In an effort to allow your free responses to our last domestic novel of the semester, I will leave this week's prompt intentionally open-ended. Please select an aspect of the short story you found particularly interesting and make some meaning. You should approach this posting just like any other-- using the text as support, letting the text guide your interpretations, etc.-- only this time you will choose your own lens.
If you're looking for inspiration, you might go back and review the first two postings of the semester: theories of childhood and depictions of children in literature. Mac Leod and Sanchez-Eppler might help you form and focus your responses to the text.
Good luck and happy blogging!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Ragged Dick Prompt
We ended class last Thursday with a discussion of the different roles young girls and young boys seem to play in American literature. In this week's blog posting, I'd like you to extend the discussion. What other comparisons can we make between young girls and young boys in American literature? And now that we're reading about Ragged Dick, what more can we infer about rhetorical functions of young boys in the text? In other words, what are you noticing about these fictional representations of young boys and what do you think these representations could mean? Thinking beyond gender relations, what kinds of comments could these fictionalized young boys make about a 19th century American society?
I've left this blog posting intentionally open-ended for free response, but I'd like to remind you to always use the text as support in your postings. Concrete examples and quoted textual material are two of the keys to a successful blog posting.
Happy blogging!
I've left this blog posting intentionally open-ended for free response, but I'd like to remind you to always use the text as support in your postings. Concrete examples and quoted textual material are two of the keys to a successful blog posting.
Happy blogging!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"A Whisper in the Dark" Prompt
If you haven't finished reading Alcott's "A Whisper in the Dark," stop reading here and go finish the text. My prompt will ruin the ending, and I would hate to rob you of the excitement.
Ok, if you have finished, please continue reading below.
Alcott's "A Whisper in the Dark" plays with the gothic tradition that "things are not what they seem." We see this in interpersonal relationships at the beginning of the text. We have an uncle and niece with an admittedly inappropriate relationship. Two cousins, Sybil and Guy, who seem to share a strange, unspoken connection. And, of course, there's Sybil: we're not quite sure what to make of Sybil.
The second half of the text, though, introduces the concept of insanity. At this point, not only are things "not what they seem," but we also learn that our narrator might be unreliable. She's is in an insane asylum, after all. How does the introduction of concepts of insanity (especially on the part of our narrator and her mother) change the text? How does the concept of insanity alter our reader reception of the message? How does it change our previous ideas about the all important mother/daughter relationship in nineteenth-century society/fiction?
Remember to use the text in your posting, always drawing on the narrative to draw your own conclusions.
Happy blogging!
Ok, if you have finished, please continue reading below.
Alcott's "A Whisper in the Dark" plays with the gothic tradition that "things are not what they seem." We see this in interpersonal relationships at the beginning of the text. We have an uncle and niece with an admittedly inappropriate relationship. Two cousins, Sybil and Guy, who seem to share a strange, unspoken connection. And, of course, there's Sybil: we're not quite sure what to make of Sybil.
The second half of the text, though, introduces the concept of insanity. At this point, not only are things "not what they seem," but we also learn that our narrator might be unreliable. She's is in an insane asylum, after all. How does the introduction of concepts of insanity (especially on the part of our narrator and her mother) change the text? How does the concept of insanity alter our reader reception of the message? How does it change our previous ideas about the all important mother/daughter relationship in nineteenth-century society/fiction?
Remember to use the text in your posting, always drawing on the narrative to draw your own conclusions.
Happy blogging!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Hidden Hand Prompt
In an effort to allow your free responses to our last domestic novel of the semester, I will leave this week's prompt intentionally open-ended. Please select an aspect of the novel you found particularly interesting and make some meaning. You should approach this posting just like any other-- using the text as support, letting the text guide your interpretations, etc.-- only this time you will choose your own lens.
If you're looking for inspiration, you might go back and review the first two postings of the semester: theories of childhood and depictions of children in literature. Mac Leod and Sanchez-Eppler might help you form and focus your responses to the text.
Good luck and happy blogging!!
If you're looking for inspiration, you might go back and review the first two postings of the semester: theories of childhood and depictions of children in literature. Mac Leod and Sanchez-Eppler might help you form and focus your responses to the text.
Good luck and happy blogging!!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Lamplighter Prompt
We discussed today the common "overplot" of domestic fiction: a young girl must overcome societal obstacles, conquer some personal struggle, and make her own way in the world. We saw the beginnings of this in The Wide, Wide World as Ellen struggled to master the domestic sphere and trust in God. And we see a revised version of this overplot in Cummins's The Lamplighter as Gerty struggles to be good (instead of a witch), find balance (rather than anger), and be useful (other than staying out of the way). Some scholars of Girl's Studies argue that this story, or overplot, hasn't changed much in the last 150 years and that young girls are still struggling with the same issues in different ways.
