Every week I will post class-related materials under this tab. Certain things will be posted on the main site, ensuring that all of you recieve as much information as possible! Remember to always check both the main page and this page when you are looking for information. Please post all of your questions/comments on the main site so all of the students (including those from Kellye’s section) can contribute. Discussion questions may be posted here or on the main page, so check both.
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June 2024 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
For this week I would like you guys to come up with your own discussion questions. They can be on the WWI Poets, Auden, Yeats, even Eliot. You can also ask questions about the paper-writing process, anything on style, thesis statements etc. Please post them on the main site and make sure to state your name and the section you are in. Also, remember that this is not mandatory, so even if you do not post anything please feel free to read what others have written. If you see a question you would like to answer, feel free to answer it. I want to make this as interactive as possible!
The Agenda for Wednesday in Sections: Writing-Workshops- please bring at least the first paragraph of your paper. I will divide you into groups of three of four and have your discuss your own papers with your peers. I will also post some sample first paragraphs, from past students, so you determine what makes a good paper. These will be posted on the main site.
What Makes a Good Paper?
(These are some of the replies you all gave in section this week)
(1) Limit your topic, have a clear focus
(2) A good conclusion and introductory paragraph
(3) Write about something you care about, something you are passionate about
(4) Have a clear thesis statement, one to two sentences
(5) Make sure your sentences and paragraphs flow, use transitional statements
(6) Edit your paper, reread your own writing
(7) Be clear and concise
(8) Do not overuse “flowery” language
(9) Make sure your body paragraphs (i.e. the paragraphs existing between your introduction and conclusion) directly address your thesis statement. Make sure these paragraphs contain “mini-arguments” which elucidate your overall thesis.
This week we will review for the midterm and discuss Mrs. Dalloway. The midterm will be composed of short answer identifications (i.e. connecting the author with the line) and an essay in which you will have to connect three authors/works together in some way. I will make up another mini-quiz for you all, so make sure to begin reviewing the authors we have discussed up until this point. Please bring your books to class and make sure to participate. Please remember that participation is 10% of your grade, and simply being present in class is not enough. This is your class, your discussion, take advantage of it. If there is anything you are confused about, anything you need help on, please post your questions/comments on the main page (I count this as form of virtual participation, please take advantage of it). The midterm is next Friday and I want all of you to do well!
Since Mrs. Dalloway is a novel, we can not possibly look over the whole thing… I have selected three sections which I feel are extremely important and reflective of the entire novel: (1) pages 20-22, the aeroplane scene, (2) 97-100, Septimus and Proportion (3) 183-186, Death and the Party
Please read these passages and think about them. Why are they important? How do they reflect Modern society? What is Woolf doing in each of these sections in terms of language, theme, form, politics? How can you connect Woolf to Eliot, or Brooke, or Auden (or even Joyce)? We have only read poetry up until this point, how did your reading change when reading Woolf’s novel? What is the difference between reading poetry and reading a novel?
If any of you want to discuss other passages please post them on the main site or write me an email! Also please try to bring up A Room of One’s Own in next week’s discussion! I look forward to seeing all of you next week! Happy studying!
Let’s begin with the beginning.
All of Woolf’s novels have at least one thing in common: the beginning sentence grounds the reader, setting up the tone, and its shift, the setting, and its transition, the language, and its poetry. In The Voyage Out we begin with the street, and detach ourselves from the characters; in To the Lighthouse, we begin with “yes,” a feminine voice asserting the positive deep within the chaos of time; in Jacob’s Room with “So of course,” an almost-assertion by another female voice, another mother; and in Mrs. Dalloway we begin with the character herself, a wife, and active woman, known first through her marital status.
Do a close reading of the first line of Mrs. Dalloway: “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”
How is Clarissa first introduced to the reader? Is that initial introduction the one that remains with you as you continue to read the novel?
For Wednesday we are going to begin discussing Stevie Smith and George Orwell. Please have “Shooting an Elephant” read by section! It is a really short piece, and really easy to understand. We are moving, slowly but surely, into Post-Modernism, a period marked by absence, nihilism, existentialism, rejection, abjection, absolute lack of structure (as if we haven’t already seen that!), chaos, minimalism and humor. It is impossible to define the shift, or even trace its beginning point, but it is important to realize, especially as we read Beckett, that literature once again began rejecting its predecessors.
