Week 17 EC Reading Notes : The Old Gun

Mo Yan - The Old Gun (1188-1198)

Background

Critics described the work of Yan and as “Roots Seeking”. This was a literary movement in the 1980s, “one of many waves of response in China to the collective experience of swift modernization in the preceding decades. The optimistic narratives of revolutionary progress that buoyed the nation…” (1188).

The story “... portrays a younger generation trying to reconnect with its ancestors. Near rated in the third person, the story revolves around a boy and his relation to his dead father through the troop of the “ old gun”.” (1188)

“His desire to perform a difficult and symbolic charged act, namely firing a gun, represents compensation for wrongs done to him in the past, but it also represents the larger desire for control, vitality, and power. “(1188)

“The language creates an almost mythical world of wild ducks, flooding waters, weaving sorghum stocks, kaleidoscopic Colors as the sun slants across the landscape – and untamed natural world, for feeding, hunting, and killing. “(1189)

Story

The author takes great pains to describe the area that the boys in. He uses vivid descriptions of nature. (1190)

“Now, though, There was no rust – he had sandpapered it all away. The gun lay their twisted like a hibernating snake; at any moment, he felt, it might wake up, fly into the air and start thrashing the sorghum stocks with it steel tail. “ (1191)

Excitement of the boy preparing his gun, is described as an itching, sweating, nervousness with his heart pounding. (1191)

He’s there near the sandbar for duckhunting presumably.

“It’s time, he thought, I should open fire, but he didn’t do it. As he ran his hand over the trigger he suddenly realized his great disadvantage, recalling with a sense of pain his index finger: two of the joints were missing, the last one alone remained, a neural tree stump squatting between his thumb and his middle finger. “ (1192)

When he was six years old his mother told him how his father had died, he was shot by the very gone he holds now. Which is a family heirloom handed down by his grandmother.

“Though he appeared and tent on his books, he was always aware of the spirit of the gun; he even seem to hear it clicking. He felt like you do when you see a snake – wanting to look but scared at the same time. “ (1193). -is the snake something of nature to be respected? Or is it something ominous and dangerous that should be feared? He admits to his mother that he wants to kill and not study. His mother chopped off his index finger so that he could never use the gun to kill anything. She did not want anything else to be killed by the thing that killed her husband.

He can’t seem to remember last time he ate meat, this may be why he wants to kill one of the ducks. To cook and eat. (1194)

His father’s mother had killed her husband with the gun. And his father tried to kill himself with the gun. (1196)

“He toppled slowly to the ground, trying with all his strength to open his eyes. He seemed to see the ducks floating down around him like rocks, falling into his body, piling up into A great mound, pressing down on him so that it became difficult to breathe. “ (1198) he died?

Week 17 Analysis: Giri & Bala

In the Tale of Giribela, Giri had a daughter and called her Bela. Giri's husband was a low life swindler. And everyone, including her parents knew this. Yet, even after her husband Aulchand, disappeared for almost a year after their marriage, her parents still gave her to him. Even after he was proven a liar, a thief, and a swindler, they gave her to him. Her mother even comment on how she knows that he is lying to them, but how smooth he is with those lies as if she is impressed (1151). This tale evokes deep emotion and empathy for Giri. She makes a life with her husband and struggles hard while very young. When her husband sells her daughter to an unknown man she becomes undone with anger and sorrow. Bela was lost and no one seemed to care. They called it fate (1157). But Giri knew the truth.

“Giri sat silently with her eyes closed, leaning against the wall. Even in her better grief, the realization flashed through her mind that nobody was willing to worry about a girl child for very long. Perhaps she should not either. She too was a small girl once, and her father too gave her away to a subhuman husband without making sufficient inquiries. “ (1157)

A girl was property from the moment she was born. Giri did not like this, she did not approve. But she could not change anything. As wise and resourceful as she was, she was not a man. Mahasweta Devi used this tale as an illustration to the heart of a mother, the capabilities of a woman, and the injustices done to those in the lower cast. The separation of class and sex is so strong and so harsh that if a woman is poor, she is worse than poor due to the way she was born. Women held no value but to be wives to men. They held no purpose but to serve a man from birth, to her husband, to death. The fate of a girl should not be determined because she is a girl. Rather, let her make her own fate with her own choices, and not those of others who claim to own her.

