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| Do well on this assignment and you'll be as happy as this pencil (unless it's actually terrified and running away). |
I'd like to extend to everyone an opportunity for a little extra credit before the semester's up. The project is brief, but should offer you a chance to share something useful with your peers and me as well.
You might recall that we'll read a total of ten texts this semester and below I'll list another twenty or so books that might've made it onto the reading list. Your mission: to select another book (a novel, collection of short stories, volume of poems, play, book of literary nonfiction, graphic novel etc.) that you think would be a good candidate for a survey of American lit course. Aside from demonstrable quality it should meet the following criteria:
- It should be written by an American author (authors with joint citizenship and/or a long residency in the US without citizenship are acceptable as well).
- It should have been published after 1900.
- It should be a discrete volume (i.e. not a collected works, selected works, etc.).
- It shouldn't duplicate the selections on my list or any of your peers' reserved choices.
Choices can be reserved (first come-first served) by commenting on this thread. If there are any issues with your pick, I'll let you know. You'll write up a short (250–300 word minimum) rationale for your pick and post it as a comment on this thread. Start your entry by listing the book as follows — Author, Title (year of publication) — then skip two lines and paste in your write-up. Of course, you'll want to make sure you
The deadline for this assignment is noon on Tuesday, November 26th, and we'll take a little time out of class that day to discuss everyone's selections. If you have any other questions, let me know.
Alternate Possibilities for Authors on the Reading List
- Toni Morrison, Sula, Beloved, or Song of Solomon
- Carson McCullers, Reflections in a Golden Eye
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road
- Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
- Chris Claremont (and John Byrne), The Dark Phoenix Saga
- Don DeLillo, White Noise
- Valeria Luiselli, Lost Children Archive
Too Canonical / Safe / You Probably Already Read in High School
- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises or A Farewell to Arms
- Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
- Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
We Don't Need Another White Male Postmodernist (Though We Still Love Them)
- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
- Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
- Donald Barthelme, Snow White
- William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
- Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America
These Women Are Too Damn Weird / Experimental for General Audiences
- Renata Adler, Speedboat
- Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Dictee
- Kathy Acker, Blood and Guts in High School
- Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons or Three Lives
#MeToo
- Junot Diaz
- Sherman Alexie
- David Foster Wallace
Iconic, Yet Very Long
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
- Richard Fariña, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
- Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine
- Richard Wright, Native Son
Enders Game Orson Scott Card
ReplyDelete^Lola Summay
ReplyDeleteEthan Frome- Edith Wharton
ReplyDeleteEthan Frome- Edith Wharton from Leah and I think I posted the first request too, sorry!
ReplyDelete1984 By George Orwell
ReplyDeleteSorry, he's British!
Deletefahrenheit 451- Ray Bradberrry
ReplyDelete^Jordan McKinley
DeleteAnimal Farm by George Orwell
ReplyDeleteSorry, still British!
Deletethe color of water - james mcbride
ReplyDeleteThe Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
ReplyDeleteMice of Men by John Steinbeck
ReplyDeleteCathedral- stories by Raymond Carver (Emily Kozak)
ReplyDeleteAs his third collection of short stories, Raymond Carver still 'wows' readers in the Summer of 1989. This collection was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; and rightfully so. According to numerous reviews online, this collection marks a turning point in Carver's career, and the Washington Post book reviewer even calls his style "so clear, it almost breaks your heart". Carver's stories take a reality we know today and adds in his own colorful, descriptive language to create a raw, emotionally powerful, and new view of everyday life. Because it's a collection of short stories, it's easy to read (and assign), and students are truly able to appreciate the different elements of literature in its purest form. The quick read allows students to go back and re-read the story, picking up on new things each time. His symbolism creates a whole other world of devices to analyze and incorporate in a discussion, making the understanding different for each reader; creating a story that much more powerful. The impressions left on readers from the story is something that sticks with them always; I remember the first time I read the collection's namesake, 'Cathedral', and how much it really made me think and how much my classmates and I were able to discuss, and the same thing with 'A Small Good Thing'. His minimal, yet so detailed recollections of everyday life are a great introduction or even follow-up into exploring how such a short story or event can be so powerful, and in the end, the raw emotions create a memorable experience for students for years to come.
