Sunday, February 27, 2011
For Tuesday
Thanks, and I'll see you on Tuesday.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Collective Religion
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Taming Richard Parker
A Story that makes you Believe
Um, yeah... I loved the book -- maybe. What happened?
I think Richard Parker is not all of Pi, only a part of him, a part that Pi was having to tame while going through this horrible experience. I have not fully figured out what part yet. It might be a vilent angery part that wanted to kill the cook, or fearfull part of Pi that would only kill him if he let it control him. I am still in the thinking process on this.
Overall I am not sure I could recomened this book without warning labels all over it! But I think I liked it -- sometimes or not -- maybe.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Life of Pi - Final Set of Prompts
1. In class today I asked you to be thinking about Pi's "heroic" journey and the journey we undertake as we read. What does Martel want us to get from this journey? What new knowledge or treasure do we bring back with us?
2. What does the carnivorous island represent? Is it a symbol? A metaphor? A clue to interpreting the rest of the story? Why is it in the book?
3. In the Author's Note that begins the novel, Mr. Adirubasamy tell Yann Martel (and the rest of us as we read), "I have a story that will make you believe in God." Does Life of Pi live up to this promise? Why or why not?
4. From the very beginning, Life of Pi is set up as a story. Martel never says otherwise. But at the end of the novel, Pi gives another version of his story, one in which the animals on the lifeboat are replaced by humans. In this version, the zebra represents the Chinese sailor, the hyena represents the cook, Orange Juice represents Pi’s own mother, and Richard Parker is actually Pi himself. If this version is true--and Pi never definitively tells us which version is true--then Pi has invented the version of the story with animals in order to cope with devastating tragedy. So now that you have both versions, I want to ask you the same thing he asks the men from the Japanese Ministry of Transport: "which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?" Why?
5. Apart from the alternate version of events, what else do we learn from Pi's conversation with the men from the Japanese Ministry of Transport that helps us understand the novel better?
6. There is an paragraph in Chapter 57 that reads as follows: "But there's more to it. I will come clean. I will tell you a secret: a part of me was glad about Richard Parker. A part of me did not want Richard Parker to die at all, because if he did I would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger. If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker. He kept me from thinking too much about my family and my tragic circumstances. He pushed me to go on living. I hated him for it, yet at the same time I was grateful. I am grateful. It's the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn't be alive today to tell you my story." If the story without animals is the true story (in terms of "happening truth"), and if Richard Parker is really Pi, then what does this paragraph mean?
7. When the Japanese men respond by saying that the story with animals is, in their opinion, the better story, Pi responds by saying, "Thank you. And so it goes with God." Interpret this.
8. Like Pi, we tell stories. Some of them are true. Some of them are lies. Some of them are exaggerations. But we all tell them. We tell them so that other people can have a way into our lives, so that they can understand us. We tell them to make sense of our own experience, to understand ourselves. What has Life of Pi taught you about why we tell stories?
9. Quote an excerpt from The Things They Carried and then use that excerpt as a lens through which you analyze an aspect of Life of Pi. (Note: this is the kind of question you might expect to find on a midterm exam.)
Thank you. See you on Thursday.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Alone
A Growing Relationship with Richard Parker
How Or Why Is Pi Justifiying Omnism?
Prusten
The Better Story
Why?
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Faith based Question
Thursday, February 17, 2011
For Monday...
Don't answer the questions (yours or those of others) on the blog, but come to class prepared to answer all of them. I would like for you to actually bring the questions with you. Please bring written answers if that is helpful to you. My hope is that doing this will allow our discussion to be driven primarily by your ideas.
Thoughts On Pi
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Empathy vs. Sympathy
Read Between the Lines
If the shipwreck happened first, and we were introduced to Pi's life afterward, the book would not be as rewarding because in Part One, Pi's character prepares us as readers to view his later predicament with a more understanding, accepting eye. He is, in a sense, training us to think like him in order to process his story in a more thorough manner.
