Fun Home videos

I want to watch these in class, but I thought I'd post them here. These are both videos about Alison Bechdel discussing Fun Home. This first one is a more formal video and in it she discusses how the words and images (narration and monstration) work separately.

This next one is a more informal video and Bechdel made it while she was working on chapter seven. It's a great insight into her process. Also, she mentions OCD in it, so it relates to chapter five (and I love how she opens a drawer so her cat can jump down from the table).

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: Reading Response 9

Reading Response 9- after chapter 6 of Fun Home

Keeping in mind what you have read of Fun Home so far, respond to one of the prompts below. Please use specific evidence from the book to support your response.

1. Look at how the media depicts images of gender and/or family in Fun Home. How do these images compare/contrast with Bechdel and her family? Consider images from magazines, cartoons, and/or television shows depicted in the book. As always, choose a specific focus in your response.
   
2. Do you think that Bechdel's father is an asset for Alison Bechdel as she tries to understand her gender and sexual orientation, or do you see him more as an obstacle? Please use specific scenes from the text in your response.
   
3. This book is partly about Bechdel’s discovery and exploration of her gender and sexual orientation. What helps Bechdel with this process? In other words, what aids her in her self discovery? Show some of her assets.
   
4. How do Aaron Devor's notions of "I" and "me" help to explain the inner conflict in either Alison Bechdel or her father? Use Devor's terms to explain the struggles of the characters.
   
5. Fun Home deals with appearance versus reality, what is shown and what is hidden. How does the monstration in Fun Home relate to this theme? What truths does it help to reveal that the narration can’t alone?
   
6. Choose a scene from the book and compare the narration with the monstration. What relationship do these share? In other words, what do the images show in comparison to what the words explain and how do the two work together in the scene to create meaning? Consider using McCloud.
   
7. Choose your own focus for analysis.

the influence of media

Like Jackson Katz and Naomi Wolf, Craig Ferguson explains the (unintentionally) oppressive force of media on U.S. society.

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: back from break

• Grammar Review 4 is due Tuesday.

• The first draft of essay 3 is also due. I expect these to be pretty rough, so try to have something,. Though obviously, the more you have the better use it will be.

• Keep up your reading of Fun Home. Don't fall behind!

• Someone asked me to put up the research topics for the reading groups. I suggested these topics to help you understand some of the allusions Bechdel is making in Fun Home. Also, the act of doing research and saying how it relates to the primary text is preparation for writing a research paper, which you will do if you take EWRT 1B. Anyway, here are the research topics: chapter 1, Icarus and Daedalus; chapter 2, Camus and "The Myth of Sisyphus"; chapter 3, Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby; chapters 4 & 5, the Stonewall Riots; chapter 6, Oscar Wilde and The Importance of Being Earnest; chapter 7, James Joyce and Ulysses.

However you want to start a sentence…

Here is a little on-line discussion about starting a sentence with "however." The first answer (by Edward Tanguay) is what I agree with. The person after that (no hat) states that "however" is a conjunction, which is wrong. Basically, the "rule" that you should never start a sentence with "however" is an old style point that stuck with some teachers. I think that maybe the misreading of "however" meaning "yet" for "however" meaning "to what extent" was the cause for the rule. A proper placement of a comma fixes this possible confusion, however.

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: Grammar Review 4

Here it is. Keep in mind that while this is called a grammar review, what we are practicing are specific style concepts. The sentences on the worksheet are all grammatically correct as they are. Your goal is to apply the concepts of conciseness and active verbs to them. Remember that the Rules for Writers book covers both concepts.

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: essay 3

Here is the handout for essay 3 in case you missed it or lost it.

Text/image pairings

Here is that pdf of text/image pairings I showed at the end of class last time.

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: Reading Response 8

Reading Response 8

Alison Bechdel, Fun Home chapters 1-3

Choose one of the prompts below. Please use specific evidence in your response.