DeleteFahrenheit 451- Ray Bradberry Jordan McKinley
ReplyDeletethe secret life of bees-isabelle nuppnau
ReplyDeleteKurt Vonnegut: Cats Cradle
ReplyDeleteKatie Barach
Just kidding about Cats Cradle, I want to do Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
DeleteKatie Barach
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters was published in 1915, and received an incredible amount of critical and commercial success. This collection consists of poems that act as epitaphs of the now deceased residents of the sleepy town of Spoon River, and gives readers a glance into small town and rural American life, and are especially captivating because many of the poems interweave with others, which fleshes out the community in which the Spoon River residents lived. Spoon River Anthology is somewhat of a puzzle, in that the reader has to use each of the poems to piece together much bigger narratives, whether it be the truth behind Minerva Jones's death, Reuben Pantier's crimes, Nellie Clark's rape and abandonment, or Harold Arnett's suicide. I think that this would be a great addition to this course because it offers something that we have not touched on: poetry. Personally, i believe that reading and understanding poetry gives readers a solid foundation for reading regular prose since it is vital for readers to understand the literal and figurative meaning of the work in order to find true meaning. Personally, i think this is good, because if you still wanted to format the class in chronological order, this text would go first. Spoon River Anthology delves into themes of sexism, desire, assault, socio-economic status, pain, guilt, jealousy, and abandonment (among other things), all of which are heavily focused on in this course. This collection of poems by Edgar Lee Masters is a phenomenal read, and one that has stood the test of time, which is why I think it would perfectly fit into the curriculum of this class.
DeleteThe color purple- Alice Walker
ReplyDelete^ Kaitlyn Carmichael
DeleteKaitlyn Carmichael
DeleteThe color purple by Alice Walker
The Color Purple is written by an african american author, Alice Walker, who was born and raised in Georgia in the 1940’s. This book is about a 14 year old poor and uneducated african american girl named Celie who lives in a rural town in Georgia at a time of racial injustice. Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God. These are prompted when her abusive father, Alphonso, rapes her and she becomes pregnant for a second time at the age of 14. Celie turns her attention to protecting her little sister Nellie from her father and she begins to build relationships with other black women who are facing oppression. This book can be difficult to read at times due to it being on a touchy subject, however it is a very powerful book. Some major themes in this book are women empowerment, the power of love and relationships, identity, race, and gender roles. This book reminds me of the Bluest Eye. There are many similarities between Celie and Pecola’s lives. Both are born in black communities and are humiliated by society, as well as they both face similar experiences (being raped by their father). This book highlights the struggles that African Americans faced in the 1900’s and I think this would be a great read for this class and I definitely recommend reading it.
'Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls' by Lucy Corin (Jack Davidson)
ReplyDelete'Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls' by Lucy Corin (Jack Davidson)
Delete“I worry about innocence…. No one says innocent unless they mean doomed.”
Before the introspective autobiographical stories and perspective experiments of 'The Entire Predicament' and the surreal fables and dizzying fragmentations of 'One Hundred Apocalypses (and Other Apocalypses),' Chicago-born writer Lucy Corin published her first novel. 'Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls' is an equally auspicious and ambitious debut, expanding from its main premise of American serial killer culture through the eyes of young girls to explore a multitude of issues. As with much of Corin’s other work there is a palpably personal aspect to 'Everyday Psychokillers,' and much of its power comes from the sensory descriptions, stream-of-consciousness confessions, and retrospective analysis provided by Corin as she examines her childhood from perspectives both past and future. Further depth is added via the various stories, myths, and other auxiliary elements that Corin injects with a Barthelme-esqe collage sensibility. I view the novel as a deeply American work that delves into an aspect of our culture that is not often evaluated, argues for the multitude consequences of allowing killers to become idols, and tells the story of a young girl growing up in a country full of predatory men. Though it sprawls itself across a staggeringly wide thematic landscape, at its heart Corin’s story is about losing innocence, about a growing woman once fascinated by the attention paid to her having to come to terms with a looming, ever-present danger that our society is so reluctant to recognize.
