Kitty Committee - Episode 3
For our last podcast, the Kitty Committee sits down to talk about the ending of the White Tiger and the author's intent. Give it a listen!
College English · Pahomov/Rhymer · B Band Public Feed
Laughterhouse 5- Podcast #2
In the second podcast of the series, the Laughterhouse 5 team discuss the book through the Historicist Lens, making comparisons to World War 2 and the Holocaust. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/w6_YIWZ0UA8
Marcin
Noack, Rick. “Photos: 70 Years Ago, Dresden Was Destroyed. Here's What It Looks like Today.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 Feb. 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/13/photos-70-years-ago-dresden-was-destroyed-heres-what-it-looks-like-today/?utm_term=.2f02b14978b4.
The article talks about the city of Dresden which was bombed during World War 2 and was the cause of 25,000 deaths. The city was almost completely rebuilt since this, mostly financed by American funds, however, the city is still haunted by the event that leveled it almost 74 years ago. The article talks about the Neo-Nazis that march through the city on the day of the bombing every year, proclaiming how proud they are of the event. Recently protestants have formed barriers standing arm in arm in order to stop them from entering the city. Their message through this protest is "Your predecessors caused the destruction of this city and we will protect it against you. Don't dare to abuse this day of commemoration for your racist goals." Our novel largely revolves around this historic event and describes scenes from it multiple times across the book. This article provides a way of viewing the horror the city faced back then, as well as background information about the event that the book doesn't provide. It also gives an example of how this historic event is still affecting the city through the march which is in support of it.
Matt
Washington Post. January 1, 2019. February 13, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/13/photos-70-years-ago-dresden-was-destroyed-heres-what-it-looks-like-today/?utm_term=.273706bede96 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
The article was written to remember the 70th anniversary of the Dresden Firebombing. It talks about how the city was destroyed and how it left many people confused and scared. For years, a lot of the city was left in rubble. Like Frauenkirche church, which was only recently rebuilt. Now, Dresden is a very beautiful city. On February 13th, almost every year people stand together to remember what happened to their city, and they protest neo- Nazi's blaming them for the destruction of their city. We can now, look at this through the lens of the people of Dresden. We have been seeing it through the eyes of the Kurt Vonnegut.
Messele
https://www.nytimes.com/1969/03/31/books/vonnegut-slaughterhouse.html
Article about the author Kurt Vonnegut and his life history as well as information about his participation in the war.
Lucien
http://www.openculture.com/2012/07/kurt_vonnegut_writes_home_from_world_war_ii.html
This article featured a letter that Kurt wrote back home from the war. it gives a lot of information about his time in the war as well as his beliefs regarding war in general.
Jason
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/travel/36-hours-in-dresden-germany.html
Article talking about the city of Dresden which was bombed during World War 2 and is an important location throughout the book.
JAAG Cast // 1984 Podcast #3
By Julia, Afi, Ashton, Genero Things have gone from bad to worse with our protagonist Winston and the Cast's got something to say about the authors intent. Things like the torture, Winstons change and the government's destruction of individuality are the topics of the group's final discussion. "Power is power over human beings, over the body - but above all, over the mind." - O'Brien, 1984. Link to the podcast: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WcPXIUymZCQwU40qa2OVaOIsFYlbudGc/view?usp=sharing
Podcast 3 (Author's Intent) - Dracula
The Club of Eden Podcast - The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemmingway
For The Club of Eden’s third and final podcast, our discussion focused on the theme of Author’s Intent. In this podcast, we dive into the details of Ernest Hemingway’s life and explore how the events he’s experienced in his life affected the way he wrote the book. Join us as we discuss the ending of the book, our thoughts on what could have happened, and so much more. We hope you enjoy!
Here's our podcast: https://www.soundtrap.com/play/fE5G2GdRRnCbdmniMxP39Q/the-club-of-eden-podcast-3/
The Eye Openers- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
In this podcast, with the theme being author's intent. We focused and analyzed a lot into the author, Toni Morrison's, style of writing in a way throughout the story. And connecting and trying to somewhat come to a realization about why and how she crafts each chapter. We noticed that every chapter started with a new story about a new character and their experiences. But in a way, they are all connected under one common theme having to do with race. Throughout this podcast, we pointed out certain sections in the book where we noticed Morrison's input on race and stereotypes and dug a bit deeper into Morrison's justification on the type of stories she writes.
We also went a bit into Morrison's tone as the story progresses, a main thing that we realized was that there were a lot of intense and out of the ordinary scenes in this book but she would describe them very nonchalantly and that really threw us off a bit.
All in all, as we finished the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, we learned a lot about perspective and purpose in a way. That, as generic as it sounds, everyone has their own experiences but the way they tell their story through fictional characters or realistic characters is a whole different ballpark.
Podcast 3, Giggling and Gabbing: Author's Intent
In Giggling and Gabbing's third and final podcast, we discuss chapter seven and eight of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." These are the final two chapters of the book and we just wanted to include a major SPOILER WARNING because we got so invested in this podcast that we spoiled the ending!!! In our final podcast we discussed Junot Diaz's intent when writing the final chapters and the book as a whole. We discussed the strange importance of sex in Oscar's life and the use of sex as way to represent one's content in life.
