Art Ideas for the Final Project, Option #1

From Edward Gorey--see link below

For those of you looking for art to examine four of the principal characters in Dracula, be sure to look through the artwork I posted on this blog site throughout the semester (one of the reasons I always try to include art in the posts). However, here are some other artists and artworks to consider that go especially well with the characters and events of Dracula:

Francisco de Goya, who made many Romantic portraits and Gothic works of uncanny horror, especially the Portrait of Dona Isabel de Porcel: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/francisco-de-goya-dona-isabel-de-porcel and his Self-Portrait: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/334004

Caspar David Freidrich, who specializes in Romantic/Gothic landscapes, which could depict the inner world of one of our heroes (or villains), such as Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog

The English impressonist landscape painter, J.M.W. Turner, is often paired with Dracula and other late 19th century works because of the strange, menacing nature of his art, such as The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons: https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/jmw-turner.html

James Whistler, an American painter of this period, is also very evocative of the late 19th century feel that Dracula invokes, especially in the ghostly portrait Symphony in White No.1: The White Girl: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12198.html

Rene Magritte, the Surrealist painter who I've used in class before, particularly for his uncanny paintings (such as "Not To Be Reproduced," the painting with the man looking into the mirror and seeing himself from behind--a few posts down), or the even stranger, Time Transfixed: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/34181/la-duree-poignardee-time-transfixed 

Many paintings of the late 19th century movement known as the Pre-Raphaelites would work beautifully here, some of which we looked at earlier (such as The Baleful Head, a few posts down), but also including Millais' haunting painting of the dead Ophelia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophelia_(painting), or Burne-Jones' mysterious and symbolic The Beguiling of Merlin: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/beguiling-of-merlin

Frida Kahlo, whose paintings mix the uncanny with Mexican folklore and personal biography, but beautifully explore female identity, such as The Broken Collumn: https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-broken-column.jsp#google_vignette

Man Ray, an earlier photographic artist, has works that dabble in the uncanny valley between Surrealism and the Gothic, such as Tears: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/1043YV

Also, Edward Gorey, a book illustrator, was obsessed with the 19th century Gothic, and often created grim images of childhood that would not be out of place in Coraline (and must have inspired Gaiman); he even did some illustrations for Dracula! You can find some of his iillustrations here: https://www.goreyesque.com/gorey-images

REMEMBER, anything goes as long as it helps you visualize some aspect of one of the characters. It DOES NOT have to be a portrait; it can depict some inner drama or struggle or even a specific scene involving this character (either literally or symbolically). Just try to help other people, especially students who haven't read the book before, see a specific side or idea of this character visually. Any way you do that is fair game, and it can be any artwork in the past or present. Hopefully the above links will give you some rabbit holes to fall into! 

For Thursday: Dracula, The Final Chapters (25-27)!

 

Children and their "child brains" (painting by John Singer Sargent)

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: In Chapter 26, Mina remarks, “…it made me think of the wonderful power of money! What can it not do when it is properly applied; and what might it do when basely used.” In these final chapters of the novel, how does money become a key element of the text? How do the vampire hunters use money to foil Dracula’s plans? And how is he, too, consistently associated with money?

Q2: How does Van Helsing develop his theories about Dracula’s “child brain” and his “childish” character? How might this tie into the then-emerging field of criminal psychology, as a way to reduce him to a safer ‘type’ rather than an undead, immortal monster? Consider his speech in Chapter 25 especially.

Q3: In Chapter 23, Mina urges her husband that killing Dracula, however necessary, should not be “a work of hate.” She feels that even Dracula deserves their pity, all the more since his curse is the work of centuries and knows no end. Does the novel ultimately affirm her belief? Can even Dracula be granted redemption? And if so, what might this suggest about Stoker’s ideas of good and evil in the book, which initially seem to black and white?

Q4: For the first time in the book, Van Helsing is allowed to tell the story in a series of Memorandums to Mina’s Journal. Why do you think Stoker replaces Van Helsing with Seward (who begins writing less and less)?

Q5: In Chapter 26, Dr. Van Helsing admits that “Our dear Madam Mina is once more our teacher. Her eyes have seen where we were blinded.” Does the novel end with a sense of a feminine vision (or authority) carrying the day? Or is she yet again dismissed as one with a “man’s brain,” and a “woman’s heart”?

Final Presentation Assignments: Options 1 and 2

Intro to Lit Studies/Teaching Lit Final Project: Theories of Identity

OPTION 1 (Teaching): Make a visual presentation (using Powerpoint, Prezi, etc.) that uses art to interpret at least 4 of the main characters of Dracula, choosing from Dracula, Johnathan, Mina, Lucy, Seward, Van Helsing, Arthur, Quincy, and Renfield. You should find a work of art (a painting, photograph, historical image, advertisement, etc.) that you can use to visually represent some aspect of the character’s identity and role in the book. Each artwork should be accompanied by a specific passage from the book about that character; you should briefly close read the passage so we can understand how you interpreted the character through your art.

You should also include a Preface to the presentation with a quote from Culler that you feel somehow introduces or analyzes some aspect of your presentation, and briefly explain this connection as well. Give each artwork and passage/quotation its own slide, and then provide your close reading/commentary on another one. So you should have roughly 14 or so slides, though feel free to do more. For example, one slide should be a work of art, then the next slide should be part of the passage that goes along with the character, and then a third slide should be your reading of the passage. And so on. The presentation doesn’t need to be fancy (look how simple mine are), but it should clearly show how the artwork and the passage illustrate some aspect of the character in question.

Try to have FUN with this, since this could be a way to help your students grasp the themes and ideas associated with each character visually. A good amount of your time on this project should be finding just the right images, so be sure you know why you chose them, and be able to explain these connections through the text. I will grade this solely by (a) how well I feel the images help us see the character; (b) how thoughtfully you choose passages that complement the artwork; and (c) how well you can provide brief, focused close readings that explain your theory of the text.

