What do these two stories have to say about the sexuality of young women? What do they say about gender roles? Are they feminist texts? Why or why not?
"Saturday Night": What does the dialogue in this story do for you as a reader? What is the tone of the story? Janie thinks, "She couldn't really believe that the whole time they'd known each other his penis was right there with him, in his pants, right there. At school!" (27) How did you react to these lines? How does Janie react to her being labeled on the boys' Excel spreadsheet, "Body fine but face meh"? How did you react to it? What do you think about the conclusion to the story?
"Erl King": It might help you to look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlking In any case, an erlking, or elf king, was supposed to be the king of the fairies (as in magical beings) in 19th century fairy tales. How would you describe the power struggle between the narrator and the Wild Professor? Why are the four girls different types--punker, hippie, preppy--who might not ordinarily be friends w/ ea other? What type is the narrator? Are the transformations real or imagination? What does the story say about female friendships?
Both of the readings this week derive a lot of their power, I think, from their excellent use of dialogue. In your own writings, I would like you to experiment w/ using dialogue--in your own stories, or in essays or poetry. I uploaded a dialogue exercise on Blackboard a few weeks ago (under Course Documents) or feel free to just add dialogue to something you're already working on.
"Saturday Night" reminds me of my high school days, when I thought the most important thing in life was boys, friends, and looking good. However in this story, she realizes that the party isn't going anywhere and actually meets a really cool dude who turns out to be her cousin. The setting is kind of awkward being that it is a wake ceremony, however at the same time it normalizes death and makes the reader appreciate life while reading. Especially the ending when she says she especially felt bad for the dead because of such a beautiful summer night. As far as the reacting to some lines like "She couldn't really believe that the whole time they'd known each other his penis was right there with him, in his pants, right there. At school!", honestly in high school we are exposed to explicit language and behaviors that we experiment with others because this is the first time in our lives that society views us as young "adults". This is the beginning of the responsibility we begin to have over our own bodies.
ReplyDelete"Erl King" The professor holds the power in the beginning, not only as a magical being, but from his mortal reputation of being a known older man who hooks up with his younger students. He is already socially powerful with out really trying to be. However the narrator grows more magically powerful after they have their interaction. He claims to have taught her everything she knowns, but she clearly learns everything on her own because she has her own method of spells.
I think there are 4 different personalities in the group of friends because it is very rare for girls to be friends due to the fact that society brainwashes us to all be in competition with each other, therefore girl friend groups usually consist of a bunch or polar opposites. Everyone has different interests, therefore no competition on who's better.
The Narrator speaks in first person. It is really hard to tell whether or not the transformations are real or imaginary. Her way of describing herself going through these changes is almost too real to not believe it. I believe it is real, I come from a very superstitious family, so stories like this one aren't hard to believe because I grew up listening to these fables my whole life.
All I have to say in regards about the friendship these girls have is that I wish I had friends as loyal as they are. This story shows that us women need to stick together. Together we are stronger.