Ode on a Grecian URL

God's Undertaker...

2007-01-15T14:32:00.000-06:00

...How Thomas Hardy became everyone's favorite misanthrope: a thoughtful biographical commentary on Hardy's religious awakening in this month's New Yorker, worth reading if you miss our conversations about nineteenth-century novelists.

Keep in touch!

2006-12-26T14:24:00.000-06:00

The list of persuasive answers to the ID questions is now complete! This is pretty much the end of my updating this blog, unless I find some dreadfully fun Henry James things to link to.

Please, please keep in touch! I'd love to hear what you are up to in future semesters, or to chat about books or classes over coffee. I'm always happy to write letters of recommendation, or to read over drafts of papers for other classes. I should be at the University for at least two more years (hopefully not much longer than that), and even after that my email address won't be changing. I hope to hear from you!

If by the middle of next semester you've become desperate to write a hebdomadal or two, you're welcome to read my blog for English 216 (again with Prof. Ortiz-Robles).

Next steps and last comments

2006-12-23T11:27:00.000-06:00

Here are a few links to the resources I point to on the Further Reading (etc.) handout I passed around last week.

Podcasts

Podictionary is a word-of-the-day podcast with a wonderful amateur etymologist. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a way to better understand our language. (iTunes link, podcast feed link.)
The New York Times Book Review is one of the premier American book-reviewing organs, and their podcast is strangely light-hearted and delightful. (iTunes link.)
On Words With John Ciardi is a fantastic, somewhat silly weekly etymology lesson with the American poet who created probably the best translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.

Blogs

Bookslut is pretty much required reading these days if you're interested in filtering through the thousands of books published every year to those few books that are really worth reading. There is a Bookslut blog that provides daily comments and links if you're not as interested in the long-form review.
Arts and Letters Daily was envisioned, I'm guessing, as a portal for readers. It has links to pretty much every interesting or important argument or commentary about literary culture. To be honest, I don't read it any more -- I just have too much other stuff to read -- but I found it enormously fun for several years.

A couple magazines

Bitch magazine is at the cutting edge of contemporary pop feminism. It comes out quarterly and its prose is as stunning as its commentary. Seriously, buy a copy the next time you're at Borders -- it's a wonderful read.
The Virginia Quarterly Review may have a stuffy name, but in the last few years VQR has transformed itself into the New Yorker for the under-40 set. Its issues are 300-page tomes, but they're packed with seriously exciting short stories, poems, plays, paintings and photography, and generally some astute cultural criticism and news analysis. If you want a taste of the sort of work they publish, read through "Shepherdess", by Dan Chaon.

A few books

On the handout I listed probably dozens of books, somewhat indiscriminately. If you want a somewhat shorter list, try this one:

If you liked Pride and Prejudice, try Middlemarch or The Age of Innocence
If you liked Great Expectations, try Bleak House or Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
If you liked Wuthering Heights, try Love in the Time of Cholera
If you liked The Moonstone, try The Woman in White or Special Topics in Calamity Physics
If you like The Portrait of a Lady, try The Ambassadors or Mrs Dalloway or Swann's Way

Helen (312) emailed me a couple days ago to say that this list looked all well and good, but that she was going to be reading The Golden Compass, which I have to say is an excellent recommendation -- it's a little Hardy-ish, a little Collins-y, a little Dickensian.

I've linked to the Oxford World's Classics editions of most of those books not because the OWC editions are inherently superior to others, but because they tend to be accurate and cheap editions. If you're toying with the idea of majoring in English and you want to get a sense of the editions majors read, look for Norton Critical Editions instead -- here's a link to the Norton edition of Middlemarch.

If, on the other hand, you are a sane person, go to your local Barnes & Noble and grab one of their Barnes & Noble Classic Editions -- you can almost always get super-cheap hardcovers of classic books if you're not interested in footnotes and lengthy introductions.

As a culture, we Americans have invested maybe a little too much cultural capital in reading. We've built it up to such an extent that it's considered pretentious or intellectual or silly or scary to be seen reading fat nineteenth-century novels in public -- you are more than likely to get strange looks if you're publicly reading a book that isn't obviously some bestseller with a shiny cover and a massive head shot of the author on the back. This in itself is sort of irrelevant -- all of you have braved public opinion a thousand times by now -- except that it sort of feeds back into our self-opinion, so that we start thinking of ourselves "Am I being too pretentious? Should I be reading The Ambassadors in secret, or at least swap the dust jacket with the cover of some Grisham novel?"

It doesn't help me to think of these novels as bestsellers themselves -- Dickens and Collins together sold hundreds of thousands of books during their lifetimes -- although you can try that. What you need, maybe, is to find a reason you are reading. Perhaps you're looking for a way to annoy the next dipshit who starts hitting on you at a party -- start dropping casual literary references and he can't help but feel his own dipshittiness; or perhaps you are looking for a way to avoid your family (this was always my reasoning) -- after all, they'll feel a little more shamed about making you hang out and do dreadful family things if you're clearly being literary in the corner of the room.

There's a lot to be said for the generic goal of "increasing your vocabulary" -- the only permanent way to do so is to read voraciously, and in particular to read outside your comfort zone. Books can also do a great deal to increase your understanding of character: although they can't increase your people skills (trust me), they can help you better understand the Isabel Archers of your life. Books play a genuine role in teaching us about sympathy, in teaching us how to better understand each other. (This might seem at odds with their ancillary function of removing us from those around us; however, books remove us from our contemporaries only to introduce us to new kinds and classes of people. At least, good books do this. Spend enough time with Henry James novels and you can't help but like people a little bit more, and understand them a little bit better.)

This is all a bit pedantic and rambly, I know, but for years I have struggled with finding a vocabulary to explain the basic life-changing power of reading. Why do you read? How do you read?

I was up until 4 am this morning reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics -- it's always rare and wonderful to find these books that just pull you through, these books that refuse to let you turn out the light. Maybe, at heart, all good books are like this: we don't need to have some complicated excuse system to explain why we read them -- they just leap at our eyes and hold them open until we've turned the last page.

Grades are in!

2006-12-23T11:21:00.000-06:00

If I'm reading my Faculty Center correctly, it looks like your grades are officially submitted and available for your to read. Congratulations on a successful semester, everyone! You are one of the most talented and hardest-working groups of students I have had the opportunity to teach -- you made this semester a real pleasure for me.

Please don't hesitate to contact me in the future! I'm always delighted to write letters of recommendation, to serve as a reference, or to help you work through essays you write in other classes. Or just email me if you have a question about literature or essay-writing! I'm always delighted to hear from former students.

Some remarks on the exam essays

2006-12-22T14:31:00.000-06:00

Essay grades on the final were slightly stronger than those on the midterm -- averaging 29.2/35 on the final compared to 24.5/30 on the midterm -- which suggests that your improvement in textual analysis exceeds my expectations. Rather than post strong examples of essays written in answer to these topics, I'll offer some general remarks about success and failure on these prompts.

Masculinity. (16 answers; average score: 30.0/35.) Although I was fairly bored with hearing echoed back to me the sorts of answers we began developing in discussion last week, for many of you our conversation about this prompt served as a kind of foundation for much more interesting observations. One particularly strong essay suggested that the sorts of domination we see play out inside the narratives of these texts is replicated by the texts themselves -- for example, Jane Austen's use of epigrams suggests a sort of verbal or textual violence at the heart of masculine authority.
Narrative gaps. (18; 27.4/35.) These answers were on average weaker than answers to other prompts because so many writers neglected the prompt's italicized injunction to "examine the thematic importance of narrative gaps." So many blue book pages were dedicated to discussions of how gaps keep the reader coming back for more that I was inclined to wonder whether there was some gap in the middle of the essay question to account for this astonishing commonality. This is not to suggest that all the answers to this prompt missed the point -- one particularly strong response began with the idea that in some texts these narrative gaps serve two thematic purposes: to excise conventional events (engagement, marriage, rape, murder) from readers' considerations of unconventional characters, and to suggest the comparative unimportance of events when we could instead look at the effect of events on characters.
Liminality. (14; 29.8/35.) This was my favorite prompt, and it inspired some of the most interesting essays. One favorite of mine used houses as exemplars of liminality -- Longbourn, for example, was in a state of suspens as it would not remain in the Bennet family; logically, then, this liminal space is inhabited by women who are themselves between houses. Satis House -- itself suspended between life and death -- functions similarly as a liminal space that transforms Pip from a comparatively happy future blacksmith to a miserable wannabe-gentleman, and which later transforms him from an emotionally satisfied lover of the inaccessible Estella into an emotionally satisfied friend to the same.
Reading reading. (14; 29.5/35.) We addressed this topic so frequently in class that answers were likelier to be boring than bad. One of the more interesting treatments of this question paralleled Franklin Blake's self-discovery in The Moonstone to Elizabeth Bennet's self-discovery in Pride and Prejudice -- different kinds of rereadings, but with several procedural similarities that suggest, the author suggests, the larger emotional and intellectual relevance of texts as portals of self-discovery.

Strong answers to the ID prompts (Updated 12/26)

2006-12-22T14:02:00.000-06:00

The average ID score was fairly low -- 4.3/6 or about a low C -- mainly because I was fairly stringent in my evaluation of what constituted a theme and in my expectation that after our near-weekly practice of writing IDs that it would be easy to craft strong answers.

I will use this entry to post some particularly successful answers to these prompts. This entry will be expanding as I get permission back from more students to share their work.

By the way, I apologize for any glaring misspellings you see below -- they're my fault, not the student writers'.

Passage 1 (13 answers; average grade: 4.0/6)

'I should like awfully to be so!' Isabel secretly exclaimed, more than once, as one after another of her friend's fine aspects caught the light, before long she knew that she had learned a lesson from a high authority. It took no great time indeed for her to feel herself, as the phrase is, under an influence. 'What's the harm,' she wondered, 'so long as it's a good one? The more one's under a good influence the better. The only thing is to see our steps as we take them -- to understand them as we go. That, no doubt, I shall always do. I needn't be afraid of becoming too pliable; isn't it my fault that I'm not pliable enough?'

To be honest, I had to look up from where in Portrait this passage came -- England or Italy? -- and because of this passage's (relative) obscurity I was a little kinder in grading what you wrote for its context.

Another quick note: James here uses the word "aspect" in about the only way you ever should; c'est à dire literally: "the positioning of a building or thing in a specified direction" (Oxford American Dictionary) -- in this case, the positioning of Madame Merle in a (figurative) direction that catches the light. Increasingly I see the word "aspect" turning up in essays in its more pedestrian sense, "a particular feature or part of something" (OAD): in other words, "a thing." Please don't use the word in this sense, as doing so renders your writing vague and unpleasant.

Kat (313) doesn't dwell on this particular word, but she gets at the themes and problems of this passage quite well:

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
This occurs just after Isabel has met and spent lots of time with Madame Merle at Gardencourt. Isabel feels, not negatively, that she is becoming very influenced by Madame Merle, and wishes to be like her.
This passage reflects the theme of pictorialism and portraiture. The narrator describes Merle's traits as 'catching the light' as you would speak of a work of art. We are also, in this passage, introduced to the confusion of choice and manipulation. Isabel is choosing to be under an influence, but one that will make her "pliable."

Passage 2 (29; 4.5/6)

At this time, no unpracticed eyes would have detected any change in him. But, as the minutes of the new morning wore away, the swifts/subtle progress of the influence began to show itself more plainly. The sublime intoxication of opium gleamed in his eyes; the dew of stealthy perspiration began to glisten on his face. In five minutes more, the talk which he still kept up with me, failed in coherence. He held steadly to the subject of the Diamond; but he ceased to complete his sentences.

Tim (312) offers this answer:

Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
This is Ezra Jenning describing Franklin Blake after opium was administered to him, ~3/4 through the book
Jennings' reference to "unpracticed eyes" alludes both to his status as a doctor with practiced eyes and foreshadows the role of observation and surveillance in the novel. Here Jennings's eyes observe Franklin under opium and can establish the necessary authority in the community to exonerate Blake whose character is under question since honorable Rachel saw him steal the diamond. This raises the question: is character enough to free one from blame?

Passage 3 (19; 4.3/6)

'And remember this,' he continued, 'that if you've been hated you've also been loved. Ah but, Isabel -- adored!' he just audibly and lingeringly breathed.
'Oh my brother!' she cried with a movement of still deeper prostration.

Jon-Erik (312) offers this strong answer:

The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James
The first speaker is a dying Ralph, and the second is Isabel's response. This is at the end of the novel when Isabel is [married] to Osmond and Ralph is dying
This passage is important because it shows Ralph's confession to Isabel. When he says "if you've been hated you've also been loved," he is referring to the wickedness of Osmond. Even though Osmond may see her as just another work of art in his gallery, Ralph loved her for her independence. The fact that Ralph is "lingeringly" holding on to life can be paralleled to Isabel's struggle to stay independent, instead of succumbing to social responsibility. When she cries "Oh my brother!" she may realize what she has done, but has already committed to Osmond and is already under the influence of societal assimilation.

Passage 4 (29; 4.4/6)

"Poor darlings -- to suppose myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o' such misery as yours!" she exclaimed, her tears running down as she killed the birds tenderly. "And not a twinge of bodily pain about me! I be not mangled, and I be not bleeding, and I have two hands to feed and clothe me." She was ashamed of herself for her gloom of the night, based on nothing more tangible than a sense of condemnation under an arbitrary law of society which had no foundation in Nature.

Typing this passage out, I wonder whether there is a reason Tess speaks in the strange mix of dialects we see here. She talks about being "in the sight o' such misery" -- a sort of pseudo-cockneyism -- but then goes on to use a sophisticated subjunctive with "I be not mangled," etc. Hmm.

Esther (313) offers this strong response:

This takes place in Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Tess encounters several pheasants that have been hunted down after she escapes to the forest from a man who had recognized her associations with Alec.

The significance of this passage lies in Tess's realization that her sense of misery has no basis in Nature and is merely the result of an "arbitrary law of society" while the pheasants suffered physically as a result of the cruelness of man, and were nearing their deaths, Tess comes to realize that her sufferings were temporary and that she was capable of recovery unlike the birds in front of her. This is when she comes into realization that though renewal and purification may not be found in society, Nature offers her an opportunity.

Passage 5 (12; 4.2/6)

'I made a private inquiry last week, Mr Superintendent,' he said. 'At one end of the inquiry there was a murder, and at the other end there was a spot of ink on the tablecloth that nobody could account for. In all my experience along the dirtiest ways of this dirty little world, I have never met with such a thing as a trifle yet.'

It's interesting to me that this is the passage that attracted the least attention. Was it too obscure? Was its connection to the thematic ideas of The Moonstone a little too difficult to articulate? While there were several sturdy answers to this passage, there were no especially strong ones. I will attempt to sketch one out now.

The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
Sgt. Cuff's response to Superintendent Seagrave upon the latter's remark that the smudge on the frame of Rachel's door was a "trifle," recorded in Gabriel Betteredge's first narrative.
The reading practice of deduction, of which Cuff is here the exemplar, forces the suspenseful overreading of textual details. This textual practice is encoded in the formalization of suspense: to wit, Betteredge begins paying an excess of attention to trifling details and thereby fails to pay attention to the sorts of analytical or evaluative reading practices that might allow readers to dismiss or ignore the trifles to which Cuff cleaves. We see, then, a thematic problem underscored by Cuff's interest in deduction: attention to trifles (facts / acts) comes at the expense of attention to character; it is only through attention to character -- Rachel's, Franklin's, Gregory's -- that the mystery is ultimately understood.

Passage 6 (13; 4.8/6)

Mrs. Osmond, at present, might well have gratified such tastes. The years had touched her only to enrich her; the flower of her youth had not faded, it only hung more quietly on its stem. She had lost something of that quick eagerness to which her husband had privately taken exception -- she had more the air of being able to wait. now, at all events, framed in the gilded doorway, she struck our young man as the picture of a gracious lady. 'You see I'm very regular,' he said. 'But who should be if I'm not?'
'Yes, I've known you longer than any one here. But we mustn't indulge in tender reminiscences. I want to introduce you to a young lady.'

Helen (312) offers this answer:

The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James
Isabel and [Ned Rosier] converse at one of the Osmonds' Thursday night parties after Isabel and Gilbert have been married many years. The phrase "framed in the gilded doorway" poses an ironic statement to use to describe Isabel. Earlier in the novel, Isabel rejected Lord Warburton's proposal in fear of being trapped in a "gilded cage" and losing her independence. The reuse of the word "gilded" reveals that despite her efforts, Isabel lost her independence to conventional society. Through the irony of the repetition of "gilded," James suggests that conventional society can overpower one's individual identity despite one's conscious attempts to retain independence.

Passage 7 (20; 4.4/6)

A little way forward she turned her head. The old grey wall began to advertise a similar fiery lettering to the first, with a strange and unwonted mien, as if distressed at duties it had never before been called upon to perform. It was with a sudden flush that she read and realized what was to be the inscription he was now half-way through--
THOU, SHALT, NOT, COMMIT --

Ellen (313) offers this strong answer:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Tess was just raped by Alec, and she sees this painter putting these words across the countryside
This passage reveals the relationship between religion and nature. The "fiery letters" create an image of hell, and these painter's words strike fear into the heart of Tess. These words seem to destroy the beautiful landscape, revealing how Hardy feels religion tries to overpower nature.

Passage 8 (20; 4.0/6)

If there is such a thing known at the doctor's shop as a detective-fever, that disease had by now got fast hold of your humble servant. Seargeant Cuff went on between the hillocks of sand, down to the beach. I followed him (with my heart in my mouth); and waited at a little distance for what was to happen next.

While this passage (and, to a lesser extent, passage 5) inspired several comments about suspense, it was generally left unclear how suspense functioned thematically -- its emotional effect on the reader is somewhat less interesting than its connection to the thematic problems of the text. Kelsey B. (313) connects the appearance of suspense to the thematic questions of resolution in this strong answer:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
This is after the disappearance of the Diamond when Sergeant Cuff and Betteredge go to the schore area to look for evidence about Rosanna Spearman.
The passage clearly illustrates the intense effect of suspense portrayed throughout the novel. This suspense, in being described as a "disease," represents the underlying theme of anticipation of death. When the suspense is over and the Diamond is found the book ends. Similarly, in life the anticipation of death is only fulfilled in the finality of death.

Grades are ready!

2006-12-22T11:51:00.000-06:00

Hi, all!

I've managed to grade the finals and calculate your final scores in this class. However, because of some weirdness beyond my control it might still be a day or two before your grades get submitted. If you would like to know your score in the interim, feel free to send me an email and I'll be happy to get back to you with your grade breakdown.

Check back here later this week for some comments about the finals and for links to podcasts, blogs and books. I hope your winter vacations are off to a wonderful start!

It's over!

2006-12-18T10:16:00.000-06:00

Congratulations on surviving an absurdly early-morning final exam! It will probably take me the rest of the week to grade the exams -- I will post a note on this blog when I am done. Because of incompletes and other delays, I might have your grades ready a day or two before I'll be able to post them; if that ends up being the case, I will invite you to email me to find out how you did.

Also, if you would like to retrieve your final exam from me at the beginning of next semester, please let me know! I usually make minimal marks on finals, but I will be happy to provide you with more feedback if you're interested in reading my comments.

You have made it a wonderful semester for me! I'm really excited to get to work reading your final pieces of analysis.

Some models for analytical and comparative writing

2006-12-13T18:08:00.000-06:00

The last hebdomadal topic is posted below.

Over the course of the semester, I have had the opportunity to read some spellbindingly good hebdomadals. Now that we are at the end, I wanted to share with you some of your classmates' excellent writing. Reading your peers' arguments is an excellent way not only to review for the final but also to get ideas about how to deploy exciting analytical arguments during the exam.

An answer to Hebdomadal 12, by Tim (312):

Discuss the differing representations of spatial logic in Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights. Drawing from knowledge of the authors and their backgrounds as well as the British literary landscape at time of publication, suggest a reason for the difference.
A constant theme in novels is the manner in which authors confront spatial logic, the arrangement of characters in relation to plot and theme. Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights both utilize spatial logic in their respective story lines, but differ in use to affect the novel's central question or conclusion: in Pride and Prejudice, spatial logic supports this conclusion; in Wuthering Heights, it disrupts the conclusion.
The most illustrative example of spatial logic in Austen's work is the introductory paragraph of Volume Three, in which Austen describes the valley of Pemberley Estate, Darcy's home. The sparse physical description throughout the novel stands in contrast to the large, emphasized description of the valley of Pemberley; Austin thoroughly details Elizabeth's journey down into the valley, and her final arrival at Pemberley House. When Elizabeth and Darcy later meet, they physically come together over a bridge, and symbolically unite as Elizabeth realizes she loves Darcy.
In Pride and Prejudice, spatial logic insists that the two characters must be brought together at strategic intervals in the novel, including the times when Darcy proposes. The physical distance that must be traveled in joining the characters parallels the emotional distance that must be reduced through change in the characters characters'. In this novel, spatial logic is part and parcel of the central argument that people can change.
The two estates of Wuthering Heights are spatially separated, but similar to Austen, Bronte pairs this spatial separation with another form of separation, in this case, cultural difference. The Grange is home to the cultured Lintons, who clash with primal Heathcliff and his assorted "inmates" at the Heights. The novel confronts class difference, and its ultimate conclusion is found in Cathy and Hareton's marriage, and the symbolic swallowing of the Heights and its Natural power by the Grange's culture.
While the culture comes to dominate nature, spatial logic seemingly throws off this conclusion: while the cultural difference and space has been eliminated by the joining of the families, the physical difference remains--the estates are still separate, and the Heights's natural power is maintained by its seedy guardian, Joseph. The novel's ultimate conclusion is hampered, rather than helped, by spatial logic.
In both novels, the theme of love and its repercussions are powered by spatial logic. The physical synthesis can only arise from physical situation of two characters. Both novels explore this dependence on spatial logic in love, but while their use of spatial logic as a fuel is common, their respective fires are different in scope: Austen answers questions of character and personality, where Bronte seems to confront the broader questions of society's interactions. Perhaps it is less the authors' different backgrounds and literary environments that led them to use spatial logic in different fashions, and instead their differing goals and themes.

