English 205 week 4

· English 205 4A

Crèvecoeur - "The Scribbling Farmer"

"Mr. Heartbreak, the New Man

come to farm a crazy land"                                            

(John Berryman, "Dream Song 5" 1964)

Crèvecoeur's "complicated allegiances to France, Britain, and America were constantly shifting, and his book is a fascinating blend of naturalistic detail, romantic fantasy, and nostalgic exaltation of a lost golden age."           (Damrosch)

READ:  pp. 539-43, from Letter III, "What is an American?" (see attachment)

 

Letters from an American Farmer – fictional “memoir” and a georgic*

*georgic:   a literary work dealing with the practical aspects of rural life and agriculture.  The name comes from Virgil’s “Georgics” a 4-book long poem written around 29 BC.  Georgics are characterized by a combination of pragmatic detail and nostalgia for a world that is slipping away as it is being described. 

Damrosch, Leo.  "Letters From an American Farmer" in A New Literary History of America, Cambridge, MA 2009, pp. 88-93

Discussion Board Post：

What answers does Crèvecoeur offer to the question he poses in the title of Letter III, “What is an American?”  What economic, social, religious, and racial qualities characterize an American in Crèvecoeur’s view?  

250 words.

English 205 4B

Thomas Paine

   

READ:  548-52 (see attachment)

Also, read:  The Age of Reason, Part First, Section 1

http://www.ushistory.org/paine/reason/singlehtml.htm

· Did you know?  Paine was also a songwriter.  Here is a link to a performance of his ballad, "The Liberty Tree."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAbNFF39MLw

John Adams on PBS

In 2008, PBS ran a really well-done mini-series on the life of John Adams.  You can (almost certainly) find the full series at your local public library, and a number of excerpted scenes on YouTube.

It won 4 Golden Globes (Best Performer Actor in a Miniseries, Best Performance Actress Miniseries, Best Supporting Actor Miniseries, Best Miniseries) and a number of additional awards (Emmys, Screen Actors Guild, etc.).

    For this class, please WATCH: 

John Adams - "The Declaration of Independence" / 7 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNOTozVp_i4

Discussion Board Post

Below is an artist's rendering of the "Liberty Tree" in Boston, where colonists gathered to protest the Stamp Act in 1765.  Note that the "Sons of Liberty" (i.e., the colonists) are tarring and feathering an excise man, or tax collector. 

"When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizen."  T. Paine

Which of the definitions of "liberty" from Week 3 is being exercised here?  Is this the same meaning of "liberty" that Paine talks about in his writings? 

 http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/sons-of-liberty

250 words.

3. English 205 weekly comment:

(make sure write where is this quote from into beginning of explanation) (you can find a quote from reading in first assignment).

Students will choose a short excerpt / quote from one of the readings of that week, type it in, then add a short (150 words or so) explanation for your choice. Was your selection important because it:

· is an example of beautiful or striking language?

· exemplifies a particular theme or character?

· makes the reader think about something in a new way?

· reflects a particular aspect of French culture?

· was just something that you liked?

For example:

"Whoever gets knowledge from God, science,

and a talent for speech, eloquence,

Shouldn't shut up or hide away;

No, that person should gladly display."  Marie de France

explanation:

In the opening lines to the Prologue to the Lays, Marie de France is providing her readers with an explanation for writing these stories down.  This is a very common and traditional rhetorical move informing readers about the ethos or qualifications of the speaker.  In this case, Marie is claiming that she is knowledgeable and eloquent and that these gifts come from God and therefore should be used.  I think it goes further than that; Marie, like most women of her day,* would have been expected to "shut up" and "hide away" as a matter of course, since women's voices were not welcomed in the public sphere.  By opening her work in this way, she preempts criticism about the appropriateness of her authorship.