActive documents.
2.The value of life, land ownership, and human relationship is central to many stories we’ve read this semester. In diverse racial, cultural, social, political, and historical contexts, some characters we’ve encountered have shed their blood or risked their lives for a sense of belonging to a community and/or to a relationship.
For your final paper, write a fully developed literary analysis, using research, as assigned above, about one or two of the short stories read in class, in which you examine the way the author(s) use the literary devices of setting, plot, character, and point of view to relay a theme. Include a very brief biographical sketch of the author and a review of the literary criticism in your paper. In your thesis statement, be sure to identify a specific issue the protagonist struggle with and/or confronts. Your essay must demonstrate what the characters represent and what the story reveals (or what the stories reveal) about all of humanity.
3.In the story “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,” the narrator makes broad generalizations about what a guy can expect when dating females of different racial/ethnic backgrounds; these generalizations are less than flattering and are, frankly, prejudicial. Why would a writer like Diaz, a Dominican who immigrated to the United States at the ages of seven and received his MFA from Cornell University, indulge in this type of language and writing. To what end? What could he be trying to accomplish by including these prejudicial stereotypes? Justify your viewpoint with textual evidence and LiterActive documents.
4.When a person is raised in an abusive environment, often she or he grows up with low self-esteem because of the way s/he has been treated through his or her lifetime. A person may feel less than when meeting with constant disapproval of a parent with unrealistic expectations of that individual throughout his/her childhood or when a person’s race makes the teacher expect less of that student than of others, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of a student who learns less than others. Many early childhood situations that silence a person have an impact on a person’s self-image later in life.
Select three stories we have read and figure out how and why the major characters have become emotionally enslaved to their or in their dysfunctional relationships (whether it be with their romantic partners or whether it enmeshment in their families of origin). Explain what makes these characters feel less than; use your text to support your argument; make sure you analyze the passages you select and that your thesis does not just focus on a single character but discuss the issue of the impact of the way we are treated in society or perceived by society and the level at which we function emotionally in our lives. Make the thesis inclusive.
5. In his letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund, dated August 31, 1835, Existentialist Philosopher, Soren, Kierkegaard writes:
What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing (emphasis added).
Rejecting the conventional and systematic way of doing things, the existentialist characters seeks to find his/her own meaning to life in his/her own way. Consequently, s/he is often alienated from the majority though s/he chooses to have the freedom to seek what is important and meaningful to him/her rather than to blindly follow the crowd. Using Kafka’s A Hunger Artist and one more story we have read this semester, of your own choice, discuss the way society treats characters who depart from the social constructs to find their own meanings. Explain why society treats people who don’t follow social constructs in this way. Find evidence for your viewpoint and be sure to use LiterActive and to relate it to today’s world.
6. Consider the story, The Lottery the article, The Newest Abuse Excuse for Violence Against Women, and the short film, Submission. How do these reflect community and traditions within communities? How are these similar, and what do these similarities mean? How are they different, and what do these differences represent?
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
For Wednesday, April 21st.
We will be briefly discussing "The Lottery" and "A Hunger Artist" and will also be discussing "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" (1367). Make sure you read.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Paper 2
Those of you folks who haven't turned in a hard copy of Paper 2 with your rough draft attached to it, please do so on Wednesday, April 14th.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Post your comments on the following questions by Tuesday, the 13th.
Reading for April 12th: "The Lottery" (587), by Shirley Jackson.
"A Hunger Artist", by Frank Kafka.
Also, read "Everyday Use" (1306)along with the above two short stories for our class discussion on Wednesday, the 14th.
1. What are your thoughts on the short story "The Lottery"?
2. Discuss any ideas that came to you when reading "A Hunger Artist".
"A Hunger Artist", by Frank Kafka.
Also, read "Everyday Use" (1306)along with the above two short stories for our class discussion on Wednesday, the 14th.
1. What are your thoughts on the short story "The Lottery"?
2. Discuss any ideas that came to you when reading "A Hunger Artist".
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Example of analysis and explication - Dr. Pruss
Many readers believe that description is the least important part of any story and can be skipped without much consequence; however, the description at the opening of Jean Toomer’s “Blood-Burning Moon” not only is significant because it conveys the story’s setting but is also important because it foreshadows events sets the tone of the entire story. Skipping the description causes the reader to miss the setting of the story, to fail to gather hints of the inhumane events about to happen, and to neglect to perceive the ominous feelings the story conveys. Missing these important clues makes for a historically inaccurate and an emotionally absent reader who, most likely, will not fully understand or enjoy the story.
Most notable, in the very first sentence of the story “Blood-Burning Moon,” the narrator repeats the word “up,” three times and a fourth time at the beginning of the second one. The walls, the floor, the moon – all are rising, but the hour is “dusk,” a time when dark and light are mixed and things should be dying down and setting. Normally, rising is considered to be a positive movement; however, this bloody moon “Glowing like a fired pine-knot” and the movement of Louisa’s mind “vaguely upon [Bob and Tom] as she walks over the crest of the hill coming from white folks’ kitchen” (1274) while the “The moon was rising” (1275) increasingly are not positive omens. Everything portends something that is about to happen, and although no one knows exactly what it is, the sensations are threatening. After all, images of destruction abound from the start. The walls are “skeleton stone walls” reminiscent of bones without flesh or a corpse; the walls are almost human since they are described as “skeleton,” and the new economy that the emancipated slaves are taking part in which is reflected in the description of the "rotting" floor boards lets the reader know that it is not allowing the African American people to lead better lives; finally, the factory is described as a “pre-war cotton factory,” informing the reader that the freed men are currently working in the same building they worked in while they were slaves. The ghosts of the pasts haunt the black people in their new lives. Furthermore, “pre-war cotton” immediately brings pictures of slaves working the fields to mind. The reader can picture the slaves bending in the heat and picking the crops. Then the reader sees “shanties aligned along the single street of factory town” – a ghettoized slum. Clearly the moon’s “pine-knot” glow ”illumined the [factory’s] great door,” and the black begin to sing “against its spell.” Nothing promising is about to happen here. Fear, doom, death, and blood mark the beginning of Jean Toomer’s story. Though the story is taking place during the early years of reconstruction, the remnants of slavery still abound within the culture. The landscape and nature carry the bloodshed and the spirit of all the evil that has transpired here over the years and all that is yet to come in this story.
Most notable, in the very first sentence of the story “Blood-Burning Moon,” the narrator repeats the word “up,” three times and a fourth time at the beginning of the second one. The walls, the floor, the moon – all are rising, but the hour is “dusk,” a time when dark and light are mixed and things should be dying down and setting. Normally, rising is considered to be a positive movement; however, this bloody moon “Glowing like a fired pine-knot” and the movement of Louisa’s mind “vaguely upon [Bob and Tom] as she walks over the crest of the hill coming from white folks’ kitchen” (1274) while the “The moon was rising” (1275) increasingly are not positive omens. Everything portends something that is about to happen, and although no one knows exactly what it is, the sensations are threatening. After all, images of destruction abound from the start. The walls are “skeleton stone walls” reminiscent of bones without flesh or a corpse; the walls are almost human since they are described as “skeleton,” and the new economy that the emancipated slaves are taking part in which is reflected in the description of the "rotting" floor boards lets the reader know that it is not allowing the African American people to lead better lives; finally, the factory is described as a “pre-war cotton factory,” informing the reader that the freed men are currently working in the same building they worked in while they were slaves. The ghosts of the pasts haunt the black people in their new lives. Furthermore, “pre-war cotton” immediately brings pictures of slaves working the fields to mind. The reader can picture the slaves bending in the heat and picking the crops. Then the reader sees “shanties aligned along the single street of factory town” – a ghettoized slum. Clearly the moon’s “pine-knot” glow ”illumined the [factory’s] great door,” and the black begin to sing “against its spell.” Nothing promising is about to happen here. Fear, doom, death, and blood mark the beginning of Jean Toomer’s story. Though the story is taking place during the early years of reconstruction, the remnants of slavery still abound within the culture. The landscape and nature carry the bloodshed and the spirit of all the evil that has transpired here over the years and all that is yet to come in this story.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Respond by Tuesday, April 6th.
1. Do you think that Louisa is in any way a victim? Discuss whether you believe that either of the men love Louisa with textual evidence to prove it?
2. Feel free to put forth any ideas that struck you when reading this story. You could also post questions about any aspect related to the subject matter and I hope everyone responds and gets a discussion going.
For next week: We will do a mini workshop with Paper 2. No, you will not be exchanging papers with your peers. We will discuss a little bit about Works Cited so that there are no errors on your final draft of Paper 2. Please bring in your papers on Wednesday next week for the workshop.
The deadline for submission of Paper 2 -(hard copy only) after all revisions is Friday, April 19th. No late submissions will be accepted.
We will also discuss "Blood Burning Moon", "Everyday Use" and "Lynching in Tennessee".
Quiz on Friday, the 9th, on the above three stories. Do not miss it.
2. Feel free to put forth any ideas that struck you when reading this story. You could also post questions about any aspect related to the subject matter and I hope everyone responds and gets a discussion going.
For next week: We will do a mini workshop with Paper 2. No, you will not be exchanging papers with your peers. We will discuss a little bit about Works Cited so that there are no errors on your final draft of Paper 2. Please bring in your papers on Wednesday next week for the workshop.
The deadline for submission of Paper 2 -(hard copy only) after all revisions is Friday, April 19th. No late submissions will be accepted.
