The final exam is on John Cheever's short story "The Swimmer." In Cheever's short story, the main character, Donald Westerhazy, decides to climb fences in an upper class suburban American neighborhood and swim through each of his neighbors' pools. "The Swimmer" satirizes the corruption and decadence of the American middle and upper classes. The story ends with an ironic twist and makes a comment on the superficiality of class as well as the ephemeral nature of wealth. This short story is a critique of the emptiness of the pursuit of material happiness in American society.
Use MLA format to analyze "The Swimmer." Refer to specific passages. Here is an example of a quote:
Westerhazy is the archetype of the decadent bourgeois because he has affairs, like many wealthy men. He visualizes sex as an antidote to boredom: "Love--sexual roughhouse in fact--was the supreme elixir, the painkiller, the brightly colored pill that would put the spring back into his step, the joy of life in his heart" (Cheever 2356). Like many bourgeois individuals, Westerhazy confuses rough sex with love and engages in sex as an escape.
Here is an example of the works cited page for your paper.
Works Cited.
Cheever, John. "The Swimmer." The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Fifth Edition. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 2003. 2348-2357.
The following students are missing the following assignments:
Betts, Jasmine Pima Creation/Trickster, Apess, Savages, Emerson, Wealth | Lambert, Antoine Savages, Emerson, Wealth |
November 23rd, 2009
August 20th, 2009
Thursday
Today, we will read and discuss Christopher Columbus' two letters and discuss the founding of America. One important issue we will discuss will be what is the significance of Columbus' views from a broad historical perspective? We will discuss how Columbus' experience has shaped the American psyche. We will also do a freewrite on Columbus' writing in class.
* In this class, be prepared to keep an in-class journal with essays that you will write in class on various topics. The journal will be collected periodically throughout the semester.
* You will be required to do at least one PowerPoint presentation during the class on a particular writer in The Norton Anthology of American Literature
* Longer essay exams will be completed at the midterm and during the final exam period
* All essays should be completed according to the MLA format
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
What is the relationship between history and literature? How does the tradition of American literature reflect American cultural values?
Questions about Columbus' letters:
* How did Columbus change when he wrote the second letter?
* What was Columbus' attitude towards the New World?
* How did the idea of the New World shape American identity?
* What dangers did Columbus face?
* Write a two page paper comparing and contrasting Columbus' two letters
* Use MLA format
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
* Due: Thursday, September 1st, 2009: please turn in the paper (typed) on Columbus' letters
* read poems by Anne Bradstreet: question: how does Anne Bradstreet's experience as a woman shape her views as a writer? What relationship is there between Anne Bradstreet's writing and American history?
* choose two poems by Bradstreet and compare and contrast them; use MLA format; see link above on MLA format; this paper should be two to three pages
* three main questions we will constantly ask throughout this class:
What is the relationship between American literature and American history?
What is the relationship between American literature and American culture?
What is the relationship between American literature and American identity?
Please note that you do not have to answer all of these questions in your paper on Bradstreet's poetry.
Analysis of "The Prologue"
* typically, poems conventionally begin with a discussion of the character of the author in 17th century poetry
* How does Bradstreet's position as a female writer influence her writing, especially in the introductory stanza of "the Prologue?"
* How important is the character of the poet in 17th century American poetry?
* How important was religion in 17th century America?
In 17th century American literature, religion plays a dominant role
* do you think we care about character as much today?
* Why does the speaker insist on her imperfection?
* How do most Americans view humility and imperfection today?
* Is she influenced by how American society views women?
* Do you think Bradstreet is realistic in stanza 5?
* Is Bradstreet sexist in stanza 7 when she implies that women should settle for less? Is she being sarcastic?
* Is there irony in "The Prologue?"
* What is the central message of "the Prologue?"
* Why does Bradstreet choose the title "The Prologue?" Does the title say something about her view of herself as a woman writer?
Analysis of "Contemplations"
* What role does nature play in "Contemplations"?
* What is the relationship between spirituality and nature in the poem?
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Today, we will analyze several of Anne Bradstreet's poems:
Analysis of "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House"
What is the central conflict in this poem?
What is the main message of this poem?
What is the relationship between spiritualism/idealism and materialism in this poem? Can you cite some specific verses to support your argument?
What lesson does the speaker in the poem learn from the burning of her house?
How is Bradstreet's faith strengthened by the burning of her house?
What is ironic in this poem?
Do you think a modern individual would have responded in the same way?
What does the burning house symbolize?
What does the "house on high erect" (line 43) symbolize?
What argument does Bradstreet make about the impermanence of material things?
Analysis of "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
What is the theme of this poem?
Do think the speaker is sincere?
What symbols are in the poem?
Do you think marriage today is valued the same as Bradstreet does?
Does she think more of her husband than she does of herself?
Is she idolizing her husband?
Analysis of "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment"
Does this poem change your views of Bradstreet's relationship with her husband?
Does she idolize her husband?
