Hello Everyone,
I have posted your grades to date on MyLearningSpace. There you will see your in-class test, presentation, participation and essay grades.
Thanks for a nice final tutorial. I do hope the exam prep goes well for you all.
Cheers,
Ada
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Virginia Woolf and “The Hours”
In our presentation Maria and I, Louise, are going to explore how modernism is portrayed in literature and film, through the writer Virginia Woolf’s work.
The plot of the 2002 movie “The Hours” is based on the 1998 novel “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham. The movie stars: Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf, Julianne Moore as Laura Brown, and Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughn. Taking a page from Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”, “The Hours” looks at one day in each of the three women’s lives: the day that Virginia Woolf starts writing “Mrs. Dalloway” and later kills herself; the day that Laura bakes a cake for her husband’s birthday and considers overdosing on sleeping pills and tranquilizers; the day that Clarissa picks up her flowers for the party, only to have the party cancelled to mourn Richard’s suicide. Each of these woman’s lives are connected by the book “Mrs. Dalloway” and their struggle to find meaning in their lives.
“Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast”. This is the quote that Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf says in the movie “The Hours.” The reactions to death, the struggle to find purpose in one’s life, and the struggle to understand the ending of another’s life seems to be the main theme that “Mrs. Dalloway”, the book “The Hours”, and the movie “The Hours” are dealing with. It is the inevitable event of death, and the questioning of life that connects all people together.
The questioning of life and death became an escape for Woolf, as she was considered insane to even consider what the ending of her life would be like. Her character Mrs. Dalloway struggles with the stifling atmosphere of her life: she lives in a nice house, has a rich husband, but at what price? Mrs. Dalloway’s parties are her only way to show her creativity, but she plays a sacrificial role in catering to the indulgences of others; she considers her thoughts naïve and not worth any notice. Woolf’s own restlessness about her life can be seen in the regrets and resignations of Clarissa Dalloway.
For another opinion on the way that Michael Cunningham’s “The Hours” uses a similar writing style and conventions to Virginia Woolf’s, please check out this website: http://lisa.revues.org/2912 .
We couldn’t find any good clips to attach from youtube.com of the movie “The Hours”, but please do watch it on your own time! It is an awesome movie; very artistic, with beautiful music, and poignant speeches. And very powerful in the fact that; when you watch it you keep waiting for something to happen, without realizing that it is happening, life is happening for these women.
We hope you continue to read Virginia Woolf’s work, and look into “The Hours”.
Sources Used
Pillière, Linda “Michael Cunningham’s The Hours : echoes of Virginia Woolf”, Revue LISA/LISA e-journal [Online] , Vol. II - n°5 | 2004 , Online since 02 November 2009, connection on 27 March 2011. URL : http://lisa.revues.org/2912
The Hours. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Perf. Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, and Ed Harris. Paramount, 2002. Film
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. 1925. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc, 2005. Print
Woolf, Virginia. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008.
Images are from google search of ‘Virginia Woolf’
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of the modernist novel. She rejects materialistic forms of writing for a more in-depth look into characters psyche and is more interested in the way people think and react than the superficial front people put on when they are out in the world. She broke new ground with her modernist writing technique called ‘stream of consciousness’ that she displays in her works, such as Mrs. Dalloway and The Mark on the Wall. She believed that realist fiction does not capture what is important so she reduced the idea of plot and created a style of writing focused on interior dialogue. She was innovative with her ideas of time and narration; she did not adhere to concepts of conventional time and she made the narrator hard to locate and define.
Virginia’s life was very complicated and difficult for her. She and her husband, Leonard, were a part of the famous Bloomsbury group, a group of writers and artists that represent the avant-garde style of the early 20th century. They were considered radicals who lived a bohemian life style. Despite her success, Virginia had many mental breakdowns and suffered with depression and bi-polar disorder. She eventually committed suicide by drowning herself in a lake. The theme of suicide comes up in many of her works, as well as, themes of class hierarchy, consequences of war and gender relations. Gender roles are a theme brought up in A Room of One’s Own where she criticizes society’s constraint on women. She believes that women need a place where they can get away from society and their family in order to thrive.
Mrs. Dalloway
One of the main focuses of The Hours, Mrs. Dalloway is a novel published in 1925 by Virginia Woolf. To be very brief, the book is about a woman who busies herself with trivial activities - such as planning a party - and appears to be a very pulled-together, happy, organized woman; on the inside, however, she is confused, lonely, and constantly feels like something is missing in her life. She has to deal with an unhappy marriage, a disappointing life, and is greatly affected by the suicide of one of the sub-characters.
The Hours
Like Woolf’s novel, the film takes place over the course of one day and one night. The film consists of three sub-plots involving the lives of three different women living in three different time periods; all three women are somehow affected by the novel Mrs. Dalloway. All three women are at war with themselves, and all three have to deal with suicide in one way or another.
