More Fiction!

The period leading up to midterms is always a challenging time, so I appreciate those of you who attended class on Wednesday night.  The midterm and final covers only what we discussed in class.

The homework for next Wednesday is to read chapter 6 (except for "A Rose for Emily") as well as Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" and the two stories by Sherman Alexie ("What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" and "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven").  Our midterm will be October 26.  Please see the folder midterm/final for more information, including sample midterms.

Here are a few questions for your journals.

In class, we watched segments from the following video on Louise Erdrich and her husband Michael Dorris: https://montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=16705&xtid=4949  (You may need to log in to watch this video, "Searching for a Native American Identity.")  The segments we watched were "Political Situation," "Victor-Oppressor Relationship," "Dark Humor," "Reservation as Cultural Preservation," and "Learning from Indian Culture."  What did the video teach you about Native American culture?  about Louise Erdrich?  How did it shed light on "The Red Convertible"?  How did it prepare you to read Sherman Alexie's stories--granted that Alexie is from a different generation and a different people?

Compare Erdrich and O'Brien's writing about the Vietnam War.  How does O'Brien avoid making his characters stock characters?  Or does he?

Discuss Erdrich and O'Brien depict war.  Feel free to discuss your own experience of being a soldier or the experiences of family members and friends who have served.

Choose one of the stories we've read so far.  What role does point of view play in the story?  What role does narration play.

Choose one of the stories we've read so far.  What role does plot play?  When does the story begin?  Does it contain flashbacks or foreshadowing?  How much exposition is present to give the reader background information?  How much dialogue is present?  How does the story end?  Are you satisfied?  Why?  Why not?

Chose one of the stories we've read so far.  What role does character play?  Why?

Choose one of the characters we've encountered so far.  Is he/she flat?  round?  Is he/she a protagonist?  an antagonist?  Discuss his/her motivations.  Is he/she believable?  Why?  Why not?  Could he/she be considered a stock character?  Why?

Compare a story narrated in first person with one narrated in third person.  How does each narration help you understand the story?  What do you know?  What do you not know?

Discuss Victor's relationship with his father.  What do you make of his reaction to his father's death?

Discuss Victor's relationship with Thomas.  What do you make of it?  Should Thomas have helped Victor out?  What do you make of Thomas' final request?

How does Sherman Alexie depict Native Americans' lives, both on and off the reservation?

Why do you think that Victor's father leaves the reservation?

Discuss the humor in Sherman Alexie's stories.

Discuss Thomas as a character.

Choose one story we've read so far.  How does the author depict men?  What does this tell us about the world he/she depicts?  about the author's world view?  How do these men interact with women?  How do they interact with each other?

Choose one story we've read so far.  How does the author depict women?  What does this tell us about the world he/she depicts?  about the author's world view?  How do these women interact with men?  How do they interact with each other?

Nothing But Fiction and Folktales

Last night we moved on from drama to fiction and folktales.  This week coming up we will focus on literary fiction, namely "The Red Convertible," "Love in LA," and "Today's Demon: Magic."  The last story is also graphic fiction.

However, I want to add a few questions about our folktales.

Here is a handout on the trickster from Encyclopedia Britannica:  https://www.britannica.com/art/trickster-tale
Joseph Campbell speaks on the trickster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM10AvJ3bsM

How do these links help you understand "Godfather Death," "Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead," and even Trickster Troy from Fences?

Here are some videos of stories about Coyote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCjooh6oUSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlCf4et66r8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qGxVx8OpY
What do they tell you about him?  about storytelling?  about folktales?  Do they seem to be authentic?  Why?  Why not?

Here is a story about Raven, another trickster.  Compare Raven as a trickster to Coyote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un3QcybRFc0

Now let's move onto the literary fiction.

Is Henry's death an accident?  Or is it suicide?  Justify your answer.

How does Lyman change over the course of "The Red Convertible"?

Discuss Lyman as a narrator.  Is he reliable?  Is he naive?  Why?  Why not?

What are Lyman's 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?

Does Lyman seem to be narrating events that happened in the distant past?  Or the recent past?  Why?

What does the story of Henry and Lyman's road trip add to the story?  Why?

How does "The Red Convertible" make use of foreshadowing?  of epiphany?

"Love in LA" is a very short story.  Is this a good thing?  Or a bad thing?  Why?

Do Jake and Mariana change as characters?  Why?  Why not?

"Love in LA" is narrated by a third person narrator with limited omniscience.  How does that affect what we understand of this story?  How would this story be different if Jake or Mariana narrated it?

Describe Jake as a character.

Does he get away in the end?  Why?  Why not?