The Bean Tree-Barbara Kingsolver (Marie Beattie)
ReplyDeleteMarie's write-up:
DeleteThe Bean Trees is written by Barbara Kingsolver and was published in 1988. The Bean Trees would be a great choice for an American Literature class because it shows the independence of a young woman and the troubles of motherhood. The book opens in rural Kentucky, where Taylor was born and raised, and she travels to and settles in Tucson, Arizona. Throughout the semester we have talked about several recurring themes such as love, race, and survival skills. These themes are also prevalent in The Bean Trees. Taylor shows signs of maturity as she gets a job at the hospital and buys herself a car at a very young age. Taylor then moves out of the house right out of college to start her own journey of life. Along the way of driving to her new destination she is stopped by a woman with a baby, pleading with her to take it. Taylor is forced to make a life altering decision when she chooses to take the baby. The baby was abused and sexually harassed which causes struggles for Taylor to connect with her child. Taylor finds a place to live and she lives with a group of women, raising the child on her own. Raising the child shows signs of compassion when she takes on motherhood by herself when she wasn’t ready for it and love towards other human beings no matter what the circumstance. This novel is an example of how women can be open and have a community with each other and also shows gender inequality and how women can have difficulties and signs of suffering. The book overall relates and connects to our world and society today. This novel shows the unconditional love between a mother and a child that is not her own, and could be a great book to discuss in an American Lit course.
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (Ella Holtz)
ReplyDeleteThe Grapes of Wrath is written by John Steinbeck, who was born in California, making him an American Author. The book, written in 1939, is somewhat lengthy; however, I think it is a great candidate for this class. This book has a great setting, the Great Depression, that can bring up intriguing discussions of the period and how it will affect the actions discussed in the book. Many themes tie into the other books that are already part of this course. Some of those themes include love, re-birth, survival, and strength in unity. I feel like those are themes and ideas that can be found in many books and can be related to not only the past but students' current life. It is a story of human unity and love, as well as the need for cooperative rather than individualistic ideals during hard times. This book as Christian imagery that I can already see students being about to use in their final papers to relate to other books. The Grapes of Wrath book won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. It was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Novel Prize in 1962. This book has also been talked about being banned, which makes this book more interesting. Although this book is long, I think it would be good to read over a break. The Grapes of Wrath could bring up a great discussion about what values someone should have during those hard times and times where you need others to support yourself.
DeleteThe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
ReplyDeleteErika Haines
DeleteS.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, Published in 1967
The Outsiders is a short book that is truly moving for most students. It is a really great read that brings an interesting light to the life between Greasers and Socialists during the 1950s-60s era. This novel also hits all criteria points being that it is written by an American author (S.E. Hinton was born in Tulsa), it was published in 1967, it was a discrete volume which means that it is not collected or selected works, and it is not a duplicate on the list of prior reads. This book also matches well with other books that are put within this curriculum through themes which would make well for a good pairing for a final paper. For example, some themes throughout this novel would be the divide between the rich and poor, the protecting of childhood innocence, honor and individual identity are all perfect themes that align with many other novels throughout this courses past picked novels. Not to mention, this novel has received many awards such as the New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List (1967), the Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book (1967), the Media and Methods Maxi Award (1975), the ALA Best Young Adult Books (1975) and the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award (1979). I read this novel when I was in middle school and fell in love with it. It was one of the first books that I truly loved going throughout school. I also reread this book various times throughout high school and it still had the same affect. While it is a little bit of an easier read, it can work very well as a one week and done book that is an easy assignment before a break to keep things light. It also has such good messages that, no matter what age you are, are important.
