AMERICAN LIT I LITERATURE
DISCUSSION QUESTION
Directions: After reading the lecture, answer one of the main questions, which will appear in red.
Your responses to other students' answers are due RIGHT AWAY. In order to get the full points, you MUST respond to at least 6 other people's postings.
Remember: late answers receive 0 points, so post early :)
Directions: After reading the lecture, answer one of the main questions, which will appear in red.
Points will be assigned according to the thoughtfulness of your answers and responses, not by whether they are "right" or not, since sometimes there is no "right" answer. Just be sure your ideas are supported by the material in the readings.
(BLUE FONTS ARE LINKS)
QUOTATIONS: PAGE NUMBERS FOR QUOTES!!!!
DISCUSSION 6
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, or
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, or
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
How does the slave narrative you chose to read appeal to the compassion and the traditional Christian ideals of its readers? Give specific examples and quotes from the narrative to support and illustrate your ideas.
Frederick Douglass’ life is one that defied the odds. Born into slavery and becoming an advisor to the 16th President of United States is an amazing feat in and of itself. When speaking to the country about slavery and the horrors that he had been witness to, Douglass would appeal to the traditional Christian values and ideals of the day. Douglass related the story of Ham from the Old Testament as an explanation for the initial enslavement of the African people. Ham’s descendents, or blacks, were to be slaves because of a sin that Ham committed against his father, Noah. Douglass said that if it was biblical reasons why blacks were slaves, then at that time in America, it had to be a non-biblical sense because so many white men had had children with the black slaves that they were no longer just the sons of Ham. This statement alone would have given Christians a reason to pause. If it was originally a biblical reason or excuse for slavery, then that could no longer apply if the slaves were part white.
Frederick Douglass also appealed to the Christian sense of extending the word of God to everyone. Douglass pointed out that “it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country.” (1) So, if slaves were not allowed to read, then they could never read and study the Bible. This was one example of the hypocrisy that Douglass would point out to his audience. Other examples included the fact that many slave owners claimed to be God-fearing Christian men and yet they would beat and humiliate their slaves. It seems that in this case, the slave owners had chosen to ignore the fact that not only was the slave a man, but also one of God’s creations. To treat another human being in this manner goes against the Christian tenet of loving your neighbor and treating others as you would expect to be treated in return.
DISCUSSION 7
"Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving
"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe
1. Washington Irving spoke of creating an "American mythology." How do "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" help to accomplish this? Give specific evidence from the stories to support your answer.
2. What Romantic elements can you see in Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"? Give specific evidence from the stories to support your answer.
3. One interpretation of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is that the narrator is insane, and that he imagines the events at the end of the story. Do you agree with this interpretation? Why or why not? Give specific evidence from the story to support your answer.
4. There are obvious differences between "The Purloined Letter" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." Do you see any similarities between them? Give specific evidence from the stories to support your answer.
There were many Romantic elements in Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Romantic authors tend to place specific emphasis on emotions such as awe and terror, leading to the supernatural events that are present in each story. Nature was described in terms that made rather ordinary items seems like art. In addition, symbols and myth are often prominent in Romantic works. Among the Romantic elements in “Rip Van Winkle” is the description of the river as “the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic course, with the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue highlands.” This description paints a picture of a river that is colorful and rich and provokes some emotion from the reader in classic Romantic style. Irving also uses the Romantic elements of the supernatural in his story of Rip Van Winkle. The myth of Hendrick Hudson, the appearance of the grizzled old man playing nine-pins, and Rip’s twenty year nap are all Romantic elements.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” also has some of the same Romantic elements that “Rip Van Winkle” displays. The supernatural in this case is the appearance of the Headless Horseman. Other Romantic elements in this story though play on the emotions of fear and trepidation. Nature and natural elements are described in a manner that evoke a sense of fear or cause one picture the element (such as the tree) as something less than benign. The best example of this is a tree that Ichabod Crane encounters as he makes his way home. “In the centre of the road stood an enormous tulip-tree, which towered like a giant above all the other trees of the neighborhood, and formed a kind of landmark. Its limbs were gnarled, and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air.” Irving uses these various elements to create a highly detailed setting in which his heroes meet the supernatural.
DISCUSSION 8
"Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Resistance to Civil Government" by Henry David Thoreau
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
1. In "Self-Reliance," Emerson says, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs...Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." What arguments would you make for and/or against this idea?
2. In "Resistance to Civil Government," Thoreau says, "After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest. But government in which the majority rule in all cases can not be based on justice, even as far as men understand it. Can there not be a government in which the majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?—in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable? Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right." What arguments would you make for and/or against this idea?
