Mukherjee

In practice for your work on the analysis paper, I showed you several different thesis statements regarding economics and power in Mukherjee's "The Middleman."
Google Doc: Middleman Discussion

* Please notice how we established claims/terms (i.e. first establish that this is an economic system, then claim that Maria is the commodity within that system.)

We had a debate over the question "Does Maria have real power?"
Some arguments for yes:
- Maria is not an actor, she is a director, manipulating the men to act for her
- Maria's relationship with Alfie is an act of power; claiming ownership over herself (and refuting Ransome's ownership over her)
- Maria's relationship with Andreas may have once been based on love, but is now based upon gaining and sharing power


Some arguments for no:
- Ransome uses Maria as a commodity
Example: he "loans" her to Bud (and others) to get what he wants.
- the only active characters in this story are men
- Maria relies upon men to get what she wants
- the pattern of Maria's life is one without power
Example: At the age of fourteen, she is taken by the nation's president, then Ransome, then Bud. 
- Maria's power is derived from men
Example: Andreas gives her the gun, Alfie drives her to and form the village, Ransome provides her with her house and the guns

There was no clear winner, which is great. It is possible to write a paper on either claim, so long as your back up your argument.

I gave you time to work on your utopia projects. Please note that presentations (with notes!) are due next week.

Carter

Google Doc: Group Work

Herland (part 2)

Today, we finished the 2nd half of Herland.
One of the key concepts was the idea of feminine/femininity as a social construction (female = sex, femininity = socially constructed gender). I showed you several video clips of people of one sex, performing the gender of another.

The idea in Herland is that the women of that land do not display femininity because their culture has not constructed it. There are no men to occupy the good traits (e.g. strong, capable, rational) forcing the women to take the opposing traits (e.g. weak, fragile, emotional). Instead, women have all traits and think of themselves "as people," rather than as women.

In preparation for your analysis paper, I emphasized my recommendation that you use a concrete object to draw out meaning. I showed you my own first draft of the use of the necklace in Herland. Analysis of Herland (sample Draft 1). Please note that this is a very rough draft. It will change a lot before it is a finished paper. But it is a good start.

Please remember that we will have an Analysis Paper Workshop on Monday November 16, at 7pm in C301.
Bring your topics/concrete objects, your thesis statements, and at least 3 quotes from the text that support your claim.

For next Thursday (November 19), we are not meeting as a class, but having an online discussion (available on Bb). You need to read Barthelme's "I Bought a Little City," a utopian short story.

• By Tuesday (Nov 17), please post your thesis about this story (thesis = subject + claim).
• By Thursday (Nov 19), please provide at least 2 detailed responses to someone else's thesis. The goal is to start and participate in conversations.

For the following week (Thursday, November 26), please read and respond to Carter's short story "In the Company of Wolves." Be prepared for another in-class quiz.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "Herland"

We will begin with a discussion of the Mid-Term Exam

Prezi on the Novel (by Carden Moore)
Prezi on Utopias
Prezi on Victorian Gender Roles

Project Utopia Sign-Up Sheet

Meta Literature, O'Brien & Mid Term Preparation

O'Brien as Meta Narrative

Mid Term Study Guide

Gilgamesh & Creation Myths

Today was the last day that we discussed creation myths. We discussed the Epic of Gilgamesh and, afterward, compared it to Genesis. We noticed that both stories had the following elements in common:

• snake
• forbidden element
• mate
• flood
• magic plant

Yet, while both stories had similar elements, they treated these elements differently. Here are some of the differences.

- Snake
o Genesis: temptation, evil and dangerous, caused the Fall, intentionally evil. (personified)
o Gilgamesh: thief (not personified)

- Forbidden (equality w/ Supreme Being)
o Genesis: don’t eat fruit/ = with God
o Gilgamesh: abuse power, search for immortality (= to God)

- Mate
o Genesis: Adam = Eve, supporting role. Eve was a part of Adam. Established hierarchy.
o Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh = Enkidu. Balanced each other. Matched strength. Cooperated.

