The Dubliners

Assigned stories to read:
• The Sisters
• An Encounter
• Araby
• Eveline
• Two Gallants
• Boarding House
• The Dead

You can read them all if they want.

The Dubliners: Journal Topics
1) Keep track of all of the lighting effects in “Two Gallants.” Look at the contrast between the light of the moon and the light of the streetlamp. What effects does this have on the story? You might also contrast his use of this symbol with the way that Chopin uses various kinds of light.

2) Many readers of Joyce have initially been frustrated by stories in which they say “nothing happens.” Did you have this reaction? What kinds of stories is Joyce trying to substitute for the “big” ones? If you have read Ibsen or Chekhov, you might compare what thy have done in their plays to these stories.

3) In “The Dead” Joyce “enriches meaning with epiphanies, symbolic objects, settings and poses.” Give three or four examples of this and explain their effect on the story.

More journal ideas for Their Eyes Were Watching God

1. How does Hurston's novel demonstrate the complexity of the lives of common folks and the richness of their folk culture?

2. Analyze Janie's development as an independent person. Comment on the relationship between Janie and her listening friend, Pheoby.

3. Trace Hurston's use of folklore through the novel and comment on its significance.

Questions About Whiteness

Here are the questions we started discussing today:

1. When am I "white"?
2. Who is the "whitest" person in the United States and why?
3. What would I put in a white cultural center and why?
4. When did I first understand that "whiteness" existed in the world?
5. What attitudes toward whiteness exist in the text we are studying?
6. What is the difference between a category and an identity?
7. Who profits from the continuing existence of "blackness" in the United States?
8. What will happen if I consider "whiteness" a racial category?
9. How does everyday language privilege whiteness and make color less attractive? What are some common examples of this?
10. How does literature perpetuate the same system as suggested in #9?
    

Please read the article written by Toni McNaron that I passed out in class as well.

Important Dates to Remember

September 17 King reading notebooks due
October 4 Hurston reading notebooks due
October 17 Joyce reading notebooks due
October 29 Barrett reading notebooks due
November 15 Faulkner paper due
November 29 Morrison reading notebooks due
December 13 O'Brien reading notebooks due
January 3 Garcia reading notebooks due
January 18 Roy reading notebooks and final paper due

Welcome to the CIS Modern Fiction Blog!

There never seems to be enough time to finish our discussions in class, so this blog is a place for us to continue those engaging conversations, ask questions of each other, and allow everyone to be heard. Please feel free to share your thoughts here. The same rules of respect and openness that are part of the class also apply here.

Also, Sarah brought an interesting article to me in class about Baubo, which made me think that we could share resources and links to interesting sites here as well.

Welcome to the CIS Modern Fiction Blog! I look forward to the stimulating conversations that surely are to come.

Ms. Peifer