An answer to Hebdomadal 11, by Kelsey B. (313):

“Mrs. Touchett might do a great deal of good, but she never pleased. This way of her own, of which she was so fond, was not intrinsically offensive—it was just unmistakeably distinguished from the ways of others. The edges of her conduct were so very clear-cut that for susceptible persons it sometimes had a knife-like effect.” (35)
For this hebdomadal I will use assume the following definition of interiority: interiority refers to an author's relatively full and non-judgmental rendering of the internal consciousness of a character.
Henry James narrates gently in describing Mrs. Touchett’s harsh character, and in doing so, reveals a perspective of exteriority. James first writes, “Mrs. Touchett might do a great deal of good, but she never pleased.” James first gives a complement about Mrs. Touchett’s good deeds before giving the criticism that she never pleases others. The comma separating the complement and the criticism shows James pause and apprehension about saying anything bad about Mrs. Touchett. It is as if the narrator himself is afraid of Mrs. Touchett’s wrath/harsh response for writing something negative about her. Since the narrator hesitates to say what he truly means in fear of Mrs. Touchett, the reader can infer that other characters in the novel will respond to her likewise.
Then James goes on to write, “This way of her [Mrs. Touchett’s] own, of which she was so fond, was not intrinsically offensive—it was just unmistakeably distinguished from the ways of others.” Again the narrator is overly careful in his description when he describes Mrs. Touchett’s behavior as “not intrinsically offensive” and “just unmistakeably distinguished” from others. However, the dash, like the comma in the previous description, separates the narrator’s attempt to be gentle and his explanation of the harsh truth. The description implies that Mrs. Touchett is harsh because her behavior is not offensive “intrinsically,” or by nature, but probably comes off as offensive to others. It is apparent that James is not writing with a perspective of interiority because his hesitance to describe Mrs. Touchett’s harsh personality in too harsh a manner shows his judgment of her behavior as harsh and frightening. The exteriority can also be seen when James writes, “This way of her own, of which she was so fond.” He does not reveal her thoughts from an unbiased omniscient perspective, as if he is inside her thoughts, but rather as an observer who judges Mrs. Touchett as liking to have things her way.
As the narrative continues, James becomes bolder with his description of Mrs. Touchett revealing a more severe judgment of her. He writes, “The edges of conduct were so very clear-cut that for susceptible persons it sometimes had a knife-like effect.” The phrases “clear-cut” and “knife-like” are punctuated the same way, which draws attention to the pun created by the two phrases (Mrs. Touchett’s conduct is clear-cut like the cutting of a knife). James makes this pun to reveal the folly in Mrs. Touchett’s belief that her sharp behavior is just her straightforwardness. This sentence also contributes to the exteriority because the narrator is making a pun about/making fun of the character’s thoughts rather than presenting them in a non-judgmental way.
The exteriority of the passage gives the reader an impression of how Mrs. Touchett is seen by other characters and by society which is more useful in the novel because it is a story about the social interactions of a group of people not the emotional development of Mrs. Touchett.

An answer to Hebdomadal 10, by Laura S. (313):

The effects of opium in The Moonstone are quite similar to the effects the suspenseful book has on the reader, specifically the first effect of opium. “The action of opium is comprised, in the majority of cases, in two influences – a stimulating influence first, and a sedative influence afterwards (388).” Through a little research to understand opium more, I found that opium stimulates and activates receptors in the brain, spinal cord, stomach, and intestine; basically, opium wakes up one’s entire body into a euphoric state where problems are temporarily forgotten (Opium). Likewise, when one reads a suspenseful novel, our own bodies are woken up. Our heart beats faster, our brain races, and butterflies flutter in our stomachs. Just like opium, a suspenseful novel produces a full-body effect. “Do you feel an uncomfortable heat at the pit of your stomach, sir? and a nasty thumping at the top of your head? …I call it the detective fever (300).” Betteridge is feeling a full-body effect like that of opium by simply being associated with suspenseful acts.

Opium also has addictive qualities, as we see that Ezra Jennings is an opium addict. This is consistent with the effects of sensation fiction. Just as one needs progressively more opium when one is addicted, as one reads a novel such as The Moonstone, one always wants to keep reading and to understand and figure out more and more. The more one reads, the more one needs and wants – much like an addiction.

The pleasant euphoria opium creates is also consistent with opium effects. The happiness opium creates and how it leads one to forget their problems is similar to the effects of reading. Getting lost in reading allows temporary escape from the problems of life. Similarly, getting lost in the pleasant effects of opium also leads to a temporary escape.

As I thought about the similarities between opium and suspense, I wondered one thing – why opium? Why didn’t Collins choose to get Franklin drunk or use some other drug? Similar effects to that of opium – the euphoria, bodily “awakening,” forgetfulness – could have been produced by other means. What is so significant about opium? While doing research on opium in general, I stumbled on an interesting connection. Beginning in 1757, the British East India Company launched a territorial invasion into India to pursue an opium export and production monopoly there. This had a significant effect on the cultivating peasants, as they were offered or pressured into cash advances on crops to promote cultivation. The product, opium, was sold at auction in Calcutta and then snuck into China. The British East India Company then used the profit from selling the opium to purchase the teas that were in high demand in Britain (Opium). This is an interesting connection to the colonialism of Britain in India and the use of India for Britain’s ends that we talked about in section last Friday. I think opium is important to the novel, not only because it produces similar effects to that of suspense, but also because it alludes to yet another way Britain uses India somewhat exploitatively to get what it wants.

A Crude Work Cited:

Opium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium

An answer to Hebdomadal 7, by Tony (312):

"The event of Tess Durbeyfield’s return from the manor of her bogus kinsfolk was rumoured abroad, if rumour be not too large a word for a space of a square mile. In the afternoon several young girls of Marlott, former schoolfellows and acquaintances of Tess, called to see her; arriving dressed in their best starched and ironed, as became visitors to a person who had made a transcendent conquest (as they supposed); and sat round the room looking at her with great curiosity. For the fact that it was this said thirty-first cousin Mr d’Urberville who had fallen in love with her, a gentleman not altogether local, whose reputation as a reckless gallant and heart-breaker was beginning to spread beyond the immediate boundaries of Trantridge, lent Tess’s supposed position , by its fearsomeness, a far higher fascination than it would have exercised if unhazardous.

Their interest was so deep that the younger ones whispered when her back was turned; “How pretty she is—and how that best frock do set her off! I believe it cost an immense deal, and that it was a gift from him.”

Tess, who was reaching up to get the tea-things from the corner-cupboard, did not hear these commentaries. If she had heard them she might soon have set her friends right on the matter. But her mother heard, and Joan’s simple vanity, having been denied the hope of a dashing marriage, fed itself as well as it could upon the sensation of a dashing flirtation. Upon the whole she felt gratified, even though such a limited and evanescent triumph should involve her daughter’s reputation; it might end in marriage yet, and in the warmth of her responsiveness to their admiration she invited her visitors to stay to tea." (pg 95)

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After reading the greater part of Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, I would like to answer the question of how Hardy relates society to the individual. In this, I would like to pose the idea that through a representation of Tess and how she is treated by her surrounding society, the individual is not valued in Hardy’s world. Individual ideas or accomplishments are viewed as meaningless if they do not fit societal standards and ideas. If you were to not fit in with your social class and their beliefs, there was something wrong with you and you were ostracized.

While this can seemingly be a very obvious statement, I would like to argue that it goes into much greater depth because Hardy’s portrayal of a society is a very intolerant one. It does not accept Tess merely because she has been raped and “tainted” by living with a higher class. This passage is filled with gossip, the idea that everyone talks behind Tess’s back and considers her changed, a person that is not one of them. By looking at a close reading, we get this gossipy feeling—her story is “rumoured abroad” with little ones that “whispered when her back was turned”. Tess is declared different and assumes the role of being the center of attention: people merely “sat round the room looking at her with great curiosity”. She is changed. Tess is something to be talked about because she was not one of them anymore—she is not a part of society.

In this passage, Hardy’s style helps to shape the very gossipy feel by relating to the reader as a member of his society in order to stress his point of ostracizing Tess. His style of writing in a personal and conversational manner allows the reader to feel as if they are gossiping right along with the town. Right in the first line—mentioning that her behavior was “rumoured abroad, if rumour be not too large a word for a space of square mile”—establishes a personal relationship. Before the comma, Hardy introduces and states a fact, that the town was gossiping. After it, he is explaining and quantifying the extent of the gossip, a seemingly justification of just how bad the gossip is. It is presented in a very story or gossip telling manner. Additionally, the later parenthetical use “(as they supposed)” is another afterthought used after the sharing of the fact to explain the unsure reasoning behind the visitors’ stay. Again, the parentheses are mastered as another aside—much
like the use of parenthetical notes in everyday text. It is not so much a central statement as it is additional and justifying information. This idea of very personal writing not only includes the reader into the created society but helps to demonstrate more concretely the ostracizing of Tess. In this passage, we feel as if we are also gossiping about her, that we should hold the same negative and excluding attitude that everyone else in the story is holding.

For my writing style analysis and comparison text, I used Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. In Gaines’ novel, I would argue that society is again viewed as a cruel one—a place where people do not accept others because of different beliefs or past events in their lives. The main character, Jefferson, is ostracized, put on trial, and then death row for his supposed involvement in killing a store clerk. Society judges him behind his back and does not base their judgments on knowledge but rather simply rumor. The difference between Gaines and Hardy, however, would be their use of style and relationship to the reader—while Hardy seems to include the reader in his society in order for them to understand the cruelty and the negative and ignorant effect ostracizing the individual has, Gaines approaches the reader as someone who doesn’t understand, someone who will never understand because they will never be part of that society. For example, in a passage found on pg 142, Gain
es describes a scene of the town and the hardworking black population. He phrases his sentences continually by writing “you could see”, “you might be able to see”. These phrases are passive and seem to suggest things that could or might be, but won’t. He seems to offer in his thoughts, that if the reader might have been around they could experience and see the same cruelty he saw, but since they weren’t there they will never know.

In this way, I think that Hardy is pointing out the negative aspect of society’s view of the individual in hopes that society may one day change when realizing its wrongdoing. His writing is almost satirical. Gaines on the other hand uses his view and style as a sealing of fate: he seems to express to the reader that this is the way of life, it will never change because you never will understand.

An answer to Hebdomadal 4, by Glenn (313):

The paragraph, starting with “with your aid that may be avoided…” on page 131 contains a scene between Nells and Heathcliff, is an especially acrimonious scene. It gives an excellent sense of the volatile nature of the story up to this point.
Nell is attempting to keep Heathcliff from trying to see Catherine again by essentially insisting that any such visit might kill Catherine, if he encountered Edgar again. The argument between them is expressed in inflammatory rhetoric. Heathcliff, allegedly an uneducated, socially inferior savage when he fled Wuthering Heights as a youth, has become not only educated, but skilled in society and its vageries and understands the impact of what he says and how he says it. Heathcliff attempts to manipulate Nell in his effort to see Catherine one more time, and she has said unequivocally that Catherine might die as a result of his coming to the “Grange” again.

He says that with her (Nells) aid, Catherine’s demise might be averted, attempting to get her to conspire with him. His request is premised on Nells’ belief that if Heathcliff gets anywhere near Catherine all hell will break loose if he encounters Catherine’s husband. Heathcliff says in a graceful manner that had he been in Edgar’s place, he would not have treated him (Heathcliff) as poorly as Edgar in fact, has done. Here he is claiming that he in fact is a gentleman and is using his speaking skills in a supplicating fashion that would seem to give him some reasonableness. However, just in that same breath he states that he would “…have torn his [Edgar’s] heart out, and drink his blood…”, if he thought that Catherine no longer had “regard” for him. The power of this sentence and the vision that it places in the mind is of a virulent hatred and self degradation ( in a sense Heathcliff is talking about tearing out his own heart and drinking his own blood). The phrase amplifies the deviant nature of the relationship that Heathcliff sees as his due with Catherine. That relationship being one of possession, as he was treated as a low caste possession not good enough for the “Heights”, he would “drink the blood” of those that would deny him that which he desired the most.

The not so subtle notion of cannibalism and the religious defilement of blood drinking almost subsumes or excuses the other undercurrent here that is incest.

The high pitched emotional fervor of this passage is an exemplar of the current, thus far, of the novel. The behaviors of the characters and the way they interact is meant to shock and repel. The malevolent personality of Heathcliff is clear and explains the dark nature of the opening of the novel and seems to dispel any notion that things will improve.

Exam essay topics

2006-12-13T13:15:00.000-06:00

In case you've lost your copy of the possible essay questions for the final exam, here they are!

Some notes about the exam essays

2006-12-11T16:44:00.000-06:00

Reading through last week's hebdomadals, I'm noticing some fairly consistent problems that might translate into weak exam essays. Here is a short list of things you might want to keep in mind as you outline, practice and write these essays:

You need an interesting thesis. It's not enough, as I note in my previous blog post, to say "These two texts have differences and similarities," or even "There are three significant differences between these two texts." A strong thesis should...

...engage with the themes of the two texts involved, and not (just) the plots or characters
...connect to ideas that have come up in lecture without repeating those ideas
...offer a new way of understanding the texts, or a new way of understanding the role of novels in the nineteenth century

Details are crucial! Obviously you don't have to memorize passages from the novels we've read this semester; however, the more detailed you can be in your essays the better. I always privilege details that are relevant to the argument and that haven't come up repeatedly in lecture and discussion. You should feel free to take details from the passages in Part I. Here are some kinds of details you might want to consider including:

A repeated word ("independent woman")
An important phrase ("'What have you to do with me?'")
A scene (Tess's flight to Stonehenge)
A dialogue (Betteredge's discussion with Jenkins)

Listing details isn't enough! Use your reference to this word, phrase, scene or dialogue as a way to begin a short close reading: "Isabel asks Madame Merle what she has 'to do' with her just as she realizes the relationship between doing and being," or "Betteredge's resistance to Jenkins's instructions about laying down the old carpet and refurnishing Blake's apartment suggests the private sphere's resistance to outside forces forcing it to change. Yet, Jenkins's instructions are problematically conservative: he is asking Betteredge not to change the Verinder estate, but to reproduce it."
Don't tell me things I already know. While it is a good idea to ground your arguments in ideas that have already come up in class, it is not a good idea to make your whole argument a rehashing of previous lectures and discussions. Remember that this exam is specifically testing your literary analysis skills: the better you demonstrate you ability to analyze literature anew, the better your grade will be.
Don't be afraid to take risks. An interesting, innovative argument that makes good use of details will always do better than a tired old argument that is obviously true.

Exam review

2006-12-11T14:28:00.000-06:00

Hi, all! I want to echo what Prof. Ortiz-Robles suggested in lecture this afternoon: the best way to study for this exam is in pairs or in small groups. It's not nearly enough to read through the questions and think out loud about your answers; the way to do well on this exam is to (a) prepare as wide a range of answers as possible, and to (b) actually write through one or two of those answers. The more you actually write about the texts, the more concrete and sophisticated your arguments will become.

There will also be a few opportunities this week to review for the final in the company of a TA:

This Thursday (12/14) from 6 to 7:30 pm, my fellow TA Emily will be leading a review jam in Helen C. White 7191. She asks you to bring the following:
- Your exam instructions and essay questions
- Questions you have regarding the exam (please keep in mind that there are certain questions that I cannot answer)
- The usual accoutrements for working/studying in class
- snacks (optional)
15 minutes of discussion this Friday will be dedicated to answering questions you have about the final exam; this can include working through what a good outline or thesis would be for an exam essay.
This coming Saturday, I will be in my office for a few hours to answer questions or guide study.

Hebdomadal 13

2006-12-11T14:22:00.000-06:00

This hebdomadal is due before discussion on Dec. 15th.

Topic 1: Practicing for the final

Answer any one of the 10 exam essay prompts that were passed out in lecture today. There is only one restriction: One of the texts in your answer must be The Portrait of a Lady.
Try to reproduce exam conditions as best as you can: spend a good deal of time plotting out beforehand how you will answer the question, selecting detailed chunks from both texts to discuss. Then, if you can, let some time pass between that outlining and your writing this hebdomadal. When you sit down to write the hebdomadal, give yourself only 45 minutes to answer the question and write for the entire 45 minutes.
When you write your answer, try to avoid the two most common (and most boring) argument structures:
Text A and Text B have some differences, and some similarities
There are there important differences between Text A and Text B: X, Y, and Z

Topic 2: The natural in Portrait

There are 173 occurences of variations of the word "nature" in The Portrait of a Lady, almost exclusively in reference to characters' behavior. (E.g., on p. 499 Ralph is dismayed that he sees Isabel's "natural face" only momentarily.) Pick one moment in which this word appears. What is natural behavior in Portrait, and why is it (thematically) important?

Hebdomadal 12

2006-12-04T14:58:00.000-06:00

This hebdomadal is due before discussion on Friday, December 8th.

Although we don't yet have the list of essays that will appear on the final exam, we do know that they will force you to compare ideas across texts. These topics are meant to give you a chance to begin practice this comparative work.

Topic 1: Comparing comparisons

Subtopic A: As Prof. Ortiz-Robles suggested in lecture today, figures of speech (metaphor, simile, irony, metonymy, synecdoche, anacoluthon, catachresis) are fundamentally comparative, and they are at the heart of all of these novels. Compare one use of one of these figures from The Portrait of a Lady to a use of the same figure in any other novel we have read this semester. How is the difference in the way this figure is used suggestive of the thematic differences between these texts?
Subtopic B: In the novels we have read, characters are often explained in contrast to other characters; e.g. Isabel Archer is understood partly in contrast to Madame Merle; her three suitors -- Caspar Goodwood, Lord Warburton and Gilbert Osmond (and, possibly, Ralph Touchett) -- are explained by comparison with each other, and so on. Look at one pair of characters from Portrait and compare that comparison with a pair of characters developed in any other novel we have read this semester. How do we better understand thematic or ideological differences between James and this other author by comparing these two modes of comparison?

Topic 2: Comparing hebdomadals

Look back through the hebdomadals you have written this semester. Apply a hebdomadal prompt that you answered in reference to another text to Portrait, and then compare the conclusions drawn by your earlier hebdomadal to the conclusions you draw in this new hebdomadal.

Topic 3: Writing the exam

Subtopic A: Write an exam question! Here are the instructions that Prof. Ortiz-Robles sent the TAs:
The prompts should be general enough to be able to accommodate at least three or four novels, but narrow enough to generate coherent arguments. The topics can be thematic, formal, or, better yet, a combination of both, in keeping with the general tenor of lectures and discussions.
Your exam question will differ from the real exam questions in that yours has to be at least 300 words long, but otherwise you should follow his prompt as best you can. You might think about posing a general question, listing briefly how this question could be answered in reference to different texts, and then concluding with a series of deeper and more sophisticated subquestions that these essays might pursue.
Subtopic B: Write a short essay question that suggests a thematic and/or formal comparison of two of the text we have read this semester, and then answer than exam question. (This, by the way, is one of the best ways to prepare for the final exam this week.)

Searching for Jane Austen

2006-12-04T14:48:00.000-06:00

Are you curious about Jane Austen's life? UW-Madison's very own Prof. Emily Auerbach has just published a book that explores the contrast between Austen's texts and her life. What's more, she will be speaking about and signing copies of her book at Borders at 7 pm this coming Thursday, December 7th.

Hebdomadal 11

2006-11-27T13:41:00.000-06:00

This hebdomadal is due before discussion on Friday, December 1st.

Topic 1: The portraits of Portrait

Prof. Ortiz-Robles suggested in lecture this afternoon that the way characters are described in the novel's opening chapters models the characters themselves: Ralph Touchett is described from multiple points of view at the beginning of chapter 5, in the way that he himself understands topics from multiple points of view. Choose any portrait that Prof. Ortiz-Robles didn't touch on in class and examine how its style of description models the personality or mindset of that character. You might think about using this close reading and analysis to develop and support a larger claim about how Henry James treats interiority and exteriority.

All caught up with (hebdomadal) grading!

2006-11-21T18:16:00.000-06:00

I am finally caught up with grading hebdomadals. There is a hebdomadal topic posted for you to answer before this Friday, if you choose, and there will be more topics posted over the next three weeks. For some of you (I think I have emailed everyone whom this effects) this means you have just enough time to get all your required five hebdomadals in; for the rest of you, this means you have ample opportunities to rack up some extra credit before the final exam.

Let me know if you have any questions, and have an excellent Thanksgiving!

Hebdomadal 10

2006-11-20T16:55:00.000-06:00

Hi, all! This hebdomadal is due at 11 am on the morning of Friday, November 24th.

