Response to FIND ME

I definitely like this book better than the other books I was reading for this class. Find Me is not as confusing as The Woman Warrior. It is easier to understand and relate to since it is about issues around me. I like the fact that there is a little bit of mystery in the book. It is bizarre but interesting at the same time. The part that stands out to me the most is chapter11. When O'Donnell writes down all the facts she knows about Stacie. I feel like it is a break from the book, to slow down and have a sort of review for the reader of what has happened in the book.

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

Your Research Project Assignments - Here They Are!

This course requires that we do some research. As such, you have a research paper due at the end of the term. You have two options to choose from:

Option #1.
Literary Research Paper: Choose a major theme from The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, demonstrate and analyze how that theme is constructed throughout the entire book (this means reading all five chapters). You must also find and read two scholarly articles (using the library databases) that address the theme in some way, and cite those articles within your paper according to the MLA guidelines.

In a sense you are making an argument about the theme that Kingston constructs in her text. Therefore, you must use examples from her text as well to support your argument. Remember, it is never enough to just plop a quote into the text. Quotations cannot stand alone. When you use a quote you must first set it up properly so that the reader has some context for where it comes in the story. And then, you must give some analysis of the citation. Why did you choose to cite that quote at this exact point in your argument? Analyze what the quote means and how it fits with your argument.

This assignment will be a typical literary research paper, and I will bring in a model one for you to follow. (If you chose to write about The Woman Warrior already for essay #2, you have the option of simply expanding that original paper and turning it into a longer, researched piece.) The research paper must be 5-7 pages in length.

Option #2.
Unconventional Research Paper: Write an autobiographical paper that focuses on some aspect of your own personal identity --either race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class or culture – as it connects to some current public issue in the U.S. (this of course may include the war in Iraq). We will spend some time in class brainstorming possible current public issues that may be doable. But you should also start thinking about it now if you are interested in this project.

Part 1. Explain the aspect of your identity that you chose and discuss how you understand it to be part of who you are. Consider how this aspect of your identity impacts your life on a regular basis.

Part 2. Explain what the current issue is that you have chosen to explore in relation to your identity, making clear the connection between the two. In addition to explaining what the issue is, you must also give some analysis. Consider: What is at stake in this issue? Who is involved? Does it directly or indirectly impact your own life? How does this issue play out in the word - in the media - in the lives of everyday people?

Note: You may write this paper in the form of a narrative if you would like. (One way to think about this is by considering two pieces we read in this class: Audre Lorde’s piece, “The Summer I left Childhood was White” and Satrapi’s Persepolis. Both told their own autobiographical stories as they were set within the framework of the cultural climate around them – Lorde’s in the midst of racism and segregation, and Satrapi’s in the midst of war and revolution.) Or it can take a more traditional academic prose form.

Either way, (unlike Lorde and Satrapi) you must conduct and include some research for your piece: Find, read and cite one academic source – either scholarly article or academic book that is concerned with your topic. And find, read and cite at least one newspaper or magazine article that addresses the current issue. Again, you must follow the MLA guidelines for in-text citations as well as a works cited list.

(If you think you can expand the first essay you wrote on identity, then you may choose to do so, as long as you revise that piece so that it meets all of the standards of this assignment). The research paper must be 5-7 pages in length.

***********************************************************************************

These papers will be due in stages (this will become clearer next week). But the final draft is due Weds. May 16. All topics must be presented to me for approval ahead of time. Please feel free to ask questions here(in the comments section) if you have any, but know that we will talk about these projects at length in class as well.

Have a great weekend, all.

Peace, Erin

Research Assignment

Hey everybody,

Just want to let you know I haven't forgotten about posting the research assignment (your final paper). I'm still working on it. It will be up by this evening.

Peace,

Erin

Writing About Texts (this info will help with your paper)

Writing about texts: The texts we are reading in this class may be referred to as books, memoirs, autobiographies. Or in the case of Daniels, Lorde, and Pagnucci – you could refer to those as “short pieces,” or “personal essays.”

It is important to always introduce the text you are writing about – this is done by mentioning the first and last name of the author and the full title of the piece. After that, you should refer to only the author’s last name. Typically this will be done in your first paragraph. Titles of books are always Capitalized, and underlined or italicized. Either way is correct. It’s your choice.

ALSO notice that the sentence is in present tense. When we write about a text – we always speak about it in present test. Some examples:

In her book, My Brother, Kincaid depicts the ambivalence she feels towards her family. Rather than Kincaid depicted.

In her unconventional memoir, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston explores the many stories (often conflicting) her mother told her as a child.

Some of the things a text OR an author might do:
examines, discusses, outlines, argues, depicts, explores, explains
An author or a narrator can state, note, say, write or even tell us (but a book probably does not do these things).

Kingston’s narrator is haunted by the mysterious aunt whom her mother describes; she tells us: “My aunt haunts me – her ghost drawn to me because now, after fifty years of neglect, I alone devote pages of paper to her, though not origamied into houses and clothes” (16). The narrator is being haunted because she has chosen to reveal the aunts secrets.

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?