In-Class Notes

5/25/07

Vocabulary:
Morals: A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event.
Hubris: Hubris or hybris, according to its modern usage, is exaggerated self pride or self-confidence (overbearing pride), often resulting in fatal retribution. In Ancient Greek hubris referred to actions taken in order to shame the victim, thereby making oneself seem superior.

Books vs. Movies:
Check out this site if you want to read up more on the process
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1134742,00.html
*Active vs. Passive attention
- Active attention is when you create your own characters in your mind, the way that you picture them to be. This is where your creative side can come out, deciding on what the characters mean to you.
-Passive attention is when the character is right in front of you, therefore you don't need to create one in your mind. It is a form of sitting back and taking something as it is, rather than making assumptions of your own.

Anthology of books:
-What's an anthology? An anthology is a collection of short stories, poems, and/or essays gathered together with a specific theme in mind.
-How do anthology books work? The person putting the stories together is called a "Compiler" or "Editor." The compiler sends out a request that he or she is looking for certain types of stories and what the specifications are for submitting a story. The compiler will read through them, looking for the best submissions—often ones that are of good writing quality, tell a great—if not unique—story, and really grabs the attention of the reader. Those stories are then sent to the publisher who reviews them for submission and makes the final decision as to which stories are included in the book. The book then gets laid out and ready for printing. This process can take as long as two years. Once the books have been printed, they are sent out to book distributors, bookstores, and online venues.

Cathedral, Raymond Carver
For a copy of this short story, check out this site:
http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=26898
- There is no impact until you read this story...
- This short story shows how literature attracts us, because of how words are put together.

Cluster of Stories:
*Examples of clusters we have used in class:
-Cluster 2- Cinderella
-Cluster 3- Little Red Riding Hood
-Cluster 4- Icarus
-Enchanted Island Cluster- Tempest, and Wizard of OZ (most famous in US)
-Hamlet- Oedipus
*Translation: Club Foot
*Recap: Killed father, Impregnated mother

Freud
*Believed sexual context was behind everything.
*Oedipus was the most important story.
- The biggest problem with Freud is that his theories amount to circular reasoning. He claims that human nature is driven by sex/power/death wishes yet provides no evidence. His evidence relies on the very premise he is trying to prove.
-Check out this essay on the theories behind Freud's work:
http://www.allfreeessays.net/student/Freud_and_Jung.html

Hamlet
*Was a procrastinator
*Uncle murdered his mother

Cinderella
*From rags to riches
*The notion of rags to riches is a dominant theme in American Literature. However, fairy tales demonstrate a different theme. The idea of a character going from rags to riches show characters rising from the low class to high class in society due to hard work and determination. In fairy tales, characters indeed go from rags to riches, but it is due to a magical or chance occurrence-- it is the notion of happily ever after.
*Wolf whistle: A Wolf-whistle is a specific sound commonly made using the above technique to show appreciation for something or someone (originally a person thought to be sexually attractive).

Fairy Tales:
*What are they really about? At the end of fairy tales, the reader is not simply left with nice story, but rather, a moral is hidden within these tales. Many people feel that they center around men and women, usually finding one another and living happily ever after.
*Morals: Little Red Riding Hood: Caution to women of the advances of men.

Charles Dickens:
* Obsessed with Little Red Riding Hood:
* To learn more about his theories, check out this web site:
* http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/Issues/2002/0204/0204view1.htm

Transformation/Return in books:
*Return- learn something
*Separation- being able to separate what is real, and what is not in books
*Initiation- when a book in brought to light and made part of your world.