Kiefer Extra Credit

Please view the following painting and comment upon the statement you believe Kiefer is trying to make through his visual demonstration:

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/photos/12-01-06/Kiefer.jpg

The Club

Picking up on the thread that started with Paz yesterday and continued through with Fight Club today--

1. The issue of nameless narrators--which other narrator is he like?
2. How does the narrator want to reach/touch the center of his wave?
3. How is the essence of Tyler Durden distilled into little pieces of ice and put into people's drinks?

Think about Mamet's essay, "Secret Names"
"Names are powerful...but anything called a relationship must eventually result in sorrow, as the participants are willing to examine its name and nature."

On Monday you have one blog entry due--you can either write on one of these questions OR you can answer one of the three questions located on the top of the handout I passed out on Thursday.

Lastly, I will post the Kiefer extra credit assignment on the blog by the end of the day today, and I will also post a basic, albeit basic, blueprint for our plan of attack for next week.

Checking In

First, nice job today in class...I think it went very well.

For tomorrow--your essays are due at the start of class. Remember you can choose either option 1 or option 2--please include what option you select at the start of your paper.

For Monday--you will need to complete a blog response on the three questions we will go over regarding Fight Club

Extra Credit: comment, on the blog, on the Kiefer painting "Burned Books"--the link to this picture will be up by the end of the day tomorrow.

Lastly, if you have any questions about your "Araby" writing assignments please find a time for us to sit down and work through them one-on-one.

Rest and Relaxation over President's Day

I hope that everyone is have a nice long four day weekend...

For Wednesday--you will need to re-read and write down your thoughts on Joyce's "Araby." These should be typed out compositions--but they do not need to be essay form.

Also, sometime Tuesday, please stop by our classroom in order to pick up a handout I would like you to read for class Wednesday.

Lastly, if anyone knows of any good female "world" lit. writers, please pass along their names.

2 Options, 3 Days, 4 Posts

Many of you still need to write this week on the blog--tonight is your last night to do so and get credit for your weekly blog assessment.

You can either write on the previous prompts
OR
for those of you that prefer more literary analysis over self awareness--try this one on for size:
What is Paz talking about in his short story, "My Life with the Wave?" What is the wave?

Again, if anyone would like to meet with concerning your writing or our present condition, route, as a class, please feel free to email me in order to set up a time to talk.

Hoping everyone is having a nice snow/sleet/rain day.

See you tomorrow.

Conversations with Nansen

You can either write about the sound of one hand clapping

OR

Joshu asked Nansen: `What is the path?'
Nansen said: `Everyday life is the path.'
Joshu asked: `Can it be studied?'
Nansen said: `If you try to study, you will be far away from it.'
Joshu asked: `If I do not study, how can I know it is the path?'
Nansen said: `The path does not belong to the perception world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world. Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor not-good.'

Decipher and Discuss--good luck.

Vayas Con Dios Borges

Picking up on the thread of our discussion in class today, I thought I would give you one more chance to wrestle with Borges. Thus answer the following question:

"We all know the sound of two hands clapping but what is the sound of one hand clapping?"

One blog entry this week--and one question..

Labyrinths

Just a reminder--

Your 3-D Labyrinths are due at the start of class tomorrow.

We will be sharing them throughout the duration of the week.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend...

You Can Write if you Want to--but if you don't write...well then

Tomorrow's assignment in the form of a Haiku--

See using your hands
Discover where it can lead:
Construct a third world...

Heros???

Tonight's Blog Entry--two options:

1.) Is Kilpatrick a hero or a traitor? What is Borges saying about how we use the definitions of words? What is Borges saying about the relationship between history and fiction in this story?

OR

2.) Go to the following link and read the excerpt--comment freely on what you read and see. Are we all invisible men, people?

http://themasticator.blogspot.com/2007/03/jeff-wall-and-ralph-ellison-invisible.html

The Library of Babel

Reading for tonight--
"Fumes the memorious," "Theme of the Hero and the Traitor," and "Death and Compass"--due for Wednesday.

As for the blog--

What about World No.3--who creates? Why is it shaped in a unique manner?

OR

Write about the creature with eyes in his hands--why, oh why?

Lastly, very nice job in class today...well done and keep up the good work.

The Library of Blah

Just a reminder--you do not have any new reading due for Monday...however, if you want to get ahead on your blogging for the week, try wrapping your heads around this one:

What does Borges mean when he says, "The library is unlimited and cyclical?" How is this possible and what is Borges inferring from this statement--also why does he end this story with the sentence, "My solitude is gladdened by this elegant hope?" What produces the narrator's, Borges', "elegant hope?"

I hope that everyone had a very nice weekend. Lastly, I think you all did some very nice work during Friday's class. Good job.

See you tomorrow.