Oscar Wao Paper (#5)

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!


Paper #5 Topics for Junot Diaz’s novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Choose ONE of these topics. Use the topic as a “lens”: Your paper’s content is to be a comment on what happens when you look closely at the novel from the point of view of this “critical lens.”

Expectations for the paper:

• Shows you have read the text by selecting relevant examples from a broad range of pages and areas of the novel.
• Shows a clear understanding of the topic with meaningful discussion of the connection between the topic and the novel’s content.
• Demonstrates skill in organizing and developing the topic through the use of strategies such as (1) identifying ways power is used and abused, (2) describing how characters’ lives are impacted by living in “political fictions” and (3) discussing how the writer shows the character’s lives as taking shape by colliding with the political fictions. (Numbers 2 and 3 are different in that folks may simply live under political fictions and never resist them.)

Topics:

Narrative Authority
In this paper, explain and comment on how the writer uses his authority as “the writer” to express certain points of view, descriptions of time and place and characters’ lives. One example of this is when we discussed the use of “language of power” in a brief passage when Oscar is beaten up by a trio of thugs.

Struggle Against Oppression
In this paper, describe and comment on ways characters have collided and resisted the oppressive nature of their lives. be sure to discuss the political, social and self-imposed “imprisonment” experienced by selected characters.

Family = Destiny (Inheriting the Fuku)
In this paper, discuss and comment on how family members both embrace and shake off the curse of the fuku in their lives. Be sure to explain how the family became so cursed and how Oscar is only the latest, although, perhaps, not the last family member to live it.

The novel as historical (political) fiction
In this paper, you will NOT attempt to validate or disprove any of the truthfulness or representations of the historical facts presented by Junot Diaz. Instead, discuss and comment on how history is used as a historical narrative that serves as a backdrop to the story of Oscar Wao, the impact this history has on the characters’ lives (regardless of how true or not it is in the novel) and how the writer’s analysis of historical events contributes to a reader’s understanding of the time, place, setting and characters.

Outlines were suggested during a class discussion and are not available here.

Class Update for This Week and Final Sessions

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!


Monday, April 20 - Class was cancelled due to illness .

FOR NEXT WEEK (April 27):

- Finish reading Junot Diaz's novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

- Complete assignment indicated below "Language of Power" - bring a typed response for sharing in class. It is not an essay; it may have bullets or other lists.

- Optional: Supplemental and enrichment reading - George Orwell's essay "Politics & the English Language" which takes up the issue of power and the uses (and abuses) of language

- Wayne will return the Cosmo paper with a grade. If you attended class on 4/20 by 6:30, Wayne took your draft of the Angels paper. This, too, will be returned with feedback.

- Give some thought and begin notes on a possible topic for Oscar Wao paper. Consider favorite characters, political fictions, use of narration, the impact of political fictions on the characters.

CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE GEORGE ORWELL ESSAY

Ignore the syllabus directions to bring 25 copies of a paper! We will NOT be undertaking the publication activity this semester.

Agenda for April 27:

Looking at samples of Angels drafts together (6:00-6:45)
Writing about Oscar Wao (6:45-7:00) and share responses
Political fictions in the novel (charting activity - 7:00-7:30)
Language of Power and the homework assignment (7:30-8:00)
Topics for the Oscar Wao paper (8:00-8:15)
Conferences (8:15-8:45)

FOR MAY 4:

- BRING TWO COPIES - Draft of Oscar Wao paper for peer review (syllabus indicates a draft is due April 27 so this is a revised due date)

- Bring Final Draft of Angels paper for a grade

FOR MAY 11 (Last class session):

- Bring final draft of Oscar Wao for grade

- In-class course reflection

- Get back Angels paper with a grade

Reminder: Please complete the online course evaluations! The English department - and the university - take these seriously and ask that you complete them for every class.

LANGUAGE OF POWER

Assignment - in lieu of meeting on 4/20 - related to Junot Diaz's novel

Please read the passage from the novel and the directions very carefully. After reading the directions, you may find it helpful to copy/paste the passage to a Word document to complete the assignment.

Directions:
To prepare for class on 4/27 we will look closely at the use of language to signify (or represent) various kinds of power in the novel. Read the passage below and identify and explain the uses of power by the characters, between the characters and by the author. Wayne suggested in class there were at least ten kinds of power represented in the passage.

"Uses of power" is intended to mean ANY representation of, but not limited to, the following:

advantage / disadvantage
weakness / strength
truth / lie (deception)

How is the "language of power" expressed in this passage?