We will also discuss "Blood Burning Moon", "Everyday Use" and "Lynching in Tennessee".
Quiz on Friday, the 9th, on the above three stories. Do not miss it.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Drafts of Paper 2 due
Hope you all had a pleasant, enjoyable Spring break!
Just a reminder that your drafts for Paper 2 are due tomorrow, Wednesday, the 03/31/10.
Just a reminder that your drafts for Paper 2 are due tomorrow, Wednesday, the 03/31/10.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Paper 2 Thesis Topics
Paper Assignment #2
English 106W Mega section
Dr. Pruss
Characterization & Theme
Due Date: Wednesday, March 31st
Please select one topic from the ones listed below. Turn in all your rough work, and put your final draft on top; make sure your final draft is stapled on the top left side. Your paper must include citations (at least 2) from the LiterActive document library and the short stories you use, and you must provide a Works Cited List using the MLA documentation style provided on your LiterActive Disk. You may also use any of the YouTube videos I’ve shown during class or any of the articles on the syllabus instead of one of the LiterActive documents as a source. Failure to cite your sources correctly, and place commas and periods where they belong, will cost you points on your paper grade (since it just takes patience and time; not taking that time shows that you do not care about your work). Please remember to explain the word choice in the quotations you use and demonstrate the connections you see between the passages you choose and the idea you are proving. Write simply and straightforwardly.
1. Using one of the following stories to prove that the character who appears most normal and follows mainstream cultural constructs is the one in greatest need of human compassion and transformation. Make sure you provide sufficient evidence for your viewpoint and that you explain your evidence clearly. This essay topic asks you to construct a convincing and persuasive argument that proves something. You may choose to write this on either “Sonny’s Blues” or “Everyday Use.”
2. What do you believe Jean Toomer is trying to teach you through her story “Blood-Burning Moon”? What do you make of Tom Burwell and his choice of action? What do you make of Louisa? Is she really oblivious to what is happening at the end of the story?
3. Discuss the use of music in Baldwin and Toomer. How are jazz and vocal music used in these stories. Please note the different time periods in which these stories were written. The contexts are different, so make sure you differentiate the historical background’s impact upon the use of music in the story.
4. Discuss the similarities between Mrs. Dutta and Sonny’s brother. Why are these similarities significant thematically?
5. What is Walker’s commentary on the value of education in the story “Everyday Use”? What is your evidence. Why would she want to convey that message?
6. Discuss the first sentence of “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” and the amount of information it carries. Show how this one sentence foreshadows so much. Think carefully about the simile. Discuss the importance of the title, particularly the verb. What is so amazing about the result of the writing that it appears in the title? What does this teach you about writing-to-learn as opposed to having your thesis statement before you begin to write?
English 106W Mega section
Dr. Pruss
Characterization & Theme
Due Date: Wednesday, March 31st
Please select one topic from the ones listed below. Turn in all your rough work, and put your final draft on top; make sure your final draft is stapled on the top left side. Your paper must include citations (at least 2) from the LiterActive document library and the short stories you use, and you must provide a Works Cited List using the MLA documentation style provided on your LiterActive Disk. You may also use any of the YouTube videos I’ve shown during class or any of the articles on the syllabus instead of one of the LiterActive documents as a source. Failure to cite your sources correctly, and place commas and periods where they belong, will cost you points on your paper grade (since it just takes patience and time; not taking that time shows that you do not care about your work). Please remember to explain the word choice in the quotations you use and demonstrate the connections you see between the passages you choose and the idea you are proving. Write simply and straightforwardly.
1. Using one of the following stories to prove that the character who appears most normal and follows mainstream cultural constructs is the one in greatest need of human compassion and transformation. Make sure you provide sufficient evidence for your viewpoint and that you explain your evidence clearly. This essay topic asks you to construct a convincing and persuasive argument that proves something. You may choose to write this on either “Sonny’s Blues” or “Everyday Use.”
2. What do you believe Jean Toomer is trying to teach you through her story “Blood-Burning Moon”? What do you make of Tom Burwell and his choice of action? What do you make of Louisa? Is she really oblivious to what is happening at the end of the story?
3. Discuss the use of music in Baldwin and Toomer. How are jazz and vocal music used in these stories. Please note the different time periods in which these stories were written. The contexts are different, so make sure you differentiate the historical background’s impact upon the use of music in the story.
4. Discuss the similarities between Mrs. Dutta and Sonny’s brother. Why are these similarities significant thematically?
5. What is Walker’s commentary on the value of education in the story “Everyday Use”? What is your evidence. Why would she want to convey that message?
6. Discuss the first sentence of “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” and the amount of information it carries. Show how this one sentence foreshadows so much. Think carefully about the simile. Discuss the importance of the title, particularly the verb. What is so amazing about the result of the writing that it appears in the title? What does this teach you about writing-to-learn as opposed to having your thesis statement before you begin to write?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
For this week.
1. Discuss the significance of the letter in "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter"?
Dr. Pruss's question regarding Alice Walker's "Everyday Use":
2. How does Dee's mother's dream of the television show reveal Dee's character? How
about the way Dee read to her family while she was growing up? What does that tell us about Dee?
Dr. Pruss's question regarding Alice Walker's "Everyday Use":
2. How does Dee's mother's dream of the television show reveal Dee's character? How
about the way Dee read to her family while she was growing up? What does that tell us about Dee?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Some thoughts on "Mrs Dutta Writes a Letter"
Here are some of my thoughts as well as my colleagues’ on the story to help you in interpreting the story.
Some info on Mrs. Dutta's cultural background:
Mrs. Dutta belongs to the traditional school of thought which believes that the wife/mother/daughter –in-law is the one who keeps the family in order. She is the one who ensures harmony in a household. Mrs. Dutta belongs to the joint family system, mostly prevalent in northern India, where the new bride lives with her husband, his parents and his siblings along with their spouses. Even though I come from a nuclear family set up, I personally know families that are very traditional in set up, with a highly educated attitude and respectful of each other’s space, unlike Mrs. Dutta’s situation where she had not known what privacy meant. But there are of course families with many problems in this type of set up. The probability of conflict is high when there are so many individuals under one roof whose opinions clash constantly and "individuality" suffers in pursuit of the collective good. Only, Mrs. Dutta never really realized her individuality since her environment has fostered the belief that the purpose of her existence is solely based on the needs of not only her immediate family members, but her extended family as well.
The part where Mrs. Dutta says that it was a relatively good day in a country where you could stare out for hours and not see a soul was hilarious for me because it is exactly what my aunt and mother say though in a lighthearted manner, when they visit me here occasionally. For instance, the city and especially the residential area where my parents live in India is peaceful as well, but the social scene is drastically different. There’s always someone who drops by, be it the housemaid who comes everyday at 6:30 a.m., the familiar vendor who brings fresh greens every day, or the milkman, or the dry cleaning boy who picks up and drops off clothes, or the errand boy from the provision store who drives by with groceries ordered by my mother over the phone. There is a constant hum of sounds which I find soothing whether it is the cook chopping veggies or the maid mopping the floors. The point with all these details is that it is a totally different lifestyle in India (especially for the slightly privileged). It is a huge change for any Indian immigrant no matter how educated or modern he or she is when they move to America. My folks belong to a traditional educated Indian society and they appreciate a whole lot of things about America and its culture but they cannot imagine living here. For Mrs. Dutta, it is about realizing that she belongs with her own circle of friends in India and not with her family. I think some aspects of American culture which she sees through her daughter in law helps her in this realization. Her selflessness is no good to her or to her own family.
In short, Mrs. Dutta is enslaved to an archaic mode of thinking – that the woman takes the responsibility of ensuring harmony in a household by suppressing her own voice for the supposed good of the family. Her reluctance to understand her daughter-in-law is annoying which shows how out of touch she is with her true “self”. On the other hand, I find it unacceptable that Mrs. Dutta’s son, his wife and kids have alienated themselves from their own rich heritage, manners and respect of elders(which I didn't elaborate upon since it will be too lengthy) instead of finding a balance between the two worlds.It is a relief to find that Mrs. Dutta becomes her own champion in the end. The letter she writes is her courage to finally face the truth.
-Sunita
Ms. Botelho said:
This story is not all that different than many stories written by a foreigner trying to establish a place in America. The repulsion at American children, television, and the "loose" woman smoking a cigarette is expected in a story like this. However, it was the last paragraph that brought this story to an unexpected (and pleasantly surprising) level. We see the narrator, Mrs. Dutta, actually learning something about people through her experience in America, as opposed to shunning the culture she finds herself in. In the letter to her close friend in Calcutta, because there is no repercussion to writing the truth, she is finally able to do so. There are a few moments in the story Mrs. Dutta reflects on the unbridled emotion Americans showcase, and how this never occurred in her homeland. After these judgments, she is struck by a view that perhaps this isn't a bad thing, as she reflected on the feelings of repression she experienced in her own life. She does not shed tears as she writes and admits these truths, because she was actually shedding tears when she denied them to herself.
Daniel M said:
My first impression of the story is that it prominently concerns the production of texts and the circumstances or contexts that inform writing. It builds on the many tensions Mrs. Dutta faces in America: conflicts between Mrs. Dutta and a combination of her son’s family and American culture. Yet, through many of these conflicts, she is silent—owing to the selflessness that defines the “mother” role in her culture. I apologize for not being able to accurately point to the source of the quote, but someone said in the afternoon class last Monday that “without a voice there isn’t a self,” or something similar. Mrs. Dutta represses every outwardly selfish thought, barring those that concern a more traditional way to go about doing things for her family. Thus, the final production of the letter is a triumph for Mrs. Dutta’s selfhood. She informs her friend that she will be returning to India and seeking happiness on her own terms rather than those of culturally-mandated obligation and tradition. Not sending the letter would negate the purpose of the story, so I’m certain that the letter gets mailed and that Mrs. Dutta eventually returns to her native land.
