On the Blog (below) http://rothenbergcomp1101.blogspot.com/ is a newly revised Unit 1 schedule with reading & assignment due dates. Subject to change, as always.
On uLearn: Discussion Question—worth 5 points to Course Work; make a posting (around 200 words or more) and reply to a few others by Sunday evening.
Discussion question: Discuss your home décor (after reading Kron’s essay) and what sort of signals you are sending with it—to yourself (your own self-image) and to visitors. And/or think of where you lived before coming to school, i.e., parents’ house, your bedroom; what symbols did you use in your bedroom to identify yourself? What are you trying to say about yourself through your possessions now, in your dorm rooms? Has it changed? Are you trying to construct a new identity now that you’re more independent from family? And/or how do you construct personal identity through your computer (desktop, etc), or social media sites?
Okay, so the plan for this unit (today until 2/7) is to focus on your own Identity. We will think about identity it two regards: the first concerns that identity you craft for yourself: the things you buy, the things you wear, your possessions in your home; this might also include your online “possessions”—who do you present yourself as on Facebook. Is it the same person you are amongst your family? Another important question to consider is who you are to other people, and how you fit (how you are categorized) into our corporate, media-dominated culture.
Our second way of examining our identity has more to do with the things we did not buy, the things with which we have less choice: race and ethnicity, for example, as well as gender and political inclinations. Of course, while we are born with our ethnicity, we can choose to highlight or downplay it; while most of us were born a male or female (sex), our sexual dispositions may vary widely (genders)—even if we consider ourselves straight, the degrees of masculinity or femininity (both social constructs) may be consciously altered. Our political leanings may be a product of out upbringing, or we may consciously relate them with our gender or race.
(Our readings thus cover a wide variety of issues across the chapters. We will be returning to the same ideas and theme throughout the semester.)
So I’d like us to produce two papers for Unit 1 (Paper 1-A and 1-B), each about 2.5-3 pages, one on each theme of Personal Identity. Your topics can and will vary widely, but the subject for each should be focused.
So, for 1-A, I might focus on my home décor: Brainstorming, I’d say I fashion my home with wooden furniture, oriental rugs, tons of plants; I prominently display my books on eight different bookcases. My electronics—stereo, TV, media like CDs, DVDs—are downplayed, often on lower shelves, obscured by plants. I have old typewriters, and lots of miniatures—silly or quaint or antique (which goes back to my childhood). I showcase antiques, old cameras, a stereoscope, pottery. I’m into sunshine coming through the windows, into openness without being stark, an inviting, cozy, lived-in feel without being messy. I could go, but you’re probably beginning to think certain things about my place already, and about who I am—or rather, who I am trying to get others to believe I am. Not that I am lying about it, trying to hide something! Only that I am being conscious of my purposeful arrangement of objects in my personal space—and conscious that visitors will see certain things (and not others!). We often say when moving into a new place, “This thing looks nice here”…and it may be true, but what else are we saying?
So, after brainstorming, I’d then want to start thinking about what all this means: what kind of person do I want to portray? What kind of person might visitors see? I suppose I want to appear artsy, but not sleek NYC artsy; I want to appear well-read and sophisticated, but with a sense of humility, humor and a keen eye for smaller details, even silly ones. I want to show my appreciation for things of the past with antiques, which have an aesthetic and craftsmanship unparalleled by anything you can find at Target (although I shop at Target far too often!). Lots of my furniture and oriental rugs look expensive but most were from garage sales or they are hand-me-downs, so they are old, worn, mellowed with use. Even if I had the money, I wouldn’t want my home to appear expensive or glamorous (although walking around Ikea, I get very tempted).
Once you’ve analyzed your subject, work it into a personal essay, a sort of focused autobiography with a main claim—a statement you have arrived at through analysis and thinking and now want to prove. The claim in personal writing is often rather light (“lite”), just an overarching idea that unifies your observations and discoveries about yourself. For instance, my claim might be something like, “With my home décor I walk the line between several worlds: one world is of comfort, hominess, and congestion, the other of elegance, an artistic aesthetic, and openness. I want beauty, but I do not want visitors to have to take their shoes off; I showcase all the books I’ve conquered, but I do not want to appear pretentious.”
Or, I might compare my home décor now with my teenage aesthetic tastes: “Growing up, my walls were plastered with posters of Metallica and Kelly Bundy. Now, I will not adorn my walls with anything but original art.” The paper here might examine how and why my home décor changed.
