Last Set of Questions

Thank you for a wonderful Summer II, everyone!  I hope that you enjoyed exploring literature--and that you liked tonight's goodies from the Asian Bakery Cafe in Rockville!

Here are a few last questions in case you need another entry or two for your journal:

-- How did tonight's presentations help you understand literature more fully?

-- Here is a link to the video that Oliver showed in class tonight.  It is part one of four of Simon Armitage's "9/11: Out of the Blue."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yacjArDnRbY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

What does this work add to your understanding of literature?

What does it add to your understanding of 9/11?  (It's hard to believe that that horrific event occurred over ten years ago.)

If you've seen other movies or read books about 9/11, how does this work compare to them?

-- How has your understanding of literature changed during this summer session?  Why?

-- Which has been the most interesting work that you've read or listened to or watched this summer session?  Why?

Keep up the good work!

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 8/9 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

After Yuehshan's presentation on manga, I wanted to show you some of the scrolls from The Tale of Genji, a novel from the 1000s.  Above is just one!

Good evening :)

It looks like we may not get a chance to see every single presentation.  Thursday I would like to hold the presentations in the first half of the class.  During the second half you will have time to work on your exam.  People who are not able to present may send me their PowerPoints.

Here are the readings we went over in class tonight:

Let's start with Petrarch:

A.S. Kline's translation of Sonnet 3 is here, together with Petrarch's original and the MP3 of Moro Silo reading it:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=3

Mark Musa's translation is here:

http://thepoetryplace.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/renaissance-sonnets-for-the-beloved/

Next we looked at Sonnet 140.  Again, we will start with Kline's translation and the original:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=140

The literal translation by Patrick Cruttwell is below:

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm

See this link for the version by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542):

http://www.sonnets.org/wyatt.htm#002

The translation by Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) is actually of Sonnet 294.  Again, we'll start with Kline's translation and the original:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=294

Higginson's version is here:

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm#010

We'll finish with A.M. Juster (1956-).

http://www.amjuster.com/poem14.html

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=14

On to Li Bai's "Drinking Alone With the Moon."

We'll start with Ezra Pound's translation:

http://poetry.about.com/od/poemsbytitled/l/bllipodrinkingalone.htm

Note that he did not know Chinese although he popularized Chinese poetry and used it as a predecessor to modern poetry.

Then we'll move on to linguist Arthur Waley's version:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-waley.htm

Stephen Owen's translation is more recent:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-owen.htm

Vikram Seth's translation was the last we looked at:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-seth.htm

But I would like to include another by Xu Yuanchong:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-xu.htm

The last version will not be on the test, but I think that you may enjoy reading it, too.

Have you had a chance to look at the study guides on Multiply?

Finally, here are a few questions for your journal:

-- Compare two or more translations of the same poet's work.  Which do you prefer?  Why?  How does each work as a translation?  How does each translation work as poetry?

-- Take a look at one of the translations in our book.  How is the poem different from other poems, especially English-language ones, that we've looked at?  What is poetic about this poem?  Why?  What doesn't seem poetic to you?

-- Take a look at a translation that the poet him/herself was involved with.  Does that seem to make a difference?  Why?  Why not?

-- Compare one of La Fontaine's fables that Joel discussed to Godfather Death.  Here are the relevant links:

http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/french_literature/jean_de_la_fontaine_fables/grasshopper_ant_cigale_fourmi.htm

http://www.aestheticrealism.net/poetry/Wolf-Lamb-LaFontaine.htm

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm044.html

--  What do translated poems add to our study of poetry?  Our study of literature?  Why?

-- How do you define poetry?  Does it matter that this genre is so hard to define?  Why?  Why not?

-- How do you define literature?  Feel free to talk about what is not literature (film, graphic novels, etc.).

-- How have the presentations helped you to understand literature?

-- How does literature seem to change from culture to culture?

Watch MyMC for the PowerPoint presentations!

Dr. Szlyk

Study Guide for Final -- pt. 3 -- EN 190 -- Summer 2012

The picture above is of Walt Whitman as a younger man.  The picture is from the 1855 edition of his Leaves of Grass.

Here is a list of terminology that may be on the exam:

silent film/movie

poem/poetry

free verse

blank verse

organic form

formal verse 

sonnet -- Shakespearean and Petrarchan

villanelle

iambic pentameter

stanza

alliteration

assonance

onomatopoeia

octet

sestet

line break:  full stop, end of phrase, enjambment

Below Petrarch contemplates his muse Laura.

 Below we see Shakespeare with the Dark Lady, subject of his poems.