Do you think her husband feels the same way?
Does Bradstreet live for anything else but for her husband?
Should women be so dependent upon their husbands for happiness?
Does Bradstreet represent the self-effacing wife?
Are there women like Bradstreet today?
What is ironic in this poem?
How have women changed today?
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
We have two essays that are due by this coming Thursday. Please be prepared to turn them. Also, this coming Thursday, we will analyze "Contemplations" and discuss the role of nature in Bradstreet's poetry.
*The first essay is on Columbus' first two letters. You are supposed to compare and contrast those two letters and discuss how Columbus viewed the New World. To what extent has Columbus' journey affected and shaped American identity and culture?
* You should compare and contrast the themes of two of Bradstreet's poems. Again, relate her poetry to American culture and the American psyche. What symbols or ideas in her poems reflect the American psyche?
Use MLA format.
Each essay should be typed and should be at least three pages in length. For more information about the MLA format, please see the link "MLA format" above.
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
* We completed the essays that have been due. The two essays on Bradstreet and Columbus are due by this coming Thursday.
Thursday, September 25th, 2009
Students have not been attending class. Attendance is mandatory in this class. Please be forewarned that the attendance policy will be implemented.
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Still, students have not been attending class. For the midterm, turn in three papers:
* one three page paper on two of Bradstreet's poems, comparing and contrasting them
* one three page paper comparing and contrasting the two letters Columbus wrote
* one three page paper analyzing the Trickster tales and comparing and contrasting the different representations of the Trickster (see the introduction to Native American tricksters and the Winnebago, Koasati, and Navajo trickster tales). Use MLA format. What function does the Trickster fulfil? Is there a lesson to be learned in the trickster tales? How do you think Native American ideas of the trickster relate to Judeo-Christian beliefs? Use specific quotes.
* If you do not have the Shorter Fifth Edition, then in place with nature in the same way? How does the Native American worldview differ from the Judeo-Christiof the Trickster assignment, compare and contrast the Iroquois Creation Story with Genesis. What are their differences? What are the their similarities? Do both of these stories deal an view of nature? Is the Native American view of good and evil different as well? Cite examples from Genesis and from the Iroquois Creation Story.
Thursday, October 8th
We discussed the Native American trickster tales. We compared and contrasted the Native American trickster tales with one another. Your paper should discuss the Native American trickster tales and provide your own interpretation of these tales. We discussed how the Trickster often reveals an aspect of human personalities by being excessive or by being too arrogant. Your paper should be around three pages and should compare and contrast the different representations of Trickster as mentioned in Tuesday's post. It will be due next Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 21st
The following students received a deficiency for the midterm. It is REQUIRED that students with a deficiency make up their missing assignments during the semester. Once the semester is over, missing work and incomplete assignments cannot be completed.
Jasmine Betts: Trickster stories, comparative paper (not received)
Antoine Lambert: Iroquois Creation Story (not received)
Please turn in these papers ASAP.
Tuesday, October 27th
Today, we discussed William Apess' essay An Indian's Looking Glass for the White Man." On Thursday, you will write an in-class essay on Apess' ideas about white/Indian relations. You should address what problems Appess evokes in his essay and refer to specific quotes. When Apess describes reservations as "a complete place of prodigality and prostitution," what comment does he make on the U.S. government's mistreatment of Native Americans (483)? Include in your essay at least one reference to life on reservations today. Has the government's treatment of Native Americans changed in the twenty-first century? What comment does Apess' essay make on American culture and attitudes?
Use MLA format in your essay.
November 3rd, 2009 Tuesday
Today, we read and analyzed "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America." How does Franklin romanticize the Native Americans? How does he use his image of the Native Americans as a means of criticizing Euroamerican society? What flaws does he see in EuroAmerican society and what are the virtues of the "savages"? Has American culture become more civil in its relationship to the rest of the world and learned the lessons that Franklin addresses in "Remarks Concerning the Savages?"
Write a three page essay on Benjamin Franklin's remarks. What commentary does he make on American culture and does it still apply today? Use MLA format and incorporate quotes into your argument.
November 5th, 2009 Thursday
We read Benjamin Franklin's "The Way to Wealth" in class. What comments does Franklin make on American culture and values? How does this essay reflect American values and the American work ethic? How does Franklin critique some of the shortcomings of capitalist society (such as debt, creditors, waste, etc.)?
Does his message still have value today?
Write a two page paper (MLA format).
November 10th, Tuesday
We will discuss Emerson's essay on "Self-Reliance" today in class. What different points does Emerson make about self-reliance and how does his view of self-reliance relate to American culture and identity?
Write a three page paper on this subject and use specific quotes in your essay.
November 17th, Tuesday
I will not be present this Thursday because of a personal issue. Please read John Cheever's "The Swimmer." What comment does Cheever make on middle class America? We will write an essay on this short story for our final exam. Today, in class, I asked students to complete their missing papers. Please send them to me by email this week.
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