A few reminders for Tuesday 2 February

I mentioned a change to the syllabus in class, but I thought I would post those reminders on the course blog for those who may have forgotten, or whom were not present for class. There is no reading for Tuesday's class, as I have pushed back the Inga Clendinnen chapter ("Representing the Holocaust" on the syllabus) until a later date. We will watch Night and Fog during Tuesday's class and consider the questions listed at the end of the PowerPoint from Thursday's lecture.

In addition, the PDF of the reading for Thursday's class, Warren Lubline's "The Trajectory of Night and Fog in the USA," is now available for download on the course elearning site: http://elearning.wsu.edu/. The file is named "night and fog." I will distribute hard copies of the reading on Tuesday, but for those of you who would like a head start on next week's reading, feel free to download the article. I will post discussion questions for Lubline's article and our discussion of the film Tuesday evening.


One final note: if you will be writing on Delbo's Auschwitz and After, the prompt questions are located in the previous post, and the reading response essay will be due during Tuesday's class or by 5 PM that day.

Auschwitz and After Reading Response Prompt Questions

For this reading response, you do not have to limit your answer to one of the two books we read from Delbo's trilogy. Choose one of the following questions to answer in an essay of 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages. Use MLA in-text citation but you will not need a Works Cited page. Refer to the assignment directions handout for further instructions.

Due date: Tuesday 2 February in class or in Avery 475 by 5 PM


1. In Auschwitz and After, community plays a significant role in both Delbo's memories and in the well-being of the women in the camp. What are both the benefits and the drawbacks to writing a text that stresses the collective as opposed to individual experience?




2. The ambiguity of language in Auschwitz and After is striking in that from the very first page ("Arrivals and Departures") Delbo calls attention to words that would never be the same in a post-1945 world. What example or examples best illustrate the ambiguity of language?





3. Extremely graphic, incredibly visceral descriptions are a central feature of Auschwitz and After. How do these descriptions affect your reading experience? Do they help you to visualize and comprehend the experience, or does the graphic nature of the descriptions make it more difficult for you to imagine?

Useless Knowledge Discussion Questions

1. Charlotte Delbo begins None of Us Will Return with an epigraph that claims, "Today, I am not sure that what I wrote is true. I am certain it is truthful." Useless Knowledge begins with a very different epigraph, written by Paul Claudel, a controversial French poet who championed the collaborationist Vichy regime: "We came from too far to merit belief" (115). Why do you suppose Delbo would include Claudel's voice in opening you as the reader to the text? What does the epigraph mean? How does it function outside of the actual text?



2. Choose a poem from Useless Knowledge and read it closely. What tactics does Delbo employ to engage you as the audience? What is your reaction to the poem's meaning and/or goal?



3. In "The Marseillaise Beheaded" (130-133), what is the significance of the French national anthem to the events in the sketch? We discussed in class the famous singing recitation of "La Marseillaise" when Delbo's convoy entered Auschwitz, so why would she dramatize this scene? How does this complicate your understanding of witnessing as opposed to narration?



4. How is Delbo's text an example of witnessing as opposed to strict narrative?



5. Water and thirst play prominent roles in the chapter sketches "Thirst" and "The Stream." Drawing upon our discussions of thirst and the physical reactions we discussed in None of Us Will Return, what is Delbo attempting to relate to us in these two chapters? What is your reaction to these two chapters in succession?



6. Language after Auschwitz is ambiguous; one cannot utter the words "train" or "thirst" in a classroom such as ours without thinking about the experiences of those we have read about, as well as those we can never know. Delbo is particularly sensitive to the ambiguity of language; which examples in Useless Knowledge stick out to you? How do you see these everyday words and concepts differently having read her works (or Levi's)?




7. "Prayer to the Living To Forgive Them for Being Alive" (229-231) is the final section of Useless Knowledge. How do you read its message? Is it one of hope? Solace? Helplessness? Guilt?

Auschwitz and After Discussion Questions

First off, I hope you all weren't waiting in the classroom for me, and I further hope that none of you contracted this same stomach flu. Please see the previous post for an explanation regarding what you should read for Tuesday.

Here are the discussion questions you should ponder while reading Delbo's None of Us Will Return, the first book/section of Auschwitz and After:

1. How is your reading experience different while reading Charlotte Delbo's Auschwitz and After from that you experienced while reading Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz? What narrative strategies does she use?




2. How is the book set up? How might you characterize her narrative strategy as a whole?




3. In the epigraph to the book, Delbo notes that "Today, I am not sure that what I wrote is true. I am certain it is truthful." How does this impact your reading of the text (or does it impact your reading at all)? Why would she choose to include such an inscription?




