NO PAPERS ACCEPTED AFTER WED AT 3PM

YOUR PAPERS ARE DUE ON WEDNESDAY!


I will be at on a conference starting on Thursday so I will not be here to collect papers on Thursday.
Get me your papers on Wednesday!

More Sources For The Road

This is an article on The Road and "The Allegory of the Cave"

tp://journals.tdl.org/cormacmccarthy/index.php/cormacmccarthy/article/view/852/616


More about The Road
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Kennedy.t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.themodernword.com/reviews/mccarthy_road.html

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n02/philip-connors/crenellated-heat

http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2639&context=etd

http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/013_04/499

http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/013_04/499

http://network.bepress.com/explore/arts-and-humanities/english-language-and-literature/literature-in-english-north-america/?facet=publication_facet%3A%22Cormac+McCarthy+Conference%22

The Road

NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Kennedy.t.html?pagewanted=all

http://blog.mattmecham.com/2007/05/29/cormack-mccarthy-the-road/

Hope:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200805/coping-and-procrastination-the-role-hope

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CGoQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swarthmore.edu%2FSocSci%2Fbschwar1%2Fpitfalls.pdf&ei=5epxT-OyKoPC0QGIlOWgAQ&usg=AFQjCNHKErPOuXD1lgCFc7gjizHGBkt_jg&sig2=Iz-GAe8EOtNQLnsdv7Ws9g

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joyce-mcfadden/the-psychology-of-hope-an_b_141856.html

More Sources for Catcher in the Rye

Link to New York Times articles about the novel:


http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&region=Masthead&pgtype=Homepage&module=SearchSubmit&contentCollection=Homepage&t=qry422#/thecatcher in the rye


Here is a letter from JD Salinger to a producer about make Catcher in the Rye into a film. Notice the final line about all the other letters her has read on the matter:

http://collider.com/catcher-in-the-rye-movie-rejection-jd-salinger/147583/

Here is a collection of Salinger sources:

http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Salinger.htm

Article about Holden:

http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2012/10/everybody-still-wants-piece-holden-caulfield/58012/

This is a fan site dedicated to Salinger:

http://web.archive.org/web/20091027201806/http://www.deadcaulfields.com/DCHome.html

http://www.wahlbrinck.de/catcherintherye/index.htm

The carousel at Central Park



The pond at Central Park:

The Catcher in the Rye

NY Times article about teens relating to Holden today:

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/teenagers-speak-up-on-salinger/
A collection of links explaining aspects of the novel:

http://www.wahlbrinck.de/catcherintherye/ext.htm
Here is an article about Holden from the author Gish Jen. I think it will help us out as we look at the first 15 chapters of the novel.

http://www.newliteraryhistory.com/catcherintherye.html

VALE and More Outside Sources for A Lesson Before Dying

I have mentioned VALE in class before as a good place for outside sources and here is the link:

valenj.org

Once you click the link, click on "subscribed databases". Then click on Essex County College Only and the user identification is :

essexecc

and the password is:

door42

More outside sources for A Lesson Before Dying:

http://departments.mercer.edu/fys/files/coretexts/gaines.html

http://www.laguardia.edu/lesson/students.html

http://alessonbeforedyingalfonzo.weebly.com/literary-criticism.html

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_lm_ER2003_152518_7.pdf

ESSAY DUE FEB 26 (NO LATE PAPERS)

Use 2 OUTSIDE SOURCES (NO OUTSIDE SOURCES=FAIL)

3 PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED, SIZE 12 TIMES NEW ROMAN

Huck Finn

1)      Argue that the character of Jim is the only righteous and honest character in a sea of white characters who are all greatly flawed proves that Twain wanted to show that despite the “civilized” nature of white society, it is not perfect and slavery, which denies human rights, is a hypocritical institution. Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

2)      We discussed the river as being symbolical to Huck and Jim throughout the novel; explain what the river could have symbolic meant to each of them. Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

3)      Lying occurs frequently in this novel. Curiously, some lies, like those Huck tells to save Jim, seem to be “good” lies, while others, like the cons of the duke and the dauphin, seem to be “bad.” What is the difference? Are both “wrong”? Why does so much lying go on in Huckleberry Finn? Explain in your essay what the difference is between the types of lies with examples from the text. Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

4)      Using the articles on the class blog and other reliable sources, discuss the issue of the “n” word in this novel. Why it should stay or why it should go?