Hazel Bell - In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
ReplyDeleteShannon Burwinekl-Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
ReplyDeleteChanged to Mosquitoland by David Arnold
DeleteMosquitoland (2015) by David Arnold
DeleteMosquitoland is a contemporary young adult novel that I read in high school. While is meant for a younger crowd, Mosquitoland is fantastic novel I think that would be great in a US lit course. The novel’s protagonist is a sixteen-year-old girl who rides a greyhound across the states in order to find her mother who has been missing from her life for several years. In her journey she meets and befriends a gay couple, (written just before marriage equality), a boy with special needs who is homeless, a sexual predator, and many more. While these character may seem mundane to an adult eye, reading this as a fifteen year old really had an impact on me. This book is just a journey to read. The characters in it are diverse and really represent all facets of American life. The novel isn’t afraid to touch issues like, suicide, rape culture, or queer culture; overall important issues I think are missing from a lot of modern YA novels. Mosquitoland touches on teenage insecurities as well as mental health issues, and really dives deep into these issues through the protagonist Mim. Through the entire novel Mim writes letters to her aunt who died by taking her own life and through writing to her aunt Mim consoles her own mental health. Mental health is a crisis in American youth today, and the character Mim can relate to many youths since her struggles of divorce, insecurity, and lack of identity are ubiquitous in adolescence. This novel’s intended audience is meant for adolescence, but its ability to make contemporary issues in American youth present in an interesting and realistic way is something that is far into adult literature. I think this novel would be great for an American lit class, especially in a secondary setting. It has complex theory, but it doesn’t have to tell you it, it shows you its theory, through the amazing diverse characters and story.
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls - Kristin Pong
ReplyDeleteKristin Pong
DeleteJeanette Walls, The Glass Castle (2005)
The Glass Castle, written by Jeanette Walls is a memoir that reflects on her difficult upbringing and change of class. This book should be considered for an American literature class because it touches on many of the themes discussed this semester such as; class, society, perseverance, coming of age and family. The novel flashes back and forth between Jeanette’s childhood, a very poor and unstable home, to her present, living in New York and married to a writer. Jeanette’s family is deeply dysfunctional, constantly uprooting and moving to new places. Jeanette faces a difficult decision of staying with her family or leaving them behind to start a better life for herself. In doing so, her parents feel that she has conformed to society and left behind adventure and freedom. This decision is the true moment where Jeanette “comes of age” and becomes an adult, she makes a difficult choice to grow up and make something of her life. The way that Jeanette describes her childhood is painful to read and it truly effects the reader. As a child, Jeanette did not see the fault in her family’s ways and as she grew older, she realizes that this is not the type of life she, or her siblings should have. Jeanette’s father promises her that one day they will create a dream house, a glass castle, but at some point Jeanette realizes this is just a fantasy that her father will never go through with. This book also explores the American Dream, Jeanette is so poor she goes days without eating a bite of food, and yet she manages to come out of poverty and persevere through all odds. The Glass Castle is a must-read and definitely belongs in an American Literature course.
Received via e-mail:
ReplyDeleteChaz Stump — the Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Dasia Lewis — The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
Andrew Marrero — The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisnero
Dasia's write-up:
DeleteThe Hate U Give is a relatively new novel written by Angie Thomas, an African American woman from Jackson, Mississippi. This novel was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2017 and made into a movie in 2018. This novel explores racial relations and stereotypes in modern society and the stigma associated with police brutality against people of color. The story centers around Starr, a sixteen-year-old African American girl, she resides in a poor, primarily black neighborhood and attends a private, primarily white prep school. One night while leaving a party in her neighborhood, her friend, Khalil is stopped by police and fatally shot. After this event, Starr faces pressure from all sides, her friends and family who want the police officer to pay for his actions, her classmates who believe Khalil got what he deserved, and the neighborhood drug dealers who want her to hide the truth. I believe this novel should be included in this course in the future because although this book is fiction, it shines a light on situations that are constantly happening across America. Thomas’s novel was one of the first of its kind (in modern society) to bring awareness to these issues in this format. The only drawback of this novel is that it spans 444 pages (depending on the copy of the book it could be less) which would consume a lot of time in this course unless divided into large chunks. Overall, I believe this novel would make a great addition to the book list for this course and spark an insightful discussion amongst the class.
Andrew's write-up:
DeleteSandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1983)
“The House on Mango Street” is written by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American author who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. The story seems to be a reflection of her life as a teenage girl and her life in Chicago told through the fictional character Esperanza. Through personal anecdotes, the reader is able to see a glimpse into her life and the problems she faces. The theme shifts focus between the struggles of a teenage girl and those of Latinos in America until the problems blend together as she reaches maturity. The novel is rather short, coming to only 103 pages which goes well with the other novels read in this class. Although “Faces in The Crowd” is also written by a Mexican American author, the difference between the books lays mainly on relatability. The life of a mother in New York City is drastically different compared to a teenager in a humble neighborhood of Chicago. The narrator struggles with racism, sexism, and classism all through the teenage perspective which is something a reader does not get from “Faces in the Crowd” which is written more for those who have lost their youth, without tackling some of the important aspects of her culture. Diversity in literature is important for the sake of different perspectives. Works that are more relatable tend to stick more and broaden ideas of other cultures. “The House on Mango Street” dives deep into the life of Esperanza with no time for explanation or reason, as if her life is one that everyone will understand.
Kilee Wolfe
ReplyDeleteJohn Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men (1937)
Of Mice and Men is a great novel. I was assigned this book a couple times in high school and it was a fairly easy read. The book is also under 200 pages so it could be broken down into 3-4 classes and would not take up too much time. Along with these perks, Of Mice and Men has many messages and themes that relate to the books we have already read. This novel opens with George and Lennie fleeing a lynching in Weed and arriving at the farm. This exemplifies the constant state of fear the gentlemen are living in due to their race and this same theme could be seen throughout other books we have read in this class, especially in The Bluest Eye. George and Lennie, throughout the course of the book, are ultimately seeking to live the American Dream. This concept is seen in many of the other books we have read as well. Along with having substantial themes relating to this class, this book has been given very high rankings by many critics. In 1938, Steinbeck was awarded the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for his book Of Mice and Men and the book was ranked #1 in the state of California in 1937. Several other critics have given it five-star ratings. Overall, the book is very suitable for a US Literature class and I would definitely recommend reading it.
The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
ReplyDelete^submitted by Isabelle Jenkins
DeleteSorry, Isabelle but Atwood is Canadian.
DeleteSue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, Published in 2001
ReplyDeleteThe Secret Life of Bees follows the journey of Lily Owens who is trying to find the truth about her late mother. Lily Owens is a white 14-year-old girl who is growing up in the American South during 1964 which was a time of racial unrest. While trying to find the truth about her late mother, she finds a picture of her mother taken in Tiburon, South Carolina and decides to travel there after an argument with her abusive father. Once reaching Tiburon, she meets the African American Boatwright sisters who offer her a place to stay and employment on their bee farm. The Secret Life of Bees should be taught because it shares strong similarities to other books taught in this course. For example, similarly to the protagonist in “The Member of the Wedding”, Lily Owens also struggles with identity and wants to find a place where she belongs. Also, similarly to “The Bluest Eye”, Lily learns more about herself as well as race. While learning about race and experiencing back lash due to her interracial relationship, she finds intelligance and beauty within others who do not have the same skin color as her own. This novel should be taught next year due to its themes such as: secret lives, race, mothers, fortunate coincidences and signs, and death gives way to life.
