Study Guide for Midterm EN 190/190 HM -- Fall 2013 pt. 2

Let's move on to fiction! I am not sure whether we will see any of American Graffiti, but it seems to fit with a number of our stories, so here we are!

The stories that may be on the midterm include the following:
"Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead"
"Love in LA"
"The Red Convertible"
"Today's Demon: Magic" (graphic fiction)
"The House on Mango Street"
"Girl"
"Everyday Use"
"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
"Hills Like White Elephants"
Maus
Persepolis

Main characters, authors' names, settings, and plot points will also be on the exam.  Remember Nancy Armstrong!

Here are some terms for you:
types of stories: literary fiction, genre fiction, folktale, graphic fiction (panel), flash fiction
differences between drama/theater and fiction
again orality
plot: narrative arc (initial incident etc.), false closure, foreshadowing, flashback, exposition, description, dialogue, epiphany
character: flat vs. round, major vs. minor, protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero, showing vs. telling -- ways to develop character
point of view: 1st person (reliable, unreliable, naive), 2nd person, 3rd person (omniscient, objective, center of consciousness, limited omniscience), frame narrative
types of theme: topic vs. thesis statement
graphic fiction:  Ms. Vartanoff covered a LOT, but try to remember different categories like manga and key titles like Maus, Persepolis, A Contract with God, Saints & Boxers, the adaptations of various literary/musical works like Wagner's Ring Cycle, The Tale of Genji, the Odyssey & the Iliad, Girl Stories.  Try to remember key names like Will Eisner, Scott McLeod (theorist/Understanding Comics), Art Spiegelman, Gene Yuen Yang, Lauren Weinstein.  Note that graphic fiction is available in many languages, even simply visual like Blood Song, a novel set in Vietnam.

Study Guide for Midterm EN 190/190HM -- Fall 2013

Below is a modern version of A Doll House:

The following plays will be fair game on the midterm:
A Doll House (mostly DVD)
Trifles
Fences (videos and text)
Crossing the Border
Death of a Salesman (videos only)

For these plays, know the names of main characters (i.e., Nora, Torvald, Troy, Cory, Rose), the playwrights, and major actors (i.e., Claire Bloom, Anthony Hopkins, Denzil Washington, Viola Davis).  Know the plot and setting of plays.  Note that Death of a Salesman is a memory play with flashbacks and no unity of place or time.  Note that Fences is part of Wilson's Century Cycle.

The talk with Christopher Goodrich of Unexpected Stage Company will be on the midterm.

These terms will be fair game:
drama vs. theater (compare with film -- camera angles & composition of shots)
developmental theory (Kohlberg & Gilligan)
act, scene
plot (conflict; the narrative arc-- inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement; false closure, flashback, foreshadowing)
character (contrast; impact of action; impact of dialogue; impact of stage directions)
dialogue vs. soliloquoy
exposition
language
family dynamics vs. impact of culture & society & community
community vs. isolation
memory play

orality -- note that Troy is illiterate
theme  -- how did I miss the central idea of a production?!
setting
blocking
stage directions
(more terms from photos)

Consider the developmental theories of Kohlberg and Gilligan:

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

http://collegestudentdeveltheory.blogspot.com/2010/09/gilligans-theory-of-womens-moral.html

See below for links to key videos:

Next these are the links to the videos of A Doll House we saw on the first day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uqomb814Qk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbgsD7K9qCc

I am trying to find a modern dress version--and here is one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb3CIsynKa4

Here is the infamous Mabou Mines version:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHn2FxLJOoI

To help with Fences, here are links to Eyes on the Prize, a documentary from the late 1980s.

We watched the video below at the end of class today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5gvNPWSuKM&feature=related

These links are to longer sections:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVB2AlVpt0I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a32Uc1oP7s

For more videos of Fences and Death of a Salesman, see the entry below:

http://en202.blogspot.com/2013/09/from-archives-fences-death-of-salesman.html

Here are some scenes from Fences.

