Paper #3 (Final): Read a Book, Save the World

Intro to Lit Study/Teaching Lit in Secondary School

Paper #3 (Final): Read a Book, Save the World

In Chapter 46 of Station Eleven, Jeevan, his wife, Daria, and their friend, Michael, are arguing about the purpose of a post-apocalypse education. As Michael argues, “Does it still make sense to teach kids about the way things were?...It’s like science fiction to them, isn’t it? And if it only upsets them…” to which Daria responds, “I suppose the question is, does knowing these things make them more or less happy?” (270).

Though we’ve never endured a civilization-ending apocalypse, we live in a world that is constantly changing and threatened by disaster in terms of disease, technology, and climate change. In light of these factors, many would argue that our curriculum based on the past—especially great or influential books, is no longer relevant. Book bans are rampant throughout the country, with classics such as Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and 1984 being taken out of libraries and school districts because they are “upsetting,” “racist,” or “outdated.” More than ever, English teachers find themselves on the front lines of the cultural war, having to defend a curriculum that can actually save us from ourselves—if we take the time to read it and listen.  

For this paper, I want you to discuss ONE specific book (whether or not it’s been challenged yet) that you feel an essential part of anyone’s education. This should be something that as a teacher, you would make it your mission to teach, promote, and keep alive through reading and discussion. As you develop this conversation, consider some or all of the following:

• Why might this book be controversial today? Who would oppose it? Deny its importance or relevance?
• Why do you feel reading this book is crucial for a 21^st century education? What keeps it relevant despite its subject matter, genre, or age?
• How did you first discover this book? How was it important in forming your own educational or cultural identity?
• Would Culler agree with you? Why or why not? (find a passage…)
• How can you relate some aspect of Station Eleven to this discussion to give us fresh insight? (quote a passage…)
• And responding to Daria’s quote above, how can knowing about this book make students happier and more useful to society? In other words, why can this topic actually, in a small way, save the world?

REQUIREMENTS: At least 3-4 pages double spaced (minimum), using both Culler and Station Eleven in a significant way to support or expand your conversation. Be sure to introduce quotations and cite them by page number, and include a Works Cited page. Due no later than Thursday, December 7^th by 5pm.

Questions for Parts 4 and 5 for Station Eleven

Remeber that you can respond to these questions and get credit for them if you're a bit behind on your daily responses (part of your Participation grade!). You can also respond to other Part 4 questions if you want, even though we wrote about Q1 in class. 

Station Eleven: Part 5 Questions (Canaan & Madison)

Q1: In Chapter 36, When Jeevan is walking in the snow, he starts off repeating biographical facts about himself to “anchor himself to this life, to this earth.” but just a few lines later, the only words he repeats are “Keep Walking.” Is this Jeevan forgetting his identity, or representative of something more? Moreso, if Jeevan is losing his identity here, do you think that identity is dependent on one’s world and context within it?

Q2: Even after months after the Georgian Flu, Franklin still refuses to tell Jeevan who the philanthropist in the memoir is because he ‘signed a contract’. Is this the real reason that Franklin won’t tell Jeevan? Consider the lens Culler posits in Chapter 8, about how ‘the fundamental identity of characters emerges as a result of actions.’ What does this say about Franklin’s relationship to the philanthropist, and his refusal to name him?

Q3: Why are we as a culture so obsessed with celebrities, to the lengths that we climb trees to get pictures of them? Shouldn’t Arthur be flattered by this, instead of complaining? Similarly, what do you think “drives and moves” the paparazzi? Is it really a paycheck, or “truth and beauty,” like Jeevan says, or is it something else? Why are they so passionate?

Q4: Near the end of part 5, Kirsten says it was easier for children during the pandemic, because “the more you remember, the more you’ve lost.” Do you think this is true? Is this why it is so hard for Jeevan at the end of the chapter, and why Frank clings to his ghost-written memoir until his eventual suicide, because they are unwilling to let go of their past identities to resort to lives of survival? How might this relate to the Symphony’s motto: “Because survival is insufficient?” 

 Station Eleven Questions, Part Four (Christine & Joshua)  

In class writing: Culler tells us on page 115 “identity is the product of a series of partial identifications, never completed.” We see throughout the book that people are either called by their name or by what they do, specifically on page 128 when we are reading about Viola “She’d had a different name when she was younger, but had taken on the name of her instrument after the collapse.” Is there anything wrong in finding your identity in what you do? Is that really who they are? Does the pandemic have an influence on that?  

 

Question 2: On page 120, Kristen is trying to imagine watching a Star Trek episode with her family based off Dieter's description of the episode alone. If that image/ memory gives her comfort, does it make it less valid if it may not be real for her or if it never happened? 

 

Question 3: Because we are curious, there’s a lot of imagery to skeletons in part 4; do you think this is a reference to the phrase “skeletons in the closet” meaning someone has dark secrets/ baggage they’re carrying (Arthur has a TON of skeletons in his closet). Or is it just to paint a better picture of the world 

Question 4: On page 155 in the “Dear V” sections, Arthur writes “the instructor told me he felt I was a little flat, which is his way of saying he thinks I’m a terrible actor.” As English majors, how do you relate to this? When people critique your writing, do you take it as constructive or as them tearing you down? 

