History and Memory, Vision and the Future

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 20:39:12 GMT

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.

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:05:32 GMT

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.

This exam is comprised of two types of questions. The first review conversations we’ve had/interpretations we’ve shared. The second type of question points to issues or passages that we didn’t address directly but these "answers" can always be traced back to issues we’ve discussed (That is, they provide an opportunity to apply rather than recite). These questions will each be scored on the 5 point rubric (available on your syllabus.) Thus,of course, there are always wrong answers that will receive 0 points. More importantly, it must be understood that there are acceptable answers (3pts.) and there are better answers (4pts.). The best answers (5pts.) will carefully engage with the question and the text and will effectively and clearly articulate an answer. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand that the best answer will be a product having been a part of this learning community and attentive to the concerns of this learning community. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand the best answer will be a product of attending to the text with the same attention we’ve practiced in class. As this is a” take home” exam, collusion, while forbidden, remains tempting. You are strongly discouraged from collusion because it reveals itself sometimes (to an aged and trained eye) in very detectable ways.

Answer lengths will vary. Be sure to answer all parts of the question. Cite the texts you're writing about when and as much as necessary.

For each text, answer the one question provided.

In addition to the questions, you will be asked to write a brief essay on what this particular survey of American literature has revealed to you. By reading this selection of texts, what issue or concern or connection has been the most significant to you and why? Be sure to touch on a significant number of texts (certainly not all, though it would have to be more than two). For each text, comment on how the issue is raised (a quotable line will be helpful) and what questions about that issue the text is raising. Then, discuss why you think this issue keeps being raised (and particularly why it keeps being raised in American literature) and, finally, discuss what value this conversation* has had for you.
*I mean conversation figuratively. These texts aren't really speaking to each other about issue x, but by virture of this survey (their placement side by side by side) they seem to be.)

I'll remind you of one idea:
How might each of these texts be “ghost” stories?
For each text, What haunts the text’s protagonists or characters or setting? What seemingly is required to exorcise each ghost?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be all ghost stories? What questions or concerns seem to be haunting us the most?

And another idea (from a paper one of you wrote):
How might each of these texts challenge the idea of a "happy ending"? For each text, why does it end "unhappily", and why must it end unhappily? Imagine the text doesn't really end, what will the protagonists do with their "unhappy endings"?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be comprised of "unhappy endings"? What value can you get from "unhappy" endings?

**Again, you can write about whatever you find to be the most important connection.

Geek Love
Reread Olympia's letter to Miranda. Then, revisit Olympia's narration of her experience with the Pin Kid (p. 286-289). How might this passage--if Miranda is able to read it--help her make sense of the last paragraph of her mother's letter? How could this passage complicate Miranda's interpretation of the letter? Be sure to cite the language that seems most important to you when reading these two parts of the text together.

Science Fiction
Though Time Out of Joint and "The Bicycle Repairman" are produced more than 40 years apart, they seem to be produced out of a common concern for how the future may take shape. What are the common concerns these texts have about everyday life that may have consequences for a possible future? Be sure to cite the text to support your argument.

White Noise
Choose one of these 4 quotes from the first section of White Noise. 1) Place the quote in context (who's speaking? to whom? about what?). 2) Elaborate the quote (unpacking it's meaning/relevance, explaining its use a metaphor, taking note of the important word choices, ect.) 3) Explain the significance of this quote in understanding where the novel ultimately leads and its significance in advancing one of the novel's themes.

p. 20
"It seemed to me that Babette and I, in the mass and variety of our purchases, in the sheer plenitude those familiar package designs and vivid lettering, the giant sizes, the family bargain packs with Day-Glo sale stickers, in the sense of replenishment we felt, the sense of well-being, the security and contentment these products brought to some snug home in our souls--it seemed we had achieved a fullness of being that is not known to people who need less, expect less, who plan their lives around lonely walks in the evening."

p. 26
      "When the showing ended, someone asked about the plot to kill Hitler. The discussion moved to plots in general. I found myself saying to the assembled heads, 'All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children's games. We edge nearer death every time we plot. It is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot.'
     Is this true? Why did I say it? What does it mean?"

p. 60
"The police had consulted Adele T. on a number of occassions and she had led them to two bludgeoned bodies, a Syrian in a refrigerator and a cache of marked bills totaling six hundred thousand dollars, although in each instance, the report concluded, the police had been looking for something else.
      The American mystery deepens."

p. 85
"But Blacksmith is nowhere near a large city. We don't feel threatened and aggrieved in quite the same way other towns do. We're not smack in the path of history and its contaminations. If our complaints have a focal point, it would be the TV set, where outer torment lurks, causing fears and secret desires."

**or**

Explain the last paragraph of the novel. Why does the novel White Noise have to end in the supermarket?

