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T7- Post-Holocaust Jewish Literature: The Shared Identity of a People

Introduction

This week we read poetry and short stories by Taduesz Borowski, Paul Celan, Yehuda Amichai, and Clarice Lispector. The Holocaust was the systemic genocide of approximately 6 million European Jews. There is some debate of when the Holocaust started exactly.   These selected readings focus on the theme of identity, repetition, and metaphor. Much of the anti-Jew thinking started as early as 1933 and evolved into concentration camps. The authors we focused on this week have all been touched by this horrific period in human history and the poetry and stories they have written mirror their emotions.  Much of this is done through metaphor and the discovery of the self and identity in regard to culture. 

Lispector’s “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman”

This poem by Lispector was written in 1960 and women during these times were expected to do well for themselves by marrying, having children and keeping a tidy house. The woman in this story has become disillusioned with this “dream life” and spends her days and nights in a state of drunk, resenting her husband and children, who she refers to as “little villains.” She represses the rages she feels. She is unhappy and unsatisfied with the life she lives, a life many women would envy her for and that she takes for granted.

“She looked at her husband stuffed into his new suit and found him so ridiculous . . . so drunk that she could no longer stand, but without losing her self-respect as a woman.”

The woman is ashamed of her drunk state but is unable to face this problem without having to face all the other things that are wrong in her life. She assures herself that she acts like a well-respected woman, but her crass language implies otherwise.

Celan’s “Deathfugue”

A fugue is, in music, “a polyphonic composition based upon one, two, or more themes, which are enunciated by several voices or parts in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment, and gradually built up into a complex form having somewhat distinct divisions or stages of development and a marked climax at the end” according to dictionary.com.

In class: Listen to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

Celan’s parents were killed in concentration camps. He is a survivor of labor camps. “Drinking” is repeated in five of the seven uneven stanzas and there is minimal punctuation throughout. In the second stanza, two women are juxtaposed, the German woman with golden hair and the Jewish women; ashen.

The imagery of the “graves in the sky” is incredibly dark and this use of metaphor is profoundly sad and striking. “Death is a master from Germany” is also an amazing and poignant metaphor. The Nazis have perfected the art of death in their camps. This transition is seen in the poem as they start off digging graves in the ground, then graves in the air where they (Jews) won’t take up space in the ground and lie “too cramped.” Then in the sixth stanza, they are shooting people and creating mass graves of bodies.

The poem itself shows unraveling in the language as more and more German gets integrated into the poem, ending with two lines fully in German. These lines can be translated to say “your golden hair margarete your golden hair sulamith” and are repeated many times in the poem. Another prominent metaphor is the “black milk” they drink throughout the day.  This black milk is a toxic substance these workers and the prisoners in the death camp have no choice but to drink.

In the Classroom:

Activity 1: Listen

Have students listen to Celan reading “Deathfugue” in his native language. Have a student volunteer to read the English translation.

Activity 2: Fieldwork

Take the class to visit the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC. This is a very emotionally taxing experience for many. Have student stake a notebook to record their feelings and observations as they make their way through the museum.

Activity 3: Relate

Have students journal at the beginning of class- create a Personal Identity Web. They will write their names in the middle and at the end of each line will write different factors that they believe make up their identities. After the initial brainstorming period, Teachers will ask students to select 5 that they believe are the most important in shaping their identity. Have 5 students share out and have the teacher share out their own.

Then have students choose three celebrities to do a personal identity web for as a class. This will help everyone see the factors that we see as important and how that varies from person to person. 

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T6-Latin American Literature: Realism and Magical Realism

Introduction

In this week’s reading, we covered the genre of Magic Realism and realism in Latin American literature. We were introduced to Isabel Allende, Octavio Paz, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Pablo Neruda. Magic realism is a mixture of realism and fantasy. The aforementioned authors use magic realism to blur the lines between reality and aspects of fantasy or folklore in order to bring light to matters like politics, society, democracy, and psychology.

In Class: Watch “What is Magical Realism?”

