Choose one of the following questions and develop an essay of 2-3 pages, due Tuesday 13 April:
1. Alex's linguistic idiosyncrasies play a dual role in the film, providing both humor and ambiguity. Given our constant theme in this course, analyzing the role of language in transmitting experience, develop an essay that "illuminates" the role of language in the film, Everything is Illuminated.
2. What role does collection play in the film? Both Jonathan and Lista collect ephemera that many of us might consider to be useless material. Why do they collect, what purpose does ephemera serve, and how do you interpret the coincidence that both Jonathan and Lista are collectors?
3. Since everything in the film is eventually "illuminated," how do you interpret the grandfather's role? Why does he pretend to be blind, and why does he eventually commit suicide? What is illuminated, both physically and metaphorically, about the grandfather?
As always, have a wonderful weekend, and remember: "Everything is illuminated in the light of the past."
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Poetry Reading Response Prompt Questions
Hi folks, I have been offline in observance of Passover festivities, so my apologies for not having these questions up earlier. I will go ahead and extend the due date for reading responses to the poetry unit until Thursday 9 April to give you all enough time to orchestrate an essay.
Choose one of the following prompts and develop a thesis in an essay of 2-3 pages:
1. As we have seen throughout the semester, the ambiguity and changed texture of language after the Holocaust is a common motif in testimonial literature. Much of the poetry you read employs a similar focus on the ambiguity of language. Choose 2-3 poems and develop a thesis that notes the role of language in defining suffering.
2. In "Stalks," Abraham Sutzkever employs "stalks" to call attention to the terrorized landscape. What do the stalks symbolize, and how does Sutzkever develop this symbol into a powerful metaphor for violence and suffering?
3. What is the relation between "Chorus of the Rescued" and "Chorus of the Unborn" by Nelly Sachs? What role(s) does Sachs' emphasis on collectivity play in memorializing?
4. Drawing upon imagery and motifs in 4 poems, develop an essay that focuses on 1-2 recurring themes or motifs, and their contribution to making tangible the language of suffering and loss.
Choose one of the following prompts and develop a thesis in an essay of 2-3 pages:
1. As we have seen throughout the semester, the ambiguity and changed texture of language after the Holocaust is a common motif in testimonial literature. Much of the poetry you read employs a similar focus on the ambiguity of language. Choose 2-3 poems and develop a thesis that notes the role of language in defining suffering.
2. In "Stalks," Abraham Sutzkever employs "stalks" to call attention to the terrorized landscape. What do the stalks symbolize, and how does Sutzkever develop this symbol into a powerful metaphor for violence and suffering?
3. What is the relation between "Chorus of the Rescued" and "Chorus of the Unborn" by Nelly Sachs? What role(s) does Sachs' emphasis on collectivity play in memorializing?
4. Drawing upon imagery and motifs in 4 poems, develop an essay that focuses on 1-2 recurring themes or motifs, and their contribution to making tangible the language of suffering and loss.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
An Estate of Memory Reading Response Prompt Questions
Reading responses are due Thursday 1 April in class or by 5 PM in Avery 475. Choose one of the questions below and answer in an essay of 2-3 pages.
1. S. Lillian Kremer has argued that An Estate of Memory fails to capture the attention of American audiences because "Karmel's tough, unsentimental treatment of victims was at variance with the pathos and redemptive mode many American readers crave in Holocaust writing and film" (35). Do you agree with Kremer that Karmel's narrative structure and focus is difficult for American readers who are used to sentimental portrayals of Oskar Schindler and Anne Frank?
2. An Estate of Memory is a psychological novel that uses interrupted chronology (through the use of extended flashbacks) to recreate the psychological chaos of the concentration camp universe. What other narrative techniques or recurring motifs does Karmel employ to probe the depths of the psychological in the novel?
3. Tola, Barbara, Alinka, and Aurelia develop a bond that transforms over time. How does their relationship change, and what events of the novel illustrate the transformation of their relation to one another?
1. S. Lillian Kremer has argued that An Estate of Memory fails to capture the attention of American audiences because "Karmel's tough, unsentimental treatment of victims was at variance with the pathos and redemptive mode many American readers crave in Holocaust writing and film" (35). Do you agree with Kremer that Karmel's narrative structure and focus is difficult for American readers who are used to sentimental portrayals of Oskar Schindler and Anne Frank?
2. An Estate of Memory is a psychological novel that uses interrupted chronology (through the use of extended flashbacks) to recreate the psychological chaos of the concentration camp universe. What other narrative techniques or recurring motifs does Karmel employ to probe the depths of the psychological in the novel?
3. Tola, Barbara, Alinka, and Aurelia develop a bond that transforms over time. How does their relationship change, and what events of the novel illustrate the transformation of their relation to one another?
