Next blog writing, due Oct 16

For this blog post, please write 350-450 words on The Kingdom of this World. In particular, I want you to focus on how Carpentier is using sex to get readers to interrogate the power structures between the French colonists and the African slaves. Try to re-read the sex power dynamics on the island before the big revolutionary moment and its ensuing sexual components.

A bit of Franklinia from this rad site.

BF is your new BFF

Apparently Benjamin Franklin tattoos are a phenomenon, which makes sense given his strong engagement with self and text, including ink. For this blog post, please draw from 2 of Franklin's texts to talk about what he says and/or formally does to bring sense of Self together with Text/Textuality in striking ways. As usual, approx 300 words.

Francofication of Literature

Likely many of you have seen this already, but if not...

Hawthorne Blog for Monday, Sept 23

One of the reasons people write historical fiction is to revisit time periods and events that defined a nation. In particular, such historical literature re-opens those times and events for investigation and analysis--in other words, Hawthorne's stories break up the American mythology/ies into which Puritan history had become ossified. His stories helped people examine the solid foundations of the past as well as the traumas that seemed still to haunt Americans. For this blog, spend some time writing about ways that Hawthorne's stories re-frame elements that we've seen depicted in Bradford, Morton, Winthrop, etc. Keep your quoting to Hawthorne since I want this writing to focus on his work, but feel free to make reference to the other texts.

Yelping with Cormac McCarthy

Follow this link to a concept-site that imagines Cormac McCarthy, the American novelist, writing Yelp reviews. One more inspiration for the group projects you'll be doing this semester.

Two Tales of a Maypole, due 9.18

Now that you've read Morton, please post a 250-350 word writing that compares Bradford's and Morton's writings. Please aim for a bit of close reading in this, by which I mean, please attend to specific language in 1-2 passages in each writer's work as you make claims about them. You might want to focus on how the writer's come across as people and how the writing fits into and/or undermines the purposes they seem to have for writing these accounts in the first place. Please post by 10am, Wednesday, September 18th.