Dr. Szlyk's Blog for ENGL 190: ladymary

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

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.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Study Guide for the Midterm (part 1)

These are the works that will be on the midterm:

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Turkish Embassy Letters (to Alexander Pope, Miss Sarah Chiswell, and the Countess of Mar [Lady Mary's sister])

excerpts from Evliya Celebi's Book of Travels (the whole is ten volumes)

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (We also discussed his "An Image of Africa" and Caryl Phillips' interview.)

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

Candide by Voltaire

excerpts from Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

excerpts from Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

"Stale Mates" by Zhang Ailing or Eileen Chang

Raise the Red Lantern, dir. Zhang Yimou

excerpts from Xueqin Cao 's The Story of the Stone/Dream of the Red Chamber

The exam will be in two parts. The first is the subjective exam (60 pts.). This will be a take home essay. The second is the objective exam (40 pts.). I will ask you to fill in the blanks, answer multiple choice questions, and give short answers. For the most part, the questions will be cover what we discuss in class. I may ask you to list three to five things that you learned from reading this blog.

Topics discussed for each work:

Heart of Darkness (1899, 1902)-- between 19th & 20th century, imperialism, history of Congo/DR Congo, frame narrative, Marlow as narrator, Marlow as hero/Kurtz as hero, hero's journey, Marlow & women, Marlow & Africans, Marlow & Europeans who are not English, is Marlow Conrad?/is Conrad Marlow?, Apocalypse Now, An Image of Africa (Achebe's response), Conrad's decision to write in English

Turkish Embassy Letters (written 1716-1718, published 1763) -- Lady Mary's sense of audience, her perspective on the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, orientalism, her correspondents, her visit with the wife of the Grand Vizier and then with the wife of the Kabya "the difference between an old devote and a young beauty," letters published *after* Lady Mary's death & even then they were edited, genre of lifewriting

Book of Travels -- ten volume work, Celebi traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Albania, today's Iraq, Egypt), in the section we read he visits the site of a famous battle and advises the Caliph on how to preserve a ???'s gravesite from desecration, how does Celebi portray the land & people?

Things Fall Apart (1958) -- one of the first modern African novels but not the first (Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard was published in 1946.), Achebe's depiction of 19th c. Igbo/Ibo society, Okonkwo-'s conflict with his son Nwoye and its outcome, impact of Christianity & British rule, Okonkwo & his wives, the society's attitude towards war, is Okonkwo at odds with his own village (Umofia)?, his conflict with his father, proverbs, what does Umofia value?, Okonkwo's relationship with Ikemefuna, what falls apart in the novel?, is Okonkwo a hero? Is he a tragic hero?, roles of tradition & ritual, is Okonkwo flexible? is his village? why is flexibility important and how does it affect the outcome?, feel free to refer to "An Image of Africa" and interviews with Achebe

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Essay #1

Out-of-Class Essay #1– Due March 27, 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 Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas (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. This essay may be a traditional literary analysis, exploring one element in a work. This element may be a work’s genre, its plot, character, setting, theme, imagery, tone, or diction. You may even want to explore the meaning of a specific passage.

You may also explore the work’s cultural context (Candide as an Enlightenment text or Oroonoko as an abolitionist text) or its position within world literature. For example, how does Candide fit with novels like Oroonoko or lifewriting like "The Interesting Narrative"? What role does the slave narrative play in world literature? What role does life writing play?

Consider the role of language in world literature. Joseph Conrad chose to write in English, his third language, rather than in Polish or French. Chinua Achebe chose to write in English; he also argued that doing so would guarantee him a wider audience. However, Ngugi wa'Thiongo writes in Gikiuyu, his first language, because he states that to do otherwise would perpetuate colonialism. What do you think? Consider that in this part of the semester, we have read a number of English-language works (Heart of Darkness, Oroonoko, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Things Fall Apart) *and* translated works (Candide, The Story of the Stone, A Doll's House, Mother Courage). Our movie, Raise the Red Lantern, will be in Chinese.

Finally, use this assignment to explore a topic that has come up in class or among the journal prompts. If you are in the honors module, I encourage you to write on one of the optional writings. You may also use a reading from our anthology to illuminate one of our assigned readings. You may use secondary sources from literary criticism, especially if you are in the honors module.

At this point, though, I am much more interested in what you think of Things Fall Apart or Candide 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. 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.

Remember to submit your final draft to www.turnitin.com before you hand it in to me. Let me know if you are having problems starting up your account or submitting your paper. I’m always happy to walk you through the steps.

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.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Lady Mary, Celebi, and the Ottoman Empire (part 2)

While I'm online, I thought I'd post a little bit of information about Lady Mary Wortley Montague and Evliya Celebi, our authors. The picture above is Lady Mary in "Turkish costume." I found it at the University of North Texas' exhibit on women writers. This exhibit also included the following concise biography of Lady Mary:

http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/women/17th.htm#Lady%20Mary%20Wortley%20Montagu

This picture of a cover of a recent biography is probably a little more colorful! Lady Mary, by the way, is particularly known for her early adoption of immunization.

Luminarium.org's biography is more extensive than the University of North Texas'.

http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/montagu/marybio.htm

This site also has links to Lady Mary's works in various genres:

http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/montagu/marybib.htm

Britain's Twickenham Museum also has information about Lady Mary in the context of her relationship with Alexander Pope:

http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=180

For a little more information about Pope, here is the same museum's page on him:

http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=19

Below is a picture of the Ottoman author Evliya Celebi: