Blackboard site and Course EValuations

The Blackboard site for this class is now visible. I am using the "announcement" function to send you all mass emails. These are set up to go to your LMU address. Be sure to check that email address for these announcements and log in to Blackboard. If your LMU address doesn't work or you can't get in to Blackboard, email Sherry Lang and ask her to fix it. The final exam will be administered over Blackboard, so make sure this works now.

I am going to set up Blackboard for the papers to be submitted there. I realize it's easier for you to email it to me, but for some reason the web portal I use at home for our LMU email sometimes doesn't let me open attachments. It's random as near as I can tell, but since right now I can't get to my LMU office computer, I need to make sure I can open your documents. Please remember that I cannot read Word Perfect files, and save it as a Word document.

Finally: free candy! Norma Wells will have it (if you get there fairly soon) and she'll give you some when you drop by to fill out course evaluations. Please, please make sure you do that at some point in the next few weeks.

Discussion questions for the Scarlet Pimpernel

Class will meet on MSN this coming Tues at 9:30 to discuss the Scarlet Pimpernel. Remember, your annotated bibs must be emailed to me by 9:30 on Thursday. You must also set up a time to meet with me on messenger to discuss your bib. This can be on Thurs or Friday--let me know!

Here are some questions to consider for the Pimpernel:

1. This genre is historical fiction. What (besides being set in the past) does this genre demand? How does this book meet or alter those expectations?

2. Does the novel do anything that shows the Revolution and its aims as sympathetic? What? Why would this be part of the book?

3. What minor characters might serve as foils for the major characters? What do they suggest about them?

4. Chauvelin's downfall comes about because of his dislike for Jews. Does the novel invite the reader to reject his opinion? Or does it still expect that the reader holds a low opinion of them? What do you know about the treatment of Jews in Europe when this book was written?

5. Male and female roles in the novel. Where do characters act in a way that doesn't seem to conform with what the audience expected of their gender? Is this really resisting the gender roles that are assigned, or do the characters set them aside only to assert them?

I'll see you all on-line on Tuesday!

no class Thursday November 8

Sorry folks, on-line class will be cancelled Thursday.

We'll discuss The Scarlet Pimpernel on Tuesday.

Keep watching the blog for more information.

Have a good weekend!

The Tain: A Quick Overview

Hi, everyone.

I want to give you a quick synopsis of the Tain, since we're not reading the whole thing. A "tain" is a cattle-raid; the Tain Bo Culainge translates to the "Cattle-raid of Cooley." The armies from the province of Connacht, under King Ailill and Queen Medb, raid the province of Ulster to carry off the Brown Bull of Culainge. The men of Ulster have been cursed with debilitating pangs that will strike them when they are in danger, so they cannot fight the army for 9 days. During that time, their greatest hero, Cuchulainn, must hold off the army. Cuchulainn is not cursed with the pangs because his father is not one of the men of Ulster, but the god Lug. He's also still a boy, which could also perhaps be why he's exempt.

There are some notable heroes on each side, especially Fergus on the side of the Connachtmen. Fergus is also the hero of his own series of legends, and it's important that he and Cuchulainn don't actually fight--you can't have your two best heroes try to kill each other! There are also some characters that are actually pagan gods and goddesses--not only Lug (who fights in Cuchulainn's place at one point), but the war-goddess Morrigan, and in some ways Medb. Although Medb (also sometimes spelled Maeve in modern Irish) is more-or-less human in the Tain, in other legends she's a type of the "sovreignty goddess" who grants lordship to the man who marries and/or sleeps with her. This partially explains her unusual sexual ethics, and the nervousness with which the male characters react to her.

We'll probably start discussion on Tuesday with Medb. Look at her character and the way other characters react to her.

Hamartia

The great Greek dramatic critic, Aristotle, suggested that all tragic heroes suffer from a single failure in personality or nature that brings about their downfall. The Greek word for this is hamartia—we call it a tragic flaw. Recent critics have suggested that hamartia is not supposed to be interpreted as a personality flaw, but a lack of knowledge or understanding of an event.

• Does hamartia apply to Antigone? What might her flaw be?
• Does this apply to other characters? Is she actually the hero in this play? What arguments do you see that suggest she might not be? Why wouldn’t she be a good tragic hero?
• Pick a passage, and do some close reading. Look for both hamartia, and dramatic irony in this play.

I'd like everyone to post at least a couple of comments, posting on any of the above topics (or one of your own) and then responding to a classmate's post.

Citation page

Here's the link for the OWL site at Perdue. If you scroll down, you can see the related links at the bottom of the page for further reading.

Translation Exercise

Google Books search on Arabian Nights returns these results. You can also check the library. If you can't find another translation by Monday, email me or leave a comment here and I'll bring some to class that you may borrow for photocopying.