For Thursday: Station Eleven, Part 4 (Part 3 Questions Below)

NOTE: If you've fallen behind on responding to question in class, you can respond to TWO of these and e-mail them to me or bring them to our next class. 

ALSO: No Class on Tuesday! The ECU Interscholastic Meet is taking over our class. So read Part Four for next Thursday's class! 

 QUESTIONS FOR STATION ELEVEN, PART 3  (Jess & Josie)

Q1: In chapter 15, Miranda narrates that “He [Arthur] doesn’t tell the whole story,” about how they came to be together. He leaves out details about how Pablo hit Miranda. This seems to happen often, because Arthur talks for/about Miranda pretty regularly. Are we, as people, made up of facts? Do we get to reinvent our stories through the retelling or omitting of pieces? Does this make us all actors?

Q2: As we get more description of Dr. Eleven in part three, we can see exactly how much of it is based on Miranda’s life. She draws from personal experience to inspire her art. Luli the pomeranian, Neptune Logistics, even her ex-boyfriend Pablo all make an appearance. Does this make her art bad or unoriginal? What do other characters seem to think? Why, of all the mediums out there, does she pour herself into comics? How does this contrast with Arthur, a renowned actor?

Q3: Jeevan tells Miranda that, “Work is combat.” (pg. 103). How have we seen this illustrated throughout the book? Is Jeevan saying that he has hated every job he’s had? Does this conflict with what we know about Jeevan?

Q4: Part three is told almost entirely in the past (before the pandemic) except for the transcript between François and Kirsten. What was the significance of including this transcript? What affect did these transcripts have on the overall story of the novel? Are the transcripts relevant to the rest of part 3? Specifically the interview in chapter 18? How?

For Thursday: Station Eleven, Part Three & Pedagogical Assignment for Station Eleven

 Remember to read Part Three of Station Eleven for Thursday's class, even though we won't have any questions for the book. Instead, the class will start generating questions for discussion when we come to class. These will form the basis of our discussions, and help us navigate through the tricky narration of Mandel's Novel. Groups can send me the questions before class if they want me to distribute it to the class ahead of time, but this is not necessary. The assignment is below:

Pedagogical Assignment for Station Eleven

As your penultimate assignment for class (only the final paper is left), I want you to get some practical experience running a demanding college course—or in this case, designing some of the questions that guide our discussions and responses to the text. I will no longer assign any questions of my own, or any in-class writing exercises. That will be your job! I’ve broken you up into groups of two to help run our discussions of Station Eleven for the rest of the semester. Each group has a very simple task to complete, though it’s harder than it looks.

THE QUESTIONS: I’ll ask your group to come up with FOUR discussion questions that we will discuss as a class, much like the questions I assign on the blog.  Your group is completely in charge of creating these questions, which you can do in one of two ways: (a) each member can create 4 questions (a total of 8), which you can then cull into 4 questions for the class, or (b) you can work on the 4 collaboratively. Either way works, as long as you come to class with the four questions in enough handouts for the entire class (there are 13 students). These do not have to be posted ahead of time; just bring them to class and we will try to tackle them as a class.

REQUIREMENTS: Of the 4 questions, at least 2 of them should be theoretical in nature. This means that they either should reference a passage or an idea from Culler, or should use an idea from ‘outside’ the text to examine an idea or passage in the book. For example, you might point out something meta-textual in the book (Shakespeare, Sartre, etc.), or you could simply point out an example of ‘performative language.’ Just try to vary your questions and avoid asking questions about the plot or something that can be answered without some degree of ambiguity or disagreement.

ALSO: On the underlined days below, those groups should select one of their questions for an in-class writing prompt. Bring all four questions, but ask us to write about one of them at the beginning of class. So make it a good one!

THE SCHEDULE:

R 2     Mandel, Station Eleven:  Jess, Josie  (Part 3)

T 7     No-Class: ECU Interscholastic Meet  

R 9     Mandel, Station Eleven: Christine, Joshua (Part 4)

T 14   Mandel, Station Eleven: Canaan, Madison (Part 5)

R 16   Mandel, Station Eleven: Morgan, Cody  (Part 6)

T 21   Mandel, Station Eleven: Dallan, Huston, Rebecca (Part 7)

T 28   Mandel, Station Eleven: Christian, Kaylyn  (Part 8-9)

For Tuesday: Mandel, Station Eleven, Chapters 1-12 (parts 1 and 2)

From the Station Eleven series (2021)

No questions for our first reading, but we will have an in-class response on Tuesday, so consider some of the following ideas as you read Chapters 1-12 (parts 1 & 2 of the book):

* The motto of the Traveling Symphony is "Because survival is insufficient." What do you think this means, especially given people in the Symphony and their mission in life? In a post-apocalyptic world, what else do you need?

* Related to the above, why do so few people desert the Symphony? Is it simply a matter of safety/survival? Or is there something else about the reality of Year Twenty?

* Do you find it strange that the Symphony travels around performing Shakespeare, of all things? What might make Shakespeare even more relevant in a world "after" the world than in our own present? In other words, why does Shakespeare persist?

