Enjoy your new seating chart!
1. Warming up with two quick rounds of Socratic ticket musical chairs
2. Considering the uncomfortable scenes of Chapter 2...
- What does our friend, Thomas Foster (from How To Read Literature...) have to say about the literary function of sex scenes?
- "Drives you crazy, doesn't it? When they're writing about other things, they really mean sex, and when they write about sex, they really mean something else. If they write about sex and mean strictly sex, we have a word for that. Pornography." (Foster 144)
- You just know that these scenes mean something more than what's going on in them...sex can be pleasure, sacrifice, submission, rebellion, resignation, supplication, domination, enlightenment, the whole works." (150-1)
- Chapter 2 in Beloved centers on a sex scene between Sethe and Paul D with flashbacks to sexual repression and release during their enslavement at Sweet Home. What do you think Morrison's intent might be in including this chapter? What is she trying to teach us?
3. Using the Fishbowl format to answer our Level 1 questions and formulate our Level 2 questions
HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Read Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Beloved; compose a reading ticket to prepare for discussion.
2. For WEDNESDAY: Prepare for your next vocabulary quiz, which will cover Lists 1 and 2.
3. ONGOING: Spend 5-10 minutes Serial Reading each day.
4. BY MONDAY, FEB 3: Decide on your poetry paper/project poem and bring it to class. Remember that it should be from a different genre / time period than your 1st poem.
3. ONGOING: Spend 5-10 minutes Serial Reading each day.
4. BY MONDAY, FEB 3: Decide on your poetry paper/project poem and bring it to class. Remember that it should be from a different genre / time period than your 1st poem.
Thanks, Sierra, for scribing! Here's the first half of the notes:
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-4 Beloved Socratic Notes
What is Morrison’s intent with including chapter 2?
This scene made Denver more alienated from her mom and the world even more than she already was, and it almost forced to her become closer to the ghost
The presence of Paul D in the house alienates the ghost itself, and that is why Denver is upset because Sethe and Paul don’t appreciate the ghost
Is the ghost resenting Paul D and Sethe because of the infidelity? Why is the ghost upset?
The ghost represents the past and Paul D represents the future, so Sethe opening herself up to Paul means she is opening herself up to the future and it begins a war between the two
Sethe and Paul’s relationship is purely based on the past. Did she have the same kind of connection with the other Sweet Home men? Is this because they bonded over hardship?
The relationship of Sethe and the other guys at Sweet Home was based on respect because it was some of the only humanity she had left. The sex scene was sort of a violation of that respect and distance they used to have.
There was a lot of idolization heightened by preserving her dignity in the past and the sex scene exposed them to reality that they couldn’t handle
It sparks a sense of disenchantment and he no longer is enchanted by Sethe
There is also a bit of jealousy of the ghost from Paul D because it doesn’t seem like there is room for the both of them
What does it mean when it says “Paul D messed it up for good?” This is a shift into Denver’s mind and her resentment for Paul
The magic number of 3 in the house was disrupted when Paul showed up
The ghost and Denver acknowledge each other
Denver represents peace in Sethe’s mind because she lives. Sethe is getting closer to the ghost by pushing Denver away more and more
The family cannot move on from what had happened, making each of them a ghost in their own way. They are confined in an absence of what could have been and it takes control of their lives. When Paul D comes, the presence of the past is threatened
And here's the second half of the notes!
ReplyDeleteDoes Paul D have good intentions in staying?
Sex equals power so in the aftermath of the sex, he thinks he has a power over her and he can do whatever he wants now
When Paul D is traveling and comes across Sethe by chance, he sees it as fate to be a part of the house, regardless of the ghost or Denver
He thinks he can be a hero and save Sethe from her past and bring her into the future, it’s a disillusionment
Denver is mentioned very often as a lonely person. This is why she is so connected to the house because her loneliness is satisfied with the ghost and her own company. Sometimes, when they are talking about the ghost, it also applies to Denver.
The big red light in the house represents hatred, whereas the green in Denver’s room is more representative of light. It shows a big contrast between the personality of the house and a contrast with Denver. The stairs are interesting because they are white, and white represents peace and purity. The line that says “the house has two stories” not only talks about the physical levels of the house, but the background and life behind the personality of the house. The stairs are what connects the two and whatever happens on the stairs is really important. The white dress next to Sethe when she is praying is representative of the same thing.
The corn is a motif that also heavily follows along with the sex motif. When it’s a romantic sexual scene, then Morrison tends to use metaphors and nice imagery. When the sex scene is perverted or evil, she talks about it in a crude and disruptive way.
Wrap-up questions:
What exactly goes on in the moment when Sethe is praying next to the person in the white dress?
What is the significance of the tombstone scene and why is the title of the book mentioned there?
What exactly is going on with Mr. Garder? What is his importance?
How will the motif of color continue in this book?
What is the importance of the supernatural things in this book and what deeper role will they be playing?
At what point are the varying levels of helplessness one in the same?
We never really get the baby’s/ghost’s name in the book, why?
Why is there such a normal acceptance of the ghost? What does it really signify?