Ah, I was able to find James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance from 1987!

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

Here is a juxtaposition of the 1987 and 2010 versions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE2dDmMGfa4

Let's look at the Black Theater Ensemble of Virginia's versions of scenes we looked at:

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1fDmx--SE

Here Troy explains why he had his affair with Alberta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yumNODGOg

South Coast Repertory's scenes are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECf35PVdIys

For Death of a Salesman, see these links:

We'll start with the Oberlin production starring Avery Brooks as Willy and Justin Emeka as Biff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qYxC9Grn4o

This video sounds much clearer on my new laptop!

Next is the clip of Willy and his sons at the restaurant.  This is the 1980s TV movie with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjOvVcmmYy8

The clip below shows Willy's flashbacks where he sees his sons when they were young.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyNIk4S9Skg

I do want you to see the end of the play, Willy's funeral:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgm1uEKHeY4

Questions for 10/3 in EN 190/190HM

Above is a photo of Alabama quilter Mozell Benson.  For more about her and her work, see these links:http://www.arts.state.al.us/actc/1/listserverindividual/20120729mozellbenson.htm

http://arts.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/mozell-benson?id=2001_02&type=bio


 Good afternoon :)

 I wanted to make sure that I sent off the assignment sheet for the next piece of writing, the expanded response fiction, this afternoon.  I know that I haven't started looking over everyone's expanded response to drama, but one has to start somewhere.  Also, I would like to start setting up the study guide for the midterm this afternoon.

For Thursday, please read chapter 7, which is actually about setting and symbol.  We will continue with "Everyday Use" and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," and I may quickly wrap up point of view.

Here are a few quick questions for you.

-- Choosing among the following course themes (family, coming of age, race in America, gender), which readings (stories, graphic fiction, or plays) would you pair?  Why?  

-- What are the advantages and disadvantages to taking a thematic approach to EN 190?  Why?  

-- Choose one of the readings we've had so far.  What appears to be its theme (full sentence)?  why?  How does determining this theme help you understand the reading?

-- Of the stories we've looked at so far, which would be best to perform on stage?  Why?

-- Of the stories we've looked at so far, which would be best to film?  Why?

-- What do you think happens to Connie after the story ends?  Why?

-- Here is a link to the story "Why I Live at the P.O.":  http://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypostoff.html  How does the first-person narration shape this story?  Is she reliable or unreliable?  Why?  Why not?

-- Choose one of the stories we've read.  How does setting (time or place) shape it?  

-- Trace the presence and effects of atmosphere in one of the stories we've read so far.

-- Choose one of the stories we've read.  Pick out a striking image.  Is it a symbol?  Or is it simply what it is?  Why?  Why not?

-- How does reading for symbols make a story more interesting?

-- Discuss the use of third person narration in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and "Hills Like White Elephants."

-- Discuss the use of dialogue in "Girl" and "Hills Like White Elephants" as well as "Cigarettes."

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

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 10/1 in EN 190/190 HM

(The mother and daughter above actually live in Brooklyn, but I thought that this would be a good photo for today.)


Good evening...and thank you to Amavi and Cristina who sent me pictures of the whiteboard!

Did you know that our midterm will be two weeks from today?  I have attached a copy of a sample midterm to this email.  Note that there will be no essay section of the exam and that anything that we cover in class may be on the exam.  We went over this exam in class today.

For Tuesday, I would like you to read ch. 6 in our textbook as well as the following stories “Girl” (317-8) as well as “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (481-493).  The paper will be due Friday at 11:59 pm unless we have made other arrangements.

Here are a few questions for your journal.  We will be going over the expanded response to fiction next week, but you may choose to expand a journal entry you've already written.

-- How is your expanded response to drama coming along?

-- What do you expect to see on our midterm?

-- If we consider "Love in LA," "The Red Convertible," and possibly "Today's Demon: Magic" to be literary fiction, what are the characteristics of this category?  Why might "Today's Demon: Magic" not fit?

