Children Lost

There was a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There were a total of 20 students killed and 6 adults. My blog is more a demand. Pick one of the victims and write a blurb about them, their life and how they relate to you or someone you know. One of the victims parents did an interview and said "[...] is the country still carring on with their everyday life?" The answer for us is yes, but we need to acknowledge ones lost rather than the killer.
After the first part give your opinion on the right to bear arms.

The American Dream

In Death of a Salesman, Biff describes his dream of earning enough money and buying his own land to one day have his own ranch, and fulfill his life with the work that he loves to do. Biff's father, Willy, believes that Biff is confused and not trying to get his life started and needs to stop wasting his time in Texas working a little paid job.

In class we discussed what the American Dream was; to have a house with a white picket fence, a good job, lots of money, and a family. For this blog, describe your dream or your future plans and discuss how your dreams or future may differ than your parents'. Do you plan to fulfill your dreams, and how might your dream be different than the simple "American Dream?" Have fun with this topic and be specific on what your future plans and dreams with hold!

Thanksgiving

Sorry this is a little late, but I know none of us even get on here until Sunday around 5 o' clock, so I figured it would be fine. I jumped at the chance to take a detour away from Oedipus and poems and blah blah blah! So, in honor of Thanksgiving this past Thursday, the topic is this. What is your favortie thing to do with your family on Thanksgiving? Any traditions you usually carry out? Favorite thing to eat or put on your turkey?
Let's have fun with this blog, and make it stress-free. No wrong answers--- GO!

Fate: Controlled by ourselves, or a greater power?

The tragedy Oedipus Rex, along with most of Sophocles' work, deals with the idea of fate and that no matter what one does to avoid it, it is a Nemesis that one cannot escape. It seems that Oedipus and his parents did everything that they possibly could to try to avoid fulfilling the prophecies laid before them. My question to you is, do you believe that your path has already been chosen by a greater power, or do you believe that you choose your own path? On the same note, do you believe that there is a greater power that controls anything at all, or is the world just a huge collection of random events happening for no particular reason?

Vociferous Vocabulary

Hey all,

Here are the vocabulary words for this Thursday's quiz, in case you are looking to get a head start on studying.

Opulent

Progeny

Pallid

Compunction

Indomitable

Filial

Pall

Didactic

Nemesis

Epiphany

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Government Censorship

When Oedipus' brother in law comes to Thebes with news of how to dispel the drought, he is hesitant to tell in front of all the people. Could this be related to government today and how they sometimes don't want to tell us the truth? Should they tell us the truth about everything they do? Why or why not?

What's Up With Poems?

Poetry in a form of literature that has existed for thousands of years, it is used to express feelings, ideas, and thoughts in a more intimate, intense setting that of normal writing. Syntax, diction, and trope, and scheme are very important and scrutinized thoroughly to develop the overall structure of a poem.  What purpose do poems serve in literature? Why would an author chose to write down his or her ideas in poem as opposed to an essay or novel? What makes poetry so meaningful and powerful in relaying a message? For this blog write down your thoughts on poems and poetry, or write your own poem about any topic of your choice. Or if your creative enough do both at the same time. 

Poetics

Here is the text of Aristotle's Poetics.  Please read the first twenty (XX) sections for Monday.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-h.htm 

Other from another Mother

Jordan was supposed to blog this week, but I forgot to remind him on Thursday, so I'll start us off instead.  We had a little detour with the practice AP exam, outside reading book presentations, and Gear Up, but I want to return to our discussion of the Other as we finish up our study of Wide Sargasso Sea.  According to theorist Emmanuel Levinas, "The relationship with the other is not an idyllic and harmonious relationship of communion, or a sympathy through which we put ourselves in the other's place; we recognize the other as resembling us, but exterior to us; the relationship with the other is a relationship with a mystery"  (1987: 75).  Interestingly, this could also be said of most of the "scary creatures" in our movies and stroies. As we have seen with vampires, scary villains often represent certain repressed desires of humans.  Furthermore, there is an element of mystery to the Other, and mystery, of course, is central to many "horror" stories, as evidenced by those of the "father" of the genre, Edgar Allen Poe.  Both of these ideas are certainly present in the portrayal of Bertha in Jane Eyre.  I know we already had a blog topic on what terrifying creature you think resembles you, so I won't do that again.  What I would like you to do is choose a terrifying Other, an archetypal mythical creature (vampire, centaur, zombie, etc.), and explain why it has remained in our lore for so long.  What makes them so scary?

