God of Small Things essay assignment

There are two parts to your GOST essay assignment: 1) A literary analysis of GOST (like the paper you did for AHWOSG) and 2) a Documented Argument paper in which you combine your Literary Analysis with the sources your have found about, or related to GOST. The audience for both papers will be the scholarly community engaged in studying GOST and the issues raised within the novel.

1)      Literary Analysis: length 3 full pages. For this paper, you will consider the question below and answer it with a unique, specific, debatable thesis statement, and evidence from the book to support your thesis.

Question: Analyze some specific, precise aspect of Arundhati Roy’s writing style. You might focus on her capitalization of certain phrases, her runningtogether of words, her use of repetition, the non-linear way in which she tells her story, etc). In your analysis, make sure to discuss how Roy’s writing style adds-to, or interacts with major themes from the book, such as the experience of living in post-colonial India, problems of memory, family relationships, etc.

Essentially, you will want to consider how the form of her writing is tied to the content of her book. How does the way Roy writes interact with WHAT she writes about?

*If you would like to write your own essay question, and present it to me, I will consider it.

DUE DATE: TUES 5/3. *Make sure to include a unique title and a works cited page*

2)      Documented Argument: length 6 full pages. For this paper, you will present at least three sources and your own analysis. You will first want to introduce and summarize briefly each of your sources. You will then want to discuss them as if they are a group of people having a CONVERSATION. Your job is to Guide that conversation. Think about what your sources have in common, and how they differ. What are their concerns, and how do these concerns diverge and overlap?

After discussing your sources, you will want to add your own analysis (i.e. your own ideas from your literary analysis paper) into the mix. Given your own writing on the topic of GOST, what are you able to SAY BACK to your sources? What insights have your considered that your sources do not? What can you add to the claims made by the authors of your sources?

DUE DATE: Initial Draft due TUES MAY 10 at CONFERNCES. Revised draft due Exam Period: 9:45 Class Meets Mon May 16 at 8a.m..

                             2:15 Class Meets Thurs May 12 at 12:20pm.     

God of Small Things Reflection Paper prompts

1. Compare and contrast the role of Memory in GOST and AHWOSG.

2. Analyze the tension between past and present, Western and traditional. How are these things in conflict throughout the book. Use specific examples.

3) Examine the role of Performance in GOD OF SMALL THINGS. How does it relate to the novel's concerns with memory, post-colonialism, familial structure/interactions, etc?

4) Examine one or several repeated phrases, such as "Things can change in a day," for their importance throughout the book. Why is Arundhati Roy so persistent in using these repetitions? How do they play into the larger themes of the book?

HW for THURS 2:15 T-TH Class

Read to p. 254

Annotated Bib:
6 annotated sources due, pertaining to 2 conversations, (3 sources each)

Annotate each source by giving a full MLA Works Cited entry, and then writing a paragraph that 1) tells the sources' purpose, 2) briefly summarizes it, and 3, MOST IMPORTANTLY discusses the source in comparison and in contrast to the other soufces you have for that CONVERSATION.

Kathkali Dancers / Possible Literary Analysis Topics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3UKV1z9lM


__________________________________________
Possible Literary Analysis Topics

1) Analyze the role of Small Things for their significance throughout the book.

2) What does THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS suggest about how the human memory works? What is the role of memory in THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS?

3) Examine the role of Performance in GOD OF SMALL THINGS. How does it relate to the novel's concerns with memory, post-colonialism, familial structure/interactions, etc?

4) Examine one or several repeated phrases, such as "Things can change in a day," for their importance throughout the book. Why is Arundhati Roy so persistent in using these repetitions? How do they play into the larger themes of the book?

Annotated Bibliography Assignment

PLEASE SIT WITH YOUR PRESENTATION GROUPS


For your annotated bibliography, I'd like you to identify and trace 2 different "CONVERSATIONS" that you see happening about the book THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS and/or the author Arundhati Roy.

This means you will want to find 4 sources for each "conversation" (or, possibly 3 & 5).

Example: I choose the conversation surrounding the book as a Post-Colonial Novel. I then find 3-4 scholarly sources that address the book in this context. Finally, in my annotations, I write a paragraph that does the following 3 things: 1) identifies the author(s) and her/his purpose(s), 2) summarize the article, and 3) *most importantly* I write about how the article fits in the conversation I have identified, and how it relates to the other articles I am annotating.

DUE DATES: Four annotated sources for Tues. 4/19. Eight annotated sources (for a grade) Thurs 4/21.

Other HW: reading thru p. 225 for Tues, thru p. 253 for Thurs.