Topic 1: Suspense and addiction in The Moonstone

For the last two lectures, Prof. Ortiz-Robles has been developing the connection between the suspenseful structure of The Moonstone and its physical effect on the reader. At the end of lecture today, he tantalizingly suggested that fiction -- or at least detective fiction -- could be understood in reference to opium.
Choose a meaty paragraph that describes in some detail the effect of opium either on Ezra Jennings or on Franklin Blake. How is this effect likened to the act of reading, or to the effect of Gabriel Betteredge's "detective-fever"?

Topic 2: How is reading detective work?

How does the novel describe the reading practice? Base your answer on a close reading of one of these four scenes:
The "Oriental manuscript," pp. 196 and 198
Rosanna Spearman's letter to Franklin Blake, pp. 309ff
Ezra Jenning's transcription and translation of Thomas Candy's delerious ramblings, pp. 382f
Gabriel Betteredge's final comments on Robinson Crusoe, p. 458
You might want to consider how these scenes enact detection, both deduction and induction.

Topic 3: Determining the effect of symbolic determination

How does the conclusion of the novel resolve or fail to resolve the problems of symbollic overdetermination that we discussed in class on Friday?

Hebdomadal 9

2006-11-15T07:25:00.000-06:00

Topic 1: Narration and narrative in The Moonstone

In our conversation about The Moonstone last Friday, we noticed that the book -- or the first narrator, at any rate -- discussed at great length its own creation. Pick either a moment in which a narrator discusses his or her own narration or a moment in which a narrator comments on one of the other narrators and closely read that moment to develop a detailed answer to this question: Why is this novel so preoccupied with its own creation?

Topic 2: Asking questions of a detective story

The Moonstone is, we could say, a novel of questions. Still, there are questions asked by the novel and then there are questions we can ask of the novel. Look back at the first topic of the first hebdomadal and use its structure to develop a question that you would ask about the text that does not concern the plot, or at least doesn't concern the plot as plot.

Quiz on Tess next week!

2006-11-04T13:44:00.000-06:00

Scroll down for the new hebdomadal topics, digital copies of the second essay assignment, and a conference sign-up sheet!

At the beginning of discussion next week there will be a short quiz on Tess of the d'Urbervilles, to motivate you to finish the reading. As with the last quiz we took, failure on this quiz will lower your final grade by 2 points while enormous success will count as a full hebdomadal -- it will count as an extra credit hebdomadal if you have already written the required 5.

Essay 2 conference sign-up sheet

2006-11-03T18:47:00.000-06:00

Hi, all! As before, I am asking that you come to your conference with 15 minutes' worth of things to talk through. You're going to get the best ideas out of me if you come with as full a draft as possible -- aim for bringing at least a draft of your first paragraph and an outline of the rest. The more and the more specific questions you can bring me the more useful I will be to you. Shoot me an email if you want to sign up for a slot!

Also remember that the Writing Center can help you enormously as you work to develop your argument! (I'm happy to help you come up with your argument, but I am going to leave most of the development to you.) You can sign up for a conference with a Writing Center instructor by calling 263-1992 Monday through Friday during business hours. There is also walk-in writing instruction available in many dorms and in the west corridor of Memorial Library on certain evenings listed here. On Sunday through Tuesday nights there is also a new synchronous online service that works via IM, explained here.

All conferences are in Steep & Brew on State Street.

Monday 11/6
1:30 pm -
1:45 -
2:00 -
2:15 -
2:30 -
2:45 -
3:00 -
3:15 -

Monday 11/13
1:30 pm - Helen
1:45 - Tony
2:00 - Laura S.
2:15 - Kelsey M. & Laura G.
2:30 -
2:45 - Kelsey B.
3:00 - Scott
3:15 -

Tuesday 11/14
3:15 pm - Lydia
3:30 - Ellen
3:45 - Ben
4:00 - Jane
4:15 - Ben
4:30 - Laura S.

Essay 2 topics, downloadably

2006-11-03T18:40:00.000-06:00

.doc (39 kb)
.PDF (82 kb)
.RTF (21 kb)

Hebdomadal 8

2006-11-03T18:12:00.000-06:00

Topic 1: Abstracting your essay

Explain the thesis, evidence, analysis and conclusion of your second essay in a single 300-word paragraph-long abstract. This is not the same thing as an introductory paragraph: I'm asking you to give me a sense of what passages you will be closely reading, what your close readings will be, how you will analyze those close readings, and how you will suggest something about the significance of that close reading. Consequently, this hebdomadal should aggressively pursue the central argument of your essay.

If you are collaborating on your essay, then you may collaborate on this hebdomadal as well.

Topic 2: Finishing Tess of the d'Urbervilles

(Note: I have not yet finished Tess; I reserve the right to rewrite this prompt when I do. Any essays submitted before then will be perfectly valid, of course.)

What does it mean for a novel that emphasizes the importance of cycles to come to an ending? You might want to compare the end of Tess to the end of Great Expectations -- in discussing the end of GE, Prof. Ortiz-Robles asked what it meant for a novel about change and progress to come to an end. How does Tess, a novel also about change and progress, negotiate its cyclical argument and its truncated linear form?

My presentation this afternoon: Five steps to stronger literary analysis

2006-10-30T15:55:00.000-06:00

Here are the slides from the presentation I gave this afternoon. Please don't hesitate to email me any questions you have about any of the material I present here! My email address is listed on the sidebar to the left.

Hebdomadal 7 - no surprises here

2006-10-30T15:50:00.000-06:00

If you want, you can write this hebdomadal collaboratively! If you do, the collaborated-upon hebdomadal will have to be a minimum of 500 words (rather than the usual 300), but other than that everything is the same. (Be sure to let me know with whom you collaborated so I know to give both of you the points.)

Use a thorough close reading of a passage in Tess to detail Hardy’s idea about society. Consider answering a question like: What is the relationship between society and the individual? …between society and culture? …between society and nature? …between society and text? Avoid easy answers.

Now look specifically at the style of Hardy’s prose in this passage – his narrator’s relationship with the reader, his tone, the quality of the words he chooses. How does his style reflect his ideas about society?

Compare Hardy’s style and his vision of society to the style and vision of society of a modern author. Working with a novel that has been published in the last sixty years, explain how the style of this recent text compares to that of Hardy’s novel. How does this difference suggest differences in the way these texts understand society?

This is a difficult topic: please don't hesitate to email me questions.

Hebdomadal 6

2006-10-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

All hebdomadals are due before discussion. Next week's hebdomadal topic will be posted next week. Seriously.

Topic: Comparing concepts

In lecture today, Prof. Ortiz-Robles gave us a quick tour of how all four novels we have read so far addressed work to illustrate how Hardy was using this concept thematically.
Choose another concept that you feel is central to Tess of the D'Urbervilles and give a paragraph-long tour of how that concept is treated in the other three novels we have read.
In your second paragraph, develop a text-centered close reading of how this concept is used in one of these three earlier novels -- pick a passage in which your concept is mentioned by Austen, Dickens or Brontë and explain how that author is using that concept thematically.
In your third paragraph, pick a passage from Tess in which that concept arises and offer an interesting comparative close reading of Hardy's use of that concept.
This comparison, like all comparisons, should be pointed towards revealing something new about the text. How do we understand Hardy's point more clearly by comparing his use of this concept to the use of this concept in a different text?

UPDATE: Pre-exam office hours on Monday morning

2006-10-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

If you came to Helen C. White tonight for the review session and found it locked, I'm so sorry: the building hours completely vanished from my mind.

I will be in the foyer in front of the lecture hall tomorrow (Monday) morning for 30 or 40 minutes before the exam. If you have any questions for me please feel free to drop by.

Review session tonight! (Sunday)

2006-10-22T08:32:00.000-05:00

Hi!

I will be in my office -- 7134 Helen C. White Hall -- from 7 to 8:30 pm tonight, Sunday 22 October. Please feel free to stop by at any time for as long as you like and bring questions with you. I have no set lesson plan for the review so bring your own questions! Bring questions about the texts, about the practice midterms, about themes or symbols, about lectures, about essay exam writing strategies -- bring any kind of question at all; otherwise, we will just be looking at each other awkwardly as we sit on the thirty-year-old furniture that's in my office.

Another practice midterm

2006-10-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

I posted a practice midterm below, but if you want more practice this is a practice midterm that my fellow TA Emily put together with her students this week.

Part I. Identification of three passages. 21 minutes. 70 percent. (7 minutes per passage)

Write on three of the following five passages. For each one,

1. identify the text in which the passage occurs and name its author, (2 points)
2. write one or two sentences describing the context of the passage by identifying the speaker(s) or figure(s) involved; where in the development of the narrative the passage occurs; and what precisely is happening or being described, (5 points)
3. state briefly the significance of the passage for the themes of the text. In describing the significance, you should point to specific details – images, telling words, metaphors – to support your account. Without these details you will not get full credit for your answer. (7 points):

1. "That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."

2. "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."

3. “But there's this difference; one is gold put to the use of paving stones, and the other is tin polished to ape a service of silver—Mine has nothing valuable about it; yet I shall have the merit of making it go as far as such poor stuff can go.

4. "Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came her, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then."

5. "He fixed his eyes on me longer than I cared to return the stare, for fear I might be tempted either to box his ears or render my hilarity audible. I began to feel unmistakably out of place in that pleasant family circle. The dismal spiritual atmosphere overcame, and more than neutralized the glowing physical comforts round me; and I resolved to be cautious how I ventured under those rafters a third time"

Part II. Analysis of one passage. 15 minutes. 30 percent.

Write a concise analysis of one of the five passages selected in Part I

1. Do a close reading of the passage you have selected. (20 points)

2. Identify at least one formal characteristic of the passage and state its relevance to your reading. (10 points)

Practice Midterm

2006-10-20T18:27:00.000-05:00

This is a practice midterm. It is reasonably like the actual midterm in the length and style of passages, although I can't speak to whether these will be easier or harder passages then you will see on Monday.

Part I. Identification of five passages. 35 minutes. 70 percent. (7 minutes per passage)

Write on five of the following eight passages. For each one,

identify the text in which the passage occurs and name its author, (2 points)
write one or two sentences describing the context of the passage by identifying the speaker(s) or figure(s) involved; where in the development of the narrative the passage occurs; and what precisely is happening or being described, (5 points)
state briefly the significance of the passage for the themes of the text. In describing the significance, you should point to specific details -- images, telling words, metaphors -- to support your account. Without these details you will not get full credit for your answer. (7 points)

"For whose sake would you reveal the secret? For the father's? I think he would not be much the better for the mother. For the mother's? I think if she had done such a deed she would be safer where she was. For the daughter's? I think it would hardly serve her, to establish her parentage for the information of her husband, and to drag her back to disgrace, after an escape of twenty years, pretty secure to last for life. But, add the case that you had loved her, Pip, and had made her the subject of those 'poor dreams' which have, at one time or another, been in the heads of more men than you think likely, then I tell you that you had better – and would much sooner when you had thought well of it - chop off that bandaged left hand of yours with your bandaged right hand, and then pass the chopper on to Wemmick there, to cut that off, too."

"From the very beginning--from the first moment, I may almost say--of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."

The second question I have great interest in; it is this - Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? I sha'n't tell my reasons for making this inquiry; but I beseech you to explain, if you can, what I have married: that is, when you call to see me; and you must call, Ellen, very soon. Don't write, but come, and bring me something from Edgar.

This reminded me of the wonderful difference between the servile manner in which he had offered his hand in my new prosperity, saying, "May I?" and the ostentatious clemency with which he had just now exhibited the same fat five fingers.

'Don't you see that face?' she inquired, gazing earnestly at the mirror.

And say what I could, I was incapable of making her comprehend it to be her own; so I rose and covered it with a shawl.

'It's behind there still!' she pursued, anxiously. 'And it stirred. Who is it? I hope it will not come out when you are gone! Oh! Nelly, the room is haunted! I'm afraid of being alone!'

Edgar stood on the hearth weeping silently, and in the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping; which, from their mutual accusations, we understood they had nearly pulled in two between them. The idiots! That was their pleasure! to quarrel who should hold a heap of warm hair, and each begin to cry because both, after struggling to get it, refused to take it. We laughed outright at the petted things; we did despise them! When would you catch me wishing to have what Catherine wanted? or find us by ourselves, seeking entertainment in yelling, and sobbing, and rolling on the ground, divided by the whole room?

"The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this. And it is the more to be lamented, because there is reason to suppose as my dear Charlotte informs me, that this licentiousness of behaviour in your daughter has proceeded from a faulty degree of indulgence; though, at the same time, for the consolation of yourself and Mrs. Bennet, I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad, or she could not be guilty of such an enormity, at so early an age."

On our arrival in Denmark, we found the king and queen of that country elevated in two arm-chairs on a kitchen-table, holding a Court. The whole of the Danish nobility were in attendance; consisting of a noble boy in the wash-leather boots of a gigantic ancestor, a venerable Peer with a dirty face who seemed to have risen from the people late in life, and the Danish chivalry with a comb in its hair and a pair of white silk legs, and presenting on the whole a feminine appearance. My gifted townsman stood gloomily apart, with folded arms, and I could have wished that his curls and forehead had been more probable.

Part II. Analysis of one passage. 15 minutes. 30 percent.

Write a concise analysis of one of the five passages selected in Part I.

Do a close reading of the passage you have selected. (20 points)
Identify at least one formal characteristic of the passage and state its relevance to your reading. (10 points)

Mid-term essay grades

2006-10-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

I have entered mid-term grades for first-year students. Some of these grades are quite low (or quite high) because only about 25% of your final course grade has been calculated -- even one or two missed points have a huge effect on your grade for this reason. If you are the slightest bit concerned about your mid-term grade, I urge you to come talk to me -- there is almost nothing to worry about, as the midterm, second essay and final exam will comprise three times as many points as those you have accrued so far this semester. Plus, there is always the possibility of extra credit.

Essay 1: Grading

2006-10-19T12:27:00.000-05:00

In just a few minutes, I will begin emailing back your first essays. I have commented all of these essays in two ways:

In the margins -- if you can't seem my marginal notes, go to the View menu and choose Markup (at least, that's how you do it in my version of Word; if these directions don't work for you, look in your word processor's help program for "markup" or "reviewing" or "comments")
At the end of your essay, in a teal font color

Please read all my comments -- I wrote them with you in mind, trying to give you the best advice I could about what you should keep doing and what you should do a little differently for your second essay.

If you would like to see your grade for this essay, please read my comments answer these three questions -- you don't have to parrot my comments back to me; indeed, I would really like to hear your own analysis of your work:

What was the strongest feature of your essay?
What will you do differently when you write your second essay?
What questions do you have for me?

Hebdomadal 5 (valid 10/16 through 10/21)

2006-10-16T16:02:00.000-05:00

Topic 1: Religion in Wuthering Heights

In lecture today, Prof. Ortiz-Robles spelled out the nature/culture division in Wuthering Heights. What role does religion play in that division? Answer this question by means of a close reading of a short passage from Wuthering Heights -- ideally, use your adopted paragraph to explain the role of religion in the text; however, if your adopted paragraph makes absolutely no mention of religion then choose a nearby paragraph that does. Your answer should be grounded deeply in an analytical treatment of that paragraph's rhetorical and formal characteristics.

Topic 2: Practicing the midterm

Ask a friend to send you a short passage (one to three sentences long) from one of the novels we've read this semester without telling you from what text that passage comes. Answer all of the midterm questions -- Parts I and II -- in relation to that passage. Don't worry about time for this practice but focus on thoroughness.
Identification of passages. (7 minutes per passage)
For this passage,
identify the text in which the passage occurs and name its author, (2 points)
write one or two sentences describing the context of the passage by identifying the speaker(s) or figure(s) involved; where in the development of the narrative the passage occurs; and what precisely is happening or being described, (5 points)
state briefly the significance of the passage for the themes of the text. In describing the significance, you should point to specific details -- images, telling words, metaphors -- to support your account. Without these details you will not get full credit for your answer. (7 points)
Analysis of one passage. 15 minutes.
Write a concise analysis of the passage from Part I.
Do a close reading of the passage you have selected. (20 points)
Identify at least one formal characteristic of the passage and state its relevance to your reading. (10 points)

Some details about tomorrow's quiz

2006-10-12T14:19:00.000-05:00

The hebdomadal topics for this week are posted down below.

The quiz tomorrow will be divided into two parts. The first part will ask you to answer a few quick questions about all the work we've read so far this semester -- all of Pride and Prejudice and of Great Expectations, and the first volume of Wuthering Heights -- and the second part will give you a midterm-style passage to identify, contextualize and discuss in regard to its significance.

Syllabi are online

2006-10-09T17:32:00.000-05:00

If you look over to the left, you will now find links to the lecture and discussion syllabi for this semester at the top of the sidebar. If you ever misplace your syllabus you can grab a new one right there.

Hebdomadals: grading / graded

2006-10-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

See below for the most recent hebdomadal assignment.

I have finally caught up with grading all the hebdomadals, hebdominals, hebdomables and hebdomidals I have received this semester. If you have not heard back from me about one of your hebdomadals let me know forthwith.

Here is how hebdomadal grading currently works. I have a three-tier system -- check minus, check, and check plus. After a bit of math, I have settled on the following score breakdowns:

Check minus = 1.5 points (out of 2)
Check = 1.9 points
Check plus = 2.4 points

The average grades so far are hovering around 1.7 -- which means about half of you are in the minus category and half of you are in the check category. Although these numbers look concrete, I reserve the right to treat hebdomadal grades a little bit more fluidly at the end of the semester if you demonstrate marked improvement.

If you are interested in knowing your hebdomadal grade so far you're welcome to shoot me an email.

Hebdomadal 4

2006-10-09T16:11:00.000-05:00

N.b.: I post weekly hebdomadal topics in the hope of directing your attention to literary analytical techniques that Prof. Ortiz-Robles is introducing in lecture. Consequently, I ask that you only write hebdomadals in response to that week's prompts.

If you want to apply an old prompt to a new text or topic, please ask me first. I'll probably say yes, but I just want to be sure that you're not spinning your literary analytical wheels.

Topic 1: Obsessive close reading

By close reading I mean (1) the identification of rhetorical (language-based) and formal (structure-based) subtleties in a short passage from a novel and (2) the subsequent connection of these subtleties to one of the novel's main themes or problems.
Adopt a paragraph from Wuthering Heights, and do so randomly. Open the book to any page at all and point your finger at a paragraph that strikes your fancy.
It is your job to prove that the themes and questions introduced in this paragraph connect to the themes and questions of the book. You might think of this as a fractal or as a cell in a larger body: the paragraph reveals microscopically the macroscopic shape of the text.
In class today, Prof. Ortiz-Robles had the class spend ten minutes looking at two sentences from Pride and Prejudice; you should spend a similar amount of time looking at your adopted paragraph. What sorts of words does it deploy? What are its rhetorical and formal nuances? How do those nuances relate to textual themes and questions? (You can derive your sense of the text's themes and questions from lecture or from your own ideas about the book's argument.)

Topic 2: Themes and tone

Adopt a paragraph as described in Topic 1, but rather than close read it for language and form and whatnot, look at how it uses language. Is there dialect? (E.g. in paragraphs quoting Joseph.) Is the tone poetic and solemn? (E.g. in paragraphs describing nature.) Is the tone condescending? Is it apologetic? Is it wordy and academic or is it pithy and blunt? Giving specific evidence -- word choice, punctuation, sentence length, rhyme and meter -- connect the tone of this paragraph to its role in the novel. How does this tone relate, do you think, to the larger themes and problems of the novel?
What you are looking for here is a way to look at the style of this paragraph and see the larger argument of the text. This is hard to do, and really kind of fun.

Turning in the first paper

2006-10-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

Only two notes about turning in the first essay:

1. Turn it in via email before discussion tomorrow morning. The essay should be attached to your email rather than included as the text of the email.

2. If you are writing your essay in Word, turn it in as a Word document; if you are not writing in Word, save your essay as a Rich Text File (RTF) by going to the File menu and choosing Save As... Choose RTF from the Save As Type drop-down menu.

Writing Center: Satellite locations

2006-10-02T17:44:00.000-05:00

As long as I'm touting the Online Writing Center (below), it seems worthwhile to post a bit of information about the Writing Center's satellite locations.

The main Writing Center office is, I have mentioned in class, in 6171 Helen C. White Hall and you can sign up for appointments to meet with writing instructors there by calling 263-1992. However, if you live in or near the dorms and would like to see a writing instructor later in the evening, there are several satellite locations that don't require appointments and where instructors would be overjoyed to see you.

Here is a link to all of our current locations and hours.

I work in the Pop's Club location on Monday nights. It would be wonderful to see you there, but you might think about visiting other writing instructors when you are writing papers for me. You can get my comments and advice at any time by emailing me or chatting with me during my office hours; getting input and advice from other instructors will allow you to think through your writing and analysis in ways I wouldn't think to suggest, and will allow you to create a rounder and even more interesting essay.

Writing assistance via instant messaging: A new service from the Writing Center

2006-10-02T17:39:00.000-05:00

Do you tend to get your work done on too unpredictable a schedule to sign up for a regular meeting with a writing instructor? Do you do your best work in your pajamas? On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 6:30 to 9:30 pm there are writing instructors available to meet with you via instant messaging through the Online Writing Center. To learn more information about synchronous instruction and to sign up for an appointment, visit wisc.edu/writing/Forms/Synchronous.html (or, of course, click on that link).

N.b.: I have never used this service, although the three instructors working there this semester are good friends of mine. If you use or have used synchronous instruction I would love to hear about your experiences.

Answering So what?

