Revised Syllabus

7 W William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury (1929)

“April Seventh, 1928”

12 M “April Seventh, 1928”

14 W “June Second, 1910”

19 M “June Second, 1910”

21 W Finish Quentin section/begin Jason chapter

26 M Jason and Chapter 4 First paper due

28 W Finish Sound and the Fury

HOME AND RACE AT MID-CENTURY

March 5 M Richard Wright: Native Son (1940)
“Fear”
7 W “Fear” and “Flight” pp 97-116

12 M “Flight”

14 W “Fate”

19 M “Fate” and “How Bigger Was Born” pp. 433-62

21 W Lorraine Hansberry: Raisin in the Sun (1958), Act One

26 M Act Two and Act Three

28 W Midterm

Spring Break March 31-April 8

First Assignment Paper Topics!

Please be sure to bring your thesis statement and your passage to class on Friday, February 23rd.

Due in section on Friday, March 2^nd

Answers must be:

§ 750-1200 words excluding quotations (about 3-5 pages)

§ Typed in 12pt, double-spaced, Times New Roman font, and in paragraph form.

§ No generalizations in the first paragraph (as in, “The novel was a literary work that had an enormous impact on people.”)

Choose one of the following topics for your essay. You will not need to answer all the questions posed in the topics; they are there to help you think about the topic as a whole. You will need to take an argumentative stance and examine one passage (no more, no less) as supporting evidence for your view:

1. Develop an argument discussing the relationship between the narrator and the story or narrative that he/she/they are trying to convey in a specific passage. Do not address the role of the narrator(s) in the entire text (or in multiple texts). What literary forms or devices do they use to effectively convey their message? Do they follow what they “preach”? Why or why not? Are they reliable, and how does their (un)reliability effectively convey the author’s intended (or possibly unintended) message(s)? In general, what is the purpose of this narrator?
2. Discuss one minor character and his/her impact on the concept of family, home, security, gender difference, or reality in the text as a whole. You will only need to address one of the topics, but you will need to address it thoroughly.
3. Choose an element or object within the text and discuss its relationship to one character and the movement of modernism. How does this element or object exemplify modernism or criticize modernism and the modern American culture? You’ll want to first define modernism based on Prof. Schaub’s lectures then discuss the object or element.
4. Discuss and define happiness according to a specific passage in one of the texts. What does it mean to be happy? How does happiness function with respects to the character(s) and/or their definitions of family, society, or culture? Does happiness have room for the social, or is it an individual experience? Why?

Please keep in mind the following when writing this essay:

• What is my argument? What am I arguing for? What am I arguing against?]
• Does my close reading support my argument? Do I provide textual justifications for my argument?
• Is my argument convincing and logical? Would I be able to convince my TA, my professor, and a room of my peers of its validity?
• Did I write a second draft? First drafts are great for formulating ideas and experimenting with arguments. Second drafts are even better because they can refashion ideas into a more cohesive and polished product.

If you would like to discuss your paper with me, please feel free to see me during my office hours (T 11-1pm) or by appointment via eyu@wisc.edu.

Paper topics on Friday

Hi all,
Paper topics will be distributed during discussion this Friday. You will always have a minimum of 2 weeks to write a paper from the moment it is distributed. So, this will mean that these papers are due on March 2nd at the beginning of section.

If you have concerns or questions regarding due dates, please see the Important Dates link (Prof. Schaub's due dates for papers are with respects to the week of lecture. My due dates are always with respects to discussion days).

All exam dates, however, are the same on both syllabi.

I will post both the paper topics and the handout from lecture today on this blog in the next few days.

A Lonely Home: For Better or Worse

Family sizes have been on the decline for many generations. There were the times when the typical family has as many children as possible to help on the farm. Now the norm is to have many two or three children. During the time, of In Our Time and The Sound and the Fury there seems to be an in between period leaning toward modern ideals. Nick comes from a single family home and Krebs may have had two siblings while the family in The Sound and the Fury seems to have many children. How might the number of siblings affect the grieving process of a traumatic effect such as war? Might Nick have recovered more quickly had he had a close relationship with a brother or a sister? Or did Krebs' worried family push him more into submission?

Benjy the Man Child!

Having heard many discouraging remarks regarding the level of reading in "The Sound and the Fury" I was dreading reading it. But when I opened up the very first page till the middle of the second section I couldn't stop reading. Now, don't worry I won't spoil the book for you but I just couldn't stop. This story of a decaying Southern family broken by strife, misery and each other is heartbreaking and at the time very intriguing.

I question I ask today is do you think that Benjy is at all dangerous? Surely we all know that Benjy is severely mentally handicapped and has no responsibility for his actions but does that exempt him from containment? Benjy roams free on the Compson property yelling, crying and making a genuine fuss but did anyone ever stop and think if this is really the right place for him? His mother abhors him, his sister ruins her own life with decadent promiscuity and his brother Quentin goes insane.

The point in the novel that caused me to ask this gloomy question is when Benjy is screaming for Caddy as schoolgirls pass the property, he gets loose and runs after them frightening them half to death. Could he have hurt them? Is he capable and would he know that he had done something wrong? Is the Compson property the right place for him or would he be better in an institution where people know how is take care of an individual like himself?

Family Dynamic in Sound and the Fury

Reading the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury, I was intrigued by the interaction of the main characters and the personalities of those same characters. His use of the children as the narrators of the book created a sense of innocence around the family. I think it made the book more interesting, in a way, because the point of view was so original. Do you think Faulkner's use of the children as narrators, especially Benjy, was a good move on the part of Faulkner or a bad move on his part?

The interacton of the mother and father was also a major part of the first chapter of the novel. The relationship between them and between them and the kids was a timeless example of what we know to be a real family. I think that the use of Benjy's young voice and mind gave us a very simple and straightforward view of this family. Although hard to get through, the first chapter is an excellent way to introduce complex characters and intertwined character emotions. Do you think that this was Faulkner's goal when writing this novel?

Benjy: a good narrator?

After reading the first chapter of Faulkner's novel I was a little taken aback. I was not prepared to start reading a story from the point of view of the manchild Benjy. I was unhappy as I tried to muddle through his confusing thoughts one after another. His inability to distinguish between the past and the present made it especially difficult. Faulkner made it a little easier by italicizing a portion of the writing prior to changing time periods, but towards the end of the chapter he did not even do this. Fortunately I started to catch on and towards the end of the chapter I actually started to enjoy what I was reading, although it was still somewhat confusing.

My questions regarding this first chapter revolve around Faulkner's decision to use Benjy as the first narrator. Do you think that Faulkner made a good decision by allowing his readers to begin the story in the mind of the mentally retarded Benjy? Do you think that Benjy was chosen as the first narrator because he would tell the story from an objective point of view, or do you feel that he is not a reliable narrator and biased in some way?