Blog Writing Due November 4th

Hi LitBloggers,

Once again, I want us to think of this blog post as a step in the direction of your essay. Please select a topic that you think, at least for now, is likely to be the subject of your essay. While the last blog was "brainstormy," I'd like to see this one be a little more disciplined and directed. As such, please write a 3 to 4 paragraphs on 1-2 bits of evidence in the novel. You should try for two paragraphs at least per piece of evidence as a way of practicing sustained analysis.

Please post before class, though I'll accept posts that are put up any time tomorrow as there was a delay getting these instructions to you.

Here's the website where they promote CPUs as pictured above.

Halloween Reading

Follow this link to a short story about a zombie in WalMart by Charles Yu, an up-an-coming writer.

Blog on Pattern Recognition: Due October 28th

Please consider this blog an initial step toward your essay on the novel.
Since we are reading Pattern Recognition, let us do some pattern recognition(s).

Please select two themes/motifs from the list of recommendations at the end of the Essay #2 Assignment. Write approximately 150-200 words on each. This is a brainstorming exercise, so your writing should combine reflections with bits of evidence from the text but with the freedom to make associative leaps. Don't worry about organization. This writing may be informal in style as well. The point is to start thinking about topics that you might pursue for your essay and to begin thinking through writing about them NOW, so your essay will already be under construction.

Please post your writing before Thursday's class.

Making Science Fiction just a little bit geekier!

Check out this study that organizes science fiction authors according to their approaches to social constructs, crises, and resolutions. Be sure to scroll down to the graphic presentations at the bottom.

Blog Writing for Thursday, October 21

William Faulkner's famous short story "A Rose for Emily" is written in first person plural pov. As a thought experiment, I want you to re-imagine the story as if it was narrated in first person singular by Homer or Tobe. In 200-300 words, describe how this shift in point-of-view would change the story. What would be some drastic changes? What changes might be more subtle? What would become more visible and what would become more hidden with this different narrative mode? Would this shift change the basic theme(s) that you took away from the story as it is written by Faulkner? This blog writing is a thought experiment, so there is a lot of open space for you to speculate.

Please post the blog before class on Thursday.

Transition to Fiction

And, as we transition from poetry to fiction, here's a video of William S. Burroughs, a famous, controversial, influential American fiction writer lending his image and voice to a Nike ad. As with the Langston Hughes machinima, it can seem difficult to discern his sincerity--his tone--in this ad.

Poetry + Digital Media Continued

This video is a combination of the television ads for Levis that combines recordings of Walt Whitman reading his "Pioneers! Oh Pioneers!" with hipsters in Levis.