9:45 Class
Brian, Molly, and Kim will present on Ch. 8-9 on Tues.
Cassie, Jill, and Derek will present on Ch. 10 - 12 on Tues.

Ashley Josh and Bri will present on Ch. 13 on Thurs.

2:15 Class
Cam W, ch 8-9 Tues
Steve, Meagan Ch. 10 - 12 Tues

Brian, Jenn, Kevin Ch. 13 Thurs

Annotated bibliography Assignment

For your annotated bibliography, you must have 8 annotated scholarly sources.

Here is a guide for how to make an annotated bibliography:

http://www.iupui.edu/~uwc/pdf/Annotated%20Bibliography,%20Preparing%20an.pdf

Of these eight sources, you will likely use 4 of them in your 6-7 page Documented Argument Essay that is due at the end of the semester.

Annotated Bibliography Due Dates:
4 annotated sources due Tues 4/19
Completed 8 Source Annotated Bibliography due Thurs 4/21

Postcolonial Scholars/Books to Look For:

Edward Said Orientalism
Homi K Bhabha The Location of Culture
Bart Moore-Gilbert Postcolonial Theory: Contexts, Practices, Politics
Gayatri Spivak: "Can the Subaltern Speak?" and "Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography"
Talpade Mohanty: "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses"
Rajeswari Sunder Rajan: Real and Imagined Women: Gender, Culture and Postcolonialism

*MLA INTERNATIONAL BIB: The Title of The God of Small Things: A Subversive Salvo
*The Politics of Genre and the Rhetoric of Radical Cosmopolitanism; or, Who's Afraid of Arundhati Roy? 
*'The Small Voice of History' in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things
*East Is East and South Is South: The Cases of Sarojini Naidu and Arundhati Roy
*Without the West: 1990s Southern African and Indian Woman Writers. A Conversation

   
 

Classes to Meet in Library Wed / Thurs

Wed 2:45 class meets in Wilson 101 

Thurs 9:45 class meets in Bates 3

Thurs 2:15 class meets in Bates 4

Presentation Times T/Th 2:15 Class

Tues 4/12  ch. 2-5: Tom, Julia, James

Tues 4/19 ch 6-9:Cam W., Jackie

Tues 4/19 ch 10 -14:Steve, Meagan

Thurs 4/21 ch 15-18:Brian, Jenn, Kevin

Tues 4/26 ch 19-21:Clark, Cameron, Hannah

Presentation Times MWF 2:45 Class

Fri 4/8, ch 1-2: Derek, Bobby, Jenna

Mon 4/11, ch 3-5: Tom, Becca

Fri 4/15, ch 6-9: Jeremy, Joe Ryan

Wed 4/20, ch 10-14: Dan, Sylvester

Fri 4/22, ch 15-18: Sean, MacKenzie, Joe Aleo

Mon 4/25, ch 19-21: Megan, Julianne

Presentation Times 9:45 Class

Tues 4/12, Ch. 2-5: Colin, Joe, Jake

Tues 4/19, ch 6-9: Brian, Molly, Kim

Tues 4/19, ch. 10-14: Cassie, Jill, Derek

Thurs 4/21, ch. 15-18: Ashley, Josh, Bri

Tues 4/26: ch. 19 - 21: Emily, Marissa, Cody

Quotes by Salmun Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, its heterogeneous but usually coherent version of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else's version more than his own."
— Salman Rushdie

"Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render our lives believable. This, my friends, is the crux of our solitude." Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"And if these difficulties, whose essence we share, hinder us, it is understandable that the rational talents on this side of the world, exalted in the contemplation of their own cultures, should have found themselves without valid means to interpret us. It is only natural that they insist on measuring us with the yardstick that they use for themselves, forgetting that the ravages of life are not the same for all, and that the quest of our own identity is just as arduous and bloody for us as it was for them. The interpretation of our reality through patterns not our own, serves only to make us ever more unknown, ever less free, ever more solitary" Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Key Terms

(from Wikipedia)

Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction ^[1] in which magical elements blend to create a realistic atmosphere that accesses a deeper understanding of reality. The story explains these magical elements as normal occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of thought. It is a literary and visual art genre; creative fields that exhibit less significant signs of magic realism include film and music.

Marxism is an economic and socio-political worldview that contains within it a political ideology for how to change and improve society by implementing socialism. Originally developed in the early to mid 19th century by two German émigrés living in Britain, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Marxism is based upon a materialist interpretation of history. Taking the idea that social change occurs because of the struggle between different classes within society who are under contradiction one against the other, the Marxist analysis leads to the conclusion that capitalism, the currently dominant form of economic management, leads to the oppression of the proletariat, who not only make up the majority of the world's populace but who also spend their lives working for the benefit of the bourgeoisie, or the wealthy ruling class in society.

