Monstrosity!

In your groups please discuss the following:

1.What does the word "monster" mean to you?

2. What horrifies you more than anything

3. Are your fears represented in anyway through the monsters that scare you most


Monster Theory suggests that monsters are in some way an embodiment of ourselves and cultures--anxieties or fears that make us uncomfortable, and are instead projected onto monstrous creatures.

In short, we are our monsters.


If you wanted to investigateMonster theory some more, or share with family here are the links for the sites I used for today's classs:

Where The Wild Things Are-Maurice Sendak --Remember to question how the monster within is being portrayed here.

My Monster, My Self- NY Times Opinion Piece.

If you like to read, this is not the greatest translation, but surely something to keep on your radar: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sample Passage Analysis questions

1.Please consider the following passage:

 “I could never quite give up the hens,” Mrs. Mortimer said. 'It would be an awful wrench to give them up. I didn't mind the cherries and I didn't even mind the calves so much. But the hens are company. I can talk to the hens.”

Create the following the clues for yourself:

Denotative meaning of “hens”________________

What does Mrs. Mortimer’s society expect of women (gender roles) that directly relates to what hens literally do? ______________________________________

Answer: In a figurative sense, why are the hens so important to Mrs. Mortimer (what do they represent to her)? Please include a discussion of gender roles and the idea of isolation in your answer.

 2.Consider the following passage:

The letter was typewritten, which was not unusual. It was unsigned, which was unusual. It enclosed an American bill — fifty dollars. It did not seem in the least like any letter she had ever had from her husband, or any letter she could imagine him writing. But a strange, cold feeling was creeping over her, like a flood rising around a house.

Think about the imagery of the last line. Think about some of the feelings/words you connotatively associate with floods. Think about some feelings/things you connotatively associate with house. Considering how the story ends, what does this imagery figuratively suggest?

Gender and Feminist Criticism Notes

As promised, here are the notes from the Prezi, in a less dazzling format.

Gender and Feminist Literary Criticism Notes

-Believe it or not, gender does not mean male or female

-Male? Female? That is your sex. You'll have to check that off on any job application

-Gender, rather, is our beliefs on what a "man" is and what a "woman" is.  Where do these beliefs come from? SOCIETY!

-"One is not born a woman, one becomes one"- Simone de Beauvior In other words , an individual

may be born female (sex), but may not behave in a way that society deems to be "womanly"  (gender)

-Therefore, gender is created by what one does, not by what one is.

-So, terms like "ladylike," "girly," "manly" "gentlemanly" all refer to how well one can act or perform their gender role in society

-Who comes up with the gender roles? Gender roles are actually determined by what we call "gender norms" a.k.a, just whatever is considered to be "normal" by our cultures and society. Sounds nice, right?

-Unfortunately, "Gender roles" often lead to gender stereotypes, and people might get persecuted or bullied when they step outside of their gender roles. A female not interested in clothes? A male who doesn't like sports?

-Can you think of any gender stereotypes? What are some things that only men are supposed to do or be good at? How about for women?

Male Gender Stereotypes: •All men enjoy working on cars

•Men are not nurses, they are doctors

•Men do "dirty jobs" such as construction and mechanics; they are not secretaries, teachers, or cosmetologists

•Men do not do housework and they are not responsible for taking care of children

•Men play video games

•Men play sports

•Men enjoy outdoor activities such as camping, fishing, and hiking

•Men are in charge;

•As husbands, men tell their wives what to do

•Men are lazy and/or messy

•Men are good at math

•It is always men who work in science, engineering, and other technical fields

•Men do not cook, sew, or do crafts

Female Gender Stereotypes:

Girls are supposed to wear dresses

Girls are supposed to serve food

Women are supposed to take care of babies

Women are supposed to have "clean jobs" such as secretaries, teachers, and librarians

Women are nurses, not doctors

Women are not as strong as men

Women are supposed to make less money than men

The best women are stay at home moms

Women don’t need to go to college

Women don’t play sports

Women are not politicians

Women are quieter than men and not meant to speak out

Women are supposed to be submissive and do as they are told

Women are supposed to cook and do housework

Women are responsible for raising children

Women do not have technical skills and are not good at "hands on" projects such as car repairs

Women are meant to be the damsel in distress; never the hero

Women love to sing and dance

Women are supposed to look pretty and be looked at

Women do not play video games

Women are flirts

Women are never in charge

-Can you see how many of these actually are true of many men or women that you know? They may even be true for you personally, but they do not apply to every single man or woman alive. That is what makes them stereotypes; the fact that these things are considered, "the norm" and expected of every male or female.

