In case you missed it, here’s the assignment due Monday:

We have encountered several types of “love” thus far in Love in the Time of Cholera, so I’d like to give you all an opportunity to voice your own perspective/opinion.  Bring to class on Monday a written (see specs below) account of your thoughts on love. 

Now, you can choose your format (as long as it’s prose; no poetry, sorry), be it an academic essay or a short story.  You can deliver an account from your own experience (as long as you make it clear how others can learn from it), you can write a philosophical examination of the phenomenon, you can differentiate between different types of love, or explicate the metaphors in the novel so far (I’d suggest the “bird” imagery or Florentino vs Dr. Urbino).

The Specs:

Paper must follow the guidelines set out here, be between 150 and 500 words, and be written in third person.  (No “I,” “me,” or “we” words.)

If you do not follow these guidelines, I will return your paper to you.  I would rather you not have to focus on the technical aspects, but some of the papers I receive just look funky.

Great first day, guys.  I hate talking as much as I did, but I think we’re set for the year.  If you want a copy of the syllabus or the LitToC stuff, you can download it all here.

As you read, mark the parts that are interesting to you.  This will be the first thing I ask about tomorrow.  (And don’t forget vocab!)

Or not.  Stupid snow.  Hopefully it gave you guys a chance to spend some time with Okonkwo and crew.  If not, go outside today and finish up the novel.  We’ll be discussing the end in class tomorrow, and I don’t want to ruin the ending for you.  Here’s the plan:

The Plan

Until now, we’ve focused on the effects of Okonkwo’s father’s legacy on the man, and Okonkwo’s choices in interacting with those around him.  The final section places him in an environment that he cannot control, and forces him to realize that he does not have complete power over those around him.  This is a sobering realization for our strong protagonist, and he makes some difficult choices (or are his (re)actions purely a result of his environment?  We’ll see).

On Tuesday and Wednesday (if we finish our discussion of Okonkwo’s life on Monday) I will present a brief overview of Existentialist ideas.  If you want to get a head start, I suggest The Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology‘s page on “Existentialism” or *sigh* the Wikipedia‘s entry.  We may also read Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Existentialism is a Humanism” to gain a better understanding of our author’s ideas (you can find a copy here).

By Thursday we will discuss Part One of The Stranger.  Thirty pages per night may be more than you’re used to reading, but Sartre’s prose is not too dense.  Do plan to set aside some time to read the book in chunks, though.

On Friday we will discuss your tentative (hypo)thesis statements in class.  I will also ask you to write a brief paragraph contrasting the philosophies of Things Fall Apart and The Stranger. (Hint: it goes beyond TFA=fate and TS=choice.)  More on this later.

I’ve received lots of email about due dates for the paper, etc.  Assuming we have school on Wednesday, the due date stands.  If you have questions, I am happy to answer them.  Remember, this is not a “final draft” due date, but only a “work in progress” check.  For those who have asked for extensions, you must bring to class a copy of your progress so far; I can’t help you out if I can’t see where you’re going.

There was a brief mention in class today about a conservative=conformist/ liberal=rebel bias.  While I don’t such a strict division could be accurate (there are no absolutes when discussing humans), it made me think of this video from TED.com.  We’ll talk about it tomorrow in class.

Or maybe Wednesday; we have a lot to discuss.

After you watch, you might want to check out YourMorals.org to see where you rank.