Reading for Thursday 12/28

https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/the_story_of_william_wilson.pdf

Life of Pi

Here is the IMDB.COM page for the film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/

Interviews with the author of the novel:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/26/fiction

http://textualities.net/jennie-renton/yann-martel-interview/

Other articles about the novel/film:

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/French-director-swept-away-by-Life-of-Pi-2565015.php

http://www.theministryrookie.com/2013/02/25/does-the-life-of-pi-prove-the-existence-of-god/

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/may/25/fiction.reviews1

in Class

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”

1)      O’Connor argued that not only is The Misfit more intelligent than the grandmother but his “capacity for grace” is greater than hers. Do you agree with this? Why or why not? Provide proof of your belief.

2)      Some readers have found the grandmother sympathetic and others have found her a figure of evil, portrayed with imagery often associated with witches. What do you think of her? 

3)      Between The Misfit and the grandmother, who seems to have a more solid foundation in faith?

Definitions of grace: a state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under such divine influence, elegance and beauty of movement or expression

Quotes from the author:

“All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal.”

“Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.”

“I preach there are all kinds of truth, your truth and somebody else's. But behind all of them there is only one truth and that is that there's no truth.”

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

“While much attention has been paid to the scene between the Grandmother and the Misfit at the climax of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” only passing attention has been paid to a scene early in the story where the Grandmother makes comments from the car about “the cute little pickaninny,” and no explication to date has revealed the Christian mystery behind the Southern manners in the scene. In this crucial passage, through the use of biblical allusion, O'Connor allows the Grandmother the chance to reveal her essential self and prepares the reader for the climax of the story” (Walls).

Southern Culture

http://edsitement.neh.gov/launchpad-flannery-oconnors-journey-through-the-south

The road as a metaphor for life:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c10073/

Religious Signs in the South:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8a35892/

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c14222/

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c14223/

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c09937/

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Links on Southern Culture:

http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/regionalism.html

http://edsitement.neh.gov/launchpad-flannery-oconnors-journey-through-the-south

Folow this link for a collection of links about the story:

http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/O’Connor.htm

More on "A Good Man is Hard to Find":
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=9&sid=7a0d2f82-11ba-4046-80b7-8b3557846338%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4214

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7a0d2f82-11ba-4046-80b7-8b3557846338%40sessionmgr4002&vid=11&hid=4214

http://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=casfac

http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/607/784

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/old-WILLA/fall95/Haines.html

O'Connor reading the story and commentary:

http://www.openculture.com/2012/05/rare_1959_audio_flannery_oconnor_reads_a_good_man_is_hard_to_find.html

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/jul/05/fresh-look-flannery-o-connor-cartoons

Four collections of essays provide a good range of criticism on O’Connor (These would be found in the Literary Criticism section of a book store or library):

1. The Added Dimension: The Art and Mind of Flannery O’Connor, edited by Melvin J. Friedman and Lewis A. Lawson (1966; rpt. Fordham University Press, 1977).

2. Critical Essays on Flannery O’Connor, edited by Melvin J. Friedman and Beverly Lyon Clark (Hall, 1985).

3. Flannery O’Connor, edited by Harold Bloom (Chelsea House, 1986).

4. Realist of Distances: Flannery O’Connor Revisited, edited by Karl-Heinz Westarp and Jan Nordby Gretlund (Aarhus, 1987).

The Misfit with the grandmother:

Taking the family to the woods:

The author:

"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"

This is an article about villagers mistaking a sex doll for an angel:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/sex-toy-washes-indonesian-beach-locals-angel-article-1.2624725

Magical Realism:

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Magic_realism.html

http://www.english.iup.edu/pagnucci/courses/121/definitions/litdefinition-magicalrealism.htm

This article discusses "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" and magical realism:http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/marquez.htm

Here is a list of fairytales that you may want to reference:http://ivyjoy.com/fables/

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/

What makes a story a fairy tale?http://www.voxmagazine.com/blog/2012/10/what-makes-a-fairy-tale/

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jkSzkr4UWDgC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=what+makes+a+story+a+fairy+tale&ots=5INIgjj9fI&sig=-bBpPAXuosHCiUyBu3uFbQmYHOA#v=onepage&q=what%20makes%20a%20story%20a%20fairy%20tale&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-AR9FEgly9wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA64&dq=what+makes+a+story+a+fairy+tale&ots=AcMzBieWQS&sig=UY-nsUqv1cfOsWdlWoEEM7Nr7A8#v=onepage&q=what%20makes%20a%20story%20a%20fairy%20tale&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1esOc6GGtOsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA2&dq=what+makes+a+story+a+fairy+tale&ots=0d0nbXFdyu&sig=XK7cnjf_z8L06Q5aEzwxBNZbBss#v=onepage&q=what%20makes%20a%20story%20a%20fairy%20tale&f=false


