Final Prompts for Summer 2009

Below are the prompts for the take home part of the final.  Choose only one prompt.  The essay will be due on Monday, August 9.

1.  Discuss the way that childhood is depicted in up to four of our works.  (Two works must be from the second part of the session.)  What does the author seem to assume about childhood, parents, and the family?  What role does class and/or gender play?  How do depictions of childhood change from culture to culture or genre to genre?  Feel free to talk about your own assumptions about childhood.


2.  Discuss the role that masculinity and/or femininity play in up to four of the works we've read so far.  Two works must be from the second part of the session.  Consider the role that history, culture, and even genre play in defining what appropriate masculinity and femininity are.  Also, consider your viewpoint as a 21st century man or woman.


3.   How do you define literature?  Support your definition with four separate works.  Two works must be from the second part of the session.  Also, be sure to consider what is NOT literature.

4.   Discuss the folktale as a genre of literature.  Given your definition of literature, how is the folktale literature?  How is it NOT literature?  Consider the role that orality, performance, and audience may play.  Should it matter that today's storytellers' audiences are often children? Consider the impact of history, race relations, and readers' expectations.  Do you consider the Coyote Tales to be American Literature and "All Kinds of Fur" and "Donkey's Skin" to be German and French Literature respectively?


5.  Most of the most recent works that we are reading this session are poems.  How do these poems reflect the changes in our society that have occurred since the 18th or 19th century?  How do these poems fit with the older works that we have read?  How do they not fit?  Consider the role of gender, genre, and culture.

6.  While we discussed A Doll's House, we saw scenes from two film versions as well as videos from stage versions.  Compare and contrast the way that the films and the stage versions approach Ibsen's play.  What seems to be the central idea of the films and one or two of the stage versions?  Consider film and plays as genres.

6 a.  Alternately, compare and contrast the films of A Doll's House with the other films that we've seen in class (Apocalypse Now, Raise the Red Lantern, and Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring Again as well as David Copperfield and Jane Eyre).  Consider film as a genre, the films' visual elements, and their aural elements.  Which film(s) would you consider including in a film and literature course?  Why?  Why not?

Study Guide for Final (Summer 2009) -- part 1

Hmmm...Kristin Chenoweth was certainly a dazzling Cunegonde.  I wonder how she would be as Nora!

That said, let's start part 1 of our study guide for the final.

On Monday, we finished discussing Raise the Red Lantern and talked a bit about "Stale Mates" as it shed light on the film.  Then I introduced drama/theater and Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879).  Remember that drama refers to the written form of the play or the playscript and the playwright's intentions.  Theater refers to the performed form of the play, reflecting the director's intentions, the audience, and the director's central idea about the play.  The central idea is an especially key concept.  Without a central idea, a performance goes all over the place.  With a central idea, the play is definitely worth seeing even if you've seen the play before.

We also talked about realism (psychological, individual) vs. naturalism (sociological, group) as well as Raymond Williams' key terms: dominant (present-day and mainstream), emergent (foreshadowing of the future), and residual (remains of the past).  For example, in A Doll's House, the role that Nora plays in her marriage reflects the dominant idea of True Womanhood.  Mrs. Linden's work for Helmer could be considered emergent as clerical work was not considered to be women's work in 1879.  For more information on these terms, see the following link from Arizona State University:

http://www.public.asu.edu/~kheenan/courses/101/fall00/101analysis.htm#DOMINANT,%20RESIDUAL,%20EMERGENT

We also discussed the term anachronism (something that is out of time like a wristwatch on a Roman warrior). 

We watched some scenes from two film versions of A Doll's House.  Both were from 1973, and I suspect that the central idea for both was to capture the attention of the era's movie audiences.  Joseph Losey's film (starring Jane Fonda and David Warner) took liberties with the play in an attempt to make it a better film and help audiences understand what Nora had done.  Patrick Garland's film (starring Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins) was more faithful to Ibsen even though it did go outside the playscript and show Krogstad with his boys.

I wish that I could have shown this scene!  And I wish that there were a still of Jane Fonda at the confectioner's shop.


I'm afraid that this picture of Parisian macaroons is the best I can do!  They certainly look prettier than the half-price kosher macaroons that my husband and I buy after Passover.


On Tuesday, we continued to discuss A Doll's House, and we looked at a few more theatrical versions of the play. 

Did you know that A Doll's House was written in Norwegian?

