Course Review

Well, its the end of English 2203. My experience in this class has been, overall, a very good one. I enjoyed the classes the classes that I attended, but what I most enjoyed were the readings. Before having taken this class, I had never read anything older than the 20th century other than the “classic” novels that everyone is familiar with. I never thought that I would read African-American folklore, or that the fiction of the post modernist era would be relevant to my life today.

Aside from the readings, discussions in class helped me understand and process what I had read. I thought that Dr. Long’s knowledge of the subject paired with the varying views of the class allowed for me to see the literature in a completely different way, and even sometimes change my opinion of something. My biggest regret of the course is that I didn’t attend more frequently, I really wish I had.

The Black Mountain School and Its Poets

Last week we discussed the Black Mountain College and its poets. The Black Mountain College was an experimental institutions whose mission was to educate their students in all things art. At the school were a group of poets, known as the Black Mountain Poets, who served as instructors. For our second English project we were required to consider the Black Mountain College and more specifically its poets. I chose to research Ed Dorn. Somewhat quirky, Dorn had a passion considering ‘geography’ and ‘location’ and how these two things affected a person. I enjoyed Dorn’s narrative style that allowed the reader to consider the questions that arise with narrator and draw conclusions for themselves.

The Crucible

Last week we looked at Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The play is a depiction of the Salem Witch Trials which took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century. The play follows the happenings of a small town in which accusations of witchcraft were enough to get one executed. A group of young girls, whether ill or delusional, accuse women of the town of participating in which craft. These women stand trial, are wrongfully convicted, and eventually executed.

What is interesting is the historical comparison between the Salem Witch Trials and the fear of communism in the first part of the 20th century. Arthur Miller wrote the play during the period of the “McCarthy Hearings”, wherein the US blacklisted supposed communists. i enjoyed how Miller brought the spirit and turmoil of one era into another through literature.

Modernism

This week and next week our reading will focus on the modernist movement. Authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway contributed to the movement in the early 20th century. The modernist movement was marked, some say, by the increase in urbanization witnessed by the country during that time period. F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a great example of modernist literature representing the rise of urban living. What I have enjoyed most about modernist literature and look forward to enjoying as I continue my reading is the use of the metaphor by the author to tell a story within the story.

On another note, I am looking forward to starting research on our second project. I will be researching Edward Dorn, an American poet who studied at the Black Mountain College. I will work to identify exactly in which ways his time spent at the BMC influenced his poetry during the 1970s. I’m looking forward to using the resources at the Dodd Center on campus to accomplish this.

The Maltese Falcon

Next week our reading will be focused on Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. The novel, which was written in 1930, is in the classic genre of American crime fiction. The novel tells the story of private detective Sam Spade who is hired by a young wealthy woman to investigate a crime of theft and to recover a valuable artifact. The plot twists and turns as identities are revealed, truths are uncovered, and problems are solved.

What fascinates me about this genre of literature is its sudden emergence and its quick impact on a society. In the 1920s and 1930s America went through a transition period as the first world war was ending, the 18th amendment of prohibition has been passed and later repealed, the Great Depression crippled the nation, and organized crime in major urban areas grew to astounding levels. With these changes came a way for American authors to entertain their audiences by drawing out plots that were happening in their every day lives.

Daisy Miller

A novella by Henry James, Daisy Miller tells the story of an American girl courted by an upper crust European Winterbourne. The story focuses on the idea of society what it means to two individuals. Throughout the novella there is an underlying theme of comparisons between American and European societies. Much of these comparisons reflect common stereotypes and prejudices reflective of both cultures.

I find it interesting the relationship between Daisy and Winterbourne, and more specifically how they interact and react to each other. On one hand you have Winterbourne who, although not significantly, makes an effort to remove himself from his cloistered position in European society to hop across the fence and experience the life of Daisy, if for nothing more than curiosity. Daisy, however, is different in the sense that she desires to be included in European society so much so that she tends to constantly point out that she is a mis fit and expresses what appears to be some sort of resentment of European high society.

In the end it is Winterbourne, unexpectedly in my opinion, claims that Daisy is ‘too common a woman for me to love’ and reverts back to his life style and behaviors of the society from which he came.

 

I really enjoyed the blunt ending of ‘Daisy Miller’. I found that the reversion of Winterbourne to his natural ways to be very honest in that it is human nature, though it is portrayed kind of negatively by the narrator. Its used to show that although sometimes not the most exemplary or positive actions, it is human nature.

 

 

African American Folktales

The readings this week were those of African American Folktales. Charles Chesnutt, an author, especially interests me. His works revolve around two main themes of race and society. Through his works Chesnutt appears to be constantly delving deeper into interracial as well as intraracial issues. An example would be in his work of “The Passing Grandison” where he tells the story of a young white man from Ohio feeling ‘moved by compassion for the sufferings of a certain bondman’ and eventually attempting to help this slave to freedom. This story goes against most of what has been known about this period in terms of socio-interracial norms. I look forward to reading more early African American literature and to see the progression of the relationship between race and society through them.