One Final Post--and a Reading List

I've e-mailed everyone with an end-of-semester message as well as a reminder about Final Papers (see assignment a few posts down). Remember that all papers are due no later than Friday by 5pm! 

As a parting gift (as much as I can afford), I want to give you a summer reading list for those who just can't get enough British literature! I know, most of you probably want to go back to pleasure reading--or no reading at all! However, if you find yourself bored and in need of a British fix, here are a few works I recommend that we might have read in the class, but simply didn't have time for. I've included links on Ebay so you can find cheap copies of these classic works—and not give Amazon any more money! :) 

Otherwise, enjoy the break and don't hesitate to write me with any questions or concerns at jgrasso@ecok.edu. 

A FEW BOOKS TO CONSIDER BETWEEN WOLLSTONECRAFT AND RHYS

Wollstonecraft, Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (her best-selling collection of letters written to her lover, Gilbert Imlay, while she traveled alone throughout Scandinavia with her toddler in tow--all while he was cheating on her! Very interesting book): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Letters-Written-in-Sweden-Norway-and-Denmark-Paperback-by-Wollstonecraft/272931530333?epid=70917456&hash=item3f8bfca65d:g:rYgAAOSw5Qtb2cr-

Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (the very first Gothic novel--not terrifying, but kind of nuts in a fun way...like crossing Monty Python with Dracula): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Castle-of-Otranto-A-Gothic-Story-Paperback-by-Walpole-Horace-Groom-Nick/273422414127?epid=201539801&hash=item3fa93ef12f:g:D0EAAOSwo2xb2c1z

Austen, Mansfield Park (in many ways, her most gothic novel—about a woman isolated between her morals and her duty): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Penguin-classics-Mansfield-Park-by-Jane-Austen-Paperback/174191672665?epid=2369470&hash=item288ea1fd59:g:dnkAAOSw-wVeXu8l

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (because why not?!): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jane-Eyre-Modern-Library-by-Charlotte-Bronte-Paperback-2000/223998986256?epid=1754151&hash=item3427614810:g:lWsAAOSwJlResA64

Emily Bronte, Poems (she didn't write another novel, but she wrote a very strong collection of poems--all with the sensibility of Wuthering Heights): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Emily-Bronte-Poems-Pocket-Poets-by-Emily-Bront/372726159208?epid=1049018&hash=item56c835d768:g:4ZMAAOxysstSXpUO

Gaskell, Gothic Tales (seven stories from a famous novelist who wrote the first biography of her friend, Charlotte Bronte): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gothic-Tales-by-Elizabeth-Cleghorn-Gaskell/193372907076?epid=1793775&hash=item2d05ec6644:g:-iMAAOSwc99eY16g

Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (a story that was inspired by Frankenstein, and took the idea of an ‘evil double’ to new heights): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-and-Weir-of-Hermiston-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-Stevenson/183427484238?epid=373309&hash=item2ab5214a4e:g:EYEAAOSw32lYo7Rx

Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (another novel about uncanny doubles, but this one is even nastier in its satire on upper-class values and snobbery): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Oxford-Worlds-Classics-The-Picture-of-Dorian-Gray-by-Oscar-Wilde-2008/124136350132?epid=66222281&hash=item1ce71a61b4:g:t3QAAOSw2gxYpOpU

Stoker, Dracula (the greatest of all the Gothic novels--a riveting page-turner that is also a scathing critique of 19th century England): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dracula-by-Bram-Stoker-New-Leather-Bound-Deluxe-Collectible-with-Ribbon-Bookmark/302385988359?hash=item46679c0307:g:ghsAAOSwEHhawbUy

Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (an essay about why there are relatively so few women writers before the 20^th century—and one of the books that inspired how I approached this class; a must read for anyone interested in feminism or simply women writers): https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Room-of-Ones-Own-by-Virginia-Woolf-1989-Paperback/333591059434?epid=57516&hash=item4dab939bea:g:boYAAOSwTuJYonYS