* We got a master class in narration with The Turn of the Screw, and in this book, we get a third-person narrator but limited through many different perspectives. Why do you think we open in the 'past' with Jeevan's experiences? What does he show us that might become important later on?

* Chapter 6 is one of the scariest chapters in the book: how is society connected by a spider's web of necessities, luxuries, and conveniences, so that if one disappeared it would take dozens of others with it? How conscious of this are we on a day-to-day basis? 

* Why does the novel constantly go back and forth between the past and the present so often? And why is a novel uniquely qualified to do that, much more so than a movie, show, or a play? Why might novels really be the first 'time travelers' in our society? 

For Thursday: Culler, Chapter 8: Identity, Identification, and the Subject

This is the LAST chapter of Culler that we'll read for class, but it's an important one. It's a little tricky, so bear with it, since the better you understand this chapter, the easier you'll see connections (and implications) for your Final Project. 

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Why is the word "subject" in English such a tricky one? How do the various definitions of the word suggesting the theoretical complications of the term? Do you think this is an instance when our language knows more than it lets on? 

Q2: What does Culler mean, quoting Nancy Armstrong, that novels "produced 'the modern individual' who was first of all a woman" (113)? Why would novels create an identity which was primarily female in nature? And how might that have shaped even male identity for people who read books? In other words, why is the 'modern' self, in some senses, more female than male?

Q3: Lacan, a student of Freud, believed identity is a process of mirroring, of copying various performances which we come to believe are 'normal' or 'ideal.' Yet in doing so, "we do not happily become men or women...[and] always encounter resistance" (114). What "resistance" do we encounter in trying to copying our ideal male and female role models, and why does this ultimately doom are performance to be a "failure"? Why can't we become perfect copies of our models? 

Q4: In postcolonial studies, scholars often debate on how societies who have emerged from colonial ownership can best assert their identity and independence. If, for example, a novelist from post-colonial India writes a novel in English, are they still subject to English identity, even in the novel and its characters are Indian? Does an author have to utterly reject everything remotely sway to English identity to become liberated? Is a novel, by its very European roots, an agent of colonial identity? Is English itself? 

For Tuesday: The Turn of the Screw, Chapters 19-24

Answer TWO of the following as always: 

Q1: Why do you think the Governess becomes so antagonistic toward Flora, even seeing her as an "old, old woman"? It seems that if spirits were attacking the two children, Flora would have the most chance of redemption, being the most innocent. And yet the Governess sees her as the most forsaken, and has her removed from Bly altogether. Why is this, especially as Miss Jessel seems the less menacing of the two spirits?

Q2: Do you think Mrs. Grose finally believes the Governess, which is why she agrees to take Flora to her Uncle? Or is she simply removing her from the Governess (and if so, why doesn't she take Miles, too)? Are the "horrors" that Flora says in private about the Governess proof of Miss Jessel's instruction? Or might she have learned them from someone else? 

Q3:What does the Governess expect to happen now that the influence of Flora and Mrs. Grose has been removed? How might we account for statements such as, "We continued silent...as some young couple who, on their wedding-journey, at the inn, feel shy in the presence of the waiter"? Why might this moment invoke ideas of wedding/marriage/wedding night for the Governess? Is it as lurid as it first appears? 

Q4: Does Miles tell her the truth at the end of the story, or is he still lying (whether or not under the influence of Peter Quint)? Also, what reason does he ultimately give for being kicked out of the boarding school? Does she believe him?

Q5: (one more for good measure) What exactly happens at the end of the story? Has the Governess saved him from Peter Quint's influence? Is the exorcism successful? Or is he just dead? Was that the only way to save him from an evil spirit?  

For Thursday: The Turn of the Screw, Chapters 8-19

NOTE: We're backtracking a little for those who need time to catch up, so try to get somewhere between Chapters 8 and 19 for Thursday, though feel free to read the entire story. Here are some questions to write about for our next class:

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Anna Jameson wrote in her work, The Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses (1846) that the position of governess "places a woman of education and of superior faculties in an ambiguous and inferior position, with none of the privileges of a recognized possession, or places a vulgar, half-educated woman in a situation of high responsibility, requiring superior endowments.”  Does this knowledge make us more or less sympathetic (or more or less suspicious) of the governess? And which one is she: the superior woman, or the half-educated one?

Q2: We mentioned in class that the Governess is a writer, and apparently writes every word of this story (assuming the Narrator transcribed it faithfully). Where do we see instances of her being an ‘author’ or a writer in the story itself? Are there references to her writing, interpreting, translating, and narrating events to other people, the way an author would?

Q3: Somewhat related to the above, is the story of the ghosts and the ‘haunted’ children premeditated? Was this the Governess’ plan from the beginning, even before she stepped foot on Bly’s grounds? And if so, what might be her end game? Why would she want the entire household to suspect the children and fear the infiltration of evil spirits? How could this possibly work to her advantage?

Q4: In Chapter 8, the Governess writes, “To gaze into the depths of blue of the child’s eyes and pronounce their loveliness a trick of premature cunning was to be guilty of a cynicism in preference to which I naturally preferred to abjure my judgment, and, so far as might be, my agitation.” Is she admitting here that her own cynicism and bias is coloring what she sees in the children? Does she have anything to support her fears that they are acting, holding things back, and playing up to her? Or does she suspect that it’s really all in her own head?