"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"

http://www.academia.edu/1000317/Marquezs_A_Very_Old_Man_with_Enormous_Wings_and_Bambaras_The_Lesson

http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=12287

Author's Obit:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/books/gabriel-garcia-marquez-literary-pioneer-dies-at-87.html?_r=0

"The Temp" and "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

"The Temp" and "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

The Importance of appearance:
http://elitedaily.com/news/world/the-importance-of-appearances-man-dresses-as-homeless-man-to-prove-nobody-would-help-him-video/592301/

http://www.ridingthetiger.org/2013/03/19/the-importance-of-appearance/

http://www.byui.edu/Documents/Admin_Offices/Advising/PowerOfPersonalAppearance.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/a-facial-theory-of-politics.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/appearances-mean-nothing-or-everything/?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/fashion/26looks.html?pagewanted=all&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw

Office Culture:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/opinion/sunday/why-you-hate-work.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=OP_WYH_20140602&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=3

http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickvaishnavi/2013/03/28/five-must-follow-rules-for-a-successful-office-culture/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/office-culture/

http://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/work-culture-office-environment-usa.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/rally-the-team-how-to-create-a-cool-office-culture

Culture:

These links discuss cultural differences and also provides a number of links if you go to the bottom of the page. Use the information they provide as outside sources if you are writing your essay about this subject:http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/culture.htm

http://www.worldwide.edu/travel_planner/culture_shock.html

http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijps/article/view/4510

Here is one on the effects of culture shock:http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=effects+culture+shock&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=tIk6T-mJBaLn0QHXj5GXCw&ved=0CBoQgQMwAA

Links for "The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World":

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=THE+HANDSOMEST+DROWNED+MAN+IN+THE+WORLD&as_sdt=1%2C31&as_sdtp=

This week we will look at “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”, “The Temp” and Edward Scissorhands in class. All three of these stories contain individuals that become part of a community in some way and have profound effects of the people. In “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” it is a corpse that washes ashore that gives the townspeople a new way of looking at their lives, in “The Temp” it is a temp hired in an office that changes the atmosphere of the wor enviroment and in Edward Scissorhands it is a unique young man that forces a rather boring town to see how boring and judgmental they really are. This week pay attention to what these “magical strangers” force the people in the stories to look at it in their lives.

Class Announcement

For the Tuesday 10am class...

Our next meeting is Tuesday Feb 21 so NO CLASS NEXT WEEK (Feb 14).



For the Mon/Wed 1pm class...

Our next meeting is Wed Feb 22  so NO CLASS NEXT WEEK (Feb 13 and 15).


Both classes will be watching The Village when we return.

"The Sisterhood of the Night" and "The Lottery"

The Sisterhood of the Night

The richest of the stories in this vein is ''The Sisterhood of Night,'' in which Millhauser adopts one of his familiar narrative voices -- the affable small-town archivist explaining some local peculiarity to an inquisitive stranger.

It seems that adolescent girls are going out at night in bands, seeking ''dark and secret places.'' Witchcraft is suspected, and also various unspeakable sexual perversions. ''What shall we do with our daughters?'' is the refrain of the adults. ''Tell us! we cry, our voices shrill with love. Tell us everything! Then we will forgive you.'' When the secret is revealed, we at first suspect that a joke is being made about teen-age girls and their ways. On reflection, we discover more complex meanings, to do with privacy, sanctuary and the unknowability of other minds. It is a lovely, haunting story, whose apparent simplicity masks its true depth.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/10/reviews/980510.10mcgratt.html

Links about film:

http://www.thesisterhoodofnight-movie.com/

Interview with the author:

http://transatlantica.revues.org/562

Salem Witch Trials/Hunt:

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/home.html

The Lottery

 Articles on tradition:

This article discusses how different cultures address death:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/19/local/la-me-0819-lopez-dyingwell-20120819

This link discusses American Culture:
http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com/american_culture.htm

Here is a link to what The Bible has to say about culture:
http://www.openbible.info/topics/traditions

This is an interesting look at how different cultures have different traditions when it comes to childcare:
http://alphamom.com/parenting/interesting-parenting-traditions-from-different-cultures/




Somebody made a short movie based on the story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV03h3XWTDU

Criticism:
http://home.netwood.net/kosenko/jackson.html

http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Jackson.htm
GROUPTHINK:
http://www.psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/groupthink%20overview.htm

http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/groups/groupthink.html

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/theory/grpthink.html

http://boingboing.net/2014/08/05/how-groupthink-gets-reality-ba.html?utm_content=buffer54149&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

In Class Assimilation Discussion

“Two Kinds” and “Brave We Are”

The main issue we will see in these two stories and the film The Namesake next week is what issues people face when they leave their country of origin and come to America for a better life.