Lessing, The Golden Notebook (one of the great books of 20^th century British feminism—a great follow-up to the ideas in Mansfield, especially): https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Golden-Notebook-Perennial-Classics-Edition-by-Doris-Lessing/142743974989?_trkparms=aid%3D555021%26algo%3DPL.SIMRVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20190711100440%26meid%3D59e69418b2c14af7a533c9f7077b7e06%26pid%3D100752%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D14%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D302334881109%26itm%3D142743974989%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplRVIAMLv5WebWithPLRVIOnTopCombiner&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982

Simmonds, Gemma Bovery (a fascinating graphic novel by a modern British writer/artist that imagines Flaubert’s 19^th century novel, Madame Bovery in modern France among English vacationers): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gemma-Bovery-by-Simmonds-Posy-0224052519/283861318594?epid=30294985&hash=item421773fbc2:g:z4UAAOSwsKRep9qU

Blog Response for Part Three of Wide Sargasso Sea

NOTE: For those interested, here is a link to the entire film of the 1993 Wide Sargasso Sea, the only feature film version of the novel. It's not bad, but it's not great...good actors, but it doesn't quite capture the magic and cruelty of the book. Still, if you dig the book, it's definitely worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vQuSVJPDWk

After you've read the very brief Part Three of Wide Sargasso Sea, answer the following as a Comment below (or e-mail it to me):

Part Three is the only part where Rhys explicitly ties her novel into Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Why do you think she does this? Earlier, she makes the connections tempting and likely, but never exact. Here she makes it clear that Antoinette is the "madwoman in the attic" from Bronte's novel. Do you think this part of the novel is even necessary? What does it add--or take away--from the other two parts? Does it seem like an afterthought? Or does it form a sharper critique of the earlier novel?

The Final Exam (Paper #3): Writing to Feel

In Jean Rhys’ essay, “The Bible is Modern,” she writes, “It is a great crime to feel intensely about anything in England, because if the average Englishman felt intensely about anything, England as it is could not exist; or, certainly, the ruling class in England could not continue to exist. Thus you get the full force of a very efficient propaganda machine turned on the average Englishman from the cradle to the grave, warning him that feeling intensely about anything is a quality of the subject peoples, or that it is old-fashioned, or that it is not done, or something like that.”

Q: For your ‘Final’ paper, I want you to discuss how both Rhys and Mansfield are writing works that are trying to get people to feel deeply about other people, social situations, and even themselves. How are both authors using literature to break down the class structure, and place disenfranchised people (servants, women, former slaves, etc.) front and center in the narrative? While we could argue that everyone from Wollstonecraft to Brontë did this to some extent, what makes Rhys and Mansfield’s works somewhat revolutionary? How do they even write differently, in a way geared to make us “feel intensely” and resist the “efficient propaganda machine”? In other words, how are they using literature less as a means of entertainment or even education, and more as a kind of self-therapy for people who are deeply wounded by their own society and upbringing? In answer this prompt, you might ask yourself, 'who would most benefit from reading these stories? What kind of person?' 

Use at least 2 stories from Mansfield in conjunction with at least one significant passage from Wide Sargasso Sea. Imagine that this is the kind of essay you would write in-class during a Final Exam, so you don’t have to make it extremely polished or use secondary sources (unless you want to ). Instead, write it off-the-cuff, using both books, but see where your thoughts and feelings take you. I encourage you to just sit down, give yourself thirty minutes, and write whatever comes to you. I will not grade this like a polished essay, but rather, as a rough exploration of a central theme/idea.

REQUIREMENTS

• 2 Mansfield Stories, at least 1 passage from Rhys
• Quote and cite properly: introduce quotations and cite with the page # at the end.
• At least 3-4 pages double spaced
• Due NO LATER than Friday, May 8^th by 5pm (though you can turn it in earlier)

Good luck and please e-mail with questions! Look over your response questions and feel free to use them verbatim in your essay! It’s all pre-writing! J

Video Lecture for Wide Sargasso Sea (Enjoy!)