Reading Notes B- Week 17: Mahasweta Devi's Giribala

Mahasweta Devi Giribala (1147- 1164 )

Background

A fiction and prose writer, social activist in Asia, dedicated mainly to the under represented aboriginal people “whose existence has been threatened since before recorded history. “(1147)

Born into a Hindu family in 1926 they were very wealthy and considered high caste.

“... her proper name is Mahasweta, as devi is simply an honorific term attached to many Indian female names. “(1147)

Her father was a poet and novelist. Her mother was a writer and social worker. Her uncle is a filmmaker. She was related to a sculptor. And also a scholar. So she was able to openly “... cultivate her literary and political interests. “(1147)

The text

“Nobody ever imagine that she could think on her own, let alone act on her own thought. “ (1149)

Aulchand- married Giribala. Paid for Her with 80 rupees and a cow. (1149). She is also called Giri. She’s 14 years old.

Her husband is Aulchand, and even after he disappeared for almost a year her parents still gave her to him. Even after he was proven a liar, a thief, and a swindler, they gave her to him. Her mother even comment on how she knows that he is lying to them, but how smooth he is with those lies. (1151)

Mohan- Aulchand’s accomplice in his games.

Bangshi- family friend of Giri (1150)

Amy from the babu’s house hates Giris husband(1152) - she calls him a ganja addict.

“The only team they shared was a home of their own. “(1152)

They’re firstborn was a girl named Belarani (1152)

The next was also a daughter named Poribala, then a boy named Rajib, and a daughter named Maruni. All of her children were born in poverty. And so after the last she asked the doctor to sterilize her. When her husband found out he beat her for the first time. (1153)

He was always trying to sell her silver belongings. Even when treating her so badly.

Her oldest daughter started working at seven years old.

Aulchand says “Saving a daughter only means having to raise a slave for others. “ (1153)

He called his wife a whore for being sterilized and she threatened to cut her children’s heads off and then her own with a knife.

Week 17 Reading Notes A: The Perforated Sheet - Salman Rushdie

The Perforated Sheet - Salman Rushdie (1129-1143)

I loved this reading. The quotes were so profound.

“ Clock-hands joined palms in respectful greeting as I came. “ (1131) - his midnight birth

“… I had been mysteriously handcuffed to history, “(1131)

“I, Salem Sinai, later variously called Snotnose, stainface, Baldy, sniffer, Buddha and even piece of the moon, had become heavily in bordered in fate – at best of times a dangerous sort of involvement. And I couldn’t even wipe my own nose at the time. “ (1131) - So many names, he seems very bothered by it toothless them all. As of claiming them into his identity. Others opinions of him. He had a so many names, he seems very bothered by it to list them all. As of claiming them into his identity. Others opinions of him interwoven into the fabric of who he is when in fact he could’ve had a say.

He says he will be 31 years old, could this number be significant because 31 is how many days are in a traditional month? (1132)

He doesn’t have a hope of saving his own life yet he fears of certainty, is not absurd to not wish to preserve ones own life? (1132)

“I have been a swallower of lives; and to know me, just the one of me, you’ll have to swallow the lot as well. “ 1132)

… As my Clock-ridden crime-stained birth. “(1132)

Aadam Aziz- grandfather 1132- he will not bow or touch his face to the earth for any God or man because he hurt his nose praying. Later his nose itching is a sign that trouble and depression is coming. (1133)

“ in those days Travellers were not shot as spies if they took photographs of bridges, and apart from the Englishmans’ house boats on the lake, the valley had hardly changed since the Mongol Empire. “ (1133)

“No, returning, he saw through traveled eyes. Instead of the beauty of the tiny Valley Circle to buy giant teeth, he noticed the narrowness, the proximity of the Horizon; and felt sad, to be at home and feel so utterly enclosed. “(1133)

Quote on the morning when the valley, gloved in a prayer- mat, punched him on the news, he had been trying, absolutely, to pretend that nothing had changed. “ (1133)

“… He learned that India – like radium – had been ‘discovered‘ by the Europeans; “(1134)

Week 16 Closed Reading: Morrison's Moral

Exploring the idea of racial stereotypes. Also exploring the idea that we hold certain traits comment to certain races and ethnic backgrounds. Taking into account the era’s and Life changing events that took place during those times that take place in this story, we see the shifting around of what we thought we knew.

