Friday, February 25, 2011

An Article on Holden

Here is an article about Holden from the author Gish Jen. I think it will help us out as we look at the first 15 chapters of the novel.

http://www.newliteraryhistory.com/catcherintherye.html

Have a good weekend.

Paper due March 8th.

Prof. O'Connell

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Background Information on Langston Hughes

This first link is a pretty good bio of Hughes and has some links to a few of the poems we will cover on Tuesday:

http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/page6e1.html

This next link deals more with Hughes as a poet:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

Another background link:

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/hughes_l.htm

Here is a Hughes Literary History link:


http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Hughes.htm

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Very Easy to Use Database of Literary Criticism

This link should make finding reliable outside sources a much easier task. Simply clink the link below and enter the author's last name that you need information about. There will be a long list of links about the author. You will need to find the articles/journals/critical response that ties in with your thesis but just spend some time looking through it.


http://www.literaryhistory.com/index.htm

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Some More Huck Finn Stuff

Here is a link talking about the complexity of Jim. We discussed in class how he clashes with many other characters in the story. This article goes into that topic even deeper:

http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol1/issue1/huckfinn.htm

We also talked a bit about how the river is a symbol of freedom for Huck and Jim throughout the novel. The link below has another take on what the river may symbolize:

http://www.suite101.com/content/the-river-as-god-in-huck-finn-a75246

I'll see you tomorrow.

Prof. O'Connell

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

As you know we have begun The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn this week in class. I mentioned on Tuesday the professor that is attempting to alter the text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is a topic we will discuss further in the next few weeks and will most likely show up as an essay question. Here are a few links to some stories about the controversy:

This is from the New York Daily News and some of the reader comments are interesting to say the least...
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/01/05/2011-01-05_take_the_nword_out_of_huck_finn_its_an_insult_to_mark_twain__and_to_american_his.html

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/45645-upcoming-newsouth-huck-finn-eliminates-the-n-word.html

Here is an article from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/books/07huck.html

..and another from the NY Times about Pap Finn

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn/the-words-of-pap-finns-rant

What do you think?