Please watch the short video above to provide some context to Part 2 of Wide Sargasso Sea (and to give you some hints about the questions below!). After you watch it , answer this brief question as a comment (or send it with your Part 2 questions):

Q: What is something in the world that you believe in, but don't really know? (to quote Christophine from the video). In other words, discuss some idea, concept, or reality that you know to be true (or know that everyone else thinks is true), but you have a hard time believing it personally, or making use of it in your daily life. How can we know something but also not know it? And what does it mean when a belief seems to contradict reality, like England for Christophine and Antoinette? 

Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, Part Two

As usual, do two of the following questions for Part Two of the novel. Also be sure to watch the short video in the post above and respond to the question that follows (again, there's no strict deadline for this--just do it when you get to it, though we are running to the end of the semester!) 

Q1: Why does Rochester insist on calling Antoinette “Bertha” in the story?  What might this change signal for him, especially in a novel where, as Antoinette herself says, “names are important”?

Q2: Do you feel Rochester is a reliable or an unreliable narrator?  Is he supposed to be sympathetic or unsympathetic?  Is anything he records or presents to the reader “true”?  How do we know?  Cite a specific passage. 

Q3: Christophine says to Rochester that “You young but already you hard.  You fool the girl.  You make her think you can’t see the sun for looking at her."  Was it Rochester’s plan to destroy her—to punish her?  And if so, for what reason

Q4: Is Antoinette “mad”?  Does she suffer from a family illness, as evidenced in her mother and brother…or is her madness merely Rochester’s inability to accept her ‘Non-Western’ ideas and character?  Use a passage to discuss this. 

Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, Part One

NOTE: Just read Part One for next week, which is fairly short. Part Two is much longer and the narration changes from Antoinette to Rochester (so don't be confused). I'll post a video next week to help you navigate some of the changes and connections between this book and Jane Eyre, especially if you haven't read that novel). 

Answer two of the following…

Q1: How does Rhys depict Jamaican society in the 1840’s (which is less than a decade after the Emancipation Act of 1833, which abolished slavery in Britain)?  In what ways has life changed since the Act, particularly for Antoinette and her family? 

Q2: Is Antoinette English?  Jamaican?  White?  Mulatto?  Non-Western?  Why is her identity an issue in this novel, and how does she understand who she is in relation to other white people and the islanders? 

Q3: What is “obeah” and how does it function in Caribbean society?  How does Antoinette understand it as a child?  Is it similar to superstition or karma? If so, in what ways? 

Q4: Why do the natives burn Coulbiri Esate?  What might this represent about the relationship between Europeans and non-Europeans in the Caribbean? Also, why is the image of the parrot so haunting and possibly, symbolic?

For Next Week: Jean Rhys' Letters (context for the novel)

NOTE: No need to finish the Mansfield book (unless you want to); I want to slowly move on to our final book. There are a few great stories left, but without being able to talk about them in class, it might seem redundant to read and examine a few more. 

Instead, read these excerpts from Jean Rhys' letters during the writing of her book, Wide Sargasso Sea. They give unusual insight into the composing process for an author who was trying to 're-write,' or re-imagine part of Charlotte Bronte's famous novel, Jane Eyre. In that novel, the main character falls in love with a gentleman who is hiding his wife upstairs in an attic--a "madwoman" from the Caribbean who is trying to kill him. Rhys, from the Caribbean island of Dominica, was drawn to this thinly-sketched woman and wondered who she really was. So she wrote a novel to solve it. The letters below outline her ideas, fears, and doubts about the book. After you read these excerpts, answer the question below as a COMMENT (or e-mail it to me). I'll post the first questions for the book early next week. 

To Peggy Kirkaldy, October 4, 1949

“I know Peggy that you don’t care for Americans but they have one great virtue, they don’t stifle criticism. You can write about the Chain Gang or a canned meat factor or a loony bin and what have you and there’s a chance of an audience. But not here! The English clamp down on unpleasant facts and some of the facts they clamp down on are very unpleasant indeed, believe me.”

