Meeting Re-Cap for Monday, August 10th.

Hi Everyone:

I would like to give you an update on how our discussion went last Friday and give you a few pointers for the next assignment.  Let’s start with our next meeting.  Looks like the best time for our next meeting would be Monday, August 24^th, 9:00 A.M. in room 2209.  This time we will be discussing Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, and the assignment for this book is the same as the past three assignments (see blog).  The final assignment for the summer will be a bit more project-based, but I will let you know all about that at our next meeting.  Wide Sargasso Sea is a very intriguing book that deals with intersections of race, class, cultural imperialism and complicated family connections.  As you are reading, try to resist dismissing the main character, Antoinette, as simply “crazy.”  In the past, students have been tempted to describe the book as the story of someone “going crazy,” but that’s hardly a meaningful assertion.  Try to consider how the book is framing Antoinette’s experiences and then analyze / make meaning out of her responses.  She is not going to explain her responses to you; you will have to look for patterns of behavior and make your own conclusions.

Although there was low attendance at the last meeting, the discussion of Invisible Man part two went very well.  I asked about general impressions of the end, and many students commented on how Ellison really pushes the limits of “reality” as the book goes on, culminating in moments like Ras appearing on horseback with a spear, the Invisible Man literally (?) living in a hole, and Brother Jack’s eyeball falling out.  To the great credit of the students at the meeting, some brought up the most complicated and troubling parts of the book, namely the very uncomfortable moments of sexuality.  As we talked through those moments, students generally thought that those moments were significant because they tend to bring together all of the major tensions in the book: race relations, power struggles, hidden desire, cultural masks, and the need to establish an identity.  We then talked through some of the themes we brought up last time with certain questions in mind.  How does the novel deal with identity and frame what “identity” is?  What is the novel revealing about systems of control and power in American culture?  Why does Ellison use such heavy, almost cartoonish metaphors throughout the book?  We also took a little time to analyze and dissect two passages (Ellison’s description of the college and Ellison’s later description of Clifton’s death) in order to gain insight into how carefully Ellison structures even the short episodes of the novel.  In a grand scale, we noted how Ellison structures the novel with certain significant events, e.g. repeated speeches which show development and repeated moments of “rebirth” or awakening for the protagonist.

Finally, we started to ponder the question of where the book leaves us.  In a world of deception and corruption, is it really a solution to hide away from it in a hole?  But if we face it, do we do this at our own peril?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing you next time, Mr. Telles.