ANNE WALDMAN (for Wednesday, May 12, 2010)
On the syllabus it says that we will read “Fast Speaking Woman.” Instead, I’d like for you to read “Makeup on Empty Space” and to “read around” Waldman a bit, find something you feel interested in/ attached or attracted to.
Here are some links to peruse:
Google Books–Fast Speaking Woman (the majority of the poem is available here)
Waldman’s Academy of American Poets Page (links to recordings and text of a number of her works)
“Makeup on Empty Space” (PLEASE PRINT THIS OUT)
Waldman’s Poetry Foundation Page (links to a number of poems)
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/WMqXs-Q6CjA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
*******
Antigone, “Ode to Man”
Questions:
-
What made Ismene suddenly decide to help Antigone?
-
I wonder if the two brothers were as different as the two sisters?
-
Was there tension between Polynices and Ismene?
-
Does Creon feel threatened by Antigone’s rebellion?
-
Does Haemon have no say in who he marries?
-
What role does the chorus have in the play? Can you take out their part without changing the meaning of the play?
-
Why do you think Creon kept accusing others of having alterior motives? (Money specifically)
-
Does Creon care so much about power that he can give up his family? (Son, Nieces)
-
How does Creon end up executing Antigone and Ismene?
-
Will Antigone’s fate be similar to that of her father?
-
How can Antigone’s disobedience of the laws be justified?
-
Will Haemon stop his father from killing Antigone?
-
What does Sophocles accomplish by writing Antigone?
-
Will the Gods punish Creon for his actions?
-
Why is the chorus always there?
Ideas/Themes
Tragic hero/Tragedy
Courage
Law vs. Morality
Defiance
Family values vs. Authority
Loyalty
Pride
Ambition
Ego vs. Judgment
Love
Reverence for all human life
Sacrifice
Role of Women
Religion
Justice
Forgiveness
Power
Democracy
Punishment
Ignorance
Family
Purpose
Rebellion
Family honor
****
GROUP ESSAY!
We worked on this same draft in both classes…
Hero-dernity: Do the clothes really make the {woe}man?
There is no shortage of holidays in America that celebrate so-called traditions. For example, last week marked St. Patrick’s Day, a chance for New Yorkers to drink green beer all day long and act poorly. Do we think that people in Ireland are celebrating the same way? Too often, we take cultural heritage and alter it to suit modern times, usually in a way that is not particularly genuine or productive. Alice Walker’s story, “Everyday Use,” focuses on issues of tradition versus the impulse to be modern through the tale of a single family’s interactions. As we learn from watching Dee and Maggie’s behavior at the dinner table, heritage cannot be framed and hung on a wall. In order to find a balance between tradition and modernity, Walker teaches us that actions really do “speak louder than words.” If we neglect the rituals of our ancestors, rather than being proud of our diversity, we will forget where we came from and our individual traditions will vanish.
It is no secret that the dinner table is a place where families meet, share experiences (and true character), and oftentimes disagree. No one mandates that we meet at the dinner table daily, yet many families do it out of routine or tradition. So, it is no surprise that when anxiously awaiting Dee (the daughter from afar), we know that Maggie and her mother are also anticipating some good dinnertime discussion. So, imagine their surprise when Dee’s companion declared, “he didn’t eat collards and pork was unclean.” (319) Judging from the landscape that the story is set in, and knowing that Walker herself is from Georgia, we can assume that “collards” and “pork” represent traditional cuisine, and perhaps even make the assumption that to refuse these delicacies is to insult the chef at her own dinner table.
PEER REVIEW–PAPER 2
Step One:
Color Coding
Using either different colored pens, markers, or highlighters, underline or shade the following (in different colors per category):
- Thesis Statement
- Summary
- Quotes/Evidence
- Analysis
This works best if one group member is assigned an area of highlight/look for on all papers—
Peer Critic 1: Thesis Statement & Analysis (use 2 separate colors)
Peer Critic 2: Summary
Peer Critic 3: Quotes/Evidence
Step Two:
Short Reflections:
Answer the following questions in the form of a letter to your partner(s). You may think of this letter as a response to his/her cover letter.
- What do you notice (visually) about your partner’s paper? Is there too much summary? Too much analysis? What needs to be changed or added to this paper?
- Does your partner’s thesis statement answer the question(s) that I posed on the assignment sheet for this essay? If not, tell the author that he or she must rewrite the thesis, and most importantly, how he or she might do it.
- Is this paper a close reading? Why or why not?
Step Three:
Return the paper to its owner. All participants should now reread the comments they received and write a short paragraph indicating what they plan to do in order to revise this draft.
**You will notice that we are not doing any proofreading in today’s peer review. If you feel you really need proofreading, ask a classmate to help you or visit SACC!**
What we look for when we read short stories–
a list devised in class on March 15, 2010!
Theme–Moral–Message–Main Point
Conflict–Problems
Internal–man vs. himself
External–man vs. man; man vs. nature
Questioning–Left Wondering–Debatable
Humor–Non-normative–Dissonance–Unpredictable
Character Development & Background
Substance–Plot–must be interesting!
Conclusion–Ending–Surprise
Resolution/Solution
Connections (possibly to real life)
Climax–High Point
Dialogue
Setting–when, where, why, how, who, influence
Language
Author–Background
Form–Length
Style–Creativity
Symbolism–Deeper Meaning–Motifs
***
For February 21:
An Exquisite Corpse with Freud!
Step One: On a blank sheet of paper, write your name at the top and then LEGIBLY rewrite one short quote from Freud that you are interested in. Skip a line.
Step Two: Reflect on the quote you chose—this means that you should simply respond to it, share your thinking (or confusion) about it.
Step Three: End your reflection with a question you would like someone else to answer.
Step Four: Fold back your paper so that only your reflection and question are showing.
Step Five: Hold up your paper, switch with someone else who is also holding up their paper.
Step Six: You now have a piece of paper with a reflection and question written on it. What quote does this reflection evoke? Locate the quote that your peer’s writing reminds you of (from Freud) and copy it onto the paper. Skip a line.
Step Seven: Now compose your reflection that relates your peer’s question and response to the quote you’ve chosen. End your reflection with another question that you would like answered.
Step Eight: Fold back your paper so that the quote you chose doesn’t show. Only your reflection and question should be visible.
Repeat Steps Five through Eight.
***
Happiness in History
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.