Friday, December 1, 2017

Remembering, Disremembering, and Unaccounting For: December 1, 2017

Focus: How is Morrison experimenting with diction and structure, and why?

1. Warming up with wordplay, Toni Morrison style:

Memory
Rememory
Disremember
Unaccounted

re-

a prefix...used with the meaning “again” or “again and again” to indicate 
repetition, or with the meaning “back” or “backward” to indicate withdrawal or  backward motion

dis-

a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a     negative, or  reversing force 

un-

a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative, giving negative or opposite force 
(thank you, dictionary.com, for the above definitions)

What do these words have in common?
What is the difference between these words?
How do they fit Sethe's journey? Paul D's? Denver's? Beloved's?

2. Nailing down Beloved's elusive events into a nicely concrete timeline

Step 1: Take 5 notecards, rip them neatly in half so they're smaller, and write a specific event from Parts 1 and 2 on each. If you're good at math, you'll notice that you need ten events total.

Step 2: Manipulate them into you think you have them roughly in chronological order (in other words, the order in which they actually happened).

Step 3: Create a timeline with as many specific dates as possible. 

Step 4: It would have been significantly easier for Morrison to write the book in chronological order or to simply include a few flashbacks. How would you describe the order/structure of this book?  What might Morrison be up to here? How does the structure of the book relate to the prefix lesson we enjoyed at the beginning of class?

3. Indulging in Socratic on Beloved, Part 2: Chapter 1

HW:
1. For Monday: Read the most challenging chapters in the entire novel, which are Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Part 2. An idea for your reading ticket (though not a requirement): Try conducting an interview with Sethe, Denver, or Beloved.

2. For Tuesday: E-mail me your thesis if you're a paper person; submit your proposal if you're a project person. You may also conference with me in lieu of either of these.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

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Onwards and Upwards! May 17, 2018

HW: 1. Three good things 2. Timshel 3. Stay in touch (for real!).