Comments on seminar on short story named “Country” by Jayne Anne Phillips

Short story from "Points of View: Revised Edition" by James Moffett, Kenneth R. McElheny


Ms.Farago said...
"Country"
THE GIRLS – Jaspreet, Alex M. Bimpe, Tam Ngo

Began with a seminar outline:
-intro
-discussion
-body
-discussion

I don’t feel that the outline was very clear.

Began with Alex M.
- Alex gave a summary of the story. It was a bit confusing and she failed to use proper terminology when referring to the type of narrative. There were a number of times that the type of narration was discussed, but she never used the proper terminology (first-person limited). She did introduce us to some important elements in the story, such as the sexual nature of the story and the incestuous relationships that are exposed. Over though, I felt her summary could have been more fluid and concise.

Discussion with Jaspreet
- Jaspreet focus on the first paragraph only was a good idea. It allowed the audience to get a sense of the tone of this story. I liked the questions posed to the class about tone – although they could have been probed a little bit more, seeing as they had not read the story. I felt that Jaspreet did get her point across anyway.
- Jaspreet had good enthusiasm and began to use some of the proper terminology that was missed in the firs part of the presentation. She began to touch on the effects of the narrative decision (ie. No sympathy)

Diction with Tina
- Tina’s discussion on diction was very short and her part seemed disconnected from the other parts. The story was referred to as a “memoir” and “Country” is, in fact an observer narrative. There was also mention that this story is “also third person narrative” when referring to the fact that the story is told by the man about the girl. This story is first person, not both.

Setting with Bimpe
- I thought this part, albeit quiet, was very well done. Bimpe had a lot of good information, although I wouldn’t have called it “Setting”. The focus on the main character and the fact that her physical attributes were more dominant was important. And the pointing out of different direct references to the text was very solid (ie. The supported comparison of women to dogs).

As the group moved back to the title of the story, I felt the explanation of the title could have been stronger. There was no mention of country as uncivilized or unrefined or the preparation to meet characters from the country or preparation of the diction that was to come. The idea that “country” could have meant “countries” as in Japan or Canada was good but there was too much time spent on the connotation of the title and too little time spent on the significance. The group did, however, bring in the irony of the of the move from country to city (Washington, DC) and that the characters could not escape their poverty.

Overall, I loved the idea to focus on the first and last paragraph – it was a great way to include your audience, who was unfamiliar with the text. There was a little too much time wasted on reading the last page of the story and perhaps the audience did not know what to focus on. The group could have focused on the bathtub scene and again on the eggs, as it came up later in discussion. This could have been done on overhead, like the first paragraph had been effectively explained.

Near the end of the presentation, the main ideas about the story began to come out. I loved the EGGS theory, though the actual explanation of the theory was a bit confusing by the end. Quotes/references from the text would have helped to ground the theory. The focus on the washtub scene was interesting and would have created good discussion had time allowed.

21/30

12:09 PM

Reading Lolita in Tehran: Part III.1
Memoirs vs. Biographies/Autobiographies

A memoir is a memory with research. Details such as street names, accurate cultural references, dates and current events all help to build a believable memory. I don't remember if the woman who brought her baby into my office was named Christine, but that character needed a name for my story. Those are the kind of fictional liberties you are allowed when you choose to retell a memory, because, ultimately, you just want people to remember your memory, so you better make it a good story! That means all of the elements of short story writing apply to memoirs -- plot, character development, conflicts and so on.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Record a memory.
2. Give it a title. A really good title.
(PLEASE WRITE YOUR TITLE IN CAPITAL LETTERS - and please do not title your work, "Memories of ...."; be creative.)
3. Make it believable and entertaining.
4. Make it 1-3 pages.
5. Make it happen by Wednesday, October 25th, no later than 12:30pm.

At the bottom of your memory, identify the obvious theme AND the overall theme.
For example, my "melon baby" memory is obviously about my struggles with my maternal instincts.
The overall theme is about the societal expectations that all women have an innate sense of motherhood.