Q5: How might a story about ghosts and a haunted house be a great metaphor for the isolated lives of people like the Governess, Mrs. Grose, Miss Jessel, and others? Why might it be strangely appropriate for most ghost stories to occur in old houses like Bly, populated by an ‘invisible’ team of servants and groundskeepers? Does James ever suggest this kind of reading in the plot itself?

For Tuesday: James, The Turn of the Screw, Chapters 1-10 (more or less)

The Netflix series loosely based on James' novel

For Tuedsay's class (after Fall Break), we're going to start discussing James' The Turn of the Screw, a short Gothic novel about a governess who arrives at a remote estate in England to take charge of two very extraordinary young children who seem haunted by the secret history of the place. The governess takes it upon herself to uncover this history, though soon becomes aware that she's being watched a mysterious presence, as well as by the children themselves. Can she save the children and uncover the mystery? Or is her entire presence at the manor suspect and a danger to the children? Find out...

NO QUESTIONS this time, though we will do an IN-CLASS response when you arrive to get us started. Some ideas you might want to consider are:

* James wrote this story after many personal tragedies and after the failure of a play that was meant to make his name as a playwright. He wrote this as a quick 'potboiler,' a way to make money with a popular genre--the ghost story. When people asked him about the story, he said it was nothing, not one of his serious works, and not worth the effort to examine closely. Why might we not take this statement at face value (intentional fallacy)? Why might many authors even today be hesitant to stand behind stories of ghosts and the supernatural? 

* Since this is a ghost story, and draws upon popular conceptions of hauntings, the supernatural, etc., what might be James' “horizon of expectations” (Culler, p.63) for the story? What elements of the story might be less frightening or disturbing to us, but were obviously meant to be disturbing and frightening? Or, you might also consider what Gothic elements have aged well, and why we might still be his 'ideal audience'.

* This is a story that really draws distinctions between the story (what happens) and the plot (how it happens). How does the Governess/Narrator purposely confuse the two for the reader? How much of what happens is what she says is happening, and not necessarily the actual events that others might see? 

* Based on her language, what kind of person is the Governess? How does she reveal her own values, biases, and ideas of gender in her narration? In other words, how does her storytelling shape herself as well as the story?

* This story also uses a classic Gothic device which we see in Frankenstein, Dracula, and so many other horror stories: the discovered manuscript which a frame narrator merely reads or translates for the reader. Why do you think this kind of distancing is useful in a ghost story? How does it seem to function in this story, since we quickly forget that we're actually hearing one narrator read another? 

* How are Miles and Flora performing their roles as children and as male and female? Why might James focus a horror story on two children (one of each sex) as they reach the age where identity--and gender identity--becomes important? How does this also play into the language of the ghost story? 

For Thursday: Culler, Chapter 7: "Performative Language"

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What does Culler mean when he writes, "no one would have ever thought of being in love if they hadn't read about it in books, and the notion of romantic love...is arguably a massive literary creation" (96)? How could love, something which is so essential to the identity of being human, be a creation of books and literature? Or is he talking about something slightly different than simply 'love'?

Q2: Culler argues that language is performative, meaning that, like a play, it has to be staged, repeated, and performed 'by rote.' He gives the example of a wedding, where the groom and bride are asked, "do you take this man/woman...?" and the answer is always, "I do" (if they do, that is). Does this also suggest that the nature of language is derivative, and that to speak is to merely rehearse the language and actions of everyone who has gone before you? Is it possible not to repeat and not to rehearse previous language?

Q3: Using the work of Judith Butler, a prominent theorist of queer identity, Culler explains that "categories of identity are cultural and social productions, more likely to be the result of political cooperation than its condition of possibility" (102). Does this suggest that language itself creates the idea of being male or female? Is gender also a product of language? (assuming, of course, that gender is separate from sex).

Q4: If we define literature as "an act or event," how does this further limit the role of the author in determining meaning? And if so, who decides what "act" or "event" is produced from a book? Can a book create any act a reader wants it to? Or are there limitations? 

For Thursday: True Believer, Part Four

Last set of questions for True Believer! Answer two as normal, and we'll see what we think of the book when we return on Thursday. Also, the two options for Paper #2 are posted below this post in case you lose them.

Q1: In Chapter 69, LaVaughn has the existential crisis which is inevitable for all teenagers: “Everything is tragic./Why didn’t anybody ever tell me that before?” (211). Though she is surrounded by death and tragedy her entire life, what makes her finally see it as a real presence in her life?

Q2: Myrtle and Annie never see the extreme views of their church for what they are, and indeed, inform LaVaughn that "you get all good chances/with your new classes, but you don't know/it might be Satan getting you" (240). Since LaVaughn's perspective is limited to what she knows and feels, how does Wolff let us know that LaVaughn's experience at school and with Dr. Rose isn't merely a secular 'cult' that offers her the same identity and answers as her friends? What makes her journey seem 'right' to us, even though to her friends (and probably to many in her school) it's wrong and even deluded? 