These are a few of the links that we looked at:

 First is Mabou Mines' experimental production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHn2FxLJOoI

Next is a more traditional British production starring Gillian Anderson and Toby Stephens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9IU5yvIKkQ

Here is a link to Ingmar Bergman's adaptation set in the 1950s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb3CIsynKa4







For a review of the Mabou Mines production, follow this link:

http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=950CE4D7103BF937A15752C1A9659C8B63

Here is the Gothamist's interview with director Lee Breuer.  He explains the reasons behind his casting of very tall women and very short men, and then he talks about audiences' responses to this casting:

http://gothamist.com/2009/02/27/director_lee_breuer_mabou_mines_dol.php

For reviews of the production starring Gillian Anderson, see these links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/charlesspencer/5354252/A-Dolls-House-at-the-Donmar-Warehouse---review.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/may/24/theatre-review

I can't find a review of The Hunger Artists' version. 

Wednesday we watched Act 3 of Patrick Garland's version of A Doll's House.  Weren't Anthony Hopkins and Claire Bloom amazing!


We also talked about applying stages of moral development to the characters in A Doll's House.

For more information about Carol Gilligan's theory of women's moral development, see this link:

http://www.slideshare.net/drburwell/carol-gilligan

(It's actually a PowerPoint presentation that you may download.)

For more information about Lawrence Kohlberg's theory, see this link:

http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm

And here is a link to my Multiply entry on A Doll's House with many pictures:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/20/A_Dolls_House_More_Pictures

As we finish up our quick unit on drama, remember Avery Brooks' comparison:

films tell stories; theater is a place to explore ideas

Below is a scene from Oregon State University's production of A Doll's House.  Yes, yes, yes, it is set in the 1950s.


Thursday we discussed the French author Voltaire's satire, Candide (1759).  Candide is very much a product of the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason (1649-1789), a time when philosophers, scientists, and writers began to question authority and received wisdom.  Keep in mind that, though, that the French king was an absolute monarch and that people still believed in the divine right of kings there.  (Voltaire's king was Louis XIV.)  A satire not only holds up a mirror to nature and indicates problems in society but also proposes a solution.  (What did you make of Voltaire's solution in chapter 30?)  Satires may take various forms.  Candide is the story of a picaro who wanders around the world and has a series of adventures.  Some other satires are Gulliver's Travels (in the form of a travel narrative) or The Colbert Report (in the form of a right-wing commentator's show). 

For more about the Colbert Report, see this link:

http://www.colbertnation.com/home

To get an idea of the picaro, here is a video from My Name Is Earl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYlhCFNRRXg

Or you may find that Candide is more like Wile E. Coyote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYTWnjFqTDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfAlyLNBG5Y


Finally, here are some YouTube videos of Kristin Chenoweth as Cunegonde.  The first is her performance of "Glitter and Be Gay."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWzewHTcHew

The next is her performance of "You Were Dead You Know," a duet with Candide:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlvydPgfBg

Assignment Sheet for the Essay

Above is a picture from NC Stage's 2005 production of A Doll's House.

Below is our assignment sheet:

Out-of-Class Essay– Due August 9, 2009

Outcomes:

To study great, representative literary works from around the world, analyzing them in depth and applying appropriate literary terminology;

To survey a selection of world literature from various cultures after 1650

To promote understanding of these works through written response;

To identify and appreciate major literary genres, content, and style in a variety of works;

To acquire and practice literary terminology;

To develop critical thinking through comparative consideration of world literature and, where appropriate, secondary sources;

To examine literature in relation to its political, social, and historical environment;

To build on group discussions and blog entries of issues pertaining to the literature and its criticism;

To write multi-page papers that demonstrate critical reading of texts (primary & secondary sources) and use a style appropriate for academic discourse;

To maintain academic honesty and use MLA citation (in-text and works cited)

In this assignment, you will be writing a two to five page argument responding to a reading from our class schedule or a video that we’ve seen in class.   I would recommend expanding on one of the journal entries that you have written.  Please see me if you would like to explore another topic.

You may use secondary sources from literary criticism.  At this point, though, I am much more interested in what you think of Nora and Helmer’s relationship for example, based on your reading of the text rather than what I think or what some literary critic thinks.   However, depending on the approach that you’re taking, you may need to use some secondary sources to provide additional background or support a point that you are making.  Keep in mind that these secondary sources are simply that—background material and support.  They will assist you as you make your case, but make sure that you have the best possible source.  Even though I have gathered a number of web sites, I try to choose the most scholarly yet accessible sites as well as sites that reflect other cultures’ viewpoints—and those that present performances based on our readings.)