Postcolonial literature (or Post-colonial literature, sometimes called New English literature(s)), is a body of literary writings that reacts to the discourse of colonization. Post-colonial literature often involves writings that deal with issues of de-colonization or the political and cultural independence of people formerly subjugated to colonial rule. It is also a literary critique to texts that carry racist or colonial undertones. Postcolonial literature, finally in its most recent form, also attempts to critique the contemporary postcolonial discourse that has been shaped over recent times. It attempts to re-read this very emergence of postcolonialism and its literary expression itself.

The narrative mode (also known as the mode of narration) is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode. It encompasses several overlapping areas of concern, most importantly narrative point-of-view, which determines through whose perspective the story is viewed; narrative voice, which determines the manner through which the story is communicated to the author to be the same person. However, the narrator may be a fictive person devised by the author as a stand-alone entity, or even a character. The narrator is considered participant if an actual character in the story, and nonparticipant if only an implied character, or a sort of omniscient or semi-omniscient being who does not take part in the story but only relates it to the audience.

Symbolism the practice of representing things by symbols,  or of investing things with a symbolic  meaning or character.

Style the "language choices" a writer makes in writing, includes tone 

Irony:  
1) the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.
2) Dramatic Irony: irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
3) Situational Irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

GOD OF SMALL THINGS SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE:  (Click "Read More" FOR MWF)

Tues 4/5: introduction

Thurs 4/7: ch. 1 p. 3-35, Student Presentations

Tues 4/12: ch. 2,3,4,5 p.35-130, Student Presentations

Thurs 4/14: ch. 6,7,p.130 – 156, Assign Annotated Bibliography

CLASS MEETS IN COMPUTER LAB (BATES 3 / 4)

Tues 4/19: ch. 10,11,12 p. 156 – 225, Student Presentations

Thurs 4/21: ch. 13 p.225 - 253, Student Presentations,

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

Tues. 4/26: ch. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 p. 226 - 295, Student Presentations, Assign Literary Analysis and Documented Argument

Thurs 4/28: Finish Book. ch. 19, 20, 21 p. 296 – 321

Tues 5/3: 3 page literary analysis paper due (must use at least one source)

Thurs 5/5: initial draft 6 page documented argument essay due

(must use at least 4 sources)

Tues 5/10: CONFERENCES (Revised Draft Due)

Exam: 9:45 Class meets Mon 5/16 8:00 am

           2:15 Class meets Thurs 5/12 12:20 pm

           

            Final draft due at exam. Students will present papers during this time.

GOD OF SMALL THINGS STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATIONS (these can be done individually, or in groups) (10 % of unit greade)

10 – 15 min. total. (approx 5 minutes each)

*If working individually, then each group member will do the following. If working as a group, then each member may focus on one particular aspect of the presentation.

Each presentation should do the following:

1. identify and address key issues in plot and thematic development, and literary style
2. offer key background information about Arundati Roy, cultural, geographical, political, or historical contexts surrounding the book
3. present, summarize, and share with the class 2-3 excellent scholarly sources related to the book, its themes (such as memory), or related contexts (such as post-colonial India, etc)

Ideally students will work to combine these three criteria into one cohesive presentation.

Students may lecture, use class discussion, and or engage the class in writing activities. You will have access to the computer/internet and projection screen, and chalkboard.

Please consider making a handout for your classmates to summarize important information, and any other props you might like to use: Posters, Youtube, NPR clips, etc.

GOD OF SMALL THINGS UNIT

God of Small Things, Unit 3, Eng. 102, Jack Christian, instructor

INTRODUCTION: In this unit, we will consider both the text of Arundati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and also, the scholarly conversation surrounding that text. Through a variety of reading, writing, and research activities, students will work to articulate their own ideas about God of Small Things, as well as to consider how their own positions figure in the academic conversations surrounding the book.

PROCESS: Students will undertake several smaller-scale assignments, including response papers, annotated bibliographies, short oral presentations, and a 3 page literary analysis that will lead up to a 6-7 page documented argument essay in which they will attempt to identify, address, and critique conversations surrounding the book, as well as to situate their own reading of God of Small Things within those conversations. Within this larger framework, students will work to revise their writing through a formalized drafting process. They will also work collaboratively and individually in research activities.

KEY GOALS: 1) locate, identify, synthesize, and participate within scholarly conversation surrounding a literary text 2) articulate insightful literary analysis 3) undertake scholarly research and present research findings both in oral presentation and in writing 4) engage the writing process toward the goal of adding sophistication and clarity (both in terms of writing and thinking)

NOTE: Reading Quizzes will count 10% of the Unit Grade