DUE NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12^th

Intro to Lit Studies/Teaching Lit Final Project: Theories of Narration

OPTION 2 (Lit Studies): You have been hired to write a YA adaptation of Dracula using only ONE of the narrators in the book (Johnathan, Mina, or Seward). Explain which one you would choose and why: what does their perspective allow us to see, and not see, about the unfolding drama of the book? What are the advantages and disadvantages, and why might it make the book more exciting—and maybe, more unreliable—by removing so many of the voices and levels of narration? Use at least ONE passage from Culler to help you discuss this (especially ideas from Chapters 6 “Narration” and 8 “Identity”). Use this as your ‘introduction’, and it can be as long as you like, but try to go beyond a short paragraph.

Then, discuss at least 2-3 entries or letters that you would definitely include in your novel, even though you would re-write them. What is significant about these letters or entries in revealing the character or the story? What do we see or learn in each one? How does each one reveal the character’s strength and limitations? Fears and biases? Insight and ignorance?  Be sure to quote from and close read your passages. As in the Intro, use Culler to aid in your discussion. Also feel free to use any secondary sources about Dracula (articles on EBSCO, websites, other adaptations) to aid your discussion. I will share a few sources on our blog in case you’re interested.

NOTE: You can do this assignment as a traditional paper OR a presentation. If doing a paper, length is optional, but make sure it’s long enough to explain your choice and to provide some useful close readings of the passages in question. If doing a presentation, be sure to give the passages room to breathe. Make passages on one slide, and your reading of the passages on another. Feel free to use images to aid your discussion as well (though it’s not a requirement as in the Teaching assignment).

DUE NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12^th

For Tuesday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 20-24

Burne-Jones, The Baleful Head (as seen in class on Thursday) 

Keep reading for next week, and get at least somewhere around Chapter 24. No questions, but we'll have an in-class writing focused around one of the issue below most likely...

Things to Consider:

* Stoker suggests a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde relationship between Seward and Renfield in the early chapters of the book. How do these chapters complicate this relationship, and make us wonder who the real "Hyde" (madman) truly is? 

* What makes the scene in Chapter 21 where Dracula is assaulting Mina so disturbing? How might this compare with the famous 'Thor' scene of Arthur killing Lucy? 

* Why does Mina lament that she is now "unclean" after the attack? Do other people seem to agree with her? Especially Seward?

* How does Seward's narration become increasingly unrelaible in these chapters? How does Stoker reveal this to the reader (as if he we didn't already know)?

* Note how the vampire hunter keep making distinctions between adults/men and women/children in the book. Lucy and Mina are "little girls," and even Dracula, for all his might, is said to have a "child brain," and is initially described somewhat effiminately. How does this play into the sexist and racist ideals of Victorian England? 

* Many critics have pointed out that Dracula is also a critique of capitalism itself. How does Dracula employ the engines of capital and commerce the same was he commands the wolves and the rats? You might also look at the curious passage where Dracula is attacked with Harker's kukri knife...

For Thursday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 15-19 (or so)

Munch, The Storm (1893)

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Why do you think Stoker settled on two main narrators for the novel: Dr. Seward and Mina (though Johnathan sometimes sneaks in, too)? Why might Seward and Mina be subtly opposed to one another, at least in their perspectives and narrative techniques? What is each one allowed to see, and what might be the limitations of each perspective?

Q2: While there is a definite theme of English vs. “Oriental” (that is, of the world beyond the British Empire), many readers also read this book as also Christian vs. Pagan, or science vs. superstition. What makes these readings increasingly complicated as the book goes on? And why might Stoker resist offering us such an easy, good vs. evil (or old vs. new) interpretation? You might also remember that even Dr. Seward describes Arthur slaying Un-Dead Lucy as looking “like a figure of Thor.”

Q3: Dracula is an extremely self-aware novel; that is, it is a gothic novel about writing a gothic novel. Stoker explicitly shows Mina “making” the book throughout, and even Arthur, examining all of her transcriptions, adds, “it does make a pretty good pile...Did you write all this, Mrs. Harker?” Why do you think Stoker calls our attention to the writing of the novel? What might be the advantage of this approach?

Q4: At one point, Van Helsing tells Mina, “We are men, and are able to bear; but you must be our star and our hope, and we shall act all the more free that you are not in the danger, such as we are” (225). Do you think Stoker intends this to be a misogynistic novel, one that puts “New Women” in their place? Or is this another example of the shortsightedness (and ineffectiveness) of the masculine ideal? In other words, are Stoker’s own limitations as a storyteller coming out in the narrative? Or is this Seward and Co.’s limitations?

For Tuesday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 10-14

Edvard Munch, Vampire (1893)

Answer TWO of the following as always:  

Q1: Who do you think is the least reliable narrator in the book so far? What makes his or her narration seem suspect? Do you detect passages where he/she seems to be hiding information or not being quite straight with the reader, even if he/she is writing a diary entry?

Q2: Just as Dracula seems like he's emerged from the distant past, how is Van Helsing also uncanny and "primitive" compared to the genteel society of London? What makes his person and his approach somewhat taboo, and certainly shocks Arthur and the others? Why is this also in turn a bit humorous? Consider the passage where he says, "Yes, and no. I want to operate, but not as you think...I want to cut off her head and take out her heart" (Ch.13). 

Q3. In Chapter 13, from Dr. Seward’s Diary, Van Helsing takes him aside and says, “Friend John, there are strange and terrible days before us. Let us not be two, but one, that so we work to a good end. Will you not have faith in me?" What do you make of the male relationships in the novel? Do they reinforce a “homosocial” order (that is, a world of men, for men, by men), or are these relationships critiqued from an almost feminist perspective?