Q3: In Chapter 80, LaVaughn writes that “I’m a true believer./And that’s a fact” (243). Since it’s also the title of the book, what do you think she means by this? Since she doesn’t really believe in God and sees the world as very unfair and tragic, what does she believe in?

Q4: Note how much in this book is said "with the eyes" and not with words. At the end of the novel alone, "Annie looks over at me and says with her eyes and her head/in code, as we have always spoken" (262), and when Jody looks at her at the end of the book, "The look is quick as a blink" (264). Why are eyes/seeing so important to LaVaughn in this novel? Does it have anything to do with who she is, and when she is (a teenage girl)? 

Paper #2, Option 2 (due October 10th)

Paper #2, Option 2: Teaching Literature Statement of Purpose

 

In Chapter 54 of True Believer, Dr. Rose tells her students,

“Remember, our goal is lucidity.

Gleaming lucidity.

Only when we are lucid can we be constructive.

Only when we are constructive

can we live with good conscience in the world.

Only when we live with good conscience in the world

will the rage of the people calm” (171).

 

In essence, this is Dr. Rose’s teaching philosophy, and she explains that pushing students to be “lucid” in their expression, thoughts, and intentions, will allow them to “construct” their own place in the world, rather than be acted upon by others. She sees this as the basis for a rational, democratic society which is based not on hatred or bias but on mutual tolerance and understanding. It’s a pretty noble goal for an educator, and one that the NCTE Standards for ELA would undoubtedly agree with.

 

For your Paper #2, I want you to write your own Statement of Purpose as a future teacher of literature. This statement should explain why you think teaching literature is a crucial part of the ELA curriculum, and how it aligns with your own beliefs about education, literacy, self-empowerment. Think about this statement as introducing you as a teacher to future employers, so they will understand why you will make a valuable addition to their school district. Here are some of the ideas you should consider as you write your statement of purpose:

 

1.     How do you define learning? What does learning in the context of reading and literature look like?

2.     What values, beliefs, and aspirations do you hold as a literature teacher? If you could create an ideal situation for teaching literature, what would it look like?

3.     What goals do you hold for your students? What skills/ knowledge would you like them to learn/develop?

4.     What teaching methods do you plan on using to achieve these goals? How does theory influence the methods you value? 

5.     Why do you want to teach literature to secondary students? Why could you consider this your ‘calling’?

6.     How do you plan on growing as a teacher throughout your career? Do you have specific goals for yourself? 

 

In answering these questions, you should use examples from (a) True Believer, since this is a text about education that also explores different genres and students of diverse backgrounds, and (b) Culler’s Literary Theory, to give theoretical examples that back up your beliefs and values in teaching literature. Many of the questions above will help you address the current NCTE Standards in Learning and Learners in ELA, ELA Content Knowledge, Instructional Practice: Planning and Implementing Instruction in ELA. I will post a link to the NCTE requirements on the blog so you can get a sense of some of the requirements you’ll be asked to meet as a future teacher of ELA: https://ncte.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021_NCTE_Standards.pdf  

 

REQUIREMENTS: Should be around 4-5 pages double spaced; should use at least 2 sources (as listed above) but can use others; cite sources according to MLA or APA format with a  Works Cited Page. DUE Tuesday, October 10 by 5pm

Paper #2, Option 1 (due October 10th)

Paper #2, Option #1: Uppity Words

In Chapter 57 of True Believer, LaVaughn is reeling from being told she is proud, over-smart, disdainful, and rude. Yet her friend Ronell consoles her:

“You want my honest opinion?” she says.

I’ve already heard too many, but she goes ahead:

“LaVaughn, I like you for being uppity. That’s partly

why we’re here. Right?...

Here in this room we’re obligated to be uppity.

That’s our purpose here” (181).

In essence, Ronell is saying that so survive high school in the inner city, where not much is expected of them (and it is very likely they could die in a school shooting or a house fire), being “uppity” is what gives you purpose and steers you to college. Being “uppity” is having self-respect and refusing to accept someone else’s definition of your worth. It’s also the very word that LaVaughn always uses to describe her mother, who is also a strong, determined, self-made woman.

For this option, I want you to trace a word, phrase, or specific idea that seems to repeat throughout the work, changing depending on the context and/or LaVaughn’s understanding of it.  Some examples could be “uppity,” eyes/looks, food, “appreciate,” “hassling,” kissing, hearts, food, lucidity, clean/mess, listening, etc. Try to see how this word or phrase is like a melody that repeats with different instrumentation, sometimes in a trio, sometimes playing a solo, but each time changing how we see or understand the term. Why might Wolff use this specific word to help us explore the emotional reality of LaVaughn’s world? What’s so unique about its denotations and connotations? How does it lend itself to metaphors? And how might it allow the author to speak ‘through’ LaVaughn’s words (since LaVaughn is probably unaware of this thematic repetition).

In exploring this word/phrase/idea, be sure to quote and analyze the text (don’t just tell us how it’s used—show us), and also use Culler to help you contextualize how words and narration work in literature. Remember, you’re guiding us through the material, so the more you can show us, the more we’ll ultimately understand.

REQUIREMENTS: Should be around 3-4 pages double spaced (but can be longer), should use at least 2 sources, and should cite these sources according to MLA or APA with a Works Cited page.