Sula
On page 108, Nel waits for her "very own howl," "but it did not come." What is the desired content of this howl she awaits, and, based on the text leading up to this moment, why can't she have a "howl" of "her own" with that content? Furthermore, the novel then ends with Nel's "fine cry"--"girl, girl, girlgirlgirl." Why does this novel have to end with a cry? Why does it have to end with this cry (or better, why does the cry have to be written this way), and how does this cry contain (so to speak) the story of Eva's missing leg?

Sat, 16 Apr 2005 01:42:52 GMT

Please remember to staple together the original and the reworking of your essay for submitting to me Monday.

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 05:01:56 GMT

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.

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:43:41 GMT

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.

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.

This exam is comprised of two types of questions. The first review conversations we’ve had/interpretations we’ve shared. The second type of question points to issues or passages that we didn’t address directly but these "answers" can always be traced back to issues we’ve discussed (That is, they provide an opportunity to apply rather than recite). These questions will each be scored on the 5 point rubric (available on your syllabus.) Thus,of course, there are always wrong answers that will receive 0 points. More importantly, it must be understood that there are acceptable answers (3pts.) and there are better answers (4pts.). The best answers (5pts.) will carefully engage with the question and the text and will effectively and clearly articulate an answer. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand that the best answer will be a product having been a part of this learning community and attentive to the concerns of this learning community. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand the best answer will be a product of attending to the text with the same attention we’ve practiced in class. As this is a” take home” exam, collusion, while forbidden, remains tempting. You are strongly discouraged from collusion because it reveals itself sometimes (to an aged and trained eye) in very detectable ways.

Answer lengths will vary. Be sure to answer all parts of the question. Cite the texts you're writing about when and as much as necessary.

For each text, answer the one question provided.

In addition to the questions, you will be asked to write a brief essay on what this particular survey of American literature has revealed to you. By reading this selection of texts, what issue or concern or connection has been the most significant to you and why? Be sure to touch on a significant number of texts (certainly not all, though it would have to be more than two). For each text, comment on how the issue is raised (a quotable line will be helpful) and what questions about that issue the text is raising. Then, discuss why you think this issue keeps being raised (and particularly why it keeps being raised in American literature) and, finally, discuss what value this conversation* has had for you.
*I mean conversation figuratively. These texts aren't really speaking to each other about issue x, but by virture of this survey (their placement side by side by side) they seem to be.)

I'll remind you of one idea:
How might each of these texts be “ghost” stories?
For each text, What haunts the text’s protagonists or characters or setting? What seemingly is required to exorcise each ghost?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be all ghost stories? What questions or concerns seem to be haunting us the most?

And another idea (from a paper one of you wrote):
How might each of these texts challenge the idea of a "happy ending"? For each text, why does it end "unhappily", and why must it end unhappily? Imagine the text doesn't really end, what will the protagonists do with their "unhappy endings"?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be comprised of "unhappy endings"? What value can you get from "unhappy" endings?

**Again, you can write about whatever you find to be the most important connection.

Geek Love
Reread Olympia's letter to Miranda. Then, revisit Olympia's narration of her experience with the Pin Kid (p. 286-289). How might this passage--if Miranda is able to read it--help her make sense of the last paragraph of her mother's letter? How could this passage complicate Miranda's interpretation of the letter? Be sure to cite the language that seems most important to you when reading these two parts of the text together.

Science Fiction
Though Time Out of Joint and "The Bicycle Repairman" are produced more than 40 years apart, they seem to be produced out of a common concern for how the future may take shape. What are the common concerns these texts have about everyday life that may have consequences for a possible future. Be sure to cite the text to support your argument. (Also, make sure you understand the plot of "The Bicycle Repairman" so that you can comment on the story accurately and intelligently.)

White Noise
Choose one of these 4 quotes from the first section of White Noise. 1) Place the quote in context (who's speaking? to whom? about what?). 2) Elaborate the quote (unpacking it's meaning/relevance, explaining its use a metaphor, taking note of the important word choices, ect.) 3) Explain the significance of this quote in understanding where the novel ultimately leads and its significance in advancing one of the novel's themes.

p. 20
"It seemed to me that Babette and I, in the mass and variety of our purchases, in the sheer plenitude those familiar package designs and vivid lettering, the giant sizes, the family bargain packs with Day-Glo sale stickers, in the sense of replenishment we felt, the sense of well-being, the security and contentment these products brought to some snug home in our souls--it seemed we had achieved a fullness of being that is not known to people who need less, expect less, who plan their lives around lonely walks in the evening."

p. 26
      "When the showing ended, someone asked about the plot to kill Hitler. The discussion moved to plots in general. I found myself saying to the assembled heads, 'All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children's games. We edge nearer death every time we plot. It is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot.'
     Is this true? Why did I say it? What does it mean?"

p. 60
"The police had consulted Adele T. on a number of occassions and she had led them to two bludgeoned bodies, a Syrian in a refrigerator and a cache of marked bills totaling six hundred thousand dollars, although in each instance, the report concluded, the police had been looking for something else.
      The American mystery deepens."

p. 85
"But Blacksmith is nowhere near a large city. We don't feel threatened and aggrieved in quite the same way other towns do. We're not smack in the path of history and its contaminations. If our complaints have a focal point, it would be the TV set, where outer torment lurks, causing fears and secret desires."