Death Constant Beyond Love by Garcia-Marquez

“While he was speaking, the senator had torn a sheet off the calendar and fashioned a paper butterfly out of it with his hands. He tossed it with no particular aim into the air current coming from the fan and the butterfly flew about the room and then went out through the half‐open door. The senator went on speaking with a control aided by the complicity of death.”

Garcia-Marquez utilizes magical realism in the form of these paper butterflies and magical paper creatures. The protagonist of this tale is Senator Onésimo Sánchez and he has recently discovered the exact date of this death. Magical paper butterflies are juxtaposed against death and this is where the magical realism Marquez is famous for, bursts into life. Sanchez speaks normally as the butterflies come to life, unaffected by this magic- seemingly because he has been affected by the knowledge of his death.

In Class: Watch Gabriel García Márquez: What To Know About The Master Of Magical Realism & Nobel Prize Winner

“Laura Farina saw the paper butterfly come out. Only she saw it because the guards in the vestibule had fallen asleep on the steps, hugging their rifles. After a few turns, the large lithographed butterfly unfolded completely, flattened against the wall, and remained stuck there. Laura Farina tried to pull it off with her nails. One of the guards, who woke up with the applause from the next room, noticed her vain attempt. "It won't come off," he said sleepily. "It's painted on the wall."

The magical realism aspect in such stories does not stand out against the everyday happenings as we would expect them to in real life. Laura Farina does not go on to question the paper butterfly once she enters the room with the Senator. She accepts it for what it is and moves on. 

In the Classroom:

Activity 1: Magic Realism in Pop Culture

Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro is considered one of the most successful examples of magical realism in film. Show Students the following videos with the background provided in this study guide on page 5.

 Movie Trailer

Pan's Labyrinth and Magic Realism

Present the following quote from the second video to students and have them respond to the following question in a journal entry:

“We should view Ofelia’s magical narrative as the memories of the war time children , while the narrative of the war as history itself.”

How does the magic aspect (the Labyrinth) and the reality aspect (the war) relate to this week's readings?

Activity 2: Reading and warm-up activity

Have students reflect on the following article about writing magical realism:

https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/writing-magical-realism/

Warm-up: in the first ten minutes of class, have students come up with an idea for a magical realism story. Have a few students share their ideas with the class and discuss if it falls within Magical Realism or not.

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T5- African and African-American Literature: Identity, Inheritance and Isolation

Introduction

This week we looked at some prominent authors from African and African American literature. They were James Baldwin, Chinua Achebe, Bessie Head, and Leopold Sedar Senghor. As we read through their stories and poems, we were able to see that identity plays an important part in their culture. This theme shows itself different from author to author, as they have varying backgrounds concerning their own cultural identity, as well.

Chike’s School Days

This short story by Chinua Achebe highlights the assimilation of Christianity and how that can affect dueling cultural identities. John Chike Obiajulu’s very name is one of the first things we are introduced to. We are then introduced to how his parents came to be together and the difficulties of being from different social classes. Chike’s mother is an Osu-- or an Untouchable. This marriage was opposed by Chike’s father and even more so after their family turned their backs on Africa by accepting Christianity as their religion. Chike’s grows up and lives among traditional African but his western tendencies show in the foods he prefers to eat and the books he reads.

"It seems to be typical of life in America, where opportunities, real and fancied, are thicker than anywhere else on the globe, that the second generation has no time to talk to the first." - James Baldwin

The Deep River

Video: Background on Bessie Head

This short story by Bessie Head depicts a tribe whose identity depends fully upon their chief. Their sense of identity and individuality is put away when the chief makes decisions concerning their actions.  Once this chief passes away and his heir takes over, the individual identities of the people start to surface as they notice that the chief’s son’s values do not align with what they have known and are familiar with. This son ends up leaving and the tribe’s identity is forever changed as it is their decision to take different stances and divide the tribe that leaves them without a chief.

