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CT I

SCENE I. Venice. A street.

Enter RODERIGO and IAGO

RODERIGO

Tush! never tell me; I take it much unkindly
That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse
As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.

IAGO

‘Sblood, but you will not hear me:
If ever I did dream of such a matter, Abhor me.

RODERIGO

Thou told’st me thou didst hold him in thy hate.

IAGO

Despise me, if I do not. Three great ones of the city,
In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,
Off-capp’d to him: and, by the faith of man,
I know my price, I am worth no worse a place:
But he; as loving his own pride and purposes,
Evades them, with a bombast circumstance
Horribly stuff’d with epithets of war;
And, in conclusion,
Nonsuits my mediators; for, ‘Certes,’ says he,
‘I have already chose my officer.’
And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
A fellow almost damn’d in a fair wife;
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric,
Wherein the toged consuls can propose
As masterly as he: mere prattle, without practise,
Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had the election:
And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds
Christian and heathen, must be be-lee’d and calm’d
By debitor and creditor: this counter-caster,
He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,
And I–God bless the mark!–his Moorship’s ancient.

Argument template from class/ Explicit, Implicit, Extended analysis of quotes

Writing guidelines & resources

Below is attached the templates for arguments that we looked at in class, including a revised argument. Basically, here are the steps you would take:

  1. Try to fill out the template (I want to write about ______ in _______ because…)
  2. Likely, you will end up with a rather long and unwieldy sentence after filling in that template. Refine/revise it by taking out unnecessary words, splitting it into two sentences using a transition word like “Consequently”).
  3. Look at the templates under “Other Templates for Argument,” to see if you can refine your argument further using one of the templates listed there.
    1. Example: Through X (part of the text), the play/epic reveals Y (your claim about what that part of the text reveals).

Argument template JMWD

I’ve also made a Prezi on what we talked about in class on explicit, implict, extended meanings of quotes (make sure to do all three whenever you bring up a quotation in your paper!)

Prezi on writing about quotes/close reading: saying the explicit, implicit, and extended meaning of quotations

Analytical paper following up on oral midterm (due 3/26, 11:59pm)

analytical midterm paper, Writing assignments

Assignment:

For your midterm essay, write a paper of at least 1500 words (up to 1700) that focuses on ONE of  the texts we have read in the course so far, makes an argument about the text, and supports that argument. Your argument should be your answer to a larger thematic question (see possible questions from oral midterm exam, these potential paper topics, which are based on the questions from the oral midterm, or these prompts on Sakuntala/Medea).  In other words, you are a tour guide through the text, making your argument about the text, telling us how to read it and why we should read it that way by giving evidence and interpreting it (telling us why the word, images, structures make us read it in a specific way). This means you should avoid just summarizing the plot: I have read these texts already–I want YOU to tell me HOW I should read them!

While this paper should focus on one text, you should also compare different VOICES in the text (if you are making an argument about Medea, you should compare her perspective to that of Creon’s, the nurse’s, Jason’s, etc, in order to make your point). Additionally, in your second to last paragraph, you should briefly bring in one of the other texts from the class and discuss how this 2nd text’s take on your topic illuminates something about the values of the culture in the text you have focused on for your paper (for example, when discussing duty in the BG, you might bring in Medea’s ideas of what is owed to the family and to oaths to highlight a different perspective on duty as well as what the BG’s conception of duty says about the culture/society it comes out of. Or, you might compare the BG’s conception of duty to Sakuntala’s–for both, duty is defined as dharma, but the two texts present dharma in different ways).

You may want to focus on expanding an argument or exploring a question that you addressed in one of your short papers.

Short paper no. 4 is your draft of this paper. See specific prompt for it at the bottom of this post.