Mr. Bolster said:
Mrs. Dutta was crying because of the truths within herself that she repressed.
Whatever is in her heart that she cannot name exists in opposition to her family loyalties. Divakaruni uses the word "battles" to illustrate this quality of opposition and conflict. First of all, whatever it is that Mrs. Dutta feels, she identifies as incommensurable with family loyalty--an important value for her throughout the story and a value that she identifies with her homeland and its traditions.
Her insidious feelings may include the feeling that Sagar and his wife have made horrible mistakes in the way they choose to live their lives. The rebelliousness of the children and the idea of a woman smoking a cigarette are aspects of the "modern American world" with which Mrs. Dutta takes issue, but it is also the strange washing machine, the strange way that neighbors don't talk to one another, and the strange way a wife addresses a husband by his first name. Mrs. Dutta experiences a generalized feeling of cultural and social alientation in the "new world." The cultural alienation Mrs. Dutta could have expected, coming to America, but the sense of alienation from her family, her own flesh and blood, probably took her by surprise. "And blood is blood after all" (363), Mrs. Dutta says to Mrs. Basu, explaining why she can't possibly dislike moving to America. Disappointment is another feeling that she cannot immediately put into words, although she eventually acknowledges that feeling to herself. She is disappointed with "so much in this country" (359), which is a generalized disappointment, but she is specifically disappointed with her grandchildren. How difficult for any grandparent to admit that! Eventually, her disappointment and alienation build into, presumably, regret that she moved, or at the very least, a resolution to return to India.
On another note altogether, I love how Divakaruni completely underemphasized Mrs. Dutta's decision to return to her homeland. In fact, I didn't even notice it the first time I read the story. It's in the middle of the letter on the last page: "for I do hope you will rent [your downstairs flat] to me on my return" (369).
Mr. Farell said:
The feelings she refuses to name are: loneliness, sadness, and depression. Although she loves her family and is loyal to them, her problem is filling the days and having a true sense of companionship. "It's been a good day, as good as it can be in a country where you might stare out the window for hours and not see one living soul" (363). She feels loss for the friendship of her dearest, closest companion, Roma, who is also who she is writing the letter to. "Calcutta pushes itself on her mind again...and her heart fills with a sense of loss she knows to be illogical" (364). She is heartbroken from the home and culture she has known all of her life. She constantly drifts into moments of nostalgia that she deems "illogical" for a reason. This is what she discovers in her letter at the end that her happiness is where she left her heart--India. This is why she feels no need to weep because she has made the decision that will make her happiest. She feels that she is losing nothing by going home.
Skylar Hammel said:
The feelings that Mrs. Dutta cannot name are her knowledge of her own unhappiness and the lack of acceptance in her new life. It is obvious that Mrs. Dutta is trying to adapt to the situation she is in, but cannot succeed. When she cannot sleep in, she does not get out of bed early in order to keep from waking the family. However, she suffers for her attempt by being forced to remain on a mattress she finds uncomfortable until other people in the household begin their day. They begin their day exactly when they want to; she is not given that luxury. As a young bride she had kept the hours needed to run the house. As an live-in, aged parent she keeps the hours necesary for the smooth operation of the house according to American standards. In both places, she was denied the right to keep her own schedule as she pleased.
The word insidious appears more than once in the text. As Mrs. Dutta muses on Shyamoli's way of life and her refusal to bend to other people's rules, she uses the same adjective. "Mrs. Dutta lowers herself heavily on to her bed, trying to erase such an insidious idea from her mind" (366). The insidious idea is, at least in part, longing for the freedom lost by attempting to fit the mold of the aging Indian mother.
Some info on Mrs. Dutta's cultural background:
Mrs. Dutta belongs to the traditional school of thought which believes that the wife/mother/daughter –in-law is the one who keeps the family in order. She is the one who ensures harmony in a household. Mrs. Dutta belongs to the joint family system, mostly prevalent in northern India, where the new bride lives with her husband, his parents and his siblings along with their spouses. Even though I come from a nuclear family set up, I personally know families that are very traditional in set up, with a highly educated attitude and respectful of each other’s space, unlike Mrs. Dutta’s situation where she had not known what privacy meant. But there are of course families with many problems in this type of set up. The probability of conflict is high when there are so many individuals under one roof whose opinions clash constantly and "individuality" suffers in pursuit of the collective good. Only, Mrs. Dutta never really realized her individuality since her environment has fostered the belief that the purpose of her existence is solely based on the needs of not only her immediate family members, but her extended family as well.
The part where Mrs. Dutta says that it was a relatively good day in a country where you could stare out for hours and not see a soul was hilarious for me because it is exactly what my aunt and mother say though in a lighthearted manner, when they visit me here occasionally. For instance, the city and especially the residential area where my parents live in India is peaceful as well, but the social scene is drastically different. There’s always someone who drops by, be it the housemaid who comes everyday at 6:30 a.m., the familiar vendor who brings fresh greens every day, or the milkman, or the dry cleaning boy who picks up and drops off clothes, or the errand boy from the provision store who drives by with groceries ordered by my mother over the phone. There is a constant hum of sounds which I find soothing whether it is the cook chopping veggies or the maid mopping the floors. The point with all these details is that it is a totally different lifestyle in India (especially for the slightly privileged). It is a huge change for any Indian immigrant no matter how educated or modern he or she is when they move to America. My folks belong to a traditional educated Indian society and they appreciate a whole lot of things about America and its culture but they cannot imagine living here. For Mrs. Dutta, it is about realizing that she belongs with her own circle of friends in India and not with her family. I think some aspects of American culture which she sees through her daughter in law helps her in this realization. Her selflessness is no good to her or to her own family.
In short, Mrs. Dutta is enslaved to an archaic mode of thinking – that the woman takes the responsibility of ensuring harmony in a household by suppressing her own voice for the supposed good of the family. Her reluctance to understand her daughter-in-law is annoying which shows how out of touch she is with her true “self”. On the other hand, I find it unacceptable that Mrs. Dutta’s son, his wife and kids have alienated themselves from their own rich heritage, manners and respect of elders(which I didn't elaborate upon since it will be too lengthy) instead of finding a balance between the two worlds.It is a relief to find that Mrs. Dutta becomes her own champion in the end. The letter she writes is her courage to finally face the truth.
-Sunita
Ms. Botelho said:
This story is not all that different than many stories written by a foreigner trying to establish a place in America. The repulsion at American children, television, and the "loose" woman smoking a cigarette is expected in a story like this. However, it was the last paragraph that brought this story to an unexpected (and pleasantly surprising) level. We see the narrator, Mrs. Dutta, actually learning something about people through her experience in America, as opposed to shunning the culture she finds herself in. In the letter to her close friend in Calcutta, because there is no repercussion to writing the truth, she is finally able to do so. There are a few moments in the story Mrs. Dutta reflects on the unbridled emotion Americans showcase, and how this never occurred in her homeland. After these judgments, she is struck by a view that perhaps this isn't a bad thing, as she reflected on the feelings of repression she experienced in her own life. She does not shed tears as she writes and admits these truths, because she was actually shedding tears when she denied them to herself.
Daniel M said:
My first impression of the story is that it prominently concerns the production of texts and the circumstances or contexts that inform writing. It builds on the many tensions Mrs. Dutta faces in America: conflicts between Mrs. Dutta and a combination of her son’s family and American culture. Yet, through many of these conflicts, she is silent—owing to the selflessness that defines the “mother” role in her culture. I apologize for not being able to accurately point to the source of the quote, but someone said in the afternoon class last Monday that “without a voice there isn’t a self,” or something similar. Mrs. Dutta represses every outwardly selfish thought, barring those that concern a more traditional way to go about doing things for her family. Thus, the final production of the letter is a triumph for Mrs. Dutta’s selfhood. She informs her friend that she will be returning to India and seeking happiness on her own terms rather than those of culturally-mandated obligation and tradition. Not sending the letter would negate the purpose of the story, so I’m certain that the letter gets mailed and that Mrs. Dutta eventually returns to her native land.
Mr. Bolster said:
Mrs. Dutta was crying because of the truths within herself that she repressed.
Whatever is in her heart that she cannot name exists in opposition to her family loyalties. Divakaruni uses the word "battles" to illustrate this quality of opposition and conflict. First of all, whatever it is that Mrs. Dutta feels, she identifies as incommensurable with family loyalty--an important value for her throughout the story and a value that she identifies with her homeland and its traditions.
Her insidious feelings may include the feeling that Sagar and his wife have made horrible mistakes in the way they choose to live their lives. The rebelliousness of the children and the idea of a woman smoking a cigarette are aspects of the "modern American world" with which Mrs. Dutta takes issue, but it is also the strange washing machine, the strange way that neighbors don't talk to one another, and the strange way a wife addresses a husband by his first name. Mrs. Dutta experiences a generalized feeling of cultural and social alientation in the "new world." The cultural alienation Mrs. Dutta could have expected, coming to America, but the sense of alienation from her family, her own flesh and blood, probably took her by surprise. "And blood is blood after all" (363), Mrs. Dutta says to Mrs. Basu, explaining why she can't possibly dislike moving to America. Disappointment is another feeling that she cannot immediately put into words, although she eventually acknowledges that feeling to herself. She is disappointed with "so much in this country" (359), which is a generalized disappointment, but she is specifically disappointed with her grandchildren. How difficult for any grandparent to admit that! Eventually, her disappointment and alienation build into, presumably, regret that she moved, or at the very least, a resolution to return to India.