Don't get me wrong, I would still read this book even if we weren't prompted to do so in class. However, I do not believe that I would see the better story that is hidden between the lines; about how religion is present in every aspect of life if one decides to search for it, and how zoo animals and humans are more instinctually alike than different (and I'm sure I'll find more not-so-obvious messages as I continue to read). Although this book is considered to be fiction, it states very relevant, everyday-life messages to readers. At this point, I do not care about Pi or Martel's credibility; I am accepting this book as fiction and simply goin' with the flow.
Life of Pi Prompts II
Now that you have gotten to what might be called the "inciting incident" of the plot, or that initial event that kicks the rising action into gear (in this case a shipwreck that leaves Pi stranded on a lifeboat with Richard Parker), I want you to pay attention to all of the things that Martel was preparing you for even without your knowing it. How was he teaching you to read this story? Or, asked in another way, how do you read the story differently than you would if the book started with the shipwreck? How does the earlier material inform what is now happening? Point to specific things in the book that are more meaningful because of what you have already read. What is this experience teaching you about fiction?
Thanks. Happy reading.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Cautious Apprehension
Monday, February 14, 2011
Huh?
Even though I do not like the book so far I will say that I have hope that it gets better and I will get something out of it. I Look forward to class tomorrow so that the more intelligent students can help me out!
Don't Overlook 3.14
The Dry, Yeastless factuality--a true story that misses the point
Pi's Impending Tragedy as the Narrative Engine
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Life of Pi, First Set of Prompts
As we begin to discuss Life of Pi, please feel free to venture away from these prompts and write about other things that are important to you. I am under no illusions that what I want to talk about is necessarily important to you, so if what I ask is interesting to you, I'm glad. If it isn't, please write about something that is, and we'll talk about that. I only ask that we try to limit our comments to what we are reading that day, or have read before.
1. In the Author's Note, Martel tells a story about how he came to write Life of Pi. According to Martel, he first heard the story while in India, from a man named Francis Adirubasamy, and then later, in Canada, from Pi himself. Also, throughout the novel we are given italicized chapters from time to time. These take place years in the future and are in the voice of Yann Martel. Does having just finished The Things They Carried make you read these chapters, and the description of the book's origin, with skepticism, or are you willing to confront the new book on its own ground and believe Martel's story about how the book came about?
2. One thing that Martel is doing in this first section of the novel is setting you up for things that will happen later. You can't know this, of course. The details just seem like details. Lives of zoo creatures, descriptions of swimming pools, details about Pi's undergraduate thesis, the story of training his peers to call him Pi, a tiger ripping a goat apart--these things can seem random and even pointless. And yet, every book has to have what we might call a narrative engine, something that makes you want to keep turning pages. What does Martel do in this first part of the novel to keep you interested even when you are unsure where the book is going?
3. Much of this first part of the book yokes zoology and religion. In what ways is religion like a zoo? In what way is zoo life like religion? For example, look at the way zoos are described (and defended) in Chapter 4. How might these descriptions relate to an individual's religous beliefs? Or, alternatively, how might the strange and even violent acts of the animals in this section of the novel relate to elements of religion?
4. Interpret Chapter 21, Chapter 22, or both. Your interpretation(s) will probably change as you read further, but what do you make of these chapters now? Martel has said that despite their brevity, these are some of the most important chapters in the novel. Pay particular attention to the phrases “dry, yeastless factuality” and “the better story.”
5. At the end of Chapter 30, Martel meets Pi's wife. He had never seen signs of her before, but now he sees them all over the house and wonders how he could have missed them. "They were there all along, but I hadn't seen them because I wasn't looking for them," he says. Can this sentence extend beyond its context and be considered thematic?
6. At the end of Chapter 36, Martel writes, "The story has a happy ending." Why tell the reader this so early in the book? Is this going to spoil your reading experience? Do you even believe it? Isn't it a bad idea to tell the reader about the ending? What do you think about this strategy?
That's probably enough for now. Happy reading.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Hold On Loosely, Before You Lose Control
Actions Speak Louder Than Words.
I believe that the stories/ poems both use silence but to me silence is not really present in the stories at all.
