Danticat, Charlie, Aislinn, Maddie, Emmet

Biography

Danticat moved to the U.S. from her native country, Haiti, at the age of 12. She attended Barnard College and later Brown University, leaving the educational community with a degree in French literature and an MFA. She published her first book at 25 and received acclaim almost immediately. Governmental policies of both the U.S. and Haiti are of immense importance to her, and she cites the tragedy of the political struggles of Haitian immigrants as a major influence for her work. Outside of the literary world, she is an active participant in efforts to mobilize citizens and enact change in policies relating to immigration, particularly in light of the natural and political disasters of Haiti.


Literary Contributions

Fiction
Breath, Eyes, Memory, 1994
Krik? Krak!, 1995
The Farming of Bones, 1998
Behind the Mountains, 2002
The Dew Breaker, 2004

Non-Fiction
The Butterfly's Way, 2001
After the Dance, 2002

Films
Courage and Pain, 1996
The Agronomist, 2003

Jaggi, Maya. "Profile: Edwidge Danticat." The Guardian. 19 Nov. 2004. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. 

"Edwidge Danticat." African American Literature Book Club. n.p. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. 

Questions

1. In what way is the family structure degraded, and what is the politico-psychological motivation for that degradation? 

2. What character archetypes are present in the story, and how do the characters diverge from these paths?

Saving Sourdi info and questions

Questions:
Character/Psychological: What underlying motive (not because Sourdi is in danger) causes Nea to want to rescue Sourdi from Mr. Chhay?

Formalist: How does the point of view chosen by the author contribute to the ideas she discusses throughout the story?

Feminist: Would Sourdi have been expected to have an arranged marriage if she were a boy, and how would Nea's reaction to it have been different if that were the case?

Biography:
May-Lee Chai was born in California to an Irish-American mother and a father from Singapore. She attended Grinnell College in Iowa where she majored in Chinese Studies and French. She then studied East Asian Studies at Yale University where she received her MA. From UC - Boulder, she earned a second MA in English-Creative Writing later on. She has taught at various universities around the country and currently works as an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Her short stories and essays have appeared in many publications.

The book Dragon Chica is an extension of the short story Saving Sourdi. This book follows Nea from before the events of Saving Sourdi until she is 18. It introduces family members and characters not mentioned in the short story, and there are also flashbacks to the war in Cambodia.

Chai, May-Lee. "Author Bio." Web log post. Maylee Chai's Blog. N.p., 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

"Books Published By May-Lee Chai." May-Lee Chai. May-Lee Chai, 2007. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Literary Contributions
Novels:
Tiger Girl (2013).
Dragon Chica (2010).
My Lucky Face (1997).

Memoirs:
Hapa Girl (2007).
The Girl From Purple Mountain (2001).

Short Stories:
Glamorous Asians: Short Stories & Essays (2004).
Saving Sourdi (2001).

Translations:
The Autobiography of Ba Jin (2008).

Humor - Walt Finch

I like the Importance of Being Ernest.  The type of humor that I probably prefer is "high humor".  I really enjoy the satire, when it is just so absurd that I can't help but laugh and think how true that probably is.  Like the example of Aunt Augusta after she asks Jack if he smokes and she says, "a man must always have an occupation of some kind." That made me laugh.  On TV a show that I really like is Family Guy.  I really enjoy the way they critique society.  They start off episodes in seemingly random ways, so it doesn't come off as them preaching, but slowly it takes unexpected turns to have commentary on society.  An example is the episode "The Old Man and the Big C".  Carter has created a medicine that cures any disease.  But the episode starts off by having him get sick and then miraculously cured.  But it talks about how it is much more profitable to treat a disease than cure everything.  It's better to have them keep coming back.  This isn't as funny of an example but there are plenty of instances where it is very funny.  There's also a lot of comic humor in Family Guy, like when Peter always fights the chicken, and that is funny but it doesn't make me laugh as hard.  Or really think.  It just brings a smile to my face.