Breakdown of what to include:

Your paper must have a clearly stated thesis in the first paragraph and you must develop your argument in a logical, persuasive manner throughout the rest of the essay, support your points with textual evidence, and conclude with a paragraph that summarizes your findings. Thus, your paper should contain the following elements: argument, evidence, interpretation of evidence. It should have the follow elements: introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion. I have attached a further explanation of what I mean by these things, and I have attached a template you can use to fill in the blanks and create an argument.

  • Introduction (last sentence or two: your argument)
  • Body paragraphs (topic sentence + evidence + interpretation of evidence)
  • Conclusion (restate points + so what)

Structure:

Here are two possible structures for your paper. Both are valid; it depends on your style:

1)Argument-driven: In your introduction paragraph, introduce a research question you seek to answer and give your answer (thesis statement) at the end of the paragraph. Use your body paragraphs to prove that thesis statement.

2) Inquiry-driven:  In your introduction, introduce a research question you seek to answer; use your body paragraphs to explore this question; come to a conclusion/answer (thesis statement) in your conclusion paragraph.

Format:

  • At least 1500 words (no less: you will lose points if your paper is any shorter). Provide a word count: Do not hand in handwritten assignments to me; stapled/paper clipped
  • Title and Page numbers
  • Bibliography and citations in MLA format
  • Times 12 point font
  • 1-inch margins
  • Double spaced; No extra spaces after paragraphs
  • Fully edited: free of typographical, spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors
  • Formal language: avoid “you,” “well,” and other slang words.

Resources:

Fill in the blanks to make an argument

More argument templates with examples

Notes on argument, evidence, interpretation

***

Draft for analytical paper, focusing on structure (short paper number 4): 3/7, 3/9 or 3/14

In our short papers so far, we’ve asked questions, tried to pose answers to these questions (as arguments), and tried to use textual evidence to support/build on those arguments (evidence and interpretation). The last thing I want you to focus on before your oral midterm and analytical paper is structure, which is one of the most useful interpretive tools, but also often difficult to see if you are not used to reading for it. This can mean simple repetition, but it can also mean direct parallels being drawn (through repeated images, colors, comparisons, speech, and linguistic echoes). If a parallel is drawn we need to pay attention.

Parallels are not always positive; they may be highlighting differences (or, the difference may be calling our attention to a change in character, or a change in the intensity of the situation). For example, Sakuntala features the king spying on another character in a garden in Act I and Act VII, but the scene in Act VII has a much different tone and resonance. To do more than point out parallels, you need to think about where the passages occur. As parallels build up, they play a part in making sense of the narrative and how we are supposed to interpret it. For example, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are both described at different points as being shaggy and wild, but it means something different, and has different weight, when we see Gilgamesh described this way after Enkidu’s death. You can consider: has the meaning of an image (or whatever the parallel is) changed based on context?

Please write a response paper of 1-2 pages on the text you want to work with/write about in your analytical paper, in which you make an argument about how the text is structured (in other words, what looking at the structure allows you to see about the text’s meaning), how it deploys parallels, and to what end. Alternately, make the argument you want to make in your analytical paper, and use what you’re saying about structure to help you build/support it. Be sure to make an argument and use textual evidence  (this means quote the text) to support it, again showing me your annotations

Oral midterm (3/16)

oral midterm exam, Writing assignments

Oral midterm examination:

For your midterm, you are going to pick one of the following questions (or a question of your choice, as long as you vet it with me) and one character from one of the texts we have read so far. Then, you will answer the question you have chosen from that character’s perspective–what would be that character’s point of view on the question? How do they enact that point of view–and are they successful in enacting it (do their actions match their perspective)? Consider what investments the character has in the issue, how the character might define concepts in the question (for example, what is “love” for Enkidu and Gilgamesh vs for Medea?), and what biases and concerns they might have.

For the midterm itself, you will present to me, one on one, the perspective of this character using passages from the text (you should bring a one-page sheet with passages from the text you plan to use). You will have 3-4 minutes to make your claims about the point of view of your character in relation to this question, so you should be prepared to be direct, to point to  and quote specific passages to find evidence and to prove that your passages support your claim by using the words/imagery/tone in the passage.