Q4: What might be most distrubing about Lucy's transformation given the Victorian ideal of womanhood and chastity? Naturally, she becomes a vampire, which is bad enough, but how does Stoker describe her new appearance/character in ways that would be particularly disturbing? 

Q5: Why might Mina be the true hero in this book, and why might her journey echo what we've seen with Coraline and Bilbo in our previous books? What makes her an "unwilling burglar" or an "uncertain explorer"? Related to this, is she a Mary Sue or does she also have to learn through stumbling? 

For Thursday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 5-9

Try to get at least to Chapter 9 for Thursday's class, even though we won't have any questions to respond to. When you come to class, we'll have an in-class response so we can all respond to a big idea in these pages. Here are some ideas to consider as you read, however, one of which might make  an appearance on Thursday.

SOME IDEAS TO CONSIDER...

Which of the “outside” stories (the log from the Varna, etc.) adds the most to the overall narrative? Why do you think Mina decided to add this into her journal? What ‘story’ is it helping her tell to her readers? (and how might we read this differently when we remember that she is the one arranging it)?

What might be the significance of Dr. Seward's study of Renfield? What is he trying to understand about his patient's strange behavior? And who is Stoker really studying here: Renfield or Seward himself?

What is unique about Mina as the heroine of this book? In most books of this time, she would merely be Johnathan Harker's wife, but Stoker makes her a character in her own right. Why might she have shocked or at least surprised some readers in 1897?

How does Dracula seem to be a profoundly intertextual novel? Did you catch any references to other works, characters, or traditions? In many ways, Stoker is writing a horror novel while being very conscious--and obvious--about all of his predecesors, kind of like how Stranger Things makes reference to the horror movies that inspired it. 

How does Lucy change throughout these chapters as she is slowly seduced by Dracula? Why might this relate somewhat to what was happening to Johnathan in Castle Dracula? 

For Tuesday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 1-4

 

NOTE: Read the first four chapters (Johnathan Harker's Diary) for class on Tuesday. and give yourself time to get into the narrative structure of the novel. It's not as difficult or dry as it might initially appear, and this technique has been wildly influential on every gothic/horror novel to follow). 

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Last week we discussed theories of identity and constructions of the 'subject.' How do the characters of either Johnathan Harker or Dracula address some of these issues in their 'performance' of identity? Consider the following quotes as you respond:

* Harker: "I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth" (43).

* Dracula: "Here I am noble; I am boyar; the common people know me, and I am master. But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men know him not--and to know not is to care not for" (25).

Q2: In many ways, these first chapters are just a typical first-person narration from Harker's perspective. Yet Stoker puts a slight twist on this since it's actually from his diary, which is later read by his fiancee, Mina Murray. How does the act of writing somewhat change how we experience his story, considering that it is broken up by dates and an overwhelming sense of time passing? Why might Stoker have chosen to do this rather than simply having Harker narrate the opening chapters? (Chapter 5, for example, begins with a series of letters between Mina and her best friend, Lucy). 

Q3: When Harker first beholds the three 'brides' of Dracula, he remarks, "I seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it in connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the moment how or where" (Ch.III/61). How might passages like this remind us of Coraline, and indeed, how might Harker’s adventures in Castle Dracula be a lot like Coraline’s adventures with the Other Mother?

Q4: How does Stoker's characterization of Dracula differ from modern versions of Dracula and of vampires in general? Though Dracula is not the first literary vampire, he created the prototypical mythology that all subsequent vampires follow. Nevertheless, Stoker's 'Dracula' shows some remarkable differences that often surprise or even disappoint readers. What might these be...and what might Stoker's intentions have been in writing him this way

For Tuesday: Culler, Chapter 8: "Identity, Identification, and the Subject"

NOTE: This is one of the trickier/thornier chapters in the book, and it will make you think or die trying! Get what you can from it, and we'll discuss it a lot more in class on Tuesday. I guarantee it will help you think about Paper #2, however, so be sure to do these questions!  

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Culler writes that “Literature has not only made identity a theme; it has played a significant role in the construction of the identity of readers” (112). While literature can certainly draw attention to certain groups of people, especially marginalized voices, how can it play a role in creating them? For example, why could we argue that books played as much a role in creating ‘childhood’ as society itself?

Q2: Somewhat related to Q1, art is often censored because of a fear of identification, or as Culler puts it, “corrupt[ing] through mechanisms of identification” (113). Why are books—especially in Oklahoma!—much more censored than films or even music in this regard? Why would a book do a better job of modeling identity—and enabling corruption—than other forms of media? Can you think of a specific book that could be accused of this?

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 is this inevitably a "failure"? Why can't we become perfect copies of our models? 

Q4: How might literature question the idea of “agency,” or how we exercise our free will and identity? While we might deny being racist and avoiding racist sentiments and language, why might we still contribute to a racist (or sexist) discourse by our very positions and roles in society? In other words, where do intentions end and consequences begin?

Paper #2 assignment: Reading the Self (due Next Thursday, October 31st in class!)

NOTE: Remember to finish Coraline for Thursday's class! No questions, but we'll have an in-class writing over it. The Paper #2 assignment I gave out in class is below. 

Intro to Lit/Teaching Lit

Paper #2: Reading the Self

“Literature has not only made identity a theme; it has played a significant role in the construction of the identity of readers…we become who we are by identifying with figures we read about” (Culler, Ch.8).

NOTE: There are TWO options for this short assignment, which we will share in class next Thursday, October 31^st. For each option, you must use Culler, Chapters 6 “Narrative” and/or Chapter 8 “Identity, Identification, and the Subject” to help frame your discussion or to give you new perspectives on the works in question. We’ll discuss Chapter 8 at length on Tuesday.

