Next Week and the 15-Point Quiz!

 We have ONE MORE class next week, on Monday, when we'll wrap up the class and talk about adaptations. Bring your paper with you IF you have it done, but if not, no worries (it's not due until 5pm). I want to discuss what approaches people are taking and how they solved the riddle of adapting an older work for a new audience. 

ALSO, I gave everyone a simple quiz about the class to satisfy the missing 15 points from class (since I cut one of the paper assignments, and forgot to fill the gap). E-mail me your answers anytime this week or next week, and you'll get 15 points towards your final grade! The questions are below. Otherwise, enjoy the break! 

The ‘Bonus Assignment’ Quiz

* Worth 15 pts of your final grade! (because I dropped Paper #2 in favor of the Adaptation Assignment, which became #2 by default)

Answer all of the following in a short response and get back to me as soon as you can (at least by Dead Week). This is an easy way to give you 15 points instead of assigning you another paper! I just want you to focus on the Adaptation Paper!

THE QUESTIONS:

Q1: Based on the works we read in class, what hidden theme(s) or idea(s) seems to unite most of them? Why do you think I chose to read these books together?

Q2: Which of the 5 works from class do you think students will still be reading in 50 years? What makes it/them so durable?

Q3: Which work do you feel was the most influential for modern novels, TV, movies, etc.? In other words, how can you ‘see’ it inside some modern shows and books?

Q4: Do you think As You Like It was a good work to represent Shakespeare in the course? Would you have rather read something more serious, or more popular? (students in the Shakespeare class can particularly weigh in here)

Q5: Do you feel historical/literary survey courses like this one (and American lit to 1800, World lit to 1800, etc.) are useful for the modern student? Do you benefit from seeing the big picture of literary history, or do you think you would be better served with another type of class (give example)?

Q6: For those of you planning to become English teachers, which one of these works would you most want to teach in your future classroom, and why? And if you’re not teacher cert, which one of these works would you have most liked to encounter in high school?

Schedule Change for Monday!

 Okay, since I had to cancel class on Wednesday I inadvertently screwed up my internal schedule. I wanted to have one decompression class before the paper was due to discuss Adaptations, and I forgot that the paper was due on Monday! Somehow, I thought it was due the Monday we got back from break. So...now it is!

So we DO have class on Monday for two reasons:

1. We can discuss some ideas about adaptation and I can show you part of a recent adaptation of Northanger Abbey for ideas, and 

2. I made another mistake in our class: you were supposed to have 2 papers PLUS the Adaptation assignment, but I made the Adaptation assignment Paper #2 instead (it was easier that way). So I cut the original Paper #2 entirely, leaving 15 points unnaccounted for in your final grade. So we're going to do a simple in-class assignment to make up those points (it's basically a freebie, but you don't want to miss it!). 

So for the mistake; it's been a stressful semester with too many balls in the air. But as always, when I mess up I try to give you more time and flexibility to make up for my mistake. Hope this helps! 

Be sure to work on the Paper #2 assignment over break, because it will be due the Monday we return, and I want to discuss it that week! E-mail me with any questions you might have. 

, For Friday: Austen, Northanger Abbey, Finish! (see note)

NOTE: I'm having repairs done on my house, so I need to be home tomorrow morning during our class. So take Wednesday off, and finish the book (and the questions below) for Friday's class. We'll do an in-class writing on Friday over some aspect of the end of the book, which will double as our final Reading Exam. 

Answer two of the following over Monday's class/reading:

Q1: We talked at length today about whether or not Henry Tilney is more of a father figure or a romantic figure for Catherine. While she obviously sees him as the latter, how does he see her and his role in courting her? Does this reflect a more 18th century approach to marriage? Or does he simply have a little of Mr. B in him, in that he doesn't quite see her as an equal? 

Q2: Re-read Isabella's letter to Catherine in Chapter 27: while this is the same Isabella we've seen/heard throughout the book, what does Catherine learn to read in this letter that she didn't see before? Though she doesn't admit anything in the letter outright, where do we see her betraying her feelings/motives in the letter? In other words, what does the Narrator let us see that Catherine is only learning to discover?

Q3: After the scene with Henry before his mother's door, the Narrator remarks that "The visions of romance were over. Catherine was completely awakened" (196). While she learns to downplay the romantic element of her reading, how might she also overcompensate for her earlier enthusiasm? Why might Henry's instruction bring her too far away from her original instincts? 

Q4: After Isabella's true behavior is exposed, Catherine admits that "though I am hurt and grieved that I cannot still love her, that I am never to hear from her, perhaps never to see her again, I do not feel so very, very much affected as one would have thought" (203). Why does this admission shock her, and what might it admit about her friendship with Isabella? Could she say the same thing about Henry if he, too, proved false to her? 