STUDY OF FEAR

I believe it happened during the days I was small. Not really really small, but small enough so as to justify it happening. It was summer back then, and the days were long and it was acceptable to stay outside late, playing and imagining and creating in ways that only children can. We, "les grandes personnes" seem to lose that ability as we grow older, which is a pity because a little raucous laughter and random mischief-making would certainly illuminate our lives.
The day was coming to an end, and the setting sun caused the trees to darken the ground with an intricate network of shadows that, with the aid of a creative mind, could become anything from a witch in disguise to a prancing leprechaun with a pot of gold. The wonders of a wooded area can only be discovered by those that have little to loose in the ways of dignity and pride, qualities that real children have only heard of and not yet comprehended. I remember I'd been playing with my brother, planning warfare with pinecones and twigs as artillery. Right in the middle of a heated discussion whether or not there should be a penalty for hitting somebody with a pinecone in the face, we heard Mom calling out loud, her authoritive voice demanding that we come inside. My brother, being the obedient one, complained wholeheartedly but turned to go back out of the woods and to our house, which was over a hundred meters away. I, on the other hand, exhilerated beyond measure by the bout between the two of us, decided that I didn't feel ready for the seclusion and comfort of the house, and stayed on alone. After a while, I started feeling angry: Mom had no right to ruin our fun like that! Muttering to myself, I sat down by an ancient oak tree and began to tear up the moss on its roots sulkily.
Time passed slowly, and the shadows grew longer as night stealthily emerged in her pitch-black outfit. Noises I hadn't noticed before echoed around me as if amplified, the trees whispered and murmered and looked down at the disobedient girl and disliked what they saw. Twigs crackled and the moss-covered rocks silently cackled like satyrs ready to spirit away all humans who stayed outside in the woods at the unappropriate hour it had become. My surroundings became all-encompassing and dangerous, with eyes glittering menacingly and evil goblins lurking just around the corner. Fear compressed into a small tight ball dawdled in the general area of the pit of my stomach and my skin puckered up in goosebumps. Back there, in the dark forest, I realized how helpless and insignificant I actually was, and with that I decided to head back home. I stepped out into the unknown darkness, crackling twigs and trampling on moss with the non-existing agility of a city-bred person. Walking with my hands in front of me so as not to bump into anything unexpected, I suddenly heard something crack ahead and to the right of me. It was a very authentic crack, the sort of sound that a witch would make stepping on a decaying branch on the forest floor. Instantly, I panicked. With a squeak, I ran back to the old oak and climbed it, not realizing that if it really was a witch behind me, she would either have the ability to fly or at least carry something in the way of a broomstick. Hard though it was, my fear spurned me on and I managed to climb at least three meters up, there in the dark. Clinging to the huge trunk with terrified fingers scraping against the bark, the earthy dampness and musky smell of decaying leaves filled my nostrils and mingled with my fear. Trying to hold my heaving breath so as not to give away my position, I heard the sounds of somebody, or something, approaching steadily and purposefully in the direction of my oak. Suddenly the steps stopped, just under the oak. I waited silently and prayed with all my might and thought of my Mom and Dad and brother and wondered if they would ever know what had become of me. The tree groaned as the thing, as I had come to think of it, started climbing upwards. I squeezed my eyes shut and thought, "this is over, this is it, no escape now" and considered letting go of the trunk and jumping downwards in a last act of defiance. Before I could make up my mind though, I felt the thing lay a clammy hand on my leg and I screamed, my voice reverberating and surrounding me with multiple layers of fear. Everything went black.
When I woke up again, I was on the ground with my brother beside me. He looked at me and asked "do you realize that you fainted?" I looked at him blandly, not believing that everything was over, it was okay and that I had not been transformed into a toad by a witch. Then he started laughing at me "were you afraid of me?". I felt my cheeks grow hot, and was glad of the darkness of the woods. "Oh my God, you were scared! So that was why you ran away from me. Wait till Mom hears about this, oh boy", he cackled, turned and walked to the house. I followed, deciding in my mind that never again would I be scared of the unknown.


Obvious theme: The need for youths to assert their independence.
Overall theme: Human's fear for the unknown

Reading Lolita in Tehran: PART II.2

Research the history of the Islamic Republic and post a personal response on your blog regarding your feelings toward the picture that Nafisi paints of Islam. There is a lot of room for opinions here. I encourage you to express yourself. I am pleased with the responses so far on my blog! Remember that a personal response is intended to allow you to include personal experiences and emotions in your argument.

Nafisi depicts Islam not as a religion but as a way of controlling a nation, specifically one gender in the nation - the women. The reality that the women are forced to endure sounds shocking and unreal to the readers, especially to those with a "western" background. At the same time, the Western reader feels extremely aloof when reading this, as if he/she belongs to a more "civilized" world and Tehran is a barbaric place.
But Nafisi is ironic, in some way, which is seen by the fact that she uses "The Great Gatsby" (the disintegration of the American Dream, see previous posts) as a medium of comparison, showing that the Western culture does have flaws. Thus she "chides" the readers for condemning her culture and suggests that Western Civilization is not in any way better than her own. Therefore I disagree with the viewpoint Hamid Dabishi has - this book does not only criticize the discrimination of women in Iran, it also criticizes cultures that consider themselves foremore to others (aka America...)

Reading Lolita in Tehran: Part II.1

1. After researching The Great Gatsby, why do you think Nafisi chose to focus on this text in Part II of Reading Lolita in Tehran? What themes might Nafisi's memoir and The Great Gatsby share?

Great Gatsby seems to explore themes of wealth, of corruption, and of not taking responsibility for ones actions. According to http://cgi.sparknotes.com/hlite.mpl?pd=0&page=themes.html&nfs=0&guide=%2flit%2fgatsby&words=gatsby,great it focuses on "in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess." The American dream based on the idea of "if you work hard you get rich", and what happened in totalitarian Iran is the exact reverse of this, i.e. you did not get your "just dessert" no matter how hard you worked. Therefore the theme reflects the situation in Iran - about the disintegration of the dream that the revolution will make all the negative aspects of the society go away.

