This site will be unattended for the most part until I teach a literature class again, which is probably not until January 2009, but I will likely pop in every now and again to see that things are okay. Signing off for the summer and fall . . .

Here you go. I don't think there will be any surprises, but that's what you'd expect me to say.

I can see that I was correct in stating that the paper was due on Monday. Both the schedule and the note two below this one list Monday as the due date. Even though I was bamboozled into saying Tuesday on Friday, it's Monday. Otherwise, we won't have a book club presentation ready to go.

Seminar Days are as follows: Wednesday for Ruth Hall, Typee and Our Nig. Thursday for Uncle Tom's Cabin, Bondwoman's Narrative and Coquette. We'll address pretty much the same question as last time, but will draw on the readings that we've covered since The Scarlet Letter for the most part. What does the literature we've read, written about and discussed tell us about the nation/culture/people we are? As usual, you can think about your essay topics and the rest of what we've covered in terms of, yes, What is X? What does X do? and What does X mean? Be sure you come prepared to direct the conversation to specific passages from our reading (one shortcoming of the previous seminar) and to elicit information from those who are participating less (another shortcoming of the previous iteration.). Book club presetations will be as follows:

• Friday, May 30: Bondwoman
• Monday, June 2: Essay due for grading
• Tuesay, June 3: Our Nig
• Wednesday June 4: Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Thursday, June 5: Coquette
• Friday, June 6: Typee
• Monday, June 9: Ruth Hall

If you did not submit your graded and responded to essay with your revision, it did not get a re-reading or response. Here are the guilty parties: Blake, Sarah, Joy, Erica, Grant, Alyssa and Katelyn. Bring the graded and responded to draft of your essay and I'll re-read and re-grade your revision.

I'm not sure if this will help anyone's essay, but figured it was worth providing the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/opinion/25applegate.html?ref=opinion

Here's the opening sentences:

OVER the last few months, the contest between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination has been compared to the bitter feud between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass, two of the most famous progressive reformers of the 19th century.

I made some changes to the schedule, the most important being the reading draft of the second essay being due Tuesday upon our return from the Memorial Day Holiday. The next two days after that will be seminar and book club work days. We'll decide which groups go on each day on Monday. Next Friday will be the first of the book club presentations. You are expected to make use of the full 50 minutes in presenting your text and you should also revise or create a wiki entry for your book. Those that are new need provide only text. Those that are being revise should look to include images, links, and revamped formatting, whatever can be done to add value to the present iteration. Feel free to email me over the weekend with any questions that come up. I'll try to remember to check the blog somewhat regularly.

This is the transcript from the Wednesday conversation in class on Harriet Jacob's. Anyone who is short journal assignments may want to respond to this, elaborating on various points, questioning certian points, correcting or clarifying points that were muddled by may transcription of what you said, or what have you, in a way that can kick off or extend a discussion. Click "read more" at the bottom to see the full text.

Here are two notions of analysis it's good to keep in mind: “Analysis is the method we commonly use in thinking about complex matters and in attempting to account for our responses” (57) and "Critical thinking [like analysis] is a matter of separating the whole into parts, in order to see relationships” (Literature for Analysis 179). The question is, how do we do this? One way is listed here, the DROP method:

Details: Look for exact details in the text—identical or nearly identical words or details and list them.

Repetitions: Locate and list repetition of the same kind of detail or word (for example, war, struggle, conflict and strife are similar words). Similarities in style or structure can also be important, such as the author using four lines per stanza or beginning each paragraph with a question. Noting repetitions reveals emphasis.

Oppositions: Locate and list details or words or forms that suggest binary oppositions or things that contrast with one another. Look for the same sorts of things you looked at/for with the use of repetition.

Patterns of Significance: Choose what you think to be significant patterns of repetitions and/or binary oppositions and rank them in order of importance.

Having completed these steps, write a paragraph that explains your choice of one repetition or opposition (X), explain/describe what it does within the poem, and then explain what it means, why it is perhaps among the most significant elements of the poem or just worth examination. Do the above for each of the six assigned poems and respond to at least three journals from your classmates.

The editors of the text write that Jacobs "skillfully controls the meaning of the experiences she relates and leads her readers toward emphatic social activism" and that Jacobs "directs her audience's emotional response toward a political one on behalf of the abolitionist cause" (2206). To the best of your ability, put yourself into a mid-19th century mindset and write about how readers might respond (either abolitionists or anti-abolitionists) to Jacobs's attempted manipulation (typically of early feminists/suffragettes and abolitionists). Should we/they take Jacobs's tale at face value? How resistant should we/they be as readers? It might be good to think of the tale in terms of your book club readings, to look for similarities and differences between the story telling strategies, the content, the sentimental nature of the tale and things of that sort. As usual, provide three passages to illustrate this (x), tell us what they do and mean. Respond to three journals by your classmates.