For Monday: Austen, Northanger Abbey, Chapters 22-28

There's only a little bit left, so read up to Chapter 28 at least (or finish it!) for Monday's class. The questions below are from today's discussion (Friday), but won't be due until next class, as usual.

Answer two of the following:

Q1: We talked in class today about how the Narrator's perspective (adult, satirical) is often at odds with Catherine's perspective (teenage, naive), which makes the story more complex than it otherwise was. Discuss a scene where we see the Narrator showing us a level of the story that is misread (or ignored) by Catherine. Why do you think Austen does this? What might be the point of contradicting or even belittling her heroine?

Q2: After having Henry explain the reality of his brother and Isabella's relationship, Catherine gives in and reflects, "Henry Tilney must know best. She blamed herself for the extent of her fears, and resolved never to think so seriously on the subject again" (157). Is this a healthy response to Henry's explanation? Should she always assume that Henry knows best? And should resolve to ignore her instincts since they're often too naive?

Q3: On the drive to Northanger, Henry narrates an on-the-spot Gothic narrative which completely frightens (and excites) Catherine. You can see examples of Gothic writing on pages 244-250 in the Appendix, to see how well he does this. How does Catherine, herself, adopt this narrative while at the Abbey? What is she looking for and how do we know she's writing herself into a make-believe novel?

Q4: So much of this novel is about how a girl learns to read the world around her in the same way she would read a book (without trying to read it like a book). How does Catherine start to see things as they really are, rather than how she would make them? Where does her perspective begin to line up with the Narrator (even if only slightly)?

For Friday: Austen, Northanger Abbey, Chapters 15-21

REMEMBER: the questions below are for Wednesday's reading/discussion, since they are post-reading questions. But be sure to read the above pages for Friday's class (to Chapter 21).

Answer two of the following for Wednesday's reading:

Q1: When Catherine is asked if she reads anything but novels, she declares that she does not, and especially hates histories, since "the men [are] all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all, it is very tiresome" (122). Why might Catherine's rant here sound suspiciously like the Narrator from Chapter 5, when she goes on and on about novels? What is Austen's point here?

Q2: In these chapters, Catherine learns to have moral convictions, even at the expense of her friends' opinions. Why might this be an important passage for Austen to include in the novel, considering her audience (young women)? 

Q3: We talked a little in class about how Henry Tilney, for all his perfections, might fall a little short as the 'ideal husband.' How do you think Austen wants us to read him? Is he the 'knight in shining armor' that all women secretly dream of? Or is he like the Narrator describes him, as "not quite handsome, [but] very near it")?

Q4: Northanger Abbey is significant among Austen's works in that there are hardly any adults in the book, other than the Allens (who do little), and General Tilney, who is more of a boogey-man. Why do you think this is? Why might Catherine's story be more important witnessed behind a background of her peers? Why blot out all the adults, since they are the ones who make the real decisions in Austen's world? 

For Wednesday: Austen, Northanger Abbey, Chapters 9-14

NOTE: The Post-Reading/Discussion questions are below

Answer two of the following for Wednesday's class (or you can e-mail it to me anytime between now and then): 

Q1: As we discussed in class, Catherine is a bit naive and bewildered by the world of Bath. But what clues does Austen offer us that show that there's more than meets the eye with her? Though she's "almost pretty" sometimes, what else makes her more than that? And why might Henry Tilney have been interested in her from the beginning?

Q2: Likewise, how do we know that Isabella is a little more like Pamela than Catherine? What makes her untrustworthy and calculating? Why might she have struck up such a friendship with Catherine in the first place?

Q3: Based on the first 8 chapters, how do you think Austen is commenting on or satirizing the conventions of the 18th century "marriage market"? How might Catherine, a relative newbie to this process, help her examine it from a new perspective for her readers?

Q4: Re-read the famous pro-novel speech on pages 58-60 that we briefly discussed in class. Though ostensibly in praise of reading novels, why else might this speech stand out as pretty revolutionary for a teenager (which Austen was when she wrote it)? Why might it have embarrassed the adult Austen and/or her relatives when they published it posthumously? 

For Monday: Read Austen, Northanger Abbey, Chapters 1-8 (see note below)

NOTE: Since most people seem to be doing questions after class, rather than before, I've decided to change the question format. For our final book, we're going to have questions after class, so you can focus on reading first and foremost, and then answer the questions after our class discussion. The questions will still ask specific questions about the reading, but will try to take advantage of ideas actually discussed in class. I will post them immediately after class and you will have until the next day's class to answer them.

For example, I will post the questions for today's reading after class on Monday. You have until Wednesday to turn them in, either in class on Wednesday, or anytime between Monday and Wednesday via e-mail. This is how most people are doing the questions anyway, so really, nothing should change. However, don't turn in the questions later than Wednesday's class for credit, so you can start thinking about the next set of questions, etc. 

See you in class!