2006-10-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

Meeting with students in conferences this past week, I have been overjoyed to find that nearly all of you are struggling actively to explain why your essays are important to our understanding of these texts. While the struggle might not feel particularly pleasant right now, trust me when I say that it will help you craft a more pleasant paper for me to read and grade.

If you are still struggling and uncertain how to explain the importance of your essay, here are a few tricks that usually work for me:

Connect your reading to one of Prof. Ortiz-Robles's comments. Look back through your lecture notes. What has Prof. Ortiz-Robles said are the main problems of the novel you are writing about? What has he said are some of the main problems or styles of the nineteenth-century novel as a whole? How does your essay connect to the ideas he has raised in lecture? (You might, for example, connect your essay to his discussion of spectacle and surveilance in today's lecture.)
Connect your reading to the introduction, epiphany, or conclusion of the novel. Look closely at the critical moments of these novels -- their first and last chapters and those chapters that discuss massive changes in their main characters -- and connect your reading with the thematic or moral revelations of these critical moments.
Assume that your reading reveals something about the society in which it was written. Extrapolate from the narrow confines of the text to the broader context of the society in which it participates. How does Austen's discussion of the marriages of the Bennet girls suggest changes in the way marriage itself should operate in society? What does Pip's search for identity in an industrial world say about how our identities are changing as our nations change?
Argue that your theme reveals the main problem of the novel. Take a risk: how does your reading exactly express the central problem of the text? Assume that the passage you are closely reading is in fact the central passage of the entire novel: what is the author saying in this passage about the meaning of his or her larger work?

If you are working on Great Expectations and don't think you will be able to connect your analysis to the text's central problem or question until you have finished the text, I am happy to entertain requests for short extensions.

Punctuation is your friend! So am I, usually.

2006-10-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

Bob the Angry Flower, by Stephen Notley

If Charles Dickens owns a hat, that hat is Dickens's hat. If Frederick Douglass owns a cat, that cat is Douglass's cat. The possessive s is obligatory when forming a surname that ends in s unless that surname belongs to a figure from Biblical, Classical, or Old Testament times -- e.g. Jesus' mat, Socrates' bat, and Moses' rat.

Cards and geography: two excellent close readings

2006-10-01T20:34:00.000-05:00

As you work through the logic and structure your second essay, the most important thing you can do is make sure that you are

Identifying subtleties in the language and form of the text that a casual reader would have missed, and
Connecting those subtleties to one of the larger themes and, ultimately, the larger question or problem of that text.

Those can be difficult instructions to follow if you're unsure what constitutes a sufficiently close reading, or a sufficiently close connection between a close reading and textual themes.

Here are two wonderful hebdomadals from two weeks ago that are right on target in both their close readings and their thematic analysis.

This first hebdomadal is from Lydia (313):

Card games appear in both Jane Austen�s Pride and Prejudice and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations as a social interaction with many layers of innuendo, differing between books, but there nonetheless. Austen uses card games for brilliant dialogue between Elizabeth and Caroline, but Dickens employs it to show more emotionally charged moments between Estella and Pip. Cards are a great way to involve more than one character in a key moment because of the competitive circumstances and social settings the games are played in. In comparing the scenes of both books I am amazed at the similarities between the reasons for each conversation between the characters involved. In Elizabeth and Caroline's conversation there is no small amount of malice that Caroline directs toward Elizabeth in the form of praise of her intensive reading, but she is belittling her in hopes making her fall from Darcy's admiration. Between Pip and Estella, Estella is taking the same tactic but for different reasons. She doesn't care if Miss Havisham likes Pip or whether anyone sees her treatment of him, she just wants to make sure he knows he is beneath her. So in that context both card games are used to injure the main character, and seemingly tell them their 'place' in the world but the reasons behind each assault is where we can truly see the difference in perspective of the respective books.
Austen wants the reader to understand that while Caroline views Elizabeth as a rival for Darcy's affections, she in no way believes Elizabeth to be her equal in any other way. She uses the setting of a card game to further illustrate that Elizabeth is outside the metaphorical circle of play, and therefore out of their circle of acquaintance.
On the other hand, Dickens shows Estella for the proud, heartless being she is from the very beginning by the definite wording of how she throws down her cards at the end of the game. "She threw the cards down on the table when she had won them all, as if she despised them for having been won of me." (chapter viii, page 60). Through this dramatic wording and intense visual picture you get of Estella, your initial impression of her is imprinted and my thoughts are that you will not improve your opinion as the book continues, and you understand that this book is not so much about Pip knowing that Estella doesn�t like him, but once again making sure he knows his place. Dickens shows you from early on that this book is not so much about outside relationships but more a personal battle Pip fights to
find himself.
It is in that difference that you find the contrast between the two works of literature, and their meaning and purpose to the reader.

This second essay is by Scott (313):

Pip describes the geography of his home town, Kent, after he introduces the story of his parents and his name while at the church cemetery. Pip lives in the town of Kent in the marsh county near a river that meets up with the sea. According to the novel's explanatory notes, it was based on Charles Dickens' own childhood memories of Chatham. Pip's "village" is located "on the flat inshore among the alder-trees and pollards, a mile from the church," and Pip describes the marshes as "the dark, flat wilderness beyond the churchyard�with scattered cattle feeding on it." (4) The layout of this town can be interpreted as a metaphor for the emotional and social position of Pip within the town and within his own family.

When describing his home town, it seems like Pip emphasizes natural rather than manmade features of the area. Pip chooses to put the town into the context of the river, wilderness, marshes, and trees rather than choosing buildings such as houses, schools, stores, community centers, and other features common to a town. This is probably due to the fact that Pip is not well-connected to the people of the town, knowing more about the town's physical features than the people who inhabit it.

The only building that Pip refers to when initially telling the reader about the town is the church where he is presently located. He uses the church as a main reference point when telling about the town. It is significant that Pip tells his audience the geography of the town relative to the church because Pip feels more attached to the place where his parents are buried than where he actually lives. Pip doesn't even mention where he lives until the convict asks him. The church appears isolated from the rest of the town with wilderness and cattle-feeding grounds surrounding it. Just like the church is physically isolated from the town, Pip is emotionally isolated from family and society. It is also fitting that the church is overgrown with nettle, a poisonous weed, because Pip is a poisonous weed to society, being overwhelmingly unwanted and an occasional liar and thief. Pip even believes his sister assumes he "insisted on being born" (23).

The placement of Pip�s house in Kent is symbolic of his place in society. Mr. Pumblechoock lives on the "high street of the market town," and Miss Havisham lives nearby in the Satis house, near a brewery (52). The Pumblechoocks and Ms. Havisham live closer to commerce and industry of the town than Pip does, and are also more socially connected than Pip and the Gargerys. Pip lives among "alder
trees and pollards" in an area that Pip mentions more natural than civilized characteristics. Pip's apparent isolation from society symbolizes his emotional isolation from the world as an orphan. The Satis House is located at a higher elevation than Pip's house, and Miss Havisham and the Pumblechoocks are higher up in social status than the Gargerys. When Pip had to walk up elevation to go to Miss Havisham's house, he was moving both physically and socially upward. Charles Dickens strategic use of geography symbolizes the emotional and social states of the characters within his novel.

It's only the fourth week of class, and I'm already behind in my grading

2006-09-28T21:56:00.000-05:00

I am quite behind in grading last week's hebdomadals, although if everything goes according to plan I should be all caught up by this weekend. Then again, how often does everything really go according to plan?

Anyway, if you haven't yet heard back from me about your hebdomadal that probably means that I just haven't gotten to it yet. Feel free to ask about it anyway.

Hebdomadal 3

2006-09-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

I may post a Great Expectations topic after lecture on Wednesday.

Topic 1: Beginning your essay

Because your essay will be built on ideas that come out of a close reading of the text, it makes the most sense to begin your work on this first essay by working through a nuanced, interesting close reading and analysis of an interesting passage.
Remember that a close reading is the connection of formal and rhetorical features from a short passage to one or more textual themes. In particular, you will probably want to engage with
The form of the passage -- is it an epigram? a confession? a letter? witty dialogue? a monologue? is it neutral narration, or perhaps narration in a character's voice?
The sorts of words used is the passage: what words repeat? what words seem like unusual choices? If you put all the principle words in this passage into a list, what would that list describe?
Any tropes or unusual rhetorical figures in the passage -- metaphor, simile, rhyme, poetic rhythm, etc.
The tone -- ironic? moralizing? sentimental? detached?
At the top of your hebdomadal let me know what essay topic you are tackling and roughly how you are approaching it. Then type out the passage you will be closely reading for this hebdomadal. You might notice new things in typing it out, plus this way I don't have to go flipping through my books =) Be as risky as possible in your close reading: push your ideas as far as they will go, and look particularly to offer interesting, creative readings that might not be entirely correct. (Try to replicate the sort of insight and inventiveness of Prof. Ortiz-Robles's reading of the tombstones.) Don't be afraid to be wrong! Better to be wrong in a hebdomadal than in a four-page essay.

Essay 1 conference sign-up sheet

2006-09-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

If you want to meet with me about the first essay, shoot me an email to let me know which slot you'd like to take. If you want to change your meeting time, you're free to do that too but please give me a lot of advance notice. You're welcome just to stop by Steep & Brew during a slot that doesn't have a name by it, but that won't always work.

Please have two things ready when you come to meet with me:

At a minimum, have a sense of which essay topic you will be writing on and roughly how you will answer it. A draft of a thesis statement and a sense of what passages you will be closely reading would be fantastic.
Have two or three questions prepared to ask me -- you are in charge of this conference

All conferences are at Steep & Brew

Monday 9/25
1:30 pm - Glenn
1:45 -
2:00 -
2:15 -
2:30 - Bryan R.
2:45 - Laura G.
3:00 -
3:15 -

Tuesday 9/26
3:15 pm -
3:30 - Kelsey M.
3:45 -
4:00 -
4:15 - Ariel
4:30 -

Monday 10/2
1:30 pm - Becca
1:45 -
2:00 - Lydia
2:15 -
2:30 - Kelsey B.
2:45 - Tony
3:00 - Tim
3:15 -

Tuesday 10/3
3:15 pm - Scott
3:30 - Jane
3:45 - Jared
4:00 - Ellen
4:15 - Lindsay
4:30 -

By the way, if any of you would like a (paperback) copy of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, shoot me an email -- if you can believe it, there are three copies of that book in my apartment.

Hebdomadal 2

2006-09-18T15:51:00.000-05:00

The one-page diagnostic paper which Prof. Ortiz-Robles has mentioned in lecture is the same thing as a hebdomadal. If you did not write a hebdomadal last week, you must write one this week in order to satisfy this requirement. (If you did write a hebdomadal last week, you do not have to but are welcome to write another this week.)

*

~~Topic 1~~ (Cancelled because Prof. Ortiz-Robles did exactly this in class on Wednesday)
Read the first paragraph of Great Expectations in the way Prof. Ortiz-Robles read the first paragraph of Pride and Prejudice: use intensive reading of the form, language, and implications of the first paragraph to predict the broader themes of the text.
Topic 2

Perform a bit of spatial analysis on this first section of Great Expectations: what is the geography of Pip’s hometown, and what is Dickens trying to tell us through that geography? Begin with but build on the sorts of ideas Prof. Ortiz-Robles suggested about the role of space.

Topic 3

Find a symbol shared by both Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations. How does that symbol operate differently in these two texts? What does this difference tell us about the differences between Austen's and Dickens's goals?
(Here is a quick and dirty definition of symbol: a material object that appears in the narrative – a gate, a book, a mirror – but which has meaning external to its role in the plot.)

"Office" Hours!

2006-09-17T22:41:00.000-05:00

Hi! I am going to be sitting in the Steep & Brew on State Street from 1:30 to 3:30 again this afternoon, and I am going to be bored. If you want to come chat about the hebdomadals, the reading, or anything else I would love to see you stop by.

A model heb

2006-09-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

If you're a little unsure what all this hebdomadal business is about, it might be worth looking over this exemplary meditation on the specific interest Austen has in investigating class difference written by Laura S. (313). There are a few specific features of this hebdomadal that I want to point to:

Its tone is exactly on target: Laura mixes personal address ("I have thus come to...") with more formal academic style ("As a reader of Pride and Prejudice, one might be outraged...")
The third paragraph integrates close reading with a wider argument (in paragraph 3)
The conclusion suggests the implications of this reading for the larger problems and central themes of the text

* * *

While reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I have been increasingly intrigued with the class consciousness of the characters in the novel. One’s social standing and convention seem to be in the fore front of many, if not all, of the character’s minds. I have thus come to the following question: why has Austen chosen the conflict of class consciousness to focus on over the many other possible discords?
The main conclusion that I have come to in regard to this is that the conflict of upper middle class and lower middle class in the novel brings to light the biases that we all, as a society and human race, possess. Most people would like to think that they are unhindered by social prejudice, that they would love or help even society’s lowliest inhabitants. The reality is, though, that we all succumb to our prejudices at times. As a reader of Pride and Prejudice, one might be outraged by the blatant discrimination. One has to consider, though, if one would or does actually act any different. I think the beauty of this novel is that in its extreme social bias that might seem intolerable to the reader, it forces the reader to consider that we, as a society, are perhaps not any different. This, I think, is what makes the class consciousness conflict interesting; that is, that though we might
not like to acknowledge it, we are no different. Like the characters in the novel, we all fall prey to social bias.
In the beginning of the novel, Darcy is a prime example of social discrimination. While at the ball, Darcy says of Elizabeth, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (7). Because Austen structured this sentence with the emphasis on “me,” the reader is able to catch a glimpse of Darcy’s bias. Because emphasis was placed on that word, Darcy is showing the reader that he sees himself as socially higher than Elizabeth, as she is not tempting to him. That is not to say that she would be an unattractive mate for another, but certainly not for a man of his stature. Also, Darcy uses the word “tolerable.” This word choice is another way he shows his discrimination. If he thought she were on his social level, he might have said, “pretty” or “attractive.” Instead, he describes her as merely “tolerable.” Basically, Darcy thinks, in fact knows, that she is not good enough for him.
As a reader, one still might be annoyed with the social prejudice and one may think, “If it were me, I would act differently.” But would one really? It is perhaps an idealized view to believe that love is not confined to social standing and convention. Though it might seem cynical and unromantic, I think we respond and adhere to social standing because it is what we know and trust. It would be easy to say that one would be willing to break all of the standards when it comes to true love. I wonder, however, if, in practice, one would actually be willing to break the “rules” and stand out in that way. There is a reason that the characters in Pride and Prejudice adhere so closely with social convention; that is, I think, that it would be damaging in one’s social and family life not to. Social convention, it seems, is almost a necessity. For example, when Lydia and Wickham run off together, the stress created in the family and their social circle is immense. So while social standing and convention seems unromantic and perhaps irrational, any breach of it creates even larger problems than before. Would we really be willing to forego all the standards ingrained in us at the risk of those around us?
To turn now from this somewhat cynical view that I have been holding, I am still left wondering that if love is not independent of social standing and convention, is there ever any way to escape our social standing? Are we doomed forevermore with the way the world sees us and with the prejudices so deeply ingrained? Can one’s attitudes be matured or is social standing a certain occurrence? Ultimately, is our fate sealed at birth with no hope of remedy? Or is it that, in the end, love is all one really needs?

An emphatic message from the Writing Center

2006-09-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

(I have tried to retain the Writing Center's colors and font sizes here. I should add, in addition to their own emphatic remarks, that this class has been amazingly successful in helping my students get over the first barriers to successful literary analytical writing.)

The first of six Writing Center workshops on writing literary analysis papers begins tonight. Grab a spot and learn more about this type of writing in a comfortable, supportive atmosphere. And, did I mention, these workshops are free!

Literary Analysis: No Problem!

This two-session workshop will focus on writing a critical analysis paper for Intro to Lit. classes, including
organizational strategies particular to papers about literature
methods for doing a close reading
ways to make a comparison paper seamless
common mistakes made when writing critical analyses
Offered on these dates/times:
Thursdays, Sept. 14 & 21, 3:30-5:00 pm, Sec. 1
Tuesdays, Sept. 19 & 26, 3:30-5:00 pm, Sec. 2
Wednesdays, Sept. 20 & 27, 3:00-4:30 pm, Sec. 3
Fridays, Sept. 22 & 29, 1:30-3:00 pm, Sec. 4
Mondays, Sept. 25 & Oct. 2, 3:30-5:00 pm, Sec. 5
Thursdays, Sept. 28 & Oct. 5, 4:00-5:30 pm, Sec. 6

Please register. It's easy!
Register online 24 hours a day at www.wisc.edu/writing (click on classes), call 263-1992 when the Writing Center is open, or stop by, 6171 Helen C. White Hall.

And for those looking for someone to help critique their papers, the Writing Center offers individual conferences with experienced writing instructors. Call 263-1992 to make an appointment! Or check out the Online Writing Center for feedback about short drafts via email and live chats.

The UW-Madison Writing Center
www.wisc.edu/writing

Important hebdetails

2006-09-14T10:22:00.000-05:00

Hebdomadals are due via email any time before discussion
Don't send your hebdomadal as an attachment; just paste it into the main text of the email
You shouldn't use out-of-class sources in your hebdomadal, but if you do then you must cite it . . . it doesn't matter if you are referring to the piddliest web site: I want to see a full bibliographic entry
If you use in-class sources -- lecture notes or ideas that come up in discussion -- you can be casual about citation; it's enough to write "Prof. Ortiz-Robles suggested X" or "In discussion, Calyn said Y"
The grading scheme is still in development, but I can tell that I will be grading for
1. A creative, risky reading of the text that is supported by an
2. Intensive, almost obsessive attention to the language and structure of the text, all of which is put together in
3. A nicely-structured, personable argument.

Hebdomadal 1 - Updated 9/12

2006-09-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

More topics may be added later this week.

Topic 1: There may no such thing as a bad question, but there are certainly good questions

You'll hear me babble a few times this semester about Active Reading. An active reader engages with the text -- the text is a conversation between the author and the reader, and she participates actively in that conversation.
The distinguishing characteristic of the active reader is her aptitude at asking questions of the text. These questions dig into the subtleties of the author's intent, and they can only be answered by engaging with the text closely. Usually, the answer to one of these questions leads to more difficult and more interesting questions.
An example: Why has Austen given the Bennets five daughters and no sons? (I imagine you have begun to answer that question already, and that answer is beginning to propel you into new questions -- at least, that's what it should be doing if it is a good question and if you are an active reader.)
Ask a question that begins to dig into the social, political, or aesthetic layer of Pride and Prejudice by asking why Austen chose to structure her text in a certain way or to include certain details. Once you have laid out the question, begin to answer it in such a way as to expose other questions to which this question leads. In so doing, engage closely with a sentence or two from the text, building your analysis off of details like form (epigram, dialog, letter) or word choice -- that is to say, you should imitate the textual specificity of Prof. Ortiz-Robles's lectures as best you can.
Your hebdomadal need not have a conclusion, but should instead spiral off into a series of increasingly interesting and sophisticated questions.

Topic 2: Thematic analysis

A theme is a problem or idea that comes up repeatedly in a text. At root, themes are broad (marriage, money, religion); however, authors tend to deal with them in fairly narrow ways (the difficulty of knowing a partner's character before marriage; the uncertain relationship between wealth and marriageablitily; the role of religion in a social world).
Find a theme in Pride and Prejudice that has not been mentioned in lecture. To find a theme, you might look for a situation that comes up again and again, or you might instead look for a word or idea that comes up frequently. (There are other ways of looking and other kinds of themes, but these might be the two easiest.) Pick two specific moments in the text where this theme surfaces and, by comparing the language and form of those two moments, suggest in detail the significance of that theme for Austen. Hazard a guess at how that specific theme connects to Austen's larger point in the novel.
This is not an easy question. Don't fret if you feel unsure how to answer this -- don't hesitate to take risks, and send me an email if you have any questions.

Come visit me this (Monday) afternoon!

2006-09-11T00:24:00.000-05:00

This afternoon from 1:30 to 3:30 I will be at the Steep & Brew on State Street having a cup of coffee and hoping to see some of you guys. If you have any questions about the class or even if you just want to introduce yourself then I hope you will stop on by.

From the archives

2006-09-02T16:27:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in the previous post that there are some blog entries from last year that might be useful to you this year. There are also some useful examples and notes in the the blog for English 168 I used last semester. I've tried to group bits of advice from both these blogs together here for easy browsing.

The Fall 2006 edition of the English 167 class blog is coming soon!

2006-08-30T19:50:00.000-05:00

Over the next week, I will be transitioning this blog from Fall 2005 to Fall 2006. You will notice that the course syllabus has changed significantly -- in 2005, Prof. Ortiz-Robles's syllabus included poetry, several essays and a play in addition to two novels; the new syllabus is exclusively novels, and some of the best novels ever written in English at that.

This is not to say that the five months of archived entries from 2005 are useless for a student in 2006: there are several posts down there that outline how to write a successful hebdomadal (a short essay). There is a gold mine of examples in the archives as well: below you will find essays, long and short, take-home and in-class, that earned strong A's.

I am thrilled to get this semester underway! I can't wait to meet you all in the next few weeks. Until then, if you have any questions feel free to email me at mashapiro at gmail dot com.

Onward!

2006-01-16T19:53:00.000-06:00

Below you should find four posts that just went up tonight:

That's a bit of an information dump, I know, but hope some of the hints contained therein are worth your while to read.

