Violent Thoughts

Hi everyone!

I'm hoping to pose a few questions and make a few statements here in order to continue the thinking we began in class today.

Q: Do you think Americans have a unique obsession with violence? Why?

I think it is important for you to understand that there has been a long standing violent literary tradition, and that the violence showcased is reflective of certain historical conditions and characteristics. The growth of popular literacy created a mass audience entranced by suspense and subsequent action. In fact, Alexis de Tocqueville noted early that " a mass market is not conducive to a literature of nuances, understatement and delicate pleasures." American audiences do feed on exaggeration, emotion, and striking effect- and violence is intriguing. Charles Brockden Brown wrote of one character who is driven by the impulse to kill and another who laughs hysterically after killing his wife and family. James Fenimore Cooper has a long history of slaying myriad Native Americans. Poe tells tales of gore and gloom. Lippard writes a novel that includes six rapes and twice as many murders. Mellville describes murder. Hawthorne too. Huck Finn is eyewitness to two of the most unforgettable murders in literature. Bierce, Crane, London, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Warren-- all written legacies of violence.

In order to really understand the violence in the text, we need to examine the root of violence, the character of Bigger, and the function of narrative voice.

Q: What is the root of violence in the text?
Q: Bigger repeatedly says to himself that the accidental killing holds the "hidden meaning of his life...He had murdered and created a new life for himself. It was something that was all his own, and it was the first time in life he had anything that others could not take from him." Discuss the concept of killing as an "act of creation."
Q: How does narrative voice function in the novel?

Hope to see some great comments!

Literary Devices

Post here!

Stuff to do

Dear all,

Your homework is as follows:

1) Read the Peter Senge on the Industrial Age of Education (excuse my grad school notes in the margin.)
2) Find the American Scholar address online (Ralph Waldo Emerson), print, and read.
3) Blog regarding these two articles in the context of Hard Times

Gilbert and Gubar

What did you really think of the criticism?

Subject Matter

Curious, eh?

In reading some of your blog posts, I discovered that while many of you feel, and I think appropriately, that JE is a bildungsroman, you also feel it deals with other issues relevant to the time. In your opinion, what social/political/economic issue most impact the narrative. Support it!

A binary proposition

One of the techniques Bronte uses throughout her novel is the binary. Which, of the many that she proffers, do you feel governs the narrative? Please explain why as well.

Jane Eyre

This week, we will begin discussing Jane Eyre. Please check the blog on Tuesday so that you may post a response to the prompt.