Above are some maps of Jamestown, fyi.
Ay! I wanted to send out these questions last night, but here I am sending them out this morning. Fortunately, tomorrow (Wed.) is a catch-up day. We will finish up Capt. Smith's narrative and start Mary Rowlandson's. In the meantime, here is a link to the video that we watched at the beginning of class:
As I mentioned in class, it is a sanitized version of events, but it is still useful.
In addition, here is a link to Cassandra's Prezi:
The videos of the Powhatan dances and the museum on the Eastern Shore are especially worth revisiting.
And here are a few questions for you:
-- Given that a number of you are education majors (and some of you are not), how valuable are "sanitized" versions of events at Jamestown? How problematic are these versions? What can students learn from less "sanitized" versions? How might less "sanitized" versions of history be problematic for students? Consider that all historical and critical events are somewhat limited.
-- How did reading Capt. Smith's narrative affect your understanding of Colonial America? of American literature?
-- How do narratives of exploration fit into literature? How do they not fit?
-- How does myth fit into literature? into history?
-- How is a scholar's emotional attachment to a historical figure useful? How is it problematic? (Note that a scholar can also become alienated as well. Robert Frost's biographer, for example, grew to dislike him.) Why might Paula Gunn Allen have become overly attached to Pocahontas?
-- Have you read Lord of the Flies? How might a novel like Golding's prepare you to read Capt. Smith's narrative?
-- Discuss Capt. Smith's portrayal of the Powhatan people and their culture.
-- How does he portray the Powhatan? How does he portray his fellow English?
-- How did yesterday's video help you understand Capt. Smith's narrative better? How did it prepare you to read Mary Rowlandson's narrative?
-- How did Cassandra's Prezi help you understand Capt. Smith's narrative better? How did it prepare you to read Mary Rowlandson's narrative?
-- Discuss Mary Rowlandson as a narrator. Note that she uses first person!
-- Discuss her use of Biblical references.
-- How does she portray her fellow settlers? How does she portray the Natives?
-- What might Mrs. Rowlandson have left out of her narrative? What might Capt. Smith have left out of his narrative?
-- How does Mrs. Rowlandson portray the American landscape?
-- How does she engage with her audience? (Note that her narrative was extremely popular in its day.)
-- Discuss Mrs. Rowlandson as a woman writer. How does she take a particularly feminine or feminist approach to her material? Should her narrative be included in a course on women in literature? Why? Why not?
I think I will stop for now. Just as a heads up--next week we will move on to poetry!
Dr. Szlyk
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