Five Years Next Sunday by Idza Luhumyo

Idza Luhumyo is a Kenyan writer. Her short story, Five Years Next Sunday, won the 2022 AKO Caine prize for African writing. The story is a mix of magical realism (in the sense of Marquez and the acceptance of otherworldly physically impossible events happening in everyday life. 

For this reading, you will write a reflective essay detailing your personal response to specific questions about the story, your understanding, your interpretation, and its relation to you as a story that opens up a window into another world. This final essay will be written in class on Tuesday, December 19th. You will write your essay in Google Docs and submit it to Canvas.

First read:
Five Years Next Sunday by Idza Luhumyo

(optional) Caine prize goes to ‘incandescent’ short story by Idza Luhumyo

While reading:
Annotate the reading with comments & questions

After reading:
Think carefully & deeply & write a reflective Blogger post on the reading / Label your blog post #fa23worldlit

Comment on your peers’ Blogger posts by searching Blogger using #fa23worldlit

DUE next class December 12th

Final Project: Work as individuals, think about this, and then answer the following question: Imagine you’re making a TikTok video, an Instagram reel, or a YouTube short. Out of all of the texts we’ve read this semester, what are the top five (5) most outstanding memorable quotes from the readings? Create your top five list, give some outstanding reasons why for each, give your list a memorable/appealing/captivating title, post the final list on your blog, and share the link on the #final-project channel. DUE Friday, November 22nd

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

First watch, in class:

(required)

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

OR

Romeo and Juliet (1968)

AND

Romeo and Juliet LIVE Performance

Then, watch

Standard Deviants School Shakespeare Series

A Critical Guide to Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

While watching the film: 

annotate the film with comments & questions 

After watching: 

think carefully & deeply & write a reflective Blogger post on the film / 

Label your blog post #fa23worldlit

Comment on your peers’ Blogger posts by searching Blogger using #fa23worldlit

DUE next class

BONUS:

Romeo And Juliet 1976 Part1

Romeo And Juliet 1976 Part2

Romeo & Juliet | Full Movie | Broadway Production | Orlando Bloom | Condola Rashad

Of Pentameter & Bear Baiting - Romeo & Juliet Part 1: Crash Course English Literature #2

Love or Lust? Romeo and Juliet Part 2: Crash Course English Literature #3

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Tuesday, November 21st

This week is an introduction to magical realism, or a way of representing the world through the addition of supernatural, superhuman, and superphysical elements that could not occur in our everyday reality. Think of what is possible in the Marvel world vs. what is possible in our world. Writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez created worlds where the impossible occurred as a way to draw attention to everyday realities in Colombia. He used metaphor to represent elements of love that tend to create both happiness and sadness, peace and angst, stability and upset all at the same time. For example, in his story Love in the Age of Cholera, the element of love is represented by disease, something that infects you and causes you to behave in ways you would not when (romantic) love is not present.


First read:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”


Then watch:

• It's Lit! | Why Magical Realism is a Global Phenomenon ...
• Magical Realism In 6 Minutes: Literary Fantasy or Fantastic ...
• Gabriel García Márquez: The Making of a Global Writer
• A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Gabriel Garcia Marquez Audiobook

While reading:
annotate the reading with comments & questions


After reading:

1. think carefully & deeply & write a reflective Blogger post on the reading

2. consider the analyses you and your peers created on Jamboard and presented in class

3. label your blog post #fa23worldlit


Comment on your peers’ Blogger posts by searching Blogger using #fa23worldlit


DUE next class November 28th

Anton Chekhov, The Seagull

Tuesday, November 13th


First read:
Anton Chekhov, The Seagull
This story contains a reference to suicide. Please be advised.


Then (optional) watch:
Kean Stage performance of The Seagull (tickets $10 - $15 / Wilkins Theatre / Nov. 15-18)
OR
The Seagull, 1975
OR
The Seagull, 1972 (Russian w/ English subtitles / use your Kean Gmail account to log in)
OR
The Seagull, 2018 [Amazon Prime]


While reading:
annotate the reading with comments & questions


After reading:
think carefully & deeply & write a reflective Blogger post on the reading /
(optional) Compare the reading to the live performance OR film adaptations / Label your blog post #fa23worldlit

Comment on your peers’ Blogger posts by searching Blogger using #fa23worldlit


DUE next class (edited)

Midterm Project: World Literature + Me - Create a Literary Infographic

 

This is the Midterm Project for this course and is meant to be more ambitious, creative, and reflective. Create a project that you will feel proud to put in the #fa23worldlit archive and that will inspire future learners. 

