1) Read Carl Sandburg's poem, "Halsted Street Car" (1916). In a well developed response**, please develop a reading of the poem that connects it thematically to two other readings from this semester. Make sure, of course, to point to the similarities as well as the differences between Sandburg's work here and the other works. A good answer will focus on Sandburg's unique vision of the city, and then locate that within the constellation of works we covered this semester.
2) A friend posts on facebook a painting from 1925: it is Gerald Murphy's Watch, a fairly large rendering of what appears to be the insides of a watch. Under the posting your friend writes: "Look at this stupid painting lol lol lol!" Other friends add more lols.
Please respond to your sad, misinformed friends, by explaining why this painting is such a powerful emblem of American art and literature of the 1920s and--especially--1925. How you want to frame your response is up to you--clocks? time? machines?--but it should provide your friend with a serious schooling on at least 2-3 works of American literature from the 1920s.
3) Astute readers of American literature were probably not surprised when Hazel Moates blinds himself in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood. American literature is full of violence, and particularly ritualistic types of violence that hold all sorts of different meanings from decade to decade, and from work to work.
In a response that surveys some of this violence, first discuss why O'Connor has Hazel blind himself in the context of her novel; then, briefly compare this with at least 3 other acts of ritualized violence that we've met with this semester. What role does violence play in these separate works? Are they the same, or does each author use violence in different ways?
4) Look over the readings from this quarter: discuss at length the one from which you learned the most. Why did you? Some points to address: what about the reading challenged you? Formally? In terms of content? Cultural importance? What did you take away from it--and through it, what "large" ideas did you take away from the history of American literature in the early 20th Century?
HAVE FUN!
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Reminder: Each response should be approx. 600-800 words; send me the word document of your 4 responses by 5pm on 5/17 Thurs. @ my email.