To Francis Wyndham, March 29, 1958

“It’s difficult for me to explain an unfinished book, this one particularly, and I hope I won’t be tedious—or disappointing…when I was in London last year it “clicked in my head” that I had material for the story of Mr. Rochester’s first wife. The real story—as it might have been. I don’t know why t his happened. I was thinking of something and had a title for it, hadn’t read “Jane Eyre” for years and nearly forgotten [my novel.] However suddenly I was very excited about “The First Mrs. Rochester” and imagined it could be done quickly….It has no connection with any play film or adaptation of “Jane Eyre” who does not appear at all—once perhaps. Mr. Rochester does, of course, but only as a very young man.

It might be possible to unhitch the whole thing from Charlotte Bronte’s novel, but I don’t want to do that. It is that particular mad Creole I want to write about, not any of the other mad Creoles. There were quite a number of them, it seems, and large dowries did not help them…I have no title yet. “The First Mrs. Rochester” is not right. Nor, of course, is “Creole.” That has a different meaning now. I hope I’ll get one soon, for titles mean a lot to me. Almost half the battle. I thought of “Sargasso Sea” or “Wide Sargasso Sea” but nobody knew what I meant.”

To Selma Vaz Dias, April 9, 1958

“I’ve read and re-read “Jane Eyre” of course, and I am sure that the character must be “built up.” I wrote you about that. The Creole in Charlotte Bronte’s novel is a lay figure—repulsive which does not matter, and not once alive which does. She’s necessary to the plot, but always she shrieks, howls, laughs horribly, attacks all and sundry—off stage. For me (and for you I hope) she must be right on stage. She must be at least plausible with a past, the reason why Mr. Rochester treats her so abominably and feels justified, the reason why he thinks she is mad and why of course she goes mad, even the reason why she tries to set everything on fire, and eventually succeeds. (Personally, I think that one is simple. She is cold—and fire is the only warmth she knows in England).

I do not see how Charlotte Bronte’s madwoman could possibly convey all this. It might be done but it would not be convincing. At least I doubt it. Another “I” must talk, two others perhaps. Then the Creole’s “I”: will come to life. I tried this way and that, even putting her into modern dress. No good. At last I decided on a possible way showing the start and the Creole speaking. Lastly: Her end—I want it in a way triumphant! The Creole is of course the important one, the others explain her. I see it and can do it—as a book. About half is done.

I will not disappoint you. Come with me and you will see. Take a look at Jane Eyre. That unfortunate death of a Creole! I’m fighting mad to write her story. But it’s a good book—and so one must be wary and careful. Sober and plausible.”

To Francis Wyndham, April 27, 1959

“I did not mean to be impertinent about Charlotte Bronte. I admire her greatly. Emily [Bronte] also. And I envy them both more than I can say. Sometimes I have wondered if Miss Bronte does not want her book tampered with! This is the effect of North Cornwall which is rather a dour place. Superstition? But so many things have got in my way. Never mind. It will be done.”

To Francis Wyndham, April 14, 1964

“The Bronte sisters had of course a touch of genius (or much more) especially Emily. So reading “Jane Eyre” one’s swept along regardless. But I, reading it later, and often, was vexed at her portrait of the “paper tiger” lunatic, the all wrong creole scenes, and above all by the real cruelty of Mr. Rochester. After all, he was a very wealthy man and there were many kinder ways of disposing of (or hiding) an unwanted wife—I heard the true story of one—and the man behaved very differently…”

To Diana Athill, [Month?] 1966

“I came to England between sixteen and seventeen, a very impressionable age and Jane Eyre was one of the books I read then. Of course, Charlotte Bronte makes her own world, of course she convinces you, and that makes the poor Creole lunatic all the more dreadful. I remember being quite shocked, and when I re-read it rather annoyed. That’s only one side—the English side sort of thing. (I think too that Charlotte had a “thing” about the West Indes being rather sinister places—because in another of her books, “Villette,” she drowns the hero, Professor Somebody, on the voyage to Guadeloupe, another very alien place—according to her).”