Twyla is our narrator. So we open with the view that she may be black, as the author is black. And her name is less traditional and Roberta’s.

“My mother danced all night and Roberta’s was sick. “

“Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of those things she said was that they never wash their hair and they smelled funny. “

“Twyla, this is Roberta. “

“My mother won’t like you putting me in here. “ - Twyla about rooming with a girl from another race.

“ so for the moment it didn’t matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there and that’s what the other kids called us sometimes. “ defining the difference and contrast physically yet they are the same in almost every other way emotionally. (1174)

Here we see how different their upbringing was with their mothers.

“I saw Mary right away. She had on those green slacks I hated it hated even more now because didn’t she know we were going to chapel? And that for jacket with the pocket lining so ripped she had to pull to get her hands out of them. But her face was pretty – like always, and she smiled and waved like she was the little girl looking for her mother – not me.” Her dance her mother. Her mother was very affectionate with her when they greeted she held and smiled at her daughter. But she asked foolishly and emotionally at the rude greeting of Roberta’s mother. (1176)

“I looked up it seemed for miles. She was big. Bigger than any man and on her chest was the biggest cross eyed ever seen. I swear it was 6 inches long each way. And in the crook of her arm was the biggest Bible ever made. “ Roberta’s sock mother. She offered a cold reading to Twyla’s mother Mary. That Mary did not receive very well. Or gracefully. (1177)

“She was sitting in a booth smoking a cigarette with two guys smothered in head and facial hair. Her own hair was so big in wild I could hardly see her face. But the eyes. I would know them anywhere. She had on a powder blue halter and shorts outfit and earrings the size of bracelets. Talk about lipstick and eyebrow pencil. She made the big girls look like nuns.” When Twyla sees Roberta again. Is Roberta black? Her hair is so big? Her mother so religious? Twyla is a waitress, is she white? her mother is a dancer, is she “trailer trash”? (1178). Are these two ideas that different at all? I think that is what the author is trying to say.

Twyla marries James- (1179)

“Waiting in the checkout line I heard a voice say, “Twyla! “. The classical music piped over the aisles had affected me and the woman leaning toward me was dressed to kill. Diamonds on her hand, a smart white summer dress.” (1180) they meet again.

“But she was waiting for me and her huge hair was slick now, smooth around the smell, nicely shaped head. Shoes, dress, everything lovely and summary and rich. I was dying to know what happened to her, how she got from Jimi Hendrix to Annandale, a neighborhood full of doctors and IBM executives. “ Did Twyla not thing she could make it in life? Is Roberta white with her hair straight and her clothes so rich in a nice neighborhood? Roberta even had two servants (1182). In those days, could she if she was black?

Roberto was against integrating the schools. She was a step mother of four children. Her husband a widower. “And who do you suppose was in line, big as life, holding a sign in front of her bigger than her mother is Cross? Mothers have rights to! it said.” - is Roberta white? Or does she hate the white people who have oppressed her race for generations (as per the argument those days)? Was Twila change for the better by her interaction with her “black friend” from childhood? Is that why she doesn’t care about her child going to school with other children that are other races?

Over all the examples and arguments for or against which girl is black and which is white is both pointless and the point at the same time. Morrison wanted the audience to face their preconceptions and biases. Her work is a stroke of genius. And her knack for storytelling and engulfing the reader in her work is almost unmatched in modernist literature.

Reading Notes Week 16 B : Ōe Kenzaburō the clever rain three

Ōe Kenzaburō the clever rain three (1115-1128)

The narrator that’s critical opinions of everybody. (1118)

Rightfully expressing the authors opinion of Americans trying to control the proceedings.

Language is confused early on. “He is my wife.” (1118). This could be an indication to the confusion of everyone as they hallucinate?  

Agatha- American middle aged woman.

“Jewish Indian poet from Bombay,” (1117)

Narrator Is critical of false pride and bad haiku. (1118) yet may ironically be falsely proud.

Narrator hardly names his characters. But names their nationality. Typically American.

“ This garrulous Young Americans have become so distraught over if the insubstantial rumors that he was a spy that he was now any private institution for the psychologically disturbed.” (1118) - first hint it indication of insanity blatant.

The dark is a prolific theme. Maybe due to the author's personal depression and torment? The “dark” or “darkness” is repeated on nearly every page. Even blackness is noted throughout.