Study Guide for Final -- pt. 2 -- EN 190 -- Summer II 2012

 Above is Edgar Degas' "At the Races" (1877-1880).  Below are pictures of Detroit in the 1940s.

 This week's readings include the following:

Below are links we looked at in class today, starting with Allen Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California":

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15306

Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20006

Sherman Alexie wrote "Defending Walt Whitman":

http://www.bpj.org/poems/alexie_whitman.html

Let's look at Shakespeare's Sonnet #73:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15844

We'll conclude with Philip Levine's "M. Degas..."

http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/levine/m._degas_teaches_art_and_science_at_durfee_intermediate_school--detroit1942.php

You may find this blog entry to be interesting: 

http://edwardbyrne.blogspot.com/2008/07/edgar-degas-and-philip-levine.html

But be sure to scroll down to the entry for July 19, 2008.

This links to part of a literary map of Detroit:

http://www.marygrove.edu/academics/institutes/institute-for-detroit-studies/literary-map-of-detroit/item/7-durfee-middle-school.html

The translations we looked at follow:

Let's start with Petrarch:

A.S. Kline's translation of Sonnet 3 is here, together with Petrarch's original and the MP3 of Moro Silo reading it:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=3

Mark Musa's translation is here:

http://thepoetryplace.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/renaissance-sonnets-for-the-beloved/

Next we looked at Sonnet 140.  Again, we will start with Kline's translation and the original:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=140

The literal translation by Patrick Cruttwell is below:

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm

See this link for the version by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542):

http://www.sonnets.org/wyatt.htm#002

The translation by Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) is actually of Sonnet 294.  Again, we'll start with Kline's translation and the original:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=294

Higginson's version is here:

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm#010

We'll finish with A.M. Juster (1956-).

http://www.amjuster.com/poem14.html

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=14

On to Li Bai's "Drinking Alone With the Moon."

We'll start with Ezra Pound's translation:

http://poetry.about.com/od/poemsbytitled/l/bllipodrinkingalone.htm

Note that he did not know Chinese although he popularized Chinese poetry and used it as a predecessor to modern poetry.

Then we'll move on to linguist Arthur Waley's version:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-waley.htm

Stephen Owen's translation is more recent:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-owen.htm

Vikram Seth's translation was the last we looked at:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-seth.htm

But I would like to include another by Xu Yuanchong:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-xu.htm

The last version will not be on the test, but I think that you may enjoy reading it, too.

Presentations:

Sharon Ossi -- white elephants

Yuehshen Huang -- manga

Adrian Watson -- faces of the 1960s

Renee Rodriguez and Chau Nguyen -- Koji Suzuki

Melissa Mittleman and Sandrine Mbonwo -- NYC in the 1940s

Gizachew Elcho -- Tsegaye Gebre Medhin

Joel Feussi -- The Fables of LaFontaine

Questions for 8/7 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

Above is a painting by "M. Degas" or Edgar Degas (1834-1917).

Good evening :)

Tomorrow is our last day of new reading and listening material, so I wanted to make sure that I sent you the questions in time.  

I'd like you to read the poems in translation at pages 889-904.  In addition, here are links to translations of Petrarch's sonnets over the years, starting with the sixteenth century--predating Shakespeare!

http://www.sonnets.org/wyatt.htm#002

http://www.sonnets.org/surrey.htm#102

The translation below is from the 1800s.  Thomas Wentworth Higginson fought in the Civil War and tried to mentor the poet Emily Dickinson.

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm

A.S. Kline's translations are from the late 1900s.  You may also look at and listen to the original Italian.

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html

Here is Mark Musa's free verse:

http://thepoetryplace.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/renaissance-sonnets-for-the-beloved/

A.M. Juster's translations rhyme:

http://www.amjuster.com/poem14.html

This page contains over forty translations of Li Bai's "Drinking Alone With The Moon"

http://clatterymachinery.wordpress.com/2007/01/26/li-bai-drinking-alone-with-the-moon-his-shadow-32-translators/

Do you prefer Gary Snyder's translation of Han Shan's poems?

http://www.hermetica.info/hanshan.htm

Translator Tony Barnstone writes on translation:

http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/barnstone_han_shan.html

Below are links we looked at in class today, starting with Allen Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California":

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15306

Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20006

Sherman Alexie wrote "Defending Walt Whitman":

http://www.bpj.org/poems/alexie_whitman.html

Let's look at Shakespeare's Sonnet #73:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15844

We'll conclude with Philip Levine's "M. Degas..."

http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/levine/m._degas_teaches_art_and_science_at_durfee_intermediate_school--detroit1942.php

And now for some questions....