OP1: Write a short Reading Autobiography about the 3-4 works that most shaped your ‘reading’ identity as a child. I define “child” as anything before you hit your teenage years (so 12 and under). Reflect on why these works stayed with you, even if you haven’t read them since, and how they might have shaped your views, preferences, reading habits, and overall aesthetic. Some of these should be books, but you can slip in a film, show, or even a song since all of these are texts to be ‘read’ and digested by a young person looking to construct their sense of self. You might discuss how you were introduced to these works (or how you found them), and what you most recall about each one, even if you seem them differently today (i.e. you don’t have to like them anymore).

OP2: A friend has a pre-teen child who has fallen in love with books after reading Coraline. They want to know what else the child should read to extend this love of reading to other books with similar themes, characters, or storytelling. Compile a list of 3-4 works (for the parent) geared towards children/Young Adults that you feel would complement Coraline even if they’re not works of horror per se. Explain what all these works have in common, and how each one relates to some aspect of Coraline in a way the child might understand and appreciate. Keep in mind the role of identity/identification in these books: why might they be healthy for the child to experience at this age, as they are still actively forming their sense of self? What would these books teach them or allow them to see or experience? And how might these books have helped you?

REMEMBER:

• 3-4 works for each one, though in OP2, all 3-4 must be books; you can define it more loosely for OP1.
• You can use earlier chapters of Culler, but quote at least once from Chapter 6 or Chapter 8. Try to use quotes that actually help you see/discuss some aspect of your paper, rather than an obligatory quote that is just taking up space or only says what you could have said yourself.
• Page limit optional, but try to do justice to the works and the prompt. Don’t just give a short list and say “I really liked this book”; try to explain why you liked it and/or why you think it shaped you or would shape someone else. Look at it from both a childhood and an adult perspective.

 

For Tuesday: Coraline, Chapters 6-10

NOTE: I'll be handing out the short Paper #2 assignment on Tuesday which will be due in just shy of two weeks (see calendar two posts down). So don't miss out! 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: We discussed some of the thematic connections between The Hobbit and Coraline in class on Thursday, so let’s go a step further: how is the Other Mother like Smaug? Or, how could Smaug be a ‘theory’ for reading the Other Mother? Do you think Gaiman might have had this famous dragon in mind when creating her? (does he drop any little clues…?)

Q2: Though the Other Mother is obviously a monster of some sort, her words have a curious ring to them. Phrases like, “the proudest spirit can be broken, with love” and “Manners makyth man,” for example, sound like they come from a Victorian conduct manual. What do you make of these phrases, and why does Gaiman make her talk like this? What idea or parody of motherhood might she represent?

Q3: When Coraline finds the “Other Father” in the basement, he’s a deformed and misshapen lump of dough. Coraline takes pity on him, reflecting, “Poor thing…You’re just a thing she made and then threw away” (109). We also learn that she can’t create anything, but can only “twist and copy and distort things that already existed” (116). Why might this be a child’s introduction to the concept of evil? Why might ‘evil’ work in exactly the same way?

Q4: I suggested in class on Thursday that Coraline is a children’s book for adults, meaning that it’s a book children are meant to grow into. With that in mind, how might Coraline stumble across a few ‘theories’ which have more resonance to an adult than to a child? In other words, where might the book become a symbolic lesson for how to survive in adulthood?

For Thursday: Gaiman, Coraline, Chapters 1-5

NOTE: Be sure to look at the revised schedule in the post below this one, since I re-arranged the reading order of Coraline and Dracula. I also moved up the due date of Paper #2, but don't worry--it made it a much simpler paper, and one that will give you a lot of breathing room to read Dracula before tackling your Final Project for the class (more on that later). 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In class on Tuesday, we talked about the difference between plot/events and story/discourse (from Culler, Ch.6--which I didn't assign, but you're free to read yourself). The plot of the story is a very simple one familiar from Alice in Wonderland and any number of children's books: a girl opens a door into a hidden world and meets with strange creatures and a dangerous quest to save her parents. How does Gaiman make the plot his own through his storytelling--the narrative discourse he employs? What touches make this unique, surprising, or "worth it" for the reader?

Q2: In Chapter IV, when Coraline asks the black cat its name, it replies, "Cats don't have names...people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names" (35). Despite sounding sarcastic, why might be a theory about identity similar to what we've read and discussed in other works in class?

Q3: Though this is a horror story in some senses, it's also a traditional fairy tale about childhood wish fulfillment. Why is this? Why might "other mothers and fathers" represent something deep in the psyche of children? OR, another way to think about this is, how might the "other mother" represent a child's view of adults and parents in general? 

Q4: In some ways, Coraline is a lot like Bilbo from The Hobbit. Besides the plot details (she is also a burglar of sorts), where else might we see parallels between their characters and background? Why might we argue that Gaiman had The Hobbit in mind when he wrote this book...and why might that somewhat explain the enormous popularity of Coraline? (i.e. that he re-told something powerful and mythic from the earlier book). 

Revised Schedule Post Fall Break (Mid-October to December)

 I've tweaked the schedule slightly, flipping Coraline and Dracula, and making your Paper #2 assignment a smaller, more focused work in preparation for the more ambitious Final Project over Dracula. I would only move a paper up if I was making easier, as I am, so don't worry about having something due so relatively soon unlike the previous calendar. Trust me, you'll like this assignment better, and then you'll have a nice long break before the Final Project (more on that soon). 

Be sure you have a copy of Coraline since we'll start reading it on Thursday. Feel free to read Chapter 6 of Culler, though there's no assignment for it; it's pretty short, so I want to give you the main points in class instead of giving a traditional reading assignment. 

