E. M. Forster's "The Other Boat" (deadline: 5/8)

John Lennon's words perfectly summarize the message of Forster's "The Other Boat," which is published posthumously in 1972 because of the forbidden subject of racial transgression and homosexuality.

Answer ONE of the following questions with 200-250 words:

1) How does the story illustrate the ways in which imperialist racism goes hand in hand with homophobia and sexism?

2) How does the story explore the possibilities and limitations of human relationships when human beings are constrained by various forms of discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry?

3) How do you interpret the ending of the story? On the surface, the story does conclude unhappily, with the murder of the seductive Cocoanut and the suicide of the transgressive Captain March. However, is it possible to offer an alternative way of interpreting the ending?

A Room of One's Own (deadline: 4/7)

Answer ONE of the following questions with 200-250 words:

1) Conventional wisdom tends to lead us to assume that art belongs to a certain abstract and transcendental realm that is detached from life and the concrete conditions of its production. How does Woolf subvert this kind of belief in A Room of One's Own?

2) How does Woolf complicate the idea/tradition of fiction writing and of history making, which used to be considered as gender-neutral in the history of humanity?

3) Why does Woolf assert that "It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple"? Why does she insist that "one must be woman-manly or man-womanly" (2489)? What author or authors illustrate this kind of androgynous mind for Woolf, and why?

Heart of Darkness (deadline: 3/22)

Answer ONE of the following questions with 200-250 words:

1) How does Conrad's Heart of Darkness radically cast in doubt epistemological and ethical certainties that were believed by his Victorian predecessors?

2) If the focus on the unconscious can be said to be one of the main characteristics of modernist literature, how is this reflected in Conrad's Heart of Darkness?

3) In Heart of Darkness, certain characters are flat, while certain characters are round.  Give us at least one example of each type of character. Explain the reason why they are flat or round.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (deadline: 1/18)

Please answer ONE of the following questions with 200-250 words:

1) How did Doctor Copeland name his children?  What kind of expectations did he have toward his children? Why did he think that his children have failed to live up to his expectations?

2) On page 186, Singer had a dream in which Antonapoulos knelt at the top of the steps.  The other characters formed a hierarchical relationship with Antonapoulos.  How do you interpret this strange dream? How do you relate this dream to the tragic ending of the novel?

3) How did the four characters’ reactions toward Singer’s death suggest their personalities?

4) On page 13, Biff admitted that he had an infatuation with the “freaks” who came into his café.  How did he treat those freaks? If himself was a freak as well, how freakish did he behave? What particular freakish behaviors did he have, especially after his wife’s death?

5) This novel can also be understood as Mick Kelly’s painful entry into adulthood.  Why did Mick have to give up her dream of becoming a music conductor or composer? How did Mick’s experiences reflect the fate of young women during the late 1930s in the South?    

The Member of the Wedding (deadline: 12/4)

The Member of the Wedding (1952)

Choose one of the following questions and answer it with 200-250 words

1) In The Member of the Wedding, the kitchen is an important setting in which the major part of the story takes place. Berenice, Frankie, and John Henry (although different in age, race, and gender) are "members" of this space and create their utopian fantasies to compensate for inadequacies/discriminations in their real lives.  Which episodes in the novel best demonstrate the utopian colors of the kitchen and the collective imagining of its members?

2) In The Member of the Wedding, which character chiefly engages your interest? Why?

3) In Carson McCullers's freak world, hybrid and mixture are favored; sameness and stable identity are rejected.  In The Member of the Wedding, tropes of "betweenness" or "hybridity" are prevalent. What characters or episodes best demonstrate this "mixture of delicious and freak," a phrase coined by John Henry to describe his ideal world?          

Reflections in a Golden Eye (deadline: 11/5)

the book cover of Reflections in a Golden Eye

Anacleto's grotesque peacock

Choose one of the following questions and answer it with 200-250 words:

1) In the novel, the 20-year-old Private Williams is described as a dumb innocent who is unreflective and acts only on instinct.  He is constantly associated with the natural world.  What evidence can you find in the novel that reveals Private Williams's savage or animal nature?

2) Do you like Captain Penderton? How do you characterize this character?

3) Animals figure prominently throughout the novel.   What are the possible implications or symbolic functions of using animal imageries?

4) List Anacleto's traits.  Do you think he is a likable or an unlikable character, or a little bit of both? Why?  

The Short Fiction of Carson McCullers (deadline: 10/22)

In the past two weeks, we have read many Carson McCullers's short stories exploring themes such as initiations or rites of passage, human vulnerability to love, or the "immense complexity of love," a phrase that she coined for her short story, "A Domestic Dilemma."  Among the short stories we read, which story plot or character intrigues you the most, and why? Use 200-250 words to respond to the question.