Hebdomadal (spring break) (Updated 4/5)

Hi, all! Right now I'm ten days behind on grading hebdomadals -- if you have sent me a hebdomadal since March 19th, you'll hear back from me over break.

If I don't drown in grading, I'll add some hebdomadal topics about Joyce and Conrad later this week.

Discussion our first week back from break will probably concentrate on Heart of Darkness and "The Dead" -- it's impossible to imagine how we will have a good conversation about both these texts in 50 minutes, but that's our mission. Topics 2 and 3 below deal with "Araby," which we probably won't discuss. If you would rather write about HoD or "The Dead," then shift one of the questions below to suit your interest. You could, for example, consider rewriting your midterm essay to use one of the new texts as evidence.

Topic 1:

The answers to the midterm essays were often vague, frequently relying on cliché and potted readings, and sometimes drifting into (articulate, even eloquent) bullshit. For this hebdomadal, rewrite your midterm essay in the style of one of the take-home essays (though not as long, of course). Focus on developing an original and specific claim backed up by thoughtfully-analyzed textual evidence.

For your textual evidence, don't use the texts on the midterm but, rather, texts we have read since the midterm: Jekyll and Hyde, the end of Middlemarch, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Yeats's poems.

Topic 2:

"Araby" is usually read as a straight epiphany. Have you ever circled all the occurrences of images of darkness and blindness, light and vision in the story? There are a dozen references to sight every page, and the conventional reading of this image is that the external blindness of the speaker turns into internal vision in the last sentence of the story. Yet Joyce didn't understand epiphanies as simple, singular transformations: in his longer fiction, he repeatedly suggests that an epiphany does not necessarily shape behavior -- a character can have an epiphany but then, an hour later, go on seeing the world exactly as he saw it when he woke up in the morning. Epiphanies can also counteract each other, new epiphanies wiping out the relevance of old ones.

Can we read this ambivalence about epiphany in "Araby"? The conclusion of the story suggests that the epiphany is absolute, but can the argument be made from other evidence in the text that this epiphany -- like all epiphanies -- might be ephemeral or otherwise irrelevant? What, then, is the effect of this reading on the larger meaning of the text?

Topic 3:

Imagine this question: "Why is the bazaar in 'Araby' named 'Araby'?" Now imagine the answer I've heard two thousand times.

Looking at depictions of the east in "Araby" and Heart of Darkness, offer a thoroughly new reading of orientalism in "Araby."

(Alternatively, you can flip this prompt, using "Araby" to explain Heart of Darkness.)

Hebdomadal topics (week 10)

Topic 1: Victorian courtships

The stylistic differences in the courtships of Middlemarch and The Importance of Being Earnest illustrate the rhetorical as well as the ideological differences between high Victorian and late Victorian literature. By comparing a scene of courtship from Middlemarch to a scene of courtship from Earnest, concisely articulate how these two authors approach a shared socio-cultural phenomenon differently. Then suggest how their different stylistic approaches suggest different ideological approaches: how do these authors different styles show us how they see their worlds differently?

Topic 2: Prism's Progress

Late in Earnest we discover that Miss Prism is the author of a "three-volume novel of more than usually revolting sentimentality" (1737). The play is otherwise laced with comments about literature and literary criticism (e.g. p. 1703: "The truth is rarely pure and simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature would be a complete impossibility!") -- there's plenty of sarcasm here, of course, but what is Wilde saying about literature? Why is he saying it?

Topic 3: Irish Modernisms

Wilde and Yeats paint pictures of different worlds -- consider merely the tonal difference between Earnest and "The Second Coming." To what features of nineteenth-century culture and literature are they responding? How do their visions of the coming century differ? What is the significance of this difference?

Hebdomadal topic (week 9)

Tristen (306) reminded me this afternoon that I haven't really leaned on how optional these topics are. The hebdomadal topics I post online are questions that intrigue me, and they're (I hope) useful starting places for analysis.

However, if there is a text or an approach to a text you would really like to tackle, then please go off on your own! All I ask is that if you choose to write on a hebdomadal topic of your own devising, let me know what that topic is at the beginning of your hebdomadal. (You might find it easiest to phrase that topic in the form of a question.)

In that spirit, here are two topics for this week: one is extremely open-ended, and the other focuses on a problem that has been getting to me.

Topic 1

In both discussions today, you developed exceptionally good questions about Middlemarch. I mean that, by the way: in four years of teaching, I have never seen students move so quickly to develop thoroughly brilliant discussion questions.