On another note altogether, I love how Divakaruni completely underemphasized Mrs. Dutta's decision to return to her homeland. In fact, I didn't even notice it the first time I read the story. It's in the middle of the letter on the last page: "for I do hope you will rent [your downstairs flat] to me on my return" (369).
Mr. Farell said:
The feelings she refuses to name are: loneliness, sadness, and depression. Although she loves her family and is loyal to them, her problem is filling the days and having a true sense of companionship. "It's been a good day, as good as it can be in a country where you might stare out the window for hours and not see one living soul" (363). She feels loss for the friendship of her dearest, closest companion, Roma, who is also who she is writing the letter to. "Calcutta pushes itself on her mind again...and her heart fills with a sense of loss she knows to be illogical" (364). She is heartbroken from the home and culture she has known all of her life. She constantly drifts into moments of nostalgia that she deems "illogical" for a reason. This is what she discovers in her letter at the end that her happiness is where she left her heart--India. This is why she feels no need to weep because she has made the decision that will make her happiest. She feels that she is losing nothing by going home.
Skylar Hammel said:
The feelings that Mrs. Dutta cannot name are her knowledge of her own unhappiness and the lack of acceptance in her new life. It is obvious that Mrs. Dutta is trying to adapt to the situation she is in, but cannot succeed. When she cannot sleep in, she does not get out of bed early in order to keep from waking the family. However, she suffers for her attempt by being forced to remain on a mattress she finds uncomfortable until other people in the household begin their day. They begin their day exactly when they want to; she is not given that luxury. As a young bride she had kept the hours needed to run the house. As an live-in, aged parent she keeps the hours necesary for the smooth operation of the house according to American standards. In both places, she was denied the right to keep her own schedule as she pleased.
The word insidious appears more than once in the text. As Mrs. Dutta muses on Shyamoli's way of life and her refusal to bend to other people's rules, she uses the same adjective. "Mrs. Dutta lowers herself heavily on to her bed, trying to erase such an insidious idea from her mind" (366). The insidious idea is, at least in part, longing for the freedom lost by attempting to fit the mold of the aging Indian mother.
Monday, March 15, 2010
For Wednesday class
Please make sure you read the following stories for our Wednesday class.
"Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (page 355)
and Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" (page 1306).
"Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (page 355)
and Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" (page 1306).
Friday, March 12, 2010
For Monday class "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter"
For Monday, the 15th, please read "Mrs.Dutta Writes a Letter", page 355.
Make sure you collect your graded papers before or after class on Monday. You have until the 17th to revise it if you're not satisfied with your grades.
Thanks.
Make sure you collect your graded papers before or after class on Monday. You have until the 17th to revise it if you're not satisfied with your grades.
Thanks.
In favor of Sonny's brother!
How would you play the devil's advocate for Sonny's brother in proving that he is not enslaved in any way? How can you argue in his favor from any aspect? Please feel free to go berserk with the idea and comment without any reservations?
Clarifications regarding the article we used in class today.
I’d like to clarify that I showed this article in class today not to prove that historians are the final word on everything, but simply as an instance of how freedom of expression loses meaning sometimes when people like Thompson in this article simply refuse to consider even a credible source as “The Arlington National Cemetery”. Also, to contrast that with Sonny’s need to express himself as an artist through his music, which to him is a necessity. It is a necessity because his music is what allows him to cope with the rest of the bleakness that surrounds him and gives him a sense of control. It is not an idle escape to kill time. Thompson seems to exhibit some random urge to disagree without a convincing reason. My purpose was not at all to go into the political aspect of what this article entails. I am personally skeptical about some facts history claims as accurate since the telling and re-telling of history can be somewhat compared to Dr. Pruss’s discussion of story and plot. It is quite possible that historians lose the actual facts in their re-telling, but that it not what I was discussing in class today. I was mainly pointing to how we are prone to expressing our opinions without much critical thinking which ties in with our discussion about the thin line between freedom of expression and random opinions not grounded in any sort of logic or facts. For instance, the time period in which the action of Baldwin’s story is set is one of segregation and discrimination for the African Americans. Now, this information is de-facto. If someone comes along and says, “I don’t believe any of it”, what can you say? Yes, that person has the right and is entitled to his opinion, but would you consider it a valid opinion? It is also a relevant discussion even in proving our thesis statements for our papers. Of course, all these stories we’re discussing are open to interpretation and there’s no right or wrong way, but there is a rational manner to go about it. That was the main point I was trying to get across since I felt that in discussing Sonny’s need for freedom of expression, this aspect would add to our awareness of another dimension pertaining to the subject matter. Perhaps, it was not the best article to choose.
The article follows below if you wish to read it.
Don't confuse them with facts
To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper's online message board, is to realize that increasingly, we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth.
Syndicated columnist
I got an e-mail the other day that depressed me.
It concerned a piece I recently did that mentioned Henry Johnson, who was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in World War I for single-handedly fighting off a company of Germans (some accounts say there were 14, some say almost 30, the ones I find most authoritative say there were about two dozen) who threatened to overrun his post.
Johnson managed this despite the fact that he was only 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds, despite the fact that his gun had jammed, despite the fact that he was wounded 21 times.
My mention of Johnson's heroics drew a rebuke from a fellow named Ken Thompson, which I quote verbatim and in its entirety:
"Hate to tell you that blacks were not allowed into combat intell (sic) 1947, that fact. World War II ended in 1945. So all that feel good, one black man killing two dozen Nazi, is just that, PC bull."
In response, my assistant, Judi Smith, sent Mr. Thompson proof of Johnson's heroics: a link to his page on the Web site of Arlington National Cemetery. She thought this settled the matter.
Thompson's reply? "There is no race on headstones and they didn't come up with the story in tell (sic) 2002."
Judi: "I guess you can choose to believe Arlington National Cemetery or not."
Thompson: "It is what it is, you don't believe either ... "
At this point, Judi forwarded me their correspondence, along with a despairing note. She is probably somewhere drinking right now.
You see, like me, she can remember a time when facts settled arguments. This is back before everything became a partisan shouting match, back before it was permissible to ignore or deride as "biased" anything that didn't support your worldview.
If you and I had an argument and I produced facts from an authoritative source to back me up, you couldn't just blow that off. You might try to undermine my facts, might counter with facts of your own, but you couldn't just pretend my facts had no weight or meaning.
But that's the intellectual state of the union these days, as evidenced by all the people who still don't believe the president was born in Hawaii or that the planet is warming. And by Mr. Thompson, who doesn't believe Henry Johnson did what he did.
I could send him more proof, I suppose. Johnson is lauded in history books ("Before the Mayflower" by Lerone Bennett Jr., "The Dictionary of American Negro Biography" by Rayford Logan and Michael Winston) and in contemporaneous accounts (The Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times). I could also point out that blacks have fought in every war in American history, though before Harry Truman desegregated the military in 1948, they did so in Jim Crow units. Also, there were no Nazis in World War I.
But those are "facts," and the whole point here is that facts no longer mean what they once did. I suppose I could also ignore him. But you see, Ken Thompson is not just some isolated eccentric. No, he is the Zeitgeist personified.
To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper's online message board, is to realize that increasingly, we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth. We admit no ideas that do not confirm us, hear no voices that do not echo us, sift out all information that does not validate what we wish to believe.
I submit that any people thus handicapped sow the seeds of their own decline; they respond to the world as they wish it were rather to the world as it is. That's the story of the Iraq war.
But objective reality does not change because you refuse to accept it. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge a wall does not change the fact that it's a wall.
And you shouldn't have to hit it to find that out.
The article follows below if you wish to read it.
Don't confuse them with facts
To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper's online message board, is to realize that increasingly, we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth.
Syndicated columnist
I got an e-mail the other day that depressed me.
It concerned a piece I recently did that mentioned Henry Johnson, who was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in World War I for single-handedly fighting off a company of Germans (some accounts say there were 14, some say almost 30, the ones I find most authoritative say there were about two dozen) who threatened to overrun his post.
Johnson managed this despite the fact that he was only 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds, despite the fact that his gun had jammed, despite the fact that he was wounded 21 times.
My mention of Johnson's heroics drew a rebuke from a fellow named Ken Thompson, which I quote verbatim and in its entirety:
"Hate to tell you that blacks were not allowed into combat intell (sic) 1947, that fact. World War II ended in 1945. So all that feel good, one black man killing two dozen Nazi, is just that, PC bull."
In response, my assistant, Judi Smith, sent Mr. Thompson proof of Johnson's heroics: a link to his page on the Web site of Arlington National Cemetery. She thought this settled the matter.
Thompson's reply? "There is no race on headstones and they didn't come up with the story in tell (sic) 2002."
Judi: "I guess you can choose to believe Arlington National Cemetery or not."
Thompson: "It is what it is, you don't believe either ... "
At this point, Judi forwarded me their correspondence, along with a despairing note. She is probably somewhere drinking right now.
You see, like me, she can remember a time when facts settled arguments. This is back before everything became a partisan shouting match, back before it was permissible to ignore or deride as "biased" anything that didn't support your worldview.