Humor, Emmet Allen

I liked Earnest, but not for any particular reason. There isn't really a type of comedy that I prefer, "high" or "low". The more physical humor will always get a reaction from me, as long as it isn't too crudely or meaninglessly delivered. The "cognitive" humor is also something that I enjoy, especially in reading. But to be entirely honest, if I'm viewing something (play, movie, etc.) and there's a lot of intellectual banter, I can't keep up. I may just be uncultured, but the really important and divine things that are sometimes demonstrated through comedy are lost on me, and I don't feel to bad about it. If you really want to say something profound about society, go and say it. If you want to entertain me, entertain me. I don't get too much joy out of cultural critique, overall it probably does more to depress me than anything else. The best example I can give to make this point is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Anyone who says that the creators don't have anything to say hasn't seen the show, but it would also be a stretch to claim that they actually care enough to make a truly impactful observation. Take the episode on gun control for example. There was some legitimate discussion about what the government's role is (Mac was right at first, of course), even though it was pretty basic. Compare this to the episode when the McPoyles, a family of incest and warm milk consumption, take over the bar with toy guns. There was not a purpose. I still enjoyed it. If it's funny, I'll enjoy it as long as I have time to think it over.

Humor- Caroline Totty

My sense of humor is all over the place. I enjoy anything from sarcasm to the most immature jokes ever made. I enjoyed The Importance of Being Earnest a lot basically because the whole thing was just so beyond ridiculous it made it comical. The best part was that the play writer made it so the characters seemed to take it all so seriously and were all very outgoing, but the audience just knows how ridiculous the whole thing truly is. One of my favorite scenes was the last one when Jack finds out the story behind his childhood tragedy of getting left in a purse in a train station and finds out who he really is. There are also several puns throughout the play and just little lines that are so outrageous they are hilarious. One modern show that I find funny is Modern Family. Every week my family and I watch it together and every week we are all in tears laughing at the stupidity of some of it. The episodes always have the big extended family ending up in a bad situation and it just never fails to be funny and entertaining.

Humor- Jacob Ferguson

In The Importance of Being Earnest, the humor I found that I most enjoyed was the farce and the puns. The funniest things to me were when the characters were in crazy situations, such as the women only marrying men named Ernest, the idea of a Bunbury, and Algernon transitioning from "the Science of Life" to the cucumber sandwiches in conversation. I really enjoy the absurd and at the same time enjoy the cleverness of puns; I appreciate a mix of high and low humor. In modern times some of the funniest productions are Parks and Recreation, Freaks and Geeks, and any Mel Brooks movie. These shows have a variety of humor from satire to farce to parody. Freaks and Geeks reveals the true essence of our society with great satire when Jason Segel declares in conversation "I don't want to relate to anybody." Mel Brooks parodies the tropes of any number of film genres in his movies. My tastes in humor are very diverse in this way.

Humor- Sloan Warner

In The Important of Being Earnest, the humor is so beyond absurd and satirical, and I loved every second of it. First of all, in the small group reading of the play, the humor was enhanced by some of our terrible British accents. Moreover, I am the person that pretty much laughs at any joke or funny situation as long as it is not so insanely morbid that its humor diminishes (cough cough... 9/11 jokes). I am always the person giving the person a high five who said an awful pun, partially because I pity them and their bad joke making skills. Some of my best laughs have come from watching Seinfeld with my family, and Earnest reminded me a lot of Seinfeld. The improbable plots from both are so absurd that only Jerry Seinfeld or Oscar Wilde could come up with them. With Jack's name actually being Earnest at the end of the story can only be compared to the Seinfeld plot where George gets a job with the Yankees by the doing everything totally opposite of what his gut tells him to do. They can both be classified as liquid gold. Also both Seinfeld and Wilde are so funny in their commentary on society and how absurd it is. I loved Earnest and I hope we continue to read stories like it later in the class.

Humor - Charlie Grimes

The Importance of Being Earnest is loaded with a variety of humor, all of which I found to be effective in not only making me laugh, but displaying a certain perspective of a group of people. Elements of satire were littered all throughout the play, with outrageous lines like "I never travel without my diary. One must always have something sensational to read in the train" being common occurrences. Oscar Wilde's excellent usage of satire, farce, comedy of manners and puns all contributed to a hilarious critique of upper class society. The satire and comedy of manners is also very apparent when Lady Bracknell instructs Jack, an orphan, to "produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over."

