As you begin the first book of Charlotte Delbo's Auschwitz and After, work through the following questions that we will discuss during class on Thursday:
1. How is your reading experience different while reading Charlotte Delbo's Auschwitz and After from that you experienced while reading Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz or Sara Nomberg-Przytyk's Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land? What narrative strategies does she use?
2. How is the book set up? How might you characterize her narrative strategy as a whole?
3. In the epigraph to the book, Delbo notes that "Today, I am not sure that what I wrote is true. I am certain it is truthful." How does this impact your reading of the text (or does it impact your reading at all)? Why would she choose to include such an inscription? How does her admission of truth compare to other admissions of truth we have discussed, whether in film or text?
4. There are a number of extremely graphic, visceral scenes in None of Us Will Return. Which scene sticks out in your memory, and why?
5. Camp life in None of Us Will Return, the first book of Auschwitz and After, is both different from and similar to the camp life Levi outlines in Survival in Auschwitz. How specifically is her account similar to/different from the previous texts we have read?
6. Brett Ashley Kaplan has described the reader's response to Delbo's work as one that registers "unwanted beauty." What do you suppose she means, and where do you see evidence of such a response in your reading of the text?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Schindler's List Reading Response Prompt
For those of you whom would like to start thinking about your reading response while you are watching the film and taking notes, I'm posting the reading response prompt questions early.
Reading responses for Schindler's List are due Thursday 3 March in class or by 5 PM. Please be sure to review the assignment handout before completing the assignment, with particular attention paid to the labeling system outlined, as it ensures your work is graded and recorded without difficulty.
For this reading response, you should reference specific examples from the film, and if you mention specific characters, you should include their names. Choose one of the following prompts to respond to in an essay of 2-3 double-spaced pages:
1. In other representations of the Holocaust we have read for the course, the loss of identity plays an important role in the process of dehumanization. How does Schindler's List address the function of identity and the loss and/or reclaiming of identity? What role does identity play in the film?
2. Oskar Schindler's transformation on-screen from a cold, callous businessman into a caring defender is a slow process. What specific events does the film link to his transformation?
3. Some have argued that Itzhak Stern's role in the film is vital to Schindler's realization. Examining the role of Itzhak Stern (played by Ben Kingsley) in the film, what makes him a vital character to the unfolding of events in the film? Would Schindler have taken on the task of rescuing his workers without Stern's early prodding?
4. Read through this account of Oskar Schindler, excerpted from "The Real Oskar Schindler." How does this depiction of him differ from his depiction on film? How does this change your view of the film's representation of events?
Reading responses for Schindler's List are due Thursday 3 March in class or by 5 PM. Please be sure to review the assignment handout before completing the assignment, with particular attention paid to the labeling system outlined, as it ensures your work is graded and recorded without difficulty.
For this reading response, you should reference specific examples from the film, and if you mention specific characters, you should include their names. Choose one of the following prompts to respond to in an essay of 2-3 double-spaced pages:
1. In other representations of the Holocaust we have read for the course, the loss of identity plays an important role in the process of dehumanization. How does Schindler's List address the function of identity and the loss and/or reclaiming of identity? What role does identity play in the film?
2. Oskar Schindler's transformation on-screen from a cold, callous businessman into a caring defender is a slow process. What specific events does the film link to his transformation?
3. Some have argued that Itzhak Stern's role in the film is vital to Schindler's realization. Examining the role of Itzhak Stern (played by Ben Kingsley) in the film, what makes him a vital character to the unfolding of events in the film? Would Schindler have taken on the task of rescuing his workers without Stern's early prodding?
4. Read through this account of Oskar Schindler, excerpted from "The Real Oskar Schindler." How does this depiction of him differ from his depiction on film? How does this change your view of the film's representation of events?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land Reading Response Prompt
All reading responses are due Tuesday 15 February in class or by 5 PM in Avery 475. Choose one of the following questions to answer in an essay of 2-3 pages:
1. What is the role of maternal relationships in the text? What do maternal relationships reveal about the nature of life in Auschwitz? What are the metaphorical implications of the maternal in Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land?
2. What is the role of language in Auschwitz? How does Nomberg-Przytyk approach the ambiguity of language noted by Holocaust scholars and other writer-survivors?
3. What is the structure of camp hierarchy as represented in the text? How does Nomberg-Przytyk approach camp hierarchy in relation to her experiences?
1. What is the role of maternal relationships in the text? What do maternal relationships reveal about the nature of life in Auschwitz? What are the metaphorical implications of the maternal in Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land?
2. What is the role of language in Auschwitz? How does Nomberg-Przytyk approach the ambiguity of language noted by Holocaust scholars and other writer-survivors?
3. What is the structure of camp hierarchy as represented in the text? How does Nomberg-Przytyk approach camp hierarchy in relation to her experiences?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Optional Anne Frank Reading Response Prompt
For those of you who will be attending a performance of The Diary of Anne Frank, please answer the following prompt question. You should also include proof of your attendance along with your extra credit reading response submission. The extra credit response is an opportunity to replace the lowest score of your five reading responses this semester, and is subject to the same directions noted in the reading response directions handout. An identifiable thesis statement that directly answers the prompt question should be present in the essay.
