Sam, Josh, Jonathan

Star Spangled Banner

Pancake House

Mrs. Sen

Mahler's Fifth Symphony

Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did, the children in stiff, brightly colored clothing and caps with translucent visors. (what is the significance of this quote?)

Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

In Interpreter of Maladies all relationships convey a lack of communication and love. Could this be due to the fact that American assimilation and emergence of in-dependency has taken a hold on each individual's character and personality? Or is it more of eye opener in what is really happening in their relationships?

Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

How are gender roles reversed when it comes to American assimilation? Is it affected by the awareness of adapting to the USA culture?

anna, sunny, toi , patrick

how do traditional Chinese values seem to play out in American culture in particular, in the story In the American society?

Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

Do you think that Chang’s pride is preventing him from being fully assimilated in the American way of life? Do you think that Chang is somewhat disappointed that his family has absorbed the nation’s values so readily?

Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

How does the New Colusses represent the ideal thought of the American melting pot, and in what ways does it differ with Randolph Bourne's Trans-National America's view of the melting pot?

Patrick, Toi, Anna and Sunny

Do you think that Sandra Cisneros wrote "The House on Mango Street" to not only convey the complexities of growing up but also to allude to the events happening around her in the U.S., such as politics, economics or social issues. If so, explain why you think this and provide examples.

Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

Why is it that the European-English descendants were considered naturals Americans when they themselves were also immigrants? What happened to the notion of the melting pot? Is being an American exclusive for just white, English people?

Anna, Toi, Sunny, Patrick

In Desiree's Baby, there is a a sudden change in tone from happiness to unknowing. Why does Chopin have the tone change happen so abruptly? What theme might she be trying to illustrate?

Week 7 Charlie, Kevin, Steve, Justin

Compare the roles of cannibalism and slavery within the middle passage. How are they used within the story to contrast one another. How do they both contribute to the development of Rutherford Calhoun as a character?

Week 7: Brady, Gerardo, Howard, Arely

Rutherford Calhoun is a newly freed slave. How does he struggle to be seen as an "American" as opposed to an "African" like he used to be viewed?

Week 6: Kevin, Steve, Charlie, and Justin

Compare Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America" and what Benjamin Franklin said in his letter "On the Slave Trade."

Week 6: Patrick, Anna, Toi and Jisun

What would be the similarities and differences of Middle Passage if the main character was changed to that of an African-American woman? Do you think the pre-feminist time period would limit the main character's journey or would it not really make a difference?

Week 6 Hannah, Heath, Walton, Cody

De Crevecour's "Letters from an American Farmer" is said to be the first work to ask the question: "What is an American?". What does the author think an American is defined as? Is this early definition still relevant today? How did people that were born in Europe take ownership of the land and make themselves into "Americans"?

Week 6: Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

In William Apess "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man", the 
contradiction of how White Christians treat people of color and the 
teaching of christianity are examined. How does his view of White 
christians differ from the ideas in Phillis Wheatley's "On Being 
Brought From Africa to America"?

Week 5 - Anna, Toi, Jisun (Sunny), Patrick

How J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur express the responsibility of the individual in the Letters from an American Farmer and where we can find it? How about in the Thomas Jefferson's works?

Week 3: Charlie, Kevin, Steve, Justin

Explain the significance of Reverend Hale's actions at the end of Act IV when he came back to encourage the accused to lie and save their lives. What does his change of stance reveal about their theocratic system and how does it play in with the theme of power throughout the story?

Week 2: Heath, Hannah, Cody, and Walton

In what ways does The Crucible and its parallelism to McCarthyism, show how an individual's character is revealed in a time of crisis?

Week 2: Daniela, Roxanne, Brian

In that era, a young girl's opinion and accusations in Salem would normally not have mattered much to the community. Why is it that the Salem community believes the accusations that the young girls are making?

Week 1: Roxanne, Daniela, Brian

How is Williams and Cabeza de Vaca’s religion affected by their experiences of being held captive? Would religion have had the same role in both writings if they had not been? Why or why not?

Discussion Question Week 2 Kevin, Charlie, Steve, and Justin

Based solely on the text of the Crucible, why do you think Arthur Miller decided to use John Proctor as his protagonist and not Francis Nurse or Giles Corey?

Anna, Toi, Sunny, Patrick

How does Miller's use of religion in The Crucible compare to earlier works of American literature, such as Cabeza de Vaca?

Week 2: Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

Could the so call witchcraft practices be the ignorance of a community who is unknown or exposed to different religions besides the dominant protestant church? Or could the theocracy of Salem use to their benefit the accusations of witchcraft in order to diminish non-Christians and “problematic” citizens?

Week 1: Arely, Gerardo, Brady, and Howard

It's interesting to note that the male authors have a generally modest approach to how they perceive themselves in their work. On the other hand, the female writers seem to praise themselves more often, such as references to themselves as muses. Could the reason for this be that the women are attempting to empower their gender by first empowering themselves in the eyes of the general public? Would being modest in their work have any affect to promoting the female gender?

or.. Would being modest in their work have a counter-productive affect to their movement?

Week 1: Toi, Anna, Patrick, and Sunny

With cultural background in mind and gender, how does the influence of religion differ from the poetry written by the corresponding women authors compared to the narratives written by Bradford and Williams?

Week 1: Sam, Josh, Jonathan and Logan

We have an idea of who the intended audience was for Bradford's
writing, but what was the purpose of his writing? How would the
purpose change for each possible audience, or would it change?

Discussion Question Week 1 Kevin, Charlie, Steve, and Justin

How do Cabeza de Vaca and Bradford make use of religion in their respective texts?

Welcome

Welcome Class! This will be your class blog and class community forum for E 316K Discussion Session. Each group is expected to upload a question per week based on the readings assigned by Dr. Wilks.