**or**

Explain the last paragraph of the novel. Why does the novel White Noise have to end in the supermarket?

Sula
On page 108, Nel waits for her "very own howl," "but it did not come." What is the desired content of this howl she awaits, and, based on the text leading up to this moment, why can't she have a "howl" of "her own" with that content? Furthermore, the novel then ends with Nel's "fine cry"--"girl, girl, girlgirlgirl." Why does this novel have to end with a cry? Why does it have to end with this cry (or better, why does the cry have to be written this way), and how does this cry contain (so to speak) the story of Eva's missing leg?

Schedule tweaking

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:20:08 GMT

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.**.

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 19:49:43 GMT

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?

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 19:43:49 GMT

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?

Tue, 29 Mar 2005 22:03:01 GMT

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.

This exam is comprised of two types of questions. The first review conversations we’ve had/interpretations we’ve shared. The second type of question points to issues or passages that we didn’t address directly but these "answers" can always be traced back to issues we’ve discussed (That is, they provide an opportunity to apply rather than recite). These questions will each be scored on the 5 point rubric (available on your syllabus.) Thus,of course, there are always wrong answers that will receive 0 points. More importantly, it must be understood that there are acceptable answers (3pts.) and there are better answers (4pts.). The best answers (5pts.) will carefully engage with the question and the text and will effectively and clearly articulate an answer. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand that the best answer will be a product having been a part of this learning community and attentive to the concerns of this learning community. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand the best answer will be a product of attending to the text with the same attention we’ve practiced in class. As this is a” take home” exam, collusion, while forbidden, remains tempting. You are strongly discouraged from collusion because it reveals itself sometimes (to an aged and trained eye) in very detectable ways.

Answer lengths will vary. Be sure to answer all parts of the question. Cite the texts you're writing about when and as much as necessary.

For each text, answer the one question provided.

In addition to the questions, you will be asked to write a brief essay on what this particular survey of American literature has revealed to you. By reading this selection of texts, what issue or concern or connection has been the most significant to you and why? Be sure to touch on a significant number of texts (certainly not all, though it would have to be more than two). For each text, comment on how the issue is raised (a quotable line will be helpful) and what questions about that issue the text is raising. Then, discuss why you think this issue keeps being raised (and particularly why it keeps being raised in American literature) and, finally, discuss what value this conversation* has had for you.
*I mean conversation figuratively. These texts aren't really speaking to each other about issue x, but by virture of this survey (their placement side by side by side) they seem to be.)

I'll remind you of one idea:
How might each of these texts be “ghost” stories?
For each text, What haunts the text’s protagonists or characters or setting? What seemingly is required to exorcise each ghost?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be all ghost stories? What questions or concerns seem to be haunting us the most?

And another idea (from a paper one of you wrote):
How might each of these texts challenge the idea of a "happy ending"? For each text, why does it end "unhappily", and why must it end unhappily? Imagine the text doesn't really end, what will the protagonists do with their "unhappy endings"?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be comprised of "unhappy endings"? What value can you get from "unhappy" endings?

**Again, you can write about whatever you find to be the most important connection.

Geek Love
Reread Olympia's letter to Miranda. Then, revisit Olympia's narration of her experience with the Pin Kid (p. 286-289). How might this passage--if Miranda is able to read it--help her make sense of the last paragraph of her mother's letter? How could this passage complicate Miranda's interpretation of the letter? Be sure to cite the language that seems most important to you when reading these two parts of the text together.

Science Fiction
Though Time Out of Joint and "The Bicycle Repairman" are produced more than 40 years apart, they seem to be produced out of a common concern for how the future may take shape. What are the common concerns these texts have about everyday life that may have consequences for a possible future. Be sure to cite the text to support your argument. (Also, make sure you understand the plot of "The Bicycle Repairman" so that you can comment on the story accurately and intelligently.)

White Noise
Choose one of these 4 quotes from the first section of White Noise. 1) Place the quote in context (who's speaking? to whom? about what?). 2) Elaborate the quote (unpacking it's meaning/relevance, explaining its use a metaphor, taking note of the important word choices, ect.) 3) Explain the significance of this quote in understanding where the novel ultimately leads and its significance in advancing one of the novel's themes.

p. 20
"It seemed to me that Babette and I, in the mass and variety of our purchases, in the sheer plenitude those familiar package designs and vivid lettering, the giant sizes, the family bargain packs with Day-Glo sale stickers, in the sense of replenishment we felt, the sense of well-being, the security and contentment these products brought to some snug home in our souls--it seemed we had achieved a fullness of being that is not known to people who need less, expect less, who plan their lives around lonely walks in the evening."