-- If you write poetry, write a poem and analyze it, showing how it exemplifies what we have learned about poetry.

-- Choose a poem that we haven't looked at.  Then analyze it, showing how it exemplifies what we have learned about poetry.

-- What have our presentations added to your understanding of literature?

-- What have the poems we discussed today (8/6) added to your understanding of literature?  of poetry?

-- Why should we translate works from other literatures?

-- Why should we learn other languages to read their literary masterpieces?

-- How have the translations (Petrarch, Li Bai, and Han Shan) changed over time?  How have they remained the same?

-- If you know Italian or Chinese, discuss the accuracy and felicity of the translators' work.

-- How do other literatures approach translation?

Good night, and see you in class!

Dr. Szlyk

Study Guide for Final -- EN 190 -- pt. 1

Above is a picture from a 2010 production of The Dumb Waiter at Chicago's TUTA Theater.  Below is a link to a review of this production:   http://chicagotheaterbeat.com/2012/07/23/review-the-dumb-waiter-tuta-theatre-chicago/

Now for our readings -- and viewings.  Below are pictures from the Unexpected Stage Company's productions of The Dumb Waiter and Trifles.

Trifles 

The Dumb Waiter

See the link here for a BBC version:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYV0sbzEIJQ

Nosferatu (1922, dir. F.W. Murnau)

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

Poems:

Robert Hayden -- "Those Winter Sundays" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjosL9VpXjY

Gwendolyn Brooks -- "We Cool"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKF2e2CiMk

Mary Ellen Solt -- "Forsythia"  http://celansalon.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/forsythia3.jpg

Maxine Kumin -- "The Sound of Night"

William Carlos Williams -- "The Red Wheelbarrow"

Allison Joseph -- "On Being Told I Don't Speak Like a Black Person"

Robert Bly -- "Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter"

George Herbert -- "The Altar"  http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Altar.html

(Note that Mr. Herbert wrote during the 1600s!)

Howard Nemerov -- "Found Poem" http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16512

(Note that his sister was the photographer Diane Arbus.  Below is one of her photographs.)

"A Primer of the Daily Round"  http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20008

Other found poetry is available here:  http://www.foundpoetryreview.com/

Dylan Thomas' villanelle "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"  http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377

Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1TD1saNCqA

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 read by Alan Rickman 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3GSwrb9_NQ

Li Young Lee's "Eating Alone"

Charles Bukowski's "my old man"

Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll"

We watched an interview with former Poet Laureate Rita Dove on the anthology that she edited:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/309

We also watched an interview with US Poet Laureate Philip Levine and UK Poet Laureate Carol Anne Duffy:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/321

We also watched Stephen and Ashley's presentation on Alfred Hitchcock's films.  The PowerPoint is at MyMC.

Questions for 8/6 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

Good afternoon :)

Next week is our last week of class.  How quickly Summer II has gone!

For Monday, please read chapters 15, 16, and 17.  We will be finishing up poetry on Tuesday, and I would like to go over some poems in translation on that day.  Thursday will be our final, and we will have the last presentations.

Here are a few questions for your journals.

-- How have your journals helped you with the course's readings?

-- Even our editors seem a little overwhelmed by the variety of poetry.  How does poetry's openness as a form help you as a reader?  How does it get in your way?  Would you like more rules?  Why?  Why not?

-- Examine one of the poems you read but we did not discuss.  How does its poet use sound?  How does its poet use word choice?  Emotion?  How would you describe the speaker?

-- Look at poems by the same author (i.e., Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Cool" and "The Bean Eaters," sonnets by Shakespeare, Robert Frost's "Apple Picking" and "The Road Not Taken").  Alternately, here are some second poems by authors we've looked at in class:

Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Rites for Cousin Vit" http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/182621

Robert Hayden's "Mourning Poem for the Queen of Sunday" http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178596

or "Frederick Douglass" http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175757

Charles Bukowski's "Bluebird" http://whisperdownthewritealley.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/2-poems-by-charles-bukowski-bluebird-the-great-escape/

Howard Nemerov's "To D--, Dead by Her Own Hand" http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/21518

Maxine Kumin's "Woodchucks"   http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15650

Li Young Lee's "The Hour and What is Dead" http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16636

Dylan Thomas' "Fern Hill"   

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15378

Theodore Roethke's "I Knew a Woman"

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172104

How are the different poems by the same author similar?  How are they different?  Feel free to find other poems as well.  Which topics seem to interest the poet?  Which techniques does he/she use?  How does he/she use line length?  How do the poems sound?  What might be the poet's voice?

