Assignment for May 7 and Extra Credit

Dear Class,

Please have a look at the article "Cutting the Tongue: Language and the Body in Kingston's The Woman Warrior," by Jeehyun Lim. You can find this article in Academic Search Premier when you type in the key words Maxine Hong Kingston. It is the first entry that comes up in the list.

Read this article (at least skim it) and highlight some parts that you think are particularly insightful. Look for a part you might choose to quote were you writing a paper on The Woman Warrior (which some of you are). Print it out (you can do this on campus in the library computer labs) and bring it to class with you. We will discuss in class the proper way to set up quotations and give citations.

ALSO
As an extra credit assignment I've decided to suggest (strongly suggest) you ALL attend "A Frank Conversation" which is a part of the "Brooklyn On My Mind Series" and will be held on campus Monday evening at 7:00 in Whitman Hall. Professor Tremper, chair of the English department says:

"A 'Frank Conversation' between Frank McCourt and Leonard Lopate--will be entertaining and full of important insights into the creative process and Frank's colorful life. It should be wonderful for all our students."

This event is free for BC students who show up with an ID. You cannot get in without an ID, so don't forget it. For EXTRA CREDIT you will also need to bring a pen and paper to take some notes, and turn in a report on the event to me by Wednesday, May 9. The report should recap the basics of the event and include your own ideas and comments on at least some of the points made by McCourt and Lopate. This event is highly relevant to our class as McCourt is an autobiographer. Some of you may have read his best-selling book, Angela's Ashes.

I plan on being there and hope to see you ALL there!
Peace,
Erin

Class Today

Unfortunately, I need to cancel class today. I plan on being there Wednesday though.

You can have an extension on your papers. I'll collect them as soon as we get back from Spring Break.

For Weds. please finish reading the chapter,"White Tigers," in The Woman Warrior if you haven't already. And develop your own question that you would like to discuss in class on Weds. Post the question to the blog by Tuesday evening. If you are unable to post to the blog, then bring your question to class with you written down.

I think that there is so much going on in these first two chapters of WW that we need to discuss it at length on Wednesday. Try to think metaphorically rather than literally. We can read this text symbolically by asking about the structure of the book and what it means. There is so much in here that is not meant to be taken literally so ask yourself what things might mean on a symbolic or metaphorical level.

See you on Wednesday.
~Erin

The Woman Warrior

Sorry this has gone up late this time. Here are some questions for you to consider for tomorrow's class discussion on The Woman Warrior:


How would you describe the narrator’s feelings toward the aunt? (Consider: The aunt “haunts” and “waits silently for a substitute.” “I do not think she means me well.”)

How is drowning in the family’s drinking water a spiteful act? Should we think of the aunt as a victim?

Are there similarities in the narrator’s and the aunt’s actions? How do they both cross forbidden boundaries?

Persepolis

What is class? And how are class issues represented in Persepolis? Does Satrapi seem to have a class identity?

Post 1 Persepolis

A critic in The New York Times calls Persepolis: “the latest and one of the most delectable examples of a booming postmodern genre: autobiography by comic book.” Why do you think this genre is so popular? Why did Satrapi chose this format in which to tell her story? What does the visual aspect add that a conventional memoir lacks?

Describe Satrapi’s drawings. How do the drawings add to the narrative of the story?

How does Persepolis compare to other comic books you've seen (if you've seen any)? Would you call this a comic book, or does it transcend this and other categories? Where would you place this book in a bookstore? With memoirs, comic books, current events?


(questions courtesy Western Washington University).

First Required Post on Kincaid's _My Brother_

As you read Jamaica Kincaid's My Brother, (pgs 29-50) what stood out for you most? Are there any passages that you found particularly intriguing or puzzling? What, if any, questions do you have so far about the book?

What kind of research do you think Kincaid would have had to do to write this book? Do you see any parts in the text where she seems to be expressing some outside knowledge - knowledge that she would not necessarily know automatically, but have to look for or find out?