All posts by CThurston

About CThurston

Faculty - English

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.

Quoting guidelines: introducing quotes and using punctuation with quotation

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 CITATION: 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).