Humor has always been an important part of my life and of my personality. I enjoy all types of humor, from the most basic, immature dialogue in a comedy movie to clever puns and subtle references in literature. I have always found sarcasm to be particularly hilarious, and find that I use it myself quite often (and potentially too much). I have always been particularly fond of the humor in shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where there is an endless stream of "low" humor, but often with an underlying intellectual and political message. I also find the humor in TV show The Sopranos to be particularly hilarious. For instance, at one point in the story, two characters are digging up a dead body to move it to a different location. When one of the characters comes upon the body he is looking for, he exclaims "Oh my god! Is that him?!"Realizing the irony of this statement, the other character replies "Now that would be some f****** coincidence if it wasn't!"

Interpreter of Maladies

Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian American author.  Born to Indian parents in London, Lahiri and her family moved to the United States when she was two years old.  Lahiri was educated in Kingston Rhode Island and graduated with a B.A in English Literature from Barnard college in New York City.  Lahiri has also earned several degrees from Boston University.  Lahiri's own experience as the child of immigrants has been heavily featured in her work, especially reference to her non-American sounding name her struggles fitting in.

"Jhumpa Lahiri Bio." Randomhouse.com. Random House, 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Lahiri's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, was published in 1999.  Highly acclaimed, the collection was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and The New Yorker Debut of the Year.  Her first novel, The Namesake, was a New York Times Notable Book, a Lost Angeles times Book Prize finalist, and was adapted into a popular feature film.  Her most recent work, The Lowland, was a nominee for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.  Currently, Lahiri is serving as a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, as appointed by President Obama, and is a professor of creative writing at Princeton University.  She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Literary Contributions

Introductions:

• Introduction of the Magic Barrel: Stories by Bernard Malamud, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2003)
• Introduction of Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan (2006)

Essays:

• Essay, Rhode Island (2008)
• Essay, The Suspension of Time: Reflections on Simon Dinnerstein and The Fulbright Tryptich (2011)

Short Stories:

• Interpreter of Maladies (1999)
• Unaccustomed Earth (2008)

Novels:

• The Namesake (2003)
• The Lowland (2013)

"Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian Writer." Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian Writer.  Jupiter Infomedia Ltd., 2008. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Questions

Psychological: What does the Das' romanization of India reveal about their family?

Archetypal: Are there any children in stories that are surrounded by deceit from their parents, like Bobby?

Deconstruction: What are some contradictions that the author makes in the way she talks about Mr. and Mrs. Das as parents?

Reader Response: In your own opinion is any character likeable in this story, or is it a story filled with antagonists?

Humor - Emily Cashman

In Earnest, some of the lines that I thought were the funniest came at the end of the play. I thought the entire ending of the play was entertaining mostly because it was just one absurdity after another. I liked Gwendolen's comment near the end of "I never change, except in my affections." and Cecily's reply of "What a noble nature you have, Gwendolen!" I enjoyed this conversation because it was simply absurd and exaggerated. That conversation would never occur in real life, which shows how hilarious Wilde made the entire situation. In regards to modern humor, my favorite comedy TV show is without a doubt Modern Family. (I even wrote one of my college essays about watching Modern Family with my family). I like how the subtle humors of each situation build on each other to create some pretty hilarious scenes when situations collide. I also enjoy how the writers of Modern Family seem to more accurately portray teenage-hood in a funny way more so than other shows.

Humor- Will Mathews

Usually in comedy I am not picky about my humor, if it is low or high, as long as it makes me laugh I like it. In Earnest however, I was mostly drawn to the high humor, to be even more specific, the satire. One of my favorite parts was when Cecily is telling Algy how she broke off their engagement for a few days because “it would hardly have been a really serious engagement if it hadn’t been broken off at least once.” This kind of ridiculous satire, making fun of the society in which this story takes place really made me laugh, it’s just so insane to think about.  I mean, Cecily broke off the engagement to Algy, even though he didn’t even know they were engaged, just so that the engagement would be more serious. I mean it barley makes sense when you write it out, which makes it even more hilarious.