In this week's blog posting, I'd like to try something a little different. Please watch the video below, which narrates a contemporary 8 year old girl's struggle to find balance, and see what connections you can make. How have our depictions of girls changed? Stayed the same? Would have things been different if Gerty could have appeared on Amy Pholer's TV show? What would Gerty have said?
I know that this week's prompt is a little unconventional (in a good way, I hope), so I'd like to remind you to always use the text in your postings. When you make an argument about how things may be the same/different today, you should use Cummins's text as support for your opinions. And also, please try to reach beyond the "things are so different now" response to make meaning of the connections between these two texts. Societal expectations are, obviously, different today, so what meaning can we make of this contemporary "girl" when paired with our historical Gerty?
Happy Blogging!!
In this week's blog posting, I'd like to try something a little different. Please watch the video below, which narrates a contemporary 8 year old girl's struggle to find balance, and see what connections you can make. How have our depictions of girls changed? Stayed the same? Would have things been different if Gerty could have appeared on Amy Pholer's TV show? What would Gerty have said?
I know that this week's prompt is a little unconventional (in a good way, I hope), so I'd like to remind you to always use the text in your postings. When you make an argument about how things may be the same/different today, you should use Cummins's text as support for your opinions. And also, please try to reach beyond the "things are so different now" response to make meaning of the connections between these two texts. Societal expectations are, obviously, different today, so what meaning can we make of this contemporary "girl" when paired with our historical Gerty?
Happy Blogging!!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Stowe Prompt
Uncle Tom's Cabin works to challenge and complicate some of our basic assumptions about slavery, religion, and American ideals. In this week's blog posting, I'd like you to consider how the novel also complicates some of the assumptions we've made about children and childhood in American literature.
We've created a list of theories and ideas to inform our reading of children's literature. For example: we've talked about how children's literature is didactic or that children in literature usually stand as symbols of hope and potential. How does a text based on the institution of slavery complicate these theories and ideas? The horrors of slavery, both real and written, seem to go against all the "good" messages we received from a text like The Wide, Wide World. What do we make of this apparent disconnect?
In your blog posting, please answer and elaborate on the above questions. Remember to use the text, Uncle Tom's Cabin, as support in your answer. You may also use previous texts (like Irving, Warner, MacLeod, or Sanchez-Eppler) if you wish. And remember, you are always welcome to further complicate my questions: if you feel that Uncle Tom's Cabin does, in fact, carry out the objectives of traditional children's literature despite the violence of slavery, make your case (always using the text).
Please let me know if you have any questions. Happy Blogging!
We've created a list of theories and ideas to inform our reading of children's literature. For example: we've talked about how children's literature is didactic or that children in literature usually stand as symbols of hope and potential. How does a text based on the institution of slavery complicate these theories and ideas? The horrors of slavery, both real and written, seem to go against all the "good" messages we received from a text like The Wide, Wide World. What do we make of this apparent disconnect?
In your blog posting, please answer and elaborate on the above questions. Remember to use the text, Uncle Tom's Cabin, as support in your answer. You may also use previous texts (like Irving, Warner, MacLeod, or Sanchez-Eppler) if you wish. And remember, you are always welcome to further complicate my questions: if you feel that Uncle Tom's Cabin does, in fact, carry out the objectives of traditional children's literature despite the violence of slavery, make your case (always using the text).
Please let me know if you have any questions. Happy Blogging!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Wide, Wide World Prompt
Today we discussed the variety of ways Warner's The Wide, Wide World works to instruct its readers. In our excellent discussion, we glossed over the role of parents (Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, primarily) in the text to further discuss the children (poor little Ellen). I'd like to propose this week's blog posting as a time to more fully consider the parents in The Wide, Wide World.
In your blog posting, please consider the following questions, always using a close reading of textual evidence to support your ideas:
*How does the text encourage us to view the role of "parents"? You can consider this term loosely, including any character who may seem "parental."
*How does the text differentiate between the roles of mothers versus fathers? How do we know? Answering this question may involve reading "between the lines," for we rarely see Mr. Montgomery.
*Finally, how do you think Ellen perceives her parents? What kind of role does she expect each of them to play in her life? Again, make sure you read the text closely to support your answers/ideas.
Remember that your blog posting is due by 9 AM on Thursday, September 10. Your 3 comments on your peers' blogs are due by 5 PM on Friday, September 11.
In your blog posting, please consider the following questions, always using a close reading of textual evidence to support your ideas:
*How does the text encourage us to view the role of "parents"? You can consider this term loosely, including any character who may seem "parental."
*How does the text differentiate between the roles of mothers versus fathers? How do we know? Answering this question may involve reading "between the lines," for we rarely see Mr. Montgomery.
*Finally, how do you think Ellen perceives her parents? What kind of role does she expect each of them to play in her life? Again, make sure you read the text closely to support your answers/ideas.
Remember that your blog posting is due by 9 AM on Thursday, September 10. Your 3 comments on your peers' blogs are due by 5 PM on Friday, September 11.
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