Due Tuesday, October 10^th by 5pm

For Tuesday: True Believer, Part 3

Read all or at least most of Part 3 of True Believer for Tuesday's class, but don't worry about any questions this time. Just read for enjoyment, because I think you'll agree this is a pretty enjoyable book (even if you're too embarrassed to admit that you like it!). When you get to class next week, we'll do an in-class response in place of your questions, which might address one or more of the following ideas:

* What do you make of Dr. Rose's vocabulary lesson, where she insists, "We rely on cliches, we become cliches./We must not be ensnared/by our imagined limitations" (141)? Why might this be one of LaVaughn's most important lessons in the book?

* Why might the story of the pink jellyfish in Chapter 50 be a great metaphor for LaVaughn herself, as a college-bound kid in the inner-city? 

* At the end of Part Three, when LaVaughn gets the rude awakening that makes her "lifetime [jump] upside down." Does this epiphany come out of the blue? Or has the author subtly hinted at it throughout the book? Can we look back and see any signs or hints that LaVaughn, herself, might have noticed?

* One of the echoing words in this book is "uppity," which LaVaughn calls her mother, and her friends call her. We generally see this as a negative word, but how might the book suggest another definition/connotation for uppity? What makes both LaVaughn and her mother uppity? Why could it for both of them a redeeming quality?

* Related to the above, why do words matter in this book: not just what words are used, but how they are used? How does a relationship fall apart by a single word? Also, how can you see into someone's heart and mind by their use of a single word?

For Thursday: True Believer, Chapters 17-42 (pp.57-135)

For Thursday's class, read the rest of Part One and all of Part Two (it seems like a lot, but this books reads very quickly--too quickly, unless you force yourself to slow down and smell the metaphors). 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: Since LaVaughn doesn't have the vocabulary or the experience to see things that the author (and some of the audience) can see, Wolff uses metaphors to bridge the gap between her perspective and the world outside. One example of this is when she notices Jody's green swimming trunks, which "are bigger than Adam's fig leaf/but my insides feel like a window opening" (76). How is the author speaking through LaVaughn here, telling us more than LaVaughn herself is aware of? Is there another passage like this you noticed?

Q2: Why are some chapters, such as Chapter 25 and 31, extremely short, just two stanzas or so of poetry? Why not make every chapter roughly the same size? Also, who do you think is organizing these chapters? The author? Or LaVaughn?

Q3: Writing of Patrick in Chapter 61 (skipping ahead a little--sorry), LaVaughn remarks that “Patrick and I were like two pencils in a box,/parallel but not alive to each other” (190). What makes it so hard for her to connect with Patrick, despite all their common interests, rather than Jody, with whom she has much less in common? 

Q4: Though like many teenagers, LaVaughn is a little annoyed by her mother and her over-watchfulness, how does she come to see her mother as a person, and not just a mother in these chapters? Why might this be an important part of any bildungsroman (German for the novel of growth/education)? 

For Tuesday: Wolff, True Believer, Chapters 1-16 (pp.3-56)

Answer TWO questions total, one from each category below: 

POETICS QUESTIONS (Answer 1):

Q1: True Believer is written in free verse, which lacks any unified rhyme of rhythmic structure. As Helen Vendler, a famous professor of literature explains, “The unit of free verse seems to be breath: there is a breath limit to a long line of free verse. The theoretical appeal of free verse is that it admits an element of chance; it offers a model not of a providential universe but of an aleatory one, where the casual, rather than the fated, holds sway.” (NOTE: “aleatory means random). Why might the idea of “breath” be important to the story or narration of this novel? Also, where might we see an element of chance or spontaneity in the book itself?

Q2: Though this is a novel, it’s also fun to read it as a work of poetry, composed of several hundred small metaphors that quilt the work like a mosaic. Discuss one or two metaphors that dance out at you and make this work more as a poem. Here’s one for free: ““She looks at me with her face full of rules” (8).

Q3: Discuss LaVaughn’s voice as a narrator in the novel. Though obviously 1^st person, what else can we say or characterize about it? Is she a reliable narrator? Do we trust her judgment and perception of the world around her? Does the author sometimes let us see a world that she sees, but doesn’t quite see? And how might her ‘discourse’ (to use Culler’s term) shape the events of this story—a girl’s coming-of-age in the inner city—into a distinct plot?

HERMENEUTICS QUESTIONS (Answer 1):  

Q1: Why do you think Wolff never mentions LaVaughn’s race in the novel, or anyone else’s, for that matter? Though True Believer is a story of inner-city kids in a dangerous environment, is it strange that race never plays a factor in the students’ lives?

Q2: How does this book relate to some of the themes and characters in another poem we read this semester, “Requiem for Fifth Period”? What might both works (and their authors) agree on about the nature of education and the role of educators in that process?

Q3: When the guidance counselor meets with her early on in the novel, he explains what classes she’ll need if she wants to prepare for college. He explains, “your records had us confused at first…we didn’t know that. Not at first./But we know now. We know now” (55). Why do you think they almost missed LaVaughn and didn’t advise her properly? What might have “confused” them?

