Author Archives: JSylvor
Posts: 31 (archived below)
Comments: 192
Rousseau, The Confessions
Please respond to any two of the questions below. You may post your responses as comments on this post, and please take the time to read and respond to your classmates’ comments:
1. Look closely at the opening lines of Rousseau’s autobiography. What is the narrator’s purpose in writing these “confessions”? How do you know? Please refer to specific textual evidence in formulating your response.
2. For Rousseau, what is the relationship between feeling and thinking? What does he mean when he writes, “I had feelings before I had thoughts: that is the common lot of humanity” (60)?
3. What was Rousseau’s childhood like? How does he describe it? Include a quotation or detail from the text in your response.
4. How do you make sense of Rousseau’s admission that he found the spankings he received as a child memorably pleasurable? What does he tell us about this experience? Why does he share it? What do we take away from this part of his story?
4. Why do you think Rousseau chooses to include the anecdote about stealing from his employer? What is its importance? How do we explain Rousseau’s behavior in this story?
5. Using your own language, how would you describe the narrator, given his self-presentation in The Confessions?
Assignments – Week #5
1. Rousseau, The Confessions (excerpt):. Read the short excerpt from Rousseau’s autobiography, The Confessions. This is in volume E of the Norton Anthology. Unfortunately, because of technical issues, I was not able to scan and post this short reading. At this point in the semester, I am assuming that most of you have acquired the required texts. If you don’t have the anthology and can’t do this reading, you may want to do some google-ing and see what you can discover about Rousseau’s autobiography. Please respond to any two of the Rousseau discussion questions (I am sharing these in a separate post.). Your responses should be posted by Wednesday, March 3rd.
2. Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: Read the short excerpt from this text that I have linked to under the “Readings” tab above. In advance of Wednesday’s class, please select one passage (not more than one or two sentences) from the excerpt that seems to you to be particularly meaningful or interesting and post it below (as a comment on this post). In a brief paragraph, please explain what you understand Wollstonecraft to be saying in your passage and why you find it particularly noteworthy. These posts should be shared before our class on Wednesday, March 3rd.
3. Foundational Documents of Democracy: One expression of the Romantic spirit of the late 18th century is a changing vision of the meaning and function of government. Please read the preamble to the U.S. Declaration of Independence (pp.18-19 in Vol. E of the Norton Anthology – the paragraph that begins “We hold these truths to be self-evident….”) and The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (pp. 21-23). Please identify one concept from either document that seems to you to be particularly noteworthy – either historically or in our own era – and share it on the slack channel #foundational documents of democracy. Be sure to explain why this idea stands out for you. These observations should be shared by Friday, March 5th. Then please read your classmates’ responses and comment on at least two of them by Sunday, March 7th.
4. Group Projects Preference Form: Please see my previous post and if you haven’t already done so, complete your group projects preference form and return it to me ASAP!
5. Office Hours:. Please click HERE to access the sign-up sheet for my office hours. Use our regular Zoom link to find me!
Group Project Preference Forms
Your Group Project Preference Forms should already have been turned in to me. If you have not already done so, please use the link to access the form, select your first, second, and third choices and then email the form back to me at [email protected]. Let me know if you have any questions about this or if you are not sure whether or not I’ve received your form. I need to have everyone’s preferences in order to make the group assignments!!!
Assignments – Week #4
- In preparation for our conversation on Wednesday, I recorded a short video about the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. You will need to use the passcode: VGr21%**. to access the video. Once you’ve watched the video, use our slack channel to share one scientific discovery that was made in the 17th or 18th century or one question or takeaway from my remarks. Please do this by Monday, February 22nd.
- Read Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Man”. Pope’s poem is in Volume D of our anthology. If you don’t have the book yet, you can easily locate the poem on the internet. Join our Zoom call on Wednesday, February 24th prepared to present a few thoughts about the section of the poem you’ve been assigned below. (Look for the Roman numerals in the poem to find your section.) Rather than trying to explicate the whole section, you may want to identify a particular line or pair of lines, figure out what you think it means, and then connect that passage to the rest of your section or to Pope’s poem as a whole. This isn’t a formal presentation – just a chance to help your classmates find meaning in a work that may initially seem challenging. If you have a partner, I encourage you to reach out to him or her (via Slack perhaps?) to coordinate and pool your resources. And of course, you can always contact me if you are struggling.