REVISED CALENDAR 

T 8       Mid-Term Exam (in class)

R 10    FALL BREAK

 

T 15     Overview of Culler, Chapter 6: “Narrative”

R 17    Gaiman, Coraline, Chapters 1-5

 

T 22     Gaiman, Coraline, Chapters 6-10

R 24    Gaiman, Coraline, Chapters 11-13

 

T 29     Culler, Chapter 8: “Identity, Identification, and the Subject”

R 31    Paper #2 due in class

 

NOVEMBER

T 5       Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 1-5

R 7      Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 6-9

 

T 12     Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 10-12

R 14    Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 13-16

 

T 19     Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 17-20

R 21    Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 21-23

 

T 26     Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 25-27

R 28    THANKSGIVING BREAK

 

DECEMBER

T 3      Final Project abstracts

R 5      Final Project abstracts

 

FINAL PAPER/PROJECT DUE: TBA

For Thursday: Finish The Hobbit--Last Questions!

NOTE: Finish the book or come as close as you can for Thursday's class; there are five questions below (couldn't help myself!), but you only need to answer TWO as usual. 

ALSO--the Mid-Term Exam assignments are in the post BELOW this one.  

Q1: Bilbo exclaims to himself, “Now I am a burglar indeed!” when he finally steals something—in this case, the Arkenstone.  Why does he take it and say nothing to the dwarves (and is this “heroic”)?  Does it do this because it calls to him, the same way as the Ring did?  Or does he have a larger plan from the beginning? 

Q2: In the passage with Smaug, we learn that “there was one smell [Smaug] could not make out at all, hobbit-smell; it was quite outside his experience and puzzled him mightily” (201).  Additionally, Bilbo refuses to tell his name, and instead indulges in a series of “kennings,” an Anglo-Saxon poetic form (clue-finder, web-cutter, etc.).  What effect does this have on Smaug, and what might be his purpose in doing this?  Why taunt an already awake and angry dragon in this manner? 

Q3: Why is Bard able to destroy Smaug when no one else could? How might his seemingly "magical" ability to perform a heroic feat mirror some of Bilbo's accomplishments? If you know Star Wars, why might this be a Luke Skywalker/Death Star moment? (consider how Luke does it, and why George Lucas might have had this moment in mind).

Q4: How might Thorin’s final words to Bilbo be a kind of re-writing of Beowulf on Tolkien’s part, and a useful ‘theory’ to read Beowulf and The Hobbit? Related to this, why might it also be Tolkien’s response to people who would dismiss the book as a child’s fantasy, or irrelevant escapism?

Q5: The last chapter of the book plays with the old notion that “you can never go home again.” You can go home again, but there’s a catch: what is that catch for Bilbo? What does he find when he returns home that challenges the old adage? In a way, does Bilbo Baggins ever return to Bag End?

Hobbit Mid-Term: The Road Goes Ever On…Unless You Stay in Class

Choose ONE of the following options for your Mid-Term Exam. Note that one is in-class and one is a take-home assignment! 

TEACHING OPTION (take home): I want you to design a unit for teaching The Hobbit to middle or high-school students (your choice) comprised of TWO activities or assignments. Each activity should be inspired from a passage of Culler’s Literary Theory (Chapters 1, 2 or 4) that acts as a ‘theory’ for that activities’ goals. Activities can range from various kinds of writing (analytical or creative), collaborative or individual art projects (making maps, etc.), interactive games (a riddle contest, etc.), or any kind of linguistic or textual analysis (tracing word origins, etc.), or anything related to genre (examining book covers, etc.). Be creative, and remember that you have to inspire these kids to not only read the book, but get something out of it! Each activity should contain the following: (a) the passage from Culler as a preface, cited with page number; (b) the activity itself, as you would present it to the students (don’t just tell me about it, actually design the assignment); and (c) a brief explanation of your goals for the assignment based on the passage from Culler. Think about what you want to teach these students about The Hobbit, reading literature, understanding genre, and thinking creatively/critically.

This Exam is due Thursday, October 10^th by 5pm (the beginning of Fall Break) 

LIT STUDY OPTION (in class): you will have a selection of three passages from Culler (from Chapters 1, 2, and 4) and you will have to apply them to a specific aspect of The Hobbit to explain how the theory in question applies to some passage, idea, or character in the book. The exam will ask you to briefly explain the Culler quotes before using them to ‘read’ The Hobbit. Be specific and quote from the book to show how it applies (or can be read through) Culler’s theories. You are also free to use other parts of Culler for support or analysis (OR, you can combine more than one passage into a larger analysis). But remember, this is an in-class essay, so you must bring both books and prepare to write! Of course, I won’t expect as much from this paper as I would the above essay, since you have much less time to write it. The goal is that you can make educated and creative connections from one text to the other, which shows that you have no only read the material, but can interact with it.

This Exam is taken in-class next Tuesday, October 8^th. You will have the entire class to finish it, and of course you can use both books to help you (Culler and Tolkien).

For Tuesday: The Hobbit, Chapters 7-11

These are NOT questions to answer for Tuesday's class, since we'll have an in-class writing response. However, here are some ideas to think about for Tuesday's class. We'll write about one or more of these ideas...

* In Chapter Eight, after fighting the spiders, Bilbo says, “I will give you a name,” he said to it,” and I shall call you Sting” (142). Why do you think he names his sword, which clearly isn’t a legendary weapon like “Beater” or “Biter”? Why might this also illustrate the transformation going on in Bilbo by this point in the novel?

* Related to the above, how does Bilbo become more and more a surrogate for Gandalf on their quest? Do you think this is what Gandalf intended for him to become all along? Or is this a new, unexpected development?

* Unlike most novels, Tolkein’s narrator is almost a character in the novel, full of coy hints about the world’s history, and riddling sense of humor. Where do we most see the narrator intrude on the story itself, and why do you think he does this? Why not just tell the story ‘straight’?

* What do the elves seem to represent for Tolkein, since they are the greatest race in Middle Earth? Why, too, are they people of “the gloaming and the dusk”?

* Why do the people of Lake Town (unlike the Master) give the dwarves such a warm welcome? What ‘world’ does the town seem to belong to—the ancient or the modern? Likewise, why does the Master reject them and assume they’re all frauds?

