Tara P's post: O'Hara

In contrast to what we have read thus far, Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems deal with the built environment. However, in some of O’Hara’s poems he mentions elements of the natural world alongside his descriptions of the urban setting. For example, in the poem “Cambridge” he describes cotton fruit and winter trees. In “On the Way to San Remo” he describes how “the act of love is also passing like a subway bison” and how “bars are for rabbits.” Why do you think he does this? Also, in some of his poems such as “Song” and “Three Airs” O’Hara seems to have a negative view of the city, whereas in other poems he seems to see the city in a more positive light. Why do you think he has these different views? Overall, what do you think his opinion of the built environment is?

The original magic bus?

Thoreau and Into the Wild articles

Here's a New York Times article from today about how Thoreau's notes and journals are being used to track climate change in New England over the last 150 years. A funny line from one of the researchers: "Thoreau had incredibly messy handwriting. That was a big difficulty."

And a National Geographic Adventure article about Sean Penn, Jon Krakauer, and the making of Into the Wild.

Click for the links:

Thoreau Is Rediscovered as a Climatologist

Back into the Wild

Eric's post: Into the Wild

The story of Into the Wild has many parallels with what we have read so far this semester. Chris McCandless in many regards practiced the ideals Henry Thoreau set out for in Walden. He set out to live a life alone, meeting new people along the way, but never building relationships because the “joy in life does not come principally from the presence of human relationships. It comes from the experiences.” However, we see Chris change his mind on this conclusion near the end of his ‘adventure.’

How would you compare this ‘adventure’ had with Thoreau’s ideology from Walden? When Chris finally does get to Alaska, describe the ‘magic bus.’ What did it mean to him? It was here in Alaska where he would fight the climactic battle to “kill the false being within to victoriously conclude spiritual revolution.” Does he accomplish his goal he set out for?

Chris says that it is good to feel strong. We all need to measure ourselves at least once. Do you agree? If so, why? How will you accomplish this? Finally, do you agree with his conclusion at the end of the film when he writes into the book he was reading for all the answers about life, that happiness is only real when shared?

Brokeback Mountain

Here are a few questions to ponder on "Brokeback Mountain." Posting a comment is optional, but be sure to think these over before class.

1. What landscapes do Jack and Ennis inhabit, and how do those landscapes correspond to their lives at different points in the story? Why don't they ever return to Brokeback Mountain?

2. Why does Proulx make Ennis, and not Jack, the main character?

3. Think about how Proulx uses place names, and what, in a larger sense, these Western place-names tell us about the culture. Some of the places are real (Riverton, Lightning Flat), some are semi-real (there is apparently a place named Brokenback Peak), and some are fictional. Look at the list at the bottom of p. 273.

4. This is one of a few accounts of American boyhood/young manhood/coming-of-age-in-the-wilderness stories we have read (including "The Bear" and "Ceremony," and bits of Leopold too). You've certainly encountered others in your own personal reading/film/TV watching, along with other stories of life in the West, on the frontier. Do we see this story either fitting into or resisting any particular American literary or cultural tradition?

5. As you read, pay particular attention to Proulx's language and her pacing. How does she use sounds? What kind of vocabulary does she use? At what points does her language seem to speed up, and at what points slow down, and why? Bring an example of a particular phrase or sentence that seems striking to you.

Concord trip

Here are the photos from our splendid day in Concord. For this week's blog discussion, let's talk about our experience with the following questions:

-What was your experience of seeing Walden after having read Thoreau? How was your impression of the pond shaped by his writing, and conversely, how did your version of Walden as a "place" differ from or resist Thoreau's version?

-We talked about "layers of narratives" in several of our texts so far this semester. (e.g. the way that Leopold sees in a single scene the natural history of the landscape; the history of settlement; the scene as seen from an animal's point of view; and his own personal farm. The Hawthorne passage that we read out loud at the Old Manse similarly looked at this small patch of land through the lens of his own personal history, the history of the Revolutionary battle, the history of a single boy at the scene, and the mythical-historical Native American settlement.) What layers of narrative did we witness today?

-What effect does the tourist industry have on these places as places? What effect does it have on Thoreau for us to turn him into a tourist attraction, taking a bus to go see the site of his house? Why do we even want to see his house? What other literary/historical tourist attractions have you been to? How can we analyze the types of products offered for sale in the shops? (see photos below.)

Everyone fit inside the replica cabin:


Tara and Thoreau holding hands in front of the cabin


The actual site of Thoreau's cabin:



Along the trail







This guy was either a really bad kayaker or was practicing his rolls.


Lunch overlooking the Old Manse and the Old North Bridge


The Old Manse (home of Hawthorne and Emerson)




Views from the Old North Bridge




Orchard House (home of the Alcotts)


The Wayside (home of the Alcotts and the Hawthornes)


In the shops:
Official Thoreau basket weaving kit


The T-shirt gallery:




Huckleberry Tea and other random treats


Walking sticks


"Scrabble" figurines (this is the mouse that hung out with Jo March in the attic while she wrote. The mouse is not a major character in Little Women.) (Please ignore my ghostly image taking the picture with my cell phone.)