Q4: Why do you think LaVaughn doesn’t succumb to peer pressure and join the Joyful Universal Church of Jesus with her best friends, Annie and Myrtle? Is she simply jealous of what they share together, or does some other reason keep her aloof from the church and its activities?

For Thursday: Culler, Chapter 6: "Narrative"

NOTE: I'm changing the reading for Culler, and instead of reading Chapter 5 we're going to Chapter 6, since I think it has more bearing on our next book, which is both a work of poetry and a novel. So this chapter concerns how we read books with stories, and what role narrative plays in the process of meaning, especially since language and story don't always go hand-in-hand. 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: If a narrative plot can be translated into a different form (a comic, a TV series, a movie, a play, etc.), how does each one change how we experience the plot? In other words, why does telling the same story from a different character's perspective, or in a different medium, change the story, even if the plot is exactly the same (same beginning, middle, and end)?

Q2: As Culler explains, "Feminist criticism has been especially interested in the way that European and American narratives frequently posit a male reader: the reader is implicitly addressed as one who shares a masculine view" (87). What does this mean? How can a book, or a film, which will be read by potentially millions of men and women be focused on a "male" reader? What makes it so? Can you think of an example of a text/film/show that does this?

Q3: Mikhail Bakhtin, a famous Russian theorist of the novel, claims that novels are "fundamentally polyphonic (multi-voiced) or dialogic rather than monological (single-voiced)"(87). Why do you think the novel is geared to expressing multiple voices/perspectives in a way that poetry is not? Related to this, why might novels have become the bona fide form of writing, considering that narrative takes other forms and a story doesn't have to be a novel? 

Q4: Traditionally, third-person omniscient storytelling was the norm, though since the 19th century first-person has become more and more popular, until today it is usually the most dominant perspective. Why do you think this is? Why do readers generally prefer a first-person approach, particularly in more popular forms of literature (YA, romance, horror, etc.)?

For Thursday: Culler, Chapter 4 & Handout on Poetry

 Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: If ‘poetics’ is about the meaning of texts and how these meanings are achieved, then what is ‘hermenutics’? Why might this be equally important in reading or discussing a text? When might hermeneutics also get in the way?

Q2: What is the "Intentional Fallacy," and why is it a "fallacy"? Why do you think intention used to matter for so much, and now, we tend to question it rather than accept it at face value? Similarly, how does this free us up to discuss Sappho in a way we normally couldn’t?

Q3: On page 63, Culler writes that “a work is interpreted as answering questions posed by [the] horizon of expectations, and a reader of the 1990s approaches Hamlet with expectations different from those of a contemporary of Shakespeare’s.” So if Shakespeare was writing to his audience and their expectations, how does it make reading his works especially difficult? How can a modern reader be aware of a previous age’s—and even their own—horizon of expectations?

Q4: What does it mean that a word's form and meaning have an arbitrary relationship? How can a dog not be a dog? Or a moon not be a moon? Does this relate to the idea that “meaning is context-bound, but context is boundless” (67)?

HANDOUT FOR TUESDAY (which didn't print!) 

From M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth, 2005. 

Elegy: In Greek and Roman times, “elegy” denoted any poem written in elegiac meter (alternating hexamter and pentameter lines). The term was also used, however, to refer to the subject matter of change and loss frequently expressed in the elegiac verse form, especially in complaints about love…the Dirge is also a versified expression of grief on the occasion of a particular person’s death, but differs from elegy in that it is short, less formal, and is usually represented as a text to be sung.

Ode: A long lyric poem that is serious in subject and treatment, elevated in style, and elaborate in its stanzaic structure. Norman McLean said that the term now calls to mind a lyric which is “massive, public in its proclamations, and Pindaric in its classical prototype.” The prototype was established by the Greek poet Pindar, whose odes were modeled on the songs by the chorus in Greek drama…Romantic poets perfected the personal ode of description and passionate meditation, which is stimulated by an aspect of the outer scene and turns on the attempt to solve either a personal emotional problem or a generally human one.

Epic Poetry: In its strict sense, the term epic or heroic poem is applied to a work that meets at least the following criteria: it is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or (in the case of Milton's Paradise Lost) the human race...The narrator begins by stating his argument, or epic theme, invokes a muse or guiding spirit to inspire him in hsi great undertaking, then addresses to the muse the epic question, the answer to which inaugurates the narrative proper."  

For Tuesday: American Journal Part 5: "One Singing Thing"

NOTE: The Paper #1 assignment is in the post below this one

For Tuesday, you can skip the long poem that solely comprises Part Four, even though it's a very interesting poem. For now, though, let's just read through some of the poems in Part Five, which will be our last official day on American Journal before the paper is due--so hopefully it will give you some ideas. 

We'll do an in-class writing when you arrive over some idea(s) from the poems. Instead of focusing on a single poem this time, here are some ideas you might consider:

* Poems that employ intertextuality, which means they evoke or invoke a work outside of the text--either a different type of writing or poem, or something that the poem is somehow communicating with.

* Poems that invoke a different voice than the person speaking the poem, often in italics, that suggests the poem is a composite of different times and conversations.

* Different genres of poetry: elegies, odes, ekphrastic poetry, etc. 

See you in class! Enjoy the three-day weekend! 

