English works week 5

1. English 325 week 5A

· Reading

Victor Hugo:  "A Fight With a Cannon"

http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/fightcan.htm

Honore de Balzac: "A Passion in the Desert"

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/pitdbalz.html

Victor Hugo

Honore de Balzac

Discussion Board

In Hugo’s story the sea (Nature) is identified as an antagonist; in Balzac’s story, Nature/antagonist is the panther.  How do these two authors treat the conflict between Man and Nature differently?  Use specific examples from the texts.

250 words. No work cited

2. English 325 week 5B

· Reading

Guy de Maupassant:  "Boule de Suif"

https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/boule-de-suif

Emile Zola: "Captain Burle"

http://www.online-literature.com/emile-zola/captain-burle/1/

Guy de Maupassant

 Guy de Maupassant

Emile Zola

Discussion Board

A Theory of Naturalism, appearing in the preface of the novel Germinie Lacerteux from Edmond and Jules de Goncourt in 1865:

 

 "The public like novels that are untrue. [Germinie Lacerteux] is a true novel. They like books which seem to take them into society: this work comes from the streets. This is a clinical study of love. The public like harmless and comforting stories, adventures that end happily, ideas which disturb neither their digestion nor their peace of mind. Nowadays, when the novel has assumed the studies and the duties of science, it may claim the liberty and frankness of science."

 

Considering the above definition, do you think that the stories you read from Zola and de Maupassant are examples of Naturalism?  Support your response with evidence from the texts.

250 words, no work cited

3. English 325 week 5 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.