British Literature from 1800, "The Mythmakers"

Eye in Eye by Edvard Munch NOTE: The Final Project assignment is the post BELOW this one, in case you missed class on Friday. We'll talk about it much more in class, and I'll post resources for it very soon! Otherwise, read the opening of The Collector , which is in 2 parts: Part 1 is from Frederick (the "collector's") perspective, while Part 2 is from Miranda's perspective. The brief Part 3 returns to Frederick for the Epilogue.  Answer TWO of the following: Q1: Frederick claims that "a lot of people...would do what I did or similar things if they had the money and the time" (20). Do you think he was planning to abduct Miranda even before he came into the money, or was it, as he suggests, the power of money that lured him into such an evil act?  Q2: Somewhat related to the above, do we think Frederick is a reliable narrator so far in the story? He is very honest, and he lays all his cards on the table, so to speak. But do we see any cracks in his st...

  “ A book cover demands our initial engagement with a work. You may not think a cover reflects your own thoughts of a book, but it evokes a response and inspires a reader’s imagination to begin building the world within the pages created by the author…A book cover is a key with which we open a world of storytelling…one page at a time, cover to cover.” ( Elda Rotor, Classic Penguins: Cover to Cover ) PROMPT: For your final project, I want you to find new cover art for each of the books in class. The cover art should have a ‘conversation’ with the text, meaning they should evoke one or more of the following themes: A reference to a theme or symbol in the work An evocation of the historical moment—the art, ideas of the time A reference to the biography of the author An illustration of a specific passage or setting To do this, I want you to find six works of art that can evoke one or more of the above aspects, so we can think about each book in a ne...

Read all or as many of the poems that remain in the book, and answer only ONE question using 1-2 poems in your response: Q1: Most of the poems in this section were written and published between 1914-1917, just a little over 100 years ago. That means these poems are the first poems written squarely in the 20th century, and were written in the context of the first cars, planes, and modern warfare (WWI). What makes this poems seem more 'modern' than others, or suggests that Hardy is expressing or saying something new in his poetry? Obviously many of his themes echo earlier Romantic ones (Wordsworth, Keats, Browning), but where do we see ideas, scenarios, or expressions that could never have been written earlier? In other words, which of these poems incontestably carry the stamp of 20th century poetry?

Remember that you don't have to read every poem in this series, but do try to read as many as you can, or at least read several of them more than once, to really investigate some of the trickier meanings and connections between poems.  Answer TWO of the following: Q1: How is a poem like "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?" a comical twist on the earlier poem, "Friends Beyond" (p.12)? Why is it especially ironic that the dead wife is having a conversation with what turns out to be her dog? Q2: There are three poems entitled "In Tenebris" (in darkness): how do you read this trio of works? Is each one basically a variation on the one before? Does each one offer a progression of the theme into new and darker territory? Does one of them contradict or refute the other? Does III mean the same as I?  Q3: Several of these poems are elegies or laments, which are songs of extreme sorrow of people and things dead and past. What are Hardy's characters in these po...

NOTE: In the Dover edition I ordered for our class, read the first 26 pages of poems, either all of them or whichever ones catch your fancy. Hardy's poems are easier to read than most, since they almost always tell stories and are told from a specific character's point of view, like Browning's. However, Hardy also likes to use strange turns of phrase and rustic-sounding words, befitting the background of many of his speakers. Here are three things to keep in mind when reading him: 1. Look up unfamiliar words such as "fervourless," "illiited," "blast-beruffled," etc., since they can change the meaning of a line (or a poem!). Don't skim over the strange words. 2. As always, read poetry out loud whenever you can, for two reasons: Hardy's poetry is very musical, but it can be hard to 'hear' this when you read it silently; and two, Hardy's poetry is usually dramatic, meaning someone is speaking each one to the audience, and often...