If you and I had an argument and I produced facts from an authoritative source to back me up, you couldn't just blow that off. You might try to undermine my facts, might counter with facts of your own, but you couldn't just pretend my facts had no weight or meaning.
But that's the intellectual state of the union these days, as evidenced by all the people who still don't believe the president was born in Hawaii or that the planet is warming. And by Mr. Thompson, who doesn't believe Henry Johnson did what he did.
I could send him more proof, I suppose. Johnson is lauded in history books ("Before the Mayflower" by Lerone Bennett Jr., "The Dictionary of American Negro Biography" by Rayford Logan and Michael Winston) and in contemporaneous accounts (The Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times). I could also point out that blacks have fought in every war in American history, though before Harry Truman desegregated the military in 1948, they did so in Jim Crow units. Also, there were no Nazis in World War I.
But those are "facts," and the whole point here is that facts no longer mean what they once did. I suppose I could also ignore him. But you see, Ken Thompson is not just some isolated eccentric. No, he is the Zeitgeist personified.
To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper's online message board, is to realize that increasingly, we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth. We admit no ideas that do not confirm us, hear no voices that do not echo us, sift out all information that does not validate what we wish to believe.
I submit that any people thus handicapped sow the seeds of their own decline; they respond to the world as they wish it were rather to the world as it is. That's the story of the Iraq war.
But objective reality does not change because you refuse to accept it. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge a wall does not change the fact that it's a wall.
And you shouldn't have to hit it to find that out.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Your response required by Tuesday, the 9th.
Write about any aspect of the short story "Sonny's Blues" that piques your interest? Is there anything about the story that troubles you and intrigues you? Discuss it without reservation. This blog is here to facilitate free flow of thoughts and opinions. What have you to say about what you see and observe in this story? Please feel free to question and respond to each other's comments as well.
IMPORTANT, March 5th.
Everyone, please make sure to turn in your "revised" and improved final drafts of Paper 1, without fail on Monday. Unstapled papers will not be accepted.
For those who missed class today (Wednesday, the 5th), please see me on Monday morning before class begins to collect your papers for revision. All the absent folks missed Quiz 1.
Attendance is imperative for the rest of the classes for this semester, especially those who have missed a few classes already.
For MONDAY, read James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues", page 47. We will have a group discussion on this short story on Wednesday, the 10th.
For those who missed class today (Wednesday, the 5th), please see me on Monday morning before class begins to collect your papers for revision. All the absent folks missed Quiz 1.
Attendance is imperative for the rest of the classes for this semester, especially those who have missed a few classes already.
For MONDAY, read James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues", page 47. We will have a group discussion on this short story on Wednesday, the 10th.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Some thoughts on "A Rose for Emily"
Here are some of my thoughts on Emily. Feel free to ask any questions, to disagree or comment on this post.
Emily is a victim and a murderer. Emily is a pathetic victim who fails to do anything positive with her life. Even though she was victimized, she did have options and could’ve shown some gumption towards bettering her life even under limited circumstances. She had an option to make her life relatively tolerable instead of her almost deliberate attempt at self sabotage. The evil manner in which she plots Homer’s murder is sufficient evidence to suppose that she’s demented and cannot seem to help it because she is decidedly stubborn. Her upbringing and her general stifled existence has snapped something vital in her and has triggered some sort of a destructive mechanism within her.
On the one hand she seems to have run amuck with her murderous intentions and on the other she seems to have her faculties intact, although only for the wrong purpose (the manner in which she plots Homer’s murder definitely requires some acumen).I couldn’t help wondering – if only she had put her formidable faculties to better use, the title would be befitting her. The title evokes a completely different sensation in comparison to the story itself.
I think Emily’s perception of herself is terribly distorted and is not ground in reality. Emily’s confused, abused and shaken mental world is in dangerous conflict with the reality of her situation. It is a sorry state of affairs and she sadly doesn't have any solid example of a figure she could emulate for the better. Still it's no justification for her callous irreverence for human life including her own.
Emily as a victim: The American society celebrates the individual but the individual is still part of a whole – society, a web that’s connected. The individual and society are interdependent since the individual is to a certain extent a product of that society, and society reflects the collective psyche of those individuals. I think that even though the father is directly responsible for Emily’s stifled existence to begin with, it is sanctioned by society. In this story, society seems to take interest in Emily’s plight and also seems to somewhat care for her well-being. But then, it is also unwittingly judgmental of her. She is portrayed as one who neither belongs nor is a total outcast. Instead she’s somewhere in between and her own sense of herself or lack of it rather gets in the way of a harmonious interdependence between the individual and society. She persists in being a separate entity and alienates society for she’s not skilled to be a part of it.
As for loss, Emily never truly found much to lose. Her world is rendered empty by her unfortunate circumstances and by her own defiance and inability to rectify that situation. She does not even try to acquire anything positive and when she does find a glimmer of hope in Homer, she kills it. I’m not sure but I think Faulkner is portraying the repercussions and dire consequences of the lack of a positive structure in an individual’s life. Perhaps even that Emily is aware of her blighted existence but does not seek the sympathy of society in defiance for she holds it responsible for her having had no real chance at a decent life to begin with. She feels justified in revolting against society.
Comments from other instructors:
Skylar says, “Emily is a murderer, but I think there is still room to pity her. Although her personal tragedy does not excuse murder, she is still a victim of the others in her life. Her father caged her, turning away the suitors who may have rescued her from her solitude. Her other family members had to be persuaded to come to her aid, and when they arrived, they proved more harmful than helpful. Homer, whether gay or not, openly courted Emily. He doomed her to the status of a fallen woman (though she, too, could've given in to the rules of her culture and avoided that title). The women of the town, along with its men, allowed her to fall into complete isolation.
Like the "girls" of Banks' and Hemingway's stories, Emily has only a limited control over her own life. Many of her important decisions are made by others. In Bank's story, the girl allows her mother to make the life-altering decisions, while in Hemingway's story, the girl allows the views of her American lover to control her life. Emily has to deal with societal judgement and her father's influence. The biggest difference with "A Rose for Emily" is Emily ability to make choices that are her own. Unfortunately, those choices include the murder of the man who was going to leave her. Emily didn't need her mother to make an appointment or pick up the arsenic. She didn't need a man to choose her poison or even tell her what would be a good drink. In a disturbing way, Emily proved capable of making big decisions for herself and living with the consequences (quite literally).
Michelle says, “The purpose of the story exists to show the ability of both a person and a culture's ability to enslave. Faulkner stated in the interview that the story comments on human nature and not much more, yet it does do more.
The reader sees the enslavement of Emily by her father and ultimately,by herself. Even though she 'craves' companionship, love and a family; she enslaves herself by not allowing herself to evolve with the times.
The final image of the single hair on the pillow, is as Faulkner says in his interview, the most concrete image in the entire story. I liked the pity and emotion that it envokes. Emily, as enslaved to her longing for a family and husband, felt the only way to have one was to kill and Keep Homer. The image of her sleeping next to a decaying corpse was sad, yet capsulated the entire purpose of the story.
Chris said, “Emily is enslaved by her own ideals of what society expects of her. She is unable to accept social change and progression. By being unable to fulfill the requirements that she believes is expected of her, she secludes herself. Homer was her last chance and when she couldn't mold him into her husband, she killed him. It's as though she becomes enslaved to her own psychosis. She made Homer her family, even in death. Judging by the hair on the pillow, she slept with him, with his corpse.
Robin said, "She enslaved herself by refusing to accept progress, social change, personal hygiene. She was spoiled and overindulged, but as an adult it was her responsibility to break out of that. Emily represents the South with her traditional values; she is unwilling to accept change and that's why she lives such a pathetic life. Take her servant, for example, he hightailed it out of there as soon as he could. And poor Homer never saw what was coming. He was a Northerner with a more progressive approach to life and the unyielding Emily, used to getting her own way, probably didn't like that he didn't want to settle down with antiquated values, morals and way of life.
I've always questioned the title "A Rose for Emily." What does that mean? Apparently Faulkner meant a rose for her, like you would present any lady. In other words, we can't fault her for the way she was raised, so we honor who she was. I don't buy that and I've always tried, unsuccessfully, to find a better meaning for that title.
As for whether society is to blame for her situation, it doesn't appear that the townspeople are to blame for Emily's demise. The father is more to blame for oppressing Emily and alienating her from society. She never developed any social skills, so it was difficult for her to be involved in the community. She created a world within her home and created her own rules, hence her not paying taxes.
The townspeople, on the contrary to the question, tried to reason with her about her taxes but eventually let it go -- out of compassion. If they had been against her or had not understood her, they gotten the money by throwing her out of her home. After her father's death, the townspeople pitied her and said "she had become humanized" (393). People called on her during the funeral. Then they were excited about her relationship with Homer and they were shocked at the discovery at the end of the story. If Emily had reached out to the townspeople, she could have reintroduced herself to society; it was her responsibility to overcome her past and step into the future. She choose not to do that.
Emily is a victim and a murderer. Emily is a pathetic victim who fails to do anything positive with her life. Even though she was victimized, she did have options and could’ve shown some gumption towards bettering her life even under limited circumstances. She had an option to make her life relatively tolerable instead of her almost deliberate attempt at self sabotage. The evil manner in which she plots Homer’s murder is sufficient evidence to suppose that she’s demented and cannot seem to help it because she is decidedly stubborn. Her upbringing and her general stifled existence has snapped something vital in her and has triggered some sort of a destructive mechanism within her.