For citation, even if you do not use secondary sources, you will be using MLA (in-text and works cited).  Please see me if you need additional information, especially if you are using a source that is not in our anthology or if it has been a while since your last freshman composition course.

It goes without saying that I expect this paper to be your own work.  Feel free to draft your paper in your blog or journal.  I’ll also be happy to talk over or look over your ideas during my office hours or (internet connection permitting) online.  If you’d like a second opinion, you may also want to work with one of the Writing Center’s tutors.

Grading

An A paper will be outstanding on all or most levels: close, critical reading of a text or texts, focus, development, support for argument, organization, style, and grammar/mechanics.  (I have listed each level in order of importance; however, errors in the last area will affect your grade.)  It may be on a reading we’ve discussed to death.  In that case, it will show me new insights derived from your close, critical reading and, if necessary, secondary sources.  Alternately, this paper may be on a reading that has been assigned but not discussed in class.  This option may not produce an easier “A,” as I will be looking at your ability to scrutinize a text and produce a well-written essay without the opportunity to discuss your text (and listen to others’ insights about it) in class.  However, it can be a productive route to an A.

A B paper will be effective on all or most levels: close, critical reading of a text or texts, focus, development, support for argument, organization, style, and grammar/mechanics.  (I have listed each level in order of importance; however, errors in the last area will affect your grade.)  It may be on a reading we’ve discussed in class or a reading that I’ve assigned but not discussed in class. 

A C paper will be adequate on all or most levels: close, critical reading of a text or texts, focus, development, support for argument, organization, style, and grammar/mechanics.  (I have listed each level in order of importance; however, errors in the last area will affect your grade.)  It may be on a reading we’ve discussed in class or a reading that I’ve assigned but not discussed in class.  Note that a C is not failing, simply “average.” 

A D paper will contain significant problems on one or more levels:  close, critical reading of a text or texts, focus, development, support for argument, organization, style, and grammar/mechanics.  The first five areas are especially important.  Papers can also be too long or too short.  Please check in with me or a tutor at the Writing Center if your paper has fallen into this category.

A failing (F) paper will be inadequate on one or more levels:  close, critical reading of a text or texts, focus, development, support for argument, organization, style, and grammar/mechanics.  The first five areas are especially important.  Papers can be too long or too short.  Please check in with me if your paper has fallen into this category.

I reserve the right to give your paper a grade of R.  This is not a failing grade, but I am requiring you to rewrite your paper because of problems on one or more levels:  close, critical reading of a text or texts, focus, development, support for argument, organization, style, and grammar/mechanics.  I may also assign this grade because of what I perceive to be insufficient effort or inadequate understanding of the assignment.  If your paper falls into this category, please see me to talk about ways to rework your paper.

Please let me know if you are having problems with your paper or may have to hand in your paper late.  There will be a late penalty of one-third of a grade per day, but I will waive the penalty if you’ve talked to me ahead of time.

 

Overview for Midterm

Above is a picture of Igbo elders in council.  Below is a quick overview of our material.

Genres:

novel -- a fictional prose narrative of at least 50,000 words, which emphasizes character over plot, focuses on a protagonist with whom we are supposed to sympathize, and has a realistic-seeming setting

life writing -- non-fictional writing about an individual's life.  Sub-genres are biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, letters, and journals or diaries.

autobiography -- covers the whole of the author's life

memoir -- covers part of the author's life

Works --

Apocalypse Now (1979) dir. by Francis Ford Coppola.  Set in Vietnam although it is an adaptation of Heart of Darkness.  Capt. Willard is the narrator.  He is sent on a mission to kill Col. Kurtz, a Green Beret who has gone rogue.  The men on the boat escorting Willard include Chef (remember the tiger scene) and Lance the surfer.  Along the way we meet Col. Kilgore (who wants to see Lance surf) and a photojournalist (played by Dennis Hopper) who is Coppola's version of Kurtz' Russian.

Heart of Darkness (serialized 1899, published as a book 1902) by Joseph Conrad for whom English was *not* his first language.  This novel is a frame narrative, beginning with an unnamed Englishman's narration and then moving to Marlow's narration.  Marlow is a merchant marine who goes to the Belgian Congo as an employee of the nefarious Company.  He is sent to captain a boat rescuing Kurtz, a star of the Company.  Along the way we meet the Accountant (who may remind you of Kilgore), many pilgrims, the Helmsman and the Fireman, the Russian, and Kurtz' Intended.  Is Marlow on the hero's journey as he moves from the center (London) to the margins (Congo, esp. Kurtz' trading post)?  Note that London has not always been the center.  It has been one of the dark places like the Congo.

