Midterm Study Guide -- Fiction

This afternoon, before the papers come in, I'd like to start the midterm study guide for fiction.  The pictures above are of Mel's Drive-In in Hollywood
http://www.melsdrive-in.com/hoursandlocations/hollywood.html
and a street scene in LA.  Southern California is known for its car culture (isn't The Fast and the Furious set there?), and people are able to drive antique cars more often because the roads don't need to be salted as they do here. 

Hmmm....on review day I'll have to dig up a YouTube of various antique cars on display in Southern California!

However, let's start with the folktales from Monday the 18th.

The first is the Brothers' Grimm's "Godfather Death."

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

Next is the Wishram story, "Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead."

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

The Navajo shadow puppet show "Coyote and Horned Toad" follows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjUlyarH9F0

In addition, here is Wikipedia's outline of the characteristics of oral culture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orality#Theory_of_the_characteristics_of_oral_culture

Take a look at the book review of Fr. Walter J. Ong's Orality and Literacy below:
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/51/Orality_Literacy_._._._Cross-Posting_from_EN_201_Blog
How does orality shape the folktales we've read?  How does it shape the stories that Troy tells in Fences--and his approach to life?  (Feel free to compare it to Rose's or Cory's.)

-- Here are some of my EN 202 entries on the Brothers Grimm and their work. 
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/146/The_Brothers_Grimm_From_Enchanted_Forests_to_the_Modern_World
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/147

For the outline of Joseph Campbell's monomyth (hero's journey), see this link:

http://orias.berkeley.edu/hero/JourneyStages.pdf

It goes without saying that Dagoberto Gilb's "Love in L.A." and Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" will be on the midterm.  Terms on plot (including foreshadowing, flashback, and false closure) and character (including protagonist, antagonist, and anti-hero) will be on the midterm as well.  Below is a picture of Shakespeare's Falstaff, who exemplifies the anti-hero.  He is the bearded man with the big belly...the man who is talking!

Here is a montage of scenes from "Smooth Talk," the movie that Chris mentioned in class today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co9bfNOlSRQ

The trailer is below:

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



The following stories will be on the midterm:  Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street," Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," and Lynda Barry's "Today's Demon: Magic."  We will also cover point of view (first-person, third-person limited & objective & omniscient) and theme as a way to compare/contrast works from different genres.  In addition, there may be a question or two on the definition of literature and inclusion of various genres (graphic fiction, autobiography & life writing, film, music).  With the last in mind, here are links to the videos from American Graffiti:

Here is the link to the trailer. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Jo1gH89VM

For the beginning of the movie, see this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzfm2fKYARU


To listen to Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and read the song's lyrics, go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziQx0cXV4nY

Here are some more sites where you may find Lynda Barry's work:

http://www.marlysmagazine.com/

http://www.comixology.com/articles/10/All-the-Comics-4-Lynda-Barry

http://comicscomicsmag.com/2011/02/lynda-barry.html

Vice Magazine also has an interesting interview with her.

The last stories on the midterm will be Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" and Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." 

I may also ask you about the following prose poems:

Russell Edson's "Sleep"
http://webdelsol.com/tpp/tpp5/tpp5_edson.html

Naomi Shihab Nye's "Hammer and Nail"
http://webdelsol.com/tpp/tpp5/tpp5_edson.html

Below are the definitions that we looked at:

Midterm Study Guide -- Drama

It really is amazing how many companies have done Death of a Salesman.  The picture above is from Thunder River Theater Company's 2007 production.  I wonder if MC will ever do this play.

Here is the company's picture of Biff's encounter with his father and his mistress.


And here is the study guide itself.  The midterm will cover both Death of a Salesman (play, DVD, and videos) and Fences (play and videos).  Remember that the term drama applies to the play script, not the performance and that the term theater refers to the "apparatus" of performance: director, actors, set designers & builders, costume designers, sound & lights, and audience.  Have I forgotten anyone? 

Also each production has a central idea.  After all, in 2011, Fences means something different than it did back in the 1980s.  The presence of the playwright may affect the production.  Location is also important even within the US!


Here is a link to the entry with links to various scenes from Death of a Salesman:

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

However, we have not watched all of these scenes in class.  We will focus on the ones we have looked at (Charles S. Dutton's, Brian Dennehy's, Lee J. Cobb's).  I will have to show a bit of the Oberlin version when we review for the midterm.

You might like to look at these links about Arthur Miller (1915-2005).  Nayani found the first link: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june99/miller_2-10.html  
Here is a link to my entry on Miller:
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/202

Below is the link to the entry on Fences:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/205

For some historical background, see this link:

http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/206

The picture below is from a 2010 production of Fences at the University of North Carolina's PlayMakers Repertory Company.


Here is a picture of August Wilson (1945-2005) in front of a restaurant near the Boston University Theater where the Huntington Theater Company performs. 



We will also cover the following background information.

First, here is a link to the outline of Erikson's developmental theory.  The last four stages will be especially important:

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/erikson.htm

By the way, Erikson's wife and collaborator Joan Erikson later stated that there was a ninth stage for those who lived past 80.  Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D.  adds:

In Erikson's last book on the subject, The Life Cycle Completed, his wife, Joan M. Erikson, added a "ninth stage" that applied to people who had become very old (as they had).  In the book, she wrote:  "Old age in one's eighties and nineties brings with it new demands, reevaluations, and daily difficulties" (The Life Cycle Completed, p. 105).  According to Joan Erikson, in the ninth stage, the despair of stage eight is magnified by the experience of one's deteriorating body and mind, which results in a lowering of self-esteem and confidence. "To face down despair with faith and appropriate humility," she wrote, "is perhaps the wisest course" (The Life Cycle Completed, p. 106).


Carol Gilligan's theory of development is outlined here:

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/classes/handbook/Gilligan.html

How might her theory apply to characters like Linda, Rose, Connie, or the mother in "Everyday Use"?

We talked a little about Lawrence Kohlberg's theory.  I'm including this link since Gilligan developed in response to his.  (She had been one of his grad students.)

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

Moreover, his theory works so well with our plays!



I am also including links to the interview with Justin Emeka and Avery Brooks on their production of Death of a Salesman at Oberlin College.  Above is a picture of Brooks as Othello.  This production was at DC's own Shakespeare Theater.

We watched only parts 1 and 2, but I encourage you to watch all of this interview.  When we review for the midterm, we may watch part 4 and possibly part 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC4UUhUZRX8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPQjCznRE1c&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgIwdSpi6o4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ttJhC9iE4M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNzESuJqU40&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unNtE-o5oNw&feature=related

See the link below for more information about the genre of tragedy:

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

OTOH, could Fences be a history play?  (Shakespeare wrote tragedies and histories as well as comedies and romances.)  Being a 20th century American, August Wilson would necessarily have a different approach to who could be a subject of a history play than Shakespeare would have as an Englishman of the late 16th and early 17th century.

I also hope to show some videos that are relevant to Fences.

Watch this entry for more. 

Below is a picture of Erik and Joan Erikson.  In addition to being his collaborator and muse, she was an artist who integrated art into occupational therapy for his psychiatric patients.