On the one hand she seems to have run amuck with her murderous intentions and on the other she seems to have her faculties intact, although only for the wrong purpose (the manner in which she plots Homer’s murder definitely requires some acumen).I couldn’t help wondering – if only she had put her formidable faculties to better use, the title would be befitting her. The title evokes a completely different sensation in comparison to the story itself.
I think Emily’s perception of herself is terribly distorted and is not ground in reality. Emily’s confused, abused and shaken mental world is in dangerous conflict with the reality of her situation. It is a sorry state of affairs and she sadly doesn't have any solid example of a figure she could emulate for the better. Still it's no justification for her callous irreverence for human life including her own.
Emily as a victim: The American society celebrates the individual but the individual is still part of a whole – society, a web that’s connected. The individual and society are interdependent since the individual is to a certain extent a product of that society, and society reflects the collective psyche of those individuals. I think that even though the father is directly responsible for Emily’s stifled existence to begin with, it is sanctioned by society. In this story, society seems to take interest in Emily’s plight and also seems to somewhat care for her well-being. But then, it is also unwittingly judgmental of her. She is portrayed as one who neither belongs nor is a total outcast. Instead she’s somewhere in between and her own sense of herself or lack of it rather gets in the way of a harmonious interdependence between the individual and society. She persists in being a separate entity and alienates society for she’s not skilled to be a part of it.
As for loss, Emily never truly found much to lose. Her world is rendered empty by her unfortunate circumstances and by her own defiance and inability to rectify that situation. She does not even try to acquire anything positive and when she does find a glimmer of hope in Homer, she kills it. I’m not sure but I think Faulkner is portraying the repercussions and dire consequences of the lack of a positive structure in an individual’s life. Perhaps even that Emily is aware of her blighted existence but does not seek the sympathy of society in defiance for she holds it responsible for her having had no real chance at a decent life to begin with. She feels justified in revolting against society.
Comments from other instructors:
Skylar says, “Emily is a murderer, but I think there is still room to pity her. Although her personal tragedy does not excuse murder, she is still a victim of the others in her life. Her father caged her, turning away the suitors who may have rescued her from her solitude. Her other family members had to be persuaded to come to her aid, and when they arrived, they proved more harmful than helpful. Homer, whether gay or not, openly courted Emily. He doomed her to the status of a fallen woman (though she, too, could've given in to the rules of her culture and avoided that title). The women of the town, along with its men, allowed her to fall into complete isolation.
Like the "girls" of Banks' and Hemingway's stories, Emily has only a limited control over her own life. Many of her important decisions are made by others. In Bank's story, the girl allows her mother to make the life-altering decisions, while in Hemingway's story, the girl allows the views of her American lover to control her life. Emily has to deal with societal judgement and her father's influence. The biggest difference with "A Rose for Emily" is Emily ability to make choices that are her own. Unfortunately, those choices include the murder of the man who was going to leave her. Emily didn't need her mother to make an appointment or pick up the arsenic. She didn't need a man to choose her poison or even tell her what would be a good drink. In a disturbing way, Emily proved capable of making big decisions for herself and living with the consequences (quite literally).
Michelle says, “The purpose of the story exists to show the ability of both a person and a culture's ability to enslave. Faulkner stated in the interview that the story comments on human nature and not much more, yet it does do more.
The reader sees the enslavement of Emily by her father and ultimately,by herself. Even though she 'craves' companionship, love and a family; she enslaves herself by not allowing herself to evolve with the times.
The final image of the single hair on the pillow, is as Faulkner says in his interview, the most concrete image in the entire story. I liked the pity and emotion that it envokes. Emily, as enslaved to her longing for a family and husband, felt the only way to have one was to kill and Keep Homer. The image of her sleeping next to a decaying corpse was sad, yet capsulated the entire purpose of the story.
Chris said, “Emily is enslaved by her own ideals of what society expects of her. She is unable to accept social change and progression. By being unable to fulfill the requirements that she believes is expected of her, she secludes herself. Homer was her last chance and when she couldn't mold him into her husband, she killed him. It's as though she becomes enslaved to her own psychosis. She made Homer her family, even in death. Judging by the hair on the pillow, she slept with him, with his corpse.
Robin said, "She enslaved herself by refusing to accept progress, social change, personal hygiene. She was spoiled and overindulged, but as an adult it was her responsibility to break out of that. Emily represents the South with her traditional values; she is unwilling to accept change and that's why she lives such a pathetic life. Take her servant, for example, he hightailed it out of there as soon as he could. And poor Homer never saw what was coming. He was a Northerner with a more progressive approach to life and the unyielding Emily, used to getting her own way, probably didn't like that he didn't want to settle down with antiquated values, morals and way of life.
I've always questioned the title "A Rose for Emily." What does that mean? Apparently Faulkner meant a rose for her, like you would present any lady. In other words, we can't fault her for the way she was raised, so we honor who she was. I don't buy that and I've always tried, unsuccessfully, to find a better meaning for that title.
As for whether society is to blame for her situation, it doesn't appear that the townspeople are to blame for Emily's demise. The father is more to blame for oppressing Emily and alienating her from society. She never developed any social skills, so it was difficult for her to be involved in the community. She created a world within her home and created her own rules, hence her not paying taxes.
The townspeople, on the contrary to the question, tried to reason with her about her taxes but eventually let it go -- out of compassion. If they had been against her or had not understood her, they gotten the money by throwing her out of her home. After her father's death, the townspeople pitied her and said "she had become humanized" (393). People called on her during the funeral. Then they were excited about her relationship with Homer and they were shocked at the discovery at the end of the story. If Emily had reached out to the townspeople, she could have reintroduced herself to society; it was her responsibility to overcome her past and step into the future. She choose not to do that.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Discussing Faulkner's A Rose for Emily
For this week, let's re-read Faulkner's A Rose for Emily and focus on the following questions for our Wednesday class.
Is Emily a victim in any way? If yes, how so?
What are the examples of control you see in this short story?
Do you sympathize with Emily in any way?
Those of you who haven't commented on the blog, please make sure you read and post your comments on the older posts. You are all welcome to put your thoughts here on this particular post as well but it's not required for this week.
Is Emily a victim in any way? If yes, how so?
What are the examples of control you see in this short story?
Do you sympathize with Emily in any way?
Those of you who haven't commented on the blog, please make sure you read and post your comments on the older posts. You are all welcome to put your thoughts here on this particular post as well but it's not required for this week.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Paper 1due
Please turn in Paper 1 on Monday morning before or right after Dr. Pruss's class. If you don't have it, make sure you e-mail it to me by 11 a.m. on the same day.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
A few LiterActive documents relevant to the theme of enslavement
Some LiterActive texts you can connect to theme of course and to "Girl":
1. Increase Mather's text on witchcraft (listed under Hawthorne)
2. Ted Hughes' text listed under Sylvia Plath
3. Sylvia Plath's journal text
4. Mother text listed under Amy Tan
5. Maud Gonne, From A Servant of the Queen (1938)
6. T.S. Eliot, From "Tradition and the Individual Talent" The Egoist, 1919.
7. Excerpt from "Playwrights Notes" from Josefina Lopez's "Real Women have Curves" (listed under John Leguizamo)
8. Henrik Ibsen's "Doll's House" (audio clip from audio library)
9. Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Mother" (audio clip)
1. Increase Mather's text on witchcraft (listed under Hawthorne)
2. Ted Hughes' text listed under Sylvia Plath
3. Sylvia Plath's journal text
4. Mother text listed under Amy Tan
5. Maud Gonne, From A Servant of the Queen (1938)
6. T.S. Eliot, From "Tradition and the Individual Talent" The Egoist, 1919.
7. Excerpt from "Playwrights Notes" from Josefina Lopez's "Real Women have Curves" (listed under John Leguizamo)
8. Henrik Ibsen's "Doll's House" (audio clip from audio library)
9. Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Mother" (audio clip)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Posting your comments on the blog is required for this class.
All those who haven't been posting until now, please make sure you post by Friday this week unless you simply don't care about your grades.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Check out this video!
Please take a look at this video and post your response. How do you think it is related to our course theme of enslavement?
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY
Drafts for Paper 1 due on Wednesday, Feb 24th.
Please come to class with your draft for Paper 1 to be critiqued by one of your peers. This is a workshop to help each other formulate coherent ideas in your paper.
Thesis topics for your paper are posted below (the same questions I had handed out in class sometime back).
Thanks much.
Thesis topics for your paper are posted below (the same questions I had handed out in class sometime back).
Thanks much.
Please Read This!
What’s a Body Paragraph?
A good body paragraph should provide relevant information to support the main idea of the paper. The opening sentence of a paragraph usually states the main point of discussion to be and the following sentences elaborate and support the argument. I think it would work even if the paragraph starts off with an argument or explanation of facts and then states the main point at the end of the paragraph so long as the reader is not at sea as to where the discussion is headed.
As Instructor DeMerell says “A good body paragraph starts out letting the reader know what the paragraph will be about and then supports that with more thought and information. I think it's a difficult question to answer blanket-ly: but a decent paragraph in a lit paper should have about 7-8 sentences and it should stick to a topic and then lead into the next paragraph without straying from its original "theme." In other words, the paragraphs should make their own statements, but somehow all flow together.
Ms. Botelho, one of the instructors, reiterates that “A paragraph follows an established theme that reiterates points to support the thesis. Many writers don't seem to struggle with the content of the paragraph as much as they struggle with the transitioning between paragraphs. A good writer will provide a seamless switch from one paragraph, and point, to the next.