Chaz writes:
ReplyDeleteUpton Sinclair, The Jungle (1905)
The Jungle should be considered a candidate as a survey for an American literature course because it represents the dangerous living conditions, as well as labor conditions, in early 20th century Chicago. Personally, I have learned of the book in my Honors American History course, as is relates to the harsh labor conditions industrial United States put upon its citizens. The story focuses on Lithuanians Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite. Jurgis worked at an unheated slaughterhouse in Packingtown, in which at the winter time it was extra dangerous. Jurgis then joined a union in an attempt to lower those terrible working conditions. His wife was forced to sleep with her boss, and Jurgis meets a criminal friend in jail after attacking his wife’s boss. After his wife and child die at birth, he returns to Chicago and attacks his wife’s boss again, this time discovering he was a colleague of Mike Scully. At the end, he attends a socialist rally with the belief that “Chicago will be ours”. Despite the summary, this book should be on the course list because it is does not glorify a bad situation for the means of entertainment. It is a raw depiction of some of the worse treatment American families had to go through in the early 20th century. History and literature is a part of our culture and The Jungle is a mix of the two. It Is about a family that suffers at the hands of the system that America had in place. Bosses and politicians at the top, and American citizen commoners at the bottom scrapping for wages, and paying living and labor costs just to survive. The Jungle puts a part of American History into a novel, and it provides students and readers a time to reflect on the past, and how to move forward with a respect and sympathy of our history. The unique thing about this novel Is everything at the end of the book did not turn out roses and sunshine, but it set up the protagonist, Jurgis, with a hope for his life and his country, and how he could join a group to change the problems that were going on in Industrial America.
Haunting of Hill House or Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (posted by Isabelle Jenkins)
ReplyDeleteA raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry from Kelly Stanifer
ReplyDeleteLorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
DeleteA Raisin in the Sun is written by Lorraine Hansberry, a native-born Chicagoan. Lorraine was the first African American female writer to have a play performed on Broadway. This play is a strong candidate for an American Literature class, not only because of the breakthrough for black women, but because it showcases the struggles of black Americans in the fifties. In addition, it fits the criteria for books to suggest (i.e. it premiered in 1959, Hansberry is an American author, it is not a discrete volume and it was not already taken or not permitted). This play would make a good addition to the American Lit. course because it supports some recurring themes in the class, such as race and social class. The play is about a black family in Chicago who faces all kinds of inequalities. Lena is waiting for her husband’s insurance check from his death for a long time. When she does get the money, she gives her son a portion to chase his dreams of opening a liquor store, although he later gets cheated out of both his money and the store. With the $7,000 left over, she puts money down on a house in a white community. Lena and her family are offered to be bought out so that they will not cause issues in their new neighborhood due to it being a white community in the 50’s. Additionally, another character, Beneatha, is torn between two relationships; one with an assimilated black man and one with a man proud of his African heritage. In order to fit in in America, Beneatha straightens her hair and struggles to accept her heritage. A big moral of the play is to unapologetically embrace who you are. This becomes clear when the family decides to move into the white neighborhood and Beneatha marries the culturally rich man and move to Nicaragua. This play encaptures a piece of America’s history in only 162 pages. A Raisin in the Sun was nominated for four Tony awards in 1960. I think that this play would not only add diversity to the types of literature being read by including a play, but it would also add to the quality of message in this course.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
ReplyDeleteLois Lowry, The Giver (1993)
DeleteThe Giver is a modern classic. It was a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowery. The story sets in a society which at first appears to be utopian but is later revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. Years have past since I have fully read this book but continues to be one of my favorites. It has won variety of different awards like the Newbery Medal, Regina Medal, Booklist Editors’ Choice, etc. The protagonist of the story is a 12-year-old boy named Jonas. He is growing up in a community which lacks color, memory, climate, pain, individuality and more. Society is trying to hide any problems or possible differences so nobody will be different or can cause any sort of conflict. Jonas is a different case. He is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory. The Receiver of Memory is a person who stores all the past memories of the time before now. They are currently in a time period called the Sameness, so his memories are the times before which no one else can know. During Jonas training from the previous Giver, he struggles with the emotions that come with it. Those emotions led them to want to get away from the community but in his position, leaving the community meant for the rest of the community to experience all those feelings and remember the past. Lois Lowry ends the book with many questions and mysteries to what actual happens at the end. It gives us, the readers, the chance to decide for ourselves what happens. I truly enjoy Lowry’s writing style and it was a cool look into a science fiction text.