-- Choose two poems where the connection is not obvious.  What is that connection?  Consider Rita Dove's juxtaposition of poems in the anthology that she edited: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/309

Here are the two poems she mentioned:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237230

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15309

-- Here are links to poems by Carol Anne Duffy and Philip Levine, the poets we listened to in the video below

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/321

http://www.freewebs.com/carolannduffypoems/Mrs%20Midas.htm

http://www.freewebs.com/carolannduffypoems/Anne%20Hathaway.htm

http://www.freewebs.com/carolannduffypoems/Elvis%27s%20Twin%20Sister.htm

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178144

http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/levine/m._degas_teaches_art_and_science_at_durfee_intermediate_school--detroit1942.php

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/182873

How are the different poems by the same author similar?  How are they different?  Feel free to find other poems as well.  Which topics seem to interest the poet?  Which techniques does he/she use?  How does he/she use line length?  How do the poems sound?  What might be the poet's voice?  How does the video shed light on his/her poems?  How do his/her poems shed light on the video?

-- Discuss Ginsberg's use of long lines in "A Supermarket in California":

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15306

-- What would you like to write about for the next paper?

-- How did the presentation by Ashley and Stephen help you understand film more?  How did it help you understand literature?

-- Have you seen any of Alfred Hitchcock's films?  What do you like best about them?  Why?

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say.

Dr. Szlyk

Questions and Links for 8/2

Good morning :)

What a lot of poems we looked at and listened to last night!  Here they are, starting with Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjosL9VpXjY

An alternate reading is here.

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

You may also enjoy this essay about Hayden's life in Ann Arbor, MI.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5762

We listened to Gwendolyn Brooks read "We Cool":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKF2e2CiMk

Next is Mary Ellen Solt's "Forsythia":

http://celansalon.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/forsythia3.jpg

For more information, see this link:

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/solt/index.html

You may see George Herbert's "The Altar":

http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Altar.html

Howard Nemerov's found poem is here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16512

Here is his non-found poem:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20008

For more found poetry, see this journal:

http://www.foundpoetryreview.com/

Let's move on to the more formal poetry, starting with Dylan Thomas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9F9XCDyaw

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377

Here is Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1TD1saNCqA

Alan Rickman reads Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3GSwrb9_NQ

For reading, let's read chapters 13 and 14.

We'll conclude with a few questions:

-- What was it like for you to listen to poems that you did not read?

-- Which songwriters/rappers are really poets?  Feel free to look at one lyric in depth.

-- Look at one poem we did not discuss and consider how it uses word and image.

-- Look at one poem we discussed and consider how it uses word and image -- or how it uses voice and form.

-- Look at one poem from chapters 13 or 14 and consider how it uses word and image.

-- Is found poetry really poetry?  Why?  Why not?

-- Is concrete poetry really poetry?  Why?  Why not?

-- If you haven't already, read Denise Levertov's "Some Notes on Organic Form":

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/essay/237852

How do her ideas help you understand free verse?  or poetry in general?

-- Argue for or against free verse.

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 7/31 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

Good evening!

Since we have class tomorrow, I'd like to send you the reading and questions as quickly as possible.  We are starting a new genre (poetry), so I expect to see everyone.  I do realize that it is still Ramadan, and I appreciate those of you who have let me know about your obligations!

 Here is the reading for Tuesday:

 chapters 11 and 12 (including poems) (541-569)

We looked at scenes from The Dumb Waiter:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYV0sbzEIJQ

Feel free to watch as much as you can.

Here is a link to Nosferatu: 

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

For more information about the film, see this entry:
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/154/Nosferatu-1922

You may enjoy seeing a little bit about silent comedy:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/165/1923-Stan-Laurel-in-Roughest-Africa

Some of you may enjoy seeing scenes from the 1979 Nosferatu:

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

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

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/152/Nosferatu-1979

And these are the questions for your journal:

-- What do the scenes from The Dumb Waiter add to your understanding of drama?

-- Compare these scenes to other scenes from other "gangster" movies or TV shows.  

-- Discuss Ben and Gus' relationship.  What is the balance of power between them?

-- Why are the strange orders coming down on the dumbwaiter?  What is Pinter trying to do here?

-- Compare the scenes to the staged version we saw on Saturday.

-- Ought our editors include The Dumb Waiter in the next edition of their anthology?  Why?  Why not?

-- Discuss the ending of Nosferatu (1922).  Why does Ellen sacrifice herself?

-- Discuss Nosferatu in its historical context (WWI, Germany's hyperinflation, the assassination of Walther Rathenau, the minister of foreign affairs and a Jewish man).

-- Discuss Nosferatu as a horror film.