Dr. Pruss adds “Transitions lets writers know if a paragraph even belongs in the essay at all. Also, transitions force students to think about the order of magnitude of each major point they are making. Which points should take more priority and which should take less priority and why? These are important things to think about, and not always easy to decide”.
Instructor Farrell opines that “A good body paragraph has to have three components: Topic Sentence, Primary Support, Secondary Support. The topic sentence is like a mini-thesis. It will relate back to the thesis of the paper and make a specific argument toward defending that thesis. The Primary Support basically explains that topic sentence and argues why the proposition is true, in fairly general terms. The Secondary Support is more specific, usually quoting directly from the source or research material to further prove the point. It’s important, here, that writers remember not to use dangling quotations”.
A good body paragraph should provide relevant information to support the main idea of the paper. The opening sentence of a paragraph usually states the main point of discussion to be and the following sentences elaborate and support the argument. I think it would work even if the paragraph starts off with an argument or explanation of facts and then states the main point at the end of the paragraph so long as the reader is not at sea as to where the discussion is headed.
As Instructor DeMerell says “A good body paragraph starts out letting the reader know what the paragraph will be about and then supports that with more thought and information. I think it's a difficult question to answer blanket-ly: but a decent paragraph in a lit paper should have about 7-8 sentences and it should stick to a topic and then lead into the next paragraph without straying from its original "theme." In other words, the paragraphs should make their own statements, but somehow all flow together.
Ms. Botelho, one of the instructors, reiterates that “A paragraph follows an established theme that reiterates points to support the thesis. Many writers don't seem to struggle with the content of the paragraph as much as they struggle with the transitioning between paragraphs. A good writer will provide a seamless switch from one paragraph, and point, to the next.
Dr. Pruss adds “Transitions lets writers know if a paragraph even belongs in the essay at all. Also, transitions force students to think about the order of magnitude of each major point they are making. Which points should take more priority and which should take less priority and why? These are important things to think about, and not always easy to decide”.
Instructor Farrell opines that “A good body paragraph has to have three components: Topic Sentence, Primary Support, Secondary Support. The topic sentence is like a mini-thesis. It will relate back to the thesis of the paper and make a specific argument toward defending that thesis. The Primary Support basically explains that topic sentence and argues why the proposition is true, in fairly general terms. The Secondary Support is more specific, usually quoting directly from the source or research material to further prove the point. It’s important, here, that writers remember not to use dangling quotations”.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sample write up for defending an argument or thesis.
Please post your comments or arguments to the following assertion and my defense of the same, by Tuesday.
The girl in Hemingway’s short story Hills like White Elephants is unable to safeguard her integrity as an individual because she ‘s enslaved by her feelings of inadequacy and her credulous disinclination for self preservation puts her in the man’s power more than is healthy to foster a loving relationship.
Her inability to heed her better judgment regarding her relationship is reason enough to suppose that she is bound by her feelings for her manipulative lover at the risk of her own well being in the long run. She discounts her intuitive recognition that something is definitely more than amiss which is evident in the scene where she looks into the distance at the hills as she tries one drink after another to ignore the true nature of her relationship with this man who says everything will be just fine after the abortion. She sees his inability to understand that her issue is not just terminating her pregnancy but also the implications of his detached attitude. She doubts the sincerity of his affection and she asks him “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along” (543) Her newfound knowledge that she probably doesn’t mean very much to him is disconcerting to her. Even so, she seems careful not to vex him with a sincere conversation about their relationship and is unable to break free because she’s dependent on him, more emotionally and habitually than in any other way. She ignores her inner voice and compromises her integrity in a bid to satisfy a peripheral need thereby plunging further into an abyss of selflessness
The girl in Hemingway’s short story Hills like White Elephants is unable to safeguard her integrity as an individual because she ‘s enslaved by her feelings of inadequacy and her credulous disinclination for self preservation puts her in the man’s power more than is healthy to foster a loving relationship.
Her inability to heed her better judgment regarding her relationship is reason enough to suppose that she is bound by her feelings for her manipulative lover at the risk of her own well being in the long run. She discounts her intuitive recognition that something is definitely more than amiss which is evident in the scene where she looks into the distance at the hills as she tries one drink after another to ignore the true nature of her relationship with this man who says everything will be just fine after the abortion. She sees his inability to understand that her issue is not just terminating her pregnancy but also the implications of his detached attitude. She doubts the sincerity of his affection and she asks him “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along” (543) Her newfound knowledge that she probably doesn’t mean very much to him is disconcerting to her. Even so, she seems careful not to vex him with a sincere conversation about their relationship and is unable to break free because she’s dependent on him, more emotionally and habitually than in any other way. She ignores her inner voice and compromises her integrity in a bid to satisfy a peripheral need thereby plunging further into an abyss of selflessness
Monday, 2/22/10, Class Info.
Dr. Pruss will be talking about thesis statements and body paragraph on Monday to help you come up with a convincing argument for your first paper.
Important information regarding Paper 1:Thesis Topics
Paper #1: English 106W
Due Date: February 26th, Friday
Some thesis topic questions to help you find your thesis statements. You can either choose directly from the following topics or come up with your own. Please make sure it is related to the course theme and short stories we've read so far.
Make sure to use examples from the story and to cite them with parenthetical citations. Also use one LiterActive document source and cite it please. Thank you.
1. Jamaica Kincaid’s story, “Girl,” consists of a mother’s monologue telling her daughter how to become a successful Antiguan woman, with a couple lines of the daughter’s denying some of the mother’s assumptions about her character interspersed in the lecture. Mother is full of good intentions but difficult and rigid expectations from her daughter. Examine the types of expectations Mother has to determine their source. Who is the Mother teaching the daughter to please? Why? What does this say about Antiguan society? Who is really in control? Women? Mothers? How do you know? Is it the same today in twenty-first century America? Are women still taught to please the same people as Mother teaches Girl to please? How do you see that happening today? Why is this the case?
2. Xingjian’s “The Accident” asks us to understand the difference between story and plot. Briefly explain how Xingjian does this and define these terms, so that you can focus your essay on why understanding this distinction is important for us today when we consider the knowledge we have about everyday events that occur. How often do we really have story? If we are reading plots more often than story, what does this say about truth in the twenty-first century? What do you think about this? Are there truths and not truth, or what?
3. Select one or two stories and write on the topic of a person’s invisibility. Think about Girl and whether her mother really knows who she is. Consider the man killed in the accident, and think about how many people really care about him at all. Think about the street being cleaned up; check the text and re-read what it says after that. Consider the girl in “Hills like White Elephants”; does her boyfriend really hear what she is feeling and saying? Consider the man in “Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat;” does the girl care about what he thinks? What about Emily and her relationship with her father and Homer in Faulkner’s story? Do either of them know her? Pick one character and one story, or two stories (your choice), and think about how people can be in the same family or part of a relationship and not ever see, hear, or understand the other person. What does this say about human relationships? Can you relate to this? Does this happen today? Can you think of some good examples of this you can explain in detail? Are there people in America today that are productive members of our society that we treat as invisible?
Due Date: February 26th, Friday
Some thesis topic questions to help you find your thesis statements. You can either choose directly from the following topics or come up with your own. Please make sure it is related to the course theme and short stories we've read so far.
Make sure to use examples from the story and to cite them with parenthetical citations. Also use one LiterActive document source and cite it please. Thank you.
1. Jamaica Kincaid’s story, “Girl,” consists of a mother’s monologue telling her daughter how to become a successful Antiguan woman, with a couple lines of the daughter’s denying some of the mother’s assumptions about her character interspersed in the lecture. Mother is full of good intentions but difficult and rigid expectations from her daughter. Examine the types of expectations Mother has to determine their source. Who is the Mother teaching the daughter to please? Why? What does this say about Antiguan society? Who is really in control? Women? Mothers? How do you know? Is it the same today in twenty-first century America? Are women still taught to please the same people as Mother teaches Girl to please? How do you see that happening today? Why is this the case?
2. Xingjian’s “The Accident” asks us to understand the difference between story and plot. Briefly explain how Xingjian does this and define these terms, so that you can focus your essay on why understanding this distinction is important for us today when we consider the knowledge we have about everyday events that occur. How often do we really have story? If we are reading plots more often than story, what does this say about truth in the twenty-first century? What do you think about this? Are there truths and not truth, or what?
3. Select one or two stories and write on the topic of a person’s invisibility. Think about Girl and whether her mother really knows who she is. Consider the man killed in the accident, and think about how many people really care about him at all. Think about the street being cleaned up; check the text and re-read what it says after that. Consider the girl in “Hills like White Elephants”; does her boyfriend really hear what she is feeling and saying? Consider the man in “Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat;” does the girl care about what he thinks? What about Emily and her relationship with her father and Homer in Faulkner’s story? Do either of them know her? Pick one character and one story, or two stories (your choice), and think about how people can be in the same family or part of a relationship and not ever see, hear, or understand the other person. What does this say about human relationships? Can you relate to this? Does this happen today? Can you think of some good examples of this you can explain in detail? Are there people in America today that are productive members of our society that we treat as invisible?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Posting comments on the blog.
For those who've been having trouble posting on the blog:
1. Click on the "comments" section of the post (you will find this under each post).
2. Type in “testing” in the comments window so that you don’t lose your writing. Choose "Google" profile and click on post.
3. You will be asked to sign in. If you haven’t already created a blogger account, you can do so by clicking on “create an account now” at the bottom of the Blogger “sign in” window.
Once you're signed in go back and post your comments.
