English 26: Lolitas

Today we spent a long time discussing the story "The Darling." We talked about the protagonists' first name, Dolores, being a possible reference to Nabokov's "Lolita," we talked about the pattern Dolores seems to repeat and what kind of person such behavior is typical of -- victim behavior. We discussed some craft aspects, like the use of the word "usually" on the first page, which reveals a crucial piece of information about the plot, and then we discussed the idea of the lack of women in Dolores's life and what that meant for her own identity. We finished by talking about Dolores's "cure" and how that bodes for her future, and by discussing the temporal markers that tell us this story was written in an earlier era in America, one where women did not have the same professional standing as men and where the division between personal and professional may not have been as conscientiously observed.

Homework:
Reading: AmPo: 43-53, Volkman, and pick a favorite poem. Be prepared to explain why and to give specific reasons (at least three) that point to specific language in the text. 

Writing: Write a story in which an everyday object represents something intangible, and in which the “reveal” is at the end. Take inspiration from the Beattie story "A Vintage Thunderbird" in your text.

English 801a Spring 2014

Link to Google Doc of Syllabus (live updated with assignments): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aadmBy-xCFgl8SpiDSd_b7Ktode5B6CG4rU8EGy1R_c/edit?usp=sharing

English 26 Creative Writing: Convergence/Divergence

Spring 2014 Creative Writing has discussed the literary texts they hold nearest and dearest and why. The students worked in pairs and tried to identify convergence and divergence in their tastes, then presented themselves and their thoughts to the class. Here's a list of favorite books with the paired convergence/divergence in terms of literary value/taste:

Text: No preferences/Big Boy's XL Life
Convergence: Descriptive writing about events/relating to text, feeling in the place
Divergence: Long, exaggerated, unnecessary verbosity/he doesn't have any texts

Text: Steppenwolf/Catcher in the Rye
Convergence: likeability of character, voice/alienation
Divergence: not sure/likes fantasy

Text: Bud, Not Buddy/Guards Guards (Pratchett)
Convergence: likes comedy
Divergence: doesn't like sci-fi

Text: "Tus Pies" Neruda/That Girl (Harris)

Convergence: Vulnerability, honesty
Divergence: happy romance vs. melancholy

Text: Harry Potter/The Alchemist (Coelho)
Convergence: image, being "next to heroes"/description
Divergence: none/introspection vs. fantastical

Text: Harry Potter and Vampire Academy/An interview with children in which one said "Love is when you wear the same shirt every day because the person likes that shirt."
Convergence: agree on things that can captivate you
Divergence: tangible vs. supernatural/Inspiration from life vs the fantastic

Text: The Little Prince/The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
Convergence: emphasis on making words count, economy/lots of different genres, eras, writers
Divergence: idea-driven vs. character-drivens/she likes themes, he likes character-driven stories

Text: Two Friends (Chekhov)/Jane Eyre
Convergence: appreciating characterization/admiration for well-written characters
Divergence: shorter attention span/ character dynamics

Text: Philosophy of Andrew Warhol/Who Will Save You Now
Convergence: Focusing on thoughts behind actions
Diverence: literal meaning vs. /straightforward representation vs. duality

Text: Shutter Island/Flowers for Algernon
Convergence: details and going off on tangents/like stories that get into psychology, characters, mental pathology
Divergence: doesn't like authors/likes to follow authors

Text: Perks of Being a Wallflower/Why We Suck (Denis Leary)
Convergence: likes hard truths/like not sugar-coating
Divergence: he likes info-bites, she loves to read/bookworm vs not bookworm

We also began reading (and took home to finish for homework) the poets.org piece How to Read a Poem and the companion pieces that focus on Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow" and Rich's "Diving into the Wreck."