-- Compare the two different versions of Nosferatu.

-- How does Murnau draw on film technology in Nosferatu?

-- Discuss the setting of Nosferatu.

-- What comes to mind when you think about poetry? Why?

-- If poetry does not have rhyme or meter or structure, how do you know whether or not it is any good?  (Feel free to refer to one of the poems in ch. 12.)

-- Apply Denise Levertov's ideas in "Some Notes On Organic Form" to poetry.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/essay/237852

-- What does depend on the red wheelbarrow?

-- Which images stand out for you in one of the poems in ch. 12?  Why?

-- Which word choices stand out for you in one of the poems in ch. 12?  Why?

-- If you have studied literature in another language, how does that literature define poetry?

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

Below are pictures from the Nazis' exhibition of "degenerate art."

 Below are pictures from the exhibition itself:

Here is another:

Starting the Second Half of the Journal in EN 190

 

Above is a picture of F.W. Murnau, the director of Nosferatu.  I hope that the image below stays!

Good morning :)

I'm glad that you enjoyed the snacks last night, and I hope that your work is coming along well.

Since we are coming through a particularly busy stretch, I am not assigning any reading for Monday although we will be discussing poetry as well as Nosferatu.

Tuesday's reading will be  chapters 11 and 12 (including poems) (541-569).

Here is a link to Nosferatu: 

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

For more information about the film, see this entry:
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/154/Nosferatu-1922

You may enjoy seeing a little bit about silent comedy:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/165/1923-Stan-Laurel-in-Roughest-Africa

I am also sending you a PowerPoint on vampires, done by students in a section of EN 202.

I will try to keep the questions to a (relative) minimum:

-- If English is *not* your first language, what was it like to watch Nosferatu?

-- How may Nosferatu have influenced today's horror movies and/or vampire movies & TV shows?

-- How is Nosferatu different from today's vampire?

-- What is film like without a soundtrack?  Is it literature?  Or is it art?

-- Discuss the characters in the film.  Are they round?  flat?  Are they archetypes?  Why?  Why not?

-- Discuss the setting in the film.

-- What would seem to be the theme of the film?

-- What are some symbols in the film?  How do they make the film more interesting?

-- How may folktales such as "Godfather Death" have influenced Nosferatu?

Here are some questions about the play for those of you who will attend Saturday's performance:

-- What was it like for you to watch a live performance?

-- Compare the act of watching a live performance to the act of watching a film of a performance.

-- What did the performance add to your understanding of Trifles?

-- Should we continue to perform and/or read Glaspell's play?

Keep up the good work, everyone!

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 7/24 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

 

Above are pictures of the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington state.  (Sherman Alexie is part Spokane and part Couer d'Alene.)

Good evening :)

While I am still online, I'd like to send a few questions in case you need an entry or two for your journal.  Writing a journal entry is a good way to study for the midterm.  However, you may also post the draft of your paper for Friday as your entry.

You may recognize some of these questions from our class discussion.

-- what is Sherman Alexie trying to tell us about being Native American?

-- what do we learn about Victor, Thomas, and Junior from each of Alexie's stories?

-- what do we learn about the reservation from these stories?

-- discuss Alexie's use of first person.

-- discuss his use of third person

-- discuss his use of flashbacks and/or chronology

-- how do the parts of his stories fit together?

-- what is Alexie trying to tell us about being human?

-- why read stories about people who are disadvantaged?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 7/23 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

Above is a picture of a house near where "Bad Neighbors" is set.  I believe that 1400 8th NW would be in the Shaw neighborhood.

Good evening :)

Just a reminder that our midterm is Thursday, the second paper and journals are due Friday, and the play is Saturday.  If you weren't sure whether or not you'd attend, please let me know what you've decided.  Thank you!

For tomorrow, we will read Sherman Alexie's three stories ("This is What It Means," "The Lone Ranger," and "Somebody") and apply what we've learned about the elements of fiction.  We may also discuss "The Christmas Pies."

Here are a few questions for you:

 -- Apply one of the elements we've discussed to one of our readings for tomorrow.  

-- Apply Burke's Motives to one of our readings for tomorrow or to one of our short stories.  The five parts of this method follow:  act (what happened), actor (who performed the act), scene (where/when), agency (how -- narration & style), and motives (why--author & characters).

-- In your opinion, which is the most interesting element of fiction?  why?

-- Compare two of the stories we've discussed or read.  How are they different?  How are they similar?  How do they shed light on each other?

-- Which trends do you see emerging in our examination of fiction?  why?

-- Of the stories we've read, which would be worth staging?  why?  How would it/they be different?