Questions (if there are other questions you want to address, suggest them to me): 

  1. Right action: How does your character define what is right in complicated situations–how does your character determine what is the right thing to do? How do we learn what is right based on the character’s actions/beliefs and on the text?
  2. The city/the city vs. the natural world: To your character, is the city something worthy of celebration, and why? If your character has some doubts on this issue, what are some critiques of the city, especially in light of what it does to nature and human relationship to it? What is the text trying to show about the city, and/or about the natural world, through your character?
  3. Quest: For your character, what is worth seeking out, and why? How does what the character seeks define him/her? What is the text trying to illuminate, through your character and his/her quest?
  4. Duty: If duty is what is “due,” then what defines what is due for your character–society, responsibility to another individual, honor? How should the character show, demonstrate, or fulfill his/her duty, and what are some complications that get in the way of fulfilling duty? How does the character respond to, fulfill, or fail to fulfill their duty/duties? What is the text trying to illuminate through your character’s relationship to (and response to) her/her duties?
  5. Love: How does the text/character present love, and what is it? According to your character, does love occur between people, or does the character define love in another way (i.e., love of duty): what is worth loving, and why, according to your character, or the text through your character? According to your character, or the text through your character, what does he/she owe to what/who he/she loves, and why–what are the obligations of love?
  6. Heroism: How does your character define heroism and being a hero, and why? (Alternately, how does your character define being a good leader and why?). What do you think the text is showing about being a leader/hero through your character?
  7. Role of women:  What is the role of women as seen through your character’s eyes: what power/agency do the women have, and/or how do they see themselves potentially as disempowered or disadvantaged? What is the text trying to illuminate about women and their roles in society through your character? (Note: the answer to this question shouldn’t just be “women are treated as lesser”–dig deeper than that. Women have agency and authority in interesting ways in some of the works we’ve read).
  8. Lesson: As we’ve seen, texts often seek to educate their readers in some way (emotionally, as future citizens of a city-state, through the education of an irresponsible king, etc). What lesson or lessons do you think are imparted through your character (through his/her actions, behavior, and general presence in the text)?

Practice beforehand: 

  1. In-class practice/modeling through class debate (9/30); possible in-class practice for 10/7.
  2. Group-work (10/14), where you will bring in some passages you want to refer to and, in groups of three, give each other feedback on the claims and ideas you have.
  3. During midterm itself (10/21), you will sit with your group and use the time you’re waiting in to practice with each other. I’ll give 5 minutes at the top of class for the first person on the list to practice.

Due for midterm: 

  • Mon, 3/14: Come prepared with your character, question/theme, and some passages chosen for group feedback.
  • Midterm date itself, 3/16: Bring your passages on one sheet of paper with annotations (underlining, highlighting, notes in the margins, even an outline on the side of your passages), and, of course, yourself and your voice.

Grading: Since this is not a public speaking course per se, I will not be judging you on things like how often you say “um,” and if you’re a little nervous, that’s okay.  Here is what I will judge you on:

A= While you demonstrate that you understand concepts we covered in class, you also have made your own independent claim and brought in new textual evidence, or taken textual evidence we have discussed and looked at it from a different angle; you competently close read the textual evidence you quoted/mentioned to prove your claim(s).

B= You restate concepts we covered in class, but you have shown some effort to bring in a new idea and passages. You make an attempt to close read the textual evidence you quoted/mentioned to prove your claim(s).

C= You restate concepts, ideas and passages that we have covered in class, and you do it competently. You do not, however, bring in anything new, in terms of claims or passages

D= You briefly restate some ideas we have covered in class, but some claims may be inaccurate. You rarely refer to the text itself.

F= You do not state ideas we have covered in class, or are very vague about these ideas, and you make claims that may be inaccurate or too general, without referring to the text itself.