The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
ReplyDeleteMolly Burch
Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues (1996)
DeleteMolly Burch
Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues was first performed in 1996 and there have been many productions since then. The Vagina Monologues has received enormous praise and was even said to be "probably the most important piece of political theater of the last decade" by The New York Times in September 2006. Through the stories of the 200+ women Ensler interviewed, readers are encountered with puberty, sexual assault, sex, relationships, genital mutilation, stigma, sexuality, body image, shame, and a whole lot of vaginas. This text is designed in a way to make readers feel a multitude of emotions. These stories will make you angry, they will make you laugh and cry, they will make your heart hurt. Women are meant to feel empowered and reclaim their bodies that have been thought to belong to men for so long. Because of this text, V-Day was born. V-Day is a movement designed to raise funds for organizations that fight against violence towards women. However, one of the biggest reasons this book would be interesting to read in a college classroom is because of the criticism it received as well. Although this text was revolutionary at the time it was first released, there is more current backlash regarding feminism, the absence of transgender women, and of course conservatives. Discussing this piece in a classroom setting would allow a conversation to be had regarding both sides and that is the most important thing. This text was so influential because it started a conversation and we can't let that conversation die. As Ensler says "what we don't say we don't see, acknowledge, or remember" (xxii).
Ray Bradburry, Fahrenheit 451(1953)
ReplyDeleteJordan McKinley
Dr. Hennessey
Fahrenheit 451
In Fahrenheit 451 the story takes place in the futuristic American times and the main character of this novel is a man named Guy Montag. Guy is a fireman, you might think he is a hero and his job is very rewarding, but ironically in this time firemen burn books instead of putting fires out. The society Guy lives in is not normal, people are detached from one another, they do not know what books are, and all they do is listen to a radio station called “Seashell station”. Guy ends up going through many eye opening experiences throughout the novel from his wife trying to commit suicide to watching a woman burn alive with her books because she ending up burning up with her books inside her house. I believe that this book would be a great novel to read in US literature because it is a classic American novel and it is a great read. When I first read this novel, I was only in middle school and did not have the opportunity to comphrend what the book was actually telling and missed the hidden concepts and secrets within the pages. I ended up reading the novel again just last year and I was very happy to read it a second time because the first time I hated the book. The second time I ended up really enjoying it. Last year after reading it what I took from it was the themes of technology playing a big part and I also like how Ray Bradburry is not afraid to show his readers how he really feels about certain subjects and uses his free of speech very handy. Having this book being read in this class, readers will take away how the future might become and just how twisted Ray Bradburry’s mind actually is.
James McBride, The Color of Water A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (1995)
ReplyDeleteThe book that I think should be added to the US Literature reading list is The Color of Water, A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride. This is an inspirational, thought provoking memoir of about 300 pages, but reads relatively fast and easy. McBride tells the story of his family – siblings and specifically, his mother. This book touches upon many different themes, including family, race, religion, immigration, parenting, education, and growing up. The Color of Water was also very easy for me to read because of how remarkable to story is. On the back cover it reads, “As an adult, McBride finally persuaded his mother to tell her story – the story of a rabbi’s daughter, born in Poland and raised in the South, who fled to Harlem, married a black man, founded and Baptist church, and put twelve children through college”.
Ruth McBride, the mother, has a story that includes rebelling from her parents and breaking free from the status quo of the previous generation, which seems to be a common theme in American society since it’s foundation. McBride wrote this book and learned about his mother's past to understand more about who he is and where he came from. I can see this book inspiring great classroom discussion because of the various themes listed above, particularly the idea of “identity” in terms of race and religion. I read this book on my own in my first year of college and I really enjoyed reading it, but I am certain that I would have gotten more out of reading it and discussing with a classroom of students who were reading it with me.
