CLass Notes 8/29/2011

Modernism-refers to a literary study that has a radical break with the literary forms of the past in the experimental, avant-garde style of writing prevalent between WW I and WW II. Modernism rejects the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking and a disillusionment of values on which a whole of civilization was based. The traditional forms of are were rejected and the idea of "make it new" resounded with artists and playing with form, language, and self-centrism (lost generation).

Post Modernism- refers to a literary study that turned away from modernism, emphasizing the lack of profoundity- that nothing can be recognized as inherently significant (significant in isolation). it involves the belief that apparent realities are only social constructs- subject to change inherent to time and place. A replacement of high culture for popular culture.

Modernization- industrial progress often associated with "westernization." This includes the promises and values associated with individualism, democracy, literacy, general education, private ownership, a middle class, religious freedom, scientific method, and public institutions.

Scientific Rationalism- "we can understand everything" scientific knowledge makes the universe more rational and predictable.

Dadaism- is a cultural movement raised in WW I primarily involved in visual arts, literature, and graphic design that rejected prevailing standards- often anti-war and anti-art.
Ex) Hanna Hoch: absence of logic and reason

Realism- a literary movement that depicts subject as they appear in everyday life.

Surrealism- a literary movement that features the unexpected juxtaposition of elements, developing out of the Dada movement. Became a means of expressing the functioning of thought and free play of mind.
Ex) Salvador Dali's arts

"The Dead"

 CHARACTER:
Gabriel Conroy- protagonist in this story who is well educated. Gabriel struggles social life, he feels out of place because he thinks that he is higher than others. He finds out at the annual celebration that his wife, Gretta is still in love with her childhood lover and he realized how his marriage lacks true love.
Gretta Conroy- Gabriel's wife who is minor character until the ending where she reveals her childhood lover, Michael Furey.
Molly Ivors- a woman who tease Gabriel about him being West Briton, an Irishman who supports union with Britain, which is an insult.
Julia- one of the aging sisters who throw the party.
Kate- one of the aging sisters who worries about Julia and the happiness of the guests.
Michael Furey- Gretta's childhood lover who died for Gretta at the age of 17.

Q. The Dead is final story in James Joyce's short story collection Dubliners; each story centers on a character who experiences an epiphany- a moment of insight or self-revelation. Who has an epiphany in this story?

          - Gabriel: realizing his wife is still in love with her childhood lover/ he has never loved someone like how Michael loved his wife/ he is very self-centered person.

Q. Consider all the references to death, the dead, and dying throughout the text, what is their significance?  How does they influence/inform Joyce's title selection?

          -Michael Furey who died at the age of 17 (Gabriel's wife's childhood friend) :pg.1971, it was 17 when Michael died but Gretta never moved on.
          -Death of their brother which made Mary Jane to live with them.
          -pg.1973, imagining about Julia's death: Julia is getting old, losing her hearing and very paled face.
Q. Why is Gabriel anxious about his speech? what dies his anxious reveal about him ?

          -He was anxious that people might not understand his speech. He thinks he is very smart and outrage people. He cares about how people think about him.

Q. Consider the names of the characters, specifically Gabriel and Michael--what is their origin/meaning generally and then consider their use in the text.

          - Names of Angels. Michael is the angel right below God who leads God's armies to final victory over the force of evil. Michael is very powerful though, Gabriel is not as much powerful as Michael. Gabriel angel encounters Mary who consents to bear the Messiah. In many way, Gabriel is always going to be below Michael. Michael is the one who Gretta loves the most. Micheal is the one who is still in Gretta's heart even after the death of Michael separates them. Gabriel can't even imagine how Michael is so effective to Gretta.

"The Metamorphosis"

CHARACTER:
Gregor Samsa- a traveling sales man and protagonist in this story. Gregor doesn't like his job though he keeps his job because he feels like he needs to take care of his father's debts and support his family. one morning he wakes up and he has turned into a large bug and spends all his time in his room.
Grete Samasa- Gregor's sister who shows a great concerns towards Gregor though she gets tired of taking care of him eventually. she takes charge of the house after Gregor's transformation
Mother- Gregor's mother is very horrified by Gregor's new look. Grete and the father usually protect mother from Gregor.
Father- after his business had failed, he is very depressed. Since Gregor's new stage, the father is forced to go back to work. he threw an apple to Gregor and it wounded Gregor.
The office manager- he came to Gregor's house to see why he didn't show up to work that morning. as soon as he saw Gregor's metamorphosis look, he flees.
the maid- she is the first maid who was horrified by Gregor's change and bags the family to fire her.
the charwoman- an widow and cleaning lady for Gregor's family. she faces reality of Gregor's change without fear and disgust.