Notes:

  • Note that in the case of a text like The Hymn to Aten, the “character” you choose might be the narrator.
  • We may be able to make more time if some people would be around to do this in my office hours after class OR in the period the room is open before class starts (about 30 minutes before)

Welcome to the class blog

Uncategorized

Welcome: I hope you find this a productive space in which to explore the texts we read. While each student is assigned a blog post and four responses, feel free to use this blog to post questions, links to relevant videos and information, and thoughts at any time; we can use these posts to generate discussion in the classroom.

If you have IT troubles or are new to WordPress, here’s the link to the Blogs@Baruch help forum: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/groups/blogsbaruch-help/forum/. Here’s the link for the “Support for Students” page, which explains in more detail how these blogs work: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/support/for-blog-authors/.

Just to clarify what you can find here vs. on Blackboard:

On the blog site: Details about assignments,  details about extra credit, and, of course, your own thoughtful blog posts!

On Blackboard: Photocopies/scans of readings that are not in the Norton (and readings for the first 2 weeks of class)

Short paper prompts for the semester

short paper prompts, Writing assignments

Note: short paper prompts beyond the first one are still in the stages of being revised as of 2/1/16.

Short paper #1 (due 2/8 or 2/10)

Asking Questions

As you know, your first short paper is due one of two days, depending on when you choose is best for you to do it: Monday, 2/8 or Wednesday, 2/10 (usually dates short papers are due won’t be so close to each other!). Your short paper should be on the text due to be read for that day, though you may compare that text to something we’ve read on a previous class day. In other words, here’s what you should write about depending on the day you choose to hand in the paper.

Wednesday, February 8th

Gilgamesh, 95-99 (overview), 99-124

Thursday, February 10th

Gilgamesh, 124 (Tablet VI)-151

****

Asking questions: Find a passage in the reading for the day that confuses you, sparks your interest, calls your attention, or seems like it might be interpreted in a few different ways. Start by asking yourself the simple questions “what do I find confusing or ambiguous about this passage?” and “why is that confusing?” What confuses you or interests you about this passage: is it something in the language or imagery? Is the way a character behaves  unexpected or unusual to you, or do the social/cultural values the text presents feel unfamiliar or confusing? Do you just feel uncertain about what is going on in the text, or why it is happening?

Assignment: In 1-2 pages, present the passage (or passages) and your questions about it; explain how the text creates this ambiguity/confusion, and the effect that it has on you as a reader (does it make you uncomfortable, frustrate you, leave you wanting to know something? Does it make you start guessing about possible outcomes? Do you feel you have a cultural ignorance about the social values of the people who would have read or heard these texts when they were produced?). Try to pose some possible answers to these questions, and pay attention, where you can, to how being geographically and temporally distanced from the culture this text comes from affects how we read and understand it.

  • Purpose: By asking these questions, we can begin to weed out what makes a good research question for a paper vs. what makes for a factual question that has a brief answer (A factual question might be, “Who is Gilgamesh historically?” while a good research/interpretative question might be “Are we expected to admire Gilgamesh and his actions, or should we critique him in some way?”). A factual question results, usually, in one answer; a solid research question allows for several answers, which means we can get a debatable argument out of it.

Short paper #2 (due 2/17, 2/22, or 2/24)

Argument

Close reading and argument: When we close read, we “observe facts and details about the text,” looking for patterns (repetitions, contradictions, similarities between characters and other parts of the text) (Kain). To observe and find these patterns, we should focus our attention on short, manageable passages of a longer text and annotate, or write notes on and next to, these shorter passages (annotation is a good way to help us keep track of observations, force ourselves to pay close attention, and to think not just silently, but through our writing itself). We then interpret these observations in order to make an argument (which should be an answer to a question or questions you formed while annotating and close reading the text).  An interpretation of a text is an argument for how to understand it AND why that matters. If we start from the assumption that all texts are trying to teach us something, then the interpretation is an argument for what it is trying to teach us, how it does so, and why that lesson matters for the text

Assignment:

  1. Repeat the process you did for the first short paper: Find a passage that sparks your interest, that you think could have multiple meanings, or that you find ambiguous: in other words, a passage about which you have some questions (remember short paper no 1!).
  2. Pay attention to the language of the passage: observe the language of the text by annotating it. In other words, underline/highlight key words and phrases–”anything that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions”–and make notes about the text in the margins (provide a cell phone picture or a copy of your annotations so I can see them) (Kain). As you did for the first short paper, ask questions that arise for you based on the passage (repetitions that strike you as odd, characters whose motivations are unclear to you, questions about whether a passage is celebrating or critiquing a social value presented in the text–see short paper prompt #1).
  3.  After you have attended to the words of the passage and asked your questions, try to find  an online source that provides some kind of possible answer to one of your questions. Present that answer–that argument–in your short paper (and cite clearly where you found it!). Note that an argument should be debatable (in other words, another person should be able to disagree with it), so if your question does not lead to a debatable answer, you haven’t found a good enough question for an argument (For example, the answer to the question “Who is Arjuna’s charioteer in Bhagavad Gita?” is “Krishna,” and no one will disagree about that).
  4. After presenting the argument from the online source, give YOUR response to that argument: agree, but add something new (agree with a difference), disagree, and say why you disagree, or agree and disagree at the same time and explain why (say to what point you agree with it, but where you diverge, or point out a complication with the original argument from the online source). The point here is not to regurgitate an argument from the internet, but to create your OWN, more specific argument in response to a general claim that you might find on Schmoop.com or Sparknotes.

Some instruction in how to do a close reading: http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how-do-close-reading

Works Cited:

Kain, Patricia. “How to do a close reading.” Harvard College Writing Center. Harvard U, 1998. Web. 21 Sep. 2014.

Short paper #3 (due 2/29 or 3/2)

Evidence and interpretation/analysis

Assignment: So far, you’ve had to write a paper that posed questions about an ambiguous moment or moments in a text we’ve read, and a paper that tried to pose an argument based on addressing one of those questions. For this assignment, we’ll be zooming even more into textual evidence and interpretation. Write a 1-2 page paper about Medea, focusing on a few lines of the text (again, try to use lines that you find ambiguous/are open to multiple ways of reading; you should quote these lines in your paper), and giving your interpretation of what they mean and why they are important. Pay attention to details (specific word choices, imagery, etc) in your interpretation. At the end of this interpretation, pose an argument that you think your interpretation of these lines could support.   Please do some close reading (of no more than 4–5 lines if possible; however, you may refer back to other lines/phrases in the text in your interpretation), and annotate those lines–again, provide evidence of your annotation in the form of a photocopy or photograph or show it to me in class (and the annotation should not just be you highlighting the lines–make some marginal notes, underline certain words that are important).

(If you want more specific questions to address about either of the plays in order to fulfill the goals of this assignment, click here: More specific questions about Medea and Sakuntala. You will still need to find a passage and interpret it, but these questions might help you to focus your ideas.)

Purpose: Fundamental to making an argument convincing is the use of  evidence to support it. In the case of literary analysis this means quoting the text. However,  for the use of textual evidence to be meaningful in terms of making an argument, you need to explain how the evidence does what you claim it does. That is, you see the language (or  structure or character, etc.) as ambiguous in some sense and in need of analysis to fully explain how to understand what the text is conveying.

Yet it is important to remember that there are multiple possible interpretations for any moment of ambiguity and you are making a case for one of those. Therefore, it is necessary to show what the ambiguity is and then show evidence from the text that supports your interpretation (disambiguation) of that ambiguity. You need to explain how it does what you claim because your audience does not necessarily read the same way you do. Your interpretation is immediately clear to you because you have made the connections in your head, but you need to make them clear to someone else.