"An Image of Africa" (1975) -- African novelist Chinua Achebe strongly criticizes Conrad's depiction of Africa and Africans.  He focuses on Conrad's description of the landscape and his refusal to let Africans speak for themselves.

Achebe on writing in English -- Achebe feels that he has been given the gift of English.  He argues for his choice to write in English.  (Ten or fifteen years later Kenyan Ngugi wa' Thiongo will argue for his choice to write in Gikiyu, his first language.)

Things Fall Apart (1958) -- This is not only Chinua Achebe's first novel but also one of the first works of modern African literature. Achebe wrote this novel shortly before Nigeria gained its independence from the UK.  Things Fall Apart is a third-person narrative set in the 1890s when missionaries were active in the British colony.  Its protagonist is Okonkwo, a forceful man whose downfall may be his pride, his anger, or his desire NOT to be like his father.  Is he a tragic hero?  Okonkwo has three wives and many children.  We focus on Nwoye, his son who repudiates his father to become a Christian, and Ezinma, his daughter whom Okonkwo wishes were his son.  She has "the right spirit."  We also meet Ikemefuna, Okonkwo's foster son whom O. kills.  Ikemefuna's death naturally alienates Nwoye.  Along the way, we learn much about Igbo culture (especially its reliance on oracles, proverbs, and a council of elders).  We also watched a TV miniseries of TFA that includes scenes NOT in the novel.

 
Turkish Embassy Letters (not published during the life of their author, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu).  Lady Mary wrote these letters while accompanying her husband, the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1716 to 1718.  At this time, the British Empire was not yet dominant, and the Ottoman Empire was powerful and prosperous.  The letters we read included Lady Mary's letters to the poet Alexander Pope (she makes many literary and cultural references and even translates some Turkish poetry), her friend Susan Chiswell (about vaccination for smallpox), and her sister Lady Mar (about trips to the harems or homes of two Turkish women of high rank).  Does it make a difference that Lady Mary edited these letters?

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) -- Afro-British businessman, anti-slavery activist, and former slave Olaudah Equiano writes his autobiography.  We discussed his depiction of being taken onboard the Europeans' slave ship (he was already a slave), of seeing snow for the first time, of being betrayed by his first English owner Captain Pascal, of witnessing the sexual harassment of female slaves, and of finally buying his freedom.  How does Equiano represent himself?  How does he address his audience?  Who is his audience?  Some scholars question whether Equiano was born in Africa, but most do not.  Equiano was also an Igbo, but he lived on the coast of what is now Nigeria.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) -- American social activist, educator, and former slave Harriet Jacobs writes her autobiography.  However, she calls herself Linda Brent in this work.  (At the time she wrote, slavery was still legal in the US, and the Fugitive Slave Act was in effect.)  Jacobs emphasizes what it was like for a child and then a young woman to be a slave.  We see that she grew up in a community of slaves who were thwarted in their efforts to be free.  As a young woman, she was menaced by her owner's father, Dr. Flint, a "hoary-headed miscreant, " yet she had an affair with a white neighbor.  From this affair, she bore two children.  She also distinguishes between womanly women (like her grandmother) and unwomanly women (like Dr. Flint's wife).  Jacobs eventually escaped from slavery, spending almost seven years in her grandmother's attic before finally traveling to the North.  There, as we learn, she was not free until (against her wishes) her employer bought her freedom from Dr. Flint's son-in-law.

We also watched scenes from TV versions of Dickens' David Copperfield (contrasting David's joy with his nurse Peggotty's family and his fear with his stepfather Mr. Murdstone) and Jane Eyre (focusing on her mistreatment by her aunt and cousins).  Below is an original illustration of David with his nurse's family.


The Story of the Stone (written during the 1740s & 1750s, published in 1791) by Cao Xueqin (vol. 1-3) and Gao E (4-5).  This very long novel (five volumes in its English translation) narrates a wealthy young boy (Bao-yu)'s growth from a spoiled child to a man.  He is also involved in an emotional triangle with his delicate, sensitive cousin Dai-yu and the more resilient and emotionally intelligent cousin Bao-chai whom he will marry.  This novel has a complicated and dense frame narrative!  Along the way, we meet Bao-yu's Grandmother Jia, his father Jia Zheng (the masculine ideal for his class), many girl-cousins, and Bao-yu's maid and later chamber wife Aroma.

We watched scenes from Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Again (2000), a film by Korean filmmaker Kim Duk-ki.  This film is set in a secluded, rural monastery that was built in the middle of a small lake.  It follows the relationship between a monk and his adopted son, a passionate man who will eventually kill his wife.  We looked at scenes from Spring (the son's boyhood) and Fall (the son's young adulthood). 

