Blog on Setting for Wednesday

In your assigned groups you should work together to do the following:
-Describe the setting of your location on both a literal and symbolic level. You should include a list of who lives in that location, what themes does this setting help to establish, and important pieces of textual support.
-I would look at the map that I gave you on Friday and the questions that are on that handout. Perhaps, answering those questions is a good blueprint to follow when thinking about this assignment.
-It is imperative that you use your time wisely here in order to make sure that you are not burdening the writers/revisers at night.
-Written responses should be posted on the blog by class on Thursday

Some of these are harder than others--however, you all have the ability to write thoughtful responses if you work hard, listen to each other's ideas, and think critically about the questions being asked.

You can do this--and I know that you will do it well. Can't wait to see everybody tomorrow.

Best,
AK

Character Sketch Example: Tom

Tom is a brutish and physical man who is defined by his arrogant personality and cruel body. He leverages his position, at home, in his marriage, and in his other relationships through the power that is created by his physical strength and inherited wealth. Born in Chicago, Tom attends Yale University where is was a star football player and classmate of the novel's narrator, Nick Caraway. Tom is married to Daisy, and they reside in an opulent mansion located on East Egg. Their marriage is founded on anything but love, and it appears as if both characters are engaged in this union more out of social security rather than a personal connection: the marriage secures their social position within the American landscape. Tom's infidelity with Myrtle accentuates his status due to his mistreatment of her and the physical abuse she suffers at his hands. However, this fact also proves that Tom believes that he can control all those people that are below him in terms of social standing. He uses both Myrtle and George Wilson for his own benefit, and he is more concerned with self-satisfaction and control then with anything else. More than anything else, Tom is an immoral character that does not stand at a moral attention. He is character that finds comfort in his wealth no matter how damaging his wealth and actions are on the numerous characters he encounters.

Important quotations:
p. 6: "He was one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anticlimax."
p. 6: "I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game."
p. 7: "It was a body capable of of enormous leverage--a cruel body...'Now don't think my opinion on these matters is final,' he seemed to say 'just because I'm stronger and more of a man than you are.'"
p. 26: "So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York...Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of those East Eggers who might be on the train."
p. 28: "'It's a bitch,' said TOm decisively. 'Here's your money. Go and buy ten more dogs.'"
p. 37: "Making a short deft movement, Tom brok her nose with his open hand."

Group Four: Nick

Katie M--Writer
Sanford--Revising and Posting
Matta
Hair

Please place your character sketch of Nick here.

Group Three: Daisy

Group 3—Daisy
O’Day-Writer
Mullaney—Revising and Posting
Hazen
Decker

Please place your character profile of Daisy here.

Group Two: Jordan

Whitney-Writer
Daly—Revising and Posting
Peppin
Gill

Please place your character sketch of Jordan here.

Group One: Gatsby

Harley-Writer
Tower-Revising and Posting
Horrocks
Murphy
Adams.

Please place your character profile on Gatsby here.

The Awakening

Please respond to this question by the start of class on Friday.

In Heilburn's book, Writing a Woman's Life, she writes: "The true representation of power is not of a big man beating a smaller man or a woman. Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one's part matter." Thus, using Heilbrun's definition of power (and maybe it is LeGuinn's too) please discuss whether you feel Edna possess power. Please feel free to include why you think that her acquisition of power is a futile pursuit or how her society is the reason why she will remain infertile as human (void of life--in a personal, not reproductive, sense) and always lack power. You can take this response down a host of different paths, and you are free to follow one that sparks your interest; however, you must address how Edna supports or refutes Heilburn's assertion about power.

Good luck--and please let me know if you have any questions.

These responses should be:
-proof read, formated properly, and radiate depth of thought, clarity, directness, and sophistication of expression in their writing.
-A good response should be around 400 words and reference specific examples from The Awakening that highlight/support the argument you are not trying to make.
-Please feel free to use the I in these responses....they are not analytical pieces of writing, so you have a bit more freedom; however, you should make sure that you are aptly answering the question and putting forth a valiant effort that is reflective of deep consideration and bold thoughts.