For my third project, I think I will be going with: How does a story teach us about a time or place differently than a history book. Like I said in my topic brainstorm I tried this one before and ended up trading it for a different topic because it didn't connect well with the two stories I chose. For the first reading one of the classmates recommended that one William Butler Yeats works would work well with this topic. After reading back through the readings by Yeats I have decided that I would be using one of his works because he is an author that focused on historical events within his country and the West. The specific poem that I think I will be using from Yeats is his poem, "
Easter 1916" . Yeats describes his opinion and emotions of the conflict during the time in which it had been happening. The second reading I'm considering using is the story, "
Notes of a Native Son" By: James Baldwin. This story describes Baldwins first encountering of racism along with describing what he felt as he went on his day to day life seeing things that were more directed towards him rather than others. Both of the stories I have chosen both hold the element that they both give the insight of controversial times through their own eyes. I will mainly touch on things from both stories that gives the authors point of view on important subjects of their readings such as with Yeats poem when he questions if the Irish nationalists were rightfully or wrongfully executed. To give an example of something that would be added and described from Baldwin's story is how it made him feel to see stores that would allow blacks in because of their skin color. These are only two examples of many more that will be included to the project but they will be used well to describe the topic and element.
Stories such as these can teach us differently about a time or place differently than a history book because it is given through the eyes of two authors who were living through a controversial moment in time.
Yeats, William Butler. "Easter 1916." The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume F. Ed. Puchner, Martin, Suzanne Akbari, Wiebke Denecke, Vinay Dharwadker, Barbara Fuchs, Caroline Levine, Pericles Lewis, Emily Wilson. W. W. Norton & Company, pp. 518-532
Baldwin, James. "Notes of a Native Son." The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume F. Ed. Puchner, Martin, Suzanne Akbari, Wiebke Denecke, Vinay Dharwadker, Barbara Fuchs, Caroline Levine, Pericles Lewis, Emily Wilson. W. W. Norton & Company, pp. 735-750
Hey Brett. I think this idea of yours is pretty solid. History books simply tell of events that happened but they don't really incorporate any of the emotions that were experienced in those historical events. Seeing those same events but from a first person point of of view allows for us to have a better understanding as to how tragic something really was. The example you mentioned of Yeats questioning if the Irish nationalists were rightfully or wrongfully executed would be great to include in your paper since it would support your thesis. I think as long as you continue to provide strong examples like that in your project and share an equally strong analysis, your project will be fine. Maybe in your project you could also compare and contrast how both authors approach their stories as a way to further prove how the eyes of someone living throughout a historical event really is different from a history book.
ReplyDeleteHowdy Brett,
ReplyDeleteMuch respect for giving this topic a second go after your first attempt didn't gel well with your selected readings for a previous project. It seems like both readings you selected this time around will work really well with this prompt. Especially, the James Baldwin piece as it leaves a lot of room to delve into the historical context and perspective of his time. I also like that you're using two works that correlate with controversial times, because like you state these pieces give us insight into varying perspectives and times. It seems like you've got a firm grasp on where you'd like to take your project. You have many strong examples you can use in this post and plenty more to find within the readings. I look forward to possibly reading your project in the coming weeks and good luck going forward.
Hey Brett,
ReplyDeleteYour post does a great job of jumping straight into your topic and making readers understand the direction your paper will go in. Also it shows how prepared you are when you post the sources on the bottom for your evidence. So this action plan looks like a success and I'm sure your paper benefited from this. Keep doing in depth post.