Finally, we watched Raise the Red Lantern (1991), a film by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.  This film, adapted from a novella by Su Tong, follows a former university student, Songlian, as she becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy man from rural Northern China.  We do not see much nature except for human nature as the women of the compound compete with each other and the servants look on and comment.  Important characters are not only the Master whose face we rarely see but also the second wife Zhouyan (a scorpion with the Buddha's face), the third wife Meishan (a former opera singer), Songlian's disgruntled servant Yan'er, Meishan's lover Dr. Gao, and Feipu, the Master's older son.  Is Songlian a tragic heroine?


Presentations

Sean's presentation on the life of Black Nationalist, entrepreneur and Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)

Bryan's presentation on the history of Liberia

Concepts

mimesis -- art that imitates life...or elements of art that imitates life

orality -- characteristics that arise from or remain from a preliterate society (or a society without writing).  Some of these characteristics may include a reliance on proverbs, performance, and an audience.  In a preliterate society, memory is especially pragmatic and flexible...since there are no written records.  An oral performer also relies on set phrases to jog his or her memory.

imperialism -- refers to one country's political, economic, and sometimes cultural domination over another

colonialism -- refers to the practice of settling a country as the British settled in America (before we became independent), India, or their territories in Africa

post-colonialism -- refers to the aftermath of independence.  Post-colonialist writing is generally by individuals whose lands were occupied and depicts experiences from their perspectives.

center/margins

hero's journey -- Joseph Campbell's term.  Stages include birth, call to adventure, crossing the threshold, helpers/amulet, tests, climax/final battle, return, elixir, and return home.  Is Marlow a hero?  If so, what is his elixir?

hypermasculinity

misogyny -- hatred for and distrust of women or the feminine

tragic hero -- is often of noble stature but is not perfect, is capable of both good and evil, experiences a downfall because of his/her tragic fall, and does not deserve his/her punishment.  Yet his/her fall is not completely negative and depressing.  There is room for his/her awareness and our catharsis (or purging of emotion).

nature/human nature

film as literature

film's visual elements

film's aural elements

Study Guide for Midterm part three (Summer 2009)

This week we had our first presentation: Sean's presentation on the life of Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican Black Nationalist, entrepreneur, and Pan-Africanist who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Black Star Line.    Sean also showed us parts of a documentary on Garvey's life:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-125761695547273887

Below is a picture of members of the UNIA at the Universal Publishing House, one of the organization's businesses.



This week we returned to the novel and moved on to Chinese literature.  (Remember the definition of the novel -- an fictional prose narrative of at least 50,000 words which emphasizes character over plot, focuses on a protagonist with whom we are supposed to sympathize, and has a realistic-seeming setting.  We also talked about mimesis, the extent to which art imitates life.)  Monday we began discussing one of the Four Classic Chinese Novels: The Story of the Stone (written during the 1740s or 1750s and published in 1791).  Its authors are Cao Xueqin (volumes 1 to 3) and Gao E (volumes 4 to 5).  Yes, the English translation of The Story of the Stone is five volumes long.  However, the excerpts that we read are from the first volume.

We began by discussing the frame narrative that takes us back to the beginning of time when the Chinese goddess Nu Wa built the sky but rejected the jade stone that became Bao-Yu, the protagonist of The Story of the Stone.  (Below is a picture of Nu Wa with her husband Fu Xi.)

We also met the Fairy Disenchantment who will appear again in Bao-yu's dream in chapter 5.  Then we met the Buddhist and Daoist monks who carry the stone off to be reborn as a human being, as Bao-Yu.  Next, since this is a fairly extensive frame narrative for a five-volume work, we met Zhen Shi-yi, a man who will become a Daoist monk when his daughter is kidnapped.  However, this part of the frame narrative is not important to the excerpts in our book, but Zhen Shi-yi and his daughter will be important later on as she becomes a servant in Bao-Yu's enormous household.


Once the frame narrative ends, we finally meet Bao-yu and Dai-yu in their human incarnations.  As it turns out, they are cousins.  In the next section we discussed, Dai-yu has come to live with Bao-yu's family.  From the picture above, you may imagine that this family is not only prosperous but also overwhelming.  And yes, we meet Bao-yu, the only boy among all these women.  (Remember that he is the only *living* son and that his brother who died was a perfect young man.)


We also watched the trailer for the recent TV miniseries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHUGdUH-3fI

I mentioned three Chinese religions: Confucianism (some call this more of a political philosophy), Daoism, and Buddhism.

