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, April 26, 2011

Karol- Ghosh- 04/25

This is my late response from Monday:

Neel's need for cleanliness can be ascertained through his need and public declaration of " a well lit outhouse." Pertinent to his need for cleanliness is his desire to make that cleanliness public. The outhouse is usually reserved for officers aligning Neel's desire for purity with his desire to be acknowledged by the hegemonic state. His  adoption of Western culture is reminiscent of one who changes ideology because of the 'stronger magic' wielded by hegemon.   

"Neel had been brought up to regard his body and its functions with fastidiousness that bordered almost on the occult... (his mother had) devoted her considerable intelligence to the creation of fantastically elaborate rituals of cleanliness an purification..." (180)

It seems that Neel's obsessive cleanliness is only associated with his shame and guilt at being conquered. As lng as he can mimic the oppressor it appears that he is only oppressing himself. By showing that these habits originated in Neel's mother Ghosh reveals another image of emasculation.
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