1. Pick a situation and a setting of your choice and write a pastiche of Jane Austen. Decide on your purpose beforehand (humorous, satirical, earnest) and make sure your tone is consistent throughout. I will be looking for these elements of Austen’s style (among others that you may choose to incorporate): the skill of the “miniaturist,” free indirect discourse, wit, subtext, and/or irony. You will also want to replicate elements of the social world of Pride and Prejudice and reflect some of its thematic concerns. This pastiche need not be long—between a half-page and a single page, typed and double-spaced, will suffice—but I am looking for careful attention to detail, tone, and choice of words.

Pastiche is a French word for a PARODY or LITERARY IMITATION. Although the intent is often humorous (ranging from witty satire to gentle, affectionate ribbing), the writer of pastiche sincerely imitates the style, technique, and themes of a writer or work they wish to parody (so there is an element of tribute or homage, as well as parody). The reader should be able to recognize distinctive features of the author’s style in the pastiche.

The Austen Style Sheets I handed out will be particularly helpful to you for this assignment.

2. Pick a particular episode or passage from Pride and Prejudice and transpose it into a modern American context and a contemporary American idiom of your choice. One of your primary goals in writing a transposition will be to create a unified whole that makes sense; I am not asking simply for a passage from Pride and Prejudice translated into contemporary American English. I am looking for a believable transfer of style and theme from one place and period to another and for an authentic American idiom to accompany it. At the top of your paper, clearly identify the chapter and volume you draw your passage from. One double-spaced page should suffice, but don’t curtail your work until you’ve accomplished what you set out to achieve. Again, I am not looking for quantity, but for quality and attention to details.

Here is a fun transposition of Pride and Prejudice for your entertainment.

Due in class Wednesday, February 1. You will have the opportunity to share your pastiche or transposition in class.

What is white soup you ask? Read on. Extra credit and a Wylde Q. Chicken nomination to anyone who tries out the recipe.

1. Write an essay comparing the character of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice to Rosalind in As You Like It. The literary critic, Harold Bloom suggests:

If we may compare its heroine [Rosalind from As You Like It] with one of her descendants, Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice, we shall see more clearly how the flimsiness of the world of As You Like It contributes to the success of the whole. “I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print,” Jane Austen said of Elizabeth, and I can imagine Shakespeare thinking of Rosalind along similar lines. Though the two heroines have much in common—wit, mockery, irreverence—they exist in different worlds. The later one solidly English, with all the fine shadings of period and class distinctions, while As You Like It seems to be set in both France and England, in the living present and the literary past, and class distinctions dissolve in the brotherhood of Arden. Jane Austen located Elizabeth in a recognizable world and observed the rules of probability, Shakespeare created a never-never land and asks us to rejoice in its improbabilities.

What similarities do you note between the two characters? What role does social class and propriety play in dictating their behavior? How does the fantasy world of the Forest of Arden allow Rosalind freedoms that Elizabeth Bennet does not have? Are there things Rosalind is allowed to do or say that Elizabeth Bennet cannot? What conclusions about the two characters can you draw by looking at them side by side?

2. Rosalind, when disguised as Ganymede, has many things to say about the nature of men and women and how they behave when in love. In fact, one of the major themes we looked at when reading As You Like It, was how Shakespeare introduced and then made fun of the courtly love tradition. Pride and Prejudice also concerns itself with courtship and Austen makes as many wry statements about courtship, marriage, and love as Shakespeare. Compare the portrayal of courtship, marriage, and love in both works, paying attention to the roles that men and women play in each work, the role of misunderstanding, the role of subtext, and the role of social class.

3. Compare the early nineteenth-century science-fiction/horror novel Frankenstein with the late nineteenth-century science-fiction/horror novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Consider drawing on one of the following areas to focus your comparison:

• Victor Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll: how are they similar and how different, and what might this comparison lead you to say about science, technology, good and evil, ambition, sanity and insanity, secrets, honesty and dishonesty, human relationships, and/or work in these books?

• Frankenstein’s creature and Edward Hyde: what light do these “creations” shed on their creators? (the words apply better to Frankenstein’s creature… feel free to come up with another word to describe Hyde, or to describe both) What light do they shed on the communities they are part of (and in the creature’s case, become part of or pass through)? Are the relationships between the two creators and creations similar in any ways? If so, what do these similarities (and the inevitable differences) suggest about the role of creator, the responsibilities of scientific experimentation, or anything else? Is there a common human failing or flaw that these stories both bring to light? A common philosophical or ethical idea they both speak to?