The Literary Infographic

An infographic is a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data in an easily understandable form (OED). In this project, you will create an infographic that represents the themes, motifs, and symbols of one of the readings from our course.

First,

• Create an account with Canva using your Kean Google account.
• Familiarize yourself with the environment
• Once your account is created, search up “infographics” in Canva
• Look through the infographic templates available (use one of the available free infographic templates)

Then, 

Revisit one of the readings from this semester

Then, 

Using Canva, create an infographic that describes and explains the themes, symbols, and motifs present in one reading of your choice.

• Either work on your own or with a partner / Post in the #looking-for-group channel to find a group partner.
• Watch tutorials on creating infographics using Canva.
• View an example of the kind of literary infographic you'll create.
• Choose a Canva infographic template to use.
• Section your infographic into three areas: themes, symbols, motifs
• Using a combination of text and images, highlight at least three themes, two motifs, and as many symbols as you'd like (if there are any). See the sample infographic below.
• Refer to scenes from the reading to support a particular theme, motif, or symbol. Include the names of the characters involved in the scenes.
• Here are some sample Literary infographics that focus on themes and characters.

Use your resources to help you create your infographic,

• Consult the Resources for Projects doc.

• Consult the "Ways into the Text" doc for your reading.

• Consult your blog posts

• Consult your annotations 

• Consult the Literary Terminology spreadsheet when writing about the reading. 

• Example terms by genre

• Drama: character, plot, conflict, action; exposition, setting, theme, dialogue

• Epic: hero, oral tradition, poetry, continuous narrative

• Fiction: plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, figurative language 

• Poetry: voice, diction

Submit

• Share your infographic with me through Canvas.

• Post a very short maker’s statement in your blog post describing the what, why, and hows of your process. What questions came up for you? Why? What problems came up for you? Why? How did you solve the problems?

• Include a link to your infographic in the body of your blog post

• Include the #fa23worldlit tag

• Share a link on Slack to your Blogger post in the #midterm-project channel.

Sample:

Open Lab Time

Begin thinking about your midterm project

First, attend Open Lab Time

Open Lab Time is where you can come and chat with me and/or collaborate with your peers. If you aren’t available during those hours, remember that you can make an appointment to meet with me during my virtual office hours.

Then, write:
(1) By end of day on October 27: Write Midterm Self-Reflection
(2) (Optional): If you’ve missed a required post this semester, or if you just have something you must say about ‘The Tale of Genji’ Is More Than 1,000 Years Old. What Explains Its Lasting Appeal? or one of the films, you can publish a post to Blogger (in any genre: text, video, sound, image). Then highlight and comment on the posts of several of your peers.

DUE Friday, October 27

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

This week we will read an excerpt from The Tale of Genji, the 10th century Japanese novel written by Murasaki Shikibu a woman in the Heian period royal court.

First read:

The Tale of Genji


Then watch:

2010 The Tale of Genji: Invitation to World Literature (log in using your Kean Gmail account)
OR
(optional) 1951 adaptation / Japanese w/ English subtitles
https://ok.ru/video/2521439341222
OR
(optional) 1987 anime adaptation (content warning: partial nudity, sexual aggression)
https://archive.org/details/genji-monogatari

OR Picture-walk
(optional) The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated


While reading: 

annotate the reading with comments & questions


After reading:
think carefully & deeply & write a reflective Blogger post on the reading /
(optional) Compare the reading to the film adaptation / Label your blog post #fa23worldlit

Comment on your peers’ Blogger posts by searching Blogger using #fa23worldlit



DUE next class 10/24


BONUS:

The Tale of Genji Excerpt - Ways into the Text
Glossary of Characters/Japanese Words from The Tale of Genji
Japan in the Heian Period and Cultural History: Crash Course World History 227
Tales From Another Page - The Tale Of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The Tale of Genji, Part One | Ancient Art Links
The Tale of Genji, Part Two | Ancient Art LinksHeian Literature and Japanese Court Women
Women in Classical Japanese Literature