-- How do our authors work with archetypes (symbols that have meaning across culture)?  How do they make them interesting to you as a reader?

-- Do you prefer symbols to be surprising and unique or to be universal?    Why?

-- How do symbols help you enjoy literature?

-- How do our authors work with literary symbols (surprising and different symbols)?  How do these symbols make you look at the world or the story in a new way?

-- How do our authors use word choices or diction to create character and setting and/or make the narrative more believable?  

-- How do our authors use sentence structure and/or rhythm to keep you interested?

-- How do our authors use irony?

-- How do our authors use dialogue?

See you in class!

Dr. Szlyk

Study Guide for Midterm -- pt. 3 -- EN 190 -- Summer II 2012

I hope that this photo stays on this blog!  It's from the 1985 movie Smooth Talk that is based on "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" with Laura Dern and 

Treat Williams.  Here is a clip from the film:

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

And the review is here:  

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19860509/REVIEWS/605090305/1023

I'll start with a bit about orality.  Orality refers to characteristics of a culture before writing is invented.  Some characteristics are stories that begin in medias res (the middle of things), a reliance on episodes rather than a narrative arc, a reliance on externals and action rather than on interiority, performance, improvisation, and key words like "wine dark sea" and "dawn's rosy fingers."  Relevant figures are Milman Parry (researcher) and Father Walter J. Ong (theorist).

These terms are relevant to fiction:

short story

novella -- 50 to 100 pp.

novel -- over 100 pp.

graphic fiction

genre fiction

plot--

plot vs. story

narrative arc

flashback

foreshadowing

conflict (person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society, person vs. nature)

epiphany

exposition

chronological order

reverse chronological order

character -- 

round vs. flat (E.M. Forster)

dynamic vs. static

ways of depicting character: telling, showing, saying, thinking

interiority

protagonist

antagonist

minor

point of view

narrator

narrative

3rd person (omniscient, limited, central consciousness)

stream of consciousness

2nd person (Bright Lights, Big City)

But there are more examples of this trick:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative

1st person (naive, reliable, omniscient)

theme -- an implied thesis statement (subject + predicate) assigned by the reader (not the writer); as a result, a work may have more than one theme!

abstraction and limitations of theme

setting -- includes place, time, circumstance

symbol -- is concrete and meaningful...may be categorized as private, literary, conventional or traditional, cliche, or archetypal

style -- diction, sentence structure, rhythm, voice

irony

tone

motives: act, actor, scene, agency, motives

Study Guide for Midterm -- pt. 2 -- EN 190 -- Summer II 2012

As a change of pace, since we have so many pictures of Brooklyn and the theater, I thought I'd post a picture of LA.  Here is a more idyllic picture, reflecting what older people may think of when they hear about LA or California.

On to the terms and links!

drama vs. theater 

drama -- playwright, script, characters, stage directions, setting, plot

theater -- director, actor, audience, performance, set, sound, lighting

 As promised, here is a link to Erikson's stages of development.  

 http://fac.hsu.edu/langlet/lectures/dev/Erikson/erik_erikson.htm

You may also find Kohlberg's theory interesting as well:

http://college.cengage.com/psychology/nevid/psychology/1e/shared/conceptcharts/ch10/conceptchart_10.1.pdf

Michael Morrison provides a Christian perspective on development:

http://campus.dyc.edu/~drwaltz/FoundLearnTheory/FLT_readings/MoralDevelMorrison.htm

Or is Carol Gilligan's theory more appropriate to Linda?
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/classes/handbook/Gilligan.html

Other approaches to literature include formalist (focusing on elements of the text), historical, economic, gender (male OR female), racial, and ethnic.

Ways of categorizing literature include genre, historical period, language, nation, culture (including academic or youth), and theme.

Here is my entry on Miller's life and career:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/202

You may also find this interview to be interesting:

http://bostonreview.net/BR14.1/miller.html

For more information about DoaS' time and place, see this entry:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/201

Take a look at other versions of DoaS:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/200

The latest version is here:  http://www.broadway.com/shows/death-salesman/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSyIdMK99BQ

To be fair, you ought to look at the reviews, too:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/203

And here is the link to the entry on the Beijing production:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/182

For more information about Trifles, see this entry:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/196

Below is a picture of Glaspell's Provincetown Theater in NYC.

After a scare in 2008, it is still open:

http://www.provincetownplayhouse.com/home.html

Questions for 7/23 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

 

Good afternoon :)

I hope that the extended responses are coming along well.  Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about them this weekend.

