WEEK 13

After starting Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I've decided that I want to use this as the primary text in my paper. As a future educator, I’m extremely interested in using this as the primary text after seeing that the main character has autism. Autism has always been a point of high interest for me as I decided I wanted to become a teacher after working with an autistic child as a long term para-pro prior to coming to MSU. This is essentially as far as I’ve thought about my paper other than the fact that I feel that this will be the most interesting and beneficial route for me personally. However, I’m afraid that I’ll run into a high amount of difficulty in finding relatable areas of the theoretical texts. I do think that I could use something related to self-identity from one of the texts when reading Othello, however, I’ll have to look into this further and hope that I can relate autism to one of our theoretical texts.

WEEK 2-12

Week 2

1.

a.     “While practical speech facilitates access to information by making language as transparent as possible, poetic speech contorts and roughens up ordinary language and submits it to what Roman Jakobson called “organized violence,” and it is this roughening up of ordinary language into tortuous “formed speech” that makes poetry poetry rather than a weather report” (Rikvin and Ryan, 4).

b.     “If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.” (Shakespeare, Sonnet 116)

2.     What is the logic behind “roughening up” ordinary language in poetry? Is there a logic behind it aside for the sake of doing so because this “makes poetry poetry?”

3.     This is the primary issue that I have with poetry. It seems as though poetry requires this type of language to be considered poetry. Perhaps I lack a certain level of higher thinking and appreciation for the arts but I simply find this type of speech frustrating to read in the sense that it’s English but I have to translate it in my mind in order to make any sense of it. Which if we’re analyzing what makes poetry poetry…that is a whole other matter entirely. But according to Rivkin and Ryan, this is one of the qualifications. While I would disagree that this is really necessary, I suppose I can rationalize it with an analogy: I would consider a painting “art” because it’s painted as silly as that sounds. In fact, I would probably consider any painting to be art strictly because it’s painted. On the flip side of that, I wouldn’t consider every picture ever taken to be art, but are there photos that I would consider art? Absolutely. So I suppose this “roughening up” does give it a very distinguishing characteristic of poetry (obviously this alone does make a passage poetry). I am digressing here. When analyzing the final two lines of Sonnet 116, we see this “roughening up” of ordinary speech. However, Shakespeare’s works use a language that can partially be explained by the fact that it has been affected by the evolution of the English language since it was written. However, the language is still “torturous” as Rivkin and Ryan put it so perfectly, and would have been considered “formed speech” and not the “ordinary language” of the time. I can rationalize the artistic value in formed speech, but I guess I’m more of a “weather report” type of reader.

Week 3

1.      

a.     "To degrade is to bury, to sow, and to kill simultaneously, in order to bring forth something more and better...This is the reason why medieval parody is unique, quite unlike the purely formalist literary parody of modern times, which has a solely negative character and is deprived of regenerating ambivalence" (Bakhtin, 688).

b.     “Such Order from Confusion sprung, Such gaudy Tulips rais'd from Dung.” (Swift, 143-144)

2.     Why is this type of parody humorous?

3.     The humor in this poem, I found to be quite enjoyable. While humor comes from essentially poking fun at the ugly side of what makes a woman look more beautiful, the real comedy lies in the man observing the dressing room. However, I found the contrast between ugliness and beauty used throughout the poem to be very fascinating especially after reading Bakhtin. This poem is a prime example of what Bakthin is referring to in the quote above. The contrast that Swift uses in describing feminine beauty is obviously the humor…and it has “regenerating” characteristics. By making such a stark contrast of something very insulting which using the word “dung” to describe a woman’s appearance is very degrading. Swift also gives a very eloquent compliment by describing feminine beauty as “gaudy tulips.” Should this poem have strictly used degradation of a woman’s appearance it would be more akin to modern vulgar humor, or simply not funny at all and rather scathing. However, humor is found by using colorful degradation followed by regeneration and contrast that is flattering.

Week 4

1.      

a.     “My early assumptions as a reader were that black people signified little or nothing in the imagination of white American writers.” (LT Morrison, 1007)

b.     “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise;
Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you.
Arise I say!” (Othello 1.1.9)

2.     What was Shakespeare’s purpose in using a black protagonist, especially considering that Morrison contends that black people have been more or less ignored in modern American literature hundreds of years after?

3.     In truth, I feel he was a visionary. By using the preconceived notions of the time period that essentially any black characters in a play represented darkness and evil. After contemplating this I did some reading in the back of the book G.K. Hunter sums it up excellently: “Othello’s black skin makes the coexistence of his vulnerable romanticism and epic grandeur with the bleak or even pathological realisms of Iago a believable fact. The lines that collide here started thousands of miles apart. But Shakespeare’s choice of a black man for his Red Cross Knight, his Rinaldo, has a further advantage. Our involvement in prejudice gives us a double focus on his reality. We admire him […] because we feel the disproportion and the difficulty of his social life and of his marriage.” All due to the fact that he is in fact black. A white Othello would have not been able to convey this same effect on the audience. Now consider a black protagonist in which race is used in this manner in American literature or film, etc in the last 100 years…almost unfathomable which Morrison would attest that they have been kept out of literature. Shakespeare did it in the 1600s. By using the prejudices of his audience, Shakespeare was able to use that to create a much more dynamic character.

