History and Memory, Vision and the Future
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Tuesday, April 19, 2005
4:36PM
One last reminder: If you've been keeping a written journal, you need to hand it to me tomorrow. The last 12 entries are being checked, which begins with your thoughts on the conclusion of Geek Love. If you're able to separate those 12 entries from the rest of your entries, please do so, and I'll take home just that, rather than the whole thing. Livejournals should be complete by class time tomorrow, as well.
Monday, April 18, 2005
2:03PM
Below is just a reprint of what was posted awhile back, but now in its final version. Click here for future reference as this is the complete version. Again, the due date can be found on the schedule below.
( Final Exam )
Friday, April 15, 2005
9:42PM
Please remember to staple together the original and the reworking of your essay for submitting to me Monday.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
1:01AM
Is there anyone who comes to class from Turlington Hall or walks past Turlington on their way to class? If so, drop me a line, please.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
2:41PM
So your revision is due Monday with the original. All should be stapled together.
Below is just a reprint of what was posted awhile back.
Click here for future reference.
( Final Exam in Progress )
Sunday, April 10, 2005
I had to change the Sula assignments.
4/11 WN p. 167-236
Journal 26: Find one line or passage of interest. Write a couple of sentences to explain.
4/13 WN 237-3nd
Journal 27: Comment on the ending.
Longer journal entry #3 is a revision of #2, which will mean a corrected version but more importantly an elaborated version (which, simply, means I will locate places where clarification and elaboration needs to be made). This will be due on the 18th
4/15 Sula p. 1-48
Journal 28: How do you explain (or can you explain) the final act of this section?
4/18 Sula p. 49-111
Journal 29: Who do you care about in this novel thus far? and Why?
4/20 Sula p. 112-end
Journal 30: Find a line or passage of interest. Write two sentences.
**If you're keeping a written journal it needs to be in my hands on or before this date. There will be no other way to get it to me after this date (4/20).**
**The final exam will be due as an attachment no later than 4pm on Thursday April 28. Please note: as we conclude the texts, I'll post the exam questions (For example, Geek Love's question and the sci-fi question are already posted, as well, as instructions on how to write a concluding statement/essay), so you can work on it as a work in progress or wait until the end.**.
Friday, April 1, 2005
2:44PM
Speaking of hacking: when you finish typing an entry, you click a button that says "Update Journal". Well some industrious person has hacked the system and when I went clicked on that button for the last entry, the language on the button changed to "Processing Your Whining Now" or something close to that.
I almost considered taking out that one line that was a bit, for lack of better words, cautionary or, maybe even, preachy from my last post, but then I decided if I did that the hacker would have effectively "hacked" into my thoughts and caused me to self-censor.
But, what if I had been whining? Let me see, how can "The Bicycle Repairman" help me with this dilemma?
2:18PM
No class Monday April 4. Papers collected Wednesday. Please have the first assignment for White Noise read (A little more than 100 pages). (I know it's tempting to keep pushing the writing back, but it becomes counterproductive to do some great writing and then get behind in a novel.)
Some thoughts on "The Bicycle Repairman"--So, current science fiction (of which this story is a fine model) is very much about placing the reader into a new political context or a new "world order," and representing the experience of trying to figure out these new worlds. (Again, I believe 9/11 is a real life circumstance that has created just that experience. One of those "leaks"--though "leak" becomes something more like a rupture--in our "reality" Vic describes in TOOJ, before going onto his blissful ignorance.) While we figure that understanding the entire global political situation is probably impossible, the Sci-Fi text becomes a way thinking about some global trends. The one thing we discussed in class (of what are multiple issues of concern in that short story) is the issue of privacy--How much do you want? How much are you willing to give up? Would you be willing to have your thoughts publicized if it meant your politicians' thoughts were publicized? Would you allow your thoughts to be publicized if it meant no one could plot in private? What does this have to do with global politics today? Well, look into the debates surrounding the Patriot Act for starters. And, of course, there is a population of people who want their "privacy" so to speak from the intervention of other nation's. And other's demanding intervention. An interesting parallel to my life regarding these questions occurred in Jacksonville around the Super Bowl. The city installed surveillance cameras throughout the city to police the incoming crowds. Those camera's are still up. Better protection or invasion of privacy?
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
4:52PM
So, again, I want the final exam to be a work in progress. It will stay posted here, with additional questions added after we read the remaining 3 novels. No need to look at this until you're comfortable with your longer journal entry.