1. On page 15, Bechdel illustrates some of the ways she and her father are different. Despite the differences, how are she and her father similar? Consider characteristics of behavior and/or appearance.
2. What elements contribute to Bechdel believing that her father's death was a suicide? Do you agree that these elements warrant her conclusion?
3. Compare and/or contrast how Alison Bechdel's father uses books in his life to how Bechdel as a young college student does. How do books relate to their identities? To their sexual identities?
4. What assets does Alison Bechdel have that help support her coming out as a lesbian? What are her obstacles?
5. Choose a scene from the book and compare the narration with the monstration. What relationship do these share? In other words, what do the images show in comparison to what the words explain and how do the two work together in the scene to create meaning? Consider using McCloud.
6. Choose your own focus for analysis.

EWRT1A65: midterm questions

Here are some things I noticed from those questions you answered last Tuesday.

• One person felt that the grammar in the class was too basic. Yet three people said the grammar was the most helpful thing in the class and several other students wanted to go over grammar concepts we have already discussed, such as shifts and agreement. We're going to move away from grammar and more onto style (which is applied grammar, in many ways). But maybe the sentences at the beginning of class can bring up some older concepts to review them.
• Five students said that Freire's piece was their favorite. Three said it was their least favorite. I was surprised that four students named Walker's essay as their least favorite, since often students claim it as one of the most inspirational for them. Three people didn't like Anzaldúa's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," which isn't surprising to me.
• There was no clear trend about what grammar concepts people wanted to cover next. Most of the suggestions were for things we have already discussed. As I said, maybe I'll integrate some review into the class sentences.

EWRT1A27: midterm questions

Here are some of the results from the midterm questions you answered last Tuesday.

• Seven students said that Freire's essay was their least favorite. Yet five said it was their most favorite. Seven students also said that Anzaldúa's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" was the text that they liked the least. Still, three students said it was the one they liked the most. Six students loved Wolf's "The Beauty Myth," while three said it was their least favorite reading. Almost every text was mentioned as someone's most favorite at least once.
• A few students said they didn't find group work helpful, but a few also said that it was very helpful and gave them new ideas. Group work is actually part of the De Anza 1A curriculum, so it isn't going away. What can you do to make it so you get more out of it?
• As for grammar, there was no real trend, but I was surprised by how many of you said you wanted to work on grammar concepts that we have already discussed, such as mixed constructions and pronoun agreement. This implies that a few of you don't feel like you understand these concepts yet. I don't think we'll go over these concepts again, but maybe they can come up in our sentences.
• A few students said they wanted more time with in-class writing. Just so you know, I used to give students less time to write in class and students wrote just as much. Again, I have seen a trend over the years with students being less skilled with in-class writing. So we will continue to work on it, but maybe I can give you a bit more time than twenty minutes for in-class reading responses.

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: essay 2 due date

In case you forgot or missed it, the due date for the final draft of essay 2 has been moved to Thursday, November 15th. As always, both drafts are required. So if you already turned in a first draft, hand it back in with your final draft. If you didn't turn in a rough draft, you are not exempt. You still need two complete drafts (drafts not copies) of essay 2.

And we're moving away from essays and on to fiction starting next week. First up is "No Name Woman." Many on-line sites call the story an autobiography, but that is not precisely true. The story is based on Maxine Hong Kingston's family, but things have been fictionalized. Because of this, in the academic study of literature, it is wrong to refer to the narrator of the story as Kingston herself. You should simply refer to her as "the narrator."

Also, the group presentations on Fun Home will start on the 15th. I'll show you the sign-up sheet on Tuesday.

EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: midterm

The midterm is Thursday. You need paper and pens, as well as your reader and a print dictionary (if you want). You may also bring a printout of the Anyon essay. You do not need an exam booklet or a scantron sheet. Also, besides your reader and a dictionary, you cannot use any other books, notes, or devices.

Vote!

Tuesday is voting day. If you need help making sense of the many propositions, the local PBS station has a proposition guide (thanks to Michele Sharma for the link).