Little Women sachet dolls. Just below this shot is a freaky doll with working eyelids that costs several hundred dollars.

Sandpainting: and the extra credit goes to...me.

Here are two articles on sandpainting. Both focus on the Navajo tradition, but describe a tradition very similar to the Laguna sandpainting ceremony found in Ceremony. They answer some of the questions from class (what do the various colors and images represent; what materials are used; what happens to the sandpainting after the ceremony).

http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/navajo/sandpaintings.php3

http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa083.shtml (This one is from a "collectors' guide" website--ironic since true sandpaintings are temporary and ceremonial, and could not be collected. There are non-ceremonial sandpaintings for sale with sand glued on, and some sandpaintings' images are translated into woven rugs.)

Built environment analysis

For this 3-4 page paper, you will be writing an analysis of a "built environment," by which I mean buildings and human structures. You have two choices for how to approach this essay. Both choices involve some amount of research; do not just sit in front of a building and guess at its history. If you need help figuring out how to begin your research, you might have a conversation with a librarian at the Stonehill library.

Option A
Choose a building (or closely-related group of buildings) to analyze. This could be anything from your Stonehill dorm to a skyscraper in Boston to a department store to your hometown post office, but it should be a building you have seen in person and feel familiarity with. Research some basic background about the building's history, and then analyze what the physical structure of the building tells us about its social and cultural function.

Here are some questions you might begin with.

1) History: when was the building built? By whom and for what purpose? Does its current use conform with its original use, and if it's changed, why? What is the building called and why? For these questions especially, you should not speculate but find some actual facts.
2) What is the building made of? What does its shape and structure look like? What does that external appearance tell us about the building's function? Does it have a particular style of architecture? Does it attempt to look futuristic; historical; utilitarian; playful...? and why?
3) What do its surroundings look like and how does the building fit into its context? Does it blend seamlessly; stick out in contrast; reflect certain elements but not others?
4) Who uses the building, and for what? How does the building fit (or not fit) that population and that purpose?
5) What kinds of social relationships does the architecture of the building invite, and what kinds does it discourage? What kinds of cultural roles does it value? Does it imply a certain kind of family? a certain kind of community? a certain kind of work atmosphere? a certain kind of consumer?

Option B
Interview a family member or two in order to write a brief history of the homes your family members have inhabited over time. You should analyze two or three different homes over two or three generations (so, for instance, your current family house, your mother's childhood house, and perhaps her mother's house). Write an analysis of what the physical structure of those homes tells us about ideas of family and the larger social and cultural role of the home, and how those ideas have changed over the generations. Some ideas to consider:

1) What do those structures look like on the outside and what values does that appearance project? Consider: the style of architecture; materials used; lawn/garden/green space or lack thereof; driveway, garage, outbuildings; etc.
2) What is the relationship of the building to the street? to other buildings in the neighborhood? Do the building and its surroundings encourage social relationships with neighbors? Does it encourage privacy? How would a visitor approach the building: on foot? in a car?
3) How are the rooms laid out and what does that arrangement tell you? What social function does each room have? Do some rooms have more than one function? Are some rooms "private" family space and others more "public"? What attitude does the physical structure suggest toward outside visitors? toward play and work?
4) Does the home's architecture suggest particular roles for men, women, and children? Do those roles change from generation to generation, or do they persist over time?

Other Ceremony questions

Think about the following questions before class tomorrow. You do not have to post comments on these (although you're welcome to if you feel like it). The question you have to comment on is in a separate post below.

-Re-read the section where Betonie makes a sand painting (around p. 140--poems with "eh-hey-yah-ah-na!"). Think about what the sand painting represents in terms of space/place; in making a representation of landscape around Tayo, what are they trying to accomplish?

-Also in relation to the sand-painting scene, think about images of tracking. Betonie's chant says, "Following my footprints / walk home..." There are many examples of tracking, including Tayo and the cows and the bear child story. What other examples of tracking can you find, and what do you think it symbolizes in the novel?

-What role does Helen Jean play? Why does Silko decide to tell us her background story and narrate part of the story from her perspective?

-Why does Silko include the visual representation of stars? How does that image work differently than a written description?

Field trip details

We're off to Concord this Sunday, October 19! The bus will leave from the Duffy parking lot at 11 A.M. Plan to be there a few minutes early. Don't be late, or the bus will leave without you!

The forecast is for cool weather, and we will be outside almost the entire time. Dress in warm layers and wear shoes appropriate for walking on potentially muddy trails.

You should bring something to eat and drink for lunch. We'll stop to eat at around 1:00.

The subsidized fee for Orchard house is $4. Please bring the money to class on Thursday (although if you forget I can collect it on the field trip). The English Dept. will cover anyone who is uncertain about their ability to pay.

Our approximate schedule:

Depart Stonehill: 11:00

Walden Pond: 12:00-1:30. We will walk the trail around the pond, view the replica of Thoreau's house, and visit the original site of the house.