1) Virginia Woolf, 1923 (Nicole Kidman)
- Woolf is in the middle of writing the actual novel, commiserating with her main character. She suffers from mental illness, depression, and has considered suicide. She often seems disjointed from everything going on around her and appears miserable and preoccupied with death throughout the film. Eventually, Woolf leaves a note for her husband and decides to commit suicide by drowning herself in the river.
2) Laura Brown, 1951 (Julianne Moore)
- Brown is unhappy in her marriage and her life; she is mother to a son (Richie) and is several months pregnant. Laura suffers from depression and thoughts of suicide. She takes comfort in Woolf’s novel, sympathizing with the character of Clarissa Dalloway. Eventually, we learn that Laura stays with her family until her daughter is born, abandons them soon after and moves to Canada.
3) Clarissa Vaughan, 2001 (Meryl Streep)
- Vaughan acts as a sort of parallel to the 1925 novel and actually represents Dalloway. She tries to deal with unhappiness by appearing strong on the outside, pretending to be content, not unlike Clarissa Dalloway in the novel. She has to deal with the suicide of her long-time friend Richard (later revealed to be the son of Laura Brown). Clarissa is forced to accept the death of Richard; she copes with the pain, and moves on.
References
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dalloway/
For information regarding The Hours:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274558/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hours_(film)
Also, the entire film is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieay8KaRgwY (part 1)
Virginia Woolf is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of the modernist novel. She rejects materialistic forms of writing for a more in-depth look into characters psyche and is more interested in the way people think and react than the superficial front people put on when they are out in the world. She broke new ground with her modernist writing technique called ‘stream of consciousness’ that she displays in her works, such as Mrs. Dalloway and The Mark on the Wall. She believed that realist fiction does not capture what is important so she reduced the idea of plot and created a style of writing focused on interior dialogue. She was innovative with her ideas of time and narration; she did not adhere to concepts of conventional time and she made the narrator hard to locate and define.
Virginia’s life was very complicated and difficult for her. She and her husband, Leonard, were a part of the famous Bloomsbury group, a group of writers and artists that represent the avant-garde style of the early 20th century. They were considered radicals who lived a bohemian life style. Despite her success, Virginia had many mental breakdowns and suffered with depression and bi-polar disorder. She eventually committed suicide by drowning herself in a lake. The theme of suicide comes up in many of her works, as well as, themes of class hierarchy, consequences of war and gender relations. Gender roles are a theme brought up in A Room of One’s Own where she criticizes society’s constraint on women. She believes that women need a place where they can get away from society and their family in order to thrive.
Mrs. Dalloway
One of the main focuses of The Hours, Mrs. Dalloway is a novel published in 1925 by Virginia Woolf. To be very brief, the book is about a woman who busies herself with trivial activities - such as planning a party - and appears to be a very pulled-together, happy, organized woman; on the inside, however, she is confused, lonely, and constantly feels like something is missing in her life. She has to deal with an unhappy marriage, a disappointing life, and is greatly affected by the suicide of one of the sub-characters.
The Hours
Like Woolf’s novel, the film takes place over the course of one day and one night. The film consists of three sub-plots involving the lives of three different women living in three different time periods; all three women are somehow affected by the novel Mrs. Dalloway. All three women are at war with themselves, and all three have to deal with suicide in one way or another.
1) Virginia Woolf, 1923 (Nicole Kidman)
- Woolf is in the middle of writing the actual novel, commiserating with her main character. She suffers from mental illness, depression, and has considered suicide. She often seems disjointed from everything going on around her and appears miserable and preoccupied with death throughout the film. Eventually, Woolf leaves a note for her husband and decides to commit suicide by drowning herself in the river.
2) Laura Brown, 1951 (Julianne Moore)
- Brown is unhappy in her marriage and her life; she is mother to a son (Richie) and is several months pregnant. Laura suffers from depression and thoughts of suicide. She takes comfort in Woolf’s novel, sympathizing with the character of Clarissa Dalloway. Eventually, we learn that Laura stays with her family until her daughter is born, abandons them soon after and moves to Canada.
3) Clarissa Vaughan, 2001 (Meryl Streep)
- Vaughan acts as a sort of parallel to the 1925 novel and actually represents Dalloway. She tries to deal with unhappiness by appearing strong on the outside, pretending to be content, not unlike Clarissa Dalloway in the novel. She has to deal with the suicide of her long-time friend Richard (later revealed to be the son of Laura Brown). Clarissa is forced to accept the death of Richard; she copes with the pain, and moves on.
References
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dalloway/
For information regarding The Hours:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274558/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hours_(film)
Also, the entire film is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieay8KaRgwY (part 1)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Reading Questions on Joyce's "Araby"
Hello Everyone,
For your reference, here are the reading questions that I prepared on "Araby."
Cheers,
Ada
1)Who narrates this story? In what ways does “Araby” establish the voice of its narrator?
2)In what ways does this text make reference to issues surrounding colonialism in Ireland? Does this text explicitly engage issues of colonialism?
