English 2850: Great Works of World Literature II

–Do you think that Gregor is more powerful BEFORE or AFTER his metamorphosis?  Explain your response.

–How is Gregor’s family transformed in the wake of his metamorphosis?

–At the end of the second section of the story, Gregor’s father pelts him with apples.  What do you think this episode is about?

–Gregor emerges from his room one last time when he hears his sister playing her violin for the lodgers.  What is the significance of this? What meaning does music hold for Gregor here?

–Ultimately, what do you think Gregor’s metamorphosis means?  What does it mean to be transformed into a giant bug?

–Explain your understanding of Gregor’s death.  How/why does he ultimately die?

I’ve always been a DIY (Do it yourself) kind of person and after looking into all the workshops that were offered, Wax-Seal Stamp Making workshop intrigued me the most. The instructor being polite and very patient made the process fun and easy to do. Giving everyone a small ball of clay, we had to craft the small ball into a form of a stamp. Making the ends flat but on the middle it had to be thin, that’s where we would be able to grip the stamp with our fingers. The instructor offered us free cans of soda and as you may see, I chose a Mountain Dew soda.

Once the small ball of clay was shaped into a stamp, the instructor would take one last look at it to see if it was properly molded. Using the pencil-like stick, it helped smooth the edges of the stamp. As well as helping form a small design on the ends of the stamp. After receiving approval, the instructor would ask us to decorate on either or both sides of the stamp. Anything was acceptable because it was just for fun. For my stamp I put a smiley face and a weird thumbs up which didn’t come out as I hoped, but it’s okay because I had fun making it. The instructor had a small oven, where the heat of the oven would mold the stamp. Everyone’s stamp was put into the oven, each 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes it was time to see how our stamps looked. The instructor gave us each a small ripped paper and a variety of colored candles to choose from. Providing us with a lighter to ignite the candle that when once on, the wax of the candle would drip onto the piece of paper and we would try to make the wax into a circular size, so we can put our stamps on it, leave for 10 seconds and pick it up. Once picked up, you would be able to see the design you did on your stamp onto the wax that was on the piece of paper, it was definitely a fun experience.

–The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived.  Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story.

–What is the connection between our narrator and Weifu?  Why do you think so much of the story is spent on Weifu’s life, while the narrator shares very little about his own life experiences?

–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?

–Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger.  What is the significance of this memory?

–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story.  What is its significance?

–What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?

As an extension of our study of Modernism, you will be exploring Modernism in visual art through a visit to one of the NYC museums listed below:

Museum of Modern Art (www.moma.org) 11 W.53^rd Street

Go to information desk with your CUNY student ID to receive free admission.

Neue Galerie (www.neuegalerie.org) 1048 Fifth Avenue

$10 Admission, free on first Friday of every month from 6-8pm

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org) 1000 Fifth Avenue

Pay as you wish!

At the museum, you will select one piece of work created between 1890 and the beginning of WWII in 1939 that you believe can be described as modernist.  It might be helpful to keep in mind that impressionism, expressionism, cubism, and surrealism are all streams of modernism. On our course blog, post an image of the work (either a photograph taken by you at the museum or an image found online) and a post of 400-500 words about the work. Be sure to include the following elements:

–Basic information about the artist.

–A description of work you selected.

–An analysis of how this work reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism.

–A description of the context in which you encountered the work.

–An explanation of what drew you to this piece.

–Any questions you have about the work.

Your work must be posted to our course blog by Wednesday, May 16th at 5 pm.

Please retain proof of your visit to the museum to be submitted in class on May 14^th or May 16^th.

Topic Due: Friday, May 4th (submit electronically via email to jennifer.sylvor@baruch.cuny.edu)

Paper Due: Sunday, May 20th, uploaded to turnitin.com by midnight.

5-6 pages typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins

Drawing on any two readings we’ve read over the semester, consider the complicated relationship between the individual and society as it’s explored in the works we’ve read.  What issues emerge when society’s demands are not in line with the desires of the individual?  How do the authors we’ve studied see that struggle?