-Note: Actual gender roles are generally neither positive nor negative (I think everyone can appreciate a good house cleaner or an amazing cook);  they are simply inaccurate, sweeping statements about male and female characteristics

**Feminist critics intepret texts with a special attention towards women's rights

-So, what does the study of gender  have to do with Feminism? A feminist critic (anyone, male or female, can be a feminist critic) looks for how gender roles are portrayed in a text, often noting the inequalities that exist between men and women.

What a Feminist Critic Looks For

1.Who has power? Who's in charge?

2.Isolation

3.Individualism

3.Gender roles-namely what's expected of women in society

4.Language-how do women speak: with power or with restraint, obedience, or fear?

5.Figurative Language: early women writers often used "coded" language to undermine or fool men

***And then they ask: overall, does the text go against or simply reinforce unfair gender stereotypes/roles?

Continuing with Gender and Feminist Criticism Prezi

For those who missed school and checked the blog and found no new info, I just wanted to let you know what we did in class: I presented on Gender yesterday, and will be continuing the same presentation today.

What your future holds:

As I have been saying since last Wednesday, you have a test Friday on "The Good Corn" and Turned." This test will be passage analysis, so it will not require you to remember specific facts just for the sake of spitting them back (although, it would be helpful to remember what happened so that you're not completely without a context while reading the passages on the exam). I would start studying by doing the following:

-Understand the difference between connotative and denotative meaning. Be able to apply your understanding.
-Understand figurative language: imagery, symbols, similies, metaphors. Be able to apply your understanding.
-Understand what "theme" is. Be able to apply your understanding.
-Reread "The Good Corn" and "Turned" (see Siena webpage or past blogs for access to those stories)

**Tomorrow I'll be posting the notes from the Prezi on the blog, along with a couple of the videos shown in class. You will be responsible for understanding some gender and feminist criticism concepts. In class review/practice will begin on Wednesday.

When Good Corn "Turns" Bad...or does it...?

AGENDA:

1.Free-Style Friday!

Please take a few minutes to write on the following prompt:


Choose a character from either story and for just a brief moment, become that individual. You are to write a diary/journal entry as one of the characters describing their thoughts and feelings at a particular moment in the story--of your choosing.



2. Please write in your notebook what Mrs. Marroner might say to her husband (Please note that it will be in question form)

"Turned" Passages Part 2

HW: 

1. Please finished "Turned." Click here for the Microsoft Word Version (which is much easier to read). For those of you who do not have Microsoft Word, here is a PDF version--Click here.

2.Please complete the chart handed out in class. Forget your chart at school? Click here to download a new one.
Note: "Status" refers to social class ( middle class, upper-middle class, lower-middle class, lower class, upper class, etc)

Sympathetic= you care for and relate to a character's emotions and personality. You may "root" for this character at some moments, try to understand the reasoning behind their actions, or feel sorry for them at other points.

Unsympathetic= you have negative or bitter feelings toward a character. You may even be disgusted with a character and his/her actions, which make it hard to relate to or understand that individual.

"Turned" Passages

Yesterday's blog was somewhat inaccurate. I will use it as a springboard for today's work!

We will be reading "Turned" by Charlotte Perkins  Gilman, but in a hip, new fashion.

I will read a passage. After each passage there will be the following options available.

1. Five Word Challenge
2. Detective Notes, with evidence
3. Question Master
4. Discussion

Rules for Vocab Duel:

1.While reading, you are going to write down words that are confusing to you
2. When the time comes you are going to exchange your list of confusing vocab with another group.
3. If you figure out the word only using context clues, you get 4 points.
4. If you need help from a dictionary, that is fine, but it is worth 2 points and the word must then be properly used in an original (group created) sentence.

Rules for Five Word Challenge:
1. Choose five words that best summarize the mood/tone of the passage.
2. Write 1 sentence that describes the mood/tone of the passage.

Rules for Detective Notes:
1. Answer the questions posed to you
2. Include quotes from the story to support your answer (evidence)
3. Explain the quotes

Question Master:
1. Come up with a question that involves making a prediction of some sort.
2. Pose that question to another group

Rules for Discussion:
1. All Groups will be given a question or a set of questions to think about and discuss.
2. Whole Class Discussion on responses

Reactions Part 2 and "Turned"

Hello everyone. Today, we're going to continue forming opinions on the three characters in "The Good Corn."

We're then going to shift to the next story, "Turned" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Agenda:
1. Whose Side Are You On?
2. Turned- Passages and predictions
3. Vocab Duel

Reactions to Expectations

Agenda:
1. Free Style Friday
2. Where do expectations come from?--Returning to your plates
3. Character reactions
4. Whose side are you on? Activity

Free Style Friday: Please write briefly on the following

Please choose one of your predictions from yesterday. Explain what detail(s) helped you come up with that idea, and what the details connotatively suggested to you (how you actually arrived at your ideas).