3)What mood or feeling best describes this story? In addressing this question, you might consider the main narrative events of “Araby” and the key motivating forces of its narrator.
4)What happens at the end of “Araby”? Look, in particular, at the text’s last sentence. Why does the narrator conclude his story in this way?
For your reference, here are the reading questions that I prepared on "Araby."
Cheers,
Ada
1)Who narrates this story? In what ways does “Araby” establish the voice of its narrator?
2)In what ways does this text make reference to issues surrounding colonialism in Ireland? Does this text explicitly engage issues of colonialism?
3)What mood or feeling best describes this story? In addressing this question, you might consider the main narrative events of “Araby” and the key motivating forces of its narrator.
4)What happens at the end of “Araby”? Look, in particular, at the text’s last sentence. Why does the narrator conclude his story in this way?
Irish Postcolonialism and James Joyce's Araby--Bradley and Annalisa
We are presenting this week on Irish Postcolonialism. Brenda Murray defines Post-colonialism as "Post-colonialism – essentially a critique of colonialism, is characterised by a
process of disengagement from the colonial epoch and has taken many forms" in her essay Ireland – a test case of Post-colonialism / Post colonialism.
Here's a timeline that outlines some key events in Ireland's history including its struggle for independence.
Araby, published in Joyce's collection, Dubliners (1914) was originally written in 1905, during the height of Irish nationalism. Sinn Féin, a left-wing Irish Nationalist group was founded in 1905, and most of the members partook in the Easter Rising of 1916.
Here is a summary of Araby, along with character descriptions, and plot themes:
The website states: "Joyce presents a bleak city struggling against oppressive forces."
In Joyce's description of the city, hints of eager nationalism are elicited, in passages such as:
“We walked through the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop boys who stood on guard by the barrels of pigs’ cheeks, the nasal chanting of street singers who sang a come-all-you about O’Donovan Rossa or a ballad about the troubles in our native land” (Joyce, 1225).
O' Donovan Rossa is a reference to Jeremiah Donovan, and Irish Nationalist, who was sentenced to a lifetime of penal servitude but was granted amnesty and departed for America (Broadview).
Although short, the protagonist's arrival to a vacant Araby is even further disillusioned by his encounter with an English attendant.
"I remarked their English accents and listened vaguely to their conversation...Observing me, the young lady came over and asked me did I wish to buy anything. The tone of her voice was not encouraging: she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty" (Joyce, 1227).
This brief but acerbic encounter marks the struggle between the Irish and the English, and serves as a microcosm for the hostility between Irish nationalists and the British government.
References:
Joyce, James. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Irish Independence -- Joel, Jessica and Dorian
James Joyce and Araby
To start you off because James Joyce wrote in a stream of consciousness writing i will give you the term at the back of the book:
Stream of Consciousness: narrative techniques that attempts to convey in prose fiction a sense of the progression of the full range of thoughts and sensations occurring within a characters mind. Twentieth-century pioneers in the use of the stream of consciousness writing include Dorothy Richardson, Virgina Woolf and James Joyce.
- James Joyce is a well known Irish Novelist who redefined realism
- James Joyce grew up in a middle class family only later to fall to poverty due to having an alcoholic father
- His mother played a large role in his life by showing him the pleasures of art and Catholicism
- Later while at school James became very cynical of the church and believed Religion among other things to be a distraction for the budding artist
- He is best known for Ulysses a modern day retelling of The Odyssey
-Each chapter is an ironic rewriting of a chapter from Homer's Odyssey
-It is said that his book Ulysses can sum up the entire Modernist movement in writing
Wikipedia is a great place to get an over view of his life if you're interested in looking in more detail at his life and his works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_joyce
Araby
- Araby is a Charity bazaar held in Dublin in 1894
- It is another of his works that deals with the Stream of Consciousness writing style that James Joyce Develops and perfects
-The story discusses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence
-In Joyce's life it said that he became cynical of the church one of the first things in this story that happens is a priest dies
- not only does this priest die but in his room not only are there good and religious books there are also books about criminals among other things
- The story is told by a narrator of which we know nothing really about not even a name
- We know the narrator is a boy who is still attending school so he must be fairly young
- There is a lot of imagery in the story, and is told through the boy's observations
- In the short story there is reference to a number of literary works
James Joyce and Araby
To start you off because James Joyce wrote in a stream of consciousness writing i will give you the term at the back of the book:
Stream of Consciousness: narrative techniques that attempts to convey in prose fiction a sense of the progression of the full range of thoughts and sensations occurring within a characters mind. Twentieth-century pioneers in the use of the stream of consciousness writing include Dorothy Richardson, Virgina Woolf and James Joyce.