( Final Exam in progress )
Friday, March 25, 2005
1:28PM
We'll follow the reading schedule published below from here on out. I did make one minor adjustment (in blue) to that schedule today. Other than that, I won't deviate from here on out.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
3:26PM
Here's the 5 questions on the quiz from last Friday. Answer them if you want or need a replacement score?
1. The previous section ended: “ ‘She’s retired,’ he said…I thought he meant she was dead.” We now know exactly what Arty meant. He meant…
2. Who is the “Transcendental Maggot”?
3. Who manages the Transcendental Maggot booth and what does he sell?
4. What role did the Bag Man play earlier in the novel?
5. What is the Bag Man “given” and what does he ultimately get?
Monday, March 21, 2005
12:30PM
I'll collect work on Wednesday and we'll talk about the end of Geek Love.
**Also, S. Franco, when you see this, send me an email.**
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
1:49PM
So you're using Friday's class time, let's say, to prepare your exam. I'll see you Monday to talk about the conclusion of Geek Love. I have a quiz prepared for the third section. I'll post the questions here Friday if you want or need to replace a quiz score, and you can email me answers.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Our list of things to think about:
"Freakishness" as product of what? How/why do we produce "freaks"? (More metaphorically than literally, as the book is presenting it).
Inheritance (still)/legacy/history/the future - A line from page 40: "She (Miranda) is unaware that she is part of, and the product of, forces assembled before she was born." Read that against this quote: "a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born" (20).
Selfishness.
Economics.
Selfishness and economics.
Rejection (Reject-shun) and acceptance (Acceptance is an interesting word, used both actively--to accept this person/difference--and passively--just accept this as fact/reality).
"Family", the nuclear family as emblematic of the "normal".
Identity - "the real me".
Beauty
And though we didn't mention it, we have to consider how this is another story of love, how this is a "love story."
Reading Schedule:
For 3/14 Ch 4-9
For 3/16 Ch 10-14
For 3/18 Ch 15-21
For 3/21 Ch 22-end
For your journals, let's say for the next 3 reading assignments you produce 2 sentences. As you're reading find a line, couple of lines, a passage to highlight, a place you found interesting/revealing/thought-provoking/important/ect. Your journal should simply record the page# and location ("third paragraph," "middle of 4th paragraph"). Then simply have a two sentence comment/explanation. For 3/21, the usual few sentences on what you make of the ending will do.
Those of you keeping written journals, I'll take them in thirds next week, so I'll get yours either M, W, F.
( Thoughts on Longer Entries & a sample paper )
Thursday, March 10, 2005
11:50AM
**Midpoint Exam has been edited.**
So, in taking my own exam, I discovered that those first 10 questions are rather demanding and required more length to answer in writing than they seemed to in my head, so, I've eliminated the longer question. I have left it there (though striked out) in the event someone really liked the original requirements. (If you've done any thinking/work toward the "ghost" question, don't be discouraged. I'll save it for a possible option on the final.)
Also, I added some help (I hope it's help, anyways) to the question mentioned in class yesterday. I hope you'll see that there is no "the right asnwer" on some of these questions, so what is being evaluated, rather, is the strength of your case.
Wednesday, March 9, 2005
2:16PM
For Friday: Geek Love p. 1-41. As we've done before make your list of issues/themes/concerns that seem to be emerging and, also, questions you're thinking about.
Geek Love is a late 80s novel that will have, you'll see, an obvious relationship to The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. Additionally, it too is a complicated "love" story (or maybe this is a new genre: a complication of love story). In fact, I'm afraid, it's the Ballad of the Sad Cafe, only really twisted. Enjoy.
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
11:37AM
Finishing The Ballad of the Sad Cafe for Wed. For your journal, you could give your take on the ending (what's the moral of the story? are you satisfied?, ect.) or you could return to our "ghost" questions (who or what is haunting this story, these people? who or what could potentially haunt us having read the story?).
Monday, February 28, 2005
5:25PM
The next text is The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. In my copy, the story runs from pages 3 to 72. For Monday, you should have read to the break at the top of page 38. (If your text is different, this point is about half way into the story and concludes with the line: "Marvin Macy was the one subject that was never, at any time, discussed between the two of them.") For your journal consider the part of the story where the narrator begins to give his/her philosophy of love; in this part, the narrator will conclude: "It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved." Think about these thoughts (and this thought in particular) and just respond with your own take on this statement.
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