If in your attentive perversity you wish to continue to follow my pedagogical adventures, you might turn your attention to my Spring 2006 class blog: As I Lay Reading. I'll be teaching English 168 (literature after 1900) for Jesse Wolfe, and we'll be tackling some extremely challenging texts--including Faulkner, Morrison and Coetze--and it should be quite fun to watch me struggle to talk about them at all meaningfully.

Remember that I am always here for you, and always reachable at the email address you used all last semester. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if there is ever anything I can do for you!

Two exam essays

2006-01-16T19:28:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to copy out one answer to each of the four essay questions from the final exam, so you could see a range of the sorts of answers that were possible; however, some of these answers could get rather long and consquently somewhat fatiguing. Here, then, are answers to the first two questions. Both answers received full credit.

Essay 1.

Topic:

How do the Victorians imagine imagination differently than the Romantics? Compare and contrast "Ode on a Grecian Urn" or "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" by John Keats to at least one Victorian text that describes or reflects on a particular work of visual art. Choose from among these Victorian texts: Ruskin's Modern Painters and Stones of Venice; Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott"; Eliot's Middlemarch; Browning's "My Last Duchess"; Pater's The Renaissance; Wilde's "The Critic as Artist." How do these Victorian works confront, work through, and grapple with the role of the imagination in the creative process? How does this differ from Romantic practice?

An answer in the exhaustive style, which received full credit:

The opening of the 19th century was filled with hope and potential. As the century wore on, this potential was still there, only in incredibly different terms from what was originally envisioned by the Romantics. Indeed, from Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” to Mill’s “On Liberty,” a change had taken place. Where Wordsworth commented on the need for the poet to “step down,” to use the language of the common, rustic man because that was by far much more noble and “permanent,” Mill calls for a very different course of action, one where the talented in society would not “step down” and drift into the mold that was society, but rise up, to demonstrate their Freeness. He contested, like Wordsworth, that these men of genius were essentially “mirrors” of the populace, but unlike Wordsworth he asserted this role was leading to mediocrity. From these comments, it becomes obvious the focus and potential of the Romantics and Victorians corresponded to different times, and different problems. In comparing the different styles and the main subjects of two artistic evolutions from different literary periods, being Keats’ “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” and Ruskin’s Stones of Venice, does one begin to understand how the emphasis placed upon man and his environment comes to be reflected different in the two periods’ emphasis of imagination.

The Romantic qualities of man, being his need to be individual, and to come to observe and glorify nature as a powerful influence, are best observed in the focus of Keats. For the Romantic, the environment is an incredible place. We get from Wordsworth how nature is “the guardian of his soul,” and consequently come to learn of the incredible impact the external forces of art, being the Elgin Marbles, come to influence him. In focusing on “Elgin Marbles,” both rhetorically and formally, we get a sense of Keats’ ideas on imagination. First, notice the enjambment used in the very beginning, “mortality – weighs heavily on my soul.” The use of the divider occurs as a powerful space, almost as if Keats is so overwhelmed by the Marbles before him that he must take a breath in order to continue. Also, notice how the theme of mortality persists throughout the poem, how near the end a conflict occurs between his brain, the source of all his knowledge, and heart, the source of life. It is a powerful force indeed that is causing Keats to weigh his life in his mind, while the work itself is causing physical symptoms that his heart is overwhelmed by his work. In reading “Elgin Marbles” it is important to take note that Keats’ focus on the external force influencing him internally, and how this focus is different for Ruskin and the Victorians.

While Keats’ focus on the external is the dominant force of his work, Ruskin also uses a focus on nature, but in a seemingly different way in understanding imagination. The beginning of Stones of Venice has the reader traveling through the Gothic landscape, noticing the rudeness, the savageness, how the trees act like obstructing objects and the mountain disrupt the landscape. However, this occupies a very brief portion of Ruskin’s work, and the rest of the focus of Stones is on man, his capabilities, his actions, his ideas. Even when Ruskin returns to an external object, being the ruddy, rigid, imperfect, brownish glass of the Venetian craftsman, his attention immediately turns to the nobleness of man in this creation, how it should be admired man has the capabilities to quit knowing a work is not completely finished. Instead, Ruskin asserts, and does so by using Leonardo as an example, that it is the greatest capability of man to leave something unfinished, as Leonardo himself knew nothing we be able to equal his idealized potential. In this description Ruskin actually refers to the Elgin Marbles (in his accompanying notes), noting how the Marbles are often described as perfect yet they are chipped, and how many of the figures are incomplete. How is it that Keats overlooks this, and Ruskin does not, while still contributing it to the greatness of the marbles? It is done through their differing focus of imagination.

The focus of Keats and Ruskin take two different roads in regarding imagination, as the former regards imagination as an external source, while the latter an internal one, reflecting the cultures of their times. That Ruskin should emphasize the individual is clear when considering the low state of the individual in the mid-late 19th century, occupying this mold that Mill talks about. It is then Ruskin’s hope that by pointing out successful individuals, other individuals will, too, realize their potential, their capability to achieve great things. Earlier in Stones, Ruskin compares humanities as either men or machines. It is the man that realizes his faults, that differs from the norm, that does things imperfectly because that is the noble thing. A machine does only what he is taught, being the most perfect way, and thus will never come to know the true freedom of man. In contrast, Keats focuses on the external as a powerful force that can drive man. Therefore, imagination can come from the outside. This is at a time when men still possessed that possible hope, where Wordsworth expressed a belief in the low and rustic. At that time, it was beneficial for men to look to nature for inspiration. For the Victorians, in the height of industrialization, it was natural to look at other men, because nature was no longer in excess. With men packed close together in the city, one could no longer realize imagination by going to those beautiful areas of nature, as Wordsworth retreats to, but must instead look for a more local inspiration. Thus, Ruskin and Keats choose their focus according to the times they are in.

In closing, it is worth noting that T. S. Eliot once commented, “in one’s prose reflections, one may be legitimately occupied with ideals, whereas in writing a verse, one may deal only with actuality.” Keats, then, may be the more restricted of the two, but is he not the more free, with less to accomplish? Ruskin, like Mill and Arnold, faced possible anarchy, and needed to cat. Keats, ever concerned with mortality, surely could not have discerned to live to see the suppression that later occurred. Therefore, in Keats and Ruskin’s focus on artistic works, their corresponding emphasis is on the betterment of the individual, but in ways that reflect the time of their writing.

Essay two

Topic:

A number of texts that we have read this semester represent social outcasts who, for one reason or another, exist on the margins of society. Choose at least two texts by two different authors and make an argument in which you discuss the picture of society that emerges from the literary representation of the outsider. You may want to consider the irreconcilable tensions or forces of exclusion that make him or her an outsider, as well as the outsider's response to them. Texts to consider: Wordsworth's "Michael," Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Eliot's Middlemarch, Tennyson's "Ulysses," Arnold's "The Scholar Gypsy," Rossetti's "Goblin Market."

An answer, slightly more concise, that received full credit:

Many Victorian writers, as well as some Romantic writers, focus on excluded characters and the tensions they face. The writers use the characters exclusions generally to illustrate a main point that they feel strongly about, and that usually pertains to the poet’s opinions or feelings about community. Authors/poets George Eliot, Christina Rossetti, and Lord Alfred Tennyson include excluded main characters within their works and each author uses the character to create a different view of society and community.

Middlemarch’s Lydgate represents the static, unchanging community of Middlemarch in a negative light, whereas Rossetti portrays the sin of the character Laura as being redeemed by the utopia and community of her sister. Contrastingly, Tennyson has the character Ulysses choose exclusion from community due to his past heroism. Each character has different tensions and forces that make them excluded that add to the author’s overall intent of portrayal of community.

George Eliot’s Middlemarch introduces a character, Lydgate, into the Middlemarch community in order to demonstrate the irreconcilable forces change faces in that community. Lydgate’s profession as a doctor creates the first of many tensions that Lydgate endures as an outsider within Middlemarch. There were already three doctors in Middlemarch with whom the community was thankful of and trusted. The three doctors all generally practiced in the same fashion and were quite old in age. Young Lydgate comes along with a different, more updated form of practice and people become wary of him and don’t know if they should use his services. Lydgate’s decision and belief not to use pharmaceutical products, compared to the other three doctors’ reliance on them, adds to the general unassurance. Lydgate however keeps to his way of practicing, ignoring the criticism and gossip from the people of Middlemarch. Additionally, Lydgate’s name and family relations create an obstacle and tension. Originally believed that Lydgate has distant, well-respected families ties helped welcome him into the community and become married to Rosamond. However, later when Lydgate’s past is finally discovered and his respected ties disappear, tension, dislike, and untrustworthiness settle upon Lydgate. Originally, after the first tension, Lydgate stayed in the community, but with the evergrowing tensions, Lydgate was forced to leave Middlemarch. Eliot uses Lydgate’s effort to stay in Middlemarch with his new ideas and then finally his resolution to move to a more advanced community, London, to represent how Middlemarch community resists change and ultimately will not be able to thrive without change.

Rossetti however uses the somewhat exclusion of Laura to shine a positive light on community. Rossetti’s community is the utopia of sisterhood between Lizzie and Laura. Lizzie represents the moral, good side of community and Laura represents the rebellious, curious side. Together however, Laura and Lizzie create the perfect utopian community. This utopian community also thrives in Rossetti’s opinion by the part of the poem that tells of the happiness and motherhood of the sisters later in life. Rossetti also demonstrates that one type cannot exist or thrive without the other by the community of the goblins, who are like the Lauras and do thrive nor be productive.

Tennyson’s character Ulysses’s exclusion is unlike Rossetti’s nor Eliot’s because Ulysses brings the exclusion upon himself. Ulysses is a very heroic figure in his community and because of his reputation and name is forced to continue that perception, whether he wants to or not. Ulysses does hold a place in the community as King, but he is very egoistic and self-involved, which drives him to continue his adventures away from the community. Tennyson demonstrates that egoism cannot be beneficial in a community and will not thrive, therefore egoistic people are excluded from the community.

Each poet has different characters relay the poet’s idea of community. Each poet, Tennyson, Eliot, and Rossetti, also have different point of views on society which is brought out by each character’s reaction to the exclusion.

Averages: generally meaningless but nonetheless compelling

2006-01-16T19:10:00.000-06:00

Distribution of grades on the midterm (blue) and final (red) essays. As I believe I mention below, my grades on the final exams were statistically a bit low; the grade distribution you see here is slightly corrected.

Distribution of grades on the first (blue) and second (red) essays.

On a related note, the average for the second essay was 88.1; the average grade of those who collaborated on this essay was 92, the average for non-collaborators was 87. This isn't a statistically significant result, but it does give an anecdotal hint at how working closely with others can help you.

Distribution of final class grades. This distribution was slightly high, but Prof. Ortiz-Robles seems to have let that pass.

A grotesque aspect is worth 1,000 ironies

2006-01-16T18:35:00.000-06:00

As next semester begins tomorrow, I suppose it is time that I wrap up this blog. Here are some notes, as promised, from my readings of essays from last semester:

One goal of 100-level literature courses is to introduce students to the language of literary criticism. It is not an obvious language, and it is a picky one. In your final essays I observed that several writers misused a few fairly specific literary-technical words:
- Although your thesaurus is likely to suggest otherwise, grotesque doesn't just mean ugly: it is often used to characterize physical as well as behavioral difference that defines otherness. Obviously grotesque is thus an even more appropriate characterization of Frankenstein's monster; however, your essays rarely treated it as a specifically differentiating ugliness.
- Irony is a loaded word in most academic contexts and particularly in literature. As we discussed earlier this semester, there is at least one extremely specific meaning of irony (the permanent parabasis of tropes, according to Paul de Man) that characterizes much of the sorts of irony we see operating in Romantic literature. The specificity of this meaning, weighed against the variety of other meanings available, renders irony a dangerously vague term. When you discuss it, you might be careful to define in exactly what sense you mean the word.

On a related score, you might try to avoid relying too extensively on a thesaurus. It's not actually a serious problem for you to repeat a word ("ugly," for example), and in fact your writing is likely to become less clear if you begin using words with which you are not familiar.

Your best thesaurus is yourself, really. Consider the word aspect: as a word, aspect isn't particularly useful--it comes from the Latin ad + specere: to look at; in its historical, literal sense an aspect is an outlook, a prospect, a view. We might refer to the aspect of a building, meaning the direction that it faces: my apartment has a southern aspect, for example. We have troped the aspectual idea into a word meaning, neutrally, "part of a thing." How unspecific! How meaningless!

But if we look up aspect in a thesaurus, we get "facet, side, characteristic, slant," etc.: not especially useful analogs. Instead, let us look at the exact context of our use of the word and seek out a more specific word to use. Here is some context:
By taking aspects that are vital for the continuation of human life away from himself, he becomes increasingly less human by ignoring his basic needs.
(This sentence is about Victor Frankenstein.) Here, the writer is referring to Frankenstein's increasing estrangement from social behaviors, which phrase ("behaviors" or "social behaviors") ends up most effectively replacing "aspects" in the sentence: By taking away from himself social behaviors that are vital for the continuation of human life... reads far clearer.

A less obvious manifestation of vaguery: the cliche. Cliches, pithy nuggets of "common wisdom," are often meaningless. Here is the cliche I see at least five times per batch of essays: a picture is worth 1,000 words. What exactly is the nature of this equivalence? Is it a sort of gold standard between the visual and literary arts--could you take Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting of The Lady of Shallot and transform it into a 1,000-word poem? Can you turn your poem in to a bank somewhere and exchange it for an exact photograph?

Cliches are typically useless nonsense, and don't belong in your essays unless you are raising them up for critique.

Rather than give you an overly graphic explanation, here is a simple instruction: avoid including dictionary definitions in your essays; avoid them particularly in your introduction. As readers, we are quite adept at looking up terms. If you are defining a word, it should be because you are using that word in a way that is not obvious but which is somehow essential to your argument. (Cf. Prof. Ortiz-Robles and his definitions of "Rime.") In this case, you are inevitably better off casting the definition in your own words.

A last note: theses are not easy to write, and they are specifically hard to write concisely. Just by way of a last example to close out our semester, here is the excellent, pithy, specific, interesting thesis of Kevin (301)'s essay:

Mary Shelley’s thoughts suggest that an ideal society should strive for knowledge at a healthy level, that is, not in excess.

I realize it's not necessarily useful to you, as individual writers, to hear where you are as a class, but I do feel confident after this semester that you are as a bloc in about the right position to move into literature courses in the future. You'll find that writing in, say, 200-level literature courses will take some of the writerly behaviors I discussed last semester as a given and will focus instead on new problems; the nature of writing and of analysis is that it is a constant trek upwards.

Remember, if you are making this trek, that I am always here to help you. Please, please feel free to email me whenever if there is anything I can do to help you work through writing essays in lit classes.

Retrieving your exams and future posting preview

2005-12-28T16:57:00.000-06:00

I will keep all students' exams in my office--7134 Helen C. White--for at least a semester, until they catch my eye and I recycle them. (Chances are that I won't toss them until I switch offices or get a real professorial job in, say, four or five years. So if, four years hence, you want to see how you did on your final you're welcome to retrieve it.)

However, as I am rarely in my office, you should probably email me to let me know how you want to pick your exam up. I can pin your exam to the board outside my office, carry it with me to my office hours next year, meet you in a coffee shop at your convenience to talk through it with you, whatever you like.

*

I doubt many of you are so dedicated to my lively posts to continue reading long after your grades have been delivered, but if you are still among my audience then you might expect at least a few more posts before I shutter this blog in two weeks or so--

First, I want to give you a sense of the range of writing styles that earned full credit for the essay questions, so you have a sense of the kinds of "perfect" there are out there.
Second, I want to give you a quick breakdown of the grades so you can get a sense of where you fit into the class in general and also a sense of how the class improved--or didn't--from essay to essay and from exam to exam. I have some graphs to share with you. Graphs, indeed!
Third, I have a few notes on problems that recurred in the second essays, problems you might want to avoid when you write future essays.
Fourth, I have some recommended reading for you if you're hankering for more books like Middlemarch or Frankenstein. Also on this list are some grammar books you might find amusing (amusing, I swear) and other books to flesh out the Best English-language Literature list that Middlemarch caps
Finally, I think I'll probably point you toward my next class blog, because if you're reading my posts that far after the semester you might as well learn where to pick up for next semester.

Exam 2, ID answers

2005-12-26T01:38:00.000-06:00

While you probably won't be enduring another exam of the Romantic or Victorian variety, there's a chance you'll run into more ID and essay exams about literature in the future; hence, here are some strong answers to the passages we put to you on our final exam.

Once you make it past the basic identification of author and text, there are no strictly right or wrong answers to the significance of the passages we asked you to identify on the exam. These are simply some answers that received full credit for the passages.

Trends to notice include the generally close readings of the texts, concrete observations about how these passages fit into the larger argument of the texts from which they are excerpted, and an eagerness to analyze each text anew. For example, the answer to Passage 9, though brief, offers an impressive new analysis of the organization of the similes in the text.

Also notice how much these samples vary in length: the answer to Passage 5 is just as brilliant as the answer to Passage 3, but it's half as long.

a) Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
b) This phrase occurs in the last stanza of the poem, Dover Beach where the speaker has finished addressing the sea as a sort of metaphor for the state of Victorian England. At this point, the speaker reflects on what he has observed based on the motions of the sea.
c) Because this passage is in the last stanza, it gives meaning to the rest of the poem. The first 3 stanzas address the moonlight and the sea as metaphors for Victorian England. He emphasizes, in the beginning, the absence of light like he does in the end with words such as “darkling plain” and “armies clash by night.” The use of dark and night and the absence of light suggest uncertainty regarding the Victorian Age – specifically between tradition and reform. The last phrase, “ignorant armies clash by night,” suggests England fighting itself over this struggle between tradition and reform.

This passage is from Eliot’s Middlemarch. It occurs just after Dorothea has witnessed Rosamond & Will together, & immediately following when Will makes it known to Rosamond that she is nothing to him, & that Dorothea is the only woman who means anything to Will. Rosamond, used to always being considered the epitome of womanhood & the object of all men’s desire, is shocked beyond anything. She feels that she is “losing the sense of her identity” & “waking into some new terrible existence” because, in her shallowness, she always believed herself to be the center of all things. And it hurts. This new concept is being “burnt & bitten into her.” This is a representative (& extreme) demonstration of the themes of self-realization in the story. The characters all come a new understanding in the world, & in a sense, it is a symbol of what will happen in Middlemarch, that its people will one day realize that their small town is in fact not the center of existence. And it will be an unpleasant shock, just as it is to Rosamond & her “sensibility.”

Modern Painters by John Ruskin
- Ruskin is here describing how to judge a piece of art. What he states here rids the reader of any thought that the greatest art is the most beautiful, most realistic, etc., which he explicitly mentioned in another part of the piece. Basically this passage is in conclusion to his premises that arts greatness cannot be measured against how beautiful, lifelike, etc., it is.
- This passage is significant in that it summarizes a very main point in this piece, that art is great relative to the greatest number of greatest ideas it (the work of art) inspires. This idea is conducive to the theme that viewing, being inspired by and critiquing art are all highly individualistic in nature. According to this passage it can be implied that it depends on how the nature of the person how and how much they are given ideas by a piece of art. Further, it seems to me that Ruskin suggests even this concept is itself highly individualistic by using “I” a lot in order to remind the reader that these are his ideas, ideas which may or may not hold true for everyone or at least be true to varying degrees.

This is a passage from the beginning of the first act of Oscar Wilde’s “Importance of Being Earnest” in which Algy has found out that Jack is “Jack in the country” and “Ernest in town,” and is introducing the term “Bunburyist” to the audience. This is a significant passage because it employs the epigram (seen in Algy’s critique of Jack’s lack of ability in “literary criticsm”), which is one of the dominant style devices of the play, and affords the telling of many social truths (that the critics in the paper are rubbish) by outlandishly sarcastic claims.

This passage is from Walter Pater’s “The Renaissance.” It is at the very end of the essay + concludes his thoughts on the reason for and effects of art.
The repetition of passion + the word fruit to describe I brings home Pater’s theory that art, which presents itself (ripens like fruit) is a different thing in each new moment, should be avidly “eaten” (so it doesn’t spoil) instead of being pinpointed + philosophized. It is there to “eat” and nourish (produce passion) and nothing else.

(A) Lady of Shallott, Tennyson
(B) This is the very end of the poem after the lady ventures out of her tower and dies.
(C) In her death the Lady of Shallott experiences all the things firsthand that she could not as an artist apart from her subject and nature and society. Before her death she hears occasional sounds through the window but is never around people. She is isolated from the community and really a myth to them more than an actual person. In her death those are all contrasted. She is now in nature surrounded by water and gardens. She is also surrounded by community, as she sails by the “knight and burgher, lord and dame” all come out to see her almost like she is a work of art in a museum, they crowd around to see her. Also how as she comes in it is “silent into Camelot.” It seems the tables have changed. She in life has been hiding, but observing these people of the town and now only in death do they look at her. And they finally know her name, The Lady of Shallott.

This passage comes from Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover.” It is right after Porphyria’s lover (the speaker) has strangled her with her hair, in order that she might “always” love him.
The almost regular rhyme scheme contrasted with the morbid subject (strangling) gives off an ambiguous impression of whether the speaker is in his right mind or not. This frightful contrast is also perhaps Browning’s way of illustrating what can happen, the tension and uncertainty that can arise from individuals being made separate from the society. When Porphyria leaves society to join her lover, bad happens. It also expresses perhaps the kind of effect individuality can have on people - something which Browning makes fun of here.