I want to spend a little time each section to go over biographical details with you guys. The ID’s on the midterm were rather heavy on biographical facts so i thought it would be a good idea to spend some time jotting down the most important facts about each author in preparation for the final exam. Please make a note of what you cconsider to be most important about Stevie Smith and Orwell. I will ask each of you to share this with the class on Wednesday.
Look at the Stevie Smith poems: How does her style differ from say Eliot’s? Or Auden’s? Some have termed her a “confessional poet.” WHat does that mean? Is she Postmodern?
Look at Orwell’s short story: What does he think of Empire? What does the elephant represent? Why is the only really descriptive piece in the whole story the one which describes the dead man? How does his style differ from Joyce, or Woolf?
These are just some things to think about. Please read the Orwell, you will be very confused if you don’t. I promise it is just a few pages, and very readable!
Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!
Professor Donelan keeps mentioning that this is the end of “high modernism”…. what is “high modernism”?
How is it different from regular “modernism”?
Sharon,
That is an incredibly important and problematic question. As you all know even defining Modernism is incredibly difficult! However, the “gist” of it is as follows: High Modernism is a sub-section of Modernism. So do not think that Modernism and High Modernism are two completely different things. High Modernism is mainly based on time (i.e. the time of production) and it represents the literature that was produced from the end of WWI to the beginning WWII. Some call Woolf a high modernist, while I just call her a modernist. But both are correct really, it is just a way to distinguish between styles of modernism as they pertain to a particular historical time period. Hope this helps.
Also, the “end of high modernism” does not occur right after WWII. Some writers still attempt to mimic the modernists well after the war is over. But, as we saw with Stevie Smith and Beckett (also Larkin, who moves against Eliot and Pound), a break, a rupture, does take place, and thus gives birth to Post-Modernism. Just remember that all of these boundaries are murky, and one poet may still be called a Modernist in 1955, while another may be called a Post-Modernist.
Since we didn’t have section last week we have a lot of different authors to go over this time: Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes and Tony Harrison. It is impossible to do what we did last week and take each individual author, so most likely, I will ask you guys to divide into groups, and have each group will tackle one author. Please look over the biographies and some of the poems.. I want you all to leave section being able to distinguish between these four poets, both thematically and biographically. What are some of the ways in which you can remember how to distinguish between Hughes and Harrison, or Larkin and Hughes (etc)? Also think about who you are most confused about… which poet/poetry is hardest to read, to understand, to remember? I will ask you guys in class at the beginning to share this with the class so I can know what to spend more time on.
On another note: I want to remind you that the paper is due two weeks from this Friday! The quarter is quickly coming to close. I will have office hours from 1130-1 every Wednesday from now until the end of the quarter. If any of you are creating your own topic, you must get this topic approved by me or Prof. Donelan. If you guys would like a writing workshop at any point before the papers are due, please let me know (email me or just tell me in person). Also, this paper is weighed rather heavily, so it is extremely important that you come talk to me if you have ANY worries about it. Remember to take advantage of the Writing Program’s useful resources and assistants… they are there to help you on anything paper-related- how to create a thesis, how to be clear and concise etc. Their office is located on the first floor of South Hall.
Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!
Alternative Paper Topics
Note on all: Please remember to give specific TEXTUAL examples. Cite, cite, and cite! Engage with the texts, speak to them and let them speak back to you in return. Do not be vague, do not be scared, and most importantly, be creative and have fun with your writing!
(1) On Empire:
The notion of “Empire” (both its rise but more specifically its fall) appears in many of the works we have read in this class. Woolf, for example, uses Peter Walsh as a way to discuss Empire (remember Peter was in India and has just returned) while Orwell uses an elephant. Choose two or three works which directly, or indirectly, deal with this notion of Empire and show how each author/work critiques or supports British imperialism. How does one interpretation/analysis of Empire in one work differ from its interpretation in another? Why the sudden interest in the fall of Empire in these post-war, or mid-war, works? An interesting comparison may be to include Doris Lessing in your analysis, focusing on how an author outside of Britain discusses these issues (or if) and how that focus differs from Woolf’s or Orwell’s for example…
(2) On Feminism:
Virginia Woolf, Stevie Smith, and Doris Lessing are the three women writers we have looked at in this class. What notions of Feminism do they each hold? How do these notions differ from one another? In what specific texts do you find their arguments for the rights of women both in the literary and cultural realms? How do these texts converge and diverge from each other? Note that both Lessing and Woolf are primarily novelists while Smith mainly writes poetry- what does their choice of literary form (i.e. the poem or the novel) reveal about their version of feminism (if anything)? How does each use her work to create a space for the woman-writer/woman-intellectual in a male-centered tradition?