* Earlier in the book, Gandalf suggests that Middle Earth is a world in decline, a world where heroes and warriors are scarce, and even a burglar is hard to find. How might these later chapters start to explain why this is? 

 

 

 

 

For Thursday: The Hobbit, Chapters 5-7

NOTE: At the end of these questions is a link to an article I published a few years ago in Oklahoma Humanities magazine about Tolkien, the Hobbit, and the purpose of fantasy literature (some of which we discussed in class today). If you're interested in getting more context into the way I read this book, and how I position it within the framework of older fantasy writing, you might find it interesting. It has pictures, too! :)  

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In Beowulf, a work which Tolkein not only translated but was highly influenced by, the phrase “wyrd” is often used, which translates to fate or chance.  In one significant passage, Beowulf claims, “Wyrd saves oft/the man undoomed if he undaunted be.”  How does fate (or luck?) seem to function similarly in The Hobbit?  Is this a book where Bilbo is guided by a higher power…or does he make his own luck? How might Tolkien want us to read this?

Q2: One of our clever students made a connection between Grendel and the Grinch in class, and we see another connection to a character with a ‘G’ in their name: Gollum. How might Gollum share more than a passing resemblance to Grendel, and related to this, how does Tolkien re-write Beowulf’s epic confrontation with him in the chapter “Riddles in the Dark”? How might Bilbo (another ‘B’ name) be a conscious re-writing of Beowulf in a more humane, more heroic light?

Q3: Tolkein purposely went back and revised The Hobbit to bring it in line with his evolving mythology and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Though we can read The Hobbit as a stand-alone work, where do we see foreshadowings and links to the later works in this one? How, for example, do we know the ring isn’t just a magic trinket but a true “ring of power”? In other words, how do we know this work is being written in a ‘present’ time where the readers know that this story is the ancient past?  

Q4: How does Bilbo live up to his name and pedigree in these chapters and become, in a small way, a hero of legend? What causes him to do this? Is it an accident, like the way Gandalf tricked him into undertaking the Quest, or is it a conscious decision of Bilbo’s? Discuss a scene where you see him renounce his identity as a "burgher" and become a "burglar."  

Link to my article, "Roads Go Ever On: Fantasy Literature's Quest for Home" (begins on page 42): https://www.okhumanities.org/doccenter/d66870df8ad249eb8b9ca560123d1db4

For Tuesday: Tolkien, The Hobbit, Chapters 1-4 (any edition)

NOTE: Enjoy the first four chapters of The Hobbit, and try to look for subtle--and not-so-subtle--connections to the world of Beowulf. We'll examine this more carefully in later chapters. For now, here are some questions to help you get the lay of the land on your journey...

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: When it first came out, The Hobbit was considered a children’s story for two reasons: the characters/situations and the style. While most critics no longer agree  that fantasy alone makes a story ‘juvenile,’ they are less certain about the style. Do you feel that the story is written more for children than adults? What about the style might make people read it this way? Do you think that was Tolkien’s intention (and if so, how much should we honor it)?

Q2: Headley talked about Tolkien’s preference for “archaic” language when translating works like Beowulf. In his own work, however, we find something quite different, as in this passage from Chapter 1: “I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses, time required and remuneration, and so forth” (21). He also includes pipes and references to post offices in the book, which would clearly be out of place in this mythical setting. Why could we argue that every work of fantasy is a kind of translation, and why might he actually prefer Headley’s theory of translation to his own?

Q3: Though The Hobbit opens with a simple domestic scene (“in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”), where does Tolkein hint that a great mythology lies behind the prosaic world of the Shire?  Why do you think he felt it necessary to let glimpses of this ancient world shine through?  How does it affect how we read and understand the work as a whole?

Q4: In Chapter II, “Roast Mutton,” the dwarfs reflect on Gandalf: “So far he had come all the way with them, never saying if he was in the adventure or merely keeping them company for a while.  He had eaten most, talked most, and laughed most.  But now he simply was not there at all!” (30).  What kind of character/wizard is Gandalf, and how does he compare to the idea of a ‘wizard’ in popular culture?

For Tuesday: Culler, Literary Theory, Chapter 4: "Language, Meaning, and Interpretation"

NOTE: We'll take a break from reading Beowulf for a day to delve into more matters of theory, interpretation, and meaning! This chapter may seem a bit dense, but read slowly and use the questions below as a guide if you get lost. I promise, there are some fascinating and very useful ideas hidden in here, especially for those future teachers among you! 

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 an author’s intention used to matter so much, whereas now, we tend to regard it with skepticism? Similarly, how does this free us up to discuss the works of living writers, and writers we know too much about, in particular?

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? (and how might we do this for Beowulf)? 

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)?

For Thursday: Beowulf, pp. 95-136 (try to finish!)

NOTE: The Paper #1 assignment is in the post below this one...don't forget to scroll down! 

For Wednesday: Beowulf, pp.95-136 (try to finish!)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What role does the dragon play in the poem? He’s clearly not humanized in the way Grendel or his mother are (he’s a literal monster), but he still exhibits some very human characteristics. What might these be, and why are they significant to the story?

Q2: If we read this poem as a Christian poem (as Beowulf himself seems to), why does God abandon kings like Hrothgar and Beowulf? Why is he allowed to fail in his final fight against the dragon, considering its significance to his kingdom? Or are we supposed to read this as a failure of Fate?

Q3: What is the significance of Wiglaf’s speech towards the end of the poem? How might he echo other characters in the poem, especially that of Hrothgar much earlier? Is it possible that he offers a sense of the poet’s own ‘theory’ on the poem?

Q4: Taken as a whole, does the poet seem to look back longingly on Anglo Saxon ideals, or as a Christian, does he see their limitations? How might this explain why he chose an old pagan warrior as the subject for a Christian poem? In other words, is this poem a celebration or a warning? A fond look back, or a testament to the ills of pagan civilization?

