Thursday, May 20, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Last-minute questions on the parody essay
1. "For the parody essay, if one of the key themes we touch on is Israel's ability to always get himself out of sticky situations, how many situations should we include?" (Could also apply to any parodied text in which there is a repeated plot device.) Answer: you should not feel that you need to imitate every single iteration of something that's repeated--say, if you were doing "Earth's Holocaust," you wouldn't need to have an analogue in your parody for every single episode of throwing something into the fire and then debating it. For one thing, there isn't room in this short assignment! Since you are trying to draw attention to something being reiterated, you do want to reproduce the effect of repetition, however, so do at least a couple of go-rounds. The question to ask yourself is: why is this element [plot situation, rhetorical device, phrase, etc.] being underlined and emphasized through repetition? What's important about it?
2. "If you take one of the stories we're read and change the genre, is that still considered a parody? For example, 'Man of the Crowd' as a romantic comedy." It could work, as long as you maintained some other recognizable elements from the original: for instance, the narrator's peculiar point of view, the German epigraph and theme, the kinds of wandering they do through the city, the 19c setting, etc. My concern is that if you choose too much to change from the original--if your version has a different narrative style, a different relationship between the narrator and the character, a contemporary US city, and a different conclusion to be drawn from the ending, what's left? Where are the key elements from the original that you still have left to highlight through your exportation into parody?
Here's a case where it might help to try to draft the analysis first: ask yourself, what am I saying about the original by changing the ending to suit a romantic comedy? (In the first place, how do you know when you're "in" a romantic comedy--is it the gender of the two main characters, or the uniting of the lovers in a happy ending?)
2. "If you take one of the stories we're read and change the genre, is that still considered a parody? For example, 'Man of the Crowd' as a romantic comedy." It could work, as long as you maintained some other recognizable elements from the original: for instance, the narrator's peculiar point of view, the German epigraph and theme, the kinds of wandering they do through the city, the 19c setting, etc. My concern is that if you choose too much to change from the original--if your version has a different narrative style, a different relationship between the narrator and the character, a contemporary US city, and a different conclusion to be drawn from the ending, what's left? Where are the key elements from the original that you still have left to highlight through your exportation into parody?
Here's a case where it might help to try to draft the analysis first: ask yourself, what am I saying about the original by changing the ending to suit a romantic comedy? (In the first place, how do you know when you're "in" a romantic comedy--is it the gender of the two main characters, or the uniting of the lovers in a happy ending?)
Last-minute questions on the adaptation essay
Question from the floor today:
"For the adaptation prompt, do we have to address all the questions asked in the prompt--what's the intended audience, what do we learn, meaning of recycling etc.?"
Answer:
No. It was meant to be a suggestive list, not an exhaustive one. Some of those questions won't matter much in your particular case study, or there may be no easy way to answer them. We are leaving it to your best judgment to tell us why this particular case of an adaptation in relation to its original may be interesting. Imagine you are making the case to another member of the class.
"For the adaptation prompt, do we have to address all the questions asked in the prompt--what's the intended audience, what do we learn, meaning of recycling etc.?"
Answer:
No. It was meant to be a suggestive list, not an exhaustive one. Some of those questions won't matter much in your particular case study, or there may be no easy way to answer them. We are leaving it to your best judgment to tell us why this particular case of an adaptation in relation to its original may be interesting. Imagine you are making the case to another member of the class.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Do you respect a literary work less because the author was paid for it?
Just that--an opinion poll. Unlike the other posts this afternoon, which are more detailed. I'm curious, because there seemed to be a consistent thread in the questions to the effect that an economic motive tainted the text somewhat.
The sense of closure and alternate endings
For those who found the ending unsatisfactory, what if it had ended:
a) with Israel aboard the Ariel, masquerading as someone else in order to fit in?
b) with him fleeing successfully after Ethan Allen recognizes and calls out to him?
c) with him in London, making do and enjoying his old age with his son?
a) with Israel aboard the Ariel, masquerading as someone else in order to fit in?
b) with him fleeing successfully after Ethan Allen recognizes and calls out to him?
c) with him in London, making do and enjoying his old age with his son?
The Gothic in Israel Potter
No one asked about this, but I wish we'd had time to discuss it in class: what do we do with all the Gothic tropes in the novel? Being entombed alive in Squire Woodcock's hidden room, the 'skeleton' of the Bonhomme Richard, the references to ghosts everywhere...?
There seems to be many cases when the novel is completely sending up Gothic conventions, as in the "Encounter of Ghosts' chapter with Israel escaping by passing as a dead man, or the farmer who comes after his suddenly-ambulatory scarecrow with a pitchfork.
On the other hand, what about when Israel tries to cloak his true identity after mis-boarding the Ariel (Shakespeare reference!), he becomes a 'phantom,' a 'ghost' because he is not recognized and accepted by any of the social spheres on board the ship? The "who are you" question seems to be getting metaphysical here. If he's not recognized by others, does he exist at all? Or does he become, like Wakefield, a 'disappeared man' who may not be fully human in the absence of social ties?
There seems to be many cases when the novel is completely sending up Gothic conventions, as in the "Encounter of Ghosts' chapter with Israel escaping by passing as a dead man, or the farmer who comes after his suddenly-ambulatory scarecrow with a pitchfork.
On the other hand, what about when Israel tries to cloak his true identity after mis-boarding the Ariel (Shakespeare reference!), he becomes a 'phantom,' a 'ghost' because he is not recognized and accepted by any of the social spheres on board the ship? The "who are you" question seems to be getting metaphysical here. If he's not recognized by others, does he exist at all? Or does he become, like Wakefield, a 'disappeared man' who may not be fully human in the absence of social ties?
What adaptations are out there?
"What texts are commonly adapted?...It would be really helpful on the paper." Now, this is something Wikipedia is really good at. Check out the 'adaptations' section for the entries on Uncle Tom's Cabin and Moby-Dick, for example.
It might be helpful to review the handout, "A Taxonomy of Cultural Borrowing." It provides some vocabulary for thinking about adaptation. It's on the website under "assignments."
All the section blogs were full of great ideas.
It might be helpful to review the handout, "A Taxonomy of Cultural Borrowing." It provides some vocabulary for thinking about adaptation. It's on the website under "assignments."
All the section blogs were full of great ideas.
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