Monday, October 17, 2016
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
2nd and 3rd Period - - For Friday -- Please come with opinions and support.
Consider Names - How do names serve as a motif in Song of Solomon? What does Morrison want us to consider in these names? Biblical References? Character Traits? Stories?
Consider the various colors in Song of Solomon and how they find expression in the text as motifs or symbols.
Finally, What is Morrison trying to tell us about human relationships in this text? If there is more absence of love than love's presence, then how do people connect in a world that alienates us from ourselves, from our families, and from each other? To what extent do alienation and abandonment define their human experience?
Song of Solomon Discussion Board 3 Period 2 Due Before 10/17 12:00AM
Morrison writes:
“Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation," she says, "The autobiographical form is classic in Black American or Afro-American literature because it provided an instance in which a writer could be representative, could say 'My single, solitary and individual life is like the lives of the tribe; it differs in these specific ways, but is a balanced life because it is both solitary and representative.' The contemporary autobiography tends to be 'how I got over—look at me—alone—let me show you how I did it'” (339). This is about journeys through life, and providing a path for others to follow. She draws a boundary between traditional white American autobiography that focuses on individualism and Afro American autobiography and literature, which center on the individual but are also about the community.
Explain and characterize Milkman's Journey. Where does it begin and end, or does it? What type of a journey did he embark upon and to what extent was he an active participant in his own experience? Please support your discussion with at least three properly embedded quotes (you may not repeat others' quotes, however you may wish to interpret a quote rather differently). Your discussion should be informative, reflective, and representative of the entire novel. Always refer to others' ideas as you agree or disagree . . . there is a reward for those who consider multiple perspectives as they offer their own.
Song of Solomon Discussion Board 3 Period 7
Morrison writes:
“Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation," she says, "The autobiographical form is classic in Black American or Afro-American literature because it provided an instance in which a writer could be representative, could say 'My single, solitary and individual life is like the lives of the tribe; it differs in these specific ways, but is a balanced life because it is both solitary and representative.' The contemporary autobiography tends to be 'how I got over—look at me—alone—let me show you how I did it'” (339). This is about journeys through life, and providing a path for others to follow. She draws a boundary between traditional white American autobiography that focuses on individualism and Afro American autobiography and literature, which center on the individual but are also about the community.
Explain and characterize Milkman's Journey. Where does it begin and end, or does it? What type of a journey did he embark upon and to what extent was he an active participant in his own experience? Please support your discussion with at least three properly embedded quotes (you may not repeat others' quotes, however you may wish to interpret a quote rather differently). Your discussion should be informative, reflective, and representative of the entire novel. Always refer to others' ideas as you agree or disagree . . . there is a reward for those who consider multiple perspectives as they offer their own.
Song of Solomon Discussion Board 3 Period 6
Morrison writes:
“Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation," she says, "The autobiographical form is classic in Black American or Afro-American literature because it provided an instance in which a writer could be representative, could say 'My single, solitary and individual life is like the lives of the tribe; it differs in these specific ways, but is a balanced life because it is both solitary and representative.' The contemporary autobiography tends to be 'how I got over—look at me—alone—let me show you how I did it'” (339). This is about journeys through life, and providing a path for others to follow. She draws a boundary between traditional white American autobiography that focuses on individualism and Afro American autobiography and literature, which center on the individual but are also about the community.
Explain and characterize Milkman's Journey. Where does it begin and end, or does it? What type of a journey did he embark upon and to what extent was he an active participant in his own experience? Please support your discussion with at least three properly embedded quotes (you may not repeat others' quotes, however you may wish to interpret a quote rather differently). Your discussion should be informative, reflective, and representative of the entire novel. Always refer to others' ideas as you agree or disagree . . . there is a reward for those who consider multiple perspectives as they offer their own.
Song of Solomon Discussion Board 3 - Period 5
Morrison writes:
“Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation," she says, "The autobiographical form is classic in Black American or Afro-American literature because it provided an instance in which a writer could be representative, could say 'My single, solitary and individual life is like the lives of the tribe; it differs in these specific ways, but is a balanced life because it is both solitary and representative.' The contemporary autobiography tends to be 'how I got over—look at me—alone—let me show you how I did it'” (339). This is about journeys through life, and providing a path for others to follow. She draws a boundary between traditional white American autobiography that focuses on individualism and Afro American autobiography and literature, which center on the individual but are also about the community.
Explain and characterize Milkman's Journey. Where does it begin and end, or does it? What type of a journey did he embark upon and to what extent was he an active participant in his own experience? Please support your discussion with at least three properly embedded quotes (you may not repeat others' quotes, however you may wish to interpret a quote rather differently). Your discussion should be informative, reflective, and representative of the entire novel. Always refer to others' ideas as you agree or disagree . . . there is a reward for those who consider multiple perspectives as they offer their own.
Periods 5, 6, and 7 - Song Of Solomon for Thursday 10/13 - don't let it be unlucky...
Please Come With Any Questions You'd Like Answers To. We Can ask Circe for Guidance and Direction.
Pay particular attention to motifs, patterns of alienation, AND this:
When we began Song of Soloman we viewed and accepted the idea that before leaving their homeland Africans could fly, but had to leave their wings behind when they were forced on the Slave Ships. Other Legends have it that they were seduced by salt, and that salt weighed them down and effectively grounded them.
Dr. Giselle Anatole (University of Kansas) notes:
"The film Daughters of the Dust (1992), directed by Julie Dash, and set in the South Carolina Sea Islands, also deals with the notion of magical escape from the horrific conditions of slavery. The recently arrived Africans, members of the Igbo nation, walk back over the water to Africa. Paule Marshall’s novel Praisesong for the Widow (New York: Plume, 1983) similarly employs this myth. For more information, see the New Georgia Encyclopedia entry on Ebos Landing.
Some people read those stories as symbolic in the way that flight, or walking back over the water, represents escape. In other words, flying away just signifies running away. Other people read the flight as a metaphor for death. According to this interpretation, death, and especially suicide, is a viable means of escape. Rather than suffer the indignities and pain and torture of slavery, some people would kill themselves. The Igbo were one of the groups of people who were not likely to be captured by slavers in Africa, because they had the reputation of killing themselves rather than be taken into captivity. Killing themselves on the ships and once they arrived in the Americas resulted in profit loss. So they weren't taken. They refused to bow down.
These stories help us to comprehend the ending of Song of Solomon, which I think is the most problematic part of the text for people—especially for Western readers who want to read narratives in terms of the real. What really happened? Does Milkman really fly? Does he commit suicide?"
“You want my life?” Milkman was not shouting now. “You need it? Here.” Without wiping away the tears, taking a deep breath, or even bending his knees—he leaped. As fleet and bright as a lodestar he wheeled towards Guitar and it did not matter which one of them would give up his ghost in the killing arms of his brother. For now he knew what Shalimar knew: if you surrendered to the air, you could ride it (337).
What is Morrison doing at the end? Do you think he committed suicide? According to some perspectives, suicide is a cowardly death.
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