Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Remembering, Disremembering, and Unaccounting For: December 4, 2018

Focus: How is Morrison experimenting with diction and structure, and why?

1. Warming up with wordplay, Toni Morrison style:

Memory
Rememory
Disremember
Unaccounted

re-

a prefix...used with the meaning “again” or “again and again” to indicate 
repetition, or with the meaning “back” or “backward” to indicate withdrawal or  backward motion

dis-

a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a     negative, or  reversing force 

un-

a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative, giving negative or opposite force 
(thank you, dictionary.com, for the above definitions)

What do these words have in common?
What is the difference between these words?
How do they fit Sethe's journey? Paul D's? Denver's? Beloved's?

2. Nailing down Beloved's elusive events into a nicely concrete timeline

Step 1: Take about 5-10 sticky notes and dedicate each one to a specific event. If you know what year the event happened or you have some kind of timestamp, include that on your sticky note.

Step 2: Manipulate them into you think you have them roughly in chronological order (in other words, the order in which they actually happened).

Step 3: Create a timeline with as many specific dates as possible. 

Step 4: It would have been significantly easier for Morrison to write the book in chronological order or to simply include a few flashbacks. How would you describe the order/structure of this book?  What might Morrison be up to here? How does the structure of the book relate to the prefix lesson we enjoyed at the beginning of class?

3. Indulging in Socratic on Beloved, Part 2: Chapter 1

HW:
1. For FRIDAY: Finish Part 2 in Beloved and create a reading ticket for Socratic.

2. ONGOING: Paper writers: E-mail me your thesis and any brainstorming you might have. Project creators: Fill out your proposal (it's in the packet I gave you, which is also linked to the website). IF you are completely stuck, don't panic. We will have a work day on Wednesday; you can touch base with me then.

Heads-up! December 12-13: Poetry papers and project are due. Please not that you will NOT be able to revise these because you won't get them back until your final.

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