Notes of a Native Son

This power story by James Baldwin is an essay about the death of his father and the birth of his dad’s youngest child. This is a profound essay that talks about mental illness, racial tensions and the connection between a father and son. Race riots are a common occurrence at the time of the passing of Baldwin’s father. The violence of these events and the disconnect he felt with his father prompts him to think deeper about how he could have related to his father better while he was alive and to wonder about how his father’s own upbringing affected the man Baldwin knew. 

5-minute Warm-Up: Take the following quotes from this essay and use them to            journal at the beginning of class:

“I had inclined to be contemptuous of my father for the conditions of his life, for the conditions of our lives. When his life had ended I began to wonder about that life and also, in a new way, to be apprehensive about my own.”

“It seems to be typical of life in America, where opportunities, real and fancied, are thicker than anywhere else on the globe, that the second generation has no time to talk to the first.”

“He claimed to be proud of his blackness, but it had also been the cause of much humiliation and it had fixed bleak boundaries to his life.”

In the Classroom

Activity 1- Black Lives Matter

Discuss the Negritude Movement started by Aime and Leopold Sedar Senghor. Introduce Students to the history behind the Black Lives Matter Movement and present the following question for a brief discussion:  how it begs for a call to see black people as individuals and not a whole group while bringing attention to the group as a whole. What kind of movement is needed today?

Activity 2- Current News

Assign students a number 1-5. All students with #1 will find an article that relates to some aspect of individuality, identity, and isolation within the African and African-American community to discuss on Monday. #2 students will do the same on Tuesday and so-on. They will have to prepare their own discussion questions and lead the class in a 20-minute discussion.

Activity 3- Listen

Play a clip of African Drums for students as they walk in. Prompt a brief discussion to start class off about the music.

   References

W. Norton & Company. The Norton Anthology of World Literature Beginnings to 1650 Volume 2. Ed. General Editor, et al. Martin Puchner. Third. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. <https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/ww-norton/2016/the-norton-anthology-of-world-literature_v1-and-v2-custom_ebook_1e.php>

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T4- Native American Literature: Spirituality, Nature and Cycles of Repetition

Introduction

This week we navigated to the west and read three distinct pieces of literature that highlight different aspects of Native American heritage. There is a deep connection between this heritage and the natural world-- a spirituality that is communicated through spoken word, ritual, storytelling and music. We familiarize ourselves with the following three pieces: Silko’s “The Yellow Woman,” Navajo “The Night Chant” and “the Conquest of Mexico” from Book 12 of the Florentine Codex.  Themes of spirituality and the natural world are emphasized through the use of a literary device: repetition. We see this most prominently in “The Night Chant” and “THe Conquest of Mexico.” In “The Yellow Woman” the significance of a connection with the natural world through which the narrator can express herself and relate to, is seen throughout the short story. 

The Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko

Silko’s short story follows the narrator, an unnamed woman, as she is kidnapped by an ancestral spirit who introduces himself to her as Silva.  The fact that she is unnamed and goes on to identify with being the yellow Woman at the end of the tale goes to show that she, like the Yellow Woman, is symbolic of an Everywoman.

“I looked at him beside me, rolled in the red blanket on the white river sand”

These two quotes are examples of the distinct way Silko uses natural imagery. The red blanket is the earth that Silva and the Yellow Woman sleep on and moonflowers in the following are an extension of the Yellow Woman.

“Moonflowers blossom in the sand hills before dawn, just as I followed him” 

The Night Chant from Navajo Ceremony

The Night Chant is a healing ritual of the Navajo that focuses on a single person (Navajo Ceremony, 2014). This specific chant focuses on healing disorders of the brain and strokes. It takes place over nine days and only during the fall or winter seasons. The section of the night chant we looked at in our text is what happens on the ninth and final day of the ritual.

In Tségihi,

In the house made of the dawn.

In the house made of the evening twilight.

In the house made of the dark cloud.

In the house made of the he-rain.

In the house made of the dark mist.

In the house made of the she-rain.

In the house made of pollen.

In the house made of grasshoppers.