-- How did today's discussion help you understand literary fiction?

-- How did today's discussion help you understand character and characterization?

-- How did today's discussion help you understand graphic fiction?

-- Choose one of the characters in our stories (including the ones you are reading over the weekend).  Is this character round or flat?  Why?

-- Choose a minor character in one of our stories.  What purpose does he or she serve?  If this character were taken out of the story, how would the story be affected?

-- Choose one of the characters in one of our stories.  How does the author develop him/her?

-- Discuss Lyman as a narrator.  What are his strengths and weaknesses as a narrator?  How might "The Red Convertible" appear from Henry's point of view, an omniscient or limited 

third person narrator's point of view, or the point of view of the others on the reservation?  What does Lyman know that these people do not?  What does he not know that makes the story better?

-- "Girl" is in second person.  Is this an effective choice on Jamaica Kinkaid's part?  Why?  Why not?

-- The narrator of "The House on Mango Street" is a child.  Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of her point of view.

-- Compare "Today's Demon: Magic" and "The Cigarette" as graphic fiction.  Discuss visual and textual elements.  Whose style of drawing do you prefer?  Why?  Why not?

-- Compare the beginnings of two of our stories.

--  Compare the endings of two of our stories.  Do either have an epiphany?  Why?  Why not?

-- Choose two of our stories.  How does each develop the theme of family relationships?

See you in class on Tuesday!

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 9/26 in EN 190/190HM

 Good evening :)

Today we began our unit on fiction, introducing the genre and focusing on plot.  Thank you to those who helped me read "Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead"!

For Thursday, we will continue reading ch. 5, moving on to character and graphic fiction.  The stories that we will discuss will be Louise Erdrich's "The Red Convertible" and Lynda Barry's "Today's Demon: Magic."

To start with, here is a video of a Native American storyteller's version of another Coyote story.  Note that he is not from the Wishram but the California Pit River Nation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCjooh6oUSA

This video may be another version of the story we read:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qGxVx8OpY

Below is the link to "Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead":

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

What does performance add to folktales?  Where does it detract?

How does the storyteller's performance help us understand Coyote's character?

Here are other stories about Coyote:

http://www.ucan-online.org/legend.asp?legend=4297&category=2

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/rabbcoy.htm

http://www.snreview.org/0205Lockwood.html

http://www.ucan-online.org/legend.asp?legend=6017&category=2

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/coyotead.htm

How do these stories establish Coyote's character?  Is he a round or a flat character?  Why?  Why not?

Are Jake and Mariana from "Love in LA" round or flat characters?  Why?  Why not?

Joseph Campbell discusses the Trickster here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM10AvJ3bsM
How does he help you understand Coyote--and Jake better?

How do our fiction authors use exposition to establish character?

How do they use description to create character?

How do they use dialogue to create character?

In the stories we've read so far, what is more important: plot or character?  Why?

Discuss the brothers' relationship in "The Red Convertible."  What does it add to our literature about families?

Are the characters actions believable or not?  why?

How is "Today's Demon" like or unlike other literary fiction you've read?

How is it like or unlike other graphic fiction you've read?

What would you add to our editors' section on graphic fiction?  Why?

Which graphic fiction ought our editors include in our anthology?

How does Lynda Barry use visuals in "Today's Demon"?  What would this story be like without them?

How does she use plot?  How does she use character?

What do you make of young Lynda's actions?  How might Ev respond to this story?

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

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for 9/24 in EN 190/190HM

Good evening :)

Today we finished our unit on drama/theater.  I was glad that we were able to watch some scenes from Death of a Salesman.  Here they are in case you'd like to watch them again.

We'll start with the Oberlin production starring Avery Brooks as Willy and Justin Emeka as Biff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qYxC9Grn4o

This video sounds much clearer on my new laptop!