One of my favorite movies is Zoolander, if you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a movie about male modelling and it’s hilarious. I’ve watched it a bunch of times over the past, let’s say 8 years, but with my more mature mind I watched it recently and realized there were even more things that were funny that I’d never noticed. One part in particular really jumped out at me the last time I watched it. At the beginning if the movie, they have one of those award ceremony videos, where the nominees talk and there work is shown. And Hansel is doing his and he says something about “how people always say that models are so vain, but he’s never really felt that,” as he is saying all this he is dressed up in a god-like angel costume, which basically contradicts everything he says. I just thought that was a really funny use of high humor.

Who's Irish David chen

The author of the story, gish Jen is a second generation Chinese American. Her parents immigrated from mainland China before her birth and had a child in Long Island, New York. This, many of the aspects of the who's Irish story can apply to her childhood experience as an immigrant. Growing up in a foreign country with likely an older person raising her since her parents had to work, the experiences depicted in the story likely fits her past. Many of the stereotypes and accents in the story can also be depicted more accurately by her knowledge of the culture that other writers wouldn't be able to do. She's also done multiple other short stories that depict an outsider's view of America.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_Jen

Feminist Lens- How did the use of syntax depict the innate prejudices against women by the grandmother?

Post Colonial- Who is considered "outsiders" in this story and why does the author create this situation?
Formalist- How important is the point of view to the development of the story's central idea?

humor- David chen

In the importance of being earnest, the humor i thought to be the most entertaining was definitely the satire. I have always enjoyed a good ole joke at society and this story does not fail to satisfy. From gender roles to morals, the book pokes at the beliefs of society from that time and sort of pits it against the modern perception of today. A notable reference in the book is when the female characters, cecily and gwendolyn, openly acknowledge how men are "infinitely" better than them and they could only aspire to be like them. This as many can tell is an evident example of satire in the case of the current dominant belief that everyone is equal, but what makes it funny is the confidence that oozes out while saying this. Barely anyone in this day in age would be caught saying something as offensive as that but during the time that this story portrays this could be a very commonplace ideal. The best example of modern satire I've seen would either be South Park or internet forums. I've watched a good deal of television and browsed more of the internet than most, and in conclusion these two sources do a very good job of actively keeping up with current news, exploiting their weak points, and making fun of them at their expense. In addition to this, Adam sandler is the worst human being on earth and should be eradicated from all movies because he doesn't produce anything intelligent and only raises the pitch of his voice, sells out to companies in his movies, and uses sub par acting to rake in 1/4 of the net movie profits, which is revolting by all means.

Humor-Mikaela Gatewood

I like to think I prefer high comedy over low comedy. My own sense of humor is dry and sarcastic, and I don't find a whole lot of enjoyment from slapstick humor. I only made it through the first twenty minutes of The League before shutting it off, mostly because of its perverse sexual and bodily humor. So it came as no surprise to me when the puns sprinkled through out Earnest were my favorite part. I think they best showed Wilde's wit and talent for writing, especially since several were not immediately noticeable. While there are numerous puns throughout the play, here are a few of my favorites:
Gwendolyn: "Cecily, mamma, whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted... so do you mind my looking at you through my glasses?" (p. 56)
Jack: "Oh! I don't see much fun in being christened along with other babies. It would be childish." (p. 44)
Algernon: "My dear boy, we were never even on speaking terms. He died before I was a year old." (p. 88)

Currently, I find the show Portlandia to be pretty funny. While I'm sure it would make much more sense if I actually lived in Portland, it's ridiculous and general enough to still be funny. Focused on the wide variety of people that live in Portland, Portlandia is a sketch show the is entirely focused on making fun of the city's diverse population. They take each group and blow their stereotypes to an extreme, incredibly similar to Wilde's own satire on society in Earnest. The wonderful part about Portlandia is that the absurdity of each skit is so outrageous that it never hits close enough to home to be offensive. Instead, the show's a brilliant mix of satire and good natured joking.

