EWRT1A sections 31 and 64: Reading Response 8

Reading Response 8

Alison Bechdel, Fun Home chapters 1-2

Choose one. 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. Where does Bechdel admit to the limits of her memory and understanding? Do these admissions weaken the narrative or do they serve some purpose? Explain.
4. 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.
5. Choose your own focus for analysis

Also, I put this up in section 64. It's a nice page about using active verbs, including a list of descriptive verbs. The page is geared towards science and engineering students, but the advice works for all areas of study. And for future reference, some universities have really nice on-line writing tutorials. One I know a lot of teachers like to refer to is the Owl at Purdue.

EWRT1A sections 31 and 64: Essay 3 prompts

Here is a pdf of the prompts for the final out-of-class essay. Keep these in mind as you continue reading Fun Home.

Fun Home reading questions

Below are questions to keep in mind as you read Fun Home. Here is a pdf version of the same questions, if you'd like to print them out.

1. In what ways are Bechdel and her father different? In what ways are they alike?

2. Bechdel believes that her father committed suicide. Why? What does she think the motivation for him was? Why is this significant for her?

3. What role do books play in Bechdel’s relationship with her father? What role do they play in her own self discovery?

4. Can you find an image in the text that sums up Bechdel’s relationship with her father? Is its placement in the story significant?

5. In what ways is Bechdel’s father able to support her? How does he do so?

6. Why does Bechdel allude to so many literary texts? How do they relate to her parents? To herself?

7. At times Bechdel seems to judge her father, but at other times she seems to resist judging him. Find instances of both in the text. Does this show a limitation in her understanding?

8. What do you think the purpose of creating Fun Home was for Bechdel?

9. In what ways are the telling (the narration) different from what is in the showing (the monstration)? Think of McCloud’s categories. Also consider that the narration is an adult Bechdel looking back and the monstration is often a young Alison experiencing things for the first time.

10. Is Alison Bechdel a reliable narrator? What does she believe that others in the book may not believe? What biases might she have?

office hours location change reminder

Just to reiterate, my office hours from 2:24 to 3:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays are now being held on the first floor of the library. Just look around. I will be sitting somewhere there.

synthesis and the influence of media

I wanted to point out that the Rules for Writers book has a short section on synthesis on pages 477-479. The focus is on research papers, but the advice still applies. Here's a good on-line source for ideas about synthesis. In terms of structure, you could organize your essay subject-by-subject, meaning you analyze one text at a time, each in its own paragraph. However, I think you will probably be more successful organizing your essay point-by-point, meaning you focus on the criteria of comparison (society's views of gender being oppressive, say) and show how each text relates to that idea. This way the focus is on your argument and the connections between the texts. This may help you from falling into summary. Here's a graphic of what I mean:


Also, we will talk about transitions on Tuesday, but Rules for Writers has a partial list of transitional expressions on page 65.

And just in case you missed it, here again are the prompts for essay 2.

And lastly, Craig Ferguson has a slightly different take than Jackson Katz or Naomi Wolf about the effects of media on U.S. society. This might help you with your paper.

office hours location change

I need to change the location of my office hours; the student lounge in the MLC is often too crowded. So I am going to be in the library, on the first floor. The hours will remain the same: 2:45-3:45 TuTh. I'll be there today.

teachers' assumptions about their students

A lot of you wrote about the attitudes of the teachers in the working class schools described in Anyon's essay. Well, here's a little blog post that demonstrates the same kind of attitude but from a community college teacher.

the beauty myth in the age of Photoshop

This video is called "Evolution." Consider how it relates to Naomi Wolf's "The Beauty Myth." Also, does your understanding of this video change knowing that is was paid for by Dove, the maker of beauty products?

EWRT1A sections 31 and 64: Grammar Review 3

Here it is. It isn't due until Thursday, but I know at least one student wanted it early.

A warning to college profs from a high school teacher

A friend of mine called my attention to this Washington Post article. It's by a retiring high school teacher about the changes that have happened in public school education and why. It's mostly focused on why so many incoming college students don't have the skills to be successful.

EWRT1A sections 31 and 64: Reading Response 5

Reading Response 5

Aaron Devor "Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender"

In all the prompts below, I want you to explain and evaluate an idea from Devor’s essay using another text (or texts) in the class as evidence for that evaluation. As always choose one prompt to respond to.

1. Explain Devor's distinction between I and me (121, paragraphs 7 and 8). How may this separation contribute to problems with finding one's own voice? Use another text from the class to illustrate this.
   
2. Devor claims that most people believe that gender roles are natural (123, para. 13) and so we believe that women are naturally better parents and men are naturally dominant (para. 14). Devor then states that this leads to inequality and oppression. How? Please use one of our other texts as an example to demonstrate how.
   
3. Devor states that masculine values become the ideological structure of the society as a whole (125). What does he mean by this? Do you agree? If so, provide examples from another class text. If not, what examples from our texts contradict Devor's conclusions?
   
4. Devor refers to the process of gendering that he describes as a patriarchal gender schema and ends the essay by stating that gender roles are the result of systematic power imbalances based on gender discrimination (126). Do you see examples of this imbalance in our texts? If so, show the examples. If not, what examples contradict Devor's conclusions? Please use another text in the class as evidence for your response.
   
5. Come up with your own focus, but try to show how another text from the class relates to Devor's essay.

EWRT1A sections 31 and 64: Essay 2

Here are the prompts for essay 2. Be sure to read the requirements carefully. If you have any questions about them, please ask.

Tough Guise

Tough Guise. Please watch the following video for Tuesday. It is a seven minute version of a one hour video. As you watch it, keep certain questions in mind.

• According to Jackson Katz, what are the obstacles young men face to being true to their own identities? Where do these obstacles come from?
• Katz says that concepts of masculinity and violence are connected. Is he convincing in this claim? Do you think that this is culturally reinforced, as Katz argues, or do you think this is a result of nature? Both?
• What are the effects on young men who "take on the tough guise," according to Katz? Do you agree with him?
• How does Katz think young men are going to be able to be "better men"?
• Does Katz offer enough evidence to support his claims?
• Do your own experiences confirm or contradict Katz's claims?