- James Joyce is a well known Irish Novelist who redefined realism
- James Joyce grew up in a middle class family only later to fall to poverty due to having an alcoholic father
- His mother played a large role in his life by showing him the pleasures of art and Catholicism
- Later while at school James became very cynical of the church and believed Religion among other things to be a distraction for the budding artist
- He is best known for Ulysses a modern day retelling of The Odyssey
-Each chapter is an ironic rewriting of a chapter from Homer's Odyssey
-It is said that his book Ulysses can sum up the entire Modernist movement in writing
Wikipedia is a great place to get an over view of his life if you're interested in looking in more detail at his life and his works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_joyce
Araby
- Araby is a Charity bazaar held in Dublin in 1894
- It is another of his works that deals with the Stream of Consciousness writing style that James Joyce Develops and perfects
-The story discusses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence
-In Joyce's life it said that he became cynical of the church one of the first things in this story that happens is a priest dies
- not only does this priest die but in his room not only are there good and religious books there are also books about criminals among other things
- The story is told by a narrator of which we know nothing really about not even a name
- We know the narrator is a boy who is still attending school so he must be fairly young
- There is a lot of imagery in the story, and is told through the boy's observations
- In the short story there is reference to a number of literary works
Thursday, March 17, 2011
West Indian Plantation Slavery
West Indian plantation slavery has four important components that provide a basic overview of its importance both historically and in relation to literature.
European Colonization
· The area that is known today as the Caribbean was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492
· After his discovery, the Indians of the Caribbean land were now enslaved to the Spanish crown – all traces of the former life on this land were erased by the Spanish rule
Emergence of the Slave Trade
· New plantations were created, requiring an army of human hands to work them
· By the 17th century the majority of the original inhabitants of the West Indies had been wiped out by a combination of European diseases and physical exploitation – black slaves were brought in bondage from Africa
·
Slave Treatment
Duties:
· The cultivation of crops and tending of the animals
· Serving their “owners” in any way possible
· Sixteen to eighteen hours of work per day, and during the season of sugarcane harvest most slaves got only four hours of sleep
· Severe punishment for disobeying orders
· Etc.
Slave Compensation
It wasn’t until the mid 1800’s that the Emancipation Act of 1838 freed the slaves of the West Indies, however the unequal system still continued. The owners of these slaves were paid compensation by the British government, applying to the British colonies in the Caribbean, Bermuda, Belize, Guyana, Mauritius, and Cape Colony (South Africa).
West Indian Slavery and Literature
Slavery is a recurring theme in the literature of the Caribbean. Many writers feel the need to attempt a vocalization of all that was denied under the brutal system. Writers such as Derek Walcott in Omeros, and George Lamming in In the Castle of my Skin talk about the difficulty of moving forward from the feelings of injustice inspired by the slave system and the lack of improvement of life after slavery.
Video
This video sums up the main points about West Indian plantation slavery, outlining its emergence, purpose, and conditions:
Video – “The Caribbean: Colonial Past”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640195/West-Indies/54384/Plantation-slavery
Other useful resources:
European Colonization (Christopher Columbus)
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm
(Columbus's journal appears in Olson, Julius, The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 (1926); Dyson, John, Columbus: for Gold, God, and Glory (1991); Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1942); )
Slave Compensation Claims – The Emancipation Act
http://compensations.plantations.bb/
Slavery and the Caribbean – Literature
http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/carib/slavery.htm
West Indian Plantation Slavery and Jane Eyre
As mentioned, once Columbus took over the Caribbean new culture and traditions were established to replace the original customs and way of life. This can be immediately related back to Jane Eyre and how she was almost forced to go to Lowood. Jane is taken over by the reforms and rules placed upon her by Lowood. Her choices are limited and her life is regulated harshly. Like slaves relocated from Africa, she was taken from a place she knew and relocated to a cold, unrecognizable place. On page 103 Jane is interviewed by a women who seems kind enough and says “She hoped I would be a good little child” “and dismissed me”. Although this women is kind enough to Jane. The girls, especially Helen are subject to other unfairness in the classroom picked on for simple and unrealistic things. They have less then standard food, live in below par housing and have unsatisfactory food. When Mr. Brocklehurst comes to the school he can be compared to a plantation owner. The girls must live in these horrible conditions and Mr. Brocklehurst continues to subject the girls to tyrannical rules: cutting the girls hair, limiting their clean clothes and proper food. He also separates Jane from the rest of group and subjects her to humiliation in order to make her loose self esteem.
As mentioned - in the 17thC majority of the inhabitants had been wiped out from disease and physical exploitation. At Lowood, Jane explains how semi starvation and neglected colds (caused by poor conditions) had killed many of the girls. Their deaths are hidden, like they aren’t human - which is the same treatment slaves received.
Lowood was not the only place in which Jane was subject to slave like treatment. In Thornfield Jane was still considered an outcast, as she was not a servant but not a person of higher status. She is lucky, in the fact that some governesses had worse treatment during this time. As part of the Slave treatment they would have to “Serve their owners”, and this could be applied to governess’s at the time, who would be disgraced and out of jobs. When she leaves Thornfield she lives in poverty and starvation as many freed slaves had to do after the emancipation act, unsure of what they could do with their lives or where they could go.When telling her cousin St. John about their relationship Jane speaks about the relationship as if he is trying to control and own her. He tries to make her feel guilty about moving to India without being married.