NOTE: Remember that we do have class on Monday, because I gave you an extra class day to write Paper #2. We won't have class on Wednesday instead, and we'll just count that as the beginning of Fall Break. Read Appendix A, B & C from our version of The Invisible Man  on pages 173-195, then answer TWO of the following: Q1: Which of the four endings of the novel do you think is the most appropriate and satisfying and why? Also, how does this version differ most from the other three? What does he add or subtract to make this ending more effective? Q2: In Appendix B, which of the five works do you think Wells most borrows (or plagiarizes, if you want to go there) from? What idea or aspects of this work probably most influenced Wells' own work? Do you think Wells improved on these originals? If so, how? Q3: Interestingly, of the four stories in Appendix B (not counting the silly ballad by Gilbert), two approach invisibility from a fantasy perspective, and two approach it from...

  No questions this time, just be sure to finish the novel for Friday's class. I'll give you an in-class response and we'll take it from there. Boy, wait till you read the end of the novel! It's crazier than I remembered! :)  ALSO: I'm pushing the paper due date to WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13th. Why? Because I want to wrap-up our class on Monday (with the readings below), and give you Wednesday off to work on your paper and to leave the class for Fall Break. Sorry--I forgot to mention this in class today!  If you finish the book early, you might be interested in reading Appendixes A, B & C, which we'll discuss on Monday. These focus on the four alternative endings for the novel, other works on invisibility in the 19th century, and the early reviews of the book. I'll post questions for these on Friday.  Take care! 

  Answer TWO of the following: Q1: In class on Monday, I suggested that The Invisible Man/Griffin is split between his super ego and his id: the "super ego" is the higher, more rational/ideal self while the "id" is the animalistic self of desires and hungers. As the novel progresses, which one of the two seems more in dominance? Is he evolving or progressing as this new race of being? And is he aware of this transformation himself? Q2: Earlier in Chapter III, one of the villagers decides that their guest must be a "piebald...Black here and white there--in patches" (61). This betrays the racial fear at the heart of English society at the time, that someone not "pure" could mix in polite society. Where else do we see racist views expressed by the characters of the novel (on both sides)? What might be Wells' point in bringing these topics to light in the 1890s? Q3: When Marvel is talking to the mariner in Chapter XIV, the latter is remarking abo...

Answer TWO of the following:  Q1: The narration of this novel is very odd: while it doesn’t have a frame narrative, it does have a narrator who seems to be omniscient, but then reduces themselves by saying in the beginning of Chapter IV, “I have told the circumstances of the stranger’s arrival in Iping with a certain fullness of detail…” (61). Why do you think the story has a nameless “I” narrator and is limited to what people can see and observe of the stranger? Q2: What do you feel makes the Invisible Man “snap” and become what we might call today a super villain?  While he doesn’t seem necessarily evil or malicious at the beginning of the novel, he clearly becomes so by Chapter V.  Does Wells let us see the psychology of a super villain in these opening chapters?  Or is his personality, like his appearance, a mystery?  Q3: Once the stranger becomes famous in the village, the locals begin hatching ideas as to who he is and what’s wrong with him. What are ...

Caliban and Prospero, from The Tempest  NOTE: You don't have to read this poem, since I ended up cutting it from the schedule to start The Invisible Man next week. It's a very tough poem, but it has some great ideas that support the 'supervillain' theme we discussed on Friday. Here are some notes about the poem if you want to read it and possibly use it in your paper--or if you're just interested in reading more Browning. Caliban Upon Setebos Caliban: in Shakespeare's The Tempest , Caliban is a native of the island that Prospero, a wizard, conquers to plot his revenge against his brother, the Duke of Naples. Caliban is a half-man, half-beast, and Prospero initially takes him in, treats him nicely, and teaches him to speak. But he later confines him in a cell when Caliban tries to take advantage of his daughter, Miranda. But all of this happens before the play starts, and it's hinted at that Prospero (who loves stagecraft and often acts like a stage manager) ...