Oscar was lucky; if he had looked like my pana, Pedro, the Dominican Superman, or like my boy Benny, who was a model, he probably would have gotten shot right there. But because he was a homely slob, because he really looked like un maldito pariguayo who had never had no luck in his life, the capitan took Gollum-pity on him and only punched him a couple of times. Oscar, who had never been "punched a couple of times" by a military-trained adult, felt like he had just been run over by the entire Steelers backfield circa 1977. Breath knocked out of him so bad he honestly thought he was going to die of asphyxiation. The captain's face appeared over his: If you even touch my mujer again I'm going to kill you, pariguayo, and Oscar managed to whisper, You're the ex, before Mssrs. Grundy and Grod picked him up (with some difficulty), and squeezed him back into their Camry, and drove off. Oscar's last sight of Ybon? The capitan dragging her out of the Pathfinder cabin by her hair.

What’s Ahead for Monday, April 6

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!

Bring the following to class:
1. Draft of Cosmopolitanism paper for Peer Review
2. Text of Angels in America (have it read by this class, too!)
3. Notes on a PAIR of characters you find most interesting and as possible topics for the paper
4. Read the New York Times obituary for Roy Cohn (see link at right)

Class Agenda:

1. Writing about Angels in America (starting class with a prompt)
2. Peer Review of Cosmo paper
3. Share responses to peer review
4. Read aloud a scene from the play
5. What do we notice? (What do you hear that connects to a political fiction?)
6. Time permitting: View DVD film of read aloud scene
7. Topics for Angels paper

Still need a topic for Cosmo paper?

Enemies of Cosmopolitanism – In this paper you will explain the basic premises of cosmo and present worldwide cultural and political foes to the emergence of cosmo attitudes and philosophy

Why Cosmo Matters in the World Today – In this paper you will articulate 3-5 reasons why cosmo matters in the world today. Identify an issue cosmo potentially responds to and why it might be helpful to see the issue form a cosmo point of view

Whose Culture Is It Anyway? – In this paper you will write a brief synopsis of Chapter 8 and research a recent antiquities looting case to explain it from a cosmo point of view.

Another option is to choose ONE of the scenarios from the class activity. – In this paper you will address the questions in 3-5 paragraphs for each questions.

Scenario A - The City Art Museum has had a ten-foot high African statue on display for two hundred years. The statue comes from the (fictional) nation of Republic of Tora. Nicknamed “Otto” after the German “explorer” who first introduced the piece to the Western world, it is now believed to be extremely valuable and spiritually important for the Torians and they now want it back. Sadly, the Republic of Tora has been in a suffocating civil war for the past five years and there is no end in sight. The City Museum has refused to turn over “Otto.”

What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do if you were the director of the museum?

Scenario B - A large community of faithful (let’s call them the Dutilites- duti for “duty” and “-lites” for followers) have essentially turned the six blocks of their immediate neighborhood into an “exclusive zone” with their own bakery, butcher shop, meeting house (their version of a church or temple), two schools, a clinic and various other retail stores. They are known by their distinctive blue robes for both men and women. Included in this neighborhood are two blocks of public streets that the Dutilites want to block pedestrian and auto traffic of anyone who is not a Dutilite (visibly obvious from the absence of the blue robes) on certain days of the month in accordance to their worship calendar. At the moment some residents who are non-Dutilites DO remain on these blocks, although very few. These are city streets and are not private property. The group’s leaders have been blocking the streets with move-able barriers as a deterrent to autos but want greater authority to do it.

What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do to accommodate this group while respecting the needs of the non-Dutilites?

Scenario C - The local library in a small town has made public the following: they have received a formal written request from the national group African Interests & Rights (A.I.R.) that all copies of the classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain be removed from the shelves. The director of the local library has appealed to the community for help in respectfully denying the request. The group plans a protest rally at the library and a community support meeting with the slogan “Breathe OUR A.I.R. – Ban toxic books!” A.I.R. asserts that the novel is offensive for it use of the N-word, the outmoded and racist depiction of blacks and its condescension to black dignity with the white boy Huck in the role of supervisor or parent of both he and Jim, an adult black male. The library has refused to agree to the ban. The mayor wants the library to pull the novel “temporarily until the noise dies down.”

What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do to respond to A.I.R. if you were in charge?

Photojournalist Denies He's an Artist

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!

When Shepard Fairey surfed the internet looking for images of Obama, he didn't expect to find THE ONE taken by Mannie Garcia.

In this New York Times story the photojournalist Mannie Garcia describes what it has been like to be linked to the famous poster created by Fairey. He also explains that he is not an artist himself but that he doesn't TAKE pictures, he MAKES pictures!

Read the full article here - and let us know in class if you read it and what you think about his comments. Does he support Fairey's use of the photo in his poster?