As we see in the quoted text, a literary device that is prevalent in this piece of Native American Literature is the use of repetition. In the above quote, “in the house made of” is repeated to signify the importance of what is found in the home of these powerful gods. Rain, thunder, twilight, and even insects are vital to the Navajo as they as the thunder god to come down from Tsegihi to heal the subject of the ritual.

Did You Know?: The Night Chant was included on the Voyager 1 record. Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 with the Golden Record on board. This record is “intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials,” according to NASA’s website. This goes to show how important Native American heritage is, not only to America but to the world and its history.  

In Class: Play "The Night Chant" at the start of class and have students free write what the music makes them feel as a class opener.

The Conquest of Mexico from Book 12, Florentine Codex

As our text states, “The Conquest of Mexico” is a record of Aztec culture, collected over three decades. It reads differently than the previous two texts but retains many literary devices and poetic devices within. Repetition and rephrasing are used often. The way the Spaniards are described in the beginning is of note- they are remarkable for their strength. In the following quote, iron, is mentioned many times as their armor and weapons were made of it. What a sight it must have been for the Aztecs to see silver men!

“All iron was their war array. In iron they clothed themselves. With iron they covered their heads. Iron were their swords. Iron were their crossbows. Iron were their shields. Iron were their lances.”

Then, there is a great example of a simile in the following quote, when Moctezuma sent emissaries to meet Cores with gifts of gold. The Spaniards are likened to pigs for their greed and lust for gold. This ultimately leads to the demise of the Aztec civilization.

“For in truth they thirsted mightily for gold; they stuffed themselves with it; they starved for it; they lusted for it like pigs.”

In Class: Have students view the following video: Cortes' Conquest of the Aztecs

 In the Classroom

Activity 1 - Pop Culture. American Indians in Media

As we get closer and closer to Halloween, we should take into consideration the topic of cultural appropriation. Reel Injun is a documentary that “looks at the history of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans—from the exoticization to the downright violent and ridiculous; from the glory days of silent movies to the less-than-savory John Wayne Westerns—all the way to recent exciting developments in Indian American film culture” (Han, 2016).

Discuss the significance of traditional native american regalia and open up a discussion for the class about whether non-Native Americans wearing this regalia outside of rituals is appropriation or appreciation.

Ask students to relate this to their own cultures and if they can think of similarities of culturally significant traditions or rituals.

Activity 2- Sharing Articles

Share this article with the class. Provide a summary for it to discuss the appropriation of Native American heritage.

Have students log into Newsela.com and read from the articles on Native American Heritage. They can complete a short quiz at the end of each article.

Activity 3 - Fieldwork!

Trip to the National Museum of the American Indian

Peruse the National American Heritage Month website here: and offer extra credit points for students to attend events and turn in a written report tying in what they saw to Native American Spirituality and the significance of the Natural World.

Plan a field trip to a PowWow during National American Indian Heritage Month in November! This Video is a good representation of what to expect at a PowWow. Here students can experience American Indian heritage first hand.

References

Andrews, T. M. (2017, November 27). NASA launched this record into space in 1977. Now, you can own your own copy. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/27/nasa-launched-this-record-into-space-in-1977-now-you-can-own-your-own-copy/.

Florentine Codex. “The Conquest of Mexico.” Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume 1, edited by Puchner, Martin, 2014, pp 1937-1942.  

Han, A.-R. (2016, May 6). 6 Movies About Native Americans You Should Watch Instead of Ridiculous 6. Retrieved from https://groundswell.org/good-netflix-native-american-movies/.

Navajo Ceremony. “The Night Chant (Orature Section)” Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume 2, edited by Puchner, Martin, 2014, pp 998-1001.  

Silko, Leslie Marmon. “Yellow Woman.” Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume 2, edited by Puchner, Martin, 2014, pp 1684-1690.