3. Richard Ruland and Malcolm Bradbury assert that The Scarlet Letter is "...a tragedy of the divided claims made by the natural and the social self" (145). They see the novel's main theme as the conflict between nature and culture (i.e., nature vs. society and tradition). Do you agree that this is the novel's main theme? Explain, using specific examples and quotes from the novel to support your ideas.
4. The Transcendentalists saw nature as the reflection of God and His goodness. In The Scarlet Letter, does Hawthorne present nature in this way? Explain, using specific examples and quotes from the novel to support your ideas.
I believe that Emerson was right in his interpretation of society and what that means for the individual. Even in a country that was built on the idea of tolerance and religious freedom, individuals and groups who think and act outside of the norm tend to be held up as examples of nonconformity as if it is a bad thing. Most perceive that there is a safety in conformity (“for the better securing of his bread”) and that if they must sacrifice something, it worth the price that society asks them to pay. In this case, it is individualism that is given up. This being said, our society also admires and respects some entrepreneurs who have defied the norms of society and brought us innovations and new ideas. To be successful in these terms, men (and women) have had to step out of traditional roles that society has defined.
Many of our political and religious leaders foster the society that promotes conformity. It is easier to lead people who do not question. Rules are in place to keep people safe and supposedly to protect their rights. However, when society begins placing rules and laws on how people live their lives, this requires people to give up individuality and personal freedoms. One such law that comes to mind is the ban on marriage between people of the same sex. This law that society has set restricts the personal freedom of one group of people who do not conform to society’s standards. Therefore, they are punished by having certain rights revoked. When we think about laws that meant to protect people, I think this law ‘protects’ the group of people who feel threatened by people who do not live the same way. To Emerson’s point, this means that those who conform are giving up their “liberty and culture” to secure a place in society.
DISCUSSION 9
Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville
In Herman Melville: His World and Work, Andrew Delbanco says, "What Bartleby brings into view is the fact that all boundary lines between power and submission, mine and yours, right and wrong, too little and too much are finally nothing more than conventions to which we cling lest we lose our grip and tumble away into the infinity of unforeseen possibilities" (217). Do you agree with Delbanco's interpretation? Or do you see different themes and ideas in the story?
In Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street” I was able to see what Andrew Deblanco meant about boundary lines. Bartleby’s character defied traditional roles by not being a submissive employee or individual and erasing the invisible boundary line that is drawn between management and employee. Traditional convention says that in the workplace, management is responsible for making decisions and managing the environment for the employees. Bartleby tended to go against convention and set his own rules for the work place as well as his personal life. By setting his own rules, this questioned the rules that are set to determine right from wrong and doing what is deemed necessary. Interestingly, the narrator appeared to be someone who had never been tested by a person who did not follow the rules. This tested the narrator’s limits and challenged him to defy the traditional priorities and ethics. Bartleby’s passive-aggressive “I would prefer not to” instantly blurs lines because it challenges convention and leaves the narrator unsure of how to proceed.
People prefer not to cross boundaries because it takes away the security that comes from those boundaries. Questioning boundaries opens up the territory of interpretation of right and wrong, left and right. This can often confuse people and take them out of their comfort zone. Whether it was the intention or not, the fact that Bartleby ends up in jail and then dead begs the question as to what happens to people when they cross the line.
DISCUSSION 10
"Song of Myself," by Walt Whitman
Specimen Days, by Michael Cunningham
1. What portrait of America does "Song of Myself" paint? Give specific examples and direct quotes from the poem to illustrate your ideas.
2. How does "Song of Myself" express the idea of the unity of all things? Give specific examples and direct quotes from the poem to illustrate your ideas.
3. How does Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days reflect the ideas in Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"? Give specific examples and direct quotes from the novel to illustrate your ideas.
4. Do the characters in each of the sections of Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days (i.e., New York of the 1800s, New York of the early 21st century, the United States of the future) live by the ideas in Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"? Explain. Give specific examples and direct quotes from the novel to illustrate your ideas.
In Walt Whitman’s “Songs of Myself”, he is able to express the idea of unity of all things in several places throughout the poem. Whitman used this poem to illustrate that the world and nature are not for the sole enjoyment and use of one person and that it must be shared and appreciated by all. In Line 3, Whitman shows this by saying “For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.” Included in Whitman’s idea of unity is that humans are not separate from nature and the world but a living, breathing part of it and that both parts are integrated, not separate. “My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the passing of blood and air through my lungs…” (Line 15) Whitman does not want others to just take his point of view of nature and the world and accept it as their own. He wants others to observe and interpret for themselves (Lines 28-29). There seems to be a need and extreme desire for Whitman to feel that there is a unity between nature and one’s self. He describes a scene in lines 11-12 where he is “mad for it to be in contact with me”.