Below are the prompts for the take home part of the midterm. Choose only one prompt. The essay will be due on Tuesday, July 27.The picture above is from Brussels! The building is the Centre for Fine Arts.
1. How well does one of the following characters (Marlow, Kurtz, Fitzcarraldo, Okonkwo) follow the hero's journey (Joseph Campbell's monomyth)? In what ways does he *not* follow this monomyth? How does this affect the plot of the story, the character's coherence and believability, and the genre of the work?
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 or viewed so far, and examine how each fits--or doesn't fit into this focus. Do any works complicate this focus? Also, how have authors' and readers' attitudes changed over time? Consider that Leopold Sedar Senghor is from the Francophone culture, Werner Herzog is (West) German, and Okot P'bitek originally wrote his poems in Acholi, an African language. Feel free to choose one of the interviews or essays that I have assigned as one of your three works.
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. I have assigned a number of optional essays along with our required readings. In addition, we have seen various videos in class--as well as Fitzcarraldo. Choose up to three essays and/or videos. How have they helped you understand our readings better? How have they helped you understand world literature better? How have they gotten in your way? What have they added to your understanding? How have they complicated it?
5. As genres, novels, films, and poems each have different qualities and constraints. Choose one genre. Based on what you've read in our class as well as what you've read (or written) elsewhere, how would you characterize this genre? How do the works so far add to your understanding of this genre? How do they complicate it? Note that understanding of and responses to genre change not only from time to time but also from culture to culture. We have read and viewed works from a few different and even distinct cultures.
6. This session we are watching a number of older, more slower-paced films without CGI. These films also come from cultures other than America's. How are these films different from the films that you are used to? How are they similar? What do these films add to your understanding of films and film history? to your understanding of world literature? Be sure to justify your reasons with examples from the movies that we have seen.
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