British Literature from 1800, "The Mythmakers"

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 be...

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 ...

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...

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? 

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 Rocheste...

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?...

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 questio...

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 t...

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’? ...

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 sig...

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 ...

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...

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 isola...

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 t...

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, obv...

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...

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 fi...

“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 c...