“This black tree Krishna has climbed is undoubtedly what would be called an Indian in my country. It has certainly been bo tree through the sensibility and techniques of the Indian folk art style.” (1119)

Delight in nature and landscape (1120)

“Nevertheless, since desk had already fallen when I had been brought to the house, even when I cut off the minibus I have been any puts see the entire tree; as a matter fact even know I was only peering into the darkness where the tree purportedly stood.”(1120)

“The moisture I smelled coming from the darkness, therefore, was the rain that the dense fingertip leaves were causing to fall and new on the ground. “(1120) - maybe he died by drowning? Or was hit by a car in the rain? I don’t know why this quote reminded me of “the lovely bones”. He is just so depressing. Everything sound pretty but saddening.

Reading Notes Week 16 A: Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison : Recitatif (1172-1182)

"Recitatif" is the French form of recitative, a style of musical declamation that hovers between song and ordinary speech, particularly used for dialogic and narrative interludes during operas and oratories. An obsolete sense of the term was also "the tone or rhythm peculiar to any language." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitatif

Toni morrison uses rhythm and a sing song style to all of her writing. (1173)

Her stories center around pushing the preconceived notions that people hold in their minds. She touches on the issue of race, gender, equality, diversity, class, and poverty. She also weaves love and violence together in seamless transitions. She uses conflict to amplify the emotan between her characters. (1172)

In Recitatif, the racial preconceptions we hold shift our focus from scene to scene. One moment Twyla is white, and Roberta is black, and viceversa. Every since the divided racial line is introduced, the reader is left to assume which girl is which. This in a way bridges the gap in differences in humanity.  

“... we weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky.” (1174)

“I used to dream a lot and almost always the orchard was there.” (1175)

Maggie: Bent legs and wore a silly childs hat. She was a mute and could not tell on those who abused her. The question is, what happened to her after the orchard? She never comes up again in their memories after that event. And Roberta asks in tears “What the hell happened to Maggie?” (1187). Their memories mean so much to them for years, and as time goes on they start to question their validity, as their counterparts remember things slightly different.

“Maggie was my dancing mother. Deaf, I thought, and dumb. Nobody who could tell you anything important that you could use.” (1186)

Roberta - against integration in school, sometimes her hair is poofy and big. Sometimes straight. Step mother. Husband is rich. Mother was sick. Had to go back to the orphanage.

Twyla - mother danced. Never went back to the orphanage. Worked as a waitress. Married a firefighter. Had one son. Was for integrating schools.

Week 15 Comment Wall

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Week 15 Analysis of Yellow Woman

Leslie Marmon Silko's Yellow Woman (1029-1036)

The story of Yellow Woman centers around a lot of assumptions that the reader develops over the coarse of the story. The Yellow Woman is a story that is told by the main characters deceased grandfather. The grandfather uses the story of the Yellow Woman to warn the women of his family about the dangers outside of the home. Much how we tell our children fairy stories about Red Riding Hood to keep them from talking to strangers. The Yellow Woman in this story never gives her name, but the man is Silva. And here is where the assumptions begin. Silva "pulled his pants on." after he wakes up by the river. Woman asks who he is after we know she woke up next to him. Thus we can assume that they had physical relations. Many people who read this tend to think that she had been raped by Silva and that he was kidnapping her and that she suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. I do not feel this to be true. As that sort of disorder takes time and conditioning. Not one night of passion. Silva may have been assertive and described as dark and physically strong, but this does not mean that he forces Woman in any way. She Is actually quite affectionate with him in her thoughts and he does care for her in the way of food and safety. Silko writes "He touched my neck and I moved close to him to feel his breathing and to hear his heart" (1031). This wold not be the only time she wishes for his touch. However, Silva never physically stops her from leaving him- he does pull her by the wrist back to his home (1032). What is note worthy is that she could have left him with a horse before he woke up, so why stay? She had a baby and husband waiting for her. She was excited by the possibility of freedom and a new kind of responsibility. She was seeing a new life of excitement and of passion. The lead takes on the persona of Yellow Woman as a means to escape her reality for a short while. Though this relationship between Woman and Silva was obviously a toxic dynamic, it is important to see the assumptions that the author allows to take place and to see that the lessons of the past and the way those lessons can be twisted for the use of the interpenetrater. Much how I am doing now. 