Also, since I like scary movies, and am interested to know, what's your favorite scary movie?  (said in best Ghostface [Scream killer] voice).

Classics

 In conclusion to the class discussions on 'Jane Eyre', a novel that has been acclaimed as a classic for a great number of years, I felt it fitting to discuss the reasons as to why this book has reached such high esteem. Often artists and writers do not live to see their work gain the fame we see today or see a great boost in their popularity after their death. For example, it was only a few years ago that Michael Jackson died. Before his death his level of popularity was null compared to the heights it reached after his death. J.K. Rowling also was repeatedly rejected with her book 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' which became the base for the literary and film juggernaut which later rose to catch the imaginations of readers across the globe. In short, what makes a book or piece of art a classic? Is it possible that some works gain a boost due to the "novelty" of their age?

Goodbye Plain Jane!

We have obviously been discussing Jane Eyre for quite some time now, and I think we all understand the basic concepts of the story. We realize that her gender played a large role, along with the time period and strict environment she was in. The question I am going to ask is simply, what would you have done? If you are a female, put yourself in Jane's position, what sort of man would you have looked for? Would you have gone to the same men Jane did, or would you have gone to a stronger, or gentler man? As for males, Would you have gone for Jane? Did you like her submissive personality, or would you have gone for more pizzazz? If you did not like her personality, tell me how you would have changed her to make her "better." Do not be afraid to be ruthless, because she is a make believe character who cannot get her feelings hurt.

Bildungsroman - This Week's Blog

It appears Jake is still out of commission, so I will step up and initiate a blog topic this week and let Jake focus on his convalescence (look it up).  I don't know if it will quite compare with monsters, but you should be able to have some fun with it.  We will focus on something you are all familiar with, whether you know it or not: the bildungsroman.  Judging from the vocabulary quiz, though, some of you are still having a little difficulty with the term.  So, hopefully, this will help you internalize it.

According to The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (which is the go-to-book for all things literary criticism), bildungsroman is " a novel that recounts the development (psychological and sometimes spiritual) of an individual from childhood to maturity, to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his or her place and role in the world" (39). It literally means education (bildung) novel (roman) in German. You are probably more familiar with the English term coming-of-age, which is used more in regard to movies and has a similar connotation.

Jane Eyre is, of course, a prime example of a bildungsroman.  Some other examples I can think of that conform to the pattern are:

Books
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Khalad Housseini, The Kite Runner

Movies
The Lion King
Stand by Me
Almost Famous
Good Will Hunting
Juno
The Breakfast Club

Songs
"Strawberry Wine" - Deana Carter
"Thunder Road" - Bruce Springsteen
"The Swiss Army Romance" - Dashboard Confessional

Okay, here's your task.  Come up with an example of a bildungsroman of your own to which you can relate and explain (1) how it "recounts the development (psychological and sometimes spiritual) of an individual from childhood to maturity, to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his or her place and role in the world" and (2) how it reflects the bildungsroman in your own life.

Monsters

Throughout Jane Eyre there are references to ghosts and vampires, along with other creatures of our nightmares. Monsters fill every story and even modern-day life. They are all diverse and symbolize different characteristics of ourselves. Throughout history, different monsters have risen from the shadows of different cultures and have stood for darker sides of our personalities. For this blog, look and find your inner monster and explain why this monster fits your personality.

Good Looking Jane?

So in the Jane Eyre, it was emphasized that Jane was plain and ordinary. What do you think would have changed in the story if she was a hottie?