Week 5

1.      

a.     Thus, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Europeans were both colonizers and colonized and even the English felt the power of the Turkish threat to Christendom. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, at the same time they were developing the trade in African slaves, the English faced the problem of British subjects--men, women, and children--being captured and enslaved by “Turkish” privateers operating in the Mediteranean and the northeastern Atlantic. This crisis led English writers of the early modern period to produce demonizing representations of quotations the Turk, “Not from the perspective of cultural domination but from the fear of being concurred, captured, and converted.” (Vitkus, 146-147)

a.     “Why, how now, ho! From whence ariseth this? Are we turned Turks?” (Othello, 2.3.132-133)

2.     What does it mean to “Turn Turk?” What is its historical relevance in the play?

3.     The religious differences between Christianity and Islam are an important source of tension throughout the play. Othello's quote here comes when his troops were fighting amongst themselves which naturally upset him and accused them of "turning Turk". Essentially it was used in context to more or less, put the fear of God into this troops. The fear of Turkish threat to Christendom was rampant during the 16^th and 17^th century as Vitkus echoes. This fear obviously drove Christian dislike and the ways in which they degraded them. Othello refers to a Muslim as a “circumcised dog” in his final speech. However it is this fear and dislike of the Turks that gives the play another deep element. Similar to the fact that Othello was black, the prejudices there made him a more dynamic character. The religious aspect to the conflict gives the play another dimension…especially for an English audience of the time period.

Week 6

1.      

a.     "Plainly, both writers meant that, enshrined within her home, a Victorian angel-woman should become her husband's holy refuge from the blood and sweat that inevitably accompanies a 'life of significant action,' as well as, in her 'contemplative purity,' a living memento of the otherness of the divine"               (Gilbert and Gubar, LT 816).

b.     "If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield,... and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for" (PP, 48)

2.     Mrs. Bennet wants her daughters to be married more than anything, however what does this actually entail for the girls?

3.     Essentially it means that they’re trophy wives. However as Gilbert and Gubar describe it…almost subhuman as a “living momento.” It is interesting to wonder how much Mrs. Bennet disliked her state of being which marrying for love, that she would want this type of life for her daughters, brought on. While, they were well taken care of, they really served no purpose other than in the capacity of a man’s comforts. It is also interesting to note that Jane Austen lived in such an era in which women were expected to behave in this capacity. Essentially, a noble woman was expected to lead “a life whose story cannot be told as there is no story.” (GG, 815). Being a widow, she was not confined to this social idea and consequently was able to “have a story” which was to become an author. Perhaps a stretch, but interesting to think about.

Week 7

1.      

a.     “Their role in the narrative can not be assigned merely mimetic value--as the convincing representation ‘limited minds’ that surround the protagonist—because they are also used as points of signification....” (Woloch, 47)

b.     “She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.” (PP, 45)

2.     Woloch uses the first quote as a way to describe the purpose of Elizabeth’s sisters, yet what does the character of Mrs. Bennet signify to Elizabeth in terms of plot development?

3.     Mrs. Bennet comes off as a foolish person to the modern reader in the sense that the moral thought on marriage is that you should marry for love, not money, social standing, etc. Jane Austen cleverly uses Mrs. Bennet in a way that while the reader may find themselves annoyed with her, they cannot fully dislike her as Mrs. Bennet feels she is doing what’s best in the interest of her daughters. Furthermore, due to the fact that she herself married for love, this gives her a degree of credibility although one could still question her moral compass. Yet she is a very simple character as is seen by the second quote. Her entire purpose was the marriage of her daughters making her “of limited mind.”

Week 8

1.      

a.      

                                               i.     "Austen is often happy to follow the Cinderella plot, and to make a happy ending out of marrying her heroine to a man notably above her in income and social prestige" (McMaster, 117).

                                             ii.     “But still, Darcy is to go through an evolution in his attitude, at last marrying, like Bingley, one of the Bennet girls…” (McMaster, 125).

b.     “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.” (PP, 51)

2.     Is Elizabeth the Cinderella in Pride and Prejudice?

3.     I would argue that in fact this isn’t a Cinderella story really at all. Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in a way that more closely resembles Beauty and the Beast. Why? Because of the transformation of Mr. Darcy. The quote above from Pride and Prejudice describes the fact that Darcy feels that he is socially superior and cannot be bothered with Elizabeth when he first sees her. Furthermore, Elizabeth finds his general disposition to be extremely repulsive. Yet Darcy goes through quite a dramatic transformation while he falls in love with Elizabeth. While Pride and Prejudice does resemble the rags to riches story of Cinderella, it is unfair to ignore the fact that Darcy was no Prince Charming.

Week 9

Paper #2 Outline

Challenging the Confines of Social Class in Pride and Prejudice

Thesis: Only by challenging the class system of Regency England, as demonstrated in the relationship of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, can true happiness be attained. Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy must step outside of their prescribed classes to achieve both financial security and true love. Both are required in order to be happy as can be seen when analyzing Mrs. Bennet’s marriage as well as the marriage of Charlotte and Mr. Bingley.

