Homework for Tuesday, February 2: Read "1937" and "Life" in Coursepak

  Two stories of cultural collision.  Consider the following questions for each story.  Blog on at least one story (any question(s) due Monday midnight

Bessie Head, “Life”

• Tragic structure of the story—why does Head give you ending at beginning?  How does story unfold as something fated or destined?  Why is Life’s destiny so determined?  How is her fate a consequence of her circumstances and choices?
  
  
• Describe Life's special qualities, strengths and liabilities. What details reveal inner conflicts, tensions?
  
• Explain the values of the Village: examine different groups—how does Head give us a layered picture of the ethical norms of this community?
  
  
• Why do you think Life submits to Lesego?  And why does Lesego choose her?  How do they embody a larger cultural collision?
  
  
• The ending: why does Life do what she does in the end?  What is your opinion of the trial, the sentence, the song: “That’s What Happens When Two Worlds Collide”

Edwidge Danticat, "1937" (Look up the 1937 Massacre in DR; also called the "Parsley Massacre")

• Discuss the importance of the Madonna to the mother, the child, to others in the community. Is she a symbol?
  
• Examine the role of superstition and its effect on community: what beliefs disrupt community, allow betrayal, abuse?
  
• Why do you think those who are most oppressed are also most feared?  How does this story deepen your understanding of female strength?
  
• How does Danticat depict connection among women and the value of their community?  Note images that describe connection, community between generations.
  
• How does the daughter honor, commemorate and keep her mother close in this story?

Homework for Thursday, Jan. 21 (NO class Tuesday--Friday schedule :)

Read: "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jumpa Lahiri

For "Everyday Use" consider the following questions and respond to any that speak to you:

1.  Mother's attitude toward daughters--especially the one she is waiting for

2.  Setting and its importance--care mother takes in describing home and land; mother's character

3.  Dee's arrival and the staging of the main conflict between Dee/Wangaroo and her mother and sister:  how are their ideas of tradition/heritage different?


For "Interpreter of Maladies" consider these ideas:

1.  Second generation Indian family returning to homeland:  how would you characterize their attitudes?  Why are they here?

2.  Note Mr. Kapasi establishes point of view--we see family through his eyes--why is this important?  How does he judge them and why?

3.  What are Mr. Kapasi's own set of issues?  What are the various maladies being surfaced in the story?

4.  What brings Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das "together"?  What does she want?  What does he want?

5.  How are the monkeys a symbol, or at least an important agent in the story?  Why is piece of paper at end important?  What does it represent?

NOTE: RESPONDING TO THIS BLOG IS OPTIONAL THIS WEEK AND A QUIZ IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE.

The Yellow Wallpaper--link to text and questions for reflection

Your assignments for Thursday:

1.  Read The Yellow Wallpaper.  There is a page missing (653) in our coursepak.  You can access online copy here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm

2.  Read letter written by Gilman, "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper"

3.  Read Victorian Women: The Gender of Oppression--and think about how a number of our texts are connected to themes discussed.

Pay attention to the following themes/questions when reading The Yellow Wallpaper:

1. the narrator's relationship with her husband, how she characterizes him.

2.  the narrator's efforts to assert herself, or claim space for herself, her thoughts: "I must say what I feel and think in some way..." (651)

3.  the narrator's imagination, especially as she begins to contemplate the wallpaper--how is the wallpaper personified and why does she do this?

4.  setting: why is setting important: note details about room and garden--how does she explore it, give it life?

5.  What does the yellow wallpaper symbolize?  Who is the woman inside it?

YOU MAY RESPOND TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS IF YOU WISH--OPTIONAL BLOG CREDIT :)

Assignments for Thursday Jan. 14 and Tuesday Jan. 19: draft of essay!

Greetings Excellent Images of Women in Literature Students--

REVISE YOUR THESIS/CLAIM HERE AND BRING FIRST DRAFT OF ESSAY TO CLASS TUESDAY (TYPED)

STRUCTURE:

1. OPENING PARAGRAPH WITH PRECISE CLAIM INCLUDING SUMMARY OF EXAMPLES
2. AT LEAST 3 BODY PARAGRAPHS, EACH PROVIDING ONE EXAMPLE OF EVIDENCE (WITH APPROPRIATE QUOTES FOR SUPPORT)
3.  A THOUGHTFUL CONCLUSION THAT REFLECTS ON WHAT THE WRITER IS SUGGESTING ABOUT WOMEN

600 WORDS, DOUBLE SPACED


ALSO READ "THE NECKLACE"  BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT FOR TUESDAY--QUIZ!

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For Thursday, January 14, please write a very short blog making a claim (thesis) about one of the texts read so far.

Your claim or thesis may be structured around any of the following:

1. symbolism
2. setting
3. character
4. Irony

So just do what we did in class Tuesday: think of one text and develop a one sentence claim or argument, something that goes beyond summary (tells why or how).  Make sure your claim is something you can support through examples in the text.

Examples:

In Susan Glaspell's Trifles, symbols function as clues, leading to the secrets of the "crime."

In Susan Glaspell's Trifles, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale gain power in a patriarchal world through observation, empathy and secrecy.

Setting in Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby" foreshadows the darkness in Armand's soul.

In Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" Mrs. Mallard gains control of her story (life) through withdrawal, communion with herself, and, finally, death.
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 THINK ABOUT INSIGHTS THAT FIT MORE THAN ONE TEXT:
EXAMPLE:
In texts that seem to be grounded in male privilege, women triumph through deception and secret insight  into their situations.  These acts are risky but show women's strength and the strategies they use to gain power.

Blog on Trifles Due Monday Jan 11 by midnight

This is your blog on Susan Glaspell's Trifles.  (Click on the pencil next to comments below to add your entry.)

In this play two men and two women are sent to discover evidence about a murder.  The County Attorney and the Sheriff consider certain kinds of evidence important.  Their wives examine other kinds of evidence.  

1.  Describe how their approaches differ. What do the women see that the men fail to see?

2.  How do women's insights give us a deeper, more complex, IMAGE of women's lives and values?

Please give two quotations from the play that support your ideas.