QUESTION FOR RESPONSE: Most authors would be horrified by the idea of improving, revising, or "fixing" a classic novel. What makes Jean Rhys want to undertake such a blasphemous effort? Why does she think the novel deserves a 'prequel'? What might be the danger of adding a story to an already famous story, such as Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, etc.?

Submit to the English Dept.'s Best Essay Awards Contest!

HINT: Submit some of your Brit papers to the contest! You even have time to revise it if you want...see the full call and deadline below! 

Best Essay Awards

The English and Languages Department is seeking models of excellence in student writing, including:
Research Essays
Literary Analyses
Personal Essays
Non-Print Media Analyses
(of, for instance, Scissortail Readings, Foreign Film Festival screenings,
NT Live productions, commercials, advertisements, etc.)
New Media
(such as infographics)

And if you have an excellent writing sample that doesn’t neatly fit into any of the genres listed above, please submit it, too! (Except for poetry and fiction—submit that to Originals.)

Each entry must have been submitted for a class taught by an instructor in the English and Languages Department and must have been produced since March 2019. Each submission should include: a) author’s name; b) contact information; c) title of the essay; and d) the course and professor for which the work was submitted. Submit entries via email to sbenton@ecok.edu.

DEADLINE: Wednesday, April 24, 2020

For Monday-Thursday: Mansfield, Stories: Miss Brill, Her First Ball, The Singing Lesson, The Stranger

NOTE: Be sure to watch the video lecture in the post below and answer the question as a comment (or e-mail the response to me with your two reading response questions). 

Answer two of the following: 

Q1: In “Miss Brill,” the title character reflects, “How she loves sitting here,

watching it all! It was like a play. It was exactly like a play…They were all on the

stage. They weren’t only the audience, not only looking on; they were acting” (112). In what way are people in many of Mansfield’s stories actors on stage, both observing and performing? Why might this be a general critique of her society itself?

Q2: At the end of “The Stranger,” John laments, “Spolit their evening! Spolit their being alone together! They would never be alone together again” (138)?  Why does his wife’s experience with the  dead man ruin everything for her husband? Why would this admission spoil their life together—and their ability to be ‘alone’?

Q3: Mansfield writes many stories about young people emerging in society, which connects with our class’ theme of education. How might stories like “Her First Ball” and “The Young Girl” connect to similar themes in Northanger Abbey and Wuthering Heights? How are the girls one or both of the stories ‘educated’ by bad parental figures (or none at all)?

Q4: How does Mansfield make us question the ‘happy ending’ of the music teacher and her fiancé in “The Singing Lesson”?  What clues are sprinkled throughout the story of the nature of this match—and why the teacher is so willing to ignore the obvious?

Short Lecture on Being "Weak" in Mansfield's Stories

Before we race to the end of Mansfield's stories, I wanted to discuss some of the major themes we've encountered in several of them, particularly "Daughters of the Late Colonel," "The Life of Ma Parker," "Mr. and Mrs. Dove," and "Marriage a la Mode." Watch the video to hear some of my thoughts on these stories, most of which are drawn from your responses to the reading questions. It's a little longer than the last one, but still only about 25 minutes (sorry)! 

After you finish, answer the following question as a COMMENT on the blog. 

Q: Talking about emotions, love, death, or otherwise being "weak" was very taboo in British society at this time. What subjects or relationships do you feel are taboo in our own society? And I don't just mean awkward subjects (abortion, politics, etc.), but what emotions or experiences would you have trouble discussing with your parents, your siblings, your friends, and even your significant others? What does society make difficult for us to acknowledge with anyone but ourselves?

REMEMBER, If you can't post on the blog, you can either try to make a blogspot account (very easy to do), or you can e-mail your response with the next set of questions. I'll post questions for the next stories sometime tomorrow. Remember, too, that deadlines are very loose now: post responses as soon as you can, or you can send me two responses at once. I'm more interested in you doing the work than doing it exactly on time.  