An Estate of Memory Discussion Questions for Tuesday 30 March
1. On page 234, Tola comes across a group of "old-timers" who were among the original prisoners of the camp, and they relate a legend of a pregnant woman who was not punished when she gave birth in the camp. Tola is conflicted by the legend's possibility, and she fears "what soon might be demanded of her" (235). How do you interpret Tola's apprehension? What moral dilemma does Aurelia Katz's pregnancy indicate to Tola and the others?
2. Flashbacks and interrupted narrative progression are important throughout the novel. In the afterword, Ruth Angress notes that these characteristics are central to the psychological focus of the novel. How do flashbacks and interruptions in chronology and perception relate the characters' psychological progression? How do they reveal the moral dilemmas and importance of human relationships to the four womens' survival?
3. How does the family network the women create develop and change over time through the end of the novel? How does it help the women cope and comfort themselves in the face of extreme degradation?
4. Finally, how is this fiction representation different from and similar to the representations we have read and viewed this semester? Lawrence Langer claimed that representing the Holocaust carries with a burden to which writers of other historically-based fiction are not usually subject. How does Ilona Karmel's novel illustrate this point?
2. Flashbacks and interrupted narrative progression are important throughout the novel. In the afterword, Ruth Angress notes that these characteristics are central to the psychological focus of the novel. How do flashbacks and interruptions in chronology and perception relate the characters' psychological progression? How do they reveal the moral dilemmas and importance of human relationships to the four womens' survival?
3. How does the family network the women create develop and change over time through the end of the novel? How does it help the women cope and comfort themselves in the face of extreme degradation?
4. Finally, how is this fiction representation different from and similar to the representations we have read and viewed this semester? Lawrence Langer claimed that representing the Holocaust carries with a burden to which writers of other historically-based fiction are not usually subject. How does Ilona Karmel's novel illustrate this point?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Resources available
For those who emailed me asking about Holocaust multimedia resources, I have a couple that are immediately available to you:
The Holocaust Cantata CD
Voices of the Shoah
If you are interested in one of the above titles (check out the Amazon links for full descriptions), let me know via email and we can set up a time for you to stop by my office.
Have a great weekend.
The Holocaust Cantata CD
Voices of the Shoah
If you are interested in one of the above titles (check out the Amazon links for full descriptions), let me know via email and we can set up a time for you to stop by my office.
Have a great weekend.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Online education resources for Option B
Here are a few links to educational resources available online, for those of you currently at work on Option B.
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust, courtesy of Florida Center for Instructional Technology: http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/activity/activity.htm
Teresa Moretta's Holocaust lesson plans, courtesy of Remember.org:
http://remember.org/educate/moretta.html
CANDLES Holocaust Museum Education Lesson Plans:
http://www.candlesholocaustmuseum.org/index.php?sid=41
USHMM's excellent teaching resources page:
http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute:
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1980/6/80.06.01.x.html
"We Remember the Holocaust" lesson plan from U of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign:
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/ylp/96-97/96-97_curriculum_units/Holocaust_KO_Malley/table_contents.html
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust, courtesy of Florida Center for Instructional Technology: http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/activity/activity.htm
Teresa Moretta's Holocaust lesson plans, courtesy of Remember.org:
http://remember.org/educate/moretta.html
CANDLES Holocaust Museum Education Lesson Plans:
http://www.candlesholocaustmuseum.org/index.php?sid=41
USHMM's excellent teaching resources page:
http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute:
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1980/6/80.06.01.x.html
"We Remember the Holocaust" lesson plan from U of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign:
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/ylp/96-97/96-97_curriculum_units/Holocaust_KO_Malley/table_contents.html
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Shoah Reading Response Prompt Questions
2-3 page reading responses to Shoah will be due Tuesday 9 March in class or in Avery 475 by 5 PM. For all responses, you must use specific examples from the film in your essays, although exact names of interviewed subjects are not required.
Note: Please see the assignment handout distributed in class or download a copy from elearning for proper heading and requirement procedures. Keep in mind that failure to adhere to set guidelines lowers the content grade of your essay.
1. How does Lanzmann utilize silence in Shoah, and what role does it play in representing the experiences of the interviewed subjects featured in the film? How does silence affect your viewing of the film?
2. Lanzmann adamantly denied that Shoah is a documentary, and rather claimed the film is a "fiction of the real." How do you view the film's relationship to documentary as well as to art? How do you interpret Lanzmann's claim that the film is a fiction based in reality?
Note: Please see the assignment handout distributed in class or download a copy from elearning for proper heading and requirement procedures. Keep in mind that failure to adhere to set guidelines lowers the content grade of your essay.
1. How does Lanzmann utilize silence in Shoah, and what role does it play in representing the experiences of the interviewed subjects featured in the film? How does silence affect your viewing of the film?
2. Lanzmann adamantly denied that Shoah is a documentary, and rather claimed the film is a "fiction of the real." How do you view the film's relationship to documentary as well as to art? How do you interpret Lanzmann's claim that the film is a fiction based in reality?
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