Reading Notes B - Week 15 : Girl

Jamaica Kincaid (1144-1146) Girl

Background:
Kincaid wanted to escape her life and come to the US.  (1144)
Contemporary writer : "Contemporary literature is defined as literature written after World War II through the current day. ... Works of contemporary literature reflect a society's social and/or political viewpoints, shown through realistic characters, connections to current events and socioeconomic messages. " (https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-contemporary-literature-definition-writing-style.html)

Theme-
A Strong message of tradition is obvious in this story.
The different generations conflicting with the old ways.
Class differentiation between the girl's family and the rest of the village or town. The mother is very frugal and talks of making things last. (1146)
Mother calls her daughter (assuming the relation) a Slut or a slut in the making. She is so hell bent against the sexuality of Girl that she shames her and instills negative thoughts about herself consistently. However, there is also the mixed message of being the girl who should not talk to men that are not her husband and also being the girl who the baker will let near the bread.
There are superstitions in the story as well. The talk of birds and spitting in the air as cultural signifier. The mother believes in the old ways of her people. Bad spirits and good. Bad luck and good. Bad reputation and good. There is no middle ground. You do, or you do not, there is no try or in between.

Characters-
Mother: Assuming it is a mother (as it isn't really specific) who plays the part of carer, keeper, teacher, warden, judge, and jury. Has her ways that are the only right ways.
Girl: Possibly daughter. Possibly Kincaid, or maybe Girl is just the reflection of life that she and her friends knew. She writes of a mix of her own and borrowed experience.

Reading Notes A - Week 15 : Yellow Woman

Leslie Marmon Silko: Yellow Woman (1029-136)

Themes:
The ideas of -
- Past and tradition: The yellow woman was a story that her gandfather told to keep (presumably) the girls out of trouble.
- Pleasure, love, longing: She allows Silva to be intimate with her and submits rather than fighting. She talks about his strength and that he had the power to hur her if he wanted to. But he did not. She  also addresses wanting to touch his body. There is a conflict between passion and love. Assuming she loves her child, her passion seems to rule her thoughts and she justifies leaving her child to be raised by her mother and for her husband to move on without her.
- Conflict of values and duty: She has a responsibility as a daughter, mother, and wife, but negates this under the seemingly false pretense of abduction. I do not see Silva's actions as an abduction but rather as a "bad boy" persona where Yellow Woman falls pray to. She was able to leave her duties and project herself in the role of a morbid fairy tale

Characters
- Silva: Rebel, criminal, possible rapist. His race is unknown, he is a roaming nobody. He lives in poverty by the account of his house. He was possibly violent as the gun shots that rang out would suggest. However He may be made out to be much worse than he is. Maybe his encounter with Yellow Woman was completely consensual.   
- Fat white man - rancher who finds Silva and "Yellow Woman" as they make their way to sell the meat from the stole cow he had killed.
- Yellow Woman - "Yellow Woman"'s grandfather told stories about how the yellow woman would be kidnapped and how terrible misfortunes would fall on her. The term Yellow Woman is used as a cautionary tale to women in the village to be fearful of strangers and should not be left alone or wonder at night.
- "Yellow Woman" - Seemed to enjoy playing the victim. She has many opportunities to leave but chooses to stay with Silva, who has presumably raped and abducted her. She goes through what her family may be thinking or feeling as she did not return. But still she stays with Silva. It was only at the point where things became dangerous with another person that she finally leaves. This could have been due to her possibly being implicated in a murder or in theft. Over all she seems very selfish. She doesn't really seem to care about Silva, her family, or her own child and husband. She even invents the story of what happened rather than saying how things were.

Project Planing Week 14 : Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman

I will be focusing on the prompt of how the literature reflects the historical aspect of the time. I will be looking at the cultural and social aspect of Kushi Fusako's Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman (400-408). Fusako draws attention to the way that the Ryukyuan people of Okinawa were discriminated against and forced into hiding if they wished to succeed in the Japanese world.

The Characterization of the Uncle and the way he chose to hid his heritage speaks volumes to the social pressures of the time to be "Pure" Japanese.
The flow plot helps to emphasize the harsh reality of the people Ryukyuan people during that era. She starts the tail in the big city and shows how the main characters uncle is fearful of her presents and the discovery of his secret. The flow of the story shows the result of the uncles choices and then goes back to the root of his shame.

I have much information on this subject but as I need to cite my sources and not just my personal knowledge I have needed to look up some data to support what I already understand and have learned from my own studies and experience of the culture.