Paragragh 1: Preface the importance of social class in the context of Regency England and it’s important to the Bennet family which is comprised of 5 daughters.

Paragraph 2: Explain the perspective of Mrs. Bennet based on her relationship

Paragraph 3: Explain the perspective of Elizabeth

Paragraph 4: Explain the effect of Charlotte’s marriage and the perspective it gives.

Qutoing from McMaster

Week 10

1.      

a.      

                                               i.     “Hyper attention is characterized by switching focus rapidly among different tasks, preferring multiple information streams, seeking a high level of stimulation, and having a low tolerance for boredom.” (Hayles, 187)

                                             ii.     “Anecdotal evidence from educators with whom I have spoken at institutions across the country confirms that students are tending toward hyper attention.” (Hayles, 188)

b.     "We didn't really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn't understand why we had to." (Persepolis, 3) Plus the picture.

2.     Is hyper attention necessarily a bad thing or should authors change the way in which they present their literature?

3.     As a future educator the idea of hyper attention being viewed as a negative connotation really strikes a cord with me in the sense that if a student or students are not able to maintain focus in a way that a teacher feels is adequate, they are often diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and medicated. The issue that I have with this that the education system in America today would rather have students medicated as opposed to making changes in how they educate: “The problem isn’t us, it’s your child’s ADD that’s keeping him/her from learning.” Today’s students live in the most highly mentally stimulating era in history with access to an infinite amount of information in their pocket. Hyper attention is characterized by the quote above from Hayles. Some educators would read that and their first thought would be “ADD.” Furthermore the second quote from Hayles, describes that more and more students across the country have brains that are hyper attentive. Is the country coming down with a pandemic? No, of course not. Society and technology have evolved, so is the way in which children learn. The world changed, people changed, the only thing that didn’t change is the educational system which is the same one that has been in place since the enlightenment. Students with hyper attention glean information from multiple sources and prefer high mental stimulation…so give it to them. For example let’s take Persepolis, it is not an ordinary book in terms of how it is written. It’s a comic…which would seem juvenile and “un-academic” until you read it. Furthermore this book offers students what the hyper-attentive students need. They’re not taking information strictly from the text, but they’re also taking it from the comics. Furthermore, this is not simply a “picture book,” the comics are detailed offer another source for observing the information that compliment the text extremely well for several reasons: one being they’re able to observe the images while they read without having to stop reading AND the images truly provide the reader with access to the author’s emotions more than the text can. Simply examine page 3, the images on this page say things that would require many many more words to accurately convey and it does it in a way that hyper attentive students can have access to more than one stimuli.

Week 11

1.      

a.     “Marji’s rebellious spirit is much celebrated by reviewers; they often remark on how she—like all children—rebels against adult authority. However, hers is more than just the youthful rebellion supposedly universal to all children; in the specific context of revolutionary Iran, the play and children’s culture depicted in the text take on qualities of political subversion.” –Naghibi, Estranging the Famililar

b.     Persepolis, 117

2.     What parallel can be drawn between page 117 and the quote from Naghibi?

3.     Page 117 depicts Marji smoking a cigarette that she stole from her uncle a few days prior. However, the illustrations of her smoking are also surrounded by pictures of the conflict. What’s most interesting about this page is that it ends with Marji saying that with this cigarette she is kissing goodbye to childhood and in effect, her innocence. However, while Marji feels that it was the cigarette that symbolized the end of childhood, the conflict that has engulfed her country that she has seen first hand had already done that and this sentiment is vibrant on the page. I feel that page 117 is the best example of the quote above from Naghibi. By smoking the cigarette she is rebelling against adult authority, however this page takes on “quantities of political subversion.”

Week 12

1.      

a.     "Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be." (Benjamin pg. 1235)

b.     I don’t feel that there was one specific quote from the text that coincides with this quote, rather the book as a whole as compared to another edition.

2.     What elements are lost as the book has been reproduced into different languages? Furthermore what did the original illustrations look like as compared the final product?

3.     It is interesting to ponder the idea that as Persepolis has been mass produced since it’s original version, that a certain artistic element, and potentially it’s authenticity to varying degrees, has also been lost. Seeing that the first published editions of the book were written in French, we must recognize that some of the authors true meaning in portions of the text have been lost to translation. While I have no specific evidence to support this, I do know that there are certain phrases in the French language that do not have an English equivalent. Furthermore, I also know the French verbs also have many more tenses that the basic past, present, and future that English does. In that same vein, the book has been translated in other languages as well. I really feel that language has everything to do the author’s true meaning and that when translating to another, the original emotion and intent of the original words can be lost. I also read that the book was translated by the author’s husband from French to English which does rescue the notion that something could be lost in the sense that if anyone knew what the author meant, it would probably be her husband (depending on his knowledge of English of course). Lastly, we must also question what the original artwork looked like…perhaps she had illustrations sketched on a napkin or even some that were not used in the published edition. By not including these or not having them in their original form, is the book not losing some of it’s “presence in time and space?”