What do rights do you think are
essential for humans?
Which of these rights do you think are worth fighting
your government for?
--> How can everyone in society be happy?
Ex. of Works Cited
Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence.
Washington, D.C.: Dept. of State, 1911. Print.
Some notes on Gouges and the French Revolution:
Girondists = constitutional monarchy
Jacobins = right-wing republicans
Catherine of Medici
benevolent father king
Le Bonheur primitif de l'homme = the Origin of
Man's Happiness
Deism = God as clockmaker
In-class writing on
Revolution: In what specific (biological, ecological,
cultural, political) ways does society need to change, in your
opinion, to affect economic equality among all classes,
genders, and races (or substitute an issue that you think
needs a revolution/change)? To what extent can society change
without obliterating the past?
= How
might everyone be happy? How do we avoid the bloodshed
of revolutions to make that happen?
= "What is the origin
of inequality among men, and is it authorized by the natural
law?" (Rousseau 16).
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Discourse on the Origin of
Inequality. Trans. Donald Cress. Indianapolis: Hackett,
1992. Print.
What do you
associate with the words "nature" and "society"?
| Nature |
Society |
| where something/someone came from outdoors, hiking, camping untamed love cyclical ecosystems instinctual habits origins |
communities status quo rules and order/structure etiquette media customs and traditions intellect |
Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
addresses the question: "What is the origin of inequality
among men, and is it authorized by the natural law?" (Rousseau
16).
What's Rousseau's answer to this question? Find a passage that
supports your summary of Rousseau's point (A) and respond in
the right-hand column about why you think this inequality
exists. Pick 3 out of the 4 categories to address.
| A. Rousseau |
B. You |
|
| 1. Political Inequalities |
65: people want to keep their
"tranquility;" 47 + 51: property |
|
| 2. Racial Inequalities |
49: people are naturally divided;
p. 60: people get used to their situation and don't
fight back |
|
| 3. Gender Inequalities |
48: when a family became a
micro-society |
|
| 4. Economic Inequalities |
division of labor; 47: property;
strongest and the best (society); 51: profit; 54:
limited resources |
Write a synopsis of Rousseau's Second Discourse:
1) What is the author’s argument? 2) How does the author
support this argument? What kinds of evidence does she use? 3)
What does the author hope to accomplish by writing this piece?
What kind of bias might
the author have? 4) Who is the author’s audience? To what kind
of scholarly debate is she contributing? 5) How does this
research change your perspective on the primary work?
Student Questions
1. Kim: Do you
think it's possible that technological, educational, and
philosophical advancements are inherently part of evolution
due to man's ability to adapt, learn, and create? Would that
make the inequality that Rousseau discusses part of an
evolutionary process?
2. Aline: Do you think that Rousseau's point of
view and arguments about perfection of nature and imperfection
of society are convincing?
3. Jordyn: Is there a way to abolish the
inequalities Rousseau describes?
4. Keyra: What's Rousseau referring to on the
top of p. 53 (Grotius/Ceres/Thesmophories)?
5. Quan: My question is then, is Rousseau
correct? Does love not exist in the primordial man? What about
his arguments of pity as a “natural sentiment” (38)? Would
this not mean humans are capable of love (39)?
Notes from 2/5:
Lotte = Luh - tuh
Why is Werther so very attracted
to Lotte?
- (virgin) mother
figure (15, 33)
- "calmness of the
soul" (14)
- intelligence (16)
- physical attraction
(14)
Is Lotte a flirt (coquette)?
- always inviting him
over
- puts her hand on his
- slaps him hard (20)
- Lorelei (31) >
siren
- gives him a ribbon
(41)
Werther: bourgeois (middle-class) hero
- nostalgic about
patriarchy (whenever he references Homer), benevolent
father-king
> Pantheism
subjunctive mood
77: face the "abyss"
and become part of nature
67: sees himself as a
sacrifice/martyr
How "innocent" is Lotte?
--> sirens / deadly
women
"condemned man" going
to end up like Heinrich and the widow's lover: insane or
homicidal
"Werther Effect"
Emilia Galotti = play
by Lessing: daughter who commits suicide
>> Romantic as
sickness
anti-Bildungsroman
(Bildungsroman = coming of age novel / education novel)
exposition = setting up of the tale
turning point
climax
denouement =
unraveling of the tale / falling action
How does Werther feel
about class distinctions?
first interactions (Bk
I): noblesse oblige?
48-9: "how necessary
class distinctions are . . . "
49 + 57: critical of
upper class
61: "that class of
people of people we call uncultivated"
69: "member of the
lower class . . . he would not be offended if I took notice
of his doings"
Write
on 1 of the following topics:
1. What do you
personally think of Rousseau's view of the world? With what
things would you agree or disagree with him?
2. How do you define
the term "revolutionary"? What sources influence your
definition?
3. How has your gender
or class identity affected your choices in life?