- Flood
o Genesis: destructive, punishment
o Gilgamesh: increases difficulty

- Plant
o Genesis: fruit/tree of good and evil. Provides knowledge. And it’s forbidden.
o Gilgamesh: Plant of immortality. Challenge. Goal.

You noticed that the difficulties and pitfalls of Genesis were often created intentionally, while in Gilgamesh, these elements occurred naturally (they often created challenges, but were never punishments or temptations).

From this realization, we realized that this suggests very different relationships with the world and with dieties. The world of Genesis is invested in punishment, while the world of Gilgamesh might be challenging, but is not intentionally so.

As a soundtrack to Gilgamesh, I suggested the song "Fame" precisely for the lyrics. 

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
(High)
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry

I'm gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
(Fame)
I'm gonna live forever
Baby, remember my name

These words state am ambition of acheiving greatness, similar to Gilgamesh's ambition for immortality. (But Gilgamesh probably did not wear legwarmers.)

Group Work:
Identify the culture that produced your assigned myth
Summarize the story
Explain how it fits the definition of "creation myth"

1) Illiad
2) Odyssey
3) Aeneid
4) Dante's Inferno
5) Chinese creation myth

Please post your answers (1 per group) as a comment to this post.

Discussion Questions for "Genesis" Reading (Thursday 9/25)

* These are the questions we will use in class for discussion. You are not required to provide answers as your homework. But I encourage you to think about these questions as you prepare for class.

Genesis Discussion:    

1.      How was Adam created?

a.       What does the creation of Adam suggest about the relationship between Adam and God?

2.      How was Eve created?

b.      What does the creation of Eve suggest about the relationship between Eve and Adam?

c.       Eve and God?

3.      What kind of creature is the serpent before the fall?

a.       What about after the fall?

b.      What kind of change has taken place?

4.      Why do you think God forbids Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of Knowledge?

5.      How does God punish:

a.       Adam and Eve?

b.      Cain?

c.       Everybody except Noah

d.      What does this suggest about the relationship between humans and God?

6.      After the flood, God promises Noah that he will never again destroy civilization as he has just done and offers the rainbow as a symbol of this promise.

a.       How does this promise complicate the human-God relationship?

b.      The central concept of Christianity is that a messiah figure redeems all of humanity (this will happen much later in the New Testament). How does God’s promise to Noah foreshadow the later arrival of a messiah figure?

7.      The Old Testament often characterizes God as vengeful, striking down humans for the smallest sins. But one might describe God’s creation of the Earth as an act of play and discovery: he creates light “and saw that it was good.” What kind of character is God? Are there other scenes that support/contradict this view?

8.      List all the creations/changes that this story explains.
Why do you think early Christians wanted to explain these things?

Day 2: Little Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood

-          Didactic story (intending to teach, usually adding a moral lesson)

1.       Desirable behaviors/values/morals are defined

2.       Character breaks rules (cautionary tale) OR follows the rules in spite of difficulty (exemplary)

3.       The character is rewarded or punished accordingly

Discussion Questions:

1.       What are the rules of these different stories?

2.       Which version of LLRH are cautionary? And which versions are exemplary?

3.       What do you notice about the figure/body of Little Red Riding Hood in each story? What are the commonalities? Differences?

4.       What do you notice about the figure of the wolf? Commonalities? Differences?

5.       What is the function/purpose of the huntsman?

6.       Who is the hero of each story?

7.       What do the different authors/cultures value? (What behaviors are rewarded or punished?)

8.       Why do you think this story persists? Why is it so popular across cultures? Why do we like it?

9.       Can you think of any Chinse didactic tales? What are they? What behaviors/values/morals are taught?

10.   If you were to write your own didactic story, what values/behaviors/morals would you enforce? Would you create a cautionary tale or an exemplary tale?

Assignment:

Read and Respond: The Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-9

First Day

"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."

Kurt Vonnegut from "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater."