Reader Response #3 (50pts) and Reading Assignment: 3/3

Due: Tuesday, March 3, 2009 (hard copy to be handed in by class, or by e-mail, 6p.m.)

Debating the allegory?

Today in class we heard three different debates on what is Kafka’s allegory in “A Hunger Artist”:
1) The artistic struggle, and the lack of appreciation and isolation of an artist?
2) The foolishness of artists, who choose death and despair over happiness?
3) The artist and his aesthetics as saintly or Christ-like?

This debate should help you make a focused and developed argument as to what the story symbolically represents. You may use points brought up in the class debate, restated in your own words and explained in connection with the text. This response, then, is a written reiteration of class discussion; however, you may include points not emphasized in class. Duh!

Choose from options above and write a response in which you clearly state which allegory is Kafka’s intended allegory, from your own reading, and provide supporting points, with example lines from the text.

Tips:

1) Focus on the text and your point, not on you, the writer. This means to erase rhetorical fillers such as “I think” and “I feel” and “I am going to argue.” You, the “I”, is implied simply because you are the author.

2) Re-use the main points used in the debates as topic sentences in the body of your paragraphs! Along with that, your thesis statement then should be where you clarify which allegory Kafka’s intended.

3) This is to say, remember your First Year Writing courses, and provide page numbers in ( ) at end of quoted material. And also, remember the most effective writing provides assertions, support and explanation – not just assertions.
a. Assertion (topic sentence/main points)→Support assertion (textual evidence)→explanation (clarify how support supports your assertion, by discussing what the lines mean!)

Guidelines: 12pt, Times New Roman (Cambria is okay); 1-2 pages double-spaced.

Also, remember to read: 

- p. 215-216 on "theme"

- p. 224-236 and 332-347 (Mukherjee and DH Lawrence)

Kafka and Prague

Debating the Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”

What is the “real” allegory in this story? Is this a story that symbolizes:

1) The artistic struggle, and the lack of appreciation and isolation of an artist?
2) The foolishness of artists, who choose death and despair over happiness?
3) The artist and his aesthetics as saintly or Christ-like?

During class, you will split into three debate teams based on your choice above, and your team will  go back through story to make their arguments!

o Each team should have three major points to present to the class, back and forth, one at a time! (approx. 2-3 min. to make each point)

o Each team should provide and explain textual evidence as support of each point.

o At least three members from each team must speak!

Tuesday, 2/24: Setting

Amy Tan – “A Pair of Tickets”

1) What role does the setting play in helping June May understand herself as Chinese; as a person? Provide textual evidence (page numbers, specific lines).

o Being in China, reflecting back on her American upbringing…

2) How does the setting allow us to learn about a character who has just died – June May’s mother?

o In particular, think about the train ride as a "moving" setting...

Homework Reminder for Thursday: 

Read p. 195-197 on Symbols (learn the vocab), and then read Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” (p.207-214).

Be prepared to discuss what the Hunger Artist may represent, what may he symbolize, and what kind of language does Kafka use to give us this meaning. 

Of course, this means to start analyzing each of the parts of fiction we've done each week: Kafka's use of exposition; the setting; the point of view; allegory; etc.

reminder: Reader Response 2 due on Thursday, 2/19

Reminder that after reading Poe and Hemingway (106-118), Reader Response 2 is due. Here are the guidelines:

Response #2 (50 points)
Due: at beginning of class on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 (hard copy to be handed in)

Welty, Poe ou Hemingway?

We have discussed “the narrator” of our stories beaucoup (a lot). Each of these three authors are known for their distinct narrative styles – Hemingway the exemplary minimalist Modernists, Welty a voice of the South (Southern Gothic), and Poe a master of the macabre and an American pioneer of the short story.

Choose one of the three authors and analyze their respective short story from our anthology, focusing on the narration of the story.

Following are some questions you may use to inspire your response. You DO NOT have to answer them all:

1) What are you told, or not told, by the narrator, and what effect(s) does this have on your reading of the story?

2) How would you describe the narrator as a character? Are they part of the story, at a distance, or are they a big part of the story? What lines help give you their character, and what may the purpose of this type of narration be?

3) Language. How does the narrator’s language shape the world in the story? What may the reader be meant to take away from this world, from how the story is narrated?


Guidelines: 12pt, Times New Roman (Cambria is okay); 1-2 pages double-spaced.
Really work on 1) having a thesis/focused point and develop that one idea, and 2) explain/interpret your quoted lines, don’t allow them to speak for themselves…

response example

Minus the wrong gender assigned to the narrator of "A Conversation with My Father"...this is response which does well to make clear, focused points about the action within the story. And it does a good enough job of explaining the quotes. 

Student Example 1:

Carver v. Paley

Stories like "Cathedral" and "A Conversation with My Father" have the ability to make us understand and question the many controversial aspects of life. Though both stories definitely have meaning worth deep inspection, "A Conversation with My Father" creates many thought provoking questions about life, death, hope, and most importantly tragedy. Paley creates a story that questions the "ending" of all stories and whether people can face tragedy, or if a happy end is ultimately more satisfying.