We didn't address these questions at all thoroughly. In section 306, we just skipped two or three amazing questions. In this hebdomadal, you can do one of three things:

1. Answer a question that was posed but never addressed. In 306, these questions were:
   • Is anything in Middlemarch left to "choice"? (Shelby, can you let me know the page number of Lydgate's comment? There's a good bit about "liking to do" on p. 402, but I don't think that was the passage you were working with.) Shelby writes that we should consider "page 401, where Lydgate says, 'My dear Rosamond, it is not a question of choice.' It is in regards to Rosamond's comment that living in a 'poor way' will lower his status, so this raises a theme like how social pressure limits personal choice, or something to that effect." Excellent stuff! Thanks, Shelby!
   • How and to what extent can a character move beyond his past deeds?
   • By the way, if I missed any great questions that came up in either class that didn't get their share of attention, send me an email or post a comment below!
2. Answer a question that we didn't deal with quite thoroughly enough in our conversation
3. Answer a question that you and your partner worked through but that you never got to share with the group

Topic 2: Reading reading in Middlemarch

Early in our 305 meeting today, John suggested that Mary Garth is a social outlier in Middlemarch because she's exceptionally good at reading character. We also notice that Mary is just plain good at reading: her voracious appetite for reading is mentioned on pages 72, 89, 160, 196 and elsewhere.

Working either with the example of Mary or with any other character, explain why characters in Middlemarch read. What good does George Eliot -- or her narrator -- think books do? Of the many kinds of books that are read by Middlemarchers -- mythological texts, religious texts, encyclopedias, legal and financial documents, etc. -- what specific role do novels play?

Here are some other scenes that might interest you:

• 47: Dorothea sees Casaubon's library, and at that moment reads him
• 48: Dorothea sees Casaubon's mother's parlor, and sees the books in it as decorations
• 299 and 306: Casaubon's library is described as a sort of a tomb, only moments before he dies
• 66: Fred reads ("only") a novel
• 72: Peter Featherstone's limited library is described
• 196: Trumbull reads Mary's borrowed copy of Anne of Geierstein in his auctioneer's voice
• 353: Sir Walter Scott is mentioned again, and at some length
• 375: Trumbull talks at some length about the value of a book of riddles

Strong answers to Quiz 3 (Updated 3/15)

So, 70% of your midterm grade comes from IDs. The midterm is 15% of your final grade. Your final grade in this class is worth 4 credits. If I have the math right, this means 0.42 of one of your college credits is based entirely on how well you answer seven ID questions Thursday morning.

Here's how to rock that 0.42 of a credit -- specifically the thematic significance side of things:

1. Point to a specific word or phrase from the passage
2. Explain how that word or phrase reveals a recurring question posed by the text as a whole
3. Explain how that word or phrase connects to a specific answer to that recurring question

Want some examples? Here are some examples.

The last quiz passage was this:

Mr Bulstrode felt a shuddering nausea, and did not speak, but was considering diligently whether he should not leave Raffles to do as he would, and simply defy him as a slanderer. The man would soon show himself disreputable enough to make people disbelieve him. “But not when he tells any ugly-looking truth about you,” said discerning consciousness. And again: it seemed no wrong to keep Raffles at a distance, but Mr Bulstrode shrank from the direct falsehood of denying true statements. It was one thing to look back on forgiven sins, nay, to explain questionable conformity to lax customs, and another to enter deliberately on the necessity of falsehood.

Here are some strong answers to the thematic significance of that prompt.

From Nora (305). Look at how the first sentence points towards a thematic connection between two broad concepts -- gossip and the individual -- and how her third sentence reverses our usual way of talking about the power of gossip. The last sentence, though, is the real kicker.

This passage points to the pervasiveness of gossip in any individual’s life. Mr. Bulstrode feels a great deal of anxiety over a potentially soiled reputation. Reputation is so important that, Bulstrode notes, if the one who gossips suffers from a less than stellar reputation the gossip itself is discredited. Citizens of Middlemarch balance their reputations every day, taking careful note of fresh gossip that may damage someone’s, or even their own, fragile reputation. They understand that truth is subjective in Middlemarch society.

Here's one from Kristen (306). Notice how Kristen uses this paragraph to develop a specific, thorough treatment of what truth means:

This passage touches on the theme of secret-keeping in the novel. Many people are keeping secrets to protect themselves or others (Dorothea learned after the fact about the codicil in Casaubon’s will, multiple characters have debts to pay off that others don’t know about, etc.). This also looks at the idea of truth. Mr. Bulstrode fears the truth, referring to it as “ugly-looking.” The truth is powerful and has great effects on people, producing “shuddering nausea” in Bulstrode. Because the truth could be so damaging to him, Bulstrode must rely on the “necessity of falsehood” and the likelihood of people not seeing truth and validity in Raffles, the man who would reveal the truth to the world.

Although Ed (305) would be the first to admit that he should have brought up specific textual details earlier in his answer, it's clear from this argument that he sees how this passage fits into the larger problems of Middlemarch. Notice also that Ed isn't afraid to write conversationally:

The question Eliot is beginning to answer has to do with what role one’s past has in creating one’s present and future. Mr. Raffles is a blast from the past with info that could slander Bulstrode. This information gives Raffles the power to create Bulstrode’s present and future. Eliot shows that there must be a link, some evidence, of past action in order for it to in any way affect one’s present and future. She also points to credibility toward the like in “disbelieve, “ “discernible,” and multiple references to truth and falsehood.

Paul (305) offers this clear analysis of power and gossip:

It is a significant in that it shows a relationship between power and gossip, specifically it answers the question of how power is affected by gossip. Bulstrode is a powerful man, but he worries that R could spread certain stories about Bulstrode through the community. Bulstrode realizes that although Raffles is “disreputable,” he possesses the power to discredit Bulstrode with “any ugly-looking truth.” Bulstrode is forced to respect that gossip can undermine his power within the community

Alicia (306) offers another take on the gossip/power relationship:

This passage reflects Mr Bulstrode’s inner thoughts upon the intrusion of an old, unwanted aquaintance Raffles into his life in Middlemarch. Eliot uses Bulstrode’s angst to answer the overlying question about the power of gossip to ruin societal reputation. “The ugly-looking truth about you” seems to concern Bulstrode not on a personally moral scale, but on the perceptions society would form of him. This distinction is evident in the final sentence, where Bulstrode pits his “questionable conformity” against the outcome of entering into direct falsehood, that he deems “necessary.” In this way, Eliot proposes that gossip contradicts personal ethos, taking on an often times society scale that therefore binds the individual to the truth in convention.

Silqet (305) here offers not only an excellent thematic discussion of the divide between gossip and truth, but also a great sense of humor and style:

Mr Bulstrode is considering what type of approach to take and let things like gossip take their own natural course or whether to speak and deal with the consequences of that. There is this recurring – dare I say theme – of how personal choice – going along with societal norms affects a person and their future. Should Mr B just let things go as they may and let Raffles alone then in time he will lead to his own downfall as he is more and more digging his own grave. Truths and gossip – which to follow or let be the driving force for one’s motive is an issue that Mr B is dealing w/ in the passage. What mode of social acceptability to let form not only his decisions but consequential actions.

Picky details about essay writing

1. It is easier to automatically put your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page of your essay by editing the header than by manually typing in your name on each page. If you use Microsoft Word, then
1. Open the View menu
   
2. Select Header and Footer
3. Align your text to the right (you might have a button for this on your toolbar, or you can go to the Format menu and choose Paragraph and then from the Align drop-down box choose Right)
4. Type in your name and then press the Insert Page Number button (which probably appeared on the Header and Footer toolbar, or which you can find by going to the Insert menu, choosing the AutoText submenu, then Header/Footer, then - PAGE - -- for formatting reasons, this is rather less easy than just pressing the Insert Page Number button)
2. Always cite page numbers for prose and line numbers for poetry. You don't need to tell me which you are citing -- e.g. (line 121) or (page 130) -- if it is obvious. If you are switching between the two, there are a variety of commonly-used abbreviations -- most of these are nonstandard, but I would be hard pressed to tell you which they are (personally, I use the l. / ll. and p. / pp. notation)
   
1. For lines
1. (ln 12) or (ln 12-19)
2. (l. 17) or (ll. 17-24)
2. For pages
1. (pg 94) or (pg 130-42)
2. (p. 77) or (pp. 81-6)
3. For numbers
1. (ll. 7f) means line 7 and the following line
   
2. (ll. 7ff) means line 7 and two or more following lines
   
3. (pp. 81f) and (pp. 94ff) mean the same thing, of course, but for pages -- these notations are used more rarely because the 81ff notation
   

Hebdomadal topic (week 8)

This hebdomadal is due before the midterm on Thursday.