Questions for Mansfield's Stories, Part 2 (see below)

For next week, read the following stories: "Mr. and Mrs. Dove," "The Young Girl," "Life of Ma Parker," "Marriage a la Mode," and "The Voyage." Answer two of the following questions anytime next week, though I will post another set of questions around Thursday. You can turn in both sets at once, or stagger them, however you like. 

Q1: Many of these stories, like Laura in "The Garden Party," have characters who find themselves unable to express what they see and feel. As Anne protests in "Mr. and Mrs. Dove," "Surely you must see that, it's so simple" (78). What makes them unable to communicate 'simple' things to their friends and partners? Besides their own confusion, what else seems to stand in the way?

Q2: Many of Mansfield's stories bounce back and forth between perspectives and even narrators. Or, a story like "The  Young Girl" even has an unnamed narrator who doesn't even reveal his sex (except in a very veiled way, which is easily missed). Why do you think she refracts her stories through so many points of view? By comparison, in modern writing, the rule is to stick to one narrator throughout the story, typically a named first-person narrator. What do you think she gains by perversely breaking the rules?

Q3: In "Mr. and Mrs. Dove," Anne tells Reggie that "I've never felt so happy with anyone. But I'm sure it's not what people and what books mean when they talk about love. Do you understand?" (77). What do you think she means here, and how might this compare to male/female relationships we've seen in other works in the class? Where might Anne's notions of love and marital bliss come from if not from her own experience?

Q4: In "Life of Ma Parker," we're told that the main character hails from Strarford-on-Avon, the famous birthplace of Shakespeare. However, when asked about him, she replies, "Shakespeare, sir? No, people were always arsking her about him. But she'd never heard his name until she saw it on the theatres" (87). Why do you think Mansfield includes this detail in a story about the sharp divide between the classes in England? As a colonial, why might she be more on Ma Parker's side than the writer's? 

For Monday: Short Lecture on Colonialism and Mansfield

As a way to introduce you to some of the themes we'll be exploring with our last two books, I've recorded a short lecture (about 18 min.) that I would have discussed with you in class if we were still meeting. I know 18 minutes is a lot to watch in a single stretch, so feel free to start and stop, or simply leave it playing in the background. However, I think it will help you see and understand some of the larger ideas going on behind the scenes in Mansfield's stories. 

AFTER you watch the video, answer the following question as a COMMENT below: "Since many women in the early 19th century tried to hide their identity as a woman by adopting a male name, or writing more 'male' stories, how do you think colonial writers did the same? That is, how did they hide their colonial identity in writing to sound more 'English'? What might they have had to hide, or ignore, or not reveal as a writer? (This will count toward your participation grade, since I can no longer take roll or have you discuss the works in class).

BE SURE to read the first three Mansfield stories and answer the questions in the post below no later than Friday! E-mail me with any questions or concerns. Look forward to hearing from you! 

For Monday: Mansfield, "At the Bay," "The Garden Party," and "Daughters of the Late Colonel"

For Monday, I want you to slowly start reading some of Mansfield's short stories. The post above will give you some context about Mansfield's life and Colonialism, which is an important element of many of her stories. You can e-mail me these questions (at jgrasso@ecok.edu) at any time between now and Friday, but no later than Friday (since I'll give you a new set then).  

I know it's hard to come back after such a long break, especially since we're not really coming back; however, I'll do everything I can to make this last third of class engaging, even if it's somewhat lackluster not meeting face to face. Please e-mail me with any questions and concerns you have, and I'll be more than happy to respond. 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: As mentioned in my lecture (in the post above), the feeling of isolation is central to Mansfield's stories, even though none of the characters are truly alone. What seems to make these characters feel so isolated in society? Why can't they connect with the people around them, whether their own parents, or husbands, or even fellow human beings?

Q2: "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" is a particularly Wuthering Heights-esque story, particularly in its obsession with how the past haunts the present. How does the sisters' father seem to echo some of the personality and presence of Heathcliff? Why are they so in awe of him? What are they really afraid of?