For more information about Confucianism,

http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=38

For more information about Daoism,

http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=40&PHPSESSID=cf3a1e7b0f8e79502f7f76f32db9f031

For more information about Chinese Buddhism,

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/buddhism/chinese_buddhism.asp

http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/bud/5budhism.htm

Below is a picture of a Daoist temple in Sichuan, China.


Tuesday we moved on to chapters 5 and 17.  Chapter 5 covers Bao-yu's dream of initiation where he meets the Fairy Disenchantment, watches her Dream of Golden Days, and marries her sister Ke-Qing.  The Fairy Disenchantment informs Bao-yu that he has "lust of the mind."  We might call him unconventional.  She says that Bao-yu's ancestors have asked her to meet with him.  Do you think that Bao-yu changes his ways after this dream?  Then in chapter 17 Bao-yu's father (Jia Zheng who epitomizes the masculine ideal of his class) tests his son by asking him to name various places in the extensive gardens.  These gardens have been built to host Bao-yu's sister, the Imperial Concubine.  On the surface, Jia Zheng seems to treat his son's suggestions scornfully...yet he will use them.  What do you think of the narrative's depiction of nature?  Or Bao-yu's remarks on nature?  And his father's response?

Below is a picture of the Grandview Garden in Beijing, a tourist site that replicates the garden in The Story of the Stone.



To look at another approach to parenting, masculinity, and nature, we also watched some scenes from the Korean film, Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring Again.  If you would like to watch these scenes from Spring and Fall again, here are links to YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuc-o3KSxBo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8F23jIXrr8


Below is a picture of director Kim Duk-ki in the role of the old monk's adoptive son when he comes back to the monastery after doing his time.


Wednesday Bryan gave his presentation on the history of Liberia, one of the few African countries that was independent during the 19th century.  This country was settled by freed slaves from the United States and elsewhere.  Ironically or not so ironically, these settlers battled with and mistreated the indigenous people.  (Remember the house boys and house girls that Bryan told us about.)  In its history, Liberia has had only one president who was a descendant of the indigenous people, Samuel K. Doe.  Liberia's recent history has also been bloody.

 I am going to try to track down the videos that Bryan showed us, but for now, here are pictures from Liberia:


The picture below is Charlotte Hess' photograph of schoolchildren in Monrovia, Liberia's capital.  The photograph is from the Digital Library of the Commons.


Below is a picture of Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president who is now being tried at the Hague for the crimes that he committed.



We also watched the Chinese film Raise the Red Lantern (1991, dir. Zhang Yimou).  Below are links to YouTube videos of this film in case you would like to watch it again more closely.
(Thank you, Xirui!!)

art 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiQmkpHz5s0

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JabrhH5XVM

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qapbesdj9I

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3BY5gUm_VM

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nE9HvuoUeI

Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idKLdJEYWLY

Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idKLdJEYWLY

Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8FcZoeyA_g

Part 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP9eojD_rck

Part 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQHe0s8D624

Part 11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB5bA0mx-wE

Part 12: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v9ViAWnnsY

Part 13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-yENcPaDWQ

Part 14: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc4LrUaKGxU

Part 15: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRbbjneaPx0

Part 16: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBEnaIRWEaI

Part 17: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMhM709-_gE

Part 18: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFoXjpjiw_E

Part 19: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62NDyH9JJsc

Which visual elements jump out at you as you watch the film again?  Which aural elements?  Do you believe that Songlian is a tragic heroine?

Gensomaden Saiyuki

Link

See the link above for other versions of Journey to the West, including an anime!

Monkey (Arthur Waley's translation of Journey to the West)

Link

The link above is to my review of Monkey, an English-language version/translation of Journey to the West, another of the Four Classic Chinese Novels.

On Chinese poetry (the Book of Songs, Han Shan, Li Bo, and Wang Wei)

Link

For more information about Chinese poetry that may have influenced Jia Zheng's view of nature, see the link above.

Midterm Prompts for Summer 2009! Note new #1 prompt!

Below are the prompts for the take home part of the midterm.  Choose only one prompt.  The essay will be due on Monday, July 27.

1.  Discuss the way that childhood is depicted in up to three of our works.  What does the author seem to assume about childhood, parents, and the family?  What role does class and/or gender play?  How do depictions of childhood change from culture to culture or genre to genre?  Feel free to talk about your own assumptions about childhood.

