“I do not think I responded immediately, for it took me a moment or two to fully digest these words of Miss Kenton. Moreover, as you might appreciate, their implications were such as to provoke a certain degree of sorrow in me. Indeed—why should I not admit it?—at that moment my heart was breaking.”
remains of the day 1 10/28
Day 1 topics for discussion
“Why should I not admit it?”: Stevens’ refusal or inability to see?
Professionalism: “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
Duty versus desire
"Lord Darlington wasn't a bad man. He wasn't a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted his lordship's wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really -- one has to ask oneself -- what dignity is there in that?"
remains of the day 2 10/29, 10/30
Day 2 topics for discussion
Defying genre
The road narrative
Kazuo’s careful craft
The narrative as geyser
remains of the day 3 10/31
Day 3 topics for discussion
“You’re very correct, Mrs. Benn. As you say, it is too late to turn back the clock. Indeed, I would not be able to rest if I thought such ideas were the cause of unhappiness for you and your husband. We must each of us, as you point out, be grateful for what we do have.”
The wisdom of Stevens
What’s in a title?
Today I’ll set your Remains of the Day essay.
remains of the day 4 11/4
Day 4 topics for discussion
The idea of dignity in the novel
Is Mr Lewis right?
The problem of the wheel
Stevens trapped between Spencer and the Taylors
remains of the day 5 11/5, 11/6
Today we’ll have a workshop, brainstorming potential topics for your next essay on The Remains of the Day. We’ll also review what goes into a good thesis statement and how to come up with an argument.
remains of the day 6 11/7
Thesis statement workshop
what's due?
The Remains of the Day Graded Discussion - 10/28-11/4
Bring Macbeth - 11/5
The Remains of the Day Essay - 11/18
The Power and the Glory Reading Test - 12/9, 12/10
current text to bring daily
current outside reading
Fall 2019 Outside Reading Assignment
texts to buy now
ONGOING EXTRA CREDIT
Required reading can at times feel like drudgery. And while it's important to do the reading I set for the class, I fully recognize that you'd rather have a say in what it is we read. Unfortunately the freshman curriculum has little student choice built in, so your ongoing extra credit gives you the opportunity to read an outside text in your own time at some point during the semester. I'm very happy to reward you with additional course credit if you take it upon yourself to read a text outside of class and meet with me to discuss it. A few things:
(1) This must be a text you've never read before.
(2) It should be imaginative and of recognized literary merit. The text must be approved beforehand.
(3) The amount of credit awarded is variable depending on the chosen text and how our follow up conversation goes.
(4) While you may read as much as you'd like, I will only award extra credit once per semester.
enjoying literature
Literature's emotional lessons
Authors on the power of literature
How reading makes us more human
STUDYING LITERATURE
"6 reading habits from Harvard"
Achebe, "The Truth of Fiction"
Questions for analyzing novels
Poetry videos