For Monday, we will be reading chapters 6 and 7, focusing on setting and symbol as well as style, irony, and tone.  On Tuesday, we may look at Sherman Alexie's stories.  We will finish up fiction and begin watching Nosferatu then.  

Here is a link to "Why I Live at the P.O.":

http://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypostoff.html

You may read some of Bright Lights, Big City here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=_c8nKqDTgFkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bright+lights+big+city&source=bl&ots=B61NPPorXc&sig=d9A643s3lw08yauowiaBy7vum_s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gZQIUPTuDuH20gGq2cXrAw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bright%20lights%20big%20city&f=false

Here are a few more questions for your journal and perhaps the next extended response:

-- what purpose does fiction serve?  why is it worth reading?

-- which short story has been your favorite so far?  why?

-- what makes a narrator reliable?

-- why might an author choose to give a story an unreliable narrator?

-- of the short stories we've read, which narrators could be unreliable?  why?

-- discuss the impact of Bright Lights, Big City's second person narration

Here is the beginning of the movie starring Michael J. Fox:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJM696jKWA4

-- discuss the impact of a narrator's language.  Do you prefer him/her to use standard English?  Do you prefer him/her to use more colorful or less formal language?  Which types of language do you trust more?  Why?  Why not?

-- Discuss the impact of a story's setting (time and place).  Why does it matter when/where a story is set?

-- Have you been to any of the settings in the stories we've read so far?  What is it it like for you to read these stories and revisit these settings?

-- What is it like for you to read about places that are very much unlike Montgomery County?

-- What is it like for you to read stories set in the distant or not-so-distant past?

--  Discuss the impact of imagery in one of the stories we've read or are reading this weekend.

-- Discuss the impact of conventional, allegorical, or unconventional symbolism in one of the stories we've read or are reading.

-- Which is the most interesting symbol you've encountered in the stories we've read or are reading?  why?

-- Which is the most interesting symbol you've encountered outside of our class?  why?

-- Discuss a symbol from a culture that is not mainstream American.

-- Compare "Today's Demon: Magic" and "The Christmas Pies" as fiction and as graphic fiction.

-- Which other graphic fiction belongs in our anthology?  why?

-- What is your definition of literature?  Which works fit?  Which do not?  Why?
(Note that at one point plays were not considered to be literature and that the Bodleian library did not originally contain play scripts, even Shakespeare's.)

-- How would you expand on someone's point from Thursday's discussions?

I look forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

 

Study Guide for Midterm -- pt. 1 -- EN 190 -- Summer II 2012

Above is an image from the Orange Tree Theatre (UK)'s evening of short plays by Susan Glaspell.  For more information about this production, see these links:

http://www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk/Archive/index.asp?id={9D6F875A-DD54-41B7-BC4F-0F3EC5413B54}&year=2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/apr/09/theatre

But more importantly, which readings/viewings will be on our midterm (July 27)?

Death of a Salesman -- text, DVD of 1985 production, and the following clips:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdbM9YSCq4 (2000, with Brian Dennehy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnTqlxajQ5Q (1996, BBC, with Warren Mitchell)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYKpvtYPG4 (2008, DC's own Arena Stage)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJNaEDrtjug (2009, with Charles S. Dutton)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnEFZJafjE (2008, with Avery Brooks)

Trifles -- text and the following clips  

Below are links to the videos we watched.  If you have more patience with opera, you may start here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTIZ5TL1vaQ

Otherwise, these are the movies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpNuw0vFU5E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9EPnf1WXSE&feature=related

"A Jury of Her Peers" is here:

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

Here is one clip from one version of Sophie Treadwell's Machinal:

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

"Godfather Death" -- text  http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm044.html
and the following clip  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG0P3W_Pgps

"Love in L.A."

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

"The House on Mango Street"

"Everyday Use"

"Why I Live at the P.O." -- http://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypostoff.html

Bright Lights, Big City -- http://books.google.com/books?id=_c8nKqDTgFkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bright+lights+big+city&source=bl&ots=B61NPPorXc&sig=d9A643s3lw08yauowiaBy7vum_s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gZQIUPTuDuH20gGq2cXrAw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bright%20lights%20big%20city&f=false

I wouldn't mind living at the Gulfport, MS P.O. below!

 Readings continue below:

"Hills Like White Elephants"

"The Things They Carried"

"Bad Neighbors"

"The Lesson"

"This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven"

"The Christmas Pies"

Here are clips from Smoke Signals that we watched:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwcJaUaVfR0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPnV2392Tck

We also watched the following video of a Native American storyteller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guu0EflnQPI

Questions for 7/19 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

Good evening :)

Tonight we began our exploration of fiction, focusing on plot and character but also covering other aspects.  It was a fine beginning!  For Thursday, we will move on to point of view and theme.  