2.   One theme that we've talked about this session is Imperialism or Colonialism and Post-Colonialism.  Choose up to three works that we have read so far, and examine how each fits--or doesn't fit into this focus.  Do any works complicate this focus?  Consider that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu is writing about a flourishing Ottoman Empire and that The Story of the Stone is set during the last dynasty of the Chinese Empire.  Raise the Red Lantern and "Stale Mates" are set in the aftermath of empire.

3.  Discuss the role that masculinity and/or femininity play in up to three of the works we've read so far.  Consider the role that history, culture, and even genre play in defining what appropriate masculinity and femininity are.  Also, consider your viewpoint as a 21st century man or woman.


4.  Consider the novel as a genre.  What do our novels (Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart, The Story of the Stone) have in common?  How are they different?  Feel free to bring in other novels that you have read in the past.  How does the novel change from time period to time period?  How does it change from culture to culture?  Also, how are novels different from  autobiographies like Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl?

5.  Discuss life writing as a genre of literature.  Given your definition of literature, how is lifewriting (not only autobiographies and memoirs but also biographies, letters, and diaries) literature?  How is it NOT literature?  Could life writing be a more personal form of history? Consider The Turkish Embassy Letters, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl as your main examples, but feel free to include other examples from your reading (The Diary of Anne Frank, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Black Elk Speaks, Into the Wild).

6.  Discuss film as a genre of literature.  Given your definition of literature, how is film literature?  How is it NOT literature?  If you were to teach a film and literature course, which films would you include?  Why?  In this type of course, is it more important for a film to be a groundbreaking film (like Apocalypse Now) or for a film to be based on an important work of literature (like Jane Eyre or David Copperfield or Things Fall Apart)?  Why? 

Study Guide for Midterm part two (Summer 2009)

Now that another week is over, I thought that I'd post the next installment of our study guide.  This entry will cover Things Fall Apart, The Turkish Embassy Letters, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl as well as the web sites and videos we looked at this week.

Monday we began our discussion of Things Fall Apart (1958), one of the first major works in modern African literature and the first that most of us read.  This novel was also Chinua Achebe (1930-)'s first.  Among the topics we talked about were Okonkwo's character, his relationship with his father (was Achebe influenced by Freudianism), Achebe's depiction of Igbo society, his use of third-person narration, the role of the council, the role of the egwugwu, and Okonkwo's wives.  We also discussed Okonkwo's hypermasculinity and compared it to the masculinity of the other men in the village.  In addition, we talked about elements of orality, especially the proverbs that appear in the narrative as well as in characters' speech.  For more information about orality, see this site here:  http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~univ302/StudentWork/S96/Sandman/Orality.html


We also watched the following scenes from the TV movie version of Things Fall Apart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBy0-08uw3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXFuiRaiYB0

I have to add this earlier scene that we did not watch because it allows us to watch Pete Edochie's Okonkwo in action.  Isn't he well cast?! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZijfjuYftw


Tuesday we continued discussing Things Fall Apart.  Topics we considered included Okonkwo as tragic hero, his tragic flaw (his temper?  his pride?  his hypermasculinity?  his misogyny?), Ikemefuna's murder (and Okonkwo's role in it), Igbo society, colonialism, and the impact of Christianity on Umuofia. 

For more information about the tragic hero, see this site:  http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/tragedy/aristotle.htm

This site has more information about tragedy:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/tragedy.html



In addition, we watched the following videos.  The first, a brief video, contains Chinua Achebe's remarks on slavery, colonialism, and the African diaspora.  It will also shed light on The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdjcFOoVi8

The next, a longer video, is part of Bill Moyers' interview of a middle-aged and vigorous Achebe.  The interview took place just before Achebe returned to Nigeria to become the leader of his town's council.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCic_RoPhoM

We also watched the following examples of Igbo dance.  The first is a masquerade, and the second takes place at a funeral.  Note how these videos help you understand some of the rituals in the novel, particularly the egwugwu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrWu7Dp3Ea0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PxvDFoBxTc


The picture below is of an egwugwu, specifically an elephant spirit.  How does this picture compare to the way that Achebe depicts the appearance of the egwugwu in the village?



Wednesday we began our unit on life writing, a genre that includes autobiographies and memoirs, letters, journals and diaries, and biographies.  In other words, life writing documents an actual individual's life.  Olaudah Equiano's and Harriet Jacobs' writing fall under the category of autobiography.  (Memoirs cover only part of an individual's life.  For example, if Jacobs wrote about her nearly seven years in her grandmother's attic, then her work would be a memoir.  Other examples of the memoir would be Maya Angelou's series that begins with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.  As you can see, though, from this image from www.littlebrown.uk, the terms autobiography and memoir are often used interchangeably.


