Tonight's reading...

Well... what did you find interesting?

Sunday Alphabet Soup

Hello all,

Time to cultivate a little levity. Let's make this post an alphabet soup. Take the initials of your name- for example- mine are JDS. Now, find a literary element/word that describes an aspect of the text and justify it. For example, Juxtaposition- in specific scenes, Milkman's status as "other" is juxtaposed with the rest of society- walking down the street etc. Dead- the naming of the main family is particuarly interesting as Macon is "dead" to the rest of the African American world. Self-Actualization- clearly there is a progression of character in Milkman as he searches for himself this is illustrated by.... Initially,(pun intended) this may seem easy, but take some time to really think about the text in relation to your name.

Relationships, Relationships, Relationships....

What do you think of Morrison's portrayal of relationships (romantic, platonic, familial) in the novel? Is Morrison making a comment about traditional and non-traditional unions? What do these relationships contribute to the text?

Song of Solomon Chapters 1-4

So, one of us was supposed to make a blog post, right? Well, I guess it'll have to be me since I don't have time to wait for someone else to do it. 

So let's talk about:

> magical realism in Song of Solomon

>what you think of the book so far

Personally, I think the book is very, very well written. The story is engaging. The characters are interesting. But one problem I have with the book is what's up with the time shifts? One chapter, Milkman is a little kid, one anecdote later he's 12. Yet another anecdote later and he's suddenly 22. The next chapter starts and suddenly he's 31! Did anyone else have this issue?

Also, in chapter 4, was the "dream" sequence real? That seemed ambiguous to me. How did you feel about the "ghost" story? 

Well, enjoy posting. 

Preparing to Fly- Pre-reading activities for Morrison's Song of Solomon

Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon is an amalgam of literary and cultural traditions. In order to understand the novel more wholly, it is necessary to examine some of the allusions the author employs. Armed with this understanding, you will be better able to determine if she subscribes to, subverts, or transforms the meaning of these allusions in the text. This weekend, please do the following

1. Look up "Song of Solomon"- King James Version- print, read, analyze. Bring to class on Monday.
2. Look of the following names for biblical significance- Ruth, Pilate, Corinthians, Magdalena. FYI- one of the best books I ever bought in college was titled Who's who in the Bible- it is silly, I know, but as I am not a biblical scholar, it really helped with all those books I was reading. Any future English majors might want to check to see if it is still in print.

Have a great weekend!

An homage to the South?

What exactly is Faulkner stating about the South in the chapters you have read so far? Is there hope for the future? Is there no future? Your thoughts? How does this relate to the manipulation of time throughout the text?

Jason as social commentary

What have you discovered in pondering this question?