p. 26
      "When the showing ended, someone asked about the plot to kill Hitler. The discussion moved to plots in general. I found myself saying to the assembled heads, 'All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children's games. We edge nearer death every time we plot. It is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot.'
     Is this true? Why did I say it? What does it mean?"

p. 60
"The police had consulted Adele T. on a number of occassions and she had led them to two bludgeoned bodies, a Syrian in a refrigerator and a cache of marked bills totaling six hundred thousand dollars, although in each instance, the report concluded, the police had been looking for something else.
      The American mystery deepens."

p. 85
"But Blacksmith is nowhere near a large city. We don't feel threatened and aggrieved in quite the same way other towns do. We're not smack in the path of history and its contaminations. If our complaints have a focal point, it would be the TV set, where outer torment lurks, causing fears and secret desires."

**or**

Explain the last paragraph of the novel. Why does the novel White Noise have to end in the supermarket?

Sula
On page 108, Nel waits for her "very own howl," "but it did not come." What is the desired content of this howl she awaits, and, based on the text leading up to this moment, why can't she have a "howl" of "her own" with that content? Furthermore, the novel then ends with Nel's "fine cry"--"girl, girl, girlgirlgirl." Why does this novel have to end with a cry? Why does it have to end with this cry (or better, why does the cry have to be written this way), and how does this cry contain (so to speak) the story of Eva's missing leg?

Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:30:17 GMT

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.

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:27:39 GMT

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?

Mon, 21 Mar 2005 19:08:25 GMT

By request, someone asked for a detailed schedule for the conclusion of this course, so here it is...

3/23 conclusion of Geek Love
Journal entry 19: Impressions of ending of Geek Love. Thoughts on or confusions about or problems with the conclusion. Are you satisfied?

3/25 Time Out of Joint CH 1-5
Journal entry 20: We're spending some time with another genre, science fiction. Why would or why does Science Fiction appeal to Americans? What does it offer us? Are you a science fiction "fan"? Why or why not?

3/28 Time Out of Joint CH 6-11
Journal entry 21: Find a line or passage worth reflecting on. Write a couple of sentences.

3/30 Time Out of Joint CH 12 - end
Journal entry 22: Is there anything about the ending that troubles you? Or are you completely satisfied?

Due date for Longer Journal entry #2. 4 pages, typed, double spaced, 12 point font, stapled. (This coincides with the week of Time Out of Joint because the novel is not too demanding. The truth of the matter though is I won't be able to read any papers that weekend, so if you want that time, take it, and turn your paper no later than 4/4. Just understand that the Monday--4/4--reading can be a bit more demanding. Of course, the ideal situation is that you work on these types of activities a bit at a time throughout the week--or weeks--preceeding).

4/1 ~~Two stories~~ "The Bicycle Repairman" from the Sterling collection A Good, Old-Fashioned Future.
Journal entry 23: How does this science fiction look and feel different than PKD's science fiction? How is it similar?

4/4 White Noise p. 3-105 **This is probably a tough read. Be prepared for that.**
Journal 24: List of issues and themes and concerns. Also, here, we have another "postmodern" text very much concerned with how complicated the world is becoming so your list should be quite long. Probably best to be jotting it down as you read.

4/6 WN p. 109-163
Journal 25: Find one line or passage of interest. Write a couple of sentences to explain.

4/8 WN p. 167-236
Journal 26: Find one line or passage of interest. Write a couple of sentences to explain.

**Every effort will be made to return journal entry #2 to you by this date. 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). If I do return these to you by the 8th than the original 15th due date will stand.**

4/11 WN 237-3nd
Journal 27: Comment on the ending.

4/13 Sula p. 1-48
Journal 28: How do you explain (or can you explain) the final act of this section?

4/15 Sula p. 49-85
Journal 29: Who do you care about in this novel thus far? and Why?

4/18 Sula p. 89-137
Journal 30: Find a line or passage of interest. Write two sentences.

4/20 Sula p. 140-174
Journal 31: Comment on the ending.
**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.**

**The final exam will be due as an attachment on the day our exam for this course is scheduled. Please note: as we conclude the texts, I'll post the exam questions (For example, Geek Love's question(s) will be posted Thursday or Friday), so you can work on it as a work in progress or wait until the end.**.

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 18:30:13 GMT

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.**

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 18:54:51 GMT

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.

Geek Love

Fri, 11 Mar 2005 19:31:58 GMT

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.

So, In thinking about your next longer journal entry it might be useful to reconsider my insistence that it, in fact, be called a “journal” entry, so that all associations we make with journals—mostly that it documents personal experience--continue to be relevant. So, when thinking about your next attempt, remember to factor yourself (that is, your experiences) into your entry and give yourself (or your take on the world) equal time. Your experience is, again, both how you experience the world firsthand (real-life stories, anecdotes, ect.) and how you experience the world through mediation (that is, those other texts that matter to you more than, I imagine, “literature” or news reports which bring other parts of the world into the realm of your own experience, ect.).