In the poem, A Story, the son wants to be told a completely new story. The father hesitates and is so confused with what he should do with his sons request. His thoughts are loud and screaming to me; he is thinking about how he likes to tell the same stories to his son because of his reaction to them and the young spirit he has. The father is worried about him leaving, he doesn't ever want him to leave, he wants to keep his boy and the tradition of his many stories. I believe the man also might be scared that if he makes up a new one, the boy won't remember it, or it won't amuse him. I believe there is some-what of a silence happening in this story because of the inner conflict the father has and the outer conflict the son and the father have. These emotions and actions are very loud, so to me it's not silence.
In the poem The Dumb Man, the speaker exclaims that he can not remember a story but sometimes he can, and he is dumb and etc. I think that the poem was constructed to seem almost spontaneous. I think the speaker sort-of came up with the story on the spot, or had just thought about it. Because he exclaims he can't remember it, he probably makes a new story up each time. I don't completely understand this story, but I'm guessing this woman is having to choose between the three men downstairs? When the white man comes upstairs to greet her she instantly is attracted to him. Maybe because he was the only one who cared enough to come up stairs? Maybe he can't tell the story because he is missing a piece of it, ( why the dandified man was laughing throughout his story?, who is the woman?, what does she represent?, who is the white one?, what does he represent?). Maybe the man said he can not tell it because only you can tell yourself the story; maybe the piece missing is you. Maybe the white one and the three men are silent because all of their actions speak louder than words.
Overall, I do not think the speaker is dumb, I just think he is confused, like everyone else who reads this poem! haha Anyways, I can't make up my mind on what this one means. Hopefully the rest of the class will explain it to me/ we will discuss it!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Searching for the Right Words
The Silence of Lee's Story
Dumb Man Leaves Me Dumbfounded
There Is No Silence, Only An Ineffability
Cash a lier too!
So this study of truth and lies we are having exteneds not only to stories and poetry but to songs as well. When humankind communicates emotions and memories in nay way it can be looked at in the way that we are exploring this semester.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Inability to be Inarticulate
I feel like the man in The Story by Li-Young Lee is worried about the what the future will inevitably bring for him and his son. Sherwood Anderson, author of The Dumb Man, doesn't seem to even know what the story he is trying to tell means, but he needs to tell it nonetheless, and that's something that I can understand as a fellow writer. The decisions to let their doubts about communication shine through their words makes you feel their emotions in a way that the stories stick with you even after you've finished them. It makes you ponder over the 'what if's. Like 'what if the author hadn't struggled with translating their message?'. I do not think the stories would have been nearly as dynamic without the struggle.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Prompts for "The Dumb Man" and "A Story"
Why do you think these writers use silence as a motif and as a way of framing a story? You can talk about either one of the pieces or both.
Once you've read both pieces a few times (but not before), go here and watch the short film. I'll be interested to hear how it affected your ideas and feelings about Anderson's story.
The Fine Line Between Allegory And Truth
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Abnormal
Growing up I loved to read. It was a way for me to escape reality and become someone else for as long as I wanted. I would spend hours at time reading about people who made me thankful for the life that I had. That being said, Kiowa’s death affected me more than Rat Kiley loosing his mind. The mind is an easy thing to loose. It is almost expected during war. Everyone looses parts of themselves when faced in traumatic situations, such as Vietnam. I always hear post-war stories of grown men who wake up one day reliving battles and running around trying to protect themselves from things and people who aren’t there. Just like Rat scratching away bugs that were not crawling on him. Don’t get me wrong, the story of Rat is powerful but it’s generic compared to the death of Kiowa. Kiowa died in a field of feces he was literally sucked into the ground by bowel movements and rain. I think that I took to this story more than Rat’s because I enjoy reading about the abnormal. Things that make you feel uncomfortable almost to the point you want to stop reading. O’Brian talks about this in his interview when he says storytelling is “how we deal with conflict and with struggle and tensions in our lives”. Only for me I would rather hear or read of others struggles instead of tell mine. That is why I prefer “In The Field” instead of “Night Life”.
