Jeffrey’s Comments (group member since Jan 12, 2015)

Jeffrey’s comments from the W&L LACS 256 2015 group.

1. A story of…. , the purpose of Krik? Krak! is..…, which Danticat does by portraying … through a style that can be characterized as….

2. What are the key words that you would use to tag this novel?

3. How would you describe Danticat’s prose to someone unfamiliar with her style. Give examples.

4. Which best (or least) describes Krik Krak:
-a political novel
-a feminist work
-a collection of short stories
-a neo-naturalist work

5. Comment on themes of suffering, family, hope…
Do Danticat’s stories depress you? Is that her purpose?

6. Talk about how the novel contributes to your broader understanding Haitian culture.

7. In the epilogue the narrator notices her similarity to her mother and her ancestors. Comment on the epilogue and Brathwaite’s ‘Ancestors’.

8. How does Krik Krak differ from other works we’ve read thus far?

9. How does this vision of Haiti compare with Kingdom of this World?

General:

What’s the best and worst?

How would you categorize the novel. (What type of novel is this? a neo-historical novel... etc) Is it akin to others we have read?

Take a look at the overall questions on the syllabus. Is there one in particular that lines up well with this novel, or do I need to add one.


Narratee:
What’s the target audience? Does it address a singular audience or multiple groups.

Before beginning the text, must the reader have a working knowledge of Cuban history? If so, is it similar to other works

Does the story stand on its own or is it hermetic without a working knowledge of cultural history? Is that the same for Kingdom of this World, Gabriela, and One Years of Solitude?


Discourse:
Thoughts on structure and style?

Discuss the author’s narrative strategy. (How is the story delivered and why.)

Discuss the characterization of the two sisters.

What is achieved by including other outside, or “authentic” texts? What’s their role(s)? Effective or distracting?

Describe the various sentiments of the primary characters (the sisters and supporting cast).

Specifically, what’s the most didactic passage; the most poetic passage? the most moving passage?

Cite and discuss examples of the most effective use of imagery and/or symbolism.


Theme / Content

How would you articulate the theme and its sub-categories

Discuss the conflict (there may be multiple layers of conflict).

The characters express a lot of different emotions throughout the text. What are they and how effective is the text at conveying the myriad of emotions. Do you share these emotions? Do you feel angry, sad, defensive...

What role doe “memory” play? And how does that compare to other works we’ve read.

Why “silence”?

Describe Miami through the eyes of Menchu and Havana through the eyes of Lauri.

What message or overriding principle do you walk away with?


Synthesis:
What’s the most memorable passage(s).

What do you know now that you didn’t know before reading the work.

How would you compare MoS to Kingdom of this World, Gabriela, Clove, and Cinammon, One Hundred Years of Solitude, or some of our other readings. Similar, dissimilar, etc. how so? For example, does MoS reveal an aspect of the Americas that the others do not?

1. The value of Naipaul’s work is________________________________

2. Comment on : A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say ‘slum’, because he could see no more. But we, who lived there, saw our street as a world, where everybody was quite different from everybody else.

3. Comment on your favorite vignette. Why?

4. What are the commonalities that characterize life on Miguel Street? (what seems to be universal on the street?) Are these “ universals” universal or idiosyncratic to his neighborhood?

5. Which seems more likely? and why?
>Naipaul shows uses a child’s view of his world to remind us life’s simplicities.
>Naipaul shows us that life in the islands may be more complicated than it appears.

6. Describe the narrator’s emotions that frame the stories? Does this eschew the stories?

7. What about your emotion: what are some of the emotive reactions that the reading causes?

8. For which character did you feel the greatest pathos (empathy, sympathy, compassion, etc)?

9. Comment on the effectiveness of the narrative strategy (1st person, unnamed narrator, perspective, etc).

10. Given the narrative structure, is there a single over-riding theme?

11. Miguel Street is a “them and us” novel. Agree?

12. Unlike [choose another work from our list], Miguel Street is a novel known for its ________________

13. As I read it, I couldn’t help but think of ______________________[choose another work from our list]. Does it have similarities with well-known works outside our class?

