NO CLASS TOMORROW TUES 12/10

Final paper due Thursday Dec 12

"Lola" and "A Bag for Nicholas"

 

Deceiving Appearances

http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/appearances.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23645413

http://invisibledisabilities.org/educate/invisibleawareness/lookscanbedeceiving/

Immigration

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/11/jersey_city_touts_first_in_state_immigration_affairs_department.html

http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2013/11/immigration_debate_can_learn_f.html

If you see something, say something

http://www.dhs.gov/if-you-see-something-say-something%E2%84%A2-campaign

http://ifyouseesomething.org/




Obsession

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201004/obsession

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/lets-connect/200910/obsessions-small-and-monstrous

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/108647/psychology/the_psychology_surrounding_obsessive_personalities.html

New Jersey Noir

http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/new-jersey-noir-taking-the-final-exit-in-the-garden-state/

http://www.thewhitonline.com/?p=27451

http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/towns/index.ssf/2011/11/award-winning_author_visits_gl.html

More Fight Club

High School Fight Club:
http://gothamist.com/2013/03/27/nj_high_school_officials_get_freake.php

Link to author's essays on writing:

http://litreactor.com/essays/36-writing-essays-by-chuck-palahniuk

Fight Club : A Ritual Cure For The Spiritual Ailment Of American Masculinity

http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue8/fightclub.html

Fight Club: An Exploration of Buddhism

http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol11no2/ReedFightClub.htm

Fight Club and the Effects of Anger

http://usf.usfca.edu/pj//fightclub_cairo.htm

Fight Club

Interview with the author:

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/features/fight-club-anthology-intro.pdf

Consumer Culture:

http://www.businessinsider.com/birth-of-consumer-culture-2013-2?op=1

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/12/consumer.aspx

http://www3.nd.edu/~olizardo/papers/jcr-fight-club.pdf

http://www.hartman-group.com/hartbeat/understanding-consumer-culture

Narrator-The narrator is the protagonist of the book and co-creator of Fight Club. The Narrator works as a recall specialist for the automobile industry, a job he despises. He attends support groups for individuals struggling with terminal diseases, though he is physically healthy.

Tyler Durden-Co-creator of Fight Club, Tyler is the charismatic and vicious leader of Fight Club who eventually starts Project Mayhem. He starts out as the Narrator's friend but…things become complicated.

Marla Singer-A young woman who the Narrator encounters at the support groups. She too attends them searching for some sort of meaningful human interaction and, like the Narrator, is faking her illnesses. She begins a relationship with Tyler, which upsets the Narrator.

Big Bob/Robert Paulson- A middle-aged former steroid abuser who the Narrator meets at a testicular cancer survivor support group. Bob is the first to encourage the Narrator to cry at the support group meetings.

Emasculation

It asks the question: “What have men been reduced to? Why do all people accept things they way they are?”

Violence

The novel is called Fight Club for a reason; there is such an underground club that exists. It starts with Tyler and the narrator but quickly spreads. The fighting is supposed to serve as a spiritual reawakening. The fighting itself reminds the men that they are alive. As part of Tyler's philosophy, it also reminds them that they will die.

Chaos & Societal Breakdown

Tyler has named their group Project Mayhem and the philosophy of the group is that through chaos a better world will be achieved. He wants to destroy what mankind had done to the planet in hopes of cleansing it.

The Threat of Death

Tyler preaches the importance of knowing that one’s life will come to end. He believes only at that point will people really seek to improve their lives.

Consumer Culture

The Narrator complains about the emptiness her experience from consumer culture and how we as individuals are tied to our “stuff”. He hates his job and doesn't appear to have much of a social life. When he deems a product worthy of purchase it is the only real power he feels over his life. If he can buy more, he can improve his life

Essay 2 Due Tuesday November 12th

ENG 215 Honors

Essay 2

Due Tuesday November 12^th

3-5 pages

USE TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES (NOT INCLUDING THE TEXT!) AND QUOTE THE PRIMARY TEXTS AS WELL.

Some sources can be found on the class blog: english215honorsfall13.blogspot.com/

1.      We have discussed quite a bit about the impact of the assembly line and the development of the automobile on the life of Americans at the time of Ragtime.  Using examples from the text and from other outside sources explain how these two developments changed America.