Maddie Wheeler- Humo

The Importance of Being Earnest is hilarious to me, and its one of the only physical texts that I have managed to laugh out loud at. I don't have a humor that I respond to more so, unless it's anything that Donald Trump says, because that can get me to roll on the floor. Wilde's combination of humor is what intrigued me the most. He included puns, social digs, and just ridiculousness. I feel that if the entire story was ridiculousness that I would have grown annoyed with it, and not found it funny at all. My favorite funny TV show to watch is either Friends or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but especially Sunny. Anyone who has never seen Sunny can say that it means nothing, and doesn't comment on anything, but this is not true at all. One of my favorite examples is in the Pilot episode, when the entire plot line is that Charlie complains to Mac that they don't have any black friends. They then attempt to immerse themselves in modern black culture, without being racist, and it doesn't really work. One of the lines that Dennis says to his sister's love interest actually is "We weren't expecting you to be black," and if this isn't commentary then I don't know what is. Some of the other issues that are tackled in the show are abortion, premarital sex, gun control, the gas crisis, and men's obsession with women's bodies. The similarities between Earnest and Sunny are strong, mostly because they both employ different types of humor. I love both equally. 

"The Moths" Bio. info. and Questions

1. How do you interpret/support the recurring theme of gentleness vs. roughness?
2. Why is the narrator so fearless when it comes to death?
3. In what ways does each character in the story confirm or deny traditional gender roles?
4. What do hands symbolize throughout the story?


Helena Maria Viramontes was born in California into a Mexican-American family. She grew up around the Chicano movement, which was focused on protesting unequal conditions in East Los Angeles public schools. This would in part shape her career as a writer. She first went to college at the Immaculate Heart College to earn her BA in English literature. She later attended the University of California Irvine where she earned her graduate degree in creative writing.


Literary Contributions

Criticisms:

Beyond Stereotypes: A Critical Analysis of Chicana Literature (Contributor, 1985).

Chicana Creativity and Criticism (Contributor and editor, 1988).

Novels:

Under the Feet of Jesus (1995).

Their Dogs Came with Them (2007).

Short Story Collections:

Cuentos: Stories by Latinas (Contributor, 1983).

The Moths and Other Stories (1985). Includes "The Moths".

Humor- Brandon Castillo

I can definitely say that I probably enjoy "low" comedy more than "high" comedy. I think this is because, while everyone can see low comedy when it happens, sometimes I will miss the high comedy unless someone points it out to me. The Importance of Being Earnest was amusing to me. A couple of my favorite scenes were the ones when Cecily and Gwendolen wouldn't want to marry Algernon or Jack because of their names, and when Jack and Algernon raced around the room for the muffins. I would consider these two scenes "low" comedy because of the physical play of the characters involved. I also enjoyed the actual title of the play. The play on words of Earnest/Ernest was clever in the way it was able to attack the characters (and maybe the high society in England) about how untruthful they were. In today's world, I love comedies such as The Office and Parks and Rec. My favorite parts about these shows are, again, probably the "low" comedy such as when Dwight and Jim are pranking each other or just the goofy tone that is around throughout the whole show. These shows don't really satirize anything major, the only real example that I could think of is in Parks and Rec., when Ron Swanson, a government employee, is excited when the prospect of slashing government budget is presented. This could be a satirization of the fact the government is so inefficient, its own employees want to cut jobs and programs. Or I could be absolutely wrong and it could be another hilarious Ron Swanson moment.

Humor

At this point in my life, I'm not nearly as sophisticated as I'd like to be. Poop jokes still make me laugh. In comedy, I tend to be an absurdist. What really gets to me is the completely ridiculous and jarringly strange. Unsurprisingly, I thought The Importance of Being Earnest was hilarious; the entire play is one absurd situation/character after the next. Along with the constant comedy of manners, Wilde employs some truly genius sarcasm. One of my favorite scenes is the very last in which Jack bemoans his telling of the truth for his whole life because it perfectly illustrates the false and superfluous nature of the rich people of his time. Though goofball humor is my first love, sarcasm comes in at a close second. I employ sarcasm in my own life constantly and appreciate it immensely when it appears in literary works. One of my favorite comedy acts right now is Amy Schumer, a feminist comedienne who writes and stars in her own show on comedy central. Schumer somehow manages the perfect combination of gross, weird humour and dry, sarcastic social critique that packs a serious message along with some serious laughs. I also love Broad City, another Comedy Central show written and directed by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. Broad City is a (sometimes worryingly) realistic depiction of the everyday lives of two twentysomething New Yorkers. Most of the comedy in the show is fairly low, body humor, funny voices, odd situations, but sometimes, the show really shines with little moments of sarcasm or comedy of manners that mimic and mock society in the best way possible.