this week

Starter Question for "The Metamorphosis" and "The Garden of Forking Paths"
For the Preface to Borges' Labyrinths.
...something that started as a nightmare. Kafka was a direct precursor of Borges. The Castle might be Borges, but he would have made it into a ten-page story, both out of lofty laziness and out of concern for perfection. -Andre Maurois

The Question: Both Kafka and Borges use the fantastic in their stories. Examine its use in each author's work. Why use the fantastic and unreal? What is the purpose for its use? In what ways are they similar and different in their approach to "unreal" situations?

Write a page to two pages.

Calculator

Lennertz! You have my calculator and I have a Math Exam Wednesday at 10:30am. You going to be in your office Tuesday or early wednesday at all so I can grab it?

Suzanne

Readings for May 21

Read Proust selection, Rilke, Woolf and Eliot (except for Little Gidding)

Do the following:

Starter Question for Eliot, Rilke, and Proust



All of these authors focus on the “objects” of the world in one way or other. A cookie, the facts which we use to win at a trivia game, or animals are used by each author to explore deep issues of human existence. In a page or two, explore how each author uses these small objects to get to some big issue.

One to two pages please.

Test!

Test on Wednesday night! Bring blue book and your textbook. It is an open book exam.

Possible themes for the test:

1. Isolation/Alienation
2. Representing things "as is"
3. Family
4. Explication of a poem
5. Use of new "unaceptable" topics for art

Themes

Could someone please post the themes to study for. I wasnt able to get them all.

Thanks

Troy

Todays Assignment

Hey I was unable to make class tonight, can someone update me on what happened please? THANKS! :)
~Michelle

This Weeks Writing Assgnment

Can someone please post this weeks writing assignment.

Thanks
Troy

Creative Project =)

I'm composing a rap song for Phaedra which I'm going to attempt to record and possibly do a music video for if I have the time. However, it's harder than I thought so it'll take me to at least the end of the semester to finish nicely. So....10 extra credit points for trying, right!!?? Also, I named my kid Hippolytus, so that brings my total extra credit to a monumental 20 points.

P.S. If anyone is hurtin for an idea for a creative project and wants to help me with a music video, that would be awesome! -Paul B.

Take home exam and Turnitin.com

On Wednesday, the exam is due. Please make sure you type and double space it for me. Beyond that, you will need to upload your paper to Turnitin.com.

To do this, you will need to go to turnitin.com's website. If you have never used the site, you will need to create a student account (It is free. You'll need an email account). After you create an account, you will need to join our class.

Here is the information you need:

Class ID number: 2182559
password: hammett

The class you are joining should be: spring2008english272

The process is simple. Read the directions and follow them. Once your account is created, you should be able to upload your paper. The assignment is listed in the class area. It should be a piece of cake. Let me know if you have problems.

Homework for Wednesday: Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine and Mallarme.

Homework for April 16

We will discuss Wordsworth, Pushkin, Whitman and Dickinson

No paper for the reading.

We will have a take-home exam.

This Weeks Class

Do we have a right up this week? or are we just getting ready for the take home test?

Fullerton College Theatre Dept Presents Tartuffe!!!

Production Information
Fullerton College Theatre Dept PresentsTartuffe
by Jean Bapsite Moliere, Translated by: Ranjit BoltFullerton College Bronwyn Dodson Theatre
PERFORMS: (click a date for ticket info)
Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 8:00pmFriday, April 25, 2008 at 8:00pmSaturday, April 26, 2008 at 8:00pmSunday, April 27, 2008 at 2:00pmFriday, May 02, 2008 at 8:00pmSaturday, May 03, 2008 at 8:00pm
DETAILS:
When the religious hypocrite Tartuffe ingratiates himself with Orgon and his mother Mme. Pernelle, he is taken into their home and promised Orgon's daughter's hand in marriage. Everyone else in the family sees through Tartuffe's pose, and his machinations and hypocrisies are eventually exposed, but is it too late to save the family from eviction and to keep Orgon from being thrown into prison? Be with us when we present Moliere's classic in a startling new production!
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Tickets & AvailabilityDirections & ParkingPlaybills and PicturesProduction CreditsPress Release
Date and Times are subject to change. Please contact the Box Office prior to attending an event!

Faust and Wordsworth

So, we didn't have class tonight, Prof Adams said that if we didn't have our papers with us to email Prof Will our papers, his email address is lennertz_will@sccollege.edu in case anyone needs it. If you didn't get the assignments it's Faust (suppose to be discussed tonight)

Faust and Wagner exhibit different attitudes toward learning and life. Write a page and a half analysis of their characters. Use specific lines to show their attitudes toward book learning, experimental knowledge, pleasure, and other people.

Wordsworth - Write a page to a page and a half that examines the way that Wordsworth views nature. use his poems to support your response.