Also, see page 607 on “Race, Empire, and the West Indies”
European Colonization
· The area that is known today as the Caribbean was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492
· After his discovery, the Indians of the Caribbean land were now enslaved to the Spanish crown – all traces of the former life on this land were erased by the Spanish rule
Emergence of the Slave Trade
· New plantations were created, requiring an army of human hands to work them
· By the 17th century the majority of the original inhabitants of the West Indies had been wiped out by a combination of European diseases and physical exploitation – black slaves were brought in bondage from Africa
·
Slave Treatment
Duties:
· The cultivation of crops and tending of the animals
· Serving their “owners” in any way possible
· Sixteen to eighteen hours of work per day, and during the season of sugarcane harvest most slaves got only four hours of sleep
· Severe punishment for disobeying orders
· Etc.
Slave Compensation
It wasn’t until the mid 1800’s that the Emancipation Act of 1838 freed the slaves of the West Indies, however the unequal system still continued. The owners of these slaves were paid compensation by the British government, applying to the British colonies in the Caribbean, Bermuda, Belize, Guyana, Mauritius, and Cape Colony (South Africa).
West Indian Slavery and Literature
Slavery is a recurring theme in the literature of the Caribbean. Many writers feel the need to attempt a vocalization of all that was denied under the brutal system. Writers such as Derek Walcott in Omeros, and George Lamming in In the Castle of my Skin talk about the difficulty of moving forward from the feelings of injustice inspired by the slave system and the lack of improvement of life after slavery.
Video
This video sums up the main points about West Indian plantation slavery, outlining its emergence, purpose, and conditions:
Video – “The Caribbean: Colonial Past”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640195/West-Indies/54384/Plantation-slavery
Other useful resources:
European Colonization (Christopher Columbus)
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm
(Columbus's journal appears in Olson, Julius, The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 (1926); Dyson, John, Columbus: for Gold, God, and Glory (1991); Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1942); )
Slave Compensation Claims – The Emancipation Act
http://compensations.plantations.bb/
Slavery and the Caribbean – Literature
http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/carib/slavery.htm
West Indian Plantation Slavery and Jane Eyre
As mentioned, once Columbus took over the Caribbean new culture and traditions were established to replace the original customs and way of life. This can be immediately related back to Jane Eyre and how she was almost forced to go to Lowood. Jane is taken over by the reforms and rules placed upon her by Lowood. Her choices are limited and her life is regulated harshly. Like slaves relocated from Africa, she was taken from a place she knew and relocated to a cold, unrecognizable place. On page 103 Jane is interviewed by a women who seems kind enough and says “She hoped I would be a good little child” “and dismissed me”. Although this women is kind enough to Jane. The girls, especially Helen are subject to other unfairness in the classroom picked on for simple and unrealistic things. They have less then standard food, live in below par housing and have unsatisfactory food. When Mr. Brocklehurst comes to the school he can be compared to a plantation owner. The girls must live in these horrible conditions and Mr. Brocklehurst continues to subject the girls to tyrannical rules: cutting the girls hair, limiting their clean clothes and proper food. He also separates Jane from the rest of group and subjects her to humiliation in order to make her loose self esteem.
As mentioned - in the 17thC majority of the inhabitants had been wiped out from disease and physical exploitation. At Lowood, Jane explains how semi starvation and neglected colds (caused by poor conditions) had killed many of the girls. Their deaths are hidden, like they aren’t human - which is the same treatment slaves received.
Lowood was not the only place in which Jane was subject to slave like treatment. In Thornfield Jane was still considered an outcast, as she was not a servant but not a person of higher status. She is lucky, in the fact that some governesses had worse treatment during this time. As part of the Slave treatment they would have to “Serve their owners”, and this could be applied to governess’s at the time, who would be disgraced and out of jobs. When she leaves Thornfield she lives in poverty and starvation as many freed slaves had to do after the emancipation act, unsure of what they could do with their lives or where they could go.When telling her cousin St. John about their relationship Jane speaks about the relationship as if he is trying to control and own her. He tries to make her feel guilty about moving to India without being married.
Also, see page 607 on “Race, Empire, and the West Indies”
Sunday, March 13, 2011
West Indian Plantation Slavery - Cody and Julia
Hello everyone!
We are presenting this week on West Indian plantation slavery. You can click on the links along the way to go back to the source of the information, and learn more about each topic. To begin, we will provide some background information on the broader topic of colonization, which also applies to the readings for this week. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines colonialism as “a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another.” It further explains that colonialism can not be pin-pointed to a particular place or time. However, it was the sixteenth century when technological changes in Europe intensified colonial exploits (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/. ).