The repression of Okinawan (another word for Ryukyuan) culture is another reason this work should be recognized historically. As the tattoos and the martial arts of the island were shamed and even punishable offences should anyone attempt to practice this aspect of their culture. The repression of Karate was one of the reasons we now have Eisa dancing. Which was introduced by monks as a sneaky way for the nation to continue their practice of martial arts under the cover of cultural dance and entertainment.

Over all the feeling behind the story Fusako has written is a beautiful representation of the Okinawan struggle of the time and how they struggled unjustly and faced harsh prejudice. The violence and unjust actions of the Japanese people against them was nothing short of racist and despicable. The Japanese government would rather that the history books forget this chapter. However, I find that this cannot be accepted and that writings of truth like this must be respected and preserved. I wish that Fusako would have written more before her death.

http://www.okinawanderer.com/2017/09/eisa-is-most-popular-and-most-traditional-icon-of-okinawa/
http://minorityrights.org/minorities/ryukyuans-okinawans/
https://blog.janm.org/index.php/2015/08/27/the-secret-history-of-okinawan-tattoos/

Analysis week 14

Clarice Lispector 1920-1977 The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman (808-814)

We see the frustration of a woman caught between two times in history. She is expected to be a wife and mother and complete the wifely duties associated with the expectations of that time. Yet we see the Drunk Woman wrestle with the feeling of being lazy and the feeling of being free and inebriated. She takes the weekend for her enjoyment while her children are away with their family members (810). She and her husband go to dinner with a businessman and she plays the part of the upper class wife who spent time in the capital (811). She seems to tie knowing how to hold her tongue in relation to having self respect (812). She plays the part of the upper class woman while getting loose on alcohol, almost as if she needs it in order to swallow the life she is in. 

She despises her husband and wishes for a new love, “She was in love… She was anticipating her love for the man whom she would love one day.
Who knows, this sometimes happened, and without any guilt or injury for either partner. “ she wanted
to find love again and not feel the sting of being alone (811). A woman who left their husband in those
days were left destitute and outcast. In addition to her indifference towards her husband she seemed to
care very little for her children. She thinks of them the morning after her night out on the town with her
husband, “… Her chubby little children sleeping in the other room, the little villains. “ (814). These are
not pet names given by an affectionate mother, but a woman who sees her children as the things that
stole from her. They stole her youth, time, and freedom.

She represses her sexual desires and calls herself a slut when she remembers not refusing the attention
and mild advances of her husbands guest at dinner (814). But she also does not seem to regret it or
think much of the word. The Businessman who the couple met for dinner was brushing his foot
against hers under the table. She wondered if it was intentional or not in her more sober state.
She seemed indifferent by shrugging her shoulders at the thought. (814). She shrugs the mans
notice off and seems to care less about the sexuality of men, and more of her own enjoyment of the
little things. Until she remembers the laws of society that she must obey. A which point she scolds
herself. This scolding of herself is mild in comparison to her thoughts of other pretty women at the bar.

Sexism and women hating women was also a theme of the times. Slut shaming and mocking the
polished and thin appearance of an attractive woman showed that it was not just men during the time
who put women down, women did it to each other. “And the pious nanny so pleased with herself in
that hat and so modest about her slim waist line, and all that she couldn’t even bear her man a child.”
(812,813). She even threatens to smack the woman around for her audacity to be beautiful in public
without a man. This was a sign of classic social conditioning. Women were taught to shame other
women who stepped outside their traditional roles that had been made for them by men.

Reading Notes B Week 14 : Capricious Clarice

Clarice Lispector 1920-1977 The daydreams of a drunk woman (808-814)

A Brazilian modernist. Modernism was the result of Dramatic world changes for the first and
Second World War. A darker more cynical form of writing.

Lispector use a simple vocabulary in her writings. (808)

The drunk woman calls herself lazy and a slut many times.

She is a refined woman based on her account of herself and Her painted nails (809).
And who had spent time in the capital. (811)

She also keeps coming back to the idea of having self respect (812) and this is referenced several
times over multiple pages.

Sexism and women hating women was also a theme. Slut shaming and mocking the polished and
thin appearance of an attractive woman showed that it was not just men during the time who put
women down, women did it to each other. “And the pious nanny so pleased with herself in that hat
and so modest about her slim waist line, and all that she couldn’t even bear her man a child.”
(812,813).

