Thoreau blog for Weds, November 2nd

You know you're relevant to the American literary tradition, especially in terms of ecological literature, when you are being quoted on shopping bags for sale at zazzle.

For Wednesday, please write a 200-250 word blog on 2 of Thoreau's life-prescriptions. Choose one of his recommendations with which you agree and explain why using text bits and your own thinking; then, choose one of his recommendations with which you do not agree and explain using text bits and your own thinking.

Please post to your blogs by 10am Wednesday.

The Raven, Simpsonized

A Halloween Birthday poem

The British poet John Keats was born on October 31st.
Here is what I consider one of the creepiest poems in English literature:

"This Living Hand"

This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
I hold it towards you.

Bond meets Voodoo

Here's a little clip that begs for analysis of its performative Voodoo as well as cultural encounter...From Live and Let Die to Angelheart and more contemporary films and literature, Voodoo has a strong presence in the U.S. social imaginary--a nice prospect for a senior project.

a dictionary day

Happy birthday to Noah Webster, the dictionary dude.

Charlotte's Web, 1952

Fifty-nine years ago today, that favorite of so many kids, Charlotte's Web, was published.

Blog Writing Due Friday, October 14th, by 10am

250-300 words.
Sex, Voodoo.
Write.

Some Boston Tea Party Week Links

Here's the recent story in which Joe Biden compares the Occupy Wall Street movement with the tea party.

Here's the Facebook Group: The Boston Oil Party. Their own discussion of environmental concern remind us that the seminal event of 1773 also was an overt act of darkening the waters.

And, here's the 2009 Clip from The Daily Show on Tea Party Activists.

On The Daily Show, I could not help but think of it when reading Whitman's "Democratic Vistas" for tomorrow: "We live in an atmosphere of hypocrisy throughout...A scornful superciliousness rules in literature. The aim of all the litterateurs is to find something to make fun of" (10). Is The Daily Show actually an especially insidious form of entertainment that enables us to enjoy crises in such a way that we sit at home smugly laughing at others (presumably not as smart as we are) rather than consider potential actions to take??

Thoughts?

Whitmanian Democracy: blog writing due Monday, October 10 by 10am

Walt Whitman wrote more than just compelling content for Levi's ads.
He also wrote "Democratic Vistas." We're reading a selection of this text, and we've just finished talking about the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, and principles. For this blog writing, please use 200-300 words to articulate what you see as Whitman's core principles for democracy in the U.S. context. Please cite passages to support your claims.

Not tea, Johnny...

"Seems as though everyone in Boston's interested in tea."

"Not tea, Johnny, the principle [or is it principal] behind it."

Ben Franklin meets Facebook, etc.

Before class on Wednesday, October 5th, please post your Ben Franklinian epitaph for yourself leveraging the social self-producing text technologies of today (facebook, twitter, texting, autocorrect and autofill...).

Jack Black as Ben Franklin...

As the "Drunk History" series goes, we'll work with the best one, which is on Frederick Douglass.
But, I suppose it's worth watching the Ben Franklin one...not for the faint of heart, though...So, it's not required viewing...

Drunk History vol. 2 - Featuring Jack Black from Jack Black

It's all about the Benjamins

What do we see of our BFF BF's textual self-construction in Puff Daddy's 1997 song "It's All About the Benjamins?"