First and most importantly, here is the remainder of Peggy's video.I also want to wish you many happy holidays... Spring break holiday, 清明節, Christian Easter holiday,
פסח (Jewish Passover holiday), and of course "April Fool's Day"!
We will begin with the Emily Dickinson poems next week and make some comparison to the more modern writers. We will also have a presentation about Dickinson by Winnie & Carol.
Read: 1682-95頁 (Gilman bio. & "Yellow Wallpaper")... I think you will really like this
Read: 1939-51頁 (Stein bio. & excerpt from Tender Buttons)... I hesitate to use the word "read" for this book... you should certainly pass your eyes over the words or better yet sound them out loud. Pick a couple of the little sections and read with closer attention. But don't expect to "understand" what you read in the conventional way.
Read: 1990-93頁, 1997-99頁 (Stevens bio. & "The Snow Man," "A High-Toned Christian Woman," "The Emperor of Ice-Cream," "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird")
Read: 2236-39頁 (Crane bio. & "Chaplinesque," "At Melville's Tomb")
150 (Clara). The 'thesis' of "The Yellow Wallpaper," and its refutation of the medical and ideological assumptions of the so-called 'rest cure' treatment, is not well hidden (see 1684頁: "I believe that congenial work with excitement and change, would do me good"). Maybe that's why this story is commonly assigned to high school students in the U.S. Nor is Gilman particularly subtle about describing her inventive writing as an alternate form of 'work' that creates 'excitement and change' in her life and gives her a sense of autonomy (see 1694頁: "No person touches this paper but me"). That said, I think this story is quite remarkable in its technical accomplishment. So instead of explaining that the wallpaper is equivalent to writing paper, and serves as a projecting screen for the narrator's psyche, and so forth, point our attention to a few technical details that show how Gilman unfolds the narrator's psychological development. On 1688頁, Gilman writes: "I know a little of the principle of design, and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws... that I ever heard of." So what I am saying is, explain some of the laws of design that arrange "The Yellow Wallpaper."
151 (Crystal). Read Norton's excerpt from Roosevelt's book The Strenuous Life ( 1860-63頁) and give us a brief summary. You might also remind us about the related ideas we read last semester in Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier" (1652-57頁). Finally, relate the fears of Turner and Roosevelt that American men might develop 'nervous disorders' in modern city life to the gender-based diagnosis and treatment of 'nervous disorders' depicted in Gilman's story.
152 (Emma). Describe your experience of reading Tender Buttons. Compare it to some other odd experience (related to literature/art or otherwise... just don't compare it to your experience of viewing cubist paintings, ha ha.)
153 (Caleigh). The literary experiments in Tender Buttons have many purposes and outcomes; clearly it is not 'only' a feminist project. However given that this has been our recent subject, explain how Tender Buttons could yield a feminist message. Or point to a few sentences/sections in particular that seem to do so.
154 (Sharon). Since you did this so well with Lee, make some observations about Stevens' poetic technique. How is it similar or different to other poems we've read in this class, or that you've read elsewhere?
155 (Lucille). During the 1800s, poetry became an increasingly 'feminized' activity, so far as the broader U.S. culture was concerned. How might the writing style of Stevens' poetry be an attempt to unfeminize it? (You might also answer the same question for Ezra Pound). And give us an analysis of the way male and female roles are represented in "Christian Woman," "Ice Cream," and "Blackbird."
156 (Iris). Based on your viewing of Modern Times, do you think "Chaplinesque" is a good poetic translation of Chaplin's style of acting? Why or why not? As for Crane, what qualities of Chaplin does he find compelling or identifiable?
157 (Jenny). Read the Norton biography of Herman Melville (1089-92頁) and explain why Crane would HM's his name in a poem about shipwrecks, embassies, undelivered messages, and heterodox views of religion. Furthermore, why would Crane, whose homosexuality was something of a controversy, affiliate himself with Melville? (A more obvious affiliation with the homosexual poet Walt Whitman occurs elsewhere in Crane's poetry.)
OOMPA LOOMPA DOOMPADEE DOO
ReplyDeleteI'VE GOT A PERFECT PUZZLE FOR YOU
OOMPA LOOMPA, DOOMPADAH DEE
IF YOU ARE WISE YOU'LL LISTEN ME
WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU GUZZLE DOWN SWEETS
EATING AS MUCH AS AN ELEPHANT EATS?
Trick-o-Treat!!!! XD
@ Ted: I thought we are celebrating April Fool's Day? How come Charlie is involved?
ReplyDeleteCharlie is always involved.
ReplyDeleteThis is Crystal’s answer to no.151
ReplyDeleteThe brief summary of “The Strenuous Life”:
In Roosevelt’s The Strenuous Life, he not only recalled the great adventures and glorious accomplishments achieved by the predecessors in developing the western America, but formed a promising and encouraging norms for the later generations to abide by.
