johoca

In case you weren’t in class or if you want to see the questions we did in class again. The link to the radio play is http://www.scribblingwomen.org/znhsweatfeature.htm

There is also a nice little summary about Hurston on the follwing site http://www.barnard.edu/archives/persons.htm

Sweat- part 1 to 5 mins

Aint-isn’t

Ah-I

Mah-my

Skeer-scare

Yo-your

Dat-that

1. What did Sykes do to Delia and why?
2. How does Sykes feel about Delia’s job? Why?
3. What happens to Delia when he threatens her to throw out the whites’ clothes? Why does she react like this?
4. Is Sykes a good husband? Explain.
5. How does he feel about the ‘new Delia’?

Sweat part II to 11:14mins

Mah’ied-married

Huh-her

Wuth-worth

Wuz-was

Lak-like

Sho-sure

Kin-can

1. What is the comparison being made as Delia is passing the men on Joe Clarke’s porch?
2. How do the men feel towards Delia?
3. How has Sykes changed as a husband?
4. What is the analogy made on p. 382?
5. Even though everyone knows what Sykes does to Delia, why does no one do anything to stop him?
6. Why does Sykes treat Bertha so differently to Delia?
7. Why do you think that Delia, despite the way she is treated by Sykes, tries to repair their relationship?

Part III to 16 mins

1. What might the foreshadowing be at the end of p.383?
2. Why does Delia get angry even though she is scared of the snake?
3. What is Sykes’ plan with the snake?
4. What does Delia tell Sykes (bottom p.384) and how does Sykes react to this? Why does he react like this?
5. What does Delia threaten Sykes with (top p.385) and how does Sykes react to this threat?

Part IV to 20:55

1. What is the role of religion in Delia’s life?
2. Why does Delia refer to the snake as ‘ol’ satan’?
3. What does Delia do to escape from the snake?
4. What is being said in the paragraph starting ‘finally she grew…’
5. What do you think is going to happen now?

Part V to end

1. How does Delia act during Sykes’ death?
2. Is that how a good religious person should act? Why does she do this?
3. How is Sykes represented at the end of the story? How is that different from the beginning of the story?

Discussion

1. What do you think the significance of the title is?
2. What do you think the themes of the story might be?
3. What are the symbols used in the story?
4. Do you think that Hurston’s story is typical of stories written at the time?
5. Why might Hurston have been criticised for her writing by other blacks?

While you are reading the story The Yellow wallpaper try to keep in mind the following questions:

What is the relationship between the narrator and her husband?

How does her husband treat her?

What is the narrator suffering from and how is it treated? Does she seem to be getting better? Why or why not?

Why is the narrator so obsessed with the wallpaper and what do you think it symbolises for her?

Can the story be defined as a feminist text? Why or why not?

How reliable is the narrator?

While you are reading this story, keep in mind the following questions for our class discussion. You may also find other issues in the story to discuss during class- women’s role, the working class…what you liked or didn’t like about the story. You can also use these questions to write in your blog, or write something else in your blog (interpretation of the story, critique etc.). You can also comment on someone else’s blog rather than writing in your own if you like.

Analyse the characters.

• Considering the conventional symbolism of Chrysanthemums in the world, what do you think they symbolise in their many appearances in the story- look at each reference carefully.

• Look at the use of light and dark in the story.

• When reading the kitchen scene look at the significance of the meaning of the fire.

• Look at each part of the story and the emotions that accompany that part.

• What is the relationship between the Walter’s mother and Elizabeth?

• What is the epiphany (realisation) that Elizabeth has at the end of the story?

• What type of narrator is telling the story? Whose perspective is privileged and why is that important?

• What sort of weapons are used in the marriage by both the husband and wife against each other and why?

So you are about to write you first blog- but you haven’t even understood what a blog is let alone what it is that you are supposed to write in it. Here is a really good, clear and short video that might help you with the first problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI think of blogging as a conversation between you and others, including your classmates but maybe even others outside who may happen upon your blog! As for the second problem you can go to SUcourse-resources-blogs and look at the whole document on blogging including the marking scheme.

Basically read the story. Think about the story- what did you like about it or not like about it. What did you find interesting or unbelievable about it- do you want to critique it? Are there points that you didn’t understand, write them down, maybe someone else from the class can answer you question, or at least read the question and then in the next class you can all discuss this. You may write about the characters, the themes, the symbols. If you want you can even rewrite the ending of the story. The purpose of the blog is to get you to interact with each other about the stories and for you to practise your writing (it doesn’t have to be academic writing all the time) in order to help you improve the way you express your ideas.

Here are a couple of examples from last semester’s students although the blogs aren’t necessarily about stories http://yucelsblog.blogspot.com/ http://obilgin.blogspot.com/ http://dmryurek.blogspot.com/ http://erdincsahin.blogspot.com/ you can see some of the entries are long, some not so long. As always it is quality rather than quantity that matters (within reasonable limits of course).

Remember that you can use this blog as an alternative to participating in class if you feel too shy. If you want to do this then open up another category ‘class discussion’ and then I can use this to mark you for the 10% participation mark.

Welcome to 101+102. During the semester I will be writing in this blog, hopefully on a weekly basis if not more. In addition to reading my blog, feel free to comment on what I have written. Think of blogging as a conversation, a continuous dialogue not just something to read. Also take time to look at your fellow student’s blogs by reading them, commenting on them and if appropriate critiquing the content or if you know something more than or different to your fellow students feel free to give them a link to what you have read. They may also want to benefit from this information. My intention in blogging is to set up a learning community outside of the class and to give you a space to develop your ideas by interacting with others, classmates, or others outside the university. It will also give you a chance to develop your writing skills outside of the strict rules of academic writing. Although, make sure you acknowledge your sources if you use another source- this space is not free from the rules of academic honesty!

I hope you enjoy the semester.