Short paper #4 (due 3/7, 3/9, or 3/14)

Structure (draft for analytical paper)

In our short papers so far, we’ve asked questions, tried to pose answers to these questions (as arguments), and tried to use textual evidence to support/build on those arguments (evidence and interpretation). The last thing I want you to focus on before your oral midterm and analytical paper is structure, which is one of the most useful interpretive tools, but also often difficult to see if you are not used to reading for it. This can mean simple repetition, but it can also mean direct parallels being drawn (through repeated images, colors, comparisons, speech, and linguistic echoes). If a parallel is drawn we need to pay attention.

Parallels are not always positive; they may be highlighting differences (or, the difference may be calling our attention to a change in character, or a change in the intensity of the situation). For example, Sakuntala features the king spying on another character in a garden in Act I and Act VII, but the scene in Act VII has a much different tone and resonance. To do more than point out parallels, you need to think about where the passages occur. As parallels build up, they play a part in making sense of the narrative and how we are supposed to interpret it. For example, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are both described at different points as being shaggy and wild, but it means something different, and has different weight, when we see Gilgamesh described this way after Enkidu’s death. You can consider: has the meaning of an image (or whatever the parallel is) changed based on context?

Please write a response paper of 1-2 pages on the text you want to work with/write about in your analytical paper, in which you make an argument about how the text is structured (in other words, what looking at the structure allows you to see about the text’s meaning), how it deploys parallels, and to what end. Alternately, make the argument you want to make in your analytical paper, and use what you’re saying about structure to help you build/support it. Be sure to make an argument and use textual evidence  (this means quote the text) to support it, again showing me your annotations

Short paper #5 (due 3/28, 3/30, 4/4, 4/6)

For short paper #5, repeat what we’ve practiced in short papers #2, #3, and #4: Pick a short passage (a few lines or sentences) and close read it, making sure to annotate your text and provide evidence of that annotation. This time, however, I want you to find 1-2 other translations of the passage you chose, and compare them to each other: how do these different translations seem like and unlike each other? What changes in vocabulary, tone, and even content do you see, and what is significant, to your mind, about these changes? What effect do you think one translator is going for versus another (for example, is one using more exuberant language to create a melodramatic effect)?

In 1-2 pages, present your observations of these differences and similarities and what you think is significant about them.

Note: if you can find a translation into another language you also read (such as French or Spanish), that’s great too–you might compare these translations across languages).

Links to a few alternate translations:

Kokinshu: Translations by Thomas McAuley:

Book 1. Spring

Poem 1:http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0321.shtml 

Poem 2: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0322.shtml

Poem 3: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0323.shtml

Poem 23: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0331.shtml

Poem 25: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0332.shtml

Poem 26: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0333.shtml

Book 2: Spring

Poem 69: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0346.shtml

Poem 70: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0347.shtml

Poem 71: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0348.shtml

Book 11: Love

Poem 553: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0591.shtml

Poem 554: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0592.shtml

Book 13: Love

Poem 635: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0641.shtml

Poem 657: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0647.shtml

Poem 658: http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0648.shtml

Translations of Kokinshu poems by Larry Hammer: http://lnhammer.livejournal.com/182467.htm

Tang Dynasty Poetry: A google search for these poems will lead you to several different translations of the poems we read by Li Bo, Du Fu, Wang Wei and Bo Juyi. Here are a few links:

Poems in Chinese, pinyin, literal English, poetic English

Wang Wei

Du Fu

Li Bo

One Thousand and One Nights:

Prologue/Frame Tale: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/burt1k1/tale00.htm

The Tale of the Donkey and the Bull (the one the Vizier tells his daughter, Shahrzad): http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/burt1k1/tale00.htm

(will try to post others: can Google as well)

Short paper #6 (due 4/11, 4/13, 4/18, 4/20)

Structure Part II: Details TBD

Quoting guidelines: introducing quotes and using punctuation with quotes

Writing guidelines and resources

Quotation Punctuation Rules: 

When you introduce a quotation:

  1. Make it a part of the sentence:
    1. Both sides claimed to act “in strict accordance with the will of God” ( ).
  2. Use a comma for short introductions that identify who said/wrote the quotation:
    1. According to Stifler, “The great Lincoln was nurtured on the Bible as few men ever have been” ( ).
  3. Use a colon for longer introductions that give an interpretation of the quotation:
    1. Lincoln’s actions on slavery, as on all important issues, were governed by his creed: “What doth the Lord require of thee, but do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” ().
  4. Use a comma to interrupt quotations:
    1. “Take away the Bible,” William Lloyd Garrison said, “and our war-fare with oppression…is removed” ( ).
  5. Use a comma to identify who said the quotation at the end
    1. The prophets were particularly outspoken on the subject. “Woe unto him…who useth his neighbor’s services without wages,” Jeremiah wrote.

As for quoting in literature….

WAYS TO INTRODUCE QUOTATIONS INTO YOUR TEXT: Make sure, if you quote from a text, that you have an introduction tag that connects your own writing to the quote. Here are a few examples:

1. Subject + verb: “She states” “He remarks” (subjects: he and she; verbs: states and remarks)

Aeneas states, “I who had never flinched at the hurtling spears or swarming Greek assaults–now every stir of wind, every whisper of sound alarms me, anxious both for the child beside me and the burden on my back” (Book 2, lines 902-906).

When Kreon claims, “The brave deserve better than the vile ,“ Antigone responds, “Who knows what matters to the dead?” (lines 564-565).

  • Note that, with dialogue, this is the form you should use: simply listing lines on the page often takes up too much room in the paper and then does not give you enough room, as a writer, to develop your analysis.

When called before Kreon, Antigone declares, “It wasn’t Zeus who issued me/This order“ (lines lines 487-488). She further claims, “Justice–who lives below–/was not involved. They’d never condone it!” (488-489).

As Arjuna prepares to enter battle against his family members, he questions, “O Krishna, what good is kingship?/What good even life and pleasure?” (Chapter 1, verse 32).

According to Enkidu, his introduction to the city and civilization ruins him. He tells Shamhat, ”May your purple finery be expropriated…Because you diminished me, an innocent,/ Yes me, an innocent, you wronged me in my steppe” (lines 83, 85-6).

2. According to….

According to The Hymn to Aten, “When [the sun sets] in western lightland/Earth is in darkness as if in death” (lines 13-14).

According to Enkidu, “he who falls quickly in battle dies glorious” (Tablet VII, line 171).

3. Full sentence + quote

Although Aeneas’ actions towards Dido appear cold and cruel, he demonstrates his love and his duty to his son, Ascanius: “My son Ascanius…I feel the wrong I do/to one so dear, robbing him of his kingdom…his fields decreed by fate” (Book IV, lines 442-444).

Gilgamesh’s repetition of his friend Enkidu’s name and titles after Enkidu dies highlights and emphasizes his grief: “How can I be silent? How can I hold my peace? My friend whom I loved is turned into clay,/Enkidu, my friend whom I loved, is turned into clay!” (Tablet X, lines 58-60).

Krsna, as he defends the justness of the war Arjuna is about to partake in, affirms the importance of acting without being attached, or affected by, the consequences: “He whose mind controls his senses/ who undertakes the discipline/ of action by the action-organs/ without attachment, is renowned” (Chapter 3, verse 7)

Dido’s overwhelming love for Aeneas undermines her ability to properly rule her city: “The towers of Carthage, half built, rise no more,/and the young men quit their combat drills in arms” (Book 4, lines 107-108)

Citing the Norton Anthology

Writing guidelines and resources

WORKS CITED:

Author’s last name, first name. Title of Work. Trans. Name of Translator. The Norton Anthology of  World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. A/B/C. New York: Norton, 2012. Page numbers. Print.

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Trans Benjamin R. Foster. The Norton Anthology of
World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. A. New York: Norton, 2012. 95-151. Print.