Q3: In Claire Tomalin's biography of Mansfield (which I discuss in the lecture), she writes that "Katherine was quick to identify with servants in her writing, and to offer them special imaginative sympathy, although she grew up in a society in which the social division between maids and masters seemed absolute." Where do we see this sympathy in some of the stories, particularly "At the Bay"? 

Q4: The ending of the story, "The Garden Party," has mystified many people, as the author breaks off Laura's statement, "Isn't life..." What do you think she was going to say, or what do you think she was trying to express? Does her brother seem to understand her? Do we?  

Announcements for Starting Up Again

Welcome Back (Almost)! I know the class won't be the same as it was, but I do intend to keep reading along with you guys, and giving you questions, a few videos (see below), and one more paper assignment late in the semester. However, here are the changes I propose for the class going forward:

1. No more MWF classes. Instead, I'll give you two sets of readings/questions, one at the beginning of the week, and one at the end. So your Monday questions will be due on Friday, and your Friday the following Monday. The readings will follow roughly the same schedule as on the syllabus, except I'll cut the movie and the supplementary readings I had planned prior to Spring Break.

2. Once a week, I'll also post a short lecture (10-15 minutes, approx) along with a Powerpoint to either introduce historical context or highlight aspects of the reading. These are versions of what I would have otherwise done in class, just minus the great discussion.  I think it would be difficult to get everyone in class together to do a live chat, but at least this way, you can still hear me ramble about each work and say the word "interesting" a dozen times.

3. Each lecture will have its own post, and on the post, I'll ask you a short question based on the lecture. Respond to this question as a "comment" on the blog post (you shouldn't need to create an account to do this). Just click on "comments" on the bottom of the post and write your own. This will replace your Participation grade since you obviously won't be able to come to class and talk in any other way. 

4. PAPER #2 will be due no later than Friday, April 3rd. Please feel free to turn it in earlier. E-mail me a copy of the paper at jgrasso@ecok.edu. I'll e-mail it back to you with comments. 

PLEASE write me with any questions or concerns, and I'll be happy to help. The recorded lectures will be in Zoom, so if you want to chat, I can also open up a Zoom chat at any time, in lieu of coming to my office. I'll post the lecture on Colonialism and Katherine Mansfield in a day or two, so be sure to watch it and respond with your comment (okay, it's 17 minutes long, but that's better than 50 minutes, right?) 

Hope everyone is doing okay and I look forward to reading your work again! I miss our class and hope that we can all have a face-to-face class together again soon, if only in the Fall semester.

--Joshua Grasso

Class is Scheduled for this Friday, but after that... (see below)

Note that we DO have class tomorrow, March 13th, which is our last face-to-face class for some time.

Spring Break is next week, and then the President decided to extend Spring Break for an additional week. Classes will resume on the 30th but only on an on-line basis, meaning I can only conduct class via our blog. We'll talk more about what this means tomorrow, and of course I'll keep you updated on the blog itself. If you have any questions, just e-mail me any time.

So we'll keep going, keep reading and doing questions, and I'll try to give you my insights on the works we read, but without our wonderful class discussions (and this class has been truly spectacular in this regard--the best British Lit class I've had in years, or maybe ever). I'll miss talking to you guys more than you know, but at least I can still read your responses and eventually, your paper assignments.

The Paper #2 assignment will be moved back until the double Spring Break is over, obviously. More about that tomorrow. 

See you then, hopefully! If you can't make it on Friday, check the blog soon for more information. 

For Monday: Bronte, Wuthering Heights (last questions!), Chs.8-14

Did you know that Voldemort (Ralph Finnes) once played Heathcliff?? 

NOTE: We'll spent two more days on the novel, but these will be the last questions I'll give you. Be sure to finish the novel, or get pretty close, by Wednesday. We'll have another in-class response to round it off then. 

Answer two of the following: 

Q1: How does Linton’s character emerge in these chapters?  Is he another poor victim of Heathcliff’s tyranny?  Or a tyrannous, selfish character himself?  How do Nelly and Cathy respond to him?