Here’s one paper that is working toward fulfilling the two part objective:

From the assignment: "So, the “entry” is two-part: 1) explaining the text—how it brings a concept or concern up for consideration and how the language/images of the text work to produce that consideration and 2) applying the text—in the way described above to some other or multiple other places in the world, your world, our world."

Notice how the author writes two pages thinking about at least one issue from the novel and then proceeds to take those thoughts and moving them into other contexts. It’s also interesting to note that the paper doesn’t necessarily come to conclusions but rather documents the author’s thinking about the issue and how it plays out in the real world—how the text can allow you to think about (in the case here) a personal experience and being able to talk about with the help of literature’s language.

The Crying of Lot 49 carries the popular idea of menacing plots due to the secret networking of others. The book plays on this idea throughout the book but most blatantly on page 94 when a character states, “Think of it...a whole underworld of suicides who failed. All keeping in touch through that secret delivery system. What do they tell each other?” And so begins a chain of events that fosters ever-growing confusion and paranoia. This is the point in the book where the author makes the reader ponder the notion of individuals “plotting” to achieve some mysterious goal. Previously, in the novel, the concern over this possible, secretive society was primarily Oedipa’s dilemma. Now, for the first time, the reader gets pulled into the book through the manipulation of natural fears towards the unknown. More precisely, however, it is a fear of a unified, multifaceted ‘unknown’–complete with an intricate system of co-conspirators.

Oedipa spends Chapter 5, if not the entire book for that matter, lost in a delusional state–roaming the streets trying to decide what’s real and what’s not. This feeling of loneliness and despair begins after speaking to a man at a bar who leaves her wondering just how powerful this “Trystero” really is. The author takes her on a night-long tour after leaving this bar that involves her seeing post horn symbols everywhere. I think the effect he intentionally wanted to produce was a sense of unknowingness in the reader through all the signs Oedipa was seeing. For example, Chapter 5 reads, “...[she] spent the rest of the night finding the image of the Trystero post horn. In Chinatown..she thought she saw it on a sign among ideographs. Later, on the side walk, she saw two of them in chalk...[and even later] scratched on the back of a seat.” In these pages, the author aims at the reader’s interest and fear of individuals working together in secret. He focuses in on our own personal paranoias of individuals working together and allows us to tap in to our natural thirsts for information–for answers. The images he presents of post horns being everywhere furthers our need for answers because they seem equally distributed through the world around her-- insinuating a highly complex and powerful group--which travels from her surroundings into ours because, as we read, we dig into our natural ways of how we would deal with the situation. Thus, entering the reality of the book. This is the sense that Pynchon transmits throughout the novel and he intertwines this feeling with scattered enigmatic language to increase our sense of mystery and, therefore, fear and suspicion. Pynchon, to me, used the symbol of the Trystero to capture our need to have a definitive direction to point when there is a lack of information. The idea is kind of reminiscent of how we point to the idea of “terrorists” to capture all the secrecy and plots of those people with alternate agendas.

The “menace” of plots, networking, secrets, and the unknown have become a major part of American life. President Bush was able to sway the emotions of the American people to justify a “war on terror” on the basis of “terror cells” operating, in secret, to achieve some mysterious goal. This alarmed Americans so much that by the beginning of this ‘war on terror’ more than half of Americans supported the war: 87 percent of women and 88 percent of men polled by Fox News on Nov. 2001(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,38295,00.html). No one really knew what went on in Afghanistan, but they more than willing to start a war in that direction–pointing at a mysterious “Trystero” if you will. The concept, which probably wasn’t unfamiliar to Bush and his administration, was centered on the tendency for people to fear the networking of others they did not understand. The idea is similar to Oedipa’s determination to get to the bottom of things regarding the Trystero. The only information she needed to begin a rigorous search for answers was the possibility that this organization did in fact exist. She knew little about what the purpose of the organization and what it stood for, but her drive for answers allowed her to venture out and attempt to leave no stone unturned. That’s very similar to what our country did when it invaded Afghanistan. It determined that no stone should be left unturned in our search for answers in Afghanistan. Moreover, the threat of plots and secretive networking also fostered the move towards invading Iraq. We didn’t really know what was going on over there or what the goals of the Iraqi administrations were, but we did know there was a force operating–cohesively–without giving us information as to what they were doing. Off that justification alone, we invested billions of dollars to support a war to find answers.