These are our readings:  chapter 5 (including stories) (98-134) and “Girl” (397-8) as well as “Dinner with Dr. Aziz.”  One of our stories will be Lynda Barry's "Today's Demon: Magic," a work of graphic fiction.

Before I go onto the questions, here are links to information about MLA:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/mladocu.html

http://libguides.montgomerycollege.edu/mla

Here are a few more questions for your journal:

-- how is your extended journal entry on drama/theater coming along?  (Feel free to post your draft at Multiply.)

-- how would you apply Erikson, Kohlberg, or Gilligan's theory to the short stories we've read so far?  

You may also find Piaget's theory to be useful:

http://psych.colorado.edu/~colunga/P4684/piaget.pdf

-- choose one of the terms we discussed tonight and then use it to examine one of the short stories we've read so far.  (Feel free to choose one of the stories from ch. 5, "Girl," or "Dinner with Dr. Aziz.")

-- do you believe that people can change?  why?  why not?

-- do you believe that a person's character is consistent?  why?  why not?

-- how does your experience help you interpret any of the short stories we've read so far?

-- How might doing research on history, economics, gender, ethnicity, or literature help you understand one of our short stories more?  

-- Today we looked at stories in the third person.  How does fiction change when you read a story in the first person (I, me, mine)?  Which person do you prefer?  Why?

-- How would ch. 4's stories change if they were told in the first person?

-- discuss the reliability of narrators.

-- Choose a story we've read.  What is its theme?  How is the theme different from a director's central idea?

-- How does the author's gender affect the stories we've read?  

--  Is "Girl" a short story?  why?  why not?

-- Is "Today's Demon: Magic" typical of the graphic fiction you've read?  why?  why not?

-- Which graphic fiction ought to be studied in EN 190 and other English classes?

-- Is graphic fiction literature?  why?  why not?

-- how do you define literary fiction?

-- do you read "genre" fiction (i.e., mysteries, SF, romances, fan fiction)?  should these stories be studied in En 190?

-- how did our brief exploration of storytelling help you understand fiction more?  (here is a link to the video that we watched:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG0P3W_Pgps

-- what purpose does literary fiction serve?

See you in class!

Dr. Szlyk 

Questions for 7/17 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

Good evening :)

Tomorrow night we will be moving onto fiction.  Here are our readings:

In our textbook, chapters 3 & 4 (including stories) (55-95) plus “Godfather Death” and “Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead.”

For "Godfather Death," see this link:

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm044.html

For "Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead," see this link:

http://www.native-languages.org/wishramstory.htm

Below are links to the videos we watched.  If you have more patience with opera, you may start here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTIZ5TL1vaQ

Otherwise, these are the movies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpNuw0vFU5E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9EPnf1WXSE&feature=related

"A Jury of Her Peers" is here:

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

Here is one clip from one version of Sophie Treadwell's Machinal:

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

And these are the questions for your journal:

-- what would you like to present on?  how will it shed light on literature?  when would you like to give your presentation?  

-- which response would you like to expand on for the first paper?  why?

-- what do you expect to see on the midterm?  (Note that the midterm and final includes only what we cover in class.)

-- what purpose does the drama serve?  what purpose does theater serve?  why might a playwright or director choose to use more experimental and less realistic techniques?  why might a playwright or director choose to adhere to realism?

-- could a play be worth reading if it is no longer being performed?  why?  why not?

-- in your opinion, which is the most important element of fiction?  why?

-- how is fiction different from drama?  how is it similar?

-- compare how dramatists convey character with the ways that writers of short stories do.

-- compare how dramatists convey setting with the ways that writers of short stories do.

-- compare how dramatists and writers of fiction use plot (including foreshadowing and flashbacks)

-- how are the folktales ("Godfather Death" and "Coyote and Eagle") different from the literary short stories?  how are they similar?

-- describe Death, the father, the godson, Coyote, and Eagle as characters

-- what do we really know about Jake or Mariana in "Love in LA" or Connie & Arnold Friend in "Where are you going..."

-- how do you feel about the ending of Trifles?

-- how do you feel about the ending of "Love in L.A." or the ending of "Where are you going...?"

-- do you feel that you have enough background in "Love in L.A." ?  why?  why not?

-- why does Joyce Carol Oates dedicate her story to Bob Dylan?  (if you don't know who he is, here are some videos for you:

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

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

See you in class!  Just a reminder that I do expect you to be there.

Dr. Szlyk