All extra credit responses are due Tuesday 22 February, following the final performance. For more information about play dates, directions, ticket prices, etc., see the website for the Regional Theatre of the Palouse: http://rtoptheatre.org/?q=season
The heading should be in the following format to distinguish it from the others:
Stu Dent
Hum 450
Extra Credit
11 February 2011
Prompt Question
1. How does live performance differ from the documentary and fictional films we have viewed for the class? What benefits and disadvantages are there to live performance of an experience of the Holocaust?
All extra credit responses are due Tuesday 22 February, following the final performance. For more information about play dates, directions, ticket prices, etc., see the website for the Regional Theatre of the Palouse: http://rtoptheatre.org/?q=season
The heading should be in the following format to distinguish it from the others:
Stu Dent
Hum 450
Extra Credit
11 February 2011
Prompt Question
1. How does live performance differ from the documentary and fictional films we have viewed for the class? What benefits and disadvantages are there to live performance of an experience of the Holocaust?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Discussion for Thursday
Hi folks,
I neglected to mention that for Thursday's class, we will continue to discuss the questions I posted for Tuesday's class, so I am not posting any new discussion questions. However, do keep in mind that we will also discuss the Editor's Afterword, following the narrative.
See you all Thursday,
EMC
I neglected to mention that for Thursday's class, we will continue to discuss the questions I posted for Tuesday's class, so I am not posting any new discussion questions. However, do keep in mind that we will also discuss the Editor's Afterword, following the narrative.
See you all Thursday,
EMC
Thursday, February 3, 2011
In-class discussion questions for Tuesday 8 February
1. As we begin our discussion on Tuesday with where we left off (the chapter titled "Old Words, New Meanings"), note a word or words that you notice are evidence of the changed landscape of language after the Holocaust. In other words, what ordinary terms does Nomberg-Przytyk use that have a changed meaning in the context of her narrative?
2. What examples of compassion does Nomberg-Przytyk relate? What examples of inhumanity does she relate? How does she attempt to relate the fine line between humanity and inhumanity?
3. How does reading Nomberg-Przytyk's narrative (as well as that of Primo Levi) differ from the documentary film testimony we viewed in Shoah? How does the memoir/narrative mode differ from the archive footage combined with narrative we viewed in Night and Fog and Memory of the Camps? What differences in expectations and approach do you notice when encountering film versus literature?
2. What examples of compassion does Nomberg-Przytyk relate? What examples of inhumanity does she relate? How does she attempt to relate the fine line between humanity and inhumanity?
3. How does reading Nomberg-Przytyk's narrative (as well as that of Primo Levi) differ from the documentary film testimony we viewed in Shoah? How does the memoir/narrative mode differ from the archive footage combined with narrative we viewed in Night and Fog and Memory of the Camps? What differences in expectations and approach do you notice when encountering film versus literature?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Shoah Reading Response Prompt
2-3 page reading responses to Shoah will be due Tuesday 8 February in class or in Avery 475 by 5 PM. For all responses, you must use specific examples from the film in your essays, although exact names of interviewed subjects are not required.
1. How does Lanzmann utilize silence in Shoah, and what role does it play in representing the experiences of the interviewed subjects featured in the film? How does silence affect your viewing of the film?
2. Lanzmann adamantly denied that Shoah is a documentary, and rather claimed the film is a "fiction of the real." How do you view the film's relationship to documentary as well as to art? How do you interpret Lanzmann's claim that the film is a fiction based in reality?
1. How does Lanzmann utilize silence in Shoah, and what role does it play in representing the experiences of the interviewed subjects featured in the film? How does silence affect your viewing of the film?
2. Lanzmann adamantly denied that Shoah is a documentary, and rather claimed the film is a "fiction of the real." How do you view the film's relationship to documentary as well as to art? How do you interpret Lanzmann's claim that the film is a fiction based in reality?
In-class discussion questions for Thursday 3 February
As you read through the first section of Sara Nomberg-Przytyk's Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land, here are some discussion questions to guide you through page 78.
1. Nomberg-Przytyk's narrative voice is considerably different from that of Primo Levi. How does she engage you as the audience? What motives or purposes can you deduce from her tone and approach to representation?
2. On page 39, Nomberg-Przytyk claims, "unless you sloughed off that skin you could not survive in Auschwitz." To what is she referring? Why do you suppose she refers to skin, the largest organ of the body?
3. What is the order of the camp, according to Nomberg-Przytyk? What rules are followed, and what habits do the inmates have?
4. In "Old Words--New Meanings," Nomberg-Przytyk offers insight into how language changed once the inmate entered l'univers concentrationnaire. How does she explain the changing landscape of language?
1. Nomberg-Przytyk's narrative voice is considerably different from that of Primo Levi. How does she engage you as the audience? What motives or purposes can you deduce from her tone and approach to representation?
2. On page 39, Nomberg-Przytyk claims, "unless you sloughed off that skin you could not survive in Auschwitz." To what is she referring? Why do you suppose she refers to skin, the largest organ of the body?
3. What is the order of the camp, according to Nomberg-Przytyk? What rules are followed, and what habits do the inmates have?
4. In "Old Words--New Meanings," Nomberg-Przytyk offers insight into how language changed once the inmate entered l'univers concentrationnaire. How does she explain the changing landscape of language?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)