Q. how does the author characterize the maid, sister, Gregor?
 -maid: static character. she doesn't change how she feels about Gregor's metamorphosis in the whole story.
-sister: dynamic character "Butterfly?" She take over the responsibilities after Gregor's change which made mother and father rely on her instead of Gregor. she changes her behavior to more grown-ups.
-Gregor: round character "Bug?"(he feels guilty about not being able to take care of the family; he talks bout how he wanted to send her to music school for violin(pg.2013) even after he was stuck in his room.


Q.Kafka includes many references to hunger and food--what is the significance of these references?
-the hunger and food might refer to sympathy or attention. it is like when Gregor wants food because of his hunger, it reflects to Gregor wants some sympathy on him because is hungry for the attention. 
Q.Identify and discuss some of the themes of "The Metamorphosis" - be sure to refer to your notes about what a theme is and in your discussion identify key passages of the text that support the themes you've identified.
-i think that the theme could be the ugliness of humanity in every situation and how people react to it. Human tend to do forget the bad things to make peace to ourselves. in this story, the situation of Gregor's metamorphosis changed the family. without reading farther into the story, i assumed that family would help him in every way because that's what family would do. however, the mother horrified by Gregor's appearance and the father was frustrated to go back to work. The father didn't have to work because Gregor was the one who was supporting the family. Now that Gregor can not get out of his room nad go to work, father has to step in. In the text, Gregor talks about how everyone wanted to check on him when his room door was closed, and now that the door is open no one wanted to visit him. how sad that no one wants to be around? Grette, Gregor's sister, treated Gregor not exist anymore at one point in the text (pg.2027). it took the hopes from the mother and father that Gregor will comeback to human. i can say that there is limits to people's sympathy. Grete initially took care of Gregor out of sympathy though when she ran out of sympathy she quit giving him food and drinks.

Ichiyo's Child's Play

 CHARACTERS:
Midori- has a sister, Omaki, who is prostitute, very famous one/ she has special child bonding moment with Nobu/ one night of the fight between Chokichi gangs and Sangoro, Midori received the public humiliation ("you are nothing but a whore, just like your sister," Chokichi splashed mud on her face.) /she becomes "grown-up" after the event.
Shota- leader of main street gang and son of Tanaka, the pawnbroker/ he likes Midori/ he asks Nobu to be on his side for the festival to show off to Chokichi/
Nobu- priest's son/ the special bond with Midori won't last long because he started to be mean to Midori in public.
Sangoro- friend of Midori and Shota
Chokichi- back street gang leader and fire chief's son/he humiliates Midori when Shota was away.

Q. In Child's Play, what do you make of the Midori/Nobu relationship?
- the readers pretty sure that Midori and Nobu has such a good memories of childhood together, though it changes as they grow up. Page. 1820, "They played their games of tug-war and catch and jump rope with such ardor that no one seemed to notice the sun going down. But what had come over Nobu? He has lost his usual composure." The friends around Nobu started to tease him and it ended up changing his attitude around Midori. on the same page, Midori asked Nobu if he could get the flowers off of the tree, Nobu picked the flower from a tree and flung it to her. As children grow up they tend to pat attention to the environment around them and change their behavior according to what's happening around them.

Ibsen's A Doll House

• historic considerations
• Ibsen- Norway's foremost dramatist
• based this play off of real life events: the role of Men vs. Women

1. Tuberculosis of the spine in 19th C code for syphilis.
2. 19th C law treated women only slightly better than children- unable to vote, considered not able to handle their own financial affairs.
3. Women could not borrow money on her own name
4. When she married her husband was placed in control of her money.
5. working outside of the home was out of the question for middle class women- if a woman were to leave her husband she had no means of support.
6. Ibsen was ridiculed for suggesting women could leave their husbands in search of themselves.

 

CHARACTERS:

Torvald Helmer: He treats Nora as a doll not as a human being. throughout the text he calls all these names to call Nora (my little lark twittering, squirrel, spendthrift, skylark, miss sweet tooth, etc.) He enjoys the feeling of "taking care of and protecting his wife and children" though, he is the childish one. Torvald is very conscious about his and reputation over his wife and where he stands in the community.

Nora, his wife: Nora is very happy in the beginning as she heard that Torvald is getting extra money for new job at the bank. she doesn't mind at all or she doesn't realized she was treated as a doll not a human being. Nora also is proud of herself for borrowing money with forging her father's signature to save Torvald.

Doctor Rank: Nora's only friend who likes to have a talk with Nora without Torvald's presence.

