English
Cannibalism, Titus Andronicus and the Re-Making of Rome
Reading cannibalism as a subversively benevolent sort of violence in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus—as incorporation and, potentially, a drive toward wholeness with other individuals, with the earth, and with primordial origins—can break down boundaries between bodies and individuals and re-vision horrific violence as a healing enterprise on a psycho-cultural level. Though it is difficult to see violent acts as positive, I argue that symbolism, representation and language in the text can lend themselves to this interpretation. Cannibalistic violence is a rage turned both outward and inward, but in this turning inward there is a reconstitution and redemption inherent in the act. How might we re-vision the ending of the play by thinking about cannibalism in this alternative way? What then might we learn about the evolution of the cycle of violence and the ways in which extreme violent acts inflame or end it? Cannibalism at its very core incorporates rather than deconstructs. Collapsing the boundaries between self and other, and between self and earth might some way be seen as a movement toward ending the cycle of violence, but only after we have seen the most horrific form we can imagine.
Writing as Exploration and Discovery
Freshman composition pedagogy presents an ongoing challenge and concern for universities everywhere — how do we approach the daunting task of preparing students for professional careers in which sophisticated writing skills will necessarily play a crucial role? I argue that the first step for us as teachers must be to enable students to engage in their task as writers with a sense of personal commitment, to allow them space in which they become able to own their writing process. Typically,students tend to think of writing as a chore they must perform to accommodate the predilections of a classroom professor, and satisfy the requirements for a passing grade. During the past three years, I have conducted action research in my work here at Lehigh with the 200+ students who have taken my course, employing an alternate approach to writing pedagogy in my freshman composition and literature classes whereby I strive to inspire and motivate students by encouraging them to choose their own topics for essays.By means of this methodology, students begin to realize that the writing process is one of exploration and discovery; they develop a strong foundation for critical thinking skills, delving into important academic and public policy issues that interest them as individuals; at the same time, through sharing their work with peers,students learn about themselves and others, and develop a deeper appreciation of the infinite nuances involved in verbal and written communication. Because my students realize that writing is ultimately a vehicle for personal expression, they quickly become fully committed to claiming their written work as their own; pride of ownership promotes steady, sustained commitment to improvement, not just during the course of a college career, but throughout a lifetime of professional and individual experience.
Tenements and Flesh: Poverty writing the Body in Tillie Olsen’s Yonnondio
Olsens Yonnondio declares that the body is a marker of poverty a body suffers from, desires regardless of, and effects and is affected by poverty. The female body experiences this marking in a profoundly unique way through childbirth and rearing, relegation to the home and domestic work, and subjugation to men, especially husbands. As a result, the female body inhabits a critical space for understanding the effects of poverty; as Mara Faulkner reminds us, Olsen herself claims that telling the truth about ones body is a necessary, freeing subject for the woman writer (150). Through both material and metaphoric descriptions of Annas sexualized body, her milk-filled breasts especially, Olsen intimately acquaints her readers with the reality of impoverished American life.
Indians and Dissembling Gentlemen in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers
It is well-documented that James Fenimore Cooper mined John Heckewelders History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations (1819) for information about the Lenape, Mahican, and Iroquois peoples that populate his Leatherstocking Tales. Scholarship tracing the Moravians influence on the novelist has consistently asserted both the reliability of Heckewelders Indians and Coopers faithfulness to those representations. Still beyond the ken of criticism, however, are matters that complicate Heckewelders claim that his unadorned picture of Indians is disinterested. With this in mind, I re-examine the literary relationship between Heckewelder and Cooper to interrogate in a new light the cultural politics of Coopers Indians. › Continue reading