2.      The characters in Ragtime all lived through a time of great change and turmoil in America. Pick one of the main characters and explain how he or she dealt with that change. Consider how their social standing helped or hurt their ability to change.

3.      Use examples from the text and outside sources to discuss the appeal of Harry Houdini.

4.      Take a closer look at the sections where Freud is present and do some research into how he felt about America at the time of his visit . Just be sure to include examples from the primary texts as well.

5.      What role does race play in the novel? Obviously this is a big question but try to narrow it down to a few examples to illuminate this very large issue.

6.      In “Live For Today” we see Jinx struggling to find and establish her own identity while working in a morgue surrounded by people society has cast aside. Using outside sources that discuss identity in human beings, explain what Jinx’s daily struggle is.

7.      In “Too Near Real” we see the impact technology can have on an individual. Explain the negative and/or positive effects we see on the character and incorporate outside sources.

White Noise

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/13/books/delillo-noise.html

http://www.perival.com/delillo/whitenoise.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/03/entertainment/la-caw-paperback-writers3-2010jan03




White Noice Links
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/13/books/delillo-noise.html
http://www.perival.com/delillo/whitenoise.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/03/entertainment/la-caw-paperback-writers3-2010jan03
Fear of Death:
http://www.thestressoflife.com/how_people_handle_fear_of_death.htm
http://www.hypnos.co.uk/hypnomag/rattan.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/14666-death-the-last-act-of-life/
Sites about the role of the American Grocery Store:



http://www.groceteria.com/

http://172.27.72.27/web/login?_bcsp=1&_bceq=U2FsdGVkX1-70NXBY8JNo0Fpgnyc6p0_vXHf6WRT3nIm88iXib9EUT9tP1D9QkO5Jc7d4mmrqK7O1xxuyXHurnQNn6Ivq0HWsNMI08VSaI5StMycazQDHQuu1tEaGvlWngTKjX2QwMH8At4V0EBZ83mWQC9CKN52dyNSCTCKfH85jHD6LHde_CGb8qFPZwZzb2Zd6FMRiIeZSUBApS4YrPhfLUocs2YBYM0jsR5ypZIgneQlhazxR4pMkrI8XvbF7b3VDCr7fjJ654Q3Fpd4Tqh6KFgI_Med52CaX4zKYMmrYkff2Dlg0H266vQPIYCDJeRhUplAVuFJLKyEE0srztXU6bop6E6-z5YelBJfgaQrm_wnwbfXp8WqQb4U5TqouxhwvdHCpgDIS4k3u5ZtP45Ka-EWWKhJLAPJ_2KMM1p4RwzXCDuU5B0AYmWT4fXXHORJWmmujVxsyJvZ368TUXmpQjLWdsHvKCN2dDy5CqyarahAQhbEEooRTnJHEvP3CpBV3c_f1mt-UA5k8yQuPbMzSgAJsjuleY_Si90Tjc1RRdKvJNHyJ9s-g2SJERVGh7RK_sOZuS4RpFUkDlmoxzVLruxq50XJCuKkn7bFIH3VQPUGD0YEuaNKPI6pleYyQAk_xsJrtOLDIkSF5gfE1lxRucV0e62dq8dDSUwUzRzLuLYB-VJx-x4y9NhePpvV_XTrzCzlDKwTTaHFJGgfpYS1ioodEpZA2AXPd34NLXfgFragnk0VQ..

Identity and Technology

This link below has a wide variety of articles on how we construct identity. These may help when discussing Jinx from "Live For Today"

http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/identity

Technology:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/technology/personaltech/introducing-tool-kit-answers-to-tech-questions.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1381861780-BB+SuiJObZuuxy9RfPE0vQ

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332338,00.asp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-sutton-fell/balancing-the-technology-_b_3530989.html


http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=pig9i9eEWUMC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=search+for+identity&ots=-vFzwlkbHz&sig=UVk1BHyPgPKRKq28Ybbv5VMfToQ#v=onepage&q=search%20for%20identity&f=false

Assembly Line 100th Anniversary Article

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/ford-assembly-line-turns-100-changed-society-article-1.1478331

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2013/10/07/todays-ford-plant-starkly-different.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/fords-assembly-line-turns-100-how-it-really-put-the-world-on-wheels-feature