What do the graphic elements add to "Today's Demon: Magic"?  What does the text add?

Why does the narrator push her friend Ev away?

How do you think that Ev would react to this story?  Why?

What are the narrator's strengths and weaknesses as a narrator?  How might "Today's Demon: Magic" appear from another perspective?

-- 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?

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

Finishing Up Fences and Moving on to Fiction

I wish that I had been able to post this entry last night after our wonderful conversation had been fresh in my mind, but here is our entry for the week.

I'll start with links to the trailers that we watched.  First is the trailer from the film version of Fences:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vylWibtgdbU

Next is a key scene from the 2010 Broadway version of Fences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBTXS42dj40

Compare it to the original Broadway version with James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_kGtQmvrVI

Or to the Trickster Troy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v4l36NTrsA

At one point, there was a video of James Earl Jones' version of this scene, but I can't find it.

In the meantime, here are links to entries on Fences from past semesters.  This entry emphasizes the Civil Rights movement and baseball more:  http://en202.blogspot.com/2013/09/from-archives-background-on-fences.html  The next entry contains images from other productions of Fences:  http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/09/questions-for-engl-190-september-24.html   This video takes you backstage to another such production at Boston's Huntington Theater Company:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp8OhjIkRNs&list=PLtOdbdAAmRTisMLDCW__G_tJT1a4X94wm&index=5

Here are a few questions for your journal.

In class, we mainly focused on the relationships in Fences.  How does this focus shape your understanding of the play?  What does it obscure?  Why?

What does baseball mean to Troy?  (Did you notice that at one point Rose was listening to the game even though her husband wasn't there?)

How do you interpret the Trickster Troy scene?  One commenter on YouTube noted that Denzel Washington was trying too hard to be liked and that Troy's beliefs about Death were actually very childish.  What do you think?

How does Troy's death affect his family?  What do you think happens to Cory?  Why?

Discuss Troy and Gabriel as brothers and as characters arising from magic realism.  For more about magic realism, see this handout from Dallas Baptist University:  http://www3.dbu.edu/mitchell/magical.htm    Why does the play begin with Troy's story and end with Gabriel's dance?

What is Gabriel's role in Fences?

What is Bono's role in Fences?

What is Lyons' role in Fences?

What is Rose's role in Fences?

How does your awareness of racial issues help you understand Fences better?

How does Fences help you understand racial issues better?  Consider August Wilson's preface to the play.

Compare and contrast Denzel Washington's performance of Troy with James Earl Jones'.  If you choose to expand your response to this prompt for the paper, take a look at other performances, too.

Let's move on to fiction.  Trickster Troy complements the folktales that we will be looking at.  The first is "Godfather Death," one of the Brothers Grimm's many tales:  http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm044.html  The second is the Native American tale "Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead": http://www.native-languages.org/wishramstory.htm  "The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich is in our book.

Here are a few questions for your journal.

How is fiction different from drama/theater?  How is it similar?

How are folktales different from literary fiction like "The Red Convertible"?

How do the folktales handle literary elements such as plot, character, setting, narration, and symbolism?

How does literary fiction handle literary elements such as plot, character, setting, narration, and symbolism?

Compare the folktales that we are reading to folk tales in your own tradition.

 Does length matter in short stories?  How short is too short?  How long is too long?

-- Discuss the role of plot and character in the stories we have read so far.  Are these stories plot driven?  character driven?  or setting driven?

-- Discuss the ways in which fiction encourages empathy.  How does this compare/contrast to drama/theater?

-- Discuss the ways in which fiction encourages moral behavior.  How does this compare/contrast to drama/theater?

-- Discuss Death, the godson, and his father as characters.  Consider that, in Fences, Troy wrestles with Death.

-- Discuss Coyote and Eagle as characters.  Why does Coyote go to the land of the dead?  Why does he not carry out his mission?

-- Look for other stories about Coyote.  How does he differ from story to story?

Here are entries that give background about him and Native American cultures:

http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/01/native-american-folktales-for-spring.html

http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/01/trickster-tales-for-2014.html

http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/01/more-trickster-for-2014.html

See you at the library!

Finishing Up A Doll's House and Starting Fences

Good evening :)

At last here is a real blog entry with our questions for the week.  I am also posting links to the opening and closing scenes from the 1973 version of A Doll's House starring Jane Fonda and David Warner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjX-u7yAWDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtSGp72hoXE

More recently, in 1997, Janet McTeer performed the role of Nora.  I'm including some scenes from this version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6bnV9R0qls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7TO2-vZjCg

Below is a picture of Hattie Morahan's Nora with Dr. Rank.

Now for a few more questions on A Doll's House....