2. During the Gatsby trial Zarrin charges Mr. Nyazi with the inability to "distinguish fiction from reality" (128). How does Mr. Nyazi's conflation of the fictional and the real relate to theme of the blind censor? Describe similar instances within a democracy like Canada or the United States when art was censored for its "dangerous" impact upon society.
The blind censor is an ironic image that reflects the unlogical government in Iran, and Nafisi relates this to the unlogical way of looking upon matters of religion and state, by blending together fiction and reality. In Sweden we have a king that gets a huge amount of cash just for being a diplomatic symbol while unemployment rates are rising fast.

3. Compare Mahshid's feeling that she "owes" something to Tehran and belongs there to Mitra and Nassrin's desires for freedom and escape. Discuss how the changing and often discordant influences of memory, family, safety, freedom, opportunity and duty define our sense of home and belonging.
Mahshid feels that she is indebted in some ways, to the capital of Iran because it is where she has had the opportunity to study, something that few women were allowed to do, and this has enriched her life in many ways, while Mitra and Nassrin want to escape from the place where they are restricted and kept in check in physical and psychological ways.
Home and the place that one belongs to is the place where one is dependent on other people and not afraid to tell them that. For example, home to me is where my friends are, and those people are my friends because I am not afraid to tell them how much they mean to me.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: Part I

1. The book begins with Nafisi waxing nostalgia over a photograph of her former students. What do you think is the significance of the beginning the story with the focus on a snapshot?

By opening the story with an image of a photograph, Nafisi introduces the secondary characters from the very beginning. Also, she insinuates that the whole book will concentrate around a memory, a flashback from a time long gone. The photography gives the readers a sense of humanity and brings them closer to the world that the protaganist lives in.

2. On her first day teaching at the University of Tehran, Azar Nafisi began class with the questions, "What should fiction accomplish? Why should anyone read at all?" What are your own opinions? How does fiction force us to question what we often take for granted? What do you believe is the universal appeal of the novel?

Through fiction, we gain insight into complex human issues; love; friendship; hate; greed; thus learning, in a way, more about ourselves because our lives revolve around these concepts. For me, literature is a way of learning more about worlds and concepts that I know nothing of, and will probably never encounter due to the society I know, and my reality. This, I believe, is at the same time what is the universal appeal for everyone who reads - to explore and question different worlds.

3. Yassi adores playing with words, particularly with Nabokov's fanciful linguistic creation upsilamba (18). What does the word upsilamba mean to you?

Upsilamba is cherries in the summer and beach volleyball on hot hot sand. Upsilamba is all that is the essence of me.

4. Nafisi's sudy group focuses on a group of specific writers. Background research on the various writers referenced in her text will enrich your experience with Reading Lolita in Tehran. Begin with the Nabokov's Lolita. Form an educated response as to why you think Nafisi chose to put Lolita in the title out of the all the other books referenced in her text. Do you think Nafisi chose and appropriate title for a memoir?

Lolita is a very controversiall novel (that I have not read) and is about pedofile that falls in love in a young girl named Lolita. By naming the novel Reading Lolita in Tehran, Nafisi suggests that her reality was similar to that of Lolita's. As I have not read the book I cannot comment on whether or not it is an appropriate title for a memoir.

5. In what ways had Ayatollah Khomeini "turned himself into a myth" for the people of Iran (246)? Also, discuss the recurrent theme of complicity in the book: that the Ayatollah, the stern philosopher-king, "did to us what we allowed him to do" (28). (to comply)

By grasping the past that was long gone and (Nafisi suggests), undesirable, Ayatollah Khomeini brings about the rebirth of a time that has passed, and by claiming to be a figurehead in this post-past he turns himself and his reality (also, the reality of all the people in Iran) into a myth, something unreal yet present in our every day lives.
Nafisi, through this theme of complicity, compares humans to animals - a flock of sheep - that allow themselves to be herded as they do not know anything and/or do not want anything else.

6. In discussing the frame story of A Thousand and One Nights, Nafisi mentions three types of women who fell victim to the king's "unreasonable rule" (19). How relevant are the actions and decisions of these fictional women to the lives of the women in Nafisi's private class?

Nafisi suggests that all woman can be categorized in these three categories and that it reflects life in Iran, because there, woman too subject themselves to "unreasonable rule" of the totaltarianistic government. She gives the impression that her students, on the other hand, are represented by Scheherazade who "fashions her universe not through physical force, as does the king, but through imagination and reflection." Here, the reader hears the authors voice, it is seemingly this that the author thinks of both her students and herself.Therefore, this very relevant to the actions and decisions of the women in Nafisi's private class.

Yeah sure I don't know where this will come up on my blog but I guess that it's important to write something. so hey, this is me.
I haven't got internet at home, and anyway, I find the little spare time I have too valuable to be sitting in front of the computer. So I won't be "updating the blog daily".

Have a nice day and thank you for passing by