• The frame narrative and its usefulness in telling a story; the characters of Walton and Utterson and their respective role in each story; the role of women (or lack thereof) in each book and/or the way each represents masculinity; each book as an early example of science fiction . . .

4. Compare Pride and Prejudice to Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary (the novel, not the movie adaptation, please). Written and set in the twentieth century, Bridget Jones’s Diary transposes the story of Pride and Prejudice to a modern setting. Does Fielding effectively transpose the themes and ideas of Austen’s novel? Are the characters recognizable from Pride and Prejudice? Does Bridget Jones’s Diary take this story in interesting and worthwhile directions, or is it merely redundant with Pride and Prejudice? Can you tell a story about 19th Century courtship in the 20th Century when social norms and classes are so very different? Compare this story as told from the perspective of these two very different centuries. How does each novel reflect differently on the same (or related) characters and events? There are myriad other transpositions and companion novels for Pride and Prejudice. You might write a comparison of Pride and Prejudice to any one of them, provided there is enough substance to the novel for a meaningful comparison. If you would like to write about another companion novel, please share the title with me for approval by Monday 1/23.

5. Choose a comparison topic of your own, using one of the books we’ve read so far this year and another book you think would make an interesting comparison. If you’re interested in this option, email me with a specific topic by the end of the school day on Monday 1/23 for approval.

 Timeline:

Monday 1/23: get approval from Ms. Linder for topics 4 and 5

Tuesday 1/24: Sign up for a topic

Wednesday 1/25 and Wednesday 2/1:Writing Center Open for consultation on topic, thesis statement, reading of early drafts, etc.

Monday 2/6: Complete rough draft (paper copy) due for in-class peer-edit

Wednesday 2/8: Writing Center Open for consultation on rough draft

Monday 2/13: Final draft due as a shared Google Doc

 Checklist:

___Your paper should have an introductory paragraph that mentions the titles (underlined or italicized) and authors of all the texts you plan to discuss

___Clearly stated thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph or two. Remember, no comparison is inherently worthwhile for its own sake: the thesis should say specifically what is interesting about this comparison and how it helps us better understand both texts.

___Cite specific evidence and numerous examples from both texts (quotations) to support each point throughout the essay

___A unique title that suggests something about the comparison you are making

___MLA in-text citations

___MLA works cited page

___shared via Google Docs

I will not require you to write the vocabulary definitions and answers to the syllabus questions, however, for Pride and Prejudice, quizzes will be open notebook, which will hopefully provide you with an incentive to keep track of the vocabulary words and to attend to the syllabus questions while you read. You must have your own notebook (not a print out of someone else’s notes), and you may not furiously copy a classmate’s notebook in the five minutes before class starts, but if you have defined the vocabulary in your notebook and answered the syllabus questions, you may use those for daily quizzes.

As you read, look up the vocabulary words suggested (or look up a specified number of words you find on your own, for some assignments) and record them in your notebook (note the page number for words not listed on the syllabus). Use the definition that makes the most sense in the context. On the days when you are responsible for looking up a specified number of words, you may be quizzed on those words.

An explication is a formal, extended close reading of a piece of writing, in this case a section of book X of Paradise Lost. Think of it as a written and expanded version of what we do during class discussion when we go over the poem section by section to paraphrase its argument and explore various possible approaches to it and interpretations of it. In this essay, you will examine formal elements of the section of Paradise Lost that you choose to discuss, considering how they interact with the poem’s paraphrasable meaning and åconnecting your section of book X to one of the larger themes we have been discussing as we have read Paradise Lost.

To prepare, spend a good deal of time reading and rereading your section, taking notes on any aspects of it that seem meaningful, interesting, and potentially important. Think of how to describe the tone or attitude of the section, and listen for lines that could be read in multiple ways. Identify any important images or metaphors, and think about how these contribute to the movement or meaning of the poem as a whole. Brainstorm a number of possible interpretations of the section. Not all of these will show up in your final draft.

Your thesis should say something specific about what Milton is doing in this section of the poem and connect this section to the larger themes in the poem.