What did you think about the ending of the play?  Is it credible as an ending to you?

What do you think that Nora does after the play is over?  (In an interview, Janet Adchurch, the original English-language Nora, maintained that Nora would shortly return to Helmer but their reunion would not be successful.   Other authors have imagined Nora as a wealthy man's mistress.  But what do you think?)

Could Helmer and Nora reconcile?  Why?  Why not?

Why does Nora not take her children with her?  How does that affect your understanding of her character?

Compare Anthony Hopkins and Claire Bloom's performance in the last scene with Jane Fonda and David Warner's.  What surprises you about these performances?

Is Ibsen a feminist?  Why?  Why not?  What does it mean to be a feminist?  Consider historical contest.  Could one retroactively label a writer a feminist--when he did not consider himself to be one?  Why?  Why not?

Discuss Ibsen's portrayal of women.  Comment on this passage from Stephanie Forward's article on A Doll's House: "James Joyce said of the dramatist: 'Ibsen's knowledge of humanity is nowhere more obvious than in his portrayal of women. He amazes me by his painful introspection; he seems to know them better than they know themselves.' This sentiment was echoed by Irish suffragist Louie Bennett: 'More than any other modern writer he has proved himself a prophet and an apostle of the cause of woman; no other modern writer has shown more sympathetic comprehension of her nature and its latent powers.'"

Discuss Nora's performance of the tarantella.  What does it tell you about her?  about her relationship with Helmer?  about their relationship with Dr. Rank?

Above are pictures from a recent version of A Doll's House starring Hattie Morahan as Nora, Steve Toussaint as Dr. Rank, and Dominic Rowan as Helmer.  How would you describe the dynamic among these characters?  Consider that the actors playing Dr. Rank and Helmer are about the same age.  Also, discuss the impact of cross-casting.  I'll finish with a picture of a recent production starring Cush Jumbo as Nora.  How does cross-casting change the dynamic?

I'll finish with a few questions about Fences, our next reading.

August Wilson is often noted for emphasizing character over plot.  How does his emphasis affect Fences?

Fences is set in Pittsburgh.  How does that circumstance shape the play?  Consider, too, that it mostly takes place in 1957, that is, after Little Rock *and* the Montgomery Bus Boycott but before the sit-ins at the Greensboro lunch counter *and* Selma.  Do the characters in Fences seem to be aware of what is going on in the South?  Why?  Why not?

Discuss Troy Maxson as a character.

Do Troy and Rose have a good marriage?  Why?  Why not?

Is Troy a good father to Cory?  Why?  Why not?

Why does Cory rebel against his father?

Discuss the role that baseball plays in Fences.

Practice 2

My very educated mother just served us nine pizza-pies.

My very educated mother just served us nothing.

Practice

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

Welcome to ENGL 190 -- Fall 2016!

Good evening, everyone!  I am pleased to have met you tonight and am excited about working with you this semester.  Thank you for a wonderful discussion.

I would like to send you a few questions for your journals.  Be sure to choose only two or three to answer.  Choose questions that could be worth expanding into a paper.

Let's start with some of the YouTube videos that we watched.

Here are links to the Canadian production:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw296lmcDgU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA43P6RHo90

Here are links to the production starring Hattie Morahan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaYUfGEIrlU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOuFocD10hU

Here is a link to a scene from the film version starring Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMa0ZARfZBM&t=11s

Now that you've had some time to think about it, how would you compare/contrast these versions?  Do you prefer modern dress, historically accurate, or something between the two?  Which actors seemed to be the most compelling?  Which sets allowed you to focus on the play and understand it better?  Consider that Ibsen's setting for the play is no longer our reality.

How did the interviews with Hattie Morahan and Katherine Gauthier help you understand Nora a little better?  What would you want to ask Claire Bloom about Nora?  How do you think she sees Nora?

How did watching the film and videos help you understand A Doll's House more?

How did reading Ibsen's play help you understand the film more?

How did Ibsen's dialogue help you understand the plot and characters?

How did Ibsen's stage directions help you understand the plot and characters more clearly?

Which symbols did you notice in A Doll's House?  Why?

Who is Nora's antagonist (the character against whom she contends)?  Why?

Is A Doll's House a timeless play, a timely play, or a dated play?  Why?

Do you feel that Torvald is playing "let's pretend" with Nora?  Why?  Why not?

How would you characterize Torvald and Nora's marriage?

How would you characterize Torvald?  Is he a sympathetic figure?  Why?  Why not?

Choose Mrs. Linde, Dr. Rank, or Krogstad.  How would you characterize him/her?  How does the film seem to depict him/her?