The Old Manse and The Old North Bridge: 1:30-2:30. The Old Manse was inhabited by both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Old North Bridge was the site of the first shots of the American Revolution. If time permits, we may stop at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to see the graves of Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and others.





Orchard House: 3:00-4:00. Home of the Alcotts. We will take a tour of the house, and see the neighboring homes of Hawthorne and Emerson.


Depart Concord: 4:00. Return to Stonehill by 5:00.

Ceremony II

At the climax of Ceremony (the novel) and of Tayo's ceremony, Tayo must watch Harley being tormented by Emo; he feels the desire to "[jam] the screwdriver into Emo's skull," but he remains as an observer and does not act. Why must Tayo stay passive in this scene? How does that help his "recovery," and what exactly does Tayo achieve at the completion of his ceremony? To what extent must Tayo act in either a passive or an active way in the earlier components of the ceremony?

Conversely, how might we describe the journey of Emo, Harley, Pinkie, and Leroy as an anti-ceremony? What does Silko mean when she says, "Their deadly ritual for the autumn solstice would have been completed by him"? (253 in my book; paragraph beginning "The moon was lost in a cloud bank.")

You don't need to answer all of these questions, but this should give us plenty of room for discussion.

Grading Standards

These are the general standards I use when grading papers. (This rubric is adapted from a handout by Kerry Walk, Director of the Princeton Writing Program.)

A paper in the A range deploys these “Elements of the Essay” with exceptional grace and mastery:
• Thesis: interesting, arguable, incisive; sufficiently limited in scope; usually stated early on and present throughout
• Structure: logical, progressive (not just a list), supple (invites complications, consideration of counterarguments), with strong and obvious links between points; coherent, well-organized paragraphs
• Evidence: sufficient, appropriate, and well-chosen; presented in a readable and understandable way
• Analysis: insightful and fresh; more than summary or paraphrase; shows how evidence supports thesis; may dwell in depth on one or two key examples
• Style: clear and conversational yet sophisticated; diction level appropriate to audience; smooth, stimulating, a pleasure to read

A B-range paper may in part resemble an A range paper but may also exhibit any of the following qualities:
• Thesis: arguable but may be vague or uninteresting, or feature unintegrated parts; may be only implied, not stated early on; may not be argued throughout, disappears in places
• Structure: generally logical but either confusing in places (big jumps, missing links) or overly predictable and undeveloped; few complications or considerations of counter-arguments; some disorganized paragraphs (either bloated or skimpy; could be confusing)
• Evidence: generally solid but may be scanty or presented as undigested quotations
• Analysis: at times insightful but sometimes missing or mere summary; makes inconsistent connections between evidence and thesis
• Style: generally clear but lacking in sophistication; may be weighed down by fancy diction meant to impress; may exhibit some errors in punctuation, grammar, spelling, and format

A C-range paper may in part resemble a B range paper but may also exhibit any of the following qualities:
• Thesis: vague, descriptive, or confusing; parts unintegrated (e.g., three unrelated prongs); only implied or not stated early on; not argued throughout, disappears in places
• Structure: confusing (big jumps, missing links) or overly predictable; few complications or considerations of counter-arguments; disorganized paragraphs, often headed with descriptive (versus argumentative) topic sentences
• Evidence: either missing or presented as undigested quotations; may be taken out of context
• Analysis: some insightful moments but generally either missing or mere summary; may present some misreadings
• Style: may be generally unclear and hard to read, or simplistic; may evince many technical errors

A D-range paper may in part resemble a C range paper but may also exhibit any of the following qualities:
• Thesis: missing or purely descriptive (an observation or statement of fact), or may be a total misreading
• Structure: confusing; little focused development (paper usually short but may be rambling); disorganized paragraphs (also usually short); missing, garbled, or purely descriptive topic sentences (plot summary)
• Evidence: very few examples; undigested quotations; taken out of context
• Analysis: missing or based on misinterpretations or mere summary
• Style: either simplistic or difficult to read; probably riddled with technical errors

Ceremony

Silko begins Ceremony with a poem about the power of stories:

Don't be fooled.
They are all we have, you see,
all we have to fight off illness and death. (2)

Similarly, in a war flashback, describing the long march to prison camp, Tayo tells "a story for all of them, a story to give them strength. The words of the story poured out of his mouth as if they had substance, pebbles and stone extending to keep the corporal up, to keep his knees from buckling..." (12).

Yet Tayo seems to have nearly stopped telling stories--at least out loud--when he returns home after the war. What is the status of stories as the novel begins? What are some examples of "healing" stories--or stories that "wound"? In particular, what is the connection between storytelling and place? Silko describes Tayo's story as having physical "substance;" the act of telling a story is like an act of building. Can we say that stories create place, and how so?

Help!! Faulkner plot questions thread

Use the comments section to help one another out with plot questions or any other questions you have about "The Bear." I will check in periodically to comment as well.

For example: what's going on on pp. 198-220, as Ike is deciphering why Eunice, the slave, drowned herself?

Click to view larger version of family tree.