I hope everybody begins posting without fail as this will affect your grade. If you still have problems posting, you can call or e-mail me. Thanks much.
1. Click on the "comments" section of the post (you will find this under each post).
2. Type in “testing” in the comments window so that you don’t lose your writing. Choose "Google" profile and click on post.
3. You will be asked to sign in. If you haven’t already created a blogger account, you can do so by clicking on “create an account now” at the bottom of the Blogger “sign in” window.
Once you're signed in go back and post your comments.
I hope everybody begins posting without fail as this will affect your grade. If you still have problems posting, you can call or e-mail me. Thanks much.
Rephrasing question. Please respond by Tuesday night.
Hello all,
Let me re-phrase my previous question for those who don't understand what a form of control is. Please make sure to write a well thought out analysis with proper punctuation and grammer. No points for sloppy writing :)
Here's the rephrased version:
Connect the theme of enslavement to Hemingway's Hills like White Elephants.
Or
Dr. Pruss's question "How does Hemingway's short story Hills like White Elephants exemplify the course theme of enslavement"?
Let me re-phrase my previous question for those who don't understand what a form of control is. Please make sure to write a well thought out analysis with proper punctuation and grammer. No points for sloppy writing :)
Here's the rephrased version:
Connect the theme of enslavement to Hemingway's Hills like White Elephants.
Or
Dr. Pruss's question "How does Hemingway's short story Hills like White Elephants exemplify the course theme of enslavement"?
Monday, February 8, 2010
Respond to this question by the end of Tuesday.
What are your thoughts on the forms of control in Hemingway’s short story Hills like White Elephants? Please elaborate.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Accident - some points to aid your understanding in reading the text critically.
The Accident
What’s this short story about? A completely unavoidable accident where a man is crushed under the wheels of a bus and his little child is flung into the gutter?
The bus driver is driving in accordance with traffic rules, “fast but not too fast” (1378). He obviously sees the cyclist trying to cross the road but does he assume responsibility for his safety? The bus driver probably knows he has right of way since the cyclist is the one crossing the road and he’s supposed to be more careful when doing so. If the cyclist doesn’t worry about his own safety on the road, why should the bus driver care when he has right of way? Is that why he doesn’t brake earlier when he sees the cyclist crossing the road with a baby carriage?
After the accident, the bus driver justifies “I clearly honked the horn and braked! Everyone saw it – he was trying to kill himself by riding into the bus! How can you say it’s my fault?” (1379). But why doesn’t he slow down sooner instead of honking and continuing at the same speed till it’s too late?
Is the bus driver misusing rules and regulations to the extent of not caring about the possible dire consequences of his “right of way” attitude? Misusing? Yes, misusing regulations to shift human responsibility onto one who’s clearly being careless or irresponsible (the cyclist). Why doesn’t he assume responsibility for the safety of the careless cyclist? Does he take comfort in the fact that he was not the one in the wrong and therefore expects the cyclist to take total responsibility for his own life? Is he enslaved to “form”, to road regulations to the extent of not “seeing”, nor caring enough for the fate of his fellowmen? Is it farfetched for him to be humane and “care” even though the cyclist seems foolhardy in his attempt to cross the road?
Have those very “rules” that are in place for the general safety of people desensitized the bus driver to the consequences of his own reluctance to stop and think, and just be humane? Is it so difficult for him to let a fellowman trespass upon his “right of way” on the road? What if we go around the world with a “You better get out of my way unless you want to die” attitude? What does that make us? And why and how do we become that way? Are we inherently so “cold” towards strangers or are we conditioned to become like that?
An example of another similar kind of enslavement is our blind reliance on traffic signals. For instance, the traffic light turns green and you zoom off without even a glance to look about for any danger. The signal says green, so it must be safe you assume. Is it because you implicitly trust the security and safety ensured by the traffic signal? Does that mean you turn off our inner sense of awareness and become automatons? What about the possibility of human error on the part of another who could be absent minded enough to pass a red light and crash into you? Should you not consider that possibility?
Then again, with the heavy reliance on calculators and cash registers. For instance, the cash register or computer suddenly goes kaput and the cashier is flustered for he/she cannot figure out basic math because of his/her heavy reliance on a machine. Yet another example is my own dependency on GPS technology to the point that I often turn off my own internal sense of direction and blindly follow what the GPS tells me. And when I was headed to NYC the third time my GPS device couldn’t catch the signal and at that point I wished I had been “aware” of the directions the last time I’d driven to the city. The point is that we let some of our faculties lie dormant for want of exercising them.
The above examples show that eventually our dependency on technology could become more of a hindrance to our own personal growth.
Now back to the cyclist – Apparently, lack of assuming responsibility plagues the cyclist as well and more so because he’s putting his little child in danger along with himself.
Did he presume that the bus driver would stop or slow down for him?
Does he expect the bus driver to exercise more caution since he’s got a baby carriage with him? What does that say about the cyclist himself?
Does he not care for the safety of his child? Does he not value life as he should? He obviously seems to care for his child for he pushes the carriage away from being crushed at the last minute, but he didn’t care enough?
A curious crowd gathers around the body and everybody reacts in varied ways to the scene of death. Some are angry at the driver, some try to defend him. The accident triggers the protective instinct in a parent rebuking a child not to run across the road without looking. Some are just curious onlookers. The fat cook in his apron quickly berates the son for the death of the father without knowing the full facts. Is he fabricating a new plot to the tragic incident? He also takes the opportunity to blame the new generation. What are the general views of people about sons and daughters? Why? Are they stereotypical?
What does the narrator imply when he says “And yet he was the one picking up the child, so he was both a good father and a good husband because he loved his child, presumably he also loved his wife, but did his wife love him? If she loved him why didn’t she fulfill her responsibilities as a mother and pick up the child herself?” (1383).What is the narrator trying to portray here? What do you “see” in this short story? People who are metaphorically enslaved to define and categorize everything? What is the general view of these people on the role of men and women? Why?
One of the bystanders says "Every family has only one son these days”. What does that imply? Does it have something to do with communist China imposing several restrictions on the personal lives and choices of its citizens? Is that acceptable?
So at the end of the story, what do you think is the point of this story? Is the narrator simply recounting the details of an accident? It is important to know that Xingjian was a writer in China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution when the government controlled all the major aspects of people’s lives.
Is he also showing us the underlying conflict of life in a particular society? Is the narrator portraying the common failings of a “herded” (as in herding cattle or sheep, for example- getting them all to comply and to control them) society where people cannot think and analyze for themselves and are dependent on an external system that regulates and controls even their thought processes? Have these people lost touch with their instinctive human spirit through living in a restricted society? What happens to a person who is aware that his will is secondary and that he has to comply and conform to a higher man made authority? Is it de-motivating and demoralizing to be controlled and to not have the basic freedom of expression?
Is he revealing the problems and tremendous hindrance of existing in a communist society? Is it a culture of dependency? The communist society was one that promised security and equal opportunity to all citizens. The good of the collective whole was more important than the individual. It was a time when people felt like they were provided with a sense of security by the government yet they felt trapped for they could not speak their minds freely and realize their own individuality. The government regulated everything and people went about their lives without having to make major decisions for their future and that can be immensely de-motivating.
Why does the narrator specify in the last paragraph that he has simply related an accident in his story? Is it to mask the fact that he has given much insight into a society that hinders people from being free thinking individuals who assume personal responsibility for their actions? Do we sometimes just go through the motion of things and not be really present with all our faculties? Think of why that happens? Is it a lack of motivation? Think about the forms of enslavement that you see in this short story?
Friday, February 5, 2010
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Please Read This!
The students who were absent on Friday, February 5th, need to make sure they get a copy of Dr. Pruss’s Paper Topics that I handed out in class today. You could e-mail me and I will send you an electronic copy or you could collect them from me when we meet for Dr. Pruss's class on Monday.
Guidelines for Paper 1 (due on February 26th):
What is a thesis statement?
A thesis statement is just one sentence that states the main idea on the entire paper. The most important thing is that it should be debatable. Your thesis statement must include a topic plus an assertion. An assertion is something that you can declare, develop or defend.
I suggest you all do a free write about the short story of your choice from the text. This will help you gain insight into what aspects of the story you feel passionate about or want to write about. Please support your ideas with the text and use at least one LiterActive document in your paper. Please do not use any other outside sources in your paper.
Writing about literature or literary text using literary terms is imperative when writing a paper. These are literary tools we use to examine a story. It will not suffice to say “he said” or “she said” when writing about or analyzing a literary text for your paper.
Literary terms you need to understand:
Plot: Simple & Complex
Protagonist
Antagonist
Conflict
Characterization: Static or Round Characters
Setting
Point of View
Style
Theme
You will find literary definitions of these terms in your text book starting on page 1806.
If you have any questions, please e-mail me or meet me during office hours on Mondays and Fridays:10:00-11:00 at the Tutoring Resource Center BR 104. I will be happy to help you get started on your thesis ideas. We will also go over it briefly in our next class.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Accident
What do you gauge from the reactions of the bystanders at the scene of the accident in "The Accident" by Gao Xingjian? Read the last two paragraphs and comment on them. Also, what are the implications in the sentence "For the man to have sacrificed himself for the child was indeed noble, but in fact the sacrifice had been entirely avoidable", on page 1384?
Girl
- Discuss the impact of culture on the mother in the Girl. How do cultural constructs encourage people to engage in a certain behavior, sometimes against their integrity as individuals? Support your ideas and thoughts with the text and discussions in class.
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