In the 17th century Europeans began to establish settlements in the Americas. The land was divided into smaller units and was under private ownership, these lands became known as the plantation system. Beginning in Virginia, the system spread to the New England colonies. European immigrants who had gone to America to own their own land were reluctant to work for others. In order to accommodate this, convicts were sent over from Britain to provide labour, but this was short lived as convicts were in short supply. Planters then began to purchase slaves, first coming from the West Indies but quickly coming directly from Africa by the 18th century, these slave markets were established in Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston and New Orleans. Slaves were in the fields from sunrise to sunset, and during harvest time would work an eighteen hour day. They grew the following crops in the plantations: tobacco, rice, sugar cane, cotton.
The death rate amongst slaves was high. In order to replace their losses, plantation owners ‘encouraged’ the slaves to have children. Child-bearing started around the age of thirteen, and women were expected to have four or five children by the age of twenty.
HYPERLINK "http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASplantation.htm"
HYPERLINK "http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/230"
From the 17th century to the 19th century, approximately twelve million Africans were brought to the Americas. Africans were sold to traders by other Africans, and eventually forced into slavery by men with guns. Slaves were then placed aboard ships to be taken across the Atlantic on a voyage that was eventually coined “the middle passage.”
HYPERLINK "http://scholar.library.miami.edu/slaves/slave_trade/slave_trade.html"
HYPERLINK "http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/230"
HYPERLINK "http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/00_01/ca/sla1.htm"
Slaves were controlled through various methods:
Divide and Rule – members of the same tribe were separated on different plantations to prevent communication.
Religion – slaves were not allowed to practice their own religions, they were however turned towards Christianity and many were converted.
Class system – Field slaves were the lowest group, factory slaves (who worked in the sugar boiling process) were higher, artisan slaves (blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, etc.) were even higher, and the highest was a house slave, servants to their masters and even held contempt over other slaves.
Colour – mixtures occurred through the birth of children, and slaves with white fathers or white relatives were placed in higher positions than pure African.
HYPERLINK "http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter26.html"
HYPERLINK "http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/230"
This is a definition of “White Man’s Burden” to read before tackling the readings: “the supposed responsibility of the white race to provide care for their non-white subjects” (Wordnetweb.princeton.edu).
1) The White Man’s Burden, Rudyard Kipling (p. 966)
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature states that Rudyard Kipling was a strong proponent of imperialism, and “believed it was Britain’s duty to govern and civilize colonized lands” (962). This background helps us understand the imperialist mentality behind this poem. It takes on a grandiose tone with the strong iambic tetrameter and rhyme scheme, that supports much of the colonialist discourse found in the poem with regards to human superiority, British capitalism, and slavery.
2) Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question, Thomas Carlyle (p. 982)
Here we see the blatant dehumanization of slaves in the West Indies, often reducing them to that of horses, with the sole purposes of breeding and hard labour. We also see that a culture’s internal diversity is ignored, as Carlyle refers to the Black people as “Quashee.”
3) The Negro Question, John Stuart Mill (p. 984)
This text can be seen as a critical response to the previous texts. Mill points out the types of discourse we should be aware of in colonialist texts, re-evaluates the way we view the ‘work’ that slaves do, and criticizes teleological views of colonized cultures.
4) Minute on Indian Education, Thomas Babington Macaulay (p. 978)
Here we see further rhetoric on cultural superiority by the British belief that the English language was superior to all others and should become the lingua franca in Indian native cultures, as their native language lacks the complexity to communicate “literary nor scientific information” (978)
5) Decolonizing the Mind, Ngugi wa Thiong’O (p. 1477)
This text can be seen as a response to Macaulay. Written by an African man (which adds a new dimension as opposed to the White European authors of the other texts), this book advocates the importance of native African language. He explains that language plays a role in communication and cultural transmission, and because of the coerced use of English, many Africans face identity crises because they are trying to understand themselves through the eyes of another (the English language).
For further reading, we have posted a link to a book called “West Indian Culture” by Michael Garfield Smith. Especially on pages 5-6, the author addresses the effects of slavery and post-colonialism on the West Indies, as well as the “cultural identity” crisis that Thiong’O addresses in Decolonizing the Mind.
Works Cited:
Black, Joseph, et al. “Race, Empire, and a Wider World.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. Print.
Blog.mailasail.com. 22 April 2009. Beez Neez. Web.
Carlyle, Thomas. “Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2007. 1849. Print.
Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. 1899. Print.
Macaulay, Thomas Babington. “Minute on Indian Education.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2007. 1835. Print.
Plato.standord.edu. 9 May, 2006. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web.
Scholar.library.miami.edu. n.d. Slave Resistance: A Caribbean Study. Web.
Simkin, John. Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. n.d. Spartacus Educational. Web.
Stuart Mill, John. “The Negro Question.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. 1850. Print.
Smith, Michael Garfield. The Plural Society in the British West Indies. London, England: U of California P 1974. 11 Mar. 2011. http://books.google.com/books? hl=en&lr=&id=pdNi0h3l4D0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=West+Indian+Plantation+Slavery&ots=fn_H6S8WLj&sig=QoaRFOhvx8E6S7LHWs8022Ykkno#v=onepage&q=West%20Indian%20Plantation%20Slavery&f=false. Web.
Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. “Decolonising the Mind.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume B. Joseph Black et al. Peterborough: Broadview Press 2007. 1986. Print.
Wordnetweb.princeton.edu. 2011. Princeton University:WordNet: A Lexical Database for English. Web.
www.east-buc. n.d. The Slave Trade. Web.
www.guyana.org. n.d. Slavery on the Plantation. Web.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: your impressions
Thank you, all, for generating ideas in class today regarding the visual artworks of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Using the content from the notes you jotted down, I have generated the following Wordle (click the link below). I think this collection of words and phrases summarizes some of the key motifs and preoccupations of the Pre-Raphaelite movement in an original, succint and effective way.
Unfortunately, the Wordle does not not fully reflect all of the content that you provided on your sheets. Hence some of the lengthier quasi-narratives and monologues that I received are not given their due by this Wordle.
Regardless, I enjoyed reading everyone's comments :)
Cheers,
Ada
title="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions">
alt="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
Unfortunately, the Wordle does not not fully reflect all of the content that you provided on your sheets. Hence some of the lengthier quasi-narratives and monologues that I received are not given their due by this Wordle.
Regardless, I enjoyed reading everyone's comments :)
Cheers,
Ada
title="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions">
alt="Wordle: Pre-Raphaelite Paintings: First Impressions"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Germ & the Band Perry
Hey, here’s some added information on the Pre-Raphaelite style of art, and some resources if anyone’s curious to know more!
Please keep in mind that the Pre-Raphaelites were not artists that existed before Raphael, but who were inspired by the style of art that was popular before his lifetime. They themselves lived after him, during the Victorian era. They were a gathering of male artists who wanted to revolutionize art by rejecting the popular neoclassical style of the time. They felt, according William Rossetti’s introduction to The Germ, that “this condition of the art seemed offensive, contemptible, and even scandalous” (Gutenberg) because of the absence of original, creative ideas that was a feature of neoclassical-inspired pieces. They chose to instead employ stylistic elements common in medieval artwork, specifically Gothic aesthetics, as it encouraged simplicity and originality. Finding solidarity in each other’s ideas, they founded the Brotherhood in September of 1848, and in the following year began to construct works that were based on this specific intention.
The Brotherhood also published a magazine-like periodical centered on prominent Pre-Raphaelite poems and essays of the time, as well as critical reflections of the artists themselves about these works, entitled “The Germ: Thoughts towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art”.
You can actually read a publication of some of the issues that was compiled by William Michael Rossetti and edited by his brother, Dante (both being members of the original Brotherhood), online on Project Gutenburg, if you’re curious - it’s very in-depth, with an extensive inclusion of poems from the same period and with the same themes as those we are studying. It even has an introduction from Rossetti discussing their intentions and the history of the Brotherhood’s formation in detail. It’s a very valuable source, and even more so as it’s straight from the horse’s mouth:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm
However, The Germ encompasses only text. If you want to see some of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings, rather than the poetry, here’s a site created by the Delaware Art Museum, with a handy overview outlining more of their main characteristics at http://www.preraph.org and a gallery featuring ten pieces of PRB art located in their own collection: http://www.preraph.org/gallery/ It can give you a very good idea of what the ideas actually looked like when translated onto canvas.
In a more contemporary vein, we also found this music video that was made by The Band Perry for their song ‘If I Die Young’. It actually works as a modern revisioning of The Lady of Shalott, and you can see that it reflects and makes use of a lot of the same tropes as the original poem (and many of the characteristics inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art) - the heavy natural imagery, the emphasis on the female form and female beauty, the role of the river, the interplay of themes of death, sight and innocence, and the act of drawing from literary sources from information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM
Enjoy!
Jillian, Jarrett & Thuraya
References:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008. 519-21.
"The Germ". Project Gutenberg.January 2006. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm. Web.
Please keep in mind that the Pre-Raphaelites were not artists that existed before Raphael, but who were inspired by the style of art that was popular before his lifetime. They themselves lived after him, during the Victorian era. They were a gathering of male artists who wanted to revolutionize art by rejecting the popular neoclassical style of the time. They felt, according William Rossetti’s introduction to The Germ, that “this condition of the art seemed offensive, contemptible, and even scandalous” (Gutenberg) because of the absence of original, creative ideas that was a feature of neoclassical-inspired pieces. They chose to instead employ stylistic elements common in medieval artwork, specifically Gothic aesthetics, as it encouraged simplicity and originality. Finding solidarity in each other’s ideas, they founded the Brotherhood in September of 1848, and in the following year began to construct works that were based on this specific intention.
The Brotherhood also published a magazine-like periodical centered on prominent Pre-Raphaelite poems and essays of the time, as well as critical reflections of the artists themselves about these works, entitled “The Germ: Thoughts towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art”.