IN TEXT: Use parenthetical citations AFTER the quote! 

As Arjuna prepares to enter battle against his family members, he questions, “O Krishna, what good is kingship?/What good even life and pleasure?” (Chapter 1, verse 32). 

AVOID SAYING PAGE/LINE NUMBERS IN SENTENCE ITSELF:  In Chapter 1, Arjuna says, “O Krishna, what good is kingship?/What good even life and pleasure?” 

  • Save page numbers for citation; instead, give context for quote (who says it, what is happening, etc)!

 

MORE ON IN-TEXT CITATIONS: For your short papers and other papers, here is how you should do your in-text citations from Norton World Anthology texts:

For texts with line numbers and section numbers: instead of citing the page number, instead cite section and line number

Gilgamesh: cite the tablet number and the line number. For the first time you cite it, write the words “tablet” and “lines” out: (Tablet X, line 13). After that, just give numbers: (X.14-17).

Bhagavad Gita: cite the chapter number and the verse number. For the first time you cite it, write the words “chapter” and “verse” out: (Chapter 3, verse 33). After that, just give numbers (3.43).

Medea: cite the line number of the text. For the first time you cite it, write the word “lines” out: (lines 119-120). From there on out, just cite the number (143-145). Same goes for Hymn to the Aten.

Sakuntala and Othello: cite the act and line number.  For the first time you cite it, write the words “act” and “lines” out: (Act IV, lines 119-120). After that, just give numbers (IV.119-120).

Short poems (Tang dynasty poems: cite the line number of the poem. For the first time you cite it, write the word “lines” out: (line 1). From there on out, just cite the number (1).

The Pillow Book: cite entry number and page number (20, p. 1136).

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:  cite the Fitt and line number.  For the first time you cite it, write the words “Fitt” and “lines” out: (Fitt 1, lines 70-73). After that, just give numbers (1.70-73).

Museum/play extra credit

Extra credit

If you go to a museum: Find an artifact (or even an exhibit!) that somehow relates to a text we’ve read (the Met has an Egyptian wing, for example, which you might relate to the Hymn to Aten, and exhibits on Iraq might relate to both Gilgamesh and the 1,001 Nights). This artifact might also relate thematically: for example, we might not have read a text that relates, culturally and historically, to a painting or sculpture or other piece of art you find interesting, but maybe it makes you think about a theme or topic we’ve discussed a lot, like duty or how women have been perceived in history (similar to how we looked at a Li Bo poem about drinking in light of a Kendrick Lamar song also about drinking). Try to see what information you can gain about it based on information placards near the object (for example, the approximate century it’s from, or what kind of object it is).  Then, write a 250 word blog post about the artifact/artifacts/exhibit, providing a picture of it if you can (though, of course, make sure you are clear on the museum’s policies on photography; often you have to make sure your flash is off); in this blog post, tell us a little bit about the object’s history/context, and what connection you see between the artifact(s) and text/texts we’ve read in class. Provide me with your ticket stub so I can see that you went.

If you go to a play: After seeing the play (and look for student pricing–Theatre for a New Audience, as I noted, has $20 student tickets, and if you sign up at tdf.org as a full-time student, you can get ticket deals on Broadway/Off Broadway plays, ballets, etc–though there is a yearly price for this service of about $20-$30), write a blog post (~250 words) about it, relating it to what we’ve read/discussed in class in some way: how does the play you’ve seen further or deepen your thoughts on something we’ve read, or a topic we’ve discussed (like how to decide the right thing to do, how to “read for culture,” the way women are depicted in texts)–try, however, to connect it to a text we’ve read if you can.  Provide me with your ticket stub so I can see that you went

Feel free to make a social outing of it and go with other classmates–however, you should each make sure to either 1) do separate blog posts about separate objects/do separate blog posts about the play you saw, or 2) work together on doing one, longer blog post about a few different objects/about the play.

This works the same as Writing Center extra credit: a point on your grade overall.