- Daril Alanis and Tianhui Lei
- Md Asif and Jiayang Li
- Matthew Critelli and Zijie Lu
- Kaicy Gaynor and Zain Rehman
- Yessenia Guerra and Simran Sharif
- Minahil Imtiaz
- Sangey Lama
- Jean Joseph and Fiona Persaud
- Sadia Laskar
- Quinton Lee
- After Wednesday’s class, please take some time to compose a response to Pope’s poem and to our conversation about it. This is an opportunity to share ideas that you may have had but not expressed during our Zoom class, to ask questions about the poem and the issues it raises, and to connect your own unique world view to Pope’s. Please share your post by Saturday, February 27th. Your post should be 300 – 500 words. (FYI: One single-spaced typed page is approximately 500 words.) Some questions that you might use to help stimulate your thinking are:
-What issues or ideas stuck with you from Wednesday’s class?
-What did you NOT understand?
– How did class go for you? What factors contributed to this?
-How is Pope’s poem connected to the Scientific Revolution and/or the Enlightenment?
-What are your ideas about scientific exploration? Are there any boundaries science shouldn’t cross?
-What is one line, image, or idea that has made an impression on you from “An Essay on Man”? What about it resonates with you?
Assignments – Week #3
- Read Akinari’s short story, “Bewitched.” (The link to the story is posted here on the blog, under the readings tab. ) Once you’ve read the story, find an image that somehow corresponds to Akinari’s text. For example, this image may be a stereotype of femininity in contemporary popular culture or an image from Akinari’s culture and time period, etc. It may be a photo, other form of visual art, or even a clip from a music video or a film. Write at least 250 words explaining how you see the image you found as corresponding to “Bewitched” or reflecting the story’s central themes. Cite evidence from the text in your discussion. Please share your post on our blog by Tuesday, February 16th. Include your name and the story’s title in the title of your blog post. Comment on 2 of your classmates’ posts by Friday, February 19th. Circle back, and check your own post for comments. Respond where appropriate.
- Office Hours – Click HERE to access the sign up sheet for my office hours. Each of you should come to see me at least once during the first six weeks of the semester. Use our regular zoom link to access my Monday office hours.
- Group Projects – As part of your required work for our course, you will be working in small groups to create electronic presentations to provide context and enrichment to accompany one of our required readings. Please use this Group Preference Form to identify your first, second, and third choices, and return your form to me ([email protected]) by Wednesday, February 17th.These presentations are not about providing biographical information about the author or analysis of the text you’ve been assigned. Instead your job is to find a way to share some aspect or aspects of the author’s context. For example, a project about Moliere might have focussed on French theater of the 17th century and shared images of costumes, theaters, and set design from that period; or a project to accompany Pope might have delved into the development of astronomy during the Scientific Revolution or provided a catalogue of other scientific innovations during that period. You may want to think about these projects as an opportunity to collect, curate, and share resources about your topic.We will discuss these projects during our Zoom call on Wednesday, but if you have questions in the meantime, ask them on slack!
Office Hours
I will be holding office hours via Zoom every Monday. During these first weeks of the semester, I would like each of you to schedule a time to meet with me. These short visits will give me a chance to get to know you a little bit and will give you an opportunity to share with me any questions or concerns you have about the class. In subsequent weeks, these office hours will be drop-in, and you can feel free to stop by anytime!
Use our regular Zoom link to access my office hours. You can sign up to meet with me HERE. Please let me know if you have any difficulty finding an available time.
Moliere, Tartuffe
— Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? Who wears a mask? For what purpose? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?
— Discuss the role of Dorine, Mariane’s lady maid. What kind of servant is she? What role does she play in the action of the drama? What might Moliere be saying about “class” in this play?
— How is the institution of marriage treated in Tartuffe? What are some of the models or ideals of marriage that are raised by Moliere or his characters?
— Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?
— Moliere wrote Tartuffe in verse, using rhyming couplets throughout the play. How do you explain that stylistic choice? What effects does it create?