A Lesson Before Dying

1)      Education is very important in this novel, both its attainment and the lack of it. Tante Lou continually refers to Grant as “the teacher.” The other men call him “Professor.” Yet Grant hates teaching, echoing the feelings of his own teacher, Matthew Antoine. Contrast the opinions of education presented in this novel. Why do some seek it and others consider it a burden? What role does it play in the characters’ lives and the life of the community?

2)      Reread the description of Vivian from Chapter 4 and the passage in Chapter 15 about Vivian’s marriage. What was the cause of conflict between Vivian and her family over her marriage? What causes the conflict between Vivian and Tante Lou over her relationship with Grant?

3)      Paul earns Grant’s respect through his treatment of Jefferson and his visitors. How is Paul different from the other jail keepers? How do his actions at the end of Jefferson’s life demonstrate Paul’s goodness? Why might he have chosen to attend the execution even though it was not part of his job/

4)      Symbolism is important in this story as it is in many stories. Pick two or three symbols from the novel and explain the role it plays and its significance. Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

5)      Compare Rev. Ambrose and Grant’s approach to helping Jefferson. What did they disagree about? How did each man defend his beliefs? Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

UPDATE FOR NEXT FEB 12

We will continue to follow the syllabus so be ready to discuss the first half of A Lesson Before Dying.
I will also push the assignment of the first paper back a week so it will be due FEB 26.

Here are some links for A Lesson Before Dying:

http://www.neabigread.org/books/lessonbeforedying/media/

http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/About-A-Lesson-Before-Dying-By-Ernest-Gaines/1

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/callaloo/v024/24.1nash.html

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Cmsdv8wsQFcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA135&dq=a+lesson+before+dying&ots=Lorbr_9BXc&sig=BaAzXW1ZTpM_hBKa72BrBdJaZn8#v=onepage&q=a%20lesson%20before%20dying&f=false

More Huck Finn

Here is a link talking about the complexity of Jim. We discussed in class how he clashes with many other characters in the story. This article goes into that topic even deeper:

http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol1/issue1/huckfinn.htm

We also talked a bit about how the river is a symbol of freedom for Huck and Jim throughout the novel. The link below has another take on what the river may symbolize:

http://www.suite101.com/content/the-river-as-god-in-huck-finn-a75246

Keep reading! I'll see you Wednesday.

NO CLASS WED JAN 22

I was at wedding over the weekend and my flight was delayed until late last night/early this morning. I will not be in today and as of now the school is on a delayed opening until noon.

Check the school website to stay updated:

http://www.essex.edu

Continue reading Huck Finn and we will catch up next week.

Prof. O'Connell

Huck Finn (Updated)

As you know we have begun The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn this week in class. The NY Times article below is about a  professor that is attempting to alter the text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is a topic we will discuss further in the next few weeks and will most likely show up as an essay question. Here are a few links to some stories about the controversy:

This is from the New York Daily News and some of the reader comments are interesting to say the least...
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/01/05/2011-01-05_take_the_nword_out_of_huck_finn_its_an_insult_to_mark_twain__and_to_american_his.html

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/45645-upcoming-newsouth-huck-finn-eliminates-the-n-word.html

Here are a few articles from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/07/us/a-scholar-finds-huck-finn-s-voice-in-twain-s-writing-about-a-black-youth.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/24/books/adapting-and-revising-twain-s-huck-finn.html

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn/why-bother-reading-huckleberry-finn


.
.and another from the NY Times about Pap Finn
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn/the-words-of-pap-finns-rant

What do you think?