The first part of this story that is worth close analysis is the relationship between the father and son. While the father may be close to death he still has the vigor to demand a "simple" story from his son, who in return cannot refuse his dying father. To the father the end of the story is also the end of this woman, to him she is simply left alone and he explains that she will not recover. The son completely disagrees with this and becomes irritated. This woman was his invention, his story, and he will not leave her to cry in that house. He argues with his father that she could change, while his father wisely explains, "Truth first. She will slide back. A person must have character. She does not"(Paley 36). His son cannot face the fact that sometimes it is as simple as that, this woman is a tragedy and she will not change. The father attempts to show his son that while a happy ending to this woman's life will make one feel reassured and hopeful, a tragedy is much more truthful. The son cannot rap his mind around the idea that this woman might actually spend the rest of her days in that house longing for her son to come back, while also praying for the courage to stay clean. When the father sees that his son cannot comprehend this imminent tragedy he says, "Tragedy! You too. When will you look it in the face?"(Paley 36). Not only is he questioning his son's ability to face the truth but is also questioning the readers.

It is fascinating to see a person's reaction when confronted with tragedy. No one is prepared for the idea that there will be no happy ending and that maybe everything won't be alright. This is the main reason why this story would make for strong classroom analysis and conversation. Paley zooms in on the human need for hope and reassurance, and we see this with the son who when is confronted with tragedy shields himself with a happy ending.

2/17: In-Class Discussion

The Author and Their Characters: Eudora Welty


As the editors of our anthology write, characterization of a story’s characters is something to ponder and analyze. What is the author’s relationship with their characters? Why are they writing this person to be like this!

Understanding the characterization of a character can lead to a clearer understanding of a story. A good writer is often conscious of portrayal of their characters – how the reader will view them – but the authorial purpose of such portrayals, whether “good” or “bad”, protagonist or antagonist, etc., depends on the author.

Today, we are looking at the characters of “Why I Live at the P.O.,” by Eudora Welty. After breaking into small groups, discuss each of the questions listed below with your peers.

The main goal of today is to debate this question: “What may be Welty’s purpose in giving us this slice of small-town, Southern life, and is her treatment of her characters filled with love or indictment?”


To help answer this main question, it will also be important to look at individual characters and also consider some literary-convention questions…

1. Are the characters round or flat, generally speaking? Are some characters rounder or flatter than others? Provide examples (page # and explanation)?

2. Consider point of view – how would you interpret the story differently if Sister was just another character, and not also the narrator? In other words, how does having Sister be the narrator affect what meaning you pull out of your reading?

3. What kind of character is Papa-Daddy, and how is he represented through Sister’s eyes? Is there judgment from the narrator towards him?

4. What about Uncle Rondo? What is his relationship with Sister, and how do they react to each other?

5. What is the relationship between Sister and Stella-Rondo? How serious is the conflict between the two, and where does that conflict come from?

6. Speaking of conflict, are readers supposed to believe that Sister will, in fact, make a permanent residence at the Post Office of China Grove, Mississippi?

7. If you haven’t (or have!) within you’re above answers, discuss the role of humor/exaggeration in the story, especially in regards to characters – what they say, and how they react to each other.

Is Welty’s use of humor meant to ridicule her characters, or something else?

Sherman Alexie: in-class discussion

1. Does Sherman Alexie’s “Flight Patterns” feel more contemporary to you than either Paley or Carver’s story? What parts of the story make you feel either way? Theme; language; content; plot; something else? Discuss as a group, then explain both the part(s) and those specific lines within the story that fulfill your response.


2. One of the things our class discussed on Tuesday was both the conflict and resolution of a story. Explain what tension/conflict within “Flight Patterns” drove the plot towards its conclusion. What kind of resolution is there at the end of the story? What do you infer about William’s character based on his final actions?


3.In “Flight Patterns” two men discuss how people can become trapped by other people’s ideas of who we are, especially when we are seen in terms of our race. What is the nature of this trap? Is it dangerous? Or merely inconvenient? (from the publisher’s website, Grove Atlantic)


4. Here in “Flight Patterns,” Alexie chooses to go with third person point of view. Thinking back to our first readings, where the narrator was a character, how does this affect the reader’s view of the character? What kinds of information, and possibly language, does the reader get that they may not if the story were told from William’s perspective? In what ways are the narrator and William similar?


5. After reading Alexie’s poem “Father and Farther,” you may notice that the native Indian man is a subject of both the poem and “Flight Patterns.” Discuss how Alexie tonally deals with the subject in each piece. Is there a similar resolution to any of the themes within the poem and the story? What are some statements of the native Indian man Alexie is making?

Reminder: Reading Response 1 due on Tuesday, 2/3

Response #1 (50 points)

Due: at beginning of class on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 (hard copy to be handed in)

Carver v. Paley

Here is your first written chance (in this course) to turn personal preference into an analytical response.

Which story, of the two read for Tuesday, do you prefer? Both authors are considered major writers of the 20th century; both, that is to say, have their literary merit, and are worth analysis.

So, focusing mostly on plot and its effects on the characters, what parts of your favored story – upon a close reading – makes it worth class discussion?

Be specific; quote lines from the text. How do you understand these lines – how do they make the story?

Guidelines: 12pt, Times New Roman (Cambria is okay); 1-2 pages double-spaced.
This will serve as a “diagnostic” as well as your first grade.