This article discusses how the industrial revolution changed the average American's way of life:

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/work/articles/030224/24lede.htm

More Ragtime Information

Assembly Line:

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ford.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fords-assembly-line-starts-rolling

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt13as.html

Industrial Revolution:

http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=development+of+unions+during+the+industrial+revolution&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C31&as_sdtp=

Ragtime

NYTimes review of Ragtime:

http://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/08/books/doctorow-ragtime.html?_r=0

More Articles:
http://observer.com/1998/03/hey-grandpa-was-rightdoctorow-stole-ragtime/


Bio of author:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Co-Lh/Doctorow-E-L.html

Interview with author;
http://weberstudies.weber.edu/archive/archive%20B%20Vol.%2011-16.1/Vol.%2011.1/11.1Wutz.htm

This is a program from a version of the musical that offers a good amount of background info:
http://www.pcs.org/assets/uploads/resource-guides/ResourceGuide-Ragtime.pdf

Class Cancelled Thursday Sept 19

Class Cancelled Thursday Sept 19

We'll start Ragtime next Tuesday so read the first 8 chapters. 

Have a good weekend. 

Prof. O'Connell

More Gatsby Links and Comic Strip

This link discusses some random facts about the novel and the writer:

http://gothamist.com/2013/05/07/gatsby_facts.php

The Wire breaks down The Great Gatsby (There is some strong language here):

http://www.openculture.com/2012/08/ithe_wirei_breaks_down_ithe_great_gatsbyi_f_scott_fitzgeralds_classic_criticism_of_america_nsfw.html

Footage of Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda:

http://www.openculture.com/2012/11/rare_footage_of_scott_and_zelda_fitzgerald_from_the_1920s.html

The Great Gatsby

Taking a few mintues to read some background information on the author will enhance your understanding of the text.

Here are a few quotes to also think about from the text:
 “ Whenever you feel like criticizing any one…just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (1).

“”a single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of a dock” (22).

”He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself” (48).

“Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (60).


Below is the link to a number of outside sources for the second essay:
http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Fitzgerald.htm

The game looks like the whole Nintendo video games. Kind of like Super Mario Bros.
Here are some links about the game:
http://theweek.com/article/index/212144/the-great-gatsby-video-game

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/07/the_great_gatsby_now_a_video_g.html

http://boingboing.net/2011/02/16/great-gatsby-nes-gam.html

This link provides a link to where you can play the game:
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/02/15/play-the-great-gatsby-video-game/

Here is a youtube video of the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWKrz7yogM

Here is a list of sites about Fitzgerald:

A Brief Life of Fitzgerald

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html

The quote “The dominant influences on F. Scott Fitzgerald were aspiration, literature, Princeton, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, and alcohol” begins this biographical sketch of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Contains:Commentary, Sketch

Keywords:F. Scott Fitzgerald, life, history, biography

A Fitzgerald Capsule History

http://access.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/9609_fitzgerald/fitztime.htm

This site, made by Minnesota Public Radio, commemorating Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday, provides a chronology of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life.

Contains:Timeline

Keywords:F. Scott Fitzgerald, life, history, biography

A Fitzgerald Chronology

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/chronology.html

This site provides a chronology of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life.

Contains:Timeline

Keywords:F. Scott Fitzgerald, life, history, biography

Fitzgerald’s Obituaries

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/obituaries.html

Fitzgerald’s obituaries were mixed. There was a general tendency to associate him with the excesses of the Twenties. The respectful obituaries expressed a sense of regret for Fitzgerald’s failure to fulfill his promise. None of the assessments predicted that Fitzgerald would be accorded a safe place among the greatest American authors.”

Contains:Obituary

Keywords:

The Fitzgeralds

http://www.zeldafitzgerald.com/fitzgeralds/index.asp

This site primarily contains biographical information about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Contains:Extensive Bio, Timeline, Webliography, Works List

Author:Professor Ruth Prigozy

Keywords:

 Other sites about F. Scott Fitzgerald

Authors on Fitzgerald: How others past and present view the man and his works

http://access.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/9609_fitzgerald/fitzauthors.htm

This site contains quotes from other famous authors about F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some of these authors include Ernest Hemmingway, T. S. Eilot, and Dorothy Parker.