1) This is from Middlemarch, by George Eliot
2) This passage takes place after Fred has been at the tavern (the Green Dragon?), and has observed Lydgate, still frantic over debt, betting wildly at billiards. Mr. Farebrother has just given Fred a pep talk, and told Fred that he (Farebrother) liked Mary but she likes Fred best and that Fred should “go for her” and be all that he can be. Book VI or VII?
3) Once again, this deals with the theme of change and impermanence. Fred has gone through hard times, but felt a “regenerating shudder” at that moment. He was re-invented in Farebrother’s eyes. This also points to the theme of how our social peers shape and affect us. If Farebrother can re-invent Fred, maybe man can invent man, unlike in Frankenstein.

1) Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
2) The narrator is the poet and is describing Laura’s movements just as she is about to give in to the Goblins’ temptations
3) This shows the significance of not being able to find allegory within the poem. The poet uses metaphor after metaphor yet still isn’t able to find one that works. This can also show how Laura is becoming less alive as she gives in, going from human to non-human as each metaphor progresses. The images of the swan, lily, branch, and vessel show this.

State of the Grading

2005-12-25T15:17:00.000-06:00

Let's see... Merry Christmas, of course, to those of you who participate in such things. And Happy Hanukkah--Happy pre-Hanukkah, I should say--for those of you who do that. Feliz Navidad, naturally, and a most reverential pre-Kwanzaa. And a glorious Yule.

No, your grades aren't in yet. However, as you can imagine, Prof. Ortiz-Robles wants them immediately. My goal is to get everything submitted to him before I go to sleep tonight--I'm pretty sure I couldn't possibly get away with turning them in even a day later, so this is one goal you can be reasonably sure I'm going to meet.

Your exams are completely graded; I'll post examples of strong answers tonight or tomorrow, but for now it might intrigue you to learn that the average exam grade was down 4.4 points from your midterm average. I feel that this was partly unfair--I become a harsher grader when my stress levels increase--so I have buffered all exam grades by 3 points. The other 1.4 points rest on your shoulders.

I'm halfway through the essays right now; the half of you whose essays have been graded have received commented copies of those essays; the half of you whose essay have not been graded will not receive copies of your essays until after your grades are in. The reason is that I will review and sprinkle initial comments on all your papers and then grade them; I will come back next week to fill in my comments and send the final drafts of everything back to you.

"Dover Bitch"

2005-12-20T18:55:00.000-06:00

Uncovered whilst researching a claim about "Dover Beach" on an exam essay: "Dover Bitch," by former US Poet Laureate Anthony Hecht.

And as long as we're on the topic of nineteenth-century literary parodies, check (1) Wordsworth's The Leech-Gatherer; or, Resolution and Independence and (2) Lewis Carroll's The White Knight's Song (also available in p. 1668 of our Victorian anthology).

A ransom note

2005-12-20T11:53:00.000-06:00

Dear Students,

If you ever want to see your final exam blue books again, just shoot me an email. Usually I won't mark them up too much and will just keep them in a filing cabinet in my office, but if you think you'll want to pick up your blue book next semester I'll do a better job marking Excellent! and Awful!, or whatever it is I do...

Practice Exam 2, Part I only

2005-12-18T00:21:00.000-06:00

Part I. Identification of five passages. 30 mins. 30% (6 mins. per passage).

Write on five of the following nine passages. For each one,

identify the text in which the passage occurs and its author, (1 point)
write one or two sentences describing the context of the passage by identifying the speaker(s) or the character(s) involved; where in the plot the passage occurs; and what precisely is happening or being described, (2 points)
state briefly the significance of the passage for the themes of the text. In describing the significance, you should point to specific details - images, telling words, metaphors - to support your account. Without these details you will not get full credit for your answer. (3 points)

1.
You must either make a tool of the creature, or a man of him. You cannot make both. Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be precise and perfect in all their actions. If you will have that precision out of them, and make their fingers measure degrees like cogwheels, and their arms strike curves like compasses, you must unhumanize them.

2.
Ernest. The highest Criticism, then, is more creative than creation, and the primary aim of the critic is to see the object as in itself it really is not; that is your theory, I believe?
Gilbert. Yes, that is my theory. To the critic the work of art is simply a suggestion for a new work of his own, that need not necessarily bear any obvious resemblance to the thing it criticizes. The one characteristic of a beautiful form is that one can put into it whatever one wishes, and see in it whatever one chooses to see…

3.
A bowshot from her bower eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling through the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight forever kneeled
To a lady in his shield…

4.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.

5.
And the function of the aesthetic critic is to distinguish, to analyze, and separate from its adjuncts, the virtue by which a picture, a landscape, a fair personality in life or in a book, produces this special impression of beauty or pleasure, to indicate what the source of that impression is, and under what conditions it is experienced.

6.
Then joining hands to little hands
Would bid them cling together,
“For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.”

7.
Fred felt a shock greater than he could quite account for by the vague knowledge that Lydgate was in debt, and that his father had refused to help him; and his own inclination to enter into the play was suddenly checked. It was a strange reversal of attitudes: Fred’s blond face and blue eyes, usually bright and careless, ready to give attention to anything that held out a promise of amusement, looking involuntarily grave and almost embarrassed as if by the sight of something unfitting; while Lydgate, who had habitually an air of self-possessed strength, and a certain meditativeness that seemed to lie behind his most observant attention, was acting, watching, speaking with that excited narrow consciousness which reminds one of an animal with fierce eyes and retractile claws.

8.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

9.
She had no presentiment that the power which her husband wished to establish over her future action had relation to anything else than his work. But it was clear enough to her that he would expect her to devote herself to sifting those mixed heaps of material, which were to be the doubtful illustration of principles still more doubtful. The poor child had become altogether unbelieving as to the trustworthiness of that Key which had made the ambition and the labour of her husband’s life. It was not wonderful that, in spite of her small instruction, her judgment in this matter was truer than his: for she looked with unbiassed comparison and healthy sense at probabilities on which he had risked all his egoism.

The Final Exam FAQ (updated 12/18, 6 pm)

2005-12-17T23:41:00.000-06:00

Each TA grades his or her students' exams, so you will be writing specifically to me. I'm not sure whether this makes much of a difference for you, but a lost of folks have been asking.
Remember that these essays aren't asking you to write simple comparative analyses of texts; it is not enough to have a thesis that argues "Text A does one thing; Text B does something that is somewhat similar and somewhat different." You need to use both texts to defend a larger argument. You should, of course, address differences between these texts as a way of nuancing your analysis.
(Update 12/18, 6 pm.) While you should not repeat readings that you use in either of your two papers, there's nothing the slightest bit untoward about using the ideas you put together in your hebdomadals.
A quick hint: there is nothing unseemly in using the passages made available to you for Part I to answer questions that come up in Part II; indeed, it looks really good if you can take details from those passages to illuminate your argument.
You can write on Middlemarch for both essay questions, if you like; however, you cannot write on the same storyline or section. For example, if you write on Dorothea's engagement to Will (which happens in Book 8) in your answer to question one, in question two you should address what happens to Rosamond, or the Garths, or Bulstrode in an earlier book.
Question 7 seems to be implicitly relating permanence and impermanence to the relationship between artwork and artist. I've had some difficulty with this question, and it certainly is not the easiest on the exam. It is also one of the most interesting.
In question 7, think of political in the broadest possible sense, something like of or relating to the governance of the public. If you want to connect this general evaluation to the specific politics in England - such as the controversy surrounding Reform - you should feel free to do so.
As regards question 9: remember that irony doesn't only mean interruption. Even though you are not invited to analyze "Rime" in answering that question, it might be worth reminding yourself how Prof. Ortiz-Robles defined irony in that lecture.

Review sessions: Times and locations

2005-12-12T13:25:00.000-06:00

Because there seemed to be widespread interest in having a Saturday afternoon review session, and because I will probably need the motivation to get to campus next weekend I'm happy to add a couple hours Saturday afternoon.

It's my expectation that you will come to these review sessions as to my office hours, with some work done beforehand thinking through exactly what questions you would like to ask and what texts you would like to review.

Wednesday 12/14, 9 to 11 am, Steep & Brew
Friday 12/16, 9 to 11 am, Steep & Brew
Saturday 12/17, 2 to 4 pm, Helen C. White 7134 (my office)
Sunday 12/18, 8 to 9:30 pm, College Library 1193D (through the Ethnic Studies room on the first floor)

Let me know if none of these times work for you and we can try to find some that will. My schedule is fairly flexible after this week.

Some reading recommendations

2005-12-11T17:40:00.000-06:00

I am nothing if not a Great Procrastinator. I meant these recommendations to be up at the beginning of winter break, but honestly there's no reason they can't go up now. I realize that you already have an enormous amount of work on your plates, but there's nothing to stop you from reading for fun on top of that. Indeed, there are many of us who survived our undergraduate careers more or less sane (though you might fairly critique the extent of that sanity) by reading for fun just a few hours a week. As an intellectual practice, free reading allows you to direct your own education and to reserve for yourself the right to investigate areas that your classes cannot adequately cover.

If you liked Middlemarch and are hankering for similarly powerful Victorian prose, Jane Austen's Persuasion and Charles Dickens's Bleak House are both powerful, beautiful novels that ask similar questions about community, family, custom, and love. They are not the lightest novels by those authors, so be forewarned that we're not talking here about the happy-go-lucky Austen of Pride & Prejudice or the adventure-story Dickens of Great Expectations.

Charles Flaubert's Madame Bovary, written just a few years before Middlemarch, is a masterpiece of nineteenth-century fiction: if Middlemarch in one of the greatest English-language prose works, Madame Bovary is one of the finest from across the Channel. It's also a bit spicier: think of Emma Bovary as a Rosamond Lydgate run amok.

The other direction to go after reading George Eliot is to read the works by slightly younger authors who were in awe of her and her accomplishment. Henry James, an American expatriate who spent nearly all his adult life in Britain and the Continent, took Eliot as one of his principle literary models. His early novels, particularly Portrait of a Lady, exhibit some of the same types of characters and relationships that we saw in Middlemarch. (We could argue that James's later works are even more Eliotic - particularly The Golden Bowl - but I hesitate to recommend them, as they are quite long and not generally thought as enjoyable as James's earlier writing. Frankly, I much prefer The Golden Bowl and The Ambassadors to James's earlier stuff, but that might just be me.)

If you were particularly taken by the Dorothea/Celia/Casaubon/Chettam storyline, and particularly by the discussion of power and marriage, you might consider E. M. Forster's Howards End, which offers a fascinating take on a similar set of relationships--indeed, he seems to have had Middlemarch in mind when he set up the Schlegel sisters and the way they relate to the men in their lives. The differences between MM and HE would make for a fascinating study in the ways late Victorian literature transitioned into high Modernism.

Virginia Woolf, arguably the single most important British Modernist, admired Eliot enormously. Woolf's later works - particularly Mrs Dalloway (1925) - clearly respond to the kinds of characters and the styles of narration that we saw appearing in Middlemarch. Obviously Woolf's prose and plot differ from Eliot's enormously, but I think the threads of connection are fairly plain.

If you were into Frankenstein - and many of you seemed to be - you might tap into the world of thoughtful fantasy and science fiction writing it spawned. Mary Shelley's closest successor is probably Ursula K. Le Guin, whose A Wizard of Earthsea and its sequel, The Tombs of Atuan, wrestle with some of the exact socio-political problems Shelley was investigating. (Wizard is at least partly about race; Tombs mostly about gender.) On the science fiction side, writers like Kurt Vonnegut (whom we shouldn't think of as strictly scifi) and Philip K. Dick see genre writing not as an easy way to push out new volumes but rather as useful means by which to discuss modern society. Of Vonnegut, read Cat's Cradle, Sirens of Titan, and maybe Bluebeard and Galapagos; of Dick, read his short story collections. (Dick is a painfully bad writer, but he can construct a plot like few others.)

And here, at the end, are some recommendations for those of you who are thinking about majoring in English. If you're going to be serious about this major, you should study earnestly some of the significant antecedents to our literature: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are simple necessities; I read the former in the Lattimore translation and the later in the Fitzgerald, though there are some newer and slightly jazzier translations out. I hear mostly good things about the Fagles. Dante's Inferno is another essential, and his Purgatorio probably just as important--for some reason the Paradiso isn't well thought of. The Sinclair translation, in prose, is the old school word-for-word version; the Ciardi verse translation is virtuosic, though more than occasionally inaccurate. Less important, but perhaps more interesting, is Ovid's Metamorphosis and Virgil's Aeneid: Roman works, for whatever reason, haven't been quite as important as Greek or Italian in our literary history. I also recommend Madame Bovary as an important read for anyone interested in twentieth-century European literature: it's rarely taught in English classes, since it wasn't written in English, though most important Anglophone authors had read and deeply admired it.

And, of course, I'm happy to recommend books more particularly tailored to your interest; just shoot me an email!

Section 302: Did anyone pick up a notebook that was left behind in our classroom?

2005-12-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

Mary Sue left her notebook behind in our classroom and is trying to locate it. If any kind person picked it up, could you email me and let me know? Thanks!

Things I am kicking myself for having forgotten to say Friday

2005-12-10T10:54:00.000-06:00

For some reason, I'm always more nervous teaching the last day of class than teaching the first. Anyway, in my haste to get to the evaluations I skipped over one of the most important items on my lesson plan - and I did this in both sections. Here's the point, and I think it's an important one: I don't buy into the fast food model of education the University follows for its intro courses. This means that I would be delighted to continue working with you in future semesters - to talk with you about your writing, say, either via the Writing Center or casually over coffee.

I am always happy to suggest good courses (or at least good professors) in our department; and, if you plan on majoring in English, I'd be delighted to talk to you about your course distribution and the work you might think about doing over breaks in order to have a strong background for the classes you take.

For that matter, I'm always delighted to talk to you about literature. If you want any suggestions about great books to read over break, I am totally your guy.

And please feel free to contact me whenever you need a letter of recommendation written: because I keep your hebdomadals, papers and email correspondence pretty much indefinitely I can pretty easily review your work in this course and write a fairly detailed recommendation even years hence. (Of course, when you're applying to things after graduation you probably should rely on professors' recommendations. Anyway, I'm here.)

I'll be pursuing my Ph.D. here for at least the next three and a half years, during that time and probably even after you will be able to reach me at the same email address you've been using to reach me all semester.

Review sessions and techniques

2005-12-09T09:29:00.000-06:00

Just to remind you, I will be available to help you think about the exam and review

Wednesday 12/14, 9 to 11 am, Steep & Brew,
Friday 12/16, 9 to 11 am, Steep & Brew,
Sunday 12/18, 7:30 to 9:30 pm, TBA

And, of course, if you have any questions about the texts that we've covered (or scarcely covered) in class this semester, I'm always available via email.

Now that we have the midterm as an example of how Prof. Ortiz-Robles puts exams together, it should be a little easier to review. I recommend going backward (starting with Wilde and heading back towards Tennyson and Mill), looking over the sections of texts that Prof. Ortiz-Robles discussed in class and thinking about how those sections reveal the larger aims of their texts. You should probably come into the exam with a sense of

The meaning(s) of each text,
The larger project(s) of each writer, and
The sorts of rhetorical and formal strategies each author uses.

Your answers to the essay questions (a list of which you will receive in class next week) should all tie tightly into your reading of these texts, so you are generally best off focusing on the questions and topics raised by the texts and only later thinking about the ways these texts help you answer the questions the essay topics ask.

Please, if you have any questions at all, contact me via email. I'm here to help you!

The Importance of Hollywood Adaptations

2005-12-03T19:27:00.000-06:00

Chances are, if you've heard of The Importance of Being Earnest at all you've heard of it in connection to 2002 adaptation with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth in the title role. This is generally considered to be a Bad Adaptation, with its ridiculous implications about Algernon's debt and some roles filled for the sake of celebrity rather than comic intelligence. (To be fair, the director - Oliver Parker - did a perfectly respectable, celebrity-drenched version of Wilde's least-read play, An Ideal Husband, in 1999.)

The Good Adaptation was releasted in 1952. I have to confess that I don't recognize most of the actors' names, other than that of Michael Redgrave (famous mostly, I think, for fathering particularly competent actors) - but with that lack of celebrity seems to have come enormous comic genius. I have not, to this day, found a movie quite as funny as this version of Earnest (possible exception: Clueless).

Anyhow, if you find yourself particularly eager for an excuse to procrastinate in the next couple weeks, consider renting the '52 Earnest: you won't be disappointed.

...and if you do want to be disappointed, there's always the 1994 TV miniseries of Middlemarch, which I'm told is just wretched. (However, it stars Colin Firth's little brother as Fred Vincy, which must be amusing.)

Make-up hebdomadals and an irresponsible digression

2005-12-02T11:18:00.000-06:00

The syllabus promises you the opportunity of writing a make-up hebdomadal if you've missed any of the hebdomadals over the course of the semester. You may write on either of the "Goblin Market" topics below, if you like. If I'm inspired by The Importance of Being Earnest next week I might also post a short Wilde question.

*

So, in 302 this morning we were talking about how gossip about you helps form your character. Lindsay, who was particularly brilliant this morning, pointed out that it is gossip that goes against the grain of how you think of yourself - how you construct your self-image - that has the most power for change. I couldn't help but think, as an illustration of this phenomenon, of what happened to my teaching style when I discovered my Ratemyprofessor.com listing. Seriously, if you noticed a radical change in my teaching style about halfway through the semester that was the reason.

Hebdomadal 8

2005-11-28T20:08:00.000-06:00

Update, 12/2: I'm as confused as you are about the disappearance of topics 2 and 3 - they were posted just fine Wednesday afternoon, but seem to have been un-published? Anyway, for all it's worth they're below now as they were supposed to be all week.

This, dear students, is your last hebdomadal of the semester. I'm not being a sarcastic ass when I say that I will miss hearing from you weekly, although I suppose it will make my schedule somewhat more manageable.

Topic 1: Why makes the narrator snark Rosamond?

You might recall the narrator's defense of Rosamond from chapter 27:
Think no unfair evil of her, pray: she had no wicked plots, nothing sordid or mercenary; in fact, she never thought of money except as something necessary which other people would always provide. She was not in the habit of devising falsehoods, and if her statements were no direct clew to fact, why, they were not intended in that light - they were among her elegant accomplishments, intended to please. Nature had inspired many arts in finishing Mrs. Lemon's favorite pupil, who by general consent (Fred's excepted) was a rare compound of beauty, cleverness, and amiability. (Page 169.)
But the narrator's impulse to defend Rosamond, with apparent sincerity and kindness, fades by chapter 65:
In spite of Rosamond's self-control a tear fell silently and rolled over her lips. She still said nothing; but under that quietude was hidden an intense effect: she was in such entire disgust with her husband that she wished she had never seen him. Sir Godwin's rudeness towards her and utter want of feeling ranged him with Dover and all other creditors - disagreeable people who only thought of themselves, and did not mind how annoying they were to her. Even her father was unkind, and might have done more for them. In fact there was but one person in Rosamond's world whom she did not regard as blameworthy, and that was the graceful creature with blond plaits and with little hands crossed before her, who had never expressed herself unbecomingly, and had always acted for the best - the best naturally being what she best liked. (Page 411.)
Why does the narrator's position change in regard to Rosamond? Or does it?

Topic 2: Catalogs and the marketplace – a last bit of close reading

Pick one of the catalog or anaphora passages in “Goblin Market” (a partial list of these passages is below) and read those lines closely. Pointing to specific, detailed formal or rhetorical features of the passage, answer one or two of the following questions: How is the list organized – what is its logic? How do rhythmic and metric features distinguish the list from surrounding text? What is the effect (emotionally, intellectually, readerly) of having so much repetition in such a tight space? How would you distinguish the tone of the poem in this passage from the tone of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”? How does this list fit into Prof. Ortiz-Robles’s description of “Goblin Market” as an allegory of the search for allegories?

Some of the lists in “GM”:
Lines 5-29: The goblins’ wares
56-58 and 71-76: The goblins Laura sees
81-86: Similes that describe Laura’s peering
329-351: Goblins reacting to Lizzie’s peering
408-421: Similes that describe Lizzie’s standing

Topic 3: Goblins, monsters, and Others

Prof. Ortiz-Robles briefly mentioned yesterday that one of the allegorical readings of “GM” was colonial: that the goblins were figured as Other and that their market thereby illustrates the troubled relationship between Britain and its colonial holdings (particularly India). You can approach this topic in a couple of ways:
Subtopic A – Draw out this allegorical reading: if the goblins represent, say, the Indians, how is their relationship with the sisters analogous to Britain’s relationship with India in the mid nineteenth century?

Subtopic B – The last time we had a chance to talk about the Other was when we were reading Frankenstein. How do these two texts approach the idea of the Other differently? (Remember that there are at least a couple different possibilities for Otherness in Frankenstein: the monster himself and Safie, to name just two possibilities. Choose just one of these Others to compare with the goblins.)

Some thoughts on drinking

2005-11-28T20:03:00.000-06:00

The free hebdomadals you wrote a few weeks back were a delight to read, and I wanted to post a couple particularly exciting examples of the answers I got to my questions about drinking - if nothing else they should furnish you with some wonderful excuses if you're ever caught drinking. First, Melanie from 301:

Alcohol. To many college students, this is their nearest and dearest friend. Alcohol is readily available for all your needs: it will warm you up on a chilly night, it will make you forget your problems (if even for just a little bit) and it’s not afraid to do stupid, outrageous and potentially life-threatening things with you. Like all good friendships though, alcohol and college students have their ups and downs, like down to the toilet, or down to the ground as they pass out, or watching their grades go down. . . but yet college students keep coming back to their trusty friend alcohol. Why is that?