I have personally encountered prejudice from high officials due to an organization I helped create in middle school. The organization was called the N.W.O. (New World Order) and its function was to protect other students from persecution. Apparently, word got around about this “New World Order” and school officials not only intervened, but they forbade any further congregation of the New World Order (with punishments ranging all the way to suspension). We hadn’t broken any rules, we just wanted protection, but the school wouldn’t stand for such an allegiance. In fact, all public schools, by Florida “Code of Conduct” law, forbids any individual from wearing unifying clothes or marks of any kind. I find this to be quite peculiar because it resembles the anti-Trystero fashion seen throughout “The Crying of Lot 49". (Probably need to develop this idea a bit more. It certainly is an interesting connection.) The “menacing” fear that tormented Oedipa has traversed its way into the school system and torments school officials just the same.

I think it’s a very humanistic, or, even, animalistic, trait to want security. But only with humans, however, are we cognizant of the potential of individuals working together–that is–how overwhelming powerful the effects could be if individuals are combining their efforts. And so the problem originates–“How do we achieve security when we are aware of the potential for individuals to work together and accomplish gargantuan goals?” Our most hasty decision is to divert all efforts finding out the truth so our peace of mind can be restored. And so paves the way for The Crying of Lot 49. It’s built on our natural need for security. We sympathize for the protagonist because we too have a relentless need to know the truth when people are operating in secret around us. In my opinion, one of the reasons The Crying of Lot 49 has become a “canonized” work of literature because it so thoroughly addresses the issue secretive factions and how those on the outside of these organizations rush to investigate with a relentless furor. This novel forces us to investigate the aspects of the human psyche that drive us mad.

Comments:
I really liked what you did here, placing The Crying of Lot 49 in some new contexts and seeing those contexts very differently. Those are two relevant examples, as divergent as they are, but it is interesting to see how larger and smaller contexts do sometimes follow the same logic. The concluding paragraph is particularly effective. I do believe that if the place I pointed out above had been more fully elaborated you would have made an even stronger connection.
It does appear your paper could have used one more proofreading pass to catch things like missing words and complicated punctuation (Always a good idea that if you find yourself using multiple commas and hyphens in a sentence to see if you can produce the thought in more direct statements.)

Thu, 10 Mar 2005 16:57:37 GMT

**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.

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 19:22:28 GMT

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.

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 00:07:09 GMT

Midpoint exam. Due Monday March 21. Work needs to be stapled. Your signature should appear at the end of the exam. Your signature will mean that the University's Honor Code has been followed in preparing this exam.

This exam is comprised of two types of questions. The first review conversations we’ve had/interpretations we’ve shared. The second type of question points to issues or passages that we didn’t address directly but these "answers" can always be traced back to issues we’ve discussed (That is, they provide an opportunity to apply rather than recite). These questions will each be scored on the 5 point rubric (available on your syllabus.) Thus,of course, there are always wrong answers that will receive 0 points. More importantly, it must be understood that there are acceptable answers (3pts.) and there are better answers (4pts.). The best answers (5pts.) will carefully engage with the question and the text and will effectively and clearly articulate an answer. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand that the best answer will be a product having been a part of this learning community and attentive to the concerns of this learning community. While certainly some questions can be answered in multiple ways, please understand the best answer will be a product of attending to the text with the same attention we’ve practiced in class. As this is a” take home” exam, collusion, while forbidden, remains tempting. You are strongly discouraged from collusion because it reveals itself sometimes (to an aged and trained eye) in very detectable ways.

Answer lengths will vary. Be sure to answer all parts of the question. Cite the texts you're writing about when and as much as necessary.

The House on Mango Street

1. Discuss how the very first vignette/chapter of The House on Mango Street establishes multiple thematic concerns (or highlights multiple issues of concern) for the text as a whole.

2. The House on Mango Street ends with an interesting grammatical choice. What happens earlier in the text that allows the reader to establish that this is not simply an error or mistake but is Esperanza’s choice? Then, what is the effect of this choice? How does this line communicate differently based on this choice?

The Crying of Lot 49

3. Of Mucho Maas, we learned, “He had believed too much in the lot, he believed not at all in the station.” Why was the lot easier to believe in? and Why was it then easier to work for the station? How does this early depiction of this lot factor into the text as a whole? What issues does it bring to the foreground which becomes part of the novel as a whole?

4. On page 141, Oedipa gives 4 possible readings to what’s happening to her and concludes that she “hoped she was mentally ill; that that’s all it was.” Why would that be the best option? What menace does each of the other three options hold in her view?

The Day of the Locust

5) Explain the concept of the “dream dump” as described in the text? How does this “dream dump” have an effect on the lives of the characters in the novel?

6) Revisit the final paragraph of the novel. Why does this novel end this way? How is this an effective image for the conclusion of this novel?

The Big Sleep

7) The Big Sleep and The Day of the Locust are contemporaries. What sentiments and attitudes do they share about the people and places they describe? Of these shared concerns what remains relevant, or, perhaps, what part of that history must still be thought about? In what way(s) do their worldviews differ?

8) Revisit Marlowe’s concluding thoughts on “the big sleep” at the end of the novel. How do these thoughts contradict much of what’s happened in the novel to arrive at that point? And why then would it end with these thoughts?