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T3- Contemporary Eastern Literature: Feminism and Moving away from Confucianism

Introduction

We have continued to look at Eastern Literature but will turn to the modern age, when people turned away from the traditionalist views of Confucianism and adapted to The New Culture Movement. This movement was seen by many as “the way out of China's problems [by] adopt[ing] Western notions of equality and democracy... to abandon the Confucian approach which stressed hierarchy in relationships and obedience. Science and democracy became the code words of the day” (Puchner, 2013). The three stories we read this week have something in common that will the focus of our activities: the questioning of the traditions these characters grew up in.

Feminism in "Sealed Off" by Zhang Ailing

In Ailing’s “Sealed Off” we see a stand against Confucianism combined with an early feminist critique of the traditional ways of China. This story revolves around a man and women taking part in a passing flirtation while the tram they are aboard is sealed off during an air raid. Some interesting factors of this story are:

There is nothing particularly Chinese about either of these characters. They could be anywhere in the world. Even with the mention of the young teacher’s family’s wish for her to marry and being discontent with her choice to pursue his career (which was once a point of pride for them)-- this kind of pressure on a successful unmarried female has existed across cultures.

Love in Chinese literature usually comes slowly. This story stands in stark contrast as love sparks up within moments between the two characters on the tram.

Both of these points could be an argument to lead us into our next topic: moving away from tradition. Confucianism would have this woman be married and put no career before her family and to consider propriety and not entertain the subtle advances of a married man. But this female character exercises her freedom in doing both.

Moving Away from Tradition in "Diary of a Madman" by Lu Xun and Man of La Mancha" by Chu T'Ien-Hsin

In T’ien-Hsin’s “Man of la Mancha”, we can see how Confucian thought confines society by becoming the social barometer everyone feels they must live by. The Narrator has a near-death experience and becomes obsessed with how people will view him and the life he has led after his death. He starts to take careful consideration of everything. It borders on paranoia which is a tactic used by Lu Xun in “Diary of a Madman.” Xun’s diarist becomes increasingly suspicious of everyone in his town, believing that he is surrounded by cannibals. This discovery is cemented as fact once he references ancient Chinese literature on their traditions and sees that eating other human beings is part of their culture. He is disgusted by this and comes to the realization that while it may be too late for him and his brother, there is perhaps hope for future generations.

Both authors are making very poignant remarks about how China needs to move away from the restrictive traditional ways of Confucianism and adopt western ideas.

In-Class Activities

Have students view the following videos and lead a class discussion using the questions to follow:

View this video on Confucianism.

View this modern take of Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman.

Are Confucian morals valuable in modern day?

Can students think of ways to apply the morals mentioned in the video to their lives?

After viewing the second video, have students identify similarities between the reading and the video. Did the modern setting take away from the Xun’s message?

Ask students to compare and contrast the types of paranoia present in “Diary of a Madman” and “Man of La Mancha” and why the authors chose obsession as a way to comment on moving away from tradition.

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T2 - Contemporary Eastern Literature: “The Story of YingYing” & Feminism

Introduction

During this topic, we focused on Contemporary Eastern Literature. I saw many aspects of feminism emerge as I analyzed pieces like Boat of Cypress and The Story of YingYing by Yuan Zhen. I believe that bringing feminist aspects to the forefront of this topic could help students relate more to the subject with movement such as #MeToo so prominent in pop culture today.

Treatment of Women in Contemporary Eastern Literature

In Boat of Cypress, we read through the journey of a heartbroken woman who is being forced to remarry after her love dies. She has been shut down by her own brothers when she goes to them for help and reflects on her sorrow and circumstance as her boat “drifts” down the Cypress river. The speaker in this poem ironically has no voice in her situation and is forced to do as her family wishes even if it results in her unhappiness. I believe it is important to note that the boat can change direction, but the woman is so hopeless that she has resigned herself to her fate and instead contemplates her fate and lack of freedom quietly:

“I think on it in the quiet,

I cannot spread wings to fly away.”