Next is the clip of Willy and his sons at the restaurant.  This is the 1980s TV movie with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjOvVcmmYy8

The clip below shows Willy's flashbacks where he sees his sons when they were young.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyNIk4S9Skg

I do want you to see the end of the play, Willy's funeral:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgm1uEKHeY4

I wish that our textbook still included Death of a Salesman!

Now that we are moving on to fiction, I would like you to read chapters 4 and 5 as well as the following folktales:

"Godfather Death"  http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm044.html

"Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead"  http://www.native-languages.org/wishramstory.htm

Here are a few questions for your journal:

-- Apply some of our terminology to discuss the clips from Death of a Salesman.  How do the actors bring the scenes to life?  How does the dialogue help you make up for not having read the play?

-- Which version do you prefer?  The one starring Avery Brooks or the one starring Dustin Hoffman?  Why?  Feel free to compare plays and films.

-- How do the clips from Death of a Salesman shed light on the plays we've read (Fences, Crossing the Border)?  By the way, do you remember that the film of A Doll House showed Krogstad as a father?

-- How is your paper coming along?

-- How is fiction different from/similar to drama?  (Consider that fiction is meant to be read whereas drama is meant to be performed.)

-- How do the stories you've read so far (including "Godfather Death" and "Coyote and Eagle") handle plot?  How does this compare to the way that drama/theater handles plot?

-- Discuss the role of description and exposition in fiction.  How do they compare to stage directions in drama?

-- Discuss the role of conflict in fiction.  How would you map the stories' plot onto a narrative arc?

-- Of the types of conflict our editors mention on pages 117 and 118, which seem more interesting to you?  Why?

-- Compare how our plays and our short stories begin.

-- Discuss dialogue in fiction.  How does its role compare to its role in drama?

-- How do we enter characters' minds in fiction?

-- Compare the shorter and longer stories.  Does length matter in fiction?  Why?

-- How are "Godfather Death" and "Coyote and Eagle" different from/similar to the literary fiction we read?

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

Dr. Szlyk

Questions for EN 190/190HM -- 9/19

 Good afternoon :)

I'm glad that we were able to watch three scenes from the recent Broadway version of Fences.  Let's hope that Denzil Washington is able to make a film version of the play soon!

For Thursday, please read chapter 24 on writing about drama/theater as well as Eduardo Machado's play "Crossing the Border."  We will also watch some clips from Death of a Salesman.

Here are a few more questions for your journal.

Discuss the father/son relationships in Fences and "Crossing the Border."

Discuss the theme/symbol of sports in the two plays.  Consider your own attitude towards sports as well.

Discuss race and related issues in these two plays.  How much have things changed since the 1950s/1980s?  How do issues change when you consider Latinos rather than African-Americans?

How does Eduardo Machado use dialogue, character, and setting?

Note that "Crossing the Border" is a very compressed play.  Does this work for you?  Why?  Why not?

Do you see the conflict as believable?  Why?  Why not?  (Note: the NY Times critic briefly referred to the play as "cliche-ridden."  why do you think this is?)

I haven't been able to find a video clip of Machado's play even though it has been performed recently.  How does this affect your understanding of the play?  How do you think that it may have been staged?

"Crossing the Border" is a fairly new play.  How does it address current concerns?

Here are some scenes from Fences.

Ah, I was able to find James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance from 1987!

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

Here is a juxtaposition of the 1987 and 2010 versions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE2dDmMGfa4

Let's look at the Black Theater Ensemble of Virginia's versions of scenes we looked at:

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1fDmx--SE

Here Troy explains why he had his affair with Alberta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yumNODGOg

South Coast Repertory's scenes are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECf35PVdIys

Discuss how each version of Fences uses not only tone of voice or physical characteristics but also movement, props, set design, and blocking to bring the play to life.  How does each differ from the versions we saw in class today?  How are they similar?  How does the audience seem to respond?  Why?  Why not?

I'll be interested in seeing what you think!

Dr. Szlyk