Faust starts on page 679 and tonights selections were Blake, Wordsworth, and Pushkin all their selections.

Class Tonight?

Hey so someone got an email saying Lennertz wasn't going to be in class, can anyone confirm this? I didn't get anything and I've got class right now then have to pick up my baby cousin from her school so can someone please call and let me know. Thanks!

Question

Did Faust say yes to Mestopholies proposition, or did he say if you catch me off guard and i become lazy and stop doing my job then i will say yes to your proposition?

then what is the purpose of their little travels, why is Mestopholies showing him all this stuff?

Test Next Week

Next week you will need a standard size bluebook for the test. The test will be closed book for part one (short answer for 15% of your grade). Part two will be open book. You should have your book marked and ready to go. No research allowed.

Themes to prepare for:

Reason/Passion
Love
Servants
Social strata/Position
Comedy/Satire
Family/Familiar responsibility
Pride

some but not all of these themes will be on the test. Prepare for some of these themes.

Panera Group Study

So a couple of us discussed meeting up at Panera on Saturday, if we can organize a group of atleast 4 or more people i think it would take less time for group to mark pages then if we did it by ourselves.

Location: Panera Bread on Jamboree and Irvine Blvd


My Availability: 1-4 Pm

So if we can figure out a time frame that everyone can attend that would be great.

oh and to add, they have the best Tuna Fish Sandwiches ever.

Bringing Coffee

I'm bringing coffee tonight - I hope someone sees this, but yeah it's whole bean so if anyone can bring a grinder or can grind it for next time that'd be cool thanks! :)

Reason and Comedy/Satire

Hey folks,

Just some food for thought (possible exam idea?). Have you noticed the use of comedy in our readings? This week with Candide the comedy continues. So my question is why. What are your thoughts on why an age devoted to reason would use comedy? Are reason and comedy tied together? And what does that say about our current era? Have you noticed that a comedy almost never wins the Oscar for best picture? Why?

Homework for 3/5

Homework:

Read Candide. It is long but you WILL like it. Answer the following:

Starter Question for Candide

Candide is a black comedy with a biting point about the world we live in. Voltaire uses hyperbole—the overstating or exaggeration of events and speech to make his philosophic point.

Examine a character or a specific scene to show how the grisly, cruel and anything-but-perfect world we live in is exposed through Voltaire’s outrageous use of hyperbole. Consider the pain, torture, multiple miseries and deaths characters experience. Examine the language used. The entire work seems to exaggerate nearly everything.

Your examination should be 1 to 1 ½ pages in length. Please double space and type as usual.

I'm in

Just a test to see if it worked, see you all in class.

A Class Report for 2/20

Great job this week!

Class was very good last night. For a first session with literature, we had lively and interesting discussions. Let's keep the moment going this coming week. We are reading a tragedy, so forget the laughs (bummer), but we can still bring the same great willingness to explore the work. Ask yourself questions as you read an bring them to class.

This week's readings include: Sea monsters, lustful stepmothers, mathematics and the proper way to cook an Irish child.

Enjoy!

Please try to post a comment or a new post on the blog to make sure your author's rights are working.

Homework for 2/27

Read Racine's Phaedra and Swift's "Modest Proposal."

Do the following Starter Paper:

Phaedra Starter Question

Racine’s Phaedra explores passion (emotion or irrationality) and logic (reason) in a very different way from Moliere’s Tartuffe. Its tragic approach leaves us with burning questions and troubling statements. Consider one of these ideas in a one page response:

Passion’s boundaries. What does the play say about the limits of passion?

Rationality. How effective is rationality in decision making?

Father and Son relationship. How do the achievements of a father weigh on a son?

Step Families. What does the play imply about step family structure?

Royalty and governmental power. How is power controlled in a monarchy?

Make sure you select only one theme. Double space and type your paper.

First Short Paper Assignment--Tartuffe

Starter Question for Tartuffe

“I wonder if it is not better to try to correct and moderate men’s passions than to try to suppress them altogether.”

—Jean-Baptiste Moliere

Consider the play Tartuffe in light of this quotation. In what ways does the play, display a need for moderation of emotions and even logic? Which characters seem to need moderation and which seem “balanced” in terms of their passions?

Write a single page, double spaced, typed response. Provide some examples from the play—get specific and demonstrate a character’s need for moderation.

Welcome

This blog is the online home of English 272. It is an extension of of our classroom. Together we can keep in touch, post questions and provide answers to make the class a richer experience for all members.

I hope you enjoy English 272. We will be reading the best of world literature since the Renaissance. It is interesting, challenging material worthy of your time and our discussions.

If you have questions, check this blog. I shall update it as necessary. Once you receive permission, you may post questions and provide answers to questions.

Welcome to Spring 2008!