(3) On Humor:
Look at Beckett, Stevie Smith, and/or Larking (or any other text you find humorous). There are many moments of comedy inside their work. Why does comedy enter into the modern/post-modern text at this moment in time? What style of humor characterizes each of these writers and how do they employ the humorous instead their text? What does each individual writer hope to accomplish by allowing the humorous to enter inside their literary creations? How is Beckett’s humor different from Smith’s for example? Where do they find a common ground? Is humor a necessary literary trope in post-modernity?
(4) On Religion:
Ted Hughes, Philip Larking and Tony Harrison all talk about religion in some sort of way. They are all bent on reassessing faith in the post-war era. What does each say about religion’s place in the modern era? What three poems (one from each author) can you find to shape an argument about the place of religion in the Post-War/Post-Modern era? All of these poets speak about mourning in some way or another- what loss does each mourn for and what does their process of mourning help reveal about the universal condition?
(5) On Language:
Move outside of England Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Orwell (he fits in here since he did much of his writing outside of England and was in fact born in India). Look at the theory of Language developed by these authors and try to assess the difference between “African Language” and “the English Language.” What does Orwell hope to clarify, hope to DO, in his essay? And Ngugi? Would Ngugi agree with Orwell? Why or why not? Why is language so important (there is an obvious answer but try to be more creative in your assessment)? How does Empire come into the picture in regards to language formation (specifically for Ngugi). Put these men in dialogue with one another and see what happens… where would they agree and where do they disagree?
This week we will mainly focus on Lessing, Ngugi, and maybe do a little review of Rushdie, Achebe, and Brathwaite. It is impossible to talk in depth about all of these writers, we will just briefly go over main ideas and problems that each of them present. Please come to class prepared, at least having read Lessing and Ngugi. Try thinking about the power of language, and what it means for a postcolonial writer to use the English language. The big question, which we will pose and tackle in section is: does the use of the English language empower or disempower the writer? Also, try to assess some of the differences between Ngugi, Brathwaite and Rushdie…
Do not forget to also think a little about Lessing’s story, specifically regarding gender roles, suicide, freedom, and human relationships. This would be a great story for many people to consider in their own writing projects!
It will be a really laid back section, I know everyone is in Thanksgiving-mode. I will bring some muffins and fruits for you guys! Do not be afraid to speak your mind, to ask questions and to express concerns…
Tomorrow we will mainly discuss Walcott and Heaney but we will do so in a different way. I want to see first that you understand the basic themes each poet presents but also that you can connect these themes to other authors we have read for this class. This will hopefully prepare you a little for the essay portion of the final exam. Please come prepared with questions about any and all authors we have read. This is your review and you are the one taking the test next week, so this is the time to ask anything you are not sure about. If there is one author you want to go over please let me know in section tomorrow! Also, you guys will be doing evaluations for me tomorrow, so it will be a shorter section, giving you enough time for those evaluations.
See you all tomorrow! I hope the papers are going well!
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In Garrett Hongo’s “Kubota to the Chinese Poets Detained on Angel Island” Hongo talks about how he can relate to the chinese, but I have to wonder why exactly he does. Did he endure hardship similar to the immigrants? All i can see was that he attended military school in Hiroshima, but the Japanese experience in the US was different from the Chinese experience. Can he relate just because he’s a poet?
I thought “Woman Warrior” was an interesting work because it seems to have a few different perspectives included as well as multiple imbedded meanings behind the story. I took it to be an example from Maxine’s life that was intended to dissuade her from being promiscuous, but I liked that she was able to imagine her aunt as a strong woman who was in love.