Shaming for the wife’s sexual desire for other men was another theme. The Businessman who the
couple met for dinner was brushing his foot against hers under the table. She wondered if it was
intentional or not in her more sober state. She seemed indifferent by shrugging her shoulders at the
thought. (814).

The wife in the story did not seem to care for her husband or children very much “… Her chubby
little children sleeping in the other room, the little villains. “ (814)

“Go to hell! … prowling around me like some old tomcat. “He seem to think more clearly and said,
firmly, “You’re ill, my girl. “ she accepted his remark, surprised, and vaguely flattered.” (810).

“She was in love… She was anticipating her love for The man whom she would love one day.
Who knows, this sometimes happened, and without any guilt or injury for either partner. “
she wanted to find love again (811).

She was tired of being an object, yet was Jealous later as another woman was admired as an
object. “ but when he bent over to kiss her her capriciousness crackled like a dry leaf. “ (810)

“Capricious is an adjective to describe a person or thing that's impulsive and unpredictable, like
a bride who suddenly leaves her groom standing at the wedding altar. You can criticize a fickle-
minded person as capricious, but it could just as well describe quickly changing weather, as in
"capricious spring storms."”

Project 3 Topic Brainstorm- Week 13

A room of one's own (336-371)
Kushi Fusako (400 - 408)

- Choose a reading. 

In your project, consider the following: 

What does this work reflect about its historical, social, political and/or economic context? You may focus on race, class, power, cultural values and beliefs, historical events, the author’s biography, gender, psychology, etc. 

I am interested in this project because I think it would be interesting to look at the cultural aspect of the time when the work was written. I think it would be interesting to write about a woman's perspective that counters the culture of the time. Such as A room of one's own (336-371). Where the author talks about not being permitted into the college library unless permitted by a man above her station. She also writes about class and wealth ruling the minds of everyone, 

-You’ve been appointed the student member of a college committee to revise the core curriculum. The committee has decided to require that all students enrolled at LMC must take this course, and you have been asked to nominate 4 to 5 fiction selections (from the selections we have read this semester) that will be required reading for the course. You are, in other words, creating the anthology. 

Think carefully about what constitutes the kind of literature that college students should be reading. Then, nominate the 4 to 5 selections from among those we have read this semester. Your essay should have a clear central idea which suggests how you have made your choices. Your paragraphs should open with topic sentences giving the title and author and genre of each of your selections, and these paragraphs should be developed with your specific justification of each of your choices (why you have chosen these selections). You may take into account the following issues (use whichever ones help you): 

• To what extent will your choices be made on aesthetic grounds? What are your criteria for excellence in fiction? Have you considered how your own cultural background and past reading affect what you consider aesthetic grounds?  

• Will your choices span centuries? Or will you choose only contemporary fiction from the last 40 or 50 years? What will you expect the stories to demonstrate about the times in which they are written? 

• Will your choices represent a range of writers (male and female, black, white, Hispanic, Native American, straight, gay, American, British, Russian, French, Irish, Greek, Norwegian, and so forth)? Why or why not? 

• Are themes or thematic connections important to you? Should all selections center around a single thematic construct, such as “the move from innocence to experience”? 

• Are social issues important to you? Should the fiction selections reflect a variety of social issues: racism, homosexuality, poverty, sexism, alcoholism, and so forth? 

• Is the list you’ve been given sufficient? Are there choices you’d like to make that aren’t included on our syllabus?

I like this prompt because I am interested in being a teacher. I think I would like to use this practice for building a reading list. I find it interesting and I have some ideas about a wide range of views that could be represented. I think that having works that are relatable to the events of today have greater affect on discussions because you cannot change the past. But you can recognize the mistakes that were made and discuss how to not make those mistakes again. thus promoting forward thinking positive action.
- Choose one short story or novel excerpt. Write a piece in which you explore the following:

1. In what ways could this story be considered an artifact of history? 

1. What does this story teach us about history? 

1. How does a story teach us about a time or place differently than a history book? 

I like this one because I think that we can learn a lot about history from literature written during that time. Such as Easter 1916 and even Kushi Fusako (400 - 408). Even though they weren't physically where the event took place they lived the consequences of the history and were told of the actions of those from a generation before. I think that interesting literature also promotes exploration into the time the piece is about.