If you were right, even partly right, why do you think you were able to make a correct or semi-correct prediction? Is there something universal about life experiences that you picked up on?
If you were wrong, what might have caused you to think in such a different way? Anything about your culture or personal experiences that makes you think this way?

Returning to the plates- How does this expectation/prediction say anything about our culture?

*Character Reactions-in notebooks

ACTIVITY: Whose side are you on?

The Good Corn

HW: Please complete "The Good Corn" for homework. Click here to find it on my Siena webpage

Expectations

"The Good Corn"

In "The Good Corn" one of the women is a middle-aged wife, the other a younger woman who has come to work on the farm owned by the married woman and her husband.

You may have begun already to form expectations about a story involving these three characters. In pairs or groups, spend a few minutes listing ideas of what "The Good Corn" could be about.


Important words: context, theory, race, gender, class.

Essential Questions: -What expectations do readers have of stories?
                               -Where do readers' expectations come from?
                               -Can a story ask to be read in a particular way?
                               -Do readers read a story in the same way                                 the second, third, or fourth time?

Nursery Rhyme Presentations

For the sake of fairness, I will give each group/pair/individual about 10 minutes to review the rubric for the presentation and decide what will be presented, who will present what, and how it will be presented in order to perform to the rubric's highest standards.

I do understand that these presentations will probably conclude on Tuesday (our first day back from the extended weekend), but I believe it's better for you to be prepared and comfortable rather than rushed and unsure about the expectations.

HW:

Homework:

Please type or write out your response to item #3 on a separate piece of paper.

1.       Please read “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver (1983). Click here for story.

2.       Expect a short quiz on Tuesday

3.       In a paragraph (5-7 sentences) analyze the bread imagery in the last paragraph. Relate it to the story as a whole, using specific details from the story to support your answer.

Remember what figurative imagery is: the use of vivid descriptions that often appeal to the senses (touch, taste, hearing, smelling, seeing) for the purpose of describing something else—often something abstract that cannot be depicted literally or directly (for example, Emily Dickinson’s ‘Hope is the thing with feathers’ where she uses bird imagery to discuss the abstract idea of hope)  

Using Figurative Language to Interpret Nursery Rhyme

Today, I will model how to use The Figurative Language Map so that you will be able to interpret a Nursery Rhyme in a creative, but text-supported way!

Connotative Meaning: Looking at Figurative Language

Knowing the literal, dictionary definition is often helpful, but for close reading, the connotative meanings of words become essential for interpretation. We talked about close reading, but here's a formal definition:

close reading: carefully and analytically considering every component of a text from a variety of angles. Particular attention is paid to figurative language, as well as the form and structure of the piece.

So, we studied connotative meaning yesterday because it requires us to dump literal meaning in favor of a suggested or implied meaning that results from our cultural attitudes or emotional responses. And guess what! Figurative language requires the same approach.

When we speak figuratively, we are speaking abstractly--usually speaking in a manner that is unrealistic, yet still manages to effectively illustrate whatever point we're trying to make. Figurative language includes phrases like: "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse," or "I told you a million times to clean your room." We understand that someone is not going to literally eat a horse. Rather, it is implied that the speaker is just starving at the moment and wants to express his despair by speaking in EXTREME terms. Same thing with the other example--speaking in extremes to convey EXTREME frustration with a lazy adolescent.

So here's that magical and spicy definition of figurative langauge you've all been waiting for:

Figurative language: Imagery, metaphors, similes, symbols that deepen our understanding of a description, event, place, or person. It is often the figurative elements in a work that subtly convey the theme or message of a work.

Stayed tuned for your activity!
____________________________________________________________

HW: Please read the Hint Fiction article (to be downloaded on my school webpage). Follow the directions on the sheet handed out in class. This is your chance to demonstrate your understanding of connotative meaning. Don't miss out on the feedback. Click here for article.

Connotative Versus Denotative

Welcome to our next unit: CLOSE READING--An Intro To Literary Studies

We are entering the world of literary criticism...which means you need to put on your literary critic hat...and keep it on...forever.

Today we're going to talk a little about what a literary critic does, why it's important to understand the distinction between denotative meaning and connotative meaning, and how that all ties into close reading.

AGENDA:
1. Read short passage: "I know what you said, but what did you mean?"
2. Connotative and denotative exercise #1
3. C versus D exercise #2
4. C versus D exercise #3
5. Notes



NOTES:

Connotative meaning: an implied meaning that comes from the emotional weight, social overtones, or cultural implications of a word, which is different from its literal meaning.

Denotative meaning: the literal, dictionary definition of a word, without any extra cultural or contextual meaning.

EXAMPLE:

White House: cultural connotation implies the place where the president resides and operates.

The denotative meaning for "White House", however, is simply a house that is actually painted white.