1)       Do you think the cultural issues that come up in these two stories are unique to particular cultures or not? Explain.

2)      The mother in “Two Kinds” believes there are two kinds of daughters. How does she define the two kinds of daughters and do you think her daughter agrees with her by the end of the story?

3)        In ‘Brave We Are” while giving her explanation to her son, what is the narrator’s conflict? What is she concerned about? Should she be? Would you be in this circumstance?

4)      To what extent is the meal the narrator is preparing a metaphor for what she is explaining? What does she mean in the last line of the story, “The strand must remain smooth, elusive and separate”?

5)      What pressures arise from assimilation? How do families address these issues?

6)      How symbols were used in “Brave We Are” to explain some of the issues new Americans face?

a) the meal

b) the song

c) the poem

7)      In “Two Kinds” the mother puts a lot of pressure of her daughter to do well. This can be referred to as her “putting all her eggs in one basket”. Explain how she attempts to shape her daughter’s life in the story

Below is a quote from President Obama’s speech in 2012 about America. Keep it in mind for these two stories and the film we will watch this week.

“…The basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement. The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.”

From a Washington Post Article on our class blog:

"It's difficult to adapt to the culture here," said Maria Jacinto, 32, who moved to the United States 10 years ago with her husband, Aristeo Jacinto, 36. "In the Hispanic tradition, the family comes first, not money. It's important for our children not to be influenced too much by the gueros," she said, using a term that means "blondies" but that she employs generally in reference to Americans. "I don't want my children to be influenced by immoral things."

The Namesake

“Alone together in a foreign land in the middle of winter, the shy, polite newlyweds are virtual strangers, and the movie captures their delicate process of mutual accommodation. Ashima’s initiation into American culture has gentle, humorous moments. She is astonished to discover gas stoves that work 24 hours a day and learns the hard way that wool sweaters should not be dumped into a washing machine” (Holden).

“In high school Gogol rebels from his family and behaves like a typical pot-smoking, rock-’n’-roll-loving American teenager. On a visit to Calcutta he sneers at Indian ways. After studying architecture at Yale, he falls in love with Maxine (Jacinda Barrett), a stereotypical blonde WASP princess from Long Island. Cultural tensions flare when he brings her home to meet his family, and the couple are expected to withhold any expressions of physical affection, according to Indian tradition” (Holden).

“Assimilation is a term referring to another part of the adaptation process initially proposed by Jean Piaget. Through assimilation, we take in new information or experiences and incorporate them into our existing ideas. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs” (Cherry).

Assimilation, The Namesake, "Brave We Are" and "Two Kinds"

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/education/edlife/international-students-find-the-american-dream-in-flint.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http://m.facebook.com&_r=0

Article about choosing names for children born in America to new Americans:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/for-muslim-americans-baby-aidan-or-baby-muhammad.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http://m.facebook.com&_r=0

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/education/edlife/international-students-find-the-american-dream-in-flint.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http://m.facebook.com&_r=0

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/the-great-assimilation-debate/

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/opinion/sunday/douthat-when-the-assimilation-of-immigrants-stalls.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/07/garden/l-benefits-of-assimilation-229202.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/right-there-in-black-and-white-identity-assimilation-and-the-resume/?_r=0

These links would help with the issues in "Two Kinds" also:

Here is a link that talks about assimilation into American/other cultures.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/children-tiger-moms-european-american-moms-differ-article-1.1798300

http://www.asian-nation.org/assimilation.shtml

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2673184?uid=3739808&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104040633247

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/edu/89/3/433/

http://jbd.sagepub.com/content/29/6/505.short

Interview with Amy Tan (author of "Two Kinds")

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/travel/amy-tans-evolving-sense-of-china.html?hpw&rref=travel&_r=0&referrer=

Here is a link to the PBS website that discusses “New Americans”:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/

Here is a link that is specific to people living in new Jersey:

http://www.newamericansnj.org/

Http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/meltingpot/melt0525a.htm

Here is an article entitled: “Why They Won’t Assimilate”:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/05/why_they_wont_assimilate.html

.