Paper #1 assignment: It's Just a Theory

ENG 2513/3733

Paper #1: It’s Just a Theory

Since our class combines two classes and two areas of study, you can choose to do either option for your first paper assignment. Just make it clear in your assignment which one you’re doing, and don’t try to mix and match too much (though there is a little overlap in both assignments).

Option 1 (Lit Studies): Choose one of the poems in American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time and explain how it function as a stand-alone ‘theory’ for examining the world from a new perspective and/or critiquing common-sense values. Close-read the poem and explain where you see this and how you think it extends beyond the poem itself. Then, use this theory to ‘read’ another work of art or literature—a film, a book, a show, a painting, etc. In other words, use the ideas of this poem (its metaphors, perspectives, point of view, etc.) to help us read/interpret another work of art. Imagine that you’re putting them side by side, and by reading the poem first, something is illuminated or explicated in the second work of art. Be specific and show us what you reveal by looking at it through this theoretical perspective.

Option 2 (Teaching Lit): Choose 4-5 metaphors from some of the poems in American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time and use them to create a teaching activity for middle or high school students that does two things: (a) teaches how to read poetry more effectively, and (b) integrates some creative, hands-on activity that allows the students to do something new with the metaphors. Ideas might include writing their own poems around one or more of the metaphors; creating interpretive art based on the metaphors; writing fairy tales that develop the ‘moral’ or ‘theory’ of the metaphor; or some idea of your own creation. Be specific in how you plan to teach the metaphors (using Culler) and also in how you plan to implement your creative assignment so that someone could literally use it in their classroom (don’t just say, “I would ask them to write their own poem and see what happens,” etc). You should have goals, objectives, and expectations.  

REQUIREMENTS

• Both options must use poems and/or metaphors from American Journal. Please don’t use random poems or metaphors from other works.
• Both options should reference Culler and/or quote passages that help you teach and explicate your ideas.
• Page length is optional; I’m more interested in how you can develop and communicate your ideas.
• Due IN-CLASS on Thursday, September 7^th!

For Thursday: American Journal, Part 3: Words Tangled in Debris

Read the poems from the next section, and as always, feel free to pick and choose your favorites. Here are some questions to help you along...

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Most of these poems seem to involve the trials and tribulations of daily life, from war to working minimum wage (also a battlefield!). How does one of these poems give a 'theory,' or a new way of examining the daily dramas and disasters of life in the 21st century? Why could you relate to it, even if you've never examined in that wa before?

Q2: Many modern poems are arranged in an unusual fashion on the page, which doesn't necessarily correspond to a specific meter or syllable scheme. Discuss why a specific poem looks the way it does. How does the arrangement of lines on the page, the length of those lines, and the experience of reading them aloud, affect you as a reader? Related to this, are they transcribed for sound (to be read aloud) or is it more for the eye and the mind?

Q3: Discuss how one of the poems' titles is a metaphor that changes or augments the experience of reading (or having read) the poem itself. Arguably, the title doesn't make complete sense until after you've read it once or twice. Which poem changes the most with its title, and why?

Q4: Pronouns really matter in a poem, since they are always written by the poet, not by us. Using the pronoun "you" in a poem is risky, since it could either be read as a universal "you" (almost like "we"), or it could implicate a very specific person reading the poem. Discuss how one of these poems uses "you" to establish a specific relationship with the reader. What IS this relationship? Do you feel "outed"? Or are you not the "you" intended? 

For Tuesday: American Journal, Part 2: Something Shines Out From Every Darkness

 Remember to read the poems from Part 2 for Tuesday, all or any that grab your attention. Read at least a few poems more than once, and try to consider some of the ideas from Culler with regards to literature: language that calls attention to itself, is intertextual, that has purposiveness without purpose, etc. Also, examine the metaphors and see how they transform one idea/experience into another, and how that helps you experience the world in a different way.

ALSO: Be sure to read "The Split," since we'll do an in-class writing about that poem in class. If it is a poem? Can a list be a poem???

For Thursday's Class: American Journal, Part I: The Small Town of My Youth

For Thursday's class, read the poems in Part I of American Journal, pages 9-28. You can read these selectively, meaning that if one doesn't grab you, move onto the next one. But try to at least read 3 or 4 of them more than once, in some detail. Then answer any TWO of the questions below, using a different poem for each response: 

Q1: How does the language call attention to itself as language? What makes it literary language? In other words, why is it more than a sentence with one specific meaning or instruction? What makes it unusual, delightful, strange, ambiguous, or exciting? Be as specific as possible.

Q2: What make us relate to or believe in the reality of this work? In other words, why do we feel reading this poem is "worth it," even though it's just a string of words that might not immediately make sense to us? What makes us, individually, invest in this poem?

Q3: What makes this poem ambiguous and larger than one specific reading or meaning? How do we know this is "art for art's sake," and isn't meant to say, for example, "be sure to look both ways before crossing the street"? What makes this poem a rich, densely-layered experience that needs to be read and discussed?

Q4: How is this poem intertextual, meaning that is relates to other ideas and poems, and invokes them in the poem? How do these references/allusions enrich the poem and the experience of reading it? Is it always clear how and why it's invoking them?