The Ballad of the Sad Café

9) The idea of “ownership” has been both a literal and a figurative presence in much of what we’ve read. How is the question of ownership a literal problem in this novel? And how is it as a metaphor a problem, as well (What must be "owned," "claimed," "owned up to" in the novel?)?

10) Thinking about what a “sad café” is (or understood as) metaphorically, what other text that we’ve read could have been titled the “ballad of the sad café,” as well, and why?
(Help: In unpacking this question, you must understand what the cafe is and/or offers. The text explicitly tells us. The "sad cafe" would be when that possibility is ruined, removed, no longer exists. So, what interferes with the cafe? What's its downfall? The "ballad" of the sad cafe is the sad story of that sad situation. So what other text presents something like the cafe and tells the sad story of it not being totally realized for its potential. So, in answering the question, you're making a case for saying something along the lines of "Don't you see how this situation in this other text is a "sad cafe"-situation, too?" )

Longer question:

How might each of these texts be “ghost” stories?
For each text, What haunts the text’s protagonists or characters or setting? What seemingly is required to exorcise each ghost?
If this were a representative sample, why might the canon of American literature be all ghost stories? What questions or concerns seem to be haunting us the most?

Questions 1-10 at 5 points each=50 points.
Longer Question =50 points. (Scored on 5 point rubric and multipled by 10.)

Questions 1-10 at 5 points each=50 points. Thus, a perfect score would be 50 (and, thus, your score would be converted to a percentage.).
Score on this exam = 15% of your final grade.

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 16:41:20 GMT

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?).

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 22:36:51 GMT

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.

Mon, 21 Feb 2005 23:26:02 GMT

We'll finish the novel for Wed.

For a journal, consider this: Like The Day of the Locust, The Big Sleep is very concerned with describing the possibilities for agency in the world (that is, both how to be able to resist the pull of the world/the masses/systems and how to be able to act on your own volition for your own self-interest or self-preservation).

If a novel like this is a "handbook" for agency, what knowledge, does it suggest, one should have about the way the world works to survive? and What skills should one possess to survive this kind of world? And then, finally, do you recognize this to be the way the world works? Are these in facts skills one need possess today?

Or, There is also the possibility to think about Marlowe as being decidedly not a "free" agent at all. If you want to purse that hypothesis and describe why he's trapped himself--and not necessarily free--then you could do so. (Is he trapped in a system that doesn't offer change?)

Reminder that a longer journal entry (more than 3 pages) is due no later than March 1st as an email attachment. Friday, ~~March~~ February 25th is a work day. Please review the document you were given regarding requirements and criteria carefully before forwarding your work to me.

Conclusions(?) about Marlowe's appeal: he's in control of most situations seemingly, perhaps brave in some, something attractive in the way he seduces but than pushes back, good guy (but not too good a guy), seems above the fray of a corrupt world, loyal to his task, seems to have very strongly compartmentalized personal life from public life (though to what extent he has a personal life is questionable, but, at any rate, being "all business" may have a certain appeal--at least it avoids the entanglements of what we describe as our "personal" lives).

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 19:26:53 GMT

For Monday, we'll read to page 153. Thinking about how we talked about the "private detective" generically today, in your journal, speak to what you think of Philip Marlowe, who appears in many of Chandler's novels. Why might he specifically be a character who appeals to a large readership? Why might people be fascinated by him? What's your own take on him? Do you find him appealing?

If "literature" is a value judgement placed upon certain texts, then I'm interested on those texts that aren't deemed "literature" but remain popular: The Big Sleep has been in print as long as The Day of the Locust, yet this novel is canonical/classic only within its genre--a classic crime story.

But I wonder if the word "survey" (what we're doing) shouldn't mean that take a look outside the canon and wonder what "popular" texts have to offer: why do we (as a culture) return and return to these genres/ these forms. So what does the crime story (and more specifically here, the "private detective story" have to offer? Why are we drawn to them, fascinated by them?

I think our conversation began with an aknowledgement that we recognize a difference from "everyday" life. So, here we meet other populations: the wealthy and the lowlife (There is certainly a class element involved here). We meet populations who are believe themselves to be beyond the law (and I wonder how many of us wish we could move more easily outside the law? and I wonder how much pleasure we take in these reminders that that "justice"--whether the legal or the poetic--will be solved?) At any rate, here's lives we don't (necessarily?) lead.

Also, we recognize in these stories the model of interpretation operating that we wish/hope/believe operates in the real world. All clues lead to closure. Suspense will be satisfied. We can get to the truth. All this chaos will lead to order. The detective is the character who knows language can decieve and bewilder and fail but he still gets to the "truth."

Also, perhaps, crime fascinates because it is part of our real history, our cultural inheritance--and, perhaps, we have real issues to work out with it that we haven't--the repressed always returns...maybe in the form of a million and one crime stories.