In the article, Roosevelt wholeheartedly honored the Western pioneers who conquered the difficulties including the wild nature and wild men in the west with great efforts and endurance, and finally established the civilized, populous cities. According to Roosevelt, the “iron qualities”, held by the brave forefathers in achieving those great deeds, were also passed down and inherited by the posterity. Although the toilsome and tough ages had passed, the later generations should maintain the virtue of resolution, indomitable will, courage, strength and perseverance in fulfilling their duties at present.
Beside the iron qualities, Roosevelt also accentuated the importance of strenuous efforts and moral sense. He considered a man respectable when he indeed put hardworking efforts into his work because the final success required certain devotion and hard work. Moreover, as for moral sense, Roosevelt suggested that without the crucial sense of morality, the iron qualities may fall to become unscrupulous evil and threatening force to harm other people.
Lastly, the significance of good citizenship was mentioned as well. It was also the indispensible element that was no less important than the iron qualities; Roosevelt claimed that every single person in the society had the duty to the entire nation rather than merely to the narrow community around him. It was crucial for our nation to retain social and civic decency and honesty and made our offspring uphold the strength and honesty both at home and abroad in the future.
Answering the question:
In Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator, the patient suffering from depression, embodied the inferior and suppressed women position in the society of 19th century. Forced to accept the “rest cure” prescribed by her physician husband, who considered her a patient with severe mental problem, the author was unable to express herself and her needs at all. Her suggestion of continuing her favorite work and releasing her anxiety through contacting with people outside were firmly denied by her dominant husband. All she could do was passively receive his instruction and stay in the locked tiny room all day long. In my opinion, the male authority’s excessive control over the insane wife brings about “nervous disorders” in the story. The commanding husband who subjectively diagnoses and judges the condition demands entire submission of the inferior and weaker patient. Such authoritative dominant treatment might worsen the sickness and lead to negative outcome. Apartment from the narration, the dominant masculine power also appears in Turner’s “The Significance of the Frontier” and read Roosevelt’s “The Strenuous Life.”
Turner’s concept of the “frontier”, the moving line between savage and civilization, contains the idea of the dominant westward expanding to the primitive regions. The invaders see such conquering action as the progressive process while continuing encountering those primeval cultures. However, the compelling expansion results in certain chaos and disorders for the original habitants and culture. Those aboriginals gradually lose their precious lands, customs and traditions. It is the disorders that deprive them of their identities and even drive them to be Americanized. Additionally, in Roosevelt’s “The Strenuous Life,” the author also appreciates and gives high credits to the predecessor’s brave adventures and conquest in the West. For me, these masculine commanding authorities are quite similar to the bossy husband in Gilman’s story.
This is Jenny answering Q157.
ReplyDeleteBy the title “At Melville’s tomb,” this poem was written in remembrance of Herman Melville. Herman Melville’s works were highly connected to the sea and his life experience. Melville talked about the sea and his observation of the society; however, his works were not highly accepted by the time he died. Norton’s introduction said “Shortly before his death in 1891, however, a revival of interest began, especially in England.” His name and his works were just like a “shipwreck” landed on the foreign shore. (Maybe Melville’s work underwent shipwreck in the publishing sea of being neglected and underestimated.) Melville bequeathed his works to those who can appreciate the works of his hard work and deep reflection. (and he left the world in 1891. ) I guess that’s what the “embassies” indicates in Crane’s poem.
After his novel brought him little appreciation and income, he start to write in other forms to earn money. What about his early concerns about problems that American writer would face? When he turned his pen to other issues, maybe it means he didn’t want to express out his true opinions on some issues that he used to concern. (maybe because Melville might think like this: few people would take my words seriously=> I earn little money from writing them, and I need money to keep on living=> why I bother to write them out and publish them?) Those unexpressed opinions became “undelivered messages” after his death.
About the heterodox of religion……………….sorry, I couldn’t think of any reason.
I think…Melville was a lonely writer. His works (where he express his opinions) and his concerns are not noticed by most people. I think Crane would feel lonely when he wants to express his different love. His work and his love wouldn’t be widely accepted.
This is Lucille answering Q155.
ReplyDeleteIn Steven’s poems we read, there are many parts indicate how Steven was detested to women writers. It can’t be called as male-centered, but the arrogance of being a male poet is clear to be seen.
In “A High-Toned Old Christian Woman,” Steven writes in last stanza: “This will make widows wince. But fictive things / Wink as they will. Wink most when widows wince.” It’s easy to conjecture that Steven was not friendly to female writers, or broadly to say, females. He thought that woman do not know poems, they afraid of it because of poem’s highly fiction components. Therefore, poem wink most when women are wince of it. Male writers are the ones who know poems.
In “The Emperor of Ice-Cream,” although he’s intention was to focus on “reality,” the material he chose was belittled females. He wrote about the death of wench in order to say that life was like ice-cream, it’s only the happiness of our flesh and soon gone like ice-cream. We should let reality replace fantasy, death is only death. The wench’s death means nothing, “The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.” In this poem, who is the emperor of ice-cream? The answer is “The roller of big cigars, the ‘muscular’ one.”