Lizzie writes:
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” was written by Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman born in Alabama in 1891. The novel was published in 1937 and focuses on themes of self-realization, love, sex, and racism. The story follows main character Janie Crawford, a woman of mixed race who emotionally grows and matures through her relationships with men throughout the plot. Janie’s sexual realization comes about when she sees a bee pollinating a flower on a pear tree. This experience kick starts her journey to find real love. After being forced by her grandmother to marry her older first husband, Logan Killicks, due to his financial stability and social status, Janie realizes that he doesn’t treat her with the respect she deserves. Janie then meets Joe Starks. Following weeks of secret fraternization, the two get married. They move to the all-black Eatonville, where Joe becomes the mayor. When he begins to treat her more as a possession rather than a wife, Janie realizes that yet again she hasn’t married the man she’s been looking for. After a long marriage and many more problems, Joe dies, finally freeing Janie. Tea Cake, a young rambunctious man, catches Janie’s attention and the two instantly click despite the town’s gossip. They get married and leave Eatonville. When a hurricane hits, tragedy ensues. Despite her many attempts to find herself through men, Janie doesn’t come to full realization until she returns to Eatonville all by herself. Throughout this course, the books we have read discuss important themes such as love, sex, and racism. This novel comments on all three in an interesting and thought-provoking way. A perfect example of perseverance, I believe this story belongs on the reading list due to the fact that it encapsulates many subjects brought up throughout our class discussions.
Ceremony | Leslie Marmon Silko
ReplyDeleteCeremony is a Native-American novel written by Leslie Marmon Silko. Beautifully written, it covers the trials of a multi-cultural man named Tayo. Post-World War II, the half-white Laguna Pueblo man suffers from what may be Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The novel begins in 1942 and Tayo is mourning the death of his cousin, Rocky, and his uncle Josiah. Guilt consumes Tayo’s brain due to promises of the past and he struggles with hallucinations—blurring the past and present. Leslie Marmon Silko takes readers through his trials and tribulations in a warped timeline, including both physical and spiritual realities. This spiritual world includes the three mean spiritual entities of the Puebloan people. This timeline of events is where readers are introduced to topics such as mental health, race, and the classic good versus evil. As the novel progresses and Tayo struggles with alcoholism and mental disorders, he looks towards the Navajo and Pueblo people to guide him. Eventually he undergoes a traditional ceremony, in the hope to alleviate his pain. This is where the novel earns its name.
Nostalgia mixed with alcohol makes for an intricate story, and the format of writing leaves readers with an incomplete sense of understanding. However, as the book comes to a close, readers are left to make sense of the converging timelines and create a final opinion of the narrator, Tayo. This book would make an excellent addition to the American Literature course for multiple reasons. The format itself is similar to a few books on the already existing course list—written in a non-linear order, regarding two separate timelines (physical and spiritual). This allows readers to fully engage in the mind of the narrator and make opinions on the past, based off the present situation. It also opens up readers to the effects of war, cultural differences, and the complexity of mental health. Overall, this novel has a lot to offer to an American Literature course.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
ReplyDeleteMost people know Shirley Jackson from her famous, and controversial, short story “The Lottery”, about a small community ritually sacrificing one of its members. However, her novel The Haunting of Hill House, published in 1959 is also a fantastic and representative example of the American Gothic tradition in her time. While Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood is far more ubiquitous on English class syllabi for its examination of religious and racial anxieties in the US, Jackson’s Hill House examines anxieties around the pressure to conform to the standard of the emerging “nuclear family” of the American 1950’s.
The novel begins with a doctor inviting a group of social outcasts to participate in an experiment in a notoriously haunted mansion with a tragic history, Hill House. As the novel progresses the experiment reveals more about the mansion’s inhabitants and their human foibles than it does about the supernatural. The ultimate fate of the novel’s protagonist reveals Jackson’s critique of the stifling conformity of her time and what it could do to those who were unable to, or chose not to conform. It is also worth noting that many scholars argue the relationship between the two female characters is an examination of closeted queer relationships at the time. Finally, in addition to creating a representative work of American Gothic fiction with Hill House, Jackson is a phenomenal writer and much can be learned formally from reading her work.