Paper #1: It's Just a Theory!

NOTE: The reading for Tuesday and the points to consider are in the post BELOW this one...

Paper #1: It’s Just a Theory!

“I regularly found myself muttering speeches written a thousand years ago as I watched their contemporary equivalents unfold on the news. This moment, and the moments before it…are things that concerned the Beowulf poet and concern this translator, too” (Headley, Introduction).

INTRO: In Chapter 1 of Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Culler defines theory as “interdisciplinary…analytical and speculative…a critique of common sense…[and] reflexive, thinking about thinking, enquiry into the categories we use in making sense of things” (14-15) A theory can be used to examine or critique a literary work, but a theory can also be a literary work itself. We can often use literature, and the ideas that pop out of the stories, characters, and language, to examine the world around us, and make us question the cultural norms that we take for granted. Seen in this light, Beowulf, especially when translated in a ‘modern’ way, can become a theory about many different things: literature, genre, gender, race, belief, morality, etc.

PROMPT: For this paper, I want you to use some aspect of Headley’s translation of Beowulf as a THEORY to examine some aspect OUTSIDE the text itself. By this I mean, use it to examine our ideas about, say, what it means to be a man or woman, or whether we think everything happens for a reason, or what makes a text literary, or what makes a hero or a villain, etc. These are just examples, and there are TONS of ideas you could explore theoretically from the perspective of Beowulf. Remember that the poem is your LENS: use it to examine something outside the text from the perspective of this book/its author/its translator.

REQUIREMENTS: In your paper, you should introduce your theory through a close reading of ONE specific passage in the poem. Introduce this quote, quote it in full, and then explain how you read it paying close attention to the language. Don’t just summarize it and don’t assume that everyone understand it on a first reading. Help us read/see what you see in it. THEN explain how you could use this general theory to examine another idea, behavior, classification, value, type, or custom in society. Be SPECIFIC and use an example from the outside world to explore with your theory. For example, if you want to examine modern theories of masculinity (what it means to be a man) through Beowulf, find some example in the modern world to point to—it could be a show, an advertisement, a custom, etc. Use the passage from Beowulf to show us a new way to read and understand this modern sense of gender (if you choose to look at gender—it’s just an example).

THE FINE PRINT

• Should be at least 3-4 pages double space, though you can do more.
• Be sure to quote from Beowulf and close read (analyze) the passage.
• Examine some outside ‘text’ through the lens of the passage/poem.
• The paper is due IN-CLASS on Thursday, September 19^th. We will spend the entire class discussing our different theories of the poem, so be there or be square!

For Tuesday: Beowulf, pages 51-95 (approx.)

For next week, try to ideally get through the battle in Grendel's Mother's lair, his victorious return to Heorot, and the aftermath of his Danish voyage. That's roughly the second part of the epic, with the third part racing ahead of time to when Beowulf is an old man/king, who has to face another monster (and one much more monstrous, this time).

Remember, we'll do an in-class response instead of normal questions in class on Tuesday. Some ideas you might consider as you read are...

* Why is Heorot punished with Grendel and his mother? How does Hrothgar undersatnd it, and possibly, how does Beowulf? Does the narrator agree with them?

* Look carefully at how Grendel and his mother are described around page 56. We'll look at other translations of this in class, too. What does the poet want us to see/understand about them?

* The other woman in the story thus far is Hrothgar's wife, Wealhtheow, who has an interesting scene on pages 52-54. What is her role in the story, and how might this strangely echo the role of Grendel's mother in the poem?

* On page 55, the poet writes that "they had no foretelling of Fate's fixed plans." Fate is capitalized in this translation, and this is another example of 'wyrd' in the text. If Fate has doomed several men in the hall to die at another monster's hands, what does this say about God's influence to the poet? Does the poet believe in both equally?

* Related to this, why does Hrothgar blame Beowulf when the mother returns for her vengeance? Aren't HE and his people the true cause of the murders?

* In this part of the poem, Beowulf's bravery seems to come from all his pagan armor and weapondry more than his faith in God or even his faith in himself. Indeed, when his sword breaks, he loses heart and almost runs for it. Why does he cut a different figure here than when he fought her son?

* What is Beowulf's true motivation in fighting all of these monsters? Is it loyalty to Hrothgar? Is it a mission from God? Or is it fame for himself? How does he talk about his mission to others?

* Anglo-Saxon poetry tends to be quite dark and realistic, with one of its great themes that of humility and memento mori (remember your own mortality). How does the poem stress this in an otherwise heroic, action-packed poem? 

For Thursday: Headley's Beowulf, Pages 1-51 (approx)

NOTE: If you have a different translation, you’ll miss out on Headley’s colorful language and very idiomatic translation, but you’ll gain in other departments. However, page 51 won’t mean much to you, so read from the beginning to after the poet tells the tale of Finn shortly after Beowulf defeats Grendel. Also, you won’t be able to answer the questions below about Headley’s translation, so choose the ones you can answer.

ALSO: For those interested, here's a New Yorker article about Headley's translation, which brings up many of the issues we raised in class, and defends many of her decisions: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/31/a-beowulf-for-our-moment

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Some of Headley’s word choices are not only surprisingly modern but outright shocking, such as this one on page 29: “Hashtag: blessed.” What did you think about her reading this way, and discuss ONE specific example that either really worked for you OR really didn’t. Be sure to explain why.

Q2: Beowulf as a poem often seems at war with itself. On the one hand, it speaks of God and Salvation, Heaven and Hell. But elsewhere, it speaks of Fate and even the very Anglo-Saxon concept of “wyrd” (page 34), which is more the Greek sense of Fate, as controlled by the gods (and not God). Why do you think this poem reference both the Christian and pagan belief systems? Does one seem more in control than the other?

