Fairy Tales

Welcome back, everyone!

In class tomorrow, we’ll discuss the stories in The Bloody Chamber, so be sure to have read all of them.  In addition, you should have a revised draft of your essay ready to exchange with your writing group by 5:00 tomorrow.  I’ve posted the writing groups below and on the blog: exchange drafts electronically, cc’ing me on the email, and include a cover letter to your group.  Writing groups should meet some time this week to discuss the drafts.  To help with this — and also because some of you have had to meet with Bennett early this week rather than last — I’ll postpone the deadline for the essay #3 revision until 8:00 PM Sunday.

I’ll have the two “model” reviews that we’ll discuss on Thursday to distribute in class tomorrow.  As you’re reading them, think in particular about the kinds of research Wallace and Marcus had to do to mount their arguments.  The proposal for your fourth essay (a review of one of Carter’s stories) will be due by 5:00 on Thursday (rather than in class tomorrow); in it, be sure to talk about what kinds of information you’ll need to make the argument you want about the story you’ve chosen.  We can also talk about these kinds of questions in our discussion tomorrow.

Next week — as I announced some time ago — we’ll meet for double sessions, from 11:00 to 1:00.  (I’ll have lunch delivered.)  Each of you will give a formal, 15-minute presentation based on your third essay.  We’ll assign days tomorrow in class, and I’ll also talk a bit about conventions and structure then.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Cheers,
Dara

Esssay #3 Writing Groups
Winnie, Ben, Jenn

Tobie, Marcia, Jessica

Cindy, Jenny S., Bre

Jenny L., Bryan

Meela, Hannah, Dan

Ok. So I am little confused on what we are suppose to be writing about for or last and final essay. According to our syllabus we should write an analytic review on one of the stories from “The Bloody Chamber”. We can use theoretical lens texts we have read in this class or other texts. I guess my question is about what type of analysis we are doing. Is this paper similar to the first paper where we did a close reading of a fairytale and determined what it meant for the rest of the story? The paper itself is only suppose to be four to five pages, so we should not have to research. Still, though, I am not sure how we are suppose to approach the topic of this paper.

What did everyone think? I loved it, something about Carter’s writing style is really compelling. The story seems much more real than the other fairy tales we’ve read, it’s definitely not for kids, and I thought the sexual aspects of her writing are intriguing. There definitely is a more feminist feel to the story, but I don’t think it’s overdone at all. Good stuff

So it’s 5:00 that means that everyone has turned in their papers. How do you feel? I must say I feel relieved, I always do after I turn something in because there really is nothing more I can do at that point, it has been turned in. We still have revisions, but we will have feedback. Therefore, we wont have to feel that we have to go over and over our paper ourselves looking for something we can’t find since someone else will find if much sooner. So yeah, I hope everyone else’s paper went well and that you are happy with what you turned in. See you all Tuesday.

I am currently half way through with my essay, and I just realized that I am shifting its focus. My essay is on how the Toy Princess represents industrialization, specifically mechanization. I started out the project with the idea that mechanization destroys creative thinking in the working class, and I found a few good sources for it. But as I researched more, I want to also talk about the middle class’s attitude toward the working class, and how the attitude the citizens have for the Toy Princess in the story reflects that. I don’t know if I can fit both ideas in the essay, or if that would make my essay lose focus. Don’t know what to do! Any suggestions?

As promised . . .

Think of the cover letter for this draft as a letter to Bennett that does several things:

–describes (in new words) the argument you’re trying to make;

–provides some kind of narrative or assessment of your research process — providing, in particular, some analysis of areas in which you think your essay needs further research; and

–directs his attention to the particular Element or Elements of the essay that you’d like him to give you feedback on.

One reminder: my office hours next week will be Tuesday 9-11 rather than Wednesday 10-12.

And let me know if you have any questions!

Did anyone else find this story really interesting? It is so different from usual fairy tales, there is not as much bad things happening to people. There is the isolation, but that doesn’t seem as bad because they are not hurt physically. It just dealt so much more with the characters and their imaginations than the struggle between good and evil. I enjoyed reading it.

Is it possible to plagiarize yourself?  If so Peter Shapeley is guilty.  He writes in “Charity, Status and Parliamentary Candidates in Manchester: A Consideration of Electoral and Charity Fields and the Social Basis of Power, 1832-1910″ published in 1999 that:

“Voluntary charities offered such a demonstration of apparent individual values.  This was a period when charity leaders were placed on a very public pedestal.  Charity was a notion which suggested generosity, Christian duty, altruism and compassion towards the poor and needy.  The construction of a charitable profile was a vital means of acquiring status, allowing individuals to influence sections of the community.”

A strikingly similar passage appears in his work of 1998, “Charity, Status and Leadership: Charitable Image and the Manchester Man”:

“Entering the charity field provided similar dispositions for all, whether actively sought or not. This was a period when charity leaders were placed on a very public pedestal. The construction of a charitable profile was a vital means of acquiring status allowing individuals to influence sections of the community” (3).

Wondering how everyone’s essay’s going…  Mine is pretty tough.  The structure, among other things is shaky.  Right now I’m setting up a picture of a specific aspect of Victorian charity – then showing how my tale, “The Happy Prince,” responds / rejects it, then setting up another aspect of Victorian charity and comparing it with “The Happy Prince,” etc…  I’ve only written a bit but I’m afraid it might get monotonous by the end of the paper.

Maybe I’ll try mixing my analysis and contextualization a bit in the same paragraph.  My other idea was to establish everything at the start and then move into nearly poor tale analysis in this context – but I was afraid the reader would forget what I had said on page 4 by the time I was at page 9… We’ll see.

Did anyone else have trouble with tomorrow’s reading? I can’t get through it, it’s so dry. All I got from it was that politics are important in all works, but after that everything stops making sense. Same problem for anyone else?