WoodburyAP12LensBlog: A Prospective Feminist Interrogation of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

Fifteen Conventions to Uphold in Writing about Literature

1. Compose sentences in the present tense (PT).“Readers see how fully Huck matures.” (not ‘matured’)“Huck fears for his life whenever his father drinks too much.” (not ‘feared’; not ‘drank’)
(Exceptions: (a) points about the author’s life; or (b) fictional events that precede thebook’s main narrative (e.g., “Pap mentions that Huck’s mother died many years ago.”)
2. Maintain a third-person viewpoint (3rd pers.) (‘One’, ‘they’, or ‘readers’; not ‘I’, ‘we’ or ‘you’)“Readers can detect the Duke’s sarcasm.” (not ‘You’ or ‘We’)“One would be hard-pressed to ignore the satirical attacks in Huckleberry Finn.” (not ‘You’)
3. Avoid the use of contractions (avoid contr.!).“Huck should not assume that he is safe.” (not ‘shouldn’t’; not ‘he’s’)“Huck cannot make up his mind about what is right.” (not ‘can’t’)
4. Uphold Honors English Eleven grammatical principles regarding Subject-Verb Agreement (SV-Agr.), Clear Pronoun Reference ( it ), and Parallel Structure (PAR).
5. Write out small & medium-sized numbers (spell #!!).“Huck stays with the Grangerford family for at least four weeks.” (not ‘4’)“The King and the Duke discover six thousand dollars in gold.” (not ‘$6,000’)
(Exceptions: Dates (“January 11, 1889”) and long numbers (‘17,485,332.39’).
6. Use MLA format: double-space; one-inch margins; numbered header; no title p.; 12-pt. font. (See the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue.) Include a Works Cited page in MLA format. (MLA)
7. Use concise, accurate internal citations to direct readers to relevant items in your Works Cited page. (Plain-English translation: Cite all your sources – do not engage in plagiarism.)
8. Block-indent quoted passages of four or more lines. Because block indentation implies quotation, additional quotation marks are redundant and thus incorrect (except to denote dialogue).
9. Avoid elaborate re-hashing of the plot. If you need to hug something, hug your thesis, not the plot.
10. Favor the active voice over the passive voice in sentence construction.“Huck treats Jim with respect.” (not “Jim is treated with respect by Huck.”)“Pap abuses Huck.” (not “Huck is abused by his cruel pap.”)
11. Write as though the book produces a given literary effect, not the author.“Huckleberry Finn engages readers with its fine natural imagery.” (not ‘Twain engages…’)“The Scarlet Letter weaves intricate symbolic patterns.” (not ‘Hawthorne weaves…’)
12. Avoid redundancy. (E.g., The phrase “throughout the entire novel” says the same thing twice.)
13. Literary authors do not quote: they write! Therefore, avoid statements like this one: “’I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,’ quotes Henry David Thoreau.” Buzzer!! Wrong!!
14. Proofread by reading your paper aloud. If it sounds good, it probably is good (and vice versa).
15. "Simplify, simplify, simplify!" (HDT)
[1] Sources: Writing About Literature, by E.V. Roberts. Brief 11th Ed. (2005). The MLA Handbook, 6th ed. (2005). The Woodbury High School English curriculum (rev. 2006). Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (1850).

Creating an MLA Works Cited page in Microsoft Word 2007

Type ‘Works Cited’ on the first line; then hit ‘Enter’ to begin the next line. For now, do not worry about spacing, hanging indents, or anything else – (just trust the Force).

Now type each citation correctly, irrespective of format. Be sure to hit ‘Enter’ only at the end of each source citation; for the rest, be sure it flows (i.e., enjambs!) continuously, without any deliberate line-breaks.

It’s fine to alphabetize your list now; however, it’s also fine to alphabetize later, once the whole list is finished, via Cut & Paste.

Once you are finished typing, please highlight the entire list: from the ‘W’ of Works Cited, down to the final period of the last source citation.

Next, while highlighted, go to Page Layout and, under ‘Spacing’, change both ‘Before’ and ‘After’ to “0 pt.”

Next, while the whole thing is still highlighted, go to “Paragraph” (teeny-tiny SE-pointing arrow) and make the following important changes:

Under ‘Indentation’ / ‘Special’, choose Hanging.

Under ‘Spacing’ / ‘Line spacing’, choose Double.

Now hit ‘OK’ and…

VOILA!! All your citations should now be in the correct format, and you deserve a chocolate chip cookie.

Last but not least, go up to the top and Center the title: ‘Works Cited’.

Conclude by alphabetizing, as needed. The whole page, and any following pages, should remain in MLA Works Cited format, allowing additions & corrections.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

A Prospective Feminist Interrogation of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

Characters under consideration:

Daisy Buchanan ~ daughter of “old money” in Louisville; married to Tom B.
Jordan Baker ~ professional athlete in the national spotlight; from Louisville; dishonest.
Myrtle Wilson ~ address: Valley of Ashes; Tom’s mistress; mutilated victim in a vehicular homicide
Catherine ~ sister of Myrtle; (a prostitute?); an alcoholic; a desperate person...
Twins in Yellow Dresses ~ girls who beg the question: WHAT ARE FLAPPERS? I.e., Are they heroines? Are they loose women? Are they, as Nick suggests, “innocent”? Are they great dancers? Are they alcoholics? Are they gritty survivors?

...and let's not forget the various men who, by turns, woo them, win them, lose them, kill them, buy them, sell them, worship them... the list goes on.

Questions to ponder as we re-read Gatsby in a feminist lens :

Are women the victims of abuse? (And does abuse occur because of the victims’ gender? Or, does abuse ever occur for reasons unrelated to gender?)

Are women ever treated well? (And if so, what motives are responsible for the fair or just or luxurious or pampered treatment of women?)

Does Fitzgerald portray women in the Jazz Age as powerful characters, or as powerless ones??

What details does Fitzgerald invoke (i.e., through Nick’s descriptions) as he portrays female characters? Consider the minutiae of hair, clothing, make-up, shoes, et al.; HOWEVER, do not overlook the decisions made by women. As we see in plays like Oedipus the King and Hamlet, it is action, above all, that defines character and integrity.

PUBLISHED LITERARY CRITICS REPRESENTING FEMINIST THEORIES & SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT:

Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Carolyn Heilbrun, Annette Kolodny, Nancy Miller, Lillian Robinson, Declan Kiberd, Deborah E. McDowell.

(n.b. This list is only meant to be representative; it is by no means intended to be exclusive or comprehensive! There are many others!)

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Thursday, March 11, 2010

A Prospective Feminist Interrogation of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

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