Mrs. Linde (Christine): Nora's friend who is widow with no children and looking for a job. when she was getting married, she was in love with Krogstad. going towards the end of the story, Christine wants Krogstad back and convince him to not to blackmail Nora.

Nils Krogstad: He is antagonist in this story though he is not villain. He is very nice to Nora for the sake of keeping his job at the bank and to provide his children's needs. He also committed a crime like Nora, forgery of signature, his crime is minor to the society. Christine had left him for another man with money to help her family makes us to realize that he was hurt and has feelings.

Helmer's three young children

Anne, their nurse

Q. Do you believe that Nora's forgery of her father's signature to save Torvald's health was a justified crime?

-if you were to ask me if i would do the same thing what Nora did for her husband, yes i would. i couldn't loose both father and a husband. i will do anything to get Torvald health back. though, this doesn't mean that my crime is not bad. crime is crime no matter what the intention was.

Q.Ending, satisfying? believable? contrived?

-i didn't like the ending of this story. to find the true Nora-self is good but to leave all her children motherless is not right. i do not like how Torvald treated her at the end. he completely mistreated Nora for misunderstanding that he has debts to pay though he quickly turn sweet when he finds out he doesn't have to pay for anything. i don't even understnad how Nora could stand the situation. i am, slightly, glad that she discovered the hidden personality of Torvald and how miserable her life had been.

Q.Theme?

-i think the theme would be Women vs. Society. the sacrificial role of women in the society is normal at that time. the society's role of men in the house is the marriage's dominant partner. Torvald would never except the fact that Nora loaned some money to help save his life. (also Christine and the Nanny could be examples)

Class Notes 9/12/2011

<Symbolism>: symbolism is a person, object, action, place, or event that in addition to its literal meaning, suggests a more complex meaning or range of meanings.

 1.Universal or archetypal symbols, such as a circle, a storm, or a bird, are so much a part of the human experience that they suggest the same thing to most people.

 2. Conventional symbols are also likely to suggest the same thing to most of people, provided the people to have common cultural and social assumptions. ex) a rose, a cross.

 3. Literary symbols are can be both universal and conventional; however, they represent an important point that the author is trying to make.


<Point of View>: point of view is the vantage point from which the events in the story are presented. the implication of poinf of view are far-reaching.

1. it is important to remember that the narrator of a work of fiction is not the same as the writer- even when a writer uses the first person "I." Authors simply assumed persona.
2. First person Narrator (I or We): a first person narrator can be a major character, or a minor character, sometimes first person narrator can be unreliable/ Unreliable narrators are often self-serving, mistaken, confused, unstable or even mad.
3. Third person Narrator (narrators not in the story): Omniscient narrators are all knowing tellers of the story, these narrators have non of the naivete, dishonesty, gullibility, or mental instability of some first-person narrators, Limited Omniscient narrator/ Objective narrators tell a story from an objective point of vie and remain entirely outside the character's minds. Narrators tell the story only by presenting dialogue and recounting events.
4. Thematic Relationships

• gender conflict
• love and relationships
• revenge and honor
• initiation/rites of passage
• power/powerlessness
• american dream/nightmare
• loss/death/mortality
• changing traditions

Class notes 8/24/2011

<Defining Drama>

Tragedy- a drama treating a serious subject and involving persons of significance

Comedy- treats themes and characters with humor and typically has a happy ending.

Monologue- extended speech by one character.

Soliloquy- an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present.

Aside- a part of an actor's lines supposedly not heard by others on the stage and intended only for the audience.

<Plot>: the way in which a story's events are arranged

-more than "what happens"

-shaped by casual connections, the interaction between characters, and the juxtaposition of events.

-4 stages: 1.exposition 2.complication 3.climax 4.result (often the ending of story is indefinite or lacks closure)

<Other and Sequence>

-In media res (Latin for "in the midst of things"): opens in the middle of a story/ uses flashback to reveal crucial elements.

-Flashback: examines an event or situation that occurred before the time in which the story's action takes place/ moves out of sequence.

-Foreshadowing: introduction early in a story of situations, events, characters, or objects that hints at things to come/ enables writers to suggest events to come and build reader interest.

<Theme>: the central or dominant idea of the story

-not just plot of summery

-conveys the values and ideas expressed by the story

-general idea that extends beyond the story and applies to the world outside fiction

-revealed through titles, symbols, conflicts, and character statements and changes

-can be thought of as the moral of the story ("Love is not limited to time or space")

<Conflict>: struggle between opposing forces that emerge as action develops

-clash between

  1.Protagonist: a story's principle character

  2.Antagonist: someone or something (villien, war, property, natural disaster, gender, stereotypes...) presented in opposition to the protagonist