ENG 2800 with Prof. McGlynn

Am I the only one that noticed that in story four, Sinbad lied about being shipwrecked and having to float on a piece of wood to safety, and then in story five, he actually was shipwrecked and was forced to float on a piece of wood?

We will spend three sessions on The Decameron. Please refer to the following schedule for specific assignments:

Monday, May 2: Prologue; Day I, story 1; Day III, story 1, 3, and 10.

Wednesday, May 4: Day IV, intro, story1, 2, and 5; Day VI, story 4; Day VII, story 2, 8, 9.

Monday, May 9: Day VIII, story7; Day IX, story6; Day X, story10 and conclusion.

It is very interesting that stories of Sinbad are very similar to stories of Odyssey. There is a character that is very similar to Cyclops. He ate companions of Sinbad and got blind by Sinbad and his companions. Later, he threw rocks to Sinbad’s ship. Also, in the tale of Sinbad, sleep is very dangerous, I think, it is even more dangerous.

What first struck me about Arabian Nights was the structure of the literature as it is compiled of all these different accounts and stories of people. This is interesting and comes down to the plan that Sharahazad is contriving whereby she is tricking the king into keeping her alive by her eloquent and interesting stories that never end. One of the most important themes that i have picked up on so far is that ‘women cannot be trusted’. We see this when both brothers wives cheat on them as soon as they turn their back on their homes. This is a recurring theme that has been apparent in all the epic texts we have read so far this semester. Together with the notion of infidelity the theme of trust and hospitality also can be related to the other texts we have read. There is again like in the Odyssey already a number of instances whereby the characters disguise themselves as the slaves did with the servants when they had intercourse and by the brothers who disguise to go unnoticed when entering the palace to spy on the elder’s wife. Both women and men then are cunning and sly. It is also refreshing to read a text based on Arabic culture as I have read little to none.

so far so good, lots of sex yay.. haha.

 In the few pages I’ve read so far, i find themes we’ve discussed in class related to other books, such as women been portray negatively. Shahzaman said to himself ” women are not to be trusted” after he found his  wife with another man or when the demon’s woman said to the kings ” when i women desires something, no one can stop her”. Don’t fall to sleep, or bad things would happen to you is another very important theme we find in the very first pages of the book, but in this case it not only applies to people, it also affects demons. In addition to this human quality adhered to the black demon, the desire for women is another human quality the black demon in this book possess and he is cheated by his woman. Good stuff so far!!!

For April 11, please read pp. 5-30 of Arabian Nights. For April 13, please read through page 58.

news from Prof. Ely Shipley:

Practice the art of writing poetry! The Poetry Baruch Creative Writing Drop-In provides the time and space to dream on the page, learn about the art of writing from and meet fellow writers. Once a month, we will gather to generate creative writing. No previous experience is necessary. Just come with an openness to learn and the desire to write.

Time: Tuesday, April 12th, 1-2pm

Place: VC Room 7-238

I was intrigued as a read the The Story of Ying-Ying by its powerful settings. This story engages the reader with its setting, the fact that she was 17 years of age, her beauty according to the narrator, i personally loved it the story. I was not surprise by the fact that Chang and Miss Ts’ui had an affair, both knowing that they were relate by blood, they were family,i’m more a an open mind person. what surprised me was Miss Ts’ui’s character, definitely, at first i thought of her as a strong woman, not a weak bony girl as described in the text, but then i was shocked by the power of verbal skills.  THIS WAS  A GOOD LOVE STORY, different from many i’ve read.