Q2: Does Nelly become more ‘reliable’ in these chapters as a narrator?  Does she have more flashes of self awareness—or at least a sense of her own role in the story (rather as the mute observer she would often claim to be)?  Do you find yourself agreeing with her more?  Being less suspicious of her? 

Q3: Heathcliff emerges more as a Gothic villain than ever in these chapters.  How do we read his transformation?  Has he been this way all along, or is Nelly playing to her audience (Lockwood)?  Do these passages of Heathcliff ring true to you?

Q4: Consider the elaborate ‘doublings’ or echoes that occur in the book, with the new generation emulating the old.  Why is Heathcliff so intent on creating a new Heathcliff (Hareton) and a new Catherine/Edgar (Cathy/Linton) marriage?  On a larger level, why might Bronte have created this mirror-like world?  How can we read the characters through their previous (or subsequent) “others”? 

For Friday: Bronte, Wuthering Heights, Chs.4-7 (or 18-21)

Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: How does Nelly’s relationship with the second Catherine develop?  Also, how does she characterize her throughout these chapters?  Is she ‘better’ than the previous Catherine?  Worse?  What traits or similarities does Nelly try to impress upon the reader?  

Q2: Where do you see any narrative ‘slips’ by Nelly in these passages?  Playing on the idea that she is less narrating history than writing it, where do you see her ‘writing’ rather than narrating the story?  In other words, where do you see what she says at odds with what might actually be happening—or what others directly say is happening? 

Q3: Discuss Heathcliff’s motives in these chapters: why does he insist on taking Linton back, and why does he instigate a romance between Linton and Catherine?  We know why Nelly thinks he is…but is she right?  Is the only motive for this a nefarious one? 

Q4: The first Catherine once called Nelly “my hidden enemy—you witch!” (1.12.117). How does the second Catherine come to see and ‘read’ Nelly?  Does she trust her as implicitly as her mother did?  Does she discern any ‘cracks’ in her guardianship? 

Paper #2: Exiles of Experience

“But supposing at twelve years old, I had been wrenched from the Heights, and every early association, and my all in all, as Heathcliff was at that time, and had been converted at a stroke into Mrs. Linton, the lady of Thrushcross Grange, and the wife of a stranger; an exile, and outcast, thenceforth, from what had been my world—You may fancy a glimpse of the abyss where I groveled!...Why am I so changed?” (Vol.1, Chapter XII).

INTRO: In both Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, the idea of innocence vs. experience is at play, where characters are thrown into an awareness of the horrors of adulthood (death, sexuality, brutality, marriage, sin, class, etc.) without a proper parental figure guiding them through the ritual. As a result, characters are constantly “exiled” from their youth and their childish selves, becoming split in two, until they scarcely even recognize themselves. Why do you think both Shelley and Brontë are so obsessed by this theme? Why are so many of the characters, from Victor, Elizabeth, the Creature, Cathy (both of them!), Heathcliff, and Isabella constantly at war with who they were—and where they belong?

Q: For your second paper, I want you to discuss characters in both books who seem to be struggling with the same sense of division. What makes them split apart? What aspect of experience makes them lose their ‘innocent’ self, and why can’t they reclaim it? How is the transition like Blake’s “The Garden of Love,” where children are forbidden to return to a garden which is now “bound with briars” by priests wearing dark robes? Also, what role do the parental figures—or lack thereof—play in their transformation? Why does something like love become evil to them, or the people they love become monsters? Or why do they become monsters to themselves? Consider, too, that women are writing both of these works, so there must be an element of autobiography here; perhaps both works are metaphors for their own isolation and exile?

REQUIREMENTS

* Discuss at least 1-2 characters from each book that are united by a common theme of innocence vs. experience (your choice)

* Quote from each book and discuss the connections between the characters

* Use MLA format throughout: when introducing a book/passage, be sure to introduce the quote, cite it, and respond to the quotation  (why you used it or why it’s relevant to your discussion).

* At least 4-5 pages double spaced

DUE Wednesday, March 25^th by 5pm [we have class that day!]