Outside Reading List

Without further ado, here is the "e-version" of your outside reading book list.  (There is no excuse for losing this one!):

AP English 2012-2013 Outside Reading List

*If there is a book on this list that you would like to read but cannot locate a copy, come see Mr. Pace*

Titles from Open Response Questions* Updated from an original list by Norma J. Wilkerson. Works referred to on the AP Literature exams since 1971 (specific years in parentheses). Please note that only authors were recommended in early years, not specific titles... A Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner (76, 00, 10, 12) Adam Bede by George Eliot (06) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (80, 82, 85, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 99, 05, 06, 07, 08,11) The Aeneid by Virgil (06) Agnes of God by John Pielmeier (00) The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (97, 02, 03, 08, 12) Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (00, 04, 08) All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (00, 02, 04, 07, 08, 09, 11) All My Sons by Arthur Miller (85, 90) All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (95, 96, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11) America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan (95) An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (81, 82, 95, 03) American Pastoral by Philip Roth (09) The American by Henry James (05, 07, 10) Angels in America by Tony Kushner (09) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (10) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (80, 91, 99, 03, 04, 06, 08, 09) Another Country by James Baldwin (95, 10, 12) Antigone by Sophocles (79, 80, 90, 94, 99, 03, 05, 09, 11) Anthony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare (80, 91) Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (94) Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer (76) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (78, 89, 90, 94, 01, 04, 06, 07, 09) As You Like It by William Shakespeare (92 05, 06, 10) Atonement by Ian McEwan (07, 11) Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson (02, 05) The Awakening by Kate Chopin (87, 88, 91, 92, 95, 97, 99, 02, 04, 07, 09, 11)   B “The Bear” by William Faulkner (94, 06) Beloved by Toni Morrison (90, 99, 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 10, 11) A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul (03) Benito Cereno by Herman Melville (89) Billy Budd by Herman Melville (79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 99, 02, 04, 05, 07, 08) The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter (89, 97) Black Boy by Richard Wright (06, 08) Bleak House by Charles Dickens (94, 00, 04, 09, 10) Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (94, 96, 97, 99, 04, 05, 06, 08) The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (07, 11) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (95, 08, 09) Bone: A Novel by Fae M. Ng (03) The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan (06, 07, 11) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (89, 05, 09, 10) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (12) Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (79) Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos (09) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (90, 08) C Candida by George Bernard Shaw (80) Candide by Voltaire (80, 86, 87, 91, 95, 96, 04, 06, 10) The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (06) The Caretaker by Harold Pinter (85) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (82, 85, 87, 89, 94, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 11) The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (01, 08, 11) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams (00) Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood (94, 08, 09) The Centaur by John Updike (81) Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (94, 96, 97, 99, 01, 03, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12) The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (71, 77, 06, 07, 09, 10) The Chosen by Chaim Potok (08) “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau (76) Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (06, 08) The Color Purple by Alice Walker (92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 05, 08, 09, 12) Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje (01) Copenhagen by Michael Frayn (09) The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett (10) Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton (85, 87, 91, 95, 96, 07, 09) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (76, 79, 80, 82, 88, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 09, 10, 11) “The Crisis” by Thomas Paine (76) The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy (09) The Crucible by Arthur Miller (71, 83, 86, 89, 04, 05, 09) D Daisy Miller by Henry James (97, 03, 12) Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel (01) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (78, 83, 06) “The Dead” by James Joyce (97) The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (86) Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (86, 88, 94, 03, 04, 05, 07, 12) Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty (97) Desire under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill (81) Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (97) The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (06) The Diviners by Margaret Laurence (95) Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (79, 86, 99, 04, 11) Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (10) A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen (71, 83, 87, 88, 95, 05, 09) The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnot (91) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (01, 04, 06, 08) Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia (03) Dutchman by Amiri Baraka/Leroi Jones (03, 06) E East of Eden by John Steinbeck (06) Emma by Jane Austen (96, 08) An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen (76, 80, 87, 99, 01, 07) Equus by Peter Shaffer (92, 99, 00, 01, 08, 09) Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (80, 85, 03, 05, 06, 07) The Eumenides by Aeschylus (in The Orestia) (96) F The Fall by Albert Camus (81) A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (99, 04, 09) The Father by August Strindberg (01) Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (90) Faust by Johann Goethe (02, 03) The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton (76) Fences by August Wilson (02, 03, 05, 09, 10) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (03) Fifth Business by Robertson Davis (00, 07) The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (07) For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (03, 06) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (89, 00, 03, 06, 08) A Free Life: A Novel by Ha Jin (10) G A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines (00, 11) Germinal by Emile Zola (09) A Gesture Life by Chang-Rae Lee (04, 05) Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen (00, 04) The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (71, 90, 94, 97, 99, 02, 08, 09, 10, 12) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (10, 11) Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien (01, 06, 10) The Golden Bowl by Henry James (09) The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford (00, 11) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (95, 03, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (79, 80, 88, 89, 92, 95, 96, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 10, 12) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (82, 83, 88, 91, 92, 97, 00, 02, 04, 05, 07, 10) Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (83, 88, 90, 05, 09) Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (87, 89, 01, 04, 06, 09) H The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill (89, 0994, 97, 99, 00) Hamlet by William Shakespeare (88, 94, 97, 99, 00) The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (03, 09) Hard Times by Charles Dickens (87, 90, 09) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (71, 76, 91, 94, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12) The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene (71) Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen (79, 92, 00, 02, 03, 05) Henry IV, Parts I and II by William Shakespeare (80, 90, 08) Henry V by William Shakespeare (02) A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (08) The Homecoming by Harold Pinter (78, 90) Home to Harlem by Claude McKay (10) A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipul (10) House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday (95, 06, 09) The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (04, 07, 10) The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne (89) The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (08, 10) I The Iliad by Homer (80) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (06) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (10) In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien (00) In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (05) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (76, 77, 78, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12) J Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (78, 79, 80, 88, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 00, 05, 07, 08, 10) Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee (99, 10) J.B. by Archibald MacLeish (81, 94) Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson (00, 04) The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (97, 03) Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding (99) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (71, 76, 80, 85, 87, 95, 04, 09, 10) Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (82, 97, 05, 07, 09) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (77, 78, 82, 88, 89, 90, 96, 09) K Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (08) King Lear by William Shakespeare (77, 78, 82, 88, 89, 90, 96, 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 10, 11, 12) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (07, 08, 09) L Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde (09) A Lesson before Dying by Ernest Gaines (99, 11) Letters from an American Farmer by de Crevecoeur (76), 11) The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman (85, 90, 10) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (08) Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill (90, 03, 07) Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe (10) Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad (77, 78, 82, 86, 00, 03, 07) Lord of the Flies by William Golding (85, 08) The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (89) Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (95) “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot (85) Lysistrata by Aristophanes (87)   M Macbeth by William Shakespeare (83, 99, 03, 05, 09) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (80, 85, 04, 05, 06, 09, 10) Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane (12) Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (87, 09) Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw (79, 96, 04, 07, 09, 11) Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw (81) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (03, 06) Master Harold...and the Boys by Athol Fugard (03, 08, 09) The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (94, 99, 00, 02, 07, 10, 11) M. Butterfly by David Henry Wang (95, 11, 12) Medea by Euripides (82, 92, 95, 01, 03) The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (97, 08) The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards (09) The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (85, 91, 95, 02, 03, 11) Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (78, 89) Middlemarch by George Eliot (95, 04, 05, 07) Middle Passage by V. S. Naipaul (06) A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare (06, 12) The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (90, 92, 04) The Misanthrope by Moliere (08) Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West (89) Moby Dick by Herman Melville (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 89, 94, 96, 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09) Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (76, 77, 86, 87, 95, 09) Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao (00, 03) The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie (07) Mother Courage and Her Children by Berthold Brecht (85, 87, 06) Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (94, 97, 04, 05, 07, 11) Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw (87, 90, 95, 02, 09) Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (97) Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot (76, 80, 85, 95, 07, 11) “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning (85) My Ántonia by Willa Cather (03, 08, 10, 12) My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok (03) N The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (09, 10) Native Son by Richard Wright (79, 82, 85, 87, 95, 01, 04, 09, 11, 12) Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee (99, 03, 05, 07, 08) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (09, 10) 1984 by George Orwell (87, 94, 05, 09) No Exit by John Paul Sartre (86, 12) No-No Boy by John Okada (95) Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (89) O Obasan by Joy Kogawa (94, 95, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10) The Octopus by Frank Norris (09) The Odyssey by Homer (86, 06, 10) Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (77, 85, 88, 00, 03, 04, 11) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (01) Old School by Tobia Wolff (08) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (09) One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (05, 10) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (0, 121) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (89, 04, 12) O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (06) The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (94) The Orestia by Aeschylus (90) Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf (04) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Othello by William Shakespeare (79, 85, 88, 92, 95, 03, 04, 07, 11) The Other by Thomas Tryon (10) Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (90) Our Town by Thornton Wilder (86, 97, 09) Out of Africa by Isaak Dinesen (06) P Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (01) Pamela by Samuel Richardson (86) A Passage to India by E. M. Forster (71, 77, 78, 88, 91, 92, 07, 09, 12) Paradise Lost by John Milton (85, 86, 10) Passing by Nella Larsen (11) Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (06) Père Goriot by Honore de Balzac (02) Persuasion by Jane Austen (90, 05, 07) Phaedre by Jean Racine (92, 03) The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (96, 99, 07, 08, 10, 12) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (02) The Plague by Albert Camus (02, 09, 12) Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov (97) Pocho by Jose Antonio Villarreal (02, 08) The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (10, 11, 12) Portrait of a Lady by Henry James ( 88, 92, 96, 03, 05, 07, 11) Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (76, 77, 80, 86, 88, 96, 99, 04, 05, 08, 09, 10, 11) The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene (95) Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall (96) A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (09) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (83, 88, 92, 97, 08, 11, 12) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (90, 08) Push by Sapphire (07) Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (03, 05, 08) R Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow (03, 07) A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (87, 90, 94, 96, 99, 07, 09, 12) The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (81) The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (08) Redburn by Herman Melville (87) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (00, 03, 11) Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie (08, 09) The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (07) Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco (09) Richard III by William Shakespeare (79) A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean (08) The Road by Cormac McCarthy (10) Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (10) A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (76) A Room with a View by E. M. Forster (03) Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (90, 92, 97, 08) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (81, 94, 00, 04, 05, 06, 10, 11) S Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw (95) The Sandbox by Edward Albee (71) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (71, 77, 78, 83, 88, 91, 99, 02, 04, 05, 06, 11) Sent for You Yesterday by John Edgar Wideman (03) A Separate Peace by John Knowles (82, 07) Set This House on Fire by William Styron (11) The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (97) Silas Marner by George Eliot (02) Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (87, 02, 04, 09, 10) Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (10) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (91, 04) Snow by Orhan Pamuk (09) Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (00, 10, 12) A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller (11) Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (81, 88, 96, 00, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10) Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence (77, 90) Sophie’s Choice by William Styron (09) The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (77, 86, 97, 01, 07, 08) The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence (96, 04) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (11) The Stranger by Albert Camus (79, 82, 86, 04) A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (91, 92, 01, 04, 07, 08, 09, 1, 110) The Street by Ann Petry (07) Sula by Toni Morrison (92, 97, 02, 04, 07, 08, 10, 12) Surfacing by Margaret Atwood (05) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (85, 91, 95, 96, 04, 05, 12) T A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (82, 91, 04, 08) Tartuffe by Moliere (87) The Tempest by William Shakespeare (71, 78, 96, 03, 05, 07, 10) Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (82, 91, 03, 06, 07, 12) Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (88, 90, 91, 96, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (91, 97, 03, 09, 10, 11) The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (04, 09) A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (06) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (11) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (08, 09, 11) To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (77, 86, 88, 08) Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (90, 00, 06, 08) Tracks by Louise Erdrich (05) The Trial by Franz Kafka (88, 89, 00, 11) Trifles by Susan Glaspell (00) Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne (86) The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (92, 94, 00, 02, 04, 08) Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (85, 94, 96, 11) Typical American by Gish Jen (02, 03, 05)   U Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (87, 09) U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos (09) V The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (06) Victory by Joseph Conrad (83) Volpone by Ben Jonson (83) W Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (77, 85, 86, 89, 94, 01, 09, 12) The Warden by Anthony Trollope (96) Washington Square by Henry James (90) The Wasteland by T. S. Eliot (81) Watch on the Rhine by Lillian Hellman (87) The Way of the World by William Congreve (71) The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (06) We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates (07) When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (12) Who Has Seen the Wind by W. O. Mitchell (11) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee (88, 94, 00, 04, 07, 11) Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (89, 92, 05, 07, 08) The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen (78) Winter in the Blood by James Welch (95) Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare (82, 89, 95, 06) Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor (82, 89, 95, 09, 10) Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (91, 08) The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor (09, 10, 12) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (71,77, 78, 79, 83, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 97, 99, 01, 06, 07, 08, 10, 12) Z The Zoo Story by Edward Albee (82, 01) Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez (95)