We decided Oscar was the loser of this chapter because how much he believed that sex was the only way his life could be complete. We decided Yunior was the winner of this chapter because of how complete and put together he was in this chapter compared to how broken all other characters were in this chapter. Well, from everyone in the Oscar Wao group, we hope you enjoy the final podcast and giggle as we have our final gab about "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." Thanks for listening! Link Below!
The Line - The Fishermen Episode 3
In the last episode of The Line we look at what the intent the Author was trying to communicate through the book. We talk about the books connections to brotherhood and community.
The Kitty Committee: Marxist Podcast
This podcast is about the White Tiger, a murder mystery of sorts set in modern day India as told by the murder himself through a series of memos. Our last reading covered a very action packed section of the book (listen to find out what happened!) and we analysed the events using the marxist lens. India's caste system, while technically abolished, still controls much of the population, including the narrator who is a servant, which makes it easy to find marxist elements in everything. Click the link below to explore the life of one of India's many servants and entrepreneurs as he gets closer and closer to the murder he's been hanging over our heads.
The article's primary focus is on a remark made by prominent Indian intellectual Ashis Nandy. He was referring to new-found positions of power within the lower castes - specifically, that they seemed more corrupt because, unlike the elites, they could not easily cover up their corruption. This got pulled wildly out of context, and published in a very sensationalizing manner: "Within moments, Nandy’s remark about most corrupt Indians being from traditionally oppressed and marginalized lower castes and tribes was tweeted without its context. Television channels and wire services ran the headline: 'SC/ST/OBCs [lowest Indian groups] most corrupt: Ashis Nandy.'" This prompted rage and hatred from multiple prominent lower-class groups, and Nandy being put on trial for attacking the state and encouraging casteist attacks. It's really insightful as to free speech as it relates to India, as well as how India handles caste-based issues. Evidently, there's power within every caste (and corruption).
Peer, Basharat. "The Nandy Affair." The New Yorker. Condé Nast, 1 February 2013. Web. 7 January 2019. <https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-nandy-affair
Polgreen, Lydia. “Entrepreneurs Rise in Ashes of India's Caste System.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 10 Sept. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/world/asia/11caste.html.
This article provides insight on the way the caste system and its “fall” have affected politics and entrepreneurs in northern and southern India. In the North, outlawing the caste system lead to many lower caste people jumping into politics, using their caste as a way to motivate voters and gain political power. In the South, the lower castes were mobilizing around economic mobility and opportunity before the removal of the system, making it much easier to join and expand the job market after removal. These polarizing approaches have lead to huge entrepreneurial gain for the South with lots of political divisions in the North. The White Tiger follows a character that moves from the North to the South to follow these economic opportunities and to escape the political polarisation of the North where he recalls never actually voting himself because others had done it for him. The article even goes so far as to say that many in the North “don’t cast their vote; they vote their caste.” This shows the priorities of the North vs the South and of the narrator who prioritizes material gain over ideas and politics, following the Marxist definition.
The Bluest Eye: The Eye Openers Podcast
In our bookclub podcast, we talked and focused on the marxist lens in our reading. There were many focus points of our reading that had a lot to do with the main characters being Claudia and Frieda reveal a lot about their personal feelings towards materialistic things. And it was clear there was a huge impact on Claudia and Frieda through society and how they viewed themselves as well as others. We wanted to zone in and focus on the reason of why and how deeply society truly has a role in shaping and taking over the minds of people especially those who are younger.
viv: “There Could Be Power in a Union.” Jacobin, jacobinmag.com/2019/01/gilets-jaunes-yellow-vests-unions-labor-cgt-wages.
This article was about protestors in France outside the trade union to protest and renew the labor movement. And these protestors were specifically aiming their anger towards President Emmanuel Macron. They were discontent with the sudden rise in fuel taxes and it soon led to a lot of social problems and separation among the "popular classes in rural areas." This highlights one of ideas within Marxism, when it came to society or groups of people having the desire to one-up another group of people based off of materialistic ideas and money. In the novel, there were many sections in the story where Claudia and her sister Freida would constantly compare themselves to the other children around them based off of materialistic things like clothes, to food, down to the neighborhood that they lived in and how mentioning their envy towards others.
Tyreek:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/25/toni-morrison-books-interview-god-help-the-child
Jakob:
Ghansah, Rachel Kaadzi. “The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/magazine/the-radical-vision-of-toni-morrison.html.
The article was about the author and the book and her radical vision and how she wanted to diversify the writing industry and how she writes about black people. She points out the things they face and how she talks about how she writes to tease her world and to complicate her world. Shown in the book when she writes about different social classes at the time period, Pellocia family who is poor and one example would be Maureen her family has more than they do and you can tell how she is judged by the girls. She writes about the Marxist lens because Pelloca always compares herself to others and wants to be white because they are generally treated better and have a better life in her eyes, she feels if she was white she would not have to deal with issues that she faces that’s part of the reason she wants blue eyes. The article gave me some insight on the author because I now know her purpose for writing and gave me insight on the lens because she writes to point out issues which are showcased in the book like class and comparing to each other.