— Describe one aspect of the play that seems very modern to you and one that seems very dated or old-fashioned.
Assignments – Week #2
- Read Moliere’s Tartuffe. Please plan to have completed the reading before our Zoom call on Wednesday. You can find the text in Volume D of your Norton Anthology, or you can use the link I’ve posted under the “Readings” tab on our blog if you don’t have the books yet.
- I have recorded a mini-lecture to provide you with some literary and historical context for Moliere’s play. Click HERE to access the recording. If it asks you for a passcode, use: CP75m#!d . Please watch this recording and share either one takeaway from my remarks or one question as a comment on this post. If you encounter any technical difficulties accessing this video, please let me know immediately. This is a video I recorded in September, but the information I share in it hasn’t changed!
- I have posted a set of discussion questions about Tartuffe in a separate post here. Please respond to any two questions by Wednesday, February 10th and then read and comment on any two of your classmates’ responses by Friday, February 12th.
- Please read your classmates’ introduction posts on our blog and respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Friday, February 12th.
- Watch this scene from a staged production of the Tartuffe. How does the comedy work in this scene? What do you think of this portrayal of Tartuffe? Be prepared to discuss this on Wednesday.
Feng Menglong, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger”
Respond to any two of the following questions by commenting on this post. Additionally, please respond to at least two of your classmates’ responses. Be sure to keep an eye on this thread and respond to comments on your own post where appropriate. (This post will remain open all semester, but your initial responses should be posted by Sunday, February 7th.)-
-What’s the connection between the broad historical material about the Ming Dynasty that begins the story and the narrative about Du Tenth and Li Jia’s relationship that follows?
-What kind of person is Li Jia? Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise? Why or why not?
-How are courtesans represented in the story? Why do you think Feng Menglong chooses to depict them this way?
-Money plays a central role in the story. What does “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” seem to be saying about the relationship between money and love?
-Feng Menglong was interested in using literature to teach morality. What lesson is being imparted by this text?
Assignments – Week #1
- For Wednesday’s class, please read the short story “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” by Feng Menglong. If you already have the books, you can find it in volume D of your Norton Anthology. Otherwise, you can find a link to the text under the “Readings” tab at the top of our blog. In a separate blog post, you will find questions about the text together with instructions about how to respond to them on the blog.
- Please complete a short questionnaire about your technology access and distance learning experience. Your responses will help me to meet your needs more successfully over the course of the semester. You can access the questionnaire HERE
- Compose a short (300-400 word) introduction to yourself and post it to our course blog. Be sure to create this as a “new post” rather than posting your introduction as a comment on this assignment. Please tag your post by selecting the category “introductions.” It’s up to you to decide what you wish to share with the class about your background, academic interests, hobbies, etc…, but please also respond to the following questions: Describe a text that made a lasting impression on you. What was it about this text that stuck with you? Has this or any other text ever changed your perspective about some aspect of the world or your own life? How? (You can understand the word “text” here to include written texts, movies, plays, songs, videos, or photographs.) This could be something from your childhood or something you encountered very recently. Don’t worry about choosing something “academic”; focus instead on choosing an example that is meaningful to you. Please add a photograph to your post, if possible. This can be a photograph of you or some other image that complements your post. In order to create a new post, look for the button “Add New” under the “Posts” option. Before you post your introduction, please select the category “introductions” on the right hand side of your screen. Please share your post by Friday, February 5th.
- In order to be sure that you understand the rules of academic integrity, particularly as they relate to using sources in academic writing, please go to https://plagiarism.arts.cornell.edu/tutorial/index.cfm. There you will find a guide to understanding plagiarism and a short quiz prepared by Cornell University. When you have completed the quiz, please take a quick selfie of yourself with the quiz in the background, and share the photo on our Slack channel. Click HERE to access our Slack workspace. When you get to Slack, you should see a tag that reads #plagiarismquiz. That’s where you should post your selfie. While you are on Slack, feel free to add any comments or questions you have for your peers or for your professors. Imagine Slack as a multi- conversation group chat set up for this class. Please take the quiz and post your selfie by Sunday, February 7th.