President Obama’s speech about in which he discusses the American dream and what it means to us today.

http://raleightelegram.com/20120125624

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/assimilation-and-nativism-cont/

http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/peers_social_general/Varela_etal_2004.pdf

The psychological definition:

http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/g/assimilation.htm

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/immigrants-explain-what-shocked-them-about-american-culture

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/when-i-immigrated-tv-taught-me-how-to-be-an-american

More on Assimilation:

http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2015/02/06/fresh-off-the-boat-taps-into-the-asian-american-assimilation-story/

http://depauliaonline.com/2015/03/01/asian-american-assimilation-in-fresh-off-the-boat/

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/eddie-huangs-spiky-chronicles-of-asian-american-experience

"Mrs. Turner's Lawn Jockeys"

We will discuss identity and how we become who we are in "Mrs. Turner's Lawn Jockeys"and Stand By Me.  We will see different characters and explore how they constructed their identity. Setting also plays a major role in these stories. We will look at how that effects these characters as well.

This link below has a wide variety of articles on how we construct identity.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/identity

Identity and choice:

http://gawker.com/how-i-identify-is-not-your-choice-1741671073

History of Lawn Jockeys

http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/underground-railroad-jockey-statues.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600851.html

http://wavy.com/2014/05/23/black-faced-lawn-jockey-creates-controversy-among-neighbors/

Black face

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/13/arts/music/blackface-master-echoes-in-hiphop.html

http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/huckfinn/minstrl.html

http://globalgrind.com/2013/10/30/reason-why-its-not-ok-to-wear-blackface-list-photos/

Link about identity and where you are from:

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2015/10/what-youre-really-asking-when-you-ask-where-are-you-from/411688/

****FOR THE TUESDAY CLASS ONLY****

THE CLASS WILL NOW MEET IN 3454

Syllabus

Prof. Sean O’Connell                                                   Mon Wed1-2:20

Email:soconnel@essex.edu       

Phone: 973-877-1926                                                      Office: 1141

Office Hours: M/T/W                                                   Room:

9:00-10:00        

                       

                                                                                   

Texts:  Literature: A Portable Anthology 4^TH EDITION

ISBN-13: 978-1319075439

January

 Eng 102

9 Introduction, go over syllabus, Handout, GET TEXT!

11 “Sonny’s Blues” (223)

18 “Mrs Turner’s Lawn Jockeys” (Packet)

23 ‘Two Kinds” (Handout)

25 “Brave We Are” (Packet)

30 Film: The Namesake

February

1 Film: The Namesake, ASSIGN PAPER#1

6 FIRST ESSAY DUE, “The Lottery” (216)

8 “The Sisterhood of the Night” (Packet)

13 NO CLASS

15 NO CLASS

20 NO CLASS

22 Film: The Village

27     Film: The Village

March

1 “The Temp” (Handout)

6  “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” (Packet)

8 Film: Edward Scissorhands, ASSIGN PAPER#2

13 Film: Edward Scissorhands

15“The Old Man With Enormous Wings” (263)

20  SECOND ESSAY DUE “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (250)

22  NO CLASS—HUMANITIES CONFERENCE—EXTRA CREDIT CHANCE

27 Film: Life of Pi

29 Film: Life of Pi

April

3  “The Things They Carried” (322)

5 ASSIGN FINAL PAPER

10 BRING IN DRAFTS FOR REVIEW 1141

12 FINAL PAPER DUE

"Sonny's Blues"

 Outside sources for Baldwin:

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap10/baldwin.html

 http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin.html?scp=3&sq=james%20baldwin&st=cse

Baldwin sources:
http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Baldwin.htm

History of Harlemhttp://www.harlemheritage.com/history-of-harlem/

http://www.biography.com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance

http://www.history.com/topics/harlem-renaissance

 Below is the Bible scripture that Baldwin refers to:
“The cup of trembling”
22
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
23
But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over

1)    At one point the narrator says that Sonny was playing “playing for his life”; what does this quotation mean to you? Explain

2)   Can you find a place in the story where Baldwin makes use of the images of darkness and light? Explain the use of light and darkness

3)   Reread the exchange between the narrator and Sonny's friend. How would you characterize the narrator's behavior and feelings towards Sonny's friend? Is the narrator kind, cruel, compassionate, abrupt, empathic, angry? Explain your view and the evidence supporting it. Why does the narrator react the way he does?

4)   Critics have said that “Sonny’s Blues” is a story about hope but that hope is tempered by knowledge of terrible dangers. Explain what you think that means.