I am so excited for Prometheus!
(Source: dgroundsel, via motherfuckinscifi)
at least to me, these things are delightful and enchanting. probably not to everyone. light and lovely things to look at...a lovely way to while away the hours.
May 20, 2012
May 3, 2012
and one more thing…
I am reading the Persepolis posts and they rock, as usual. You guys are fantastic. This has been my first opportunity to teach a literature class and it has been a great experience, so thank you all for the discussions, for using Tumblr, and for all of the writing you have done. I am pretty ding dang excited to talk to you all about the take home essay and to read them when you turn them in on Tuesday of finals week.
May 3, 2012
Persepolis Prompt #2
I would like the standard 500 word mini essay this time.
There are a bunch of different themes to choose from that we have discussed: family, growing up/coming of age, identity and hybridity, how to deal with war, what it is like to be an outsider, culture shock. There is also the whole genre of the graphic novel/comic book and how the use of images changes the story.
You could go either way: focus on the content or focus on the format.
You could also compare this novel and this family with a previous novel.
If I were to write a post on Persepolis, I think that this would be my thesis:
Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis works as a guide to coping with war. She relies on humor, her family, her inner strength, and her faith to get through very hard times. She makes a point to show these coping mechanisms.
As usual, back up your claim with evidence from the text. These are due by class time on Tuesday. Have a great weekend everyone!
May 3, 2012
B-WEIZ: Persepolis Prompt #2: Family Comes First
In the graphic novel “The Complete Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, a very common theme is “family comes first” which is instilled upon the main character. Marjane grew up during the Iranian Revolution which was followed by a long war with its neighbor Iraq. Due to the state of upheaval in her…
This is really well done.
April 25, 2012
Persepolis Prompt #1
Since the internet has been acting up this week, this next post will be due by classtime on Tuesday. Also I am just now putting up the prompt. It’s only fair.
So take a look at what you have read so far: what moments and images stick out to you? How does Satrapi use the format of the comic to invite you into her world and her brain? Are there moments in the novel where you think images work better than words? So you think she is successful in her use of the comic format? Or not?
At least 250 words please. I am looking forward to further discussion of this text tomorrow and I hope to see you all there! Don’t quit on me now y’all. We are so close to the finish line!
April 21, 2012
Last Elephant Vanishes Prompt!
Sorry about posting this prompt so late everyone! I have been enjoying the sunshine and neglecting my computer.
If you have not yet written on The Elephant Vanishes, you have until class time on Tuesday.
Focus on one story and make a claim about it. How is Murakami a post-modern writer? How does he displace or disorient the reader? What do you think he is trying to say in his stories?
My claim would be: In the second to last short story, The Silence, Murakami turns a story about school kids bullying each other into a war story. The character telling the story shows signs of paranoia and PTSD, which calls back to the war story genre.
Remember to back up your claim with evidence from the text! Even if you have a different copy of the novel, I would still like MLA style citing of page numbers. They look like this: “quote” (page number).
Please look at the syllabus to see how far to read Persepolis for the coming week. Only three weeks until finals week!!!
April 13, 2012
The Elephant Vanishes Prompt #2
For this post, I would like you all to make a claim that applies to more than one story from the collection. My claim would be:
Murakami focuses on late 20s to early 30s age people and many of them are unhappy or bored. Some of them are slacker types. I think that he focuses on young adult slackers to highlight the difficult transition from adolescent to adult and to show how meaningless it can be to be a contributing member of a repressive society.
I would back up my claim with quotes from the text. There are plenty of themes and claims to choose from. These posts should be 500 words and are due by class time on Tuesday. If you have not re-bloged any posts in a while, you should do so. If you have less than five posts done, you need to do one this week! If you have less than 10 posts by the end of the semester, your grade will be significantly lower. We only have about 4 weeks of class left. Keep posting!
April 8, 2012
jocelyn courtney: Woman at Point Zero #2
In Woman at Point Zero, author Nawal El Saadawi shows how being female and impoverished in Cairo in the mid-1900’s can be incredibly dehumanizing. In painstaking detail El Saadawi describes the oppression, pain, and loss that her main character, Firdaus, endures for much of her life. However,…
This is a really lovely post.
April 3, 2012
The Elephant Vanishes Prompt #1
So this collection of short stories is very strange and different from everything else we have read. For this post, find a quote that strikes you for some reason and write 250 words about why you think it is significant or why it is an interesting quote to you. Murakami is a very surreal writer who blends and shifts memory, reality, and dreaming. He plays with perception. This makes every paragraph into a kind of puzzle. Where are you most confused or most certain when you are reading his short stories? What do you think is the point of the story?
You can address these questions or not. It is up to you.
March 29, 2012
Woman at Point Zero Prompt #2
So we have discussed quite a few different elements that show up in this text. The group work was on money, the class system, the color green, eyes and blindness, sexuality, childhood, and rebirth. There are the themes of gender and power in general as well. Make a claim and back it up with quotes from the text. At least 500 words.
My claim would be:
Firdaus is a child throughout the text. She only becomes a mature woman at the very end.
This is your last chance to post on this novel!
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