In The Story of YingYing, we follow Zhang, who is “capable of no improper act,” and his ironic and tragic seduction of the beautiful Miss Cui. During these times, it was not uncommon for men to seduce women and leave them to wed other more “proper” woman. This is precisely what Zhang did, after leaving Miss Cui to study and realizing that he could not deal with her heartbreak. There is an understanding by the author, as well as Zhang’s colleagues that he did the right thing in not letting himself be seduced by this beautiful woman. Zhang himself states:

“It is a general rule that those women endowed by Heaven with great beauty invariably either destroy themselves or destroy someone else. If this Cui woman were to meet someone with wealth and position, she would use the favor her charms gain her to be cloud and rain or dragon or monster—I can’t imagine what she might turn into.”

Teaching to High School Students

There are two great ways that this subject matter can be made accessible to high school students. Teachers can talk about the treatment of women in these works of literature and how that compares to the treatment of women in recent times.

Last year, a Christmas song was pulled off of multiple radio stations for having suggestive lyrics. In light of the #MeToo movement, many things have come under scrutiny and this Christmas favorite has been one of the most recent ones. Unfortunately, it is due in part to misunderstandings of the lyrics, as social norms and expectations have changed. The lyric at large in the song is when the female singer says “Hey, what’s in this drink?” in a playful and questioning tone. The song was written in the 1940’s by a husband for he and his wife to perform at a housewarming party when it was time for guests to leave. A good way to make this topic relevant to students today is to bring up recent happenings like this where a woman’s choice to go against social expectations and risk tarnishing her reputation are judged by society and men, much like Miss Cui was. Encourage students to look into the history surrounding the song and expectations of women in the 40’s.

Another way to bring this subject up to date in popular culture could be to look as recently as 2015, when 5 feminist activist women in China were arrested for their public demonstrations, like the one pictured below. Watching this video as a class can serve as a reminder that in China, women are still fighting for equality. Reading “The Story of Yingying” through this lens could offer many different perspectives. 

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T1- MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE: Camus, Kafka, Goethe and Akhmatova

Introduction

During this topic, we explored the theme of Choice and how it was represented in the four readings. We looked at Gregor in The Metamorphosis by Kafka, Daru in The Guest by Camus, Faust in Faust by Goethe and the autobiographical Requiem by Akhmatova.

“Choice” in Multicultural Literature

Each of the characters in this week’s readings is put in a situation where they have to make choices that could have very damning consequences.

Kafka’s Gregor is faced with a couple of choices once he realizes he is bound to his insect bod. He can either end his own life, accept Christ into his life, or leave. He can choose to be comfortable with his physical state or comfortable with his emotional state. But sadly, having both is not possible-- he had his human form but was not emotionally satisfied. Living in this insect body he is put to a new test-- can he find value in the things he took for granted before? I believe that he did. There is a turning point for Gregor in Part three where I believe he starts to question his own humanity. This turning point ultimately led to his fate.

“He must go,” cried Gregor’s sister, “that’s the only solution, Father. You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we’ve believed it for so long is the root of all our trouble.”

Gregor’s decision to not take action is a very pointed choice. His inaction leads to his death and ironically to his family’s true happiness as they discover ways they can truly flourish as a family with him gone.  

I believe it’s important to study this theme, as “choice” is seen through different lenses throughout history, and across different cultural aspects. A justified choice in North America might be deemed socially or culturally unacceptable in other cultures, which brings us to our next topic….

Teaching to High School Students

This theme would be a popular one to teach high school students. As adolescents, they are constantly faced with choices whether it is in regards to their academics, personal life or family life. A good exercise that would help make this relevant to younger minds is presenting the choices the characters from each story are faced with, taking a poll from the class and discussing the consequences of each choice, starting at the most popular to least.

Teachers can create a table for the topic with all four pieces of literature and have students fill it out based on choices, consequences, and which characters are affected and how.  In Camus’ The Guest, Balducci makes the choice of washing his hands of all responsibility for the Arab. This choice sets the wheels of action turning for Daru and the Arab.

I would even suggest that teachers browse pop culture magazines and news headlines for any questionable choices a popular celebrity might have made in recent times or look at a popular movie or show and rephrase the question to them: “would you have done this? Or this?” 

“In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.” -Dr. Kathleen Hall