1. The Magic and the Real
a. How might one argue that One Hundred Years of Solitude is a realistic novel, despite its fantastic and magical elements?
b. How do the ‘fantastic and magical elements’ make us question are own absurdities (JABuendia tied to tree; the Plague of Insomnia…)
c. Why/how/when is reality ‘magical’ to those on Macondo

2. In what ways can One Hundred Years of Solitude be seen as a “ fable “ about…
a. … the history of LA/C?
b. … the history of human civilization?
c. To what extent do you think that One Hundred Years of Solitude is a novel particularly concerned with Latin American culture and politics? To what extent is it a novel designed to appeal broadly to all readers?

3. The famous critic Harold Bloom calls One Hundred Years of Solitude “The Bible of Macondo.” To what extent is this true? To what extent does One Hundred Years of Solitude pattern itself after—or diverge from—the Bible?

4. Comment on the following themes or motifs:

a. Modernity and progress
b. Memory – dreaming – history
c. Time
d. Dynamism vs Stasis
e. Death
f. Solitude -- To what extent is the novel’s title, One Hundred Years of Solitude, an important commentary on the narrative in the book? What connections does the book make between knowledge and solitude? Is solitude an unavoidable condition of human nature?
g. Do these rise to the level of themes: matriarchy, incest, family, the Edenic


5. Comment on its images

6. Comment on its symbolism

7. Comment on most memorable passage

1. In what ways is GCandC a tale of two stories? Are they intertwined, independent, co-dependent, ….”

or

What are the various plot lines (name at least 4) and how do they merge into one single plot?

2. Do you see GC and C more as a work of art or a work of ideas?
a. Give examples of Amado’s artistry: what strikes you as the most artistic achievements?
b. What are principle ideas?

or

Is GC and C a novel of vivid details or subliminal images?

3. What tends to move the novel along: story, plot, characterization, imagery… [or name other]?

4. Which of these questions from our syllabus seems to be the most pertinent for GCandC? AND what question would you add?

a. How do our authors envision the American landscape?
b. How do LA/C literary artists depict, portray, and project their world in a more symbolic sense?
c. What role has the historical past had in determining the artists' viewpoint?
d. What liberties, if any, do the artistic genres entail in their depiction of the Americas?
e. What is the role of the artist in these instances?
f. How do they conceive and portray the term "American"?
g. What, if any, are the regional differences among the artists?
h. In what ways are they 'builders of images'?
i. Is it accurate to denote a difference in the role of the LA./C artist in comparison to the North American counterpart?
j. What is the artist’s role beyond the text?
k. Must Art be universal or is Art “always local”?
l. Is there tension between dreams and realities
m. Is the text a liberating force (from reality), a as a tool of justice, other?

n. What about the depiction of women, the treatment of women, causes/consequences, etc. Does this view differ from male authors to female authors? from region to region? from one period to another
o. What about the depiction of power structures? Does this view differ from one author to another? from region to region? from one period to another
p.

5. How do the physical images (the physical depiction of setting) compare to previous works this term? and especially to previous Brazilian works:?

or

Cite examples of how Amado depicts everyday life in a small town

6. What does the novel reveal about….:
a. corruption, progress, ethnicity, misogyny, [what else?]

7. Images:
a. the most disturbing, humorous, vivid, sensual, [what else?]

8. Are civilization and progress synonymous? How do we see the beginning/evolution of the former? What are the contradictions regarding the latter?

9. What are the cultural values we glean?

or

What are the lessons the author wants us to take away about Brazil? About life?

10. Is the ending appropriate? forced? other?

11. What’s the best passage? and why?

12. Discuss the diverse ways many of our texts show how the contemporary individual’s identity is related to the nation’s past.

Possible questions in class

1. Overall themes / concerns throughout the work ?

2. How would you describe the role of history in Kingdom of this World?

4. -Who are the historical figures here (which are not; convincing?

5. -Who is the hero?

6. -Discuss evolution and role of: Ti Noel, Mackandal, Henri Christophe (what about role of Pauline, Boukman…) who’s missing?

7. -What can we deduce about:
a. Race
b. Religion
c. Power Structure
d. Landscapes
e. Cosmovision (the magical)

8. -What about the title?

9. -Is Ti Noël a Christ-like figure?

10. -Now: what’s new, vivid, altered, confirmed, shaken up?