Kwame Anthony Appiah to Speak in May

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!

May 3, 2009 The Fourth Annual Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture by Nawal El Saadawi

The fourth annual PEN World Voices Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture will be presented by Egyptian novelist, psychiatrist, and activist Nawal El Saadawi.

For more than 50 years, Dr. Saadawi has written books that focus on identity, sexuality and the legal status of women—particularly Arab women—and has continued her work despite the fact that these activities cost her her position as Egypt’s Director of Public Health and led to imprisonment, threats to her life, and, ultimately, exile.

One of the leading literary, cultural, and political voices of our times, Saadawi once noted, “Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies."

It is PEN’s great honor to welcome Dr. Saadawi to deliver this lecture. PEN President and acclaimed author Kwame Anthony Appiah will join Dr. Saadawi on stage after her lecture for a far-reaching conversation about her life and work.

When: Sunday, May 3, 2009: 6:30–8 p.m.
Where: The Great Hall, Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street
Tickets: $15/$10 PEN members: www.smarttix.com or 212.868.4444

Persian Wedding Documentary

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!

ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING to be shown on PBS this week and in coming weeks.

Connects to reading of Persepolis and on-going conversations about cross-cultural dialogues, lifestyles and political fictions.

“The last time my brother and I went to Iran was in 1977. I was three and he was seven. Soon after that, Iran and the U.S. broke off all ties, and it became impossible for us to go back.” —Marjan Tehrani

For filmmaker Marjan Tehrani and her brother Alex, growing up Iranian American meant that political tensions often impacted their personal lives. Iran and the U.S. broke off their political relationship more than 25 years ago, but still engage in a public war of words and threats. With travel to Iran nearly impossible for many years, Alex and Marjan were stuck interpreting the mostly negative images of Iran in the American media, a conflict that shaped their identities.
When the Tehranis are finally granted their Iranian passports, Alex, a photographer, and his American bride, Heather, an art gallery administrator, decide to make a trip from New York City to Iran to have a Persian wedding—just as Alex’s own Iranian father and American mother did in 1968, when Iran and the U.S. were still allies. But traveling to Iran is complicated. As the couple prepares to leave, they must face the mixed reactions of their parents and friends, reports of war in the Middle East, bureaucratic headaches and their own nerves.

In ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING, Marjan accompanies Alex and Heather and documents their journey on film.

“I think that maybe my role is to prove to my family, who have a bit more traditional viewpoint, that you can’t judge a book by its cover, you have to see the whole picture.” —Heather Tehrani

Heather has to overcome the objections of her father, whose feelings are colored not only by religious beliefs but also by political views. A meeting of the two families becomes tense when Alex’s Iranian stepmother asks about American Iranian relations and Heather’s father voices his support of President Bush’s Middle East policies. ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING intersperses scenes of Alex and Heather’s travel preparations with documentary footage of historical events in Iran during the latter half of the 20th century, from the expulsion of the British by Prime Minister Mossadegh in 1951 through Ayattolah Khomeini’s rise to power in 1979. This dramatic archival footage reveals how acutely history can affect not only political relationships, but personal relationships as well.

In Tehran, Alex and Heather receive a warm and enthusiastic reception from Alex’s extended family. As the wedding day approaches, the women of the family take charge of preparing Heather for the event, a far more elaborate affair than she expected. The couple also sets out to explore more of the country en route to the wedding site, traveling through lush and desert landscapes, exploring a traditional village and an historic city and connecting with people of all ages and viewpoints. As they explore Iran on their own terms, their experiences illuminate the humor, passion and diversity of a rich culture in transition.

PBS website for the documentary here.

Class Update!

This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!

Possible topics for next paper.

When the personal and the political collide:

-An alien in Austria
(When Marj went to Austria, how that is different than Iraq.)
(Not fitting in/ Culture clash)
(Changes Image)

-Living under Regime Rule
(dictatorship)

-Confronting Persian Mythology
(access to literacy and education)

Outline for Persepolis Paper
I. Introduction
A. Identify a Political Fiction
B. Describe it
II. Examples
III. How it comes into being (causes)
IV. Persepolis fights back
V. Consequences
VI. What I now understand

Remember from last time- We want to identify a political fiction in the text.
Then show how Marj confronts this Political Fiction and describe her resistance (with text samples). Also what are the consequences, (what is the result). Finally, what do you understand more clearly about how political fictions-particularly ones that have so much control- impact people’s lives
Identify = state it, describe it, give examples, explain how it came into being-causes.

March 23- Paper #2 due for Peer Review.
March 30- Paper #2 due and Paper #3 Peer Review.