When putting together your final draft, imagine that you are discussing the poem with your reader, and you want to show him or her, in detail, how you read the poem. Always be sure to ground your analysis and commentary in the text of the poem – cite specific words and lines for every point you make, and demonstrate specifically how and why your reading is justified. Don’t take anything for granted.  If you decide to identify a poem’s formal aspects (such as rhyme or meter) be specific about what effect these have on your reading of the poem – why are they worth mentioning? (Note: they may not be worth mentioning; you’re in charge of determining what is and isn’t important.)

Don’t just list the details you observe – use them to support a thesis, a general understanding of what’s going on in the poem and an argument about why the specific details of the poem you focus on are important and meaningful.

Look for patterns – e.g. “In Satan’s speech to Beelzebub the repetition of synonyms for his stubbornness, ‘unconquerable will…study of revenge, immortal hate…courage never to submit or yield’ serve to reinforce his commitment to overthrow God, despite momentary defeat.” – and for development – “The poem begins slowly with the invocation, but picks up speed as Satan is ‘hurled headlong flaming,’ signaling the beginning of the en media res narrative of the poem.”

A typed rough draft of your explication is due in class on Monday, 11/21.  The final draft is due Wednesday, 11/30 and should be 2-3 pages, typed, and double-spaced. You will submit your final draft as a google document shared with mslinder.uni@gmail.com.  Be sure to grace your essay with a title that is interesting and reflects your essay’s argument (i.e. don’t simply name it after the poem).

Notes:

• As a book-length poem, the title may be italicized or underlined.
• When you include a quotation from the poem, the parenthetical citations should look like (1.1-26).
• Line breaks in quotations are noted with a slash /
• The poem notes I have given you are the ONLY external information that you can use in composing your explication.  DO NOT consult No Fear, Spark Notes, Cliff Notes or any other online or print source to compose your explication.
• You may look up additional information about allusions (for instance, the complete story of the myth of Orpheus) but you will need to document your sources with parenthetical citations and an entry on your works cited page.
• You may work with your writing group (the other students writing their explication on the same section of book X) if you are struggling with understanding the passage or shaping your ideas; however, your writing should be done individually.
• If you include barely paraphrased or unattributed quotations from source material, or if you lift the ideas of your explication from an online source you will receive a zero on this assignment.

Sections for explication:

X. 1-102 God and Jesus in Heaven

X. 103-238 God in Eden confronts Adam and Eve and curses them

X. 239-331 Meanwhile in hell, devils are building a road to heaven

X. 332-436 Satan returns to hell, sin is personified as his daughter

X. 436-503 Satan speaks to the other devils about his triumph

X. 504-609 Satan finishes his speech and the fallen angels turn to snakes

X. 610-719 God’s point of view, puts Satan in his place

X. 720-844 Adam’s lament

X. 845-908 Adam laments more, blames Eve

X. 909-965 Eve accepts blame and they make up

X. 966-1104 Adam and Even discuss what to do, beg forgiveness from God

Preparing to explicate your section of Paradise Lost:

• Read your section over a few times.  Circle any words that you’re not familiar with, and then look them up (you might consider checking the OED – The Oxford English Dictionary –available on line through the U of I library web page).
• Make liberal use of the notes included with book X.  These notes are the only outside resource you are allowed to use for this assignment.
• Look for references to historical events, famous people or places, myths, etc., look into their background, and consider their importance to the context and meaning of the poem.  Again, your notes will be helpful here.
• Read the poem out loud, listening for interesting sound devices and patterns.
• Paraphrase the poem, summarizing in a few sentences what you think it means.
• Break the poem into sections (a line, several lines, a sentence) for analysis, considering multiple angles on the poem.  Consider whether details of the poem might suggest more complicated meanings than the paraphrased meaning.
• List the different literary devices and tools that Milton uses and consider their possible connections to the poem’s meaning(s).
• Look for connections to earlier events, ideas, images or language in the poem.
• Look for connections to the larger themes we discussed in our reading of Paradise Lost (see below for a list of themes).
• Brainstorm several points (potential thesis statements) you might make about this section now that you’ve read it carefully and considered its component parts.  Look over this list and consider which of these points your notes and observations support the most clearly.  Also consider ways two of your points might be combined to make a more complex or interesting thesis.

