READ THIS: PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATIONS: please take these seriously: they are an important part of your participation in the class. Your job when you present is to lead the discussion on the reading for that day. You may bring in some research, but most of all, you should be very well-prepared with insights, interpretations, and questions about the reading at hand. You may want to begin by summarizing the progress of the plot represented by the excerpt assigned on that day. Then you should have passages picked out for the class to discuss. You may want to be ready, also, with the posts for the day (you can copy and paste them and print them out). The purpose of the presentation is to give more responsibility to the classmembers and de-center the discussion a little bit (although I will still chime in). Here are your assignments, mostly random. 1. Wed. 3/30 Small Things, 84-147, Eidia. 2. 4/4 Small Things, 148-225, Hannah. 3. 4/6 Small Things, ending, Anna. 4. 4/11 Ondaatje, Dan. 5. 4/13 Mukherjee, Michael. 6. 4/18 Poppies, 3-87, Karol. 7. 4/20 Poppies, 88-156, Jason. 8. 4/25 Poppies, 157-226, Joe. 9. 4/27, Poppies, 227-342, Will. 10. 5/2 Poppies, 343-446, Rachel. 11. 5/4 Poppies, finish, Jane.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Rachel - Naipaul, 2/9

I just finished the novel last night - or, more precisely, in the wee hours of this morning.  It was one of those times where you close the book, place it on your desk, and think: "ohhhh...kay??"  What is this novel about?  I'm not really sure - in a bad way.  I feel like I'd have to read it again to get any significant grasp on it.

So even though I have yet to bushwhack my way through Midnight's Children, I'm pretty sure any future papers will analyze this work instead of A Bend in the River.  However, I was going to write a paper the Naipaul book, it would definitely be a feminist critical perspective.  The second most prominent idea I took away from this novel was that of wounded masculinity, and the need to dominate the feminine in order to compensate for a perceived loss of power.

-- The President's "monkey speech"
-- The Youth Guard's reaction to the monkey speech, in which they lash out at people they were supposed to protect
-- the juxtaposition of Yvette's sex versus brothel sex
-- Salim beating Yvette passage

But I have no real intent of carrying this out...so someone else can feel free to take this idea and run with it.
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