This week's topic is, I feel, the height of practicality.

1. Find a classmate with whom to write this heb (if you want a classmate's email address, let me know, or post a comment letting people know that you're looking for a partner)
   
2. Pick a passage from one of the two practice exams posted below (and handed out on Friday)
3. Write out the full ID
4. Exchange your answer with your classmate
5. Read over your classmate's ID and point out exactly how he or she could have written an even stronger answer; pay particular attention to
1. Whether the answer to the context
1. identifies characters who aren't named by the text (I'm not so interested in anonymous narrators or characters whose names are right there in the passage), and
   
2. would lead a casual reader directly to the right page (of Middlemarch) or the right line (of a poem)
2. Whether the answer to the thematic significance
1. identifies a specific thematic question posed by the text of which this passage is a part (by specific I mean something like this: "How does gossip shape the social relevance of truth?")
   
2. suggests the specific answer to that question posed by this specific passage (e.g. "In this passage, Bulstrode suggests that gossip promotes emotional convenience above factual accuracy -- the fact that his behavior has changed in the past ten years would be less significant to Middlemarchers than a conveniently ugly detail from two decades earlier")
   
3. connects that specific answer to a textual detail from the passage -- a word, a phrase, or a formal feature ("Bulstrode himself echoes this lazy, rationalizing judgmentalism by quietly renaming his cruel behavior as a kind of 'questionable conformity to lax customs' rather than as a simple, and nominally 'forgiven,' 'sin'")
   
6. Email the whole caboodle back to your classmate and to me

Since I'm drowning in grading, I can't promise that I'll get an answer back to this hebdomadal before the midterm (although I will try to -- right now I'm ahead in my grading, though that might not last). However, by having worked through your answer with a classmate you will have already gotten some good feedback.

Two practice midterms

In section tomorrow we will be working through not only key points on the Chart o' Poets, but also a few entries on a poetry-only practice midterm. For the last fifteen minutes of discussion tomorrow, I am going to ask you to name two poems you would like to discuss -- poems that baffle you, or that we haven't had a chance to discuss yet, or just poems you'd like a chance to talk about some more.

I have also put together a second practice midterm involving a mix of poetry and Middlemarch. This might be a useful tool to spur studying over the weekend. There are a couple different ways you might use it:

1. To figure out areas where you are weak -- if it turns out you can't identify any of the second-generation Romantics, then that tells you to spend more time with Keats and Shelley
2. As fodder for discussion with a study group or a study partner, to talk through all the nuances of the texts we've encountered over the last month and a half; chances are that if you didn't understand what was going on in "Elgin Marbles" someone else did and would be willing to talk it through
   
3. To practice answering those devilishly picky prompts in Part I: once you've written out explanations of the thematic significance of six Middlemarch passages, you'll probably have gotten the hang of it
   

Hebdomadal topics (week 7)

Yesterday, Prof. Ortiz-Robles gave an example of the sort of question he will be asking for Part II of the midterm: "Discuss the relationship between history and memory with reference to textual details from one of the passages in Part I." (At least, that what I had copied down in my notes.)

For this hebdomadal, develop a similarly open thematic question that you think could be asked of almost any text we've read this semester. This means looking back through your notes and pulling out the conceptual problems Prof. Ortiz-Robles has returned to several times in his lectures.

When you craft the question, you might want to be more specific than asking about "the relationship" between Concept 1 and Concept 2, but don't feel that you have to be two too specific -- asking how Concept 1 shapes Concept 2 might be enough detail to get you going. (Other good verbs: reveals, limits, creates.)

After you've done this, quote a short passage from the poem about which you feel least comfortable and use this passage to answer the essay question you've created. (Poems only this week.)

If I don't drown in grading next week, I'll post the essay topics you guys come up with so you have some likely essay prompts with which to study.

[Thank you, anonymous commenter!]

Charting the Romantics and Victorians

As promised, here is a link to a Word .doc of the chart I handed out in class:

• The Romantics and the Victorians: a chart

Try to fill out columns for two poets, one Romantic and one Victorian. (Recommendation: tackle the two poets about whom you feel least knowledgeable.)

Spend the most time answering the thematic questions posed by the chart: the poets' thematic interests in the individual, society, nature, and poetry itself. If you go in to the midterm with for solid thematic questions that apply to each poet, you'll pretty much have the IDs nailed.