Q3: Beowulf is also a beautifully poetic work of art, full of gorgeous turns of phrase, kennings, and ample alliteration. Discuss a passage in Headley’s translation that, in Culler’s words, “foregrounds language itself: makes it strange, thrusts it at you…so you can’t forget that you are dealing with language shaped in odd ways” (28). How does Headley (as well as the original poet) try to make language strange and exciting for us? And how does this affect the story itself?

Q4: Culler also writes in Chapter 2 that “A work exists between and among many texts, through its relations to them,” which he calls “intertextuality” (33). Though Beowulf is quite an ancient poem, and we don’t really know all that much about Anglo Saxon literature, how do we know that this is a profoundly intertextual poem? What ideas, characters, or stories does it seem to be responding to? How do we know that the world of Beowulf has a past that it drew from for inspiration and guidance?

For Tuesday: Maria Dahvana Headley, "Introduction" to Beowulf (in the Headley translation)

NOTE: Make sure you have the right translation of Beowulf, or else you won't have Headley's fascinating Introduction to her translation of the poem (let me know if you can't obtain it--I might be able to help!). 

ALSO: I forgot to mention in class, though I send everyone an e-mail about this. On Monday, September 2nd, the English department in conjunction with our alumni, Cody Baggerly, hosts an Open-Mic Poetry/Prose reading at Kind Origin here in Ada at 6:00-8:00. Anyone is welcome to attend, and feel free to bring short prose and poems to share (if you like) with the gathering. Kind Origin is run by an ECU alum who also works at the university. Even though it's a dispensary, it has a family-friendly environment (many kids attend) and the reading takes place in what feels like someone's living room--it's very cozy and non-threatening. Kind Origin is on Mississippi just before Home Depot on the West side of the road. 

Answer TWO of the following for next week:

Q1: Headley argues that Beowulf "[though] a poem about Then, it's also (and always has been) a poem about Now, and how we got here" (x). How does she try to persuade us of the cultural relevance of such an old and often mystifying poem? Related to this, how does she use the present to read the past/text? 

Q2: Arguing with Tolkien's own views of the poem (Tolkien made a very difficult-to-read prose translation of the poem in the 50's), Headley claims that "Beowulf is a living text in a dead language...when [language] dies, it leaves bones" (xvi, xx). What do you think this means by this, and would Culler agree with her? Are all old poems "living" in the same way?

Q3: In class on Thursday, we looked at two different translations of Wulf and Eadwacer, discussing how a different slant on a specific line can change the entire plot and mood of a poem. According to Headley, what is one of the biggest controveries regarding translating Beowulf, and how might the bias of the present cloud our reading of the past?

Q4: To Headley, Beowulf is still "worth it" as an exciting work of literature. It repays the time and attention of reading it over and over again. Though she came to the work under a false assumption that Grendel's mother was the hero of the work, what did she find that made the poem so rich and rewarding for her? How does she try to capture this in her translation of the poem (according to her)? 

For Tuesday: Culler, Chapter 2: "What is Literature?"

Answer TWO of the following Q's in a short response, but give a little detail--no one sentence responses, please. I don't want "answers" as much as I want "thoughts," or rather, thinking out loud. Try to "talk out" your responses since these questions are designed as a kind of pre-writing for your later papers and assignments. Sometimes, to figure out what you think, you simply have to start writing. As long as you give an honest effort and aren't trying to BS (or do as little as possible), you'll get full credit for your responses. 

Answer any TWO: 

Q1: Many theorists, according to Culler, believe that all aesthetic objects (such as literature) must have a "purposiveness without purpose" (33). How do you understand this term, and how might it distinguish literature from, say, an instruction manual or a political manifesto?  

Q2: Culler writes that "what it implicitly says about making sense relates to the way it itself goes about making sense" (34). How does this relate to intertextuality and the idea of all art being a copy of a copy of a copy? 

Q3: Culler suggests that "the more the universality of literature is stressed, the more it may have a national function" (37).  Based on this, how might literature have created a sense of Englishness or even Americanness? Has Jane Austen or Harry Potter created a literary sense of 'Englishness' which we expect to find when we go there? Or have American sitcoms done the same for us? 

Q4: Do you think literature has the power to ennoble us and make us better human beings? Is that an outdated (or naive) notion, or is it one of the chief qualities of literature? Is literature inherently 'moral'? Or is that a quality of theory (making us see morality in an otherwise valueless text)? 

For Thursday: Read Chapter 1, "What is Theory?" from Culler's Literary Theory: AVSI

REMEMBER, I want you to just try to read some or all of Chapter 1 from Culler's Literary Theory for Thursday's class. I won't give you any response questions or quizzes or anything over this material--it's just a way to 'get your feet wet' with the reading. We'll discuss it in depth in Thursday's class, and I'll try to discuss some of the big ideas from this chapter, which we'll revisit over and over again throughout the class. 

However, if you would prefer a guide, here's a few ideas to consider as you read (you DO NOT have to answer these, just think about them):

* According to Culler, what is and isn't a theory? What does it mean to apply theories to things like books?

*  What does it mean that "works regarded as theory have efforts beyond their original field"?

* How could common sense (which people are said to have or simply don't) actually a historical construction? What does it mean that common sense is itself a theory, and therefore, impossible to prove?

* How could the very notion of an author be a theory? Or the idea that a specific person is the 'author' of a work, and therefore, knows everything possible about that work?

* How could sex be an effect rather than a cause, according to Foucault, one of the writers discussed in this chapter?

* How can literature create the very subjects it tries to write about?

* Is writing a lesser form of speech (a supplement), or is it merely another kind of speech or speaking? After all, writing often imitates speech...so does this mean it is derivative of it? 

* What does it mean that everything is a supplement of something else? How can even the object of our desires not really satisfy our need for fulliment? 

* Why might the statement, "just be yourself," be a contradiction in terms? IS there a true self vs. a false one? And if so, what might make it 'false'? Where do we find the 'true'?