And it ends with a wedding! Rushdie's masterpiece concluded.

Northrop Frye, the great critic who wrote Anatomy of Criticism, noted that a comedy always ends with a wedding. Also, maybe less surprisingly the book ends with pickles and snakes. As a somewhat low-impact post for the conclusion, please screen the Columbia University interview with Rushdie, conducted fairly recently, but focusing on Midnight's Children. Then, with Rushdie's comments in mind, make any summing-up remarks on the book as a whole. Remember, as discussed on 3/7, we have to decide where the book is headed on a macro level in order to write about a specific theme. While Rushdie is not necessarily the expert on his own work, his comments may certainly color the way we see it.

The Rushdie interview, it shoud be said, is mostly about the fatweh and only tangentially about MC. For a more direct treatment of MC - and if you just can't get enough - view the top video, also from Columbia, and featuring Edward Said, who pioneered the idea of "orientalism." We will probably flip through this later video in class a bit.

An unrelated matter: the short story readings due for the class after break will be available by Friday in packet form at Village Copier, on 13th between 5th and University. On Wednesday, we will discuss the format and design for your midterm essay, due the Wednesday after spring break.