You can actually read a publication of some of the issues that was compiled by William Michael Rossetti and edited by his brother, Dante (both being members of the original Brotherhood), online on Project Gutenburg, if you’re curious - it’s very in-depth, with an extensive inclusion of poems from the same period and with the same themes as those we are studying. It even has an introduction from Rossetti discussing their intentions and the history of the Brotherhood’s formation in detail. It’s a very valuable source, and even more so as it’s straight from the horse’s mouth:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm
However, The Germ encompasses only text. If you want to see some of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings, rather than the poetry, here’s a site created by the Delaware Art Museum, with a handy overview outlining more of their main characteristics at http://www.preraph.org and a gallery featuring ten pieces of PRB art located in their own collection: http://www.preraph.org/gallery/ It can give you a very good idea of what the ideas actually looked like when translated onto canvas.
In a more contemporary vein, we also found this music video that was made by The Band Perry for their song ‘If I Die Young’. It actually works as a modern revisioning of The Lady of Shalott, and you can see that it reflects and makes use of a lot of the same tropes as the original poem (and many of the characteristics inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art) - the heavy natural imagery, the emphasis on the female form and female beauty, the role of the river, the interplay of themes of death, sight and innocence, and the act of drawing from literary sources from information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM
Enjoy!
Jillian, Jarrett & Thuraya
References:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008. 519-21.
"The Germ". Project Gutenberg.January 2006. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17649/17649-h/17649-h.htm. Web.
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Hey, so Maddy and I did some research on the Pre-Raphaelites and this is what we came up with! Hope this helps clear anything up that might not have been clear in the presentation!
The Pre-Raphaelites began with the initial group of seven (James Collinson, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Frederic George Stephens, and Thomas Woolner) who formed the group in 1848 that strove to revive what they believed was a “simpler, fresher, more natural art that existed before Raphael (1483-1520)” (Broadview Anthology). One of the most focal mediums for the group was painting, as it was the best way to present their “pre-Raphaelite” vision of simplicity and freshness. Eventually, more poets became involved in the P.R.B., and they started going off of one another, most commonly painting portraits of the poems that others wrote. Most notable of this is the poem The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which was emulated by numerous different painters including John William Waterhouse, William Holman Hunt, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The art of the P.R.B., particularly its representation of women, was aptly analyzed and documented by Jan Marsh in her illustrated book, Pre-Raphaelite Women: Images of Femininity (1987). As she points out, consistent features of these women – including the Lady of Shalott – are loose hair, large eyes, an elongated neck, and a sorrowful expression (Marsh). She also posits that the group “established new structures of feeling and of representation whereby women were both elevated and constrained, worshipped and restricted to specific roles” (Marsh). The Lady of Shalott’s motif of confinement seemed to be the focal point for the painters in spite of protests from Tennyson himself that the poem was a metaphor for one who lives in a world of shadows and is transformed through love into the world of what is real (Marsh).
To give you guys some context, we thought we’d link you to a couple websites that show the art of Raphael as well as the Pre-Raphaelites so you can decide for yourselves if they achieved their goal of being more simple, fresh, and natural!
Links:
P.R.B.
http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/~spd/Pre-Raphaelites/Pre-Raphaelites.html
Raphael
http://www.art.com/gallery/id--a110/raphael-posters_p6.htm
References:
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Vol. B. Ed. Don LePan. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008.
Marsh, Jan. Pre-Raphaelite Women: Images of Femininity. New York: Harmony Books, 1987.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Essay Prep
Hello Everyone,
As promised, below you will find materials outlining some guidance on preparing for your EN 246 essay and using MLA documentation methods.
In the first handout, I list some basic examples of bibliographic entries in MLA form, and also provide you with the links I mentioned to three very helpful Writing Centre websites.
MLADocumentationHandout
I've also posted my PowerPoint slides on structuring your essay and key tips on using MLA, so do consult this too if need be.
EN246_EssayPrep
Finally, you may also wish to consult the Writing Centre Handout on “How to Write an Effective Conclusion.”
Feel free to talk with me after our next tutorial or during my office hours (Monday, 12-1pm, DAWB 5-129) if you have any questions as you work on this assignment.
Best with your writing!
Ada
As promised, below you will find materials outlining some guidance on preparing for your EN 246 essay and using MLA documentation methods.
In the first handout, I list some basic examples of bibliographic entries in MLA form, and also provide you with the links I mentioned to three very helpful Writing Centre websites.
MLADocumentationHandout
I've also posted my PowerPoint slides on structuring your essay and key tips on using MLA, so do consult this too if need be.
EN246_EssayPrep
Finally, you may also wish to consult the Writing Centre Handout on “How to Write an Effective Conclusion.”
Feel free to talk with me after our next tutorial or during my office hours (Monday, 12-1pm, DAWB 5-129) if you have any questions as you work on this assignment.
Best with your writing!
Ada
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