Down With The Rain
First, it was Norman Bowker who couldn't pull Kiowa's body out of the mud fast enough to save his life, and so he gave up and let the man sink into the muck. Then O'Brien adds another layer to the story by telling you why he felt he had to write that story into this book. Bowker's tragic tale about needing to speak out to alleviate the guilt he felt about being unable to save his friend's life makes the story seem even more 'real', despite the fact that you know these character's aren't actually 'real' themselves. O'Brien goes on to further your emotional attachment to this particular tale by retelling it. Only this time, he decides to tell you that it was a nameless solider who failed to pry that boot from the mud pit. I had to go back and reread that part three times. I just could swallow it. I had no problem with O'Brien coming right out and saying that several parts of the story were not factual. I understood where he was coming from. I understood why the story needed to be told in this sort of deceptive way, and could therefore accept it. I couldn't understand why he would write the same story, completely change major details, and then not even space it out at all. Had he slide a few sections in between them, I probably wouldn't have even questioned it. I wouldn't have seen a need to. But him putting the stories practically back to back makes me think there had to be a reason he wanted you to see the differences. Maybe to further your distrust in him? I'm not really sure. It became even more frustrating for me in Good Form when he comes right out and reminds you that almost none of the previous tales were factually true. I think even that could have been forgivable, if he hadn't written Field Trip immediately after Good Form. I found myself wondering more about why he was becoming so untactful in his lies more so than concentrating on the story. It was a complete 360 to how I had been approaching the book, and I found it difficult to concentrate on the plot-line of Kiowa's death. It wasn't until after O'Brien had moved on to talk about gun wounds that I could fully immerse myself back into the story. I'm still completely baffled by why O'Brien chose to do this.
The Boy Who Lost Everything
Linda: The Introduction and Ending of Death
Timmy may not have necessarily understood death when he was exposed to Linda's corpse in her coffin. He could barely even recognize her in her post-mortem state. As far as the reader is concerned, this incident is the first time that O'Brien had ever seen a dead person face-to-face. His reason for including this story may have been to let his readers know that although he had been introduced to death pre-Vietnam, the entire concept was still new to him as far as comprehending and coping with the entire grieving process.
On the last page of the book, O'Brien says he is "Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story". In other words, does Linda's death still haunt O'Brien to this day, and is his need to write stories an attempt to save himself from his own destruction?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Things They Carried - Final Set of Prompts
1. In “In the Field,” there is a young boy that is not named. Why not give this character a name? Any ideas? Does the chapter give you any clues?
2. On 178-79, O’Brien writes, “Twenty years. A lot like yesterday, a lot like never. In a way, maybe, I’d gone under with Kiowa, and now after two decades I’d finally worked my way out. [. . .] I felt something go shut in my heart while something else swung open.” Interpret these lines.
3. What happens to O’Brien as he is enacting his revenge on Bobby Jorgenson? What do we learn about him in those chapters? How would you describe his emotional state?
5. O’Brien writes about the difference between “happening-truth” and “story-truth.” He writes that he could tell his daughter that he did, or did not, kill anyone, and that either one would be true. Is this stretching his definition of "truth" too far?
6. Which affected you more, Kiowa going under, or Rat Kiley beginning to lose his mind? Why? What does this teach you about yourself as a reader?
7. The story of Timmy and Linda is probably symbolic of many things. What does it symbolize to you? What is its significance? And why does O’Brien include it, even conclude with it, when it seems to be outside Vietnam, outside the framework of the book?
8. The last chapter, “The Lives of the Dead,” begins with the sentence, “But this, too, is true: stories can save us.” Why the word “too”? What other “truth” is he referring back to? And, perhaps more importantly, what do you think O’Brien means? After all you have read, respond to the idea that a story can save us.
Thank you!
Critical Response Prompts
- This prompt asks you to respond to the question of truth as it relates to storytelling.
- This prompt asks you to respond to the benefits of telling and/or hearing stories.
- This prompt asks you to discuss the dynamic relationship between author and reader.
- This prompt asks you to discuss the relationship between memory and literary form.