For college students, alcohol is the ultimate mask, their salvation from social awkwardness. Alcohol makes you forget that you’re in a new surrounding, far from home, far from your close friends, far from any comfort that has surrounded one for the past 18 years or so. With alcohol, you can open up, do stupid and crazy things and the best part is, you think its fun because you can’t quite remember what happened most of the night. Alcohol is also freedom, its taboo. It’s our little way of saying “Stick it to the man (Mom and Dad)! I’m a big kid now!” Even for students that are of legal drinking age, being “the drunk guy” isn’t socially acceptable a lot of the time (Who would bring home their significant other to meet the parents after a night of partying in Madison?). I also believe college students drink because that’s what they think college is all about. Look at Animal House, the epitome of a college movie, or any other cheap college comedy out today, TV shows and commercials. . . they always show college students drinking. When you talk to your friends about college too, what do they tell you about? Usually not that thrilling paper they worked on Saturday night but their funny drunk stories. People are scared coming to college of not fitting in, not making friends, so they do what most people do, drink. Drinking promotes cookie-cutter people who mask their true identities in a bottle but hey, everyone likes cookies.

How much can one learn from a depressant, that clouds reasons and could poison/kill you? As much as Calculus seems to cloud my reason and depress me and even though I manage to convince myself that my teachers are secretly in a plot to kill me with all the homework that is given, I generally come out with a fun (excruciatingly boring) fact. When I drink, I usually come out with a nasty hangover, a garbage can full of puke, and one of my friends passed out on the futon. Is drinking in itself useful? Will it look good on your resume (or legal record)? No, that’s a ridiculous statement for anyone to make. Is it an experience though? A natural part of growing up and learning who you are and where you fit in? Yeah and I think that’s really what a lot of college is about.

And here is Lindsay from 302, who totally gets bonus points for sticking in a quick reference to J. S. Mill:

To me drinking is something that at least in my family was something that was acceptable, but only once you were in college. In high school to drink we had to sneak around our parents, but oddly now that I have graduated high school and have moved on to college, drinking seems oddly acceptable to my parents and there older friends. When my dad tells stories about his best times in college they always end up being with his frat brothers, and I always find myself wondering how he really remembered them because they always seem to start with, well we threw a keg in the back of the truck…and move on from there. Even the adults at my high school graduation party would write in the cards, here is X amount of money use it to buy a cup at a party. I’m not saying that I feel pressure to drink solely from my parents and other adults, but to me it seems like somewhat of a tradition. You grow up, graduate high school, and you go to college to “find yourself” which somehow seems to include taking as many vodka shots as possible in one night.

However, I think there is something to be said for the drinking culture here at Madison. A lot about being in college is about being on your own for the first time, making your own decisions and messing up. As stupid as it sounds, the first thing you want to do when you’re in college is do what you have never been allowed to do, and for many people that includes alcohol. Its not that people haven’t drank before they got to college, but a lot of them have never been able to drink in such an open environment. I think in the time between high school, and being a grown up people want to mess up and alcohol has a funny way of accelerating how quickly people tend to make mistakes. I’ll admit a lot of it is ego and peer pressure driven. There has to be some driving force behind waking up at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning hung over from the night before, and forcing yourself to drink before a Badger game. For some reason I have yet to figure out, there is a certain pride that goes along with having consumed so much alcohol and survived the night. It is sort of like J.S. Mill’s arguments in “The Subjection of Women”. As different as the subjects are they carry same ideas, the “custom” image of a college student is one that is always drinking, so to be a college student and not drink makes you…a genius. Well maybe all of Mill’s arguments aren’t completely accurate, I’m not sure that putting down the pitcher will help turn you in to a genius but maybe if you put down the pitcher and picked up a book you would get a lot closer.

Another holiday worth celebrating

2005-11-22T15:08:00.000-06:00

Today is George Eliot's birthday! She'd have been 186 today. This weekend, be sure to raise a glass to one of the finest novelists our language has ever had!

Something you might do next weekend

2005-11-19T23:24:00.000-06:00

If you have not yet seen the new Pride & Prejudice movie, you might think about doing so: it is amazing. (And it is amazing even in the context of the BBC/A&E version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth; Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFayden are every bit as good.)

And, utterly unrelatedly, my sister just got new kittens. What could better reduce your stress then looking at the picture of one? This is Alton, either enraptured by or frightened of a piece of string:

Some sample exam answers

2005-11-19T11:12:00.000-06:00

Past identifying the author and title of the passages on the exam, there are no correct or incorrect answers: there are only correct or incorrect ways of reading. I am posting the nine answers below not because they are inherently correct, but because they all read the texts correctly. All of these answers received full credit.

This passage can be found in the very conclusion of Percy Shelley’s “Defence of Poetry.” In it, Shelley expresses his belief that poetry is capable of bringing about great change in the world – political change. He does this specifically by calling forth “gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon present.” While orthodox legislators are most concerned w/ the present, Shelley uses this phrase to illustrate that the poets’ immortal feelings, expressed through words, are relevant for both present and future, and should thus be heeded. The images of trumpets, battle express the poets’ stance – ready to bring about change.

a) Keats – Ode on a Grecian Urn
b) In these final lines of the Ode, Keats describes the figures’ destiny to forever be engraved in the side of urn, unable to progress, change & grow
c) Because the figures will always be stuck within the urn’s confinements, time will pass them by keeping them younger & aesthetic: “When old age shall this generation waste / Thou shalt remain in midst of other woe.” Because they cannot be used for any purpose besides their pure & innocent beauty, Keats tells the reader that beauty, in fact, “is all / ye know on Earth, & all ye need to know.” When Keats tells us that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” he tells the reader that the aesthetic aspects of life are sometimes more enriching & important than the intellectual factors of life.

1.) “Michael” by W. Wordsworth

2.) Michael is speaking to his son about his planned departure to London. This occurs towards the end of the poem, or the end of the middle, actually. Michael refers to the stone enclosure he must now build alone without his son.

3.) The stone enclosure referred to is a symbol of the pact between father + son. Ironically, it is never constructed, and the son breaks his pact as well and never returns home, having been changed by the industrial city. Themes of the purity of nature vs. dehumanizing cities, unkept promises.
- Blank verse, outward vs. inward imagination.

Middlemarch by George Eliot.
- This is a description of Rosamond Vincy. The narrator is the speaker. This is one of the introductory descriptions given of Rosamond.
- This passage is significant in that it shows / tells of Rosamond as she actually is. It does NOT dwell greatly on how others see her on think of her. The passage merely states what the general consensus is of her true self, one of a “rare compound of beauty, cleverness + amiability”
However, before that closing line by using words like falsehood, light + intended to please Eliot creates the impression that Rosamond’s nature is something she (Rosamond) has crafted to appeal to others (the community) but not actually herself (the individual.)

“Tintern Abbey” – William Wordsworth
- In this passage W. W. is reflecting on how the beautiful landscape of the country along the Wye river has often soothed his mind when he has meditated on it while in the hustle of the City. This passage occurs near the beginning of the poem, after the initial descriptions of the countryside.
- W. W. compares the winding Wye river to the flowing veins in his body, and how just as a river refreshes the land around it, the remembrance of that beauty refreshes his body and is “felt in the blood, and felt along the heart.” This ties into W. W.’s greater purpose of showing the reciprocity between nature and imagination.

Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
This passage is from the dream Victor has after bringing his creation to life. He awakes to it entering his room, and flees.
One suggestion Professor O-R made was that this passage could relate to VY usurping woman’s reproductive role. I see it as tying into the ‘invention of man’ quote from earlier in the semester and ‘man’ as male. Also, it is the invention of Victor’s tormentor and (in a sense) nemesis. The transformation of Elizabeth from health to death can also be seen as a foreshadowing of the real destruction by that which her lover has just created.

This passage is from George Eliot’s Middlemarch. This metaphor for Mrs. Cadwallader’s match-making comes after she finds out that Dorothea is engaged to Casaubon and not Sir James. The image of the microscope echoes a larger theme of the book – Eliot’s own experiment of looking through a lens at a sample of English society from a specific time period.

“Mont Blanc” – written by Percy Sheley
This passage occurs at the end of the poem. It is a wrap up of all the events of the poem and shows the power and vacancy of the mountain.

The significance of this passage is showing the true sublime powers of the mountain. The mountain is awe inspiring and completely “vacant.” The last line ties the poet’s mind to the features of the vacant mountain. The mind is a vast and open space, just like the mountain, but the mind does not have to remain silent and void. While looking upon the mountain, the mind of the poet becomes vast and wide as if struck by the power and sublime features of the mountain.

“The Rime of the Ancient Marinerr” Coleridge
This passage is from the middle of the poem. It occurs after the Albatross is shot, and after a curse is cast onto all of the men aboard the ship. The passage is describing how all of the men pass by the mariner as they are “ascending” to heaven. However, the mariner is left behind to deal with his consequences of shooting the Albatross. A religious theme can be exposed here with the words, souls, soul, or cross. Also, if we think of the bodies flying up, and their souls passing on to heaven, there’s a sense of religion.

Unexpected

2005-11-15T22:09:00.000-06:00

Neal Pollack's favorite book he read in college? Middlemarch.

On extraneous graphemes

2005-11-13T22:00:00.000-06:00

To judge from your hebdomadals and (especially) your exams, at least 60% of Middlemarch was written by an author named Elliott; about a further 15% was written by an Eliott, and the final 25% by an Eliot.

I'm sure the Elliott-ists among you are mistaking the surname of the author finest novel written in our language for that of the actress who stunningly portrays the wealthy American heiress Millie Theale in the finest cinematic adaptation of any book, 1997's The Wings of the Dove - Alison Elliott. Forgivable though this error is - Elliott is so remarkable acting in this genre that she might just have gone back in time, changed her first name, and written Middlemarch - it's probably best to write in more thorough orthographic accord with the pseudonym she took.

Two other remarks on this score: Mill, not Mills. This is an error I make constantly, so it's possible that your Mills-ing comes from having paid attention to me in class, something you should assiduously avoid doing.

Finally, and in an air of great futility: hebdomadal. Seriously: hebdomadal. Not hebdomal, or hebdamal, or any other trisyllabic variant.

Hebdoswitcheroo

2005-11-13T08:49:00.000-06:00

Just as a for-your-information, I am trying to make it through the Heb 7's before I finish up the Heb 6's so I can be sure to comment on prospective theses before they come due and the suchlike. Your sibth hebs have (most likely) not gotten lost in the mail - I'm just getting to them in a roundabout way.

My time is slowly beginning to open up; after this Wednesday I should have even more time to devote to you guys and your work. I really appreciate how flexible you have all been with me in my time crunch: it's so nice to know that I can be just a human around you.

Hebdomadal 7

2005-11-10T09:18:00.000-06:00

I would like to thank you for your patience in waiting to get your exams back--and, for some of you, in waiting to get your sixth hebdomadals commented upon. It has been a truly difficult week for me, and I appreciate that you are willing to be flexible with me.

There are two hebdomadal topics this week. I would prefer that you answer the first.

Topic 1: Thesis

Choose the essay topic you would like to respond to for your second essay. What argument do you want to make, connecting a close reading to a larger analytical issue? What is the significance of this particular argument? That is, once I have read your essay how will I read the text differently? What implications does your analysis have for the way we read other texts in this course? What passage or passages will you be reading closely?

If you are writing this essay collaboratively - which I hope you are - you should write this hebdomadal collaboratively as well.

Topic 2: The Stones of Excellence

Pick one sizeable paragraph or a couple shorter consecutive paragraphs from "The Stones of Venice." Reading this paragraph closely for language and structure - voice and style - explain why this essay is often considered the greatest in our language. How does the way Ruskin writes contribute to our appreciation of his argument?

Do you agree or disagree with the assessment of "The Stones of Venice" as a truly great essay? Why?

Collaboration

2005-11-06T13:34:00.000-06:00

If you are interested in collaborating but haven't tracked down the perfect collaborator, feel free to shoot me an email letting me know what sort of person you would like to work with and I'll see what I can do to set you up. It's possible that I'm a little too eager to play scholarly matchmaker, but put my energy to work for you!

Virginia Woolf on George Eliot

2005-11-06T13:22:00.000-06:00

Woolf wrote two pieces on Eliot; the more famous of the two is her chapter in The Common Reader, Series One. (Dozens of copies are available at Memorial Library - call number PN511 W7.) If you want to give it a read, let me assure you that The Common Reader makes for wonderful bedtime reading, Woolf's voice richly seductive and soothing.

In addition, freely available online is Woolf's 1919 appraisal of Eliot's career, written for the (London) Times Literary Supplement, in which she cryptically calls Middlemarch one of the few English novels written for grown-up people. If you have a spare fifteen minutes, you might casually peruse Woolf's evaluation of Eliot's life and work. (If you're skimming, note that the second half of the essay is more interesting than the first, so you might want to concentrate your efforts there.)

Second paper conference sign-up "sheet"

2005-11-05T12:30:00.000-06:00

Tuesday 8 November
2:10 pm - Danielle
2:30 -
2:50 -
3:10 -
3:30 -
3:50 -

Wednesday 9 November
9:00 am - Mallory
9:20 -
9:40 -
10:00 - Caitlin
10:20 -
10:40 -
11:00 - Kevin

Thursday 10 November
10:30 am - Erin
10:50 - Kevin
11:10 - Melanie
11:30 - Lindsay
11:50 - Emily S.
12:10 pm - Jessica

Tuesday 15 November
2:10 pm - Cassandra
2:30 - Allyson
2:50 - Emily C. (301)
3:10 - Samantha
3:30 - Jenny

Wednesday 16 November
9:00 am - Joe
9:20 - Mark
9:40 -
10:00 - Caitlin
10:20 -
10:40 - Mallory

Example and reflection

2005-11-03T21:59:00.000-06:00

It's often a lot easier to see an example of a strong essay than to figure out exactly what I am trying to say in my comments about your writing. Conveniently, this class yielded one of the better student papers I've seen in the past couple years; the author has consented to its publication here.

If you can, read it all through to observe how each paragraph connects to the main claim, and how each subsequent passage adds substantially to the larger analytical arc of the essay. Some particularly landmark moments:

The thesis at the end of P1 is exactly what theses should sound like in 100- and 200-level English courses: it engages with the specific language of the scene but immediately broadens out to consider the significance of that particular mode of analysis
The close reading in P4 is the kind of stuff that makes intro lit teachers swoon: language! structure! theme! trope! This paragraph is a thing of beauty.
The conclusion avoids summary and instead focuses on the significance of the analysis as it points forward to how this analysis changes our reading of Eliot. The last clause is a bit trite, but that's forgiveable.

Note, also, that this essay is far from flawless: the author oversimplifies readings of surface and superficiality, the argument elides Rosamond's role as an agent in constructing (making up) her own appearance, textual evidence is occasionally occluded - to say nothing of the absent citation. An essay doesn't need to be watertight and publishable to get a high grade; it just needs to demonstrate that you have taken to heart the reading processes Prof. Ortiz-Robles and our discussions have modeled this semester, that you can repeat these processes, and that you do so with enthusiasm and insight.

Creating Identity: Rosamond and the Looking Glass

In George Eliot’s Middlemarch, understanding who the characters are is vital in understanding the author’s experiment with English society. In the scene where Rosamond and Mary are talking in front of the looking glass on pages 72 and 73, the author uses the mirror as a symbol to investigate who one of her characters, the fair Rosamond, really is. Eliot’s metaphor of the glass exposes not only what role physical beauty plays for the characters of Middlemarch; more importantly it reinforces the power comparison plays as a constant dependence people have on each other to define themselves. The glass is yet another lens which Eliot holds up to the reader’s eye in order to view the process of forming an identity – the complex inter-workings of outward influences and inward perceptions that create how an individual sees him or herself and the world.

The first meaning the mirror suggests is Rosamond’s vanity. Upon stepping into a room away from men, Rosamond automatically gravitates toward the one place, the looking glass, where she can make sure that what other people are seeing is what she wants them to see, “adjust[ing] her veil” and “appl[ying] little touches of her finger-tips to her hair.” She must know that the men of Middlemarch find her “infantine fairness” and “delicate undulations” angelic. Miss Vincy’s vanity motivates her to affirm Middlemarch’s belief that she is beautiful by any means necessary. She is committed to preserving the illusion of pureness that is associated with her beauty.

The mirror images of Rosamond underline the existence of this façade. As she gazes at herself, the narrator points out that Rosamond and her twin inside the glass have lovely blue eyes “deep enough to hold the most exquisite meanings … and deep enough to hide the meaning of the owner if these should happen to be less exquisite.” Even the syntax of this description exhibits mirror-like behavior, and the two Rosamonds that it exposes are proof that Rosamond is not quite the girl she seems to her acquaintances. When we consider what a mirror does, this concept is clear. When we look into a looking glass, our eyes see two indistinguishable likenesses, yet one has life while the other doesn’t. With Rosamond, it is like she is living as the image in the mirror all the time, devoid of true personality and life. The image she projects is the most important thing, so she focuses on making the outside perfect while neglecting her depth. She has become so concerned with the significance of her beauty that everything else is secondary. Throughout the book, it is clear that the Rosamond rarely gives her real self an opportunity to express itself; she never gives away what she is really thinking. After all, she has convinced herself that the training she received at school outlines the only way to act. If she were to let her true opinions be heard, she might destroy her perfect performance.

Rosamond’s two-sided character is further defined by the comparison between Rosamond and Mary. The language of the passage calls attention to the contrasts between Mary and Rosamond with phrases that force comparison like “on the contrary,” “antithesis,” and “by the side.” In addition, the structure of the narrator’s portrayals consistently mirrors itself. For instance, Mary Garth has the looks of an “ordinary sinner” where Rosamond is an “angel.” Rosamond’s hair is gossamer-blonde; Mary’s is “curly and dark.” Rosamond’s fairness is thoroughly explored in the part of the passage devoted to describing her; Mary’s ‘fairness’ of the “honesty, truth-telling” sort is given due course in her own section. It’s clear that they could not be more different.

The conclusion we are to draw from these comparisons seems clear: if we are informed of something about one lady, we can guess that the opposite is reflected on the other. This provides us with a more reliable tool to understand who the real Rosamond is. Mary is always honest and truthful; Rosamond lies. Mary doesn’t aim to please anyone, but Rosamond molds and shapes every word and look without giving it a second thought. Mary “neither trie[s] to create illusions, nor indulge[s] in them for her own behoof,” where nearly all Rosamond’s accomplishments and affectations are an elaborate structure concealing her middling background. They do have some things in common: cleverness, intelligence, awareness of how they are seen by others, and similar family backgrounds, among other things, but in the most interesting aspects of their characters, they couldn’t be more different.

When Rosamond and Mary catch each other in the mirror, the theme of comparison is continued to reinforce the value Middlemarch places on beauty. Side by side, the two figures reflected in the mirror make it all too plain to each exactly what flat images Middlemarch sees when they weigh the qualities of Mary against those of Rosamond. It’s clear that Rosamond’s “kind” reassurance that “No one ever thinks of your appearance, you are so sensible and useful, Mary. Beauty is of very little consequence in reality,” is not congruent with the way these young ladies have formed their identities. On the contrary, beauty seems to have enormous consequence in the reality of Middlemarch.

First of all, Miss Vincy obviously does not believe her statement because immediately after it comes out of her mouth, she maneuvers to get a better look at her lovely neck. Secondly, beauty is at the root of a chain of implications that good looks carry in Middlemarch society. It all starts where Middlemarch compares Rosamond to the other young ladies in the area and agree that she is the prettiest. In order to satisfy their expectations, Rosamond depends on the ideals of femininity that were ingrained into her as she grew up to both define herself and to provide a frame of reference against which she compares herself to the other girls in the neighborhood. Of course, the standards she uses ensure that she stays on top. These girls, in turn, depend on their perceptions of Rosamond as well as the opinion of the community to identify and rank themselves.

Even Mary, probably one of the least susceptible to this cycle by virtue of her “satiric bitterness” and obvious intelligence, sees herself as a “brown patch” next to Miss Vincy in that all-important mirror. After all, this is what everyone in Middlemarch thinks; Mary accepts it as fact and lets it enter her identity. If Rosamond is the definition of pretty, then the others are plain. If she is accomplished, they are not. Rosamond’s beauty, a mere genetic fluke, takes on massive importance because of the way the people of Middlemarch perceive everyone as relative to his or her neighbors.

Eliot’s symbolic use of the mirror in this passage uncovers Rosamond’s true nature through the comparison of the real Miss Vincy and the image Middlemarch sees, the same image that’s reflected in the mirror – an image which the viewer has the power to connect with any virtues they assume are right, regardless of the truth. By putting Rosamond and Mary in front of the looking glass together, Eliot enables the reader to trace the way beauty has influenced the formation of a sense of self in Rosamond, Mary, and the unnamed others who are undoubtedly caught in the cycle of dependent identification. In the end, Middlemarch traps its inhabitants in roles that may or may not reflect who they are by forcing them into a reliance on each other to characterize themselves. Eliot’s mirror ensures that this study of provincial life leaves the reader with an understanding of the process of creating a sense of self which is not reserved to the fictional characters of Middlemarch; if we pay attention, we can see that every one of us does it as well.