And I’m not quite sure about his description of female role in "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." I can only see that in 4 and 7 stanzas the woman appeared; however, the woman’s role wasn’t firm enough for me to realize his intention. Is that mean woman means nothing and blackbird means nothing, too (IV)? Or that man equals to golden birds and woman equals to blackbirds (VII)?
This is Clara answering Q.150.
ReplyDeleteFor I am not the expert of the laws of design, I will explain the laws of radiation, alternation, and repetition in this text by imaging it as a simple wallpaper. The decree of color will radiate from the center, and became darker and darker as the hatred of main character increasing. The narration alternate between woman’s feeling and John’s reaction representing the paper strips. Lastly, the diary form is just like the repetitive pattern.
When reading this text, I can obviously feel the anxiety in lines extend day by day. The hatred toward the yellow wallpaper just radiated from the center of her heart, and became deeper and deeper. Until the fear and hatred accumulating to the climax, she cannot help but peeling away the wallpaper. At the beginning, she only spent a little page on describing the awful color is “repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.” However, after the long imprisonment, she eventually viewed the yellow wallpaper as the bars which locked the women and her in.
A prisoner would not get in touch with too many people. Her husband, John, whom she can only rely on, is the supporter of “rest care” and distrusts her. Her diary is alternate with her feeling and his reaction, making a big contrast.
Suppose that each section represents one- day diary, on the first day, her mental health is on the best condition, which presents the best shape of wallpaper. With her spirit getting worse and worse, the color fading, or the stain appeared on the repetitive patterns. In fact, on my observation, the technical skill of Gilman’s writing just right to present the ruined shape of yellow wallpaper.
This is Caleigh answering question 153.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I tried really hard to find elements that are related to feminism, but in vain. I found very few "exact" words that expressed feminist ideas, perhaps the closest one is in "A Substance in A Cushion". At the bottom of page 1941, it writes "... will be soft if there is a genuine interest in there being present as many girls as men." Here are ideas about "being soft" compared to the above "hardening", and as many "girls" as "men."
I could not really tell the meaning of the sentence, or perhaps there wasn't meaning meant to be understood. But in these "buttons", I found Gertrude Stein, in my opinion, very feminine. Part of the way she talks (writes) is very similar to that of young girls, at least mine. Sometimes a glimpse of a view can trigger many thoughts, related or totally unrelated ones. A vase can be connected to a tiger just because of the color or the light... At times, you stare at something, but you aren't actually looking at it, and sometimes, you say something but you don't really mean it. Five different, nonsense or weird thoughts can fly in and out of my brain in one minute, but I believe, not the case for men. This is very similar to the feeling that "Tender Buttons" gave me, meaningless, but maybe meaningful.
This is Sharon for Q.154:
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, Stevens and Lee’s poems tend to have no regular rhymes as to keep readers’ attention to the words and imagery within the lines. Also, their poems share a characteristic of 5 senses depiction and imagination, especially sound and color herein Stevens’ work. The arrangement of Stevens’ line is rather conventional (3-3-3-3-3; 8-8). As for the poetic technique, it is said that Stevens belongs to “perspectivism,” considering no way of seeing the world can be taken as definitely ‘true.’ Therefore, Stevens uses metaphors to make poems illustrate the world’s surfaces as well as its depths, a combination of imagination and reality. However, compared to Lee, I think Stevens’ poems are more difficult to read because sometimes it is hard to know what his metaphors really mean in the historical and social context while Lee’s are easy to understand since we share a common Asian viewpoint.
Considering the Chinese holiday which has just passed, it seems that people are still raiding tombs.
ReplyDeleteThis is the Iris answering Q156
ReplyDeleteI think Crane transfer Chaplin’s style of acting into a poem successfully. In the first two lines of the poem express the main idea of Chaplin’s movie. The protagonist of Chaplin’s comedy is usually a powerless little tramp who wants to escape the cruel society and feel satisfied by his ridiculous idea. In ninth and tenth line, it shows that Chaplin’s movie leads people to see problems through a funny and satiric viewpoint in difficult times. In the last part of the poem, Crane also describes Chaplin’s empathy toward the workers in the industrial and capitalistic society under his pale and crown-like mask.
In the movie “The Kid”, the abandoned baby represents the product of this unfortunate world. As a result, we can figure out that although the real life is tough, Chaplin still love and care the whole society by his own way. I think it is the characteristic makes Crane attract by Chaplin.
This is Caleigh and Esther, here is our poem~
ReplyDeleteAaron’s crazy grin – smoked
Salmon on pine wood – Cactus molten ice
Endless Rain on the radio –
Meow – Off beat
No Blondie for you – never a “dog”
Spinning in the nautilus –
Spinning at 3 am
Spinning – with The Machinist