Contains:Commentary

Keywords:

F. Scott Fitzgerald Bibliographies

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/bibindex.html

This site contains links to “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Publications,” “Principal Works About F. Scott Fitzgerald,” and “Works by Zelda Fitzgerald.”

Contains:Bibliography, Works List

Keywords:

The F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/index.html

Sponsored by the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina this comprehensive site includes links to works by F. Scott and Zelda Fitgerald, voice and film clips, quotations, and scrapbook, articles and critisim and more.

Contains:Criticism, Commentary, Pictures, Timeline, Full Bio, Works List, Bibliography, Webliography

Author:J. Baughman

Keywords:

Fitzgerald: Voice and Film Clips

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/voice.html

This site contains sound files of F. Scott Fitzgerald speaking and a film clip of him as well.

Contains:Interview

Keywords:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/opinion/sunday/dowd-in-a-gaudy-theme-park-jay-z-meets-j-gatz.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=OP_IAG_20130506

 

Babylon Revisited

Criticism:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940.1990.9934031

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-007-0773-3_8?LI=true

Themes found in the story:

• Facing the consequences of one’s actions
• The struggle to change

Symbols found in the story:

• Honoria’s doll
• Snow

This link has some background information and criticism of the story (there is a lot of info here that could be used if you choose to write your first essay about this story):

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tdlarson/fsf/babylon/chap_3.htm

In the next two weeks we will discuss The Great Gatsby which “Babylon Revisited” shares many themes and issues with. Here is a short description of how they are similar:

“Babylon Revisited”: Similarity to The Great Gatsby
In both works, the main character is trying to create a new identity. In the case of Jay Gatsby, he has reinvented himself by a name change and by becoming rich through criminal acts to win Daisy. In Charlie’s instance, he has made a serious effort to reform to gain custody of Honoria.

Both The Great Gatsby and “Babylon Revisited” are also statements about the twenties, the pursuit of wealth and careless living of that generation. Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth, hoping it will bring him happiness and fulfillment, is the embodiment of the American Dream gone wrong. “Babylon Revisited” makes a statement not only about Charlie’s his personal dilemma but the irresponsible seeking of pleasure that was characteristic of the post-war Roaring Twenties generation.

From: http://vickie-britton.suite101.com/babylon-revisited-summary-and-analysis-a204727

NYTimes article:

http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/12/24/specials/fitzgerald-taps.html

Syllabus

Honors Modern Literary Masterpieces

ENG215 Essex County College

Prof. Sean O’Connell                                                  Tues, Thurs 11:30-12:50

Email:soconnel@essex.edu     

Phone: 973-877-1926                                                   Office: 1141

Office Hours: Mon 11:00-1:00                       Room:

                         Tues, Thurs 10:00-11:30      

                        By Appointment

                                   

Texts: YOU NEED TO BUY THE TEXTS!!!

• The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
• New Jersey Noir Joyce Carol Oates
• Ragtime E.L. Doctorow
• White Noise E.L.Doctorow
• Fight Club Chuck Palahnik

9/3 T Introduction to course, plagiarism, syllabus, presentation discussion and read “Babylon Revisited” handout

9/5 R “Babylon Revisited” handout, Read The Great Gatsby 1-3-

9/10 T The Great Gatsby1-3, Read The Great Gatsby 4-6

9/12 R  The Great Gatsby4-6, Read The Great Gatsby 7-9

9/17 T The Great Gatsby 7-, Read Outside Source Material

9/19 R Outside Source Material, ASSIGN FIRST ESSAY

9/24 T Ragtime

9/26 R Ragtime

10/1 T Ragtime

10/3 R FIRST ESSAY DUE, Ragtime

10/8  T Ragtime

10/10  R NJN

10/15 T NJN, ASSIGN SECOND ESSAY

10/17 R White Noise

10/22  T White Noise

10/24 R ***NO CLASS***

10/29 T  White Noise

10/31 R SECOND ESSAY DUE, White Noise

11/5 T Fight Club

11/7 R Fight Club

11/12 T Fight Club

 11/14 R Fight Club

11/19 T NJN

11/21 R NJN

11/26 T ASSIGN FINAL PAPER

11/28 R****THANKSGIVING NO CLASS****

12/3 T Presentations

12/5 R Presentations

12/10 T ***NO CLASS***WORK ON PAPER

12/12 R  Final Research Paper due