Party
game: Ask yes or no questions about your character, such as:
Do I survive the story? Am I male? etc. Sit down when you
finish and write a 1-3 sentence sketch of your character.
Jeronimo Rugera
Donna Josephe Asteron
"little Philip" [Rugera Asteron] (316)
Don Henrico Asteron
Don Fernando Ormez (321)
Donna Elvire Ormez (317)
"little Juan" Ormez (323)
Don Pedro Xares (317)
Donna Elisabeth Xares (317)
Donna Constanze Xares (322)
the Abbess (315)
the Viceroy (318)
Master Pedrillo (321, 323)
Don Alonzo Onoreja (322)
What is the moral (if
any) of Kleist's Chilean Earthquake?
| Candide |
Chilean Earthquake |
|
| *Class |
1, 64-5 |
312, 318 |
| Economics |
36, 38, 52-4, 74 |
312, 318 |
| *Gender |
19-23, 57, 71 |
312-13, 320 |
| *Religion |
11, 29, 36, 57-8 |
313 ("offered to the vengeance of
God"), 321 |
| *Race |
72 |
X |
| Philosophy |
4, 44, Pangloss, Abbé (abbot), 73 |
314 |
| War/Violence |
||
| Intelligence |
| Free write on the "spirit of poetry" > What does the "spirit of poetry" mean to you? Does it resemble Euphorion in any way? |
| What do you think of Goethe's depiction of men and women (gender)? Find a passage to underline your opinion. |
Act V: colonizer (11270), capitalist, conqueror
Care = allegorical
Do you think Faust evil or laudable?
- Faust = Superman (Übermensch) >
Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Faust / Mephisto = Victor Frankenstein / creature
>> Doppelgänger? (double)
lettre de cachet = secret warrants > Old Regime
& their corruption
What does Frankenstein (1817/1818) say about
class?
What does the creature learn from the De Laceys?
In what ways is the creature similar to Werther
(1774)?
Literary Allusions / Intertextual (Intertextuality)
/ Citations
Multivocal Narration > Women's Writing = hybrid
genre
The (Romantic) Sublime
What do you think Mont Blanc and "the vast river of
ice" (67) symbolize?
Frankenstein Trivia
1. Frankenstein (1818) was republished in what year?
2. Who is the sole survivor of the Frankenstein family?
3. The creature finds Paradise Lost, Sorrows
[Sufferings of Young] Werther,
and what book in the forest?
Write for 5 min.: To what extent do you think parents are responsible for their children's violence after they abandon them?
>> Are there any similarities between Frankenstein and
his creation?
What terrors does Frankenstein evoke? What
similarities does it have to other terror genres (horror
films)?
What "accepted notions of the human" does Frankenstein
question?
Elizabeth
>> women's lack of agency (defense of Justine, 110)
- metaphorical mother of creature?
>> Is Frankenstein a feminist
novel?
At one point in chapter 5 of vol. 3, Victor
Frankenstein expresses remorse over the death his creation
causes (132). Yet, he defends Walton's actions to his men by
citing the need "to be hailed as the benefactors of your
species" in the final chapter (155). In your opinion, has
Victor Frankenstein learned the true lesson of striving and
ambition, or does he resemble Faust?
Where is God and/or religion in Frankenstein?
- condemnation of Justine: force her confession
in order to get blessed (Shelleys' critique of death
penalty)
- Victor takes on "Creator" role
- 91: Creature // Satan (in Paradise Lost, Milton)
- 145: VF starts to call on the "spirits of the dead"
Pick 3 categories. Find page
numbers to reference in the following topics:
| Faust |
Frankenstein |
|
| 1. Humanity |
119 (F's conscience), 126, 322
(remorse) |
78-9 (beauty), monster seeks
revenge, 104 (compassion) |
| 2. Monstrosity |
Does F. act like a monster? Does
G. act monstrously when she kills her child? 106 (V's
rejection) Mephisto? |
78-9 (beauty), 104 ("filthy
mass") |
| 3. Maleness |
24-5 |
VF gets an educ., travel,
independence |
| 4. Femaleness |
Gretchen (100), infanticide,
Helena easily deceived (257) and only wanted for
beauty |
EL expresses wish for travel, education (110), male creation of life, denial of female creation to prohibit creation (119) |
| 5. Religion |
God allows pact, Christian
heaven, pagan heaven beg. of Faust II,
redemptive higher power (133), end of Faust II,
Pantheism |
condemnation of Justine: force
her confession in order to get blessed (Shelleys'
critique of death penalty) - Victor takes on "Creator" role - 91: Creature // Satan (in Paradise Lost, Milton) - 145: VF starts to call on the "spirits of the dead" |
| 6. Suffering |
97 lack of sympathy,
ambition to be godlike |
103 creature
fails to evoke sympathy in VF, ambition to be
godlike |