Two notes and a fine bit of prose

2005-11-03T20:27:00.000-06:00

1. can u plz stop writing like ths?

I suspect that it's rather a compliment that you write to me in the casual style of contemporary electronic correspondence--"Can U send me my grade," etc., neglecting conventional spelling and grammar and choosing not to proofread for typos. By so doing, perhaps you mean to say "I trust you as a friend, and convey my respect for you by writing in a language I feel to be particularly authentic."

The problem is that the message I'm receiving is something more like "I'm an idiot who scarcely understands how periods work, much less commas. If my essays are grammatical it is only because I follow Word's grammar correction advice."

A little-known fact: when you get your BA in English, they inject a bit of Stodgitude into your blood, and suddenly you start caring about how people use semicolons. By the time you get your MA, you know the history of the semicolon and care passionately about comma splices. Just think of orthographical rectitude as a disease I have and humor me. plz.

2. Lecture is for passing notes

I hope to heaven that none of you are the type to sit and whisper to one another throughout class. I'm delighted that you have friends in lecture, but for the last couple weeks I have somehow chosen seats immediately behind incessant whisperers. If it is insuperably difficult to pay attention in class, or if your witty observation is too great not to share at that exact moment, could you write it on a note and pass it to your friend? Not only do you allow those near you to listen to the lecture more easily, but you get to practice your writing skills!

(My favorite whispered comment this afternoon, after the two whisperers had been ignoring lecture for the preceding twenty minutes: "I have no idea what he's talking about. This class is so confusing!")

3. Monstrous Middlemarch

Samantha (301) sent in this beautiful Shelleyfication of Middlemarch (Book I, Chapter 4) that I just had to share:
The moment Dorothea left the room, I meditated on the severity with which I communicated my feelings about her most definitely misguided attraction to the old, decrepit figure of Casaubon. But someone needed to have warned her! I suppose it is in the nature of a woman, however, to miss such shockingly apparent signs that the man she desires is not her suitable match. It is not right for a woman of such fine upbringing and with such potential to devote herself to a stale wafer of a man, wasting his life away inside one dry book after another! It shall be a ghastly sight to see the glowing form of Dorothea contrasted by the bleakness Casaubon leaves everywhere in his wake.

Hebdomadal 6

2005-11-02T11:32:00.000-06:00

Two fun topics for you to consider this week!

Topic 1: Style transplant

Now that we are moving into a study of the Victorians, we need to begin thinking about the different decisions prose writers make as regards style. Middlemarch and Frankenstein are so different not just because of their plots (or because Frankenstein at least has a plot, as some of you have suggested) but because George Eliot and Mary Shelley just write in entirely different ways.

But what are these different ways of writing? In this hebdomadal, I would like you to explore ways of defining a single author's style, and of writing in that style yourself.

Choose Mary Shelley or George Eliot or John Stuart Mill. Write a paragraph describing the style of the author you've chosen. Think about the sense the writing style gives you: is it clear and open or think and chaotic or tight and claustrophobic? How long are the sentences s/he writes? how long the paragraphs? How present is the author or speaker in the text--does the word "I" appear a lot or are the sentences mostly passive? ("I disagree with John" or "Commonly, John was disagreed with"?) What words, or types of words, come up the most frequently?

In a second paragraph, pick a paragraph from another author's work and rewrite that paragraph in the style of the author you've chosen. Thus, if you've chosen to study Mary Shelley's prose, write a paragraph from Middlemarch the way Mary Shelley would have written it. Or you can write a paragraph from the newspaper or, really, anywhere else in the style of the author you've chosen: it might be particularly fun to ape how Mill would write a Letter to the Editor if he were alive today and complaining about the police presence on State Street this weekend.

Topic 2: Free hebdomadal

Write, with maturity and eloquence, 300 to 500 words on any topic at all, literary or otherwise. I am particularly excited to read anything you can write about yourself and your perception of the world. If you can bring Middlemarch in at all then you are absolutely welcome to, but there really is no literary obligation here. If you’re not sure exactly what topics to write about, consider these:
If this is your first semester at college, how has it so far met and differed from what you expected? How are things going for you? (If you non-first-years want to step back and evaluate your college years, you are most welcome to do so as well.)
Explain Halloween to me--actually, explain the whole drinking culture here to me. What motivates college students to party as they do? In what ways does this atmosphere disrupt or facilitate the nominally academic-pedagogical purpose of the University? (In other words, is it possible to learn just as much by drinking as by studying?)

Questions to answer to see your essay grade

2005-11-02T11:09:00.000-06:00

Essays are coming back this afternoon and evening. If you would like to know your grade—and there is no crime in not wanting to—I ask you to email me back your answers to these two questions:

What did you do best on this essay?
What specific feature of your writing do you hope to improve in next essay? How, specifically, do you hope to improve it?

You are welcome to respond to—even disagree with—my comments: writing is very much about dialogue with your reader, and I invite you to participate actively in that dialogue.

And you are always welcome to talk with me--during office hours, or before lecture, or via email--about my comments. I'm happy to clarify anything I've written.

Grading: an update

2005-11-01T23:39:00.000-06:00

I have one essay left to grade--just one. I can't keep my eyes open any longer tonight, though, and even if I could there's no way my sleep-deprived state could judge this essay fairly.

Incidentally, if you have any advice about how the essay commenting/grading process could be easier (or at least quicker) next time around, I am all ears. I'm already thinking about staggering due dates, if I can find away to do so fairly, but I would love more suggestions.

Failure

2005-10-30T16:58:00.000-06:00

I have not been able to grade all of the essays this weekend--I've done 10 per day, but that still leaves me shy by some 5 or 6. (And I don't think I will be able to continue grading all night with quite the equanimity and attention you would want me to bring to your work.) They remain my first priority, and it's possible that I will be able to finish up even as soon as Monday or Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you for your continuing patience!

...and thank you, by the way, for excellent discussions on Friday morning. Both Prof. Ortiz-Robles and I were impressed by the attentiveness and insight you brought to our first encounter with John Stuart Mill.

Monsters by Melanie, and a Heb 6 topic for those who like working ahead

2005-10-27T17:08:00.000-05:00

Congratulations on surving the midterm! It is my sincere hope that you all did fabulously.

Three quick notes for you tonight:

First, remember to bring your anthologies of VICTORIAN literature to section tomorrow--we're going to kick off next week's reading by beginning John Stuart Mill in class.

Second, I wanted to highlight Melanie's especially entertaining and insightful discussion of monstrosity in Frankenstein. So many of your hebdomadals for last week were just marvelous--if I get time after grading your essays I'll try to put together a list of the best sentences and ideas from them all--but for now delectate on Melanie's masterful meditations on monstrosity:

When people use the word “monster”, the definition seems to me to be “someone or something that forgoes social convention and gives in to their basest and animalistic instincts without remorse.” To be “civilized”, humans must live by a certain standard of behavior that dictates what one can and cannot do. If one does swerve from this path, one must immediately repent of their crime and scurry back to the enfolding arms of social convention. This is what separates a man from a monster. A monster doesn’t care about social conventions, it doesn’t care about being invited to the hot parties or sipping tea with their pinky up, a monster is free from the constraints of society. A monster doesn’t do what is right, it doesn’t feel remorse for its actions, it doesn’t kill with a reason, it just thrives on its whims. This scares the living daylights out of society. Society doesn’t know how to deal with someone who seems to be above their rules, so they fear and loathe monsters.

The line between monster and man is often times relatively thin. What makes a man a monster? If a man murdered in cold blood the criminal that shot his wife and child, people may not condone his actions but they would understand, even a little. This man would not be a monster. The criminal that shot the wife and child would be considered a monster though. Both men murdered, but only one would be a monster, why? When a human is called a monster it seems to imply a loss of humanity, a loss of some touch of divinity that each person has inside. People generally want to believe in the best of others (no matter how bitter and callous life has made us). People want to believe that we all may be sinners at the core but some higher purpose or higher good keeps us from giving in to these basic instincts. When a person loses this sense of a higher purpose, be it for his or her own personal gain or just for the hell of it, they lose this spark of divinity and all that remains is the sinning shell of a once righteous, respectable individual. This is what we mean when we call a man a monster. He’s a fallen angel, a sub-human.

When Frankenstein is contemplating making a mate for his monster, he thinks “They might hate each other; the creature who already lived loathed his own deformity, and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in the female form?” Mary Shelley chose to use creature in this case, as a creature can evoke pity while a monster should not. People can feel sorrow for the creation that was made so ugly that no one can look at him in peace. Creature and creation seem to denote the idea that the being in question should be valued for its very existence (“Honor all of God’s creatures”). Calling the creation a creature compares it to humans. I believe people chose to use monster instead of creature because of fear. We fear what Frankenstein’s creation was, someone longing to belong, to be loved. That is far too human for our taste. A monster is someone who was weak, chose to give in to their darkest desires. Humans fear that there is monster in all of us so we hate the term, we fear the term and we apply it to what we are scared to become. We can hate a monster in peace, but a creature reminds of what we may be so we hide behind the term monster.

Third, I wanted to invite the more obsessive among you to begin composing your sixth hebdomadal. It's not due until NEXT week, of course, but if you want to write it now you certainly may.

Hebdomadal 6: Style transplant

Now that we are moving into a study of the Victorians, we need to begin thinking about the different decisions prose writers make as regards style. Middlemarch and Frankenstein are so different not just because of their plots (or because Frankenstein at least has a plot, as some of you have suggested) but because George Eliot and Mary Shelley just write in entirely different ways.

But what are these different ways of writing? In this hebdomadal, I would like you to explore ways of defining a single author's style, and of writing in that style yourself.

Choose Mary Shelley or George Eliot or John Stuart Mill. Write a paragraph describing the style of the author you've chosen. Think about the sense the writing style gives you: is it clear and open or think and chaotic or tight and claustrophobic? How long are the sentences s/he writes? how long the paragraphs? How present is the author or speaker in the text--does the word "I" appear a lot or are the sentences mostly passive? ("I disagree with John" or "Commonly, John was disagreed with"?) What words, or types of words, come up the most frequently?

In a second paragraph, pick a paragraph from another author's work and rewrite that paragraph in the style of the author you've chosen. Thus, if you've chosen to study Mary Shelley's prose, write a paragraph from Middlemarch the way Mary Shelley would have written it. Or you can write a paragraph from the newspaper or, really, anywhere else in the style of the author you've chosen: it might be particularly fun to ape how Mill would write a Letter to the Editor if he were alive today and complaining about the police presence on State Street this weekend.

A bit of practice

2005-10-24T23:15:00.000-05:00

There're details below about a review session this Wednesday night.

If the practice exams these past two weeks haven't been enough, here're a few more samples to work with. (I'm trying to give both long and short sections, since I don't really know how long they will be on the actual exam. Also, since I don't know how to control indentation via HTML the poetry is all presented unindented--an exciting challenge!)

Remember, as you practice,

to name the speaker (if there is one) or the persons or objects being spoken about
to focus on contextualizing the passage within the larger text
to describe how the passage reflects the larger themes and arguments of the text.

You might also practice reading closely in the style of the essay: look for formal and lingual features to support an argument about the text's larger claim, the author's larger project, and periodic interests.

#1

Well hast thou said and holily dispraised
These shapings of the unregenerate mind;
Bubbles that glitter as they rise and break
On vain Philosophy's aye-babbling spring.

Now, if nature be thus cautious in preserving in a state of enjoyment a being thus employed, the poet ought to profit by the lesson thus held forth to him, and ought especially to take care, that whatever passions he communicates to his reader, those passions, if his reader's mind be sound and vigorous, should always be accompanied with an overbalance of pleasure.

. . . O Thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed

The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow

Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
With living hues and odours plain and hill

Such dim-conceived glories of the brain
Bring round the heart an undescribable feud;
So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,
That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude
Wasting of old time--with a billowy main--
A sun--a shadow of a magnitude.

They were just in time to see another figure standing against a pedestal near the reclining marble: a breathtaking blooming girl, whose form, not shamed by the Ariadne, was clad in Quakerish grey drapery; her long cloak, fastened at the neck, was thrown backward from her arms, and one beautiful ungloved hand pillowed her cheek, pushing somewhat backward the white beaver bonnet which made a sort of halo to her face around the simply braided dark-brown hair. She was not looking at the sculpture, probably not thinking of it: her large eyes were fixed dreamily on a streak of sunlight which fell across the floor.

. . . And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.

The great secret of morals is Love; or a going out of our own nature, and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination; and poetry administers to the effect by acting upon the cause.

Young love-making--that gossamer web! Even the points it clings to--the things whence its subtle interlacings are swung--are scarcely perceptible: momentary touches of finger-tips, meetings of rays from blue and dark orbs, unfinished phrases, lightest changes of cheek and lip, faintest tremors. The web itself is made of spontaneous beliefs and indefinable joys, years of one life towards another, visions of completeness, indefinite trust.

[Someone] darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained.

Review session: This Wednesday, 8 pm, HCW 6172

2005-10-24T23:09:00.000-05:00

The Writing Center has been kind enough to let us use one of their beautiful classrooms--Helen C. White Hall 6172--this Wednesday at 8 pm for our review session. It'll work exactly like office hours: I'll be in the room from 8:00 to 9:30 answering whatever questions you bring me. These questions can be as vague as you like ("Can you go over what Prof. Ortiz-Robles said about 'Hymn to Intellectual Beauty'?") but you need to come up with them. I recommend a bit of pre-review reviewing.

DCFC, etc.

2005-10-22T17:58:00.000-05:00

To those of you who, in your first hebdomadals, strongly encouraged me to give Death Cab For Cutie a second chance: you were so right. Plans is amazing--I didn't know our country was making music like this any more. Why isn't DCFC all over the radio?

* * *

I've not yet heard any interest in a Wednesday night (8 to 9 pm) review session; it's not going to happen if I don't get at least a few positive replies by Monday.

Review session?

2005-10-21T13:41:00.000-05:00

Sid asked if there would be a possibility of having a review session next week for the midterm. The only reasonable time I have free is 8 pm on Wednesday. Would that time work for those of you who are interested in a review session? If there's any interest I'll go ahead and reserve a room for Wednesday night.

Hebdomadal 5 (updated 10/20)

2005-10-18T19:38:00.000-05:00

~~There will be at least one more topic come Thursday night--I want to see where Prof. Ortiz-Robles takes our discussion on Thursday--but here's one topic to get you bird-and-worm types started:~~

Topic 1 - Monstrosity

Let's think about monsters for a bit. What do we mean by "monster"? (Don't consult a dictionary--write your own definition.) How does a monster differ from a human? What do we mean when we call a human a monster--for example, if we were to call Victor Frankenstein a monster what, specifically, would we be saying?

Why do we call Frankenstein's monster a monster? He's called a number of other things in Frankenstein--Creature, Wretch, even Being. Pick one of the instances in which these terms come up--how does its use differ from "monster"? Why have we, as a culture of readers, settled on "monster" rather than on one of these other terms?

Topic 2 - Vacancy

Prof. Ortiz-Robles's reading of Frankenstein has hinged on this idea of the monster as a vacancy, an idea he connects to Shelley's "Mont Blanc." But how does this connection work--how is the monster vacant other than in the unspeakability of his features?

Read the last stanza of "Mont Blanc" (p. 723) closely: how can you divide this stanza into sections? What sorts of words appear, and in what order? How would you describe the meter and rhyme scheme? Towards what do all of these poetic features point?

Now read the monster's last words in Frankenstein (p. 1034) just as closely, even for meter and rhyme. How is the language here different from the language at the end of "Mont Blanc"? How is it similar?

The most important point here, however, is to figure out how these two passages describe vacancy. What is the poetic or ethical value of vacancy?

Class tomorrow

2005-10-13T18:32:00.000-05:00

The consensus is that we spend tomorrow morning continuing to work on Shelley, with a particular emphasis on his "Defence"--I might try to tie in a survey of the rest of our Romantic poets as well. Please be sure to bring your Norton Anthology.

Hebdomadal 4 (optional)

2005-10-10T21:13:00.000-05:00

Because I have so many essays on my plate, it is probably best to make this hebdomadal optional. If you choose to write one this week,

don't expect a response from me for a couple weeks--my primary goal is to get your papers read;
you can skip a future hebdomadal of your choice, although you need to inform me at the time that you are doing so (a quick "I'm skipping this week's heb because I wrote the optional one" email will suffice);
alternatively, you can use this hebdomadal to erase a less successful past or future hebdomadal from your record.

Topic 1: Pleasure.

You may have noticed that one of the things Prof. Ortiz-Robles does in lecture is pick out and address the sheer delightfulness of the texts we read. This hebdomadal is to give you an opportunity to do that yourself, and to think a little bit about the pleasure that texts give us.
Pick the poem or passage from Middlemarch you like the most of all those we've read so far this semester--try to avoid things that we have marveled over in lecture or discussion. Comment on just what you find so delightful and delicious in the passage you've selected and use your answers to the following questions to put together a larger argument about the relationship of pleasure (enjoyment) and Pleasure (enlightenment).
Why do you like this poem?
Why is it important for a reader to like a poem?
How does the experience of liking a poem change your reading of it? How do you read a poem differently if you don't like it?

Topic 2: Images.

Find an image that illustrates a fairly unique, identifiable object described in one of the poems or chapters of Middlemarch that we've read so far this semester. (Objects like Eolian harps or Grecian urns or specific landscapes are fair game; more common objects, like mirrors and fire grates, are not. You might consult blog posts about objects in Keats and Wordsworth.)
How does the author describe the object? What features of the object does s/he accentuate or ignore?
How does s/he move from description of the material object into a discussion of more theoretical, or moral, or aesthetic features?
What value does a description of a unique, recognizable physical object add to our reading of a poem or Middlemarch chapter that we would not have had otherwise? Why, in other words, would an author include a particular landscape or artwork in his or her own artwork?

Photograph of Mont Blanc by ldanderson.

Topic 3: Stretching It.

Give an example from lecture or discussion where Prof. Ortiz-Robles or I or one of your classmates offered a reading of a poem that struck you as going too far. How can you tell that this reading was divorced from the author's intent? Is it important that our analysis fit into the author's original intent for a piece? What should be our goal as sensitive readers? Consider this common argument: If the value of a text rests entirely with the author's intent, why don't authors just lay out all their ideas in an unambiguous manifesto like Wordsworth's "Preface"? What is the point of all the artistry and uncertainty that we find in poems like "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
Alternatively, look at a short (sonnet-length) poem that you've written--it should be a poem that you've put some care into, not a limerick you've dashed off quickly. Give an example of a correct reading of the poem and an example of a reading that goes too far. Would it be possible for a reader to see meaningful images or ideas in your poem that you didn't put there intentionally? Can you give an example? What are the limits of the reader's authority?

Citations of Immortality

2005-10-06T17:25:00.000-05:00

So, citation: everybody's favorite topic. I'll try to make what I'm looking for as clear as I can.

The most important thing is that you cite every specific idea, bit of information and bit of language you get from somewhere else. This does not include talking your argument over casually with a friend or formally with a writing instructor. This does include stuff that came up in lecture, in discussion, in supplementary readings (the editors' introductions to our poems, the Biographia Literaria or Keats's letters, for example), or from the internet.
I ask you to cite things MLA style. The rules that follow are distillations of what you can find in the MLA handbook.
Poems should be cited by line. Thus if you are quoting lines 2 and 3 of "Tintern Abbey," after those lines you should include, inside the sentence and inside parentheses, (2-3). That is, "again I hear / These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs" (2-3).
Super top-secret English-geek-only rule: if you want to cite two sequential lines, you can write (2f), meaning line two and the following one. If you are citing multiple lines in a row, you can write (2ff), meaning line two and following.
Other things to notice: others' words are enclosed in quotation marks; an ellipsis ("...") designates elided text in the middle of a quotation; the slash mark designates line separation; punctuation and capitalization is retained.
Non-poetic quotations should be cited by page, but in the same way. If you're quoting from the Biographia Literaria, for example, you might write "that willing suspension of disbelief . . . which constitutes poetic faith" (478).
If it is not clear from the context of your paragraph whom or what you are citing, include the author's name (if you are writing on only one work by that author) or the text's title in the parentheses. Thus This is what Wordsworth means by "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (242) or The "Rime" can be considered a true "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth, 242).
If you are citing (or paraphrasing) the editors' notes, the author name to use is Abrams et al. (for M. H. Abrams, the main editor of our Norton anthology, and his assistant editors). Thus: It is for reasons such as this emphasis on "the language really spoken by men" that Wordsworth's "Preface" is called "a revolutionary manifesto" (Abrams et al., 238).
Those of you quoting the marginalia for "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are getting into some of the beautiful obscurantisms of the MLA style. Convention is to cite the line(s) attached to the marginal notes and to add an "n." signifying note. For example: The annotator characterizes the albatross as "one of the invisible inhabitants of this planet" (131ff n.).
Citing or paraphrasing one of the class lectures? The format is simple: The sublime, one of Shelley's poetic preoccupations, negotiates the difference between the political and the poetic (Ortiz-Robles, 6 October 2005).
If you are only working with the class texts, don't worry about having a Works Cited page. If you are also citing information you've gleaned from the internet or from other sources, please include a short bibliography. (Rules for formatting references are available on the Writing Center's writer's handbook website.)
If you run into anything not covered here, do the best you can. The rule of thumb is to provide enough information for your reader to be able to find the exact information you quote or paraphrase. (You're welcome to try emailing me if you want more specific citation advice, but it's not likely I'll be able to get back to you before the essay is due.)