This is a broad subject, so you will need to narrow your scope in order to construct a tightly focused analytical essay.  Your written topic (to be submitted by Friday, May 4th) should show how you’ve adapted the broad issue of the individual and society to suit the particular texts you’re discussing.  For example, you might choose to think about the issue in terms of gender and focus your attention on the conflict between societal demands and individual desires as they relate to women in two of the texts you’ve read.  (This is just one example; we could come up with many more!)  Formulate your topic in the form of a question you are asking about the two texts you’ve chosen.  Keep in mind that this is an analytical essay, not a descriptive one; be sure that your paper does more than simply describe the two texts you’re discussing.

One strategy you may find useful for coming up with your topic is as follows:

–What two texts do you want to write about?

–What area of overlap do you see between the two texts?

–What are you asking about the two texts?

–Once you’ve identified the question you’re asking about your two texts, be sure that your question is not a “yes or no” or “either/or” question and that you will be providing an answer to the “so what?” question.

You may choose your texts from anywhere in the syllabus up to and including “The Metamorphosis.”  However you may not write about the text you wrote about in your first paper of the semester.  Like your first essay, this paper is a close textual analysis, based on your own thinking about the texts we’ve studied.  DO NOT CONSULT ANY SECONDARY SOURCES IN THE PROCESS OF WRITING THIS PAPER

–The poem opens, “Let us go then, you and I….” Whom do you think the speaker is addressing here?
–What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
–Look at the description of the yellow smoke in the second and third stanzas of the poem. What do you make of this description?
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
–Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
–In the final lines of the poem, the speaker shifts from “I” to “We.” How do we explain this shift?

I attended the premiere of “Little Shop of Horrors”, on Tuesday April 10^th, in the Baruch Performing Arts Center. The play was very dynamic and alluded to a lot of social issues. In the play, a plant shop owner in a poor neighborhood experiences success as his orphaned employee discovers a rare plant species. The orphan was glorified for the success but did not relate the sacrifices being made for the up keeping of the plant. The plant fed on human blood. The orphan began willing to sacrifice anyone who got in the way of his success to the plant.

The setting of the play was very significant. The set resembled a ghetto with shabby houses and trash everywhere. The cast referred to this place called Skid Row. Skid Row was known to be a terrible place, poor and filled with poverty. Nothing good came out of this neighborhood in the play. Ironically someone who came from an unsuccessful neighborhood became successful. The set for this neighborhood fit the play perfectly.

I think the plant symbolizes the system we fight against every day. The system of wealth and class. People are willing to sacrifice their education, family, moral etc just to get a glimpse of success or wealth. In the play the orphan had to determine if losing the people around him was worth the publicity he was getting from the plant. This play showed ideologies of realism. It displayed real issues that go on in society. People are willing to step on their friends, family anyone to gain successes. Willing to lie, kill and cheat just for fame and fortune.

I always enjoy making things by myself so I decided to go Wax-Seal Stamp Making Workshop and it is more interesting than I thought. To be honest, it sounds difficult for me to make at first. But after I follow the instructor step by step, it actually quite easy. All you need is some clay, some tool for shape, wax and an oven. First, we take a lump of clay and push it into a cylinder as more smooth as possible. Second, we draw the pattern that you like at the top of cylinder. Then you put it in the oven for about half hour. Finally, you can stamp it when the wax melt.

I drew a pig in the clay because it is my zodiac sigh. It is very hard to draw it perfectly but you can draw some simply pattern like smile face or love shape. That would be much easy to carve and stamp. As you can see in my picture, it is not easy for you can tell it is a pig but I have already tried my best. So, it is easy to stamp it when the pattern as simple as possible. That is my experience for someone who wants to try it for first time. Although the result is not very successful as I expect, I believe practice makes prefects. I believe I can do it better next time. The art workshop is very interesting and meaningful, I can learn something from it and really enjoy attending it.

–How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”?  What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies?

–What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?

–Explain the significance of the details Tagore offers about the marriage between Chandara and Chidam.  How do they help us understand the events of the story?

–How do you understand the title of the story?

–As she approaches death, Chandara both says, “to hell with him,” and maintains that she loves her husband.  How do you reconcile these two apparently contradictory statements?

1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
2. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is full of French words. What purpose do they serve?
3. How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
4. On his deathbed, Ivan asks, “Why, and for what purpose, is there all this horror?” Does the text provide an answer to this weighty question?
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?