4. There are a number of extremely graphic, visceral scenes in None of Us Will Return. Which scene sticks out in your memory, and why?




5. Camp life in None of Us Will Return is both different from and similar to the camp life Levi outlines in Survival in Auschwitz. How specifically is her account similar to/different from the previous text we read?

21 January CLASS CANCELLATION

I am ill, so there will be no class held this afternoon. We will finish discussing Survival in Auschwitz on Tuesday, at which point you should also have read through the first book of Delbo's Auschwitz and After (the book you should read is entitled None of Us Will Return). I will post reading/discussion questions by tomorrow to help guide you through Delbo's book.

Survival in Auschwitz Reading Response Prompt Questions

Choose one of the following questions and answer in a typed, double-spaced response of 2-3 pages:

1. Survival in Auschwitz employs a number of themes to paint a vivid portrait of camp life. Some of those themes include the difficulty of communicating, loss of identity and loss of humanity. Choose one theme from the text that see as the most important (and effective) in relating to you the horrors of life in Auschwitz. Why does this particular theme stand out, and what examples of events, scenes or characters explore your chosen theme?



2. How is life in Auschwitz different from the world outside the concentration camps? What specific events and characteristics of the camp illustrate your view?



3. Levi describes the process of dehumanization that occurs almost immediately upon arrival to the camp. Of all the factors that are meant to dehumanize the inmates, which one(s) is/are the most striking to you? Incorporating appropriate evidence, why are these factors effectively dehumanizing?

21 January Reading Assignment

You should plan to finish Survival in Auschwitz by Thursday's class, during which we will discuss themes and literary devices the novel employs to illustrate the experience of camp life. You should continue noting passages that you find particularly striking, but also be able to articulate why you find the particular passages thought-provoking.

Reading Questions:



1. What personal appeals does the author make to the reader? How would you characterize Levi's narration? For example, is your impression of narration style one of personal appeal/emotion, logic, detachment, etc.?



2. Why does the selection process invoke thoughts about God for Levi in Chapter 13? Is there a logic system to selections?



3. What is the function of lying? Is there a moral standard or lesson to be derived from the case of Klaus in Chapter 14?



4. What is different about the "last man" whose execution the prisoners are forced to watch in Chapter 16?



5. In the final chapter, how are the inmates' outlooks on life different from when they first arrived, particularly that of Levi? What has been lost from Levi and his comrades' humanity? What remains?

Good News from the Bookie

Survival in Auschwitz is available in the Bookie, so it looks like everyone should have no problem accomplishing the reading for tomorrow's class. Thanks to all who alerted me to the problem.

The Bookie/Crimson & Gray

Hi folks,
Anyone having trouble securing a copy of Survival in Auschwitz from the Bookie or Crimson & Gray, please send me an email at erin_mae [at] wsu.edu so I can give the representatives an estimate of how many texts are still needed. From what I understand, Crimson & Gray sold their last copy this morning. The Bookie is not open on Sundays so I will call in the morning and find out how long the wait will be until the next shipment.
I will be dropping the two lowest quiz grades from the semester, so if you are still in need of a text, the quizzes this week will not affect your grade for the course. However, I will expect that everyone will have read the text by the midterm exam, as this and all texts we read will be central to the exam's completion.
In addition, if there are any other texts that you have not been able to purchase due to delays or backorders, please let me know so I can find out an estimated shipment date.

Cheers,
EM

Grade Book on elearning

I have posted the grades for the first quiz on elearning. You can access them in the "My Grades" tab for the course site space. I will post all quiz and midterm final grades for the duration of the semester in this capacity.

19 January Reading Assignment

For next Tuesday's class, be sure to have read through the 11th section (through "The Canto of Ulysses") in Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz. To guide your reading, keep these questions in mind:

1. How does Levi attempt to demonstrate humanity in its totality? What appeals to the good and evil of humanity does he make? Come prepared to discuss specific examples.


2. What direct appeals does Levi make to the reader, and what effect do they have on your experience of the narrative?


3. What does the dream of Tantalus mean?


4. Referring to chapter 7, how has Auschwitz changed the prisoners' values?


5. With careful attention to chapter 8, what is the economic system of the camp?


6. What events do you find particularly striking? Come prepared to discuss at least one passage or event you found striking.




During Thursday's class, we will discuss the rest of the novel, so it might be a good idea to read ahead if you are pressed for time, but on Tuesday, we will only discuss the first eleven chapters. Please remember to Google any terms that you do not find in your glossary of Holocaust terminology.