Other things: Crime stories always present the dead body (more about that later). They document transgressions that are taboo in the everyday. They offer (a desired? a needed?) cynicism about the way of the world. And I also think its important to remember that the private detective (never answers a question straight, never divulges what he knows) is always called on to foil some multi-personed plotting (signifying public life, corporate life), and, as a nation that both celebrates its strong sense of individualism and fears the "menace" of others, the detective's work becomes the acting out of the fantasy that, well, we're right.

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 01:19:12 GMT

For Wednesday, we'll read the first 13 chapters of The Big Sleep. In my edition that takes us to page 76.

For your journal, consider this: The Big Sleep is considered not necessarily a "classic" but certainly a classic of crime fiction, of detective stories. At least a couple of the books we'll read (this one and a couple of science fiction books) are on our list, not because they are considered part of the canon, but because they represent, I believe, the best of a couple of genres that people read quite a bit, or, even, can't get enough of--Look at the TV listings any night of the week. So, why do we--Americans--become so interested in crime stories? What about them intrigues us so? Why are we so interested in detective stories? or Why can't we get enough of detective stories (or the detective's story)?

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 19:08:11 GMT

So, again, we'll read to the end of the novel for Friday. Your journal should respond to the end. Response should be two-fold. One, how did you respond to the end in the sense of what you as a reader want/need? Were you satisified? Did you enjoy the end? And two, what is the effect of this novel? What is its value? Why do you imagine it holds a place in the American literature canon?

I'll take journals home over the weekend. On Monday, we'll answer any dangling questions about the novel, and I'll do two things in review: 1) Review the course itself--as a course (some expectations, review grading matters, upcoming assignments) and 2) Review the course--as a course of study (highlighting what needs to be understood about what we've covered). So, you won't have to do anything in preparation for Monday (except for making it point to be in attendance).

Mon, 07 Feb 2005 19:48:16 GMT

For Wed., read to p.131 (end of CH 18). Quiz, a certainty. Journals collected, a certainty, as well. The journal entry for Wed. asks you to look at our list of connections we've made across texts, and to find and discuss one place in the text which continues to advance any one of these ideas (that is, a place in the text--a passage or a line--that seems to be commenting on, advancing, thinking about, creating a figure, for this one idea.) So, simply on Wed. you should be able to point us to a place to look at, briefly remind us what is going on (context), and then quickly tell us how it relates to any one of these ideas:

*the importance of place (that is, what the text has to say about the place its depicting and what it does to the people who, citing Esperanza, "do and don't belong to it").
*loneliness (its causes and effects)
*desire (what drives these people?, what are they driven toward?, what are they after?)--we also used the words desperation and want (what do they want? can their wants be satisfied?, how?)
*escape (what are these people trying to escape from? what traps are they finding in their escape "route"? is escape possible?)
*real/fake (scenes where the distinction between the real and the fake is depicted)
*reality/perception (scenes where reality and perception don't fit)
*money/capital (how does it affect these people's lives?).

And if you think there's something else that needs to be added to this list, anyone can reply to this journal and post another topic.

Notes:
Semiotics is the science of signs, studying how they work. A sign is anything (image, word) that needs to be interpreted. A sign has two parts. The "signifier" is the word/image's materiality. For example, the image of Paul McCartney. The "signified" represents the meaning attibuted to that signifier. The image of Paul McCartney at the SuperBowl was to signify a "cross-generation appeal;" Or course, ultimately, the signifier "Paul McCartney" was hoped to signify "safety", "squeaky clean," "noncontroversial." Of course, for some people, it signified "boring." An irony, of course, is that at one point in history the signifier "Paul McCartney" signified "rebellion," "revolution," ect. So, Paul McCarteny is real person who lives a real life but as "sign" his signification (his meaning) can signify in multiple ways.

The fantasy or dream, of course, would be for signs to signify in one way. Here's how Oedipa's "paranoid" inheritance works: the desire for meaning, guarantees, the word that would explain everything, closure. This, too, tends to be the reading inheritance (the sense-making inheritance) most of us have. (Somebody remind me to give the best example of this inheritance on Wed.).

So the posthorn is a sign that can be read in multiple ways (the IA founder's story points this out but so does the multiple undergrounds that claim it). Oedipa wants to name it, understand its origin, wants it signify in one way (the truth). Of course, the Trystero, we discover, exceeds her/our ability to "read" it in the way we've inherited (think about its relationship to entropy, as Shawn explained it). But the groups that claim the posthorn (and the WASTE system that connects them) don't have that same concern. They've let the posthorn signify in multiple ways and have been able to build a community around their acceptance of various interpretations of the world (Think about how easily these ideas relate to the problems facing the world right now and the interpretive battles being fought over the sign of "Freedom").

I hope to provide something like an outline of our discussions of Lot 49 soon that will point to the main ideas/important passages. But, the way we move from Lot 49 to The Day of the Locust will help us see what the "actual residue" (what survives after the fact) of Lot 49 truly is.