Sunday, September 24, 2006

Tony Hoagland What Narcissism Means To Me #2

BLOG POST #6 [10 Points]

In his review of Tony Hoagland, Scott Weiss says:

In reading What Narcissism Means to Me, feelings we often keep in the dark are brought to light and we become unburdened as one-by-one the poems lay bare our vulnerability and culpability on an individual level, and in doing so, they join us to the community of Americans as a whole.

Provide two instances in the book that you see Hoagland doing what Scott Weiss suggests. In each instance discuss how Hoagland deals with "these feelings we often keep in the dark." Is there a particular strategy that Hoagland employs when he deals with these feelings?

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

TONY HOAGLAND What Narcissism Means To Me #1

BLOG POST #5 [10 Points]

You have a choice of doing one or the other of these prompts:

1) Locate two instances in Hoagland's poems where he is making some sort of commentary about America or being an American. Locate and report the language he uses to make this commentary; then, explain what you think he is driving at by saying this.

2) Locate and report language that Hoagland uses to describe complicated emotions beyond love, grief, longing, etc. Discuss how he uses his own experience and the experiences (or words) of others to probe this complicated emotional realm.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

SHORT STORIES [Problematization]

BLOG POST #4 [10 Points]

Hey, this one only needs to be about 300 words.

Problematizing a text. Choose another student's post from BLOG POST #2 or BLOG POST #3 and take issue, contend, or disagree with the statements or observations made by the student poster. Please identify the post and point you are responding to. Try to bring examples from the story that you are interpreting differently in order to support your case.

Monday, September 04, 2006

SHORT STORIES [Borges, Marquez, Calvino, DuCornet]

BLOG POST #3 [10 points]

In "The Circular Ruins," "One of These Days," The Soft Moon," and "The New Zoo" the respective authors use surreal, absurd or terrifying circumstances to highlight a particular idea about the social or physical reality. Choose one story of the four and draw a parallel(s) between the story and the truth about the social realm, the physical realm, or the human perception of the physical realm that it explores.