Components of a poem to consider:

• imagery (sensory descriptions) and figurative language (metaphor, simile, epic simile, personification)
• patterns (repetition of words or symbols, arrangement and number of lines, etc.)
• sound (alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, sounds that create a particular sense impression – harsh consonants, silky sibilants, open-sounding vowels…)
• tone (angry? peaceful? worried? somber? lonely? joyful? reverent? Passionate…? Some combination?  Does the tone change at any point?)
• diction (elevated or down-to-earth, formal or informal, official or intimate…?) and syntax (flowing? stumbling? conversational? simple? complex? straightforward? abstract?)

Larger themes from our discussion of Paradise Lost:

• Milton’s theological purpose, “I may assert eternal providence/ and justify the ways of God to men” (1.25-26)
• Sympathy for the devil—does Milton portray a “satanic hero”?
• Free will, particularly if a person can have free will if they are innocent of the knowledge of good and evil (see Eve’s speech 9.769-779)
• The difference between ignorance (9.809) and innocence (9.1054)
• Implied assumptions about gender, particularly the ways in which Eve’s sex as a woman might make her more susceptible to temptation and Adam’s role/responsibility as a man.

___/20 The group conveyed the meaning and drama of the Milton’s language

 ___/15 The readers vocalized the lines in interesting and varied ways

 ___/10 The group created a visually striking performance through choreography and color/uniform

 ___/5   The music accompanying the performance was well chosen and heightened the drama of the passage

 ____/50 Group grade

 Individual grades and/or comments:

A good paragraph should be coherent and thoroughly developed.

•    It should be organized around a single, unifying idea (introduced clearly at the start of the paragraph), and it should proceed to explore and develop this idea in detail.

•    Length and word count will vary, but a good paragraph should be at least five sentences long, and it should elaborate and illustrate its main idea thoroughly, without unnecessary repetition.

•    We should feel as if we’ve gotten somewhere new by the end of it.

Your first step should be to have something to say—a paragraph should have a distinct purpose.  Start by thinking through your ideas, to see where they lead you, what further insights you might uncover.  Once you know what you want to say, draft and edit your paragraph.  As always, aim for a clear and direct style, and try to be as specific as possible.

Due (typed, double-spaced) in class, Tuesday, November 9.

Here’s the music!

Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones

Hell is Chrome by Wilco

Let the Devil in by TV on the Radio (amateur recording of a live version, consider yourself warned)

 In a choral reading, multiple voices interpret a piece of poetry or prose, creating effects that a single voice alone cannot.  The group reads from a script held at chest-level or below, varying the pattern, sound, and emphasis of its reading in unison by varying the number and location of voices that utter different words, phrases, and passages of the piece.  This type of performance is more formal and precise than the performance of a scene from a play, akin to a group of dancers performing a choreographed dance, a choir performing a complex piece of music, or a ritual incantation.  Choral reading can be humorous, but Paradise Lost calls for high seriousness in its dramatic presentation. (Your music and dress should reflect this as well.)

Some guidelines for preparing your reading:

• Divide your excerpt into sections to emphasize lines, phrases, or words, and to build to dramatic climaxes.
• Assign each member of your group a number or a role.
• Decide which number/numbers (or role/roles) will read which lines, phrases, and individual words. Create “phonal” and “anti-phonal” effects by assigning lines to voices that come from different locations.
• Choreograph the arrangement of the readers throughout the reading.  Your whole group should move at certain points during the performance (and individuals or smaller sub-groups may move at other points).  Be creative and consider how geometric principles and patterns might add to the visual impact of your performance.
• Consider adding gestures to emphasize certain lines. (But be selective. Too many may be distracting. We should be able to clearly follow the words of the poem.)
• You might select a color scheme for your group. A uniform color scheme can help tie the group together visually to create the illusion of this being “one” reading made up of multiple voices.  It can also be effective to visually differentiate solo readers.
• Props may be used sparingly. The only constant prop used in choral reading is the small black notebook in which each reader keeps his/her script. It is held low and in the left hand, leaving the right hand free for gestures.
• Rehearse your passage extensively; readers should be synchronized and there should be no interruption or hesitation in the vocal unison.  Although you will use a script, you should be thoroughly familiar with your lines and how they fit into the entire selection.  Over-reliance on your script will mar the performance, as will hesitation or confusion.  You want your reading to seize your audience’s attention and hold it firmly until you’re done.

 Your group will perform one of the following sections of Book I:

• Lines 1-26: The invocation to the muse
• Lines 27-49: The rebel angels fight in heaven
• Lines 50-83: Satan and the devils land in hell
• Lines 621-669: Satan speaks to the other fallen angels.