Wednesday we discussed Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789) and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Turkish Embassy Letters (first published in 1837, long after the author's death).  For more information about Equiano's life, see this Critical Biography by Prof. Brycchan Carey:

http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/biog.htm

For more about the controversy over Equiano's birthplace, see these links:

http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/nativity.htm
http://www.everygeneration.co.uk/equiano_review.htm

Jim Egan's review is interesting but may be too technical for some.  However, he raises some important points about biographies' old-fashioned attitudes:

http://ecti.english.illinois.edu/reviews/46/egan-carretta.html

I must admit that in our discussion of Equiano's rhetorical strategies and his relationship with Capt. Pascal we fell into some of the errors that Egan mentions.  However, as Prof. Carey's biography indicates, Equiano really did have a complicated relationship with the captain. 

Other passages we focused on were Equiano's first impressions of the Europeans, his relationship with his mentor Daniel Queen, his first impressions of England, a paragraph on cruelty towards new slaves (especially women and girls), the way that he achieved his freedom, and his expressed wish to track down Capt. Pascal (who had sold him off his ship right before it landed in England...again).


This picture is from the University of Maryland's Early Americas Web Gateway.  Vincent Carretta, the scholar who argued that Equiano was born in the Carolinas and not in Africa, is a professor at College Park.  I guess I am going to put his biography of Equiano on my reading list! 

Now for Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and her Turkish Embassy Letters!  For a biography of this most interesting woman, see this link:  http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/montagu/marybio.htm

I think that her letters are particularly interesting in EN 202 for two reasons.  First of all, she is writing at a time (1716 to 1718) when the British Empire was not dominant, so she did not depict the Ottoman Empire from a position of superiority and perhaps contempt.  Secondly, she writes to a number of different people, so her point of view changes from letter to letter.  In fact, here are a few more letters that our anthology did not include:

http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/mcbride/ws200/montltrs.htm

The letters we looked at in class were Lady Mary's literary letter to Alexander Pope, her letter to a friend that detailed the Turkish practice of vaccination against smallpox, and her letter to her sister, the Lady Mar.  In that last letter, Lady Mary writes about her visit to two very different harems.  The picture below looks more 19th century than 18th century, but it gives you an idea of what the harems might have been like for Lady Mary.


Thursday we covered Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) and scenes from film adaptations of 19th century British novels.  I also talked about the transition from the 18th century to the 19th century.  Even though the difference in gender and geography between Equiano and Jacobs may well be differences enough, I think that the different time periods are also important factors.  I'm particularly thinking of the difficulty that Jacobs' family has in buying their freedom, Jacobs' own embrace of True Womanhood (piety, purity, submissiveness, domesticity), her praise for womanly women like her grandmother and the elderly white woman who gave her her freedom and her scorn for unwomanly women like Mrs. Flint, and her depiction of her childhood (until the death of her parents). 

I am going to post a link to a 1973 edition of Orlando, the book that I read.  If you go to the contents and then to the end of chapter four and the beginning of chapter five, you'll find the passage that I read in class:

http://books.google.com/books?id=EOC258GapEoC&dq=virginia+woolf+orlando&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=KAxiSvj1D6Oltgf8r8jvDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4

About fifteen years ago Orlando was made into a movie.  The picture below is of Orlando as a young man during the Elizabethan era.  I told you that this novel was not realistic!!



Here is a YouTube video of Orlando in the 18th century with her salon of literary friends.  One (the man with his head wrapped up) is, I believe, Pope. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acWUkoi4Zpc

Unfortunately, I can't find a video of Orlando during the 19th century.

Here are links to the videos that we watched in class:


Above is a picture of young David Copperfield working in the shoe-blacking factory after his mother dies.  His evil stepfather Mr. Murdstone sent him to work there.

This is the part of David Copperfield that we saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAle3Efw8-s

This is the opening to the 2006 Jane Eyre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XsB22Qjz3A

You may also prefer this more straightforward opening from the 1940s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxoB2FqeuXw

By the way, she ends up marrying her employer (see picture below):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-5owa_DD7o



What light do these videos shed on Equiano's and Jacobs' autobiographies? What light to they shed on the novel? or the 19th century with its separate spheres for men and women?

Below is an image of the wanted poster that Dr. Norcom (the actual Dr. Flint) circulated after Harriet escaped to her grandmother's attic.  As we learned, Harriet was not free from the Norcom family's menaces until her employer bought her freedom or, rather, paid their blackmail.