 

Very confusing

In the "wide sargasso sea" I thought that the writing style was very confusing and utterly misleading. The author jumped around quite a bit from character to character. What do you think was one of the most confusing points???

Distant Music

In addition to "Dead Ringer," I thought it would be nice to have a more lighthearted thread, as well.  One of the most striking images in "The Dead" is Gabriel's portrayal of his wife standing on the stairs listening to Bartell D'Arcy singing "The Lass of Aughrim."  He desires to paint her in that moment and claims he would call the painting, "Distant Music."  Her stoic disposition which enamours her husband so, we discover later, is the result of memories induced by the song of Michael Furey, a boy she knew in her youth.  This demonstrates one of the most unique and powerful characteristics of music: its intricate connection with memory.  A song is often able to transport a person through time and space to an earlier moment when it was playing.  I would like to hear some of your own "distant music," that is, songs that bring back an overwhelmingly strong memory every time you hear them.

For me, there are many, but one that stands out is "Breathless" by (appropriately) the Irish band The Corrs.  It was the intro music to one of the stage shows I performed in at Calaway Park in 2001 (I'm dating myself now).  Whenever I hear it, I half-expect the overdubbed male voice to intrude with, "Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to Calaway Live's presentation of Summer Jam," etc.  It also brings back the sights and smells of the carnival atmosphere - fried foods, sweat, the clicking of the roller coaster wheels - and I have to double-check that I am not wearing the white dance pants and sleeveless shirt which were my costume (it did largely revolve around boy bands).   Needless to say, when it comes on in the supermarket, I have to come back to reality before I start busting a move in the cleaning isle.



Perhaps I should have picked a slightly less embarrassing story, but oh well.  Now it's your turn.  Choose an example, of course, that you feel comfortable sharing.  If the song/video is appropriate, include it in your reply so we can all listen to it. 

Dead Ringer

I am always amazed upon rereading "The Dead" at how much Joyce is able to pack into this one little story.  He highlights some of Ireland's political tensions with England, the frequent awkwardness of family reunions, the power of music, the "emotional rollercoaster" of being in a romantic relationship. and, most notably, the peace of a deeper understanding and empathy with others.  Of course, Foster has already discussed this story to some length in his chapters on communion and rain/snow, but I am interested what other symbolism you all are able to extract from it.  I want to leave this thread fairly open and see where you take the discussion, but here are some questions to potentially get us started. 

1. Why "The Dead"?  What role does the title play in the story?  How does it affect the meaning as a whole?

2.  Music seems to be always present in the story.  How does Joyce use music to enhance his narrative? 

3.  When Lily, the caretaker's daughter, asks Gabriel Conroy if it is snowing outside as he arrives at the party, Mr. Conroy replies, “Yes, Lily... and I think we’re in for a night of it."  How does this influence the remainder of the story, especially the end?

4. What is the significance of Gabriel's dance with Miss Ivors?  His speech?

5.  What makes the ending so powerful?

Dawn of "The Dead"

James Joyce's "The Dead," the final story in Dubliners, is rife with symbolism.  It is also extremely well written.  In fact, it was recently listed among the stories with the greatest closing paragraphs, here: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/literatures-greatest-closing-paragraphs#.  "The Dead" is the only short story on the list. 

Over the weekend, I would like you to read "The Dead," thinking about the different approaches from How to Read Literature Like a Professor that can be applied to the story. 

Here is the link: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/joyce/james/j8d/chapter15.html

UPDATE!!!! I have since discovered this useful online text with several hyperlinked annotations.  This will likely come in handy when you write your essay: http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDdead.html#dead.