1. CLASS 17 EWRT 1B

2. AGENDA Exam 3: Terms Discussion: QHQ M Butterfly Defining the Trickster Introduction to Essay #4 Lecture: Tricksters and Trickster Tales In-class writing: Evaluating Song as a Trickster Character 3. EXAM 3: VOCAB AND TERMSAnswer all 25 questions; there are questions on the back.Extra credit to anyone who can identify one or both of the authors of these two examples that I used to demonstrate figurative language.All the worlds a stage The apparition of these faces in the crowd;Petals on a wet, black bough. 4. M BUTTERFLYQHQ 5. M BUTTERFLY: THE LOVE Why is Gallimard so attracted to Song? Was Song actually submissive? Is Gallimard blinded by stereotypes (race, sexual, cultural)? Do you think, deep down, that Song actually loved Gallimard inreturn? How does Gallimards image of himself change after starting hisrelationship with Song? Did [Song] truly like this man as for him or for the fact that shewas forced to by her undercover party? Does this [affair with Song] make Gallimard Gay? Do you think that he would ever have fallen in love with Song as aman? 6. THE DECEPTION Gallimard and Song live together for 20 years, how comeGallimard doesnt find out Song is a man? How is Gallimard blind to his butterflys true identity? Is Rene in denial over Songs gender? Why does Mr. Gallimard accept not seeing Mrs. or Mr. Songsbody? Why did Mr. Gallimard did not accept to see Mrs./ Mr. Song bodywhen he offered? What was the purpose of Song telling Gallimard the scenario ofthe blonde cheerleader killing herself for the short Japanesebusinessman? 7. THE SECRET OPERATION Why would Mr. Song go through all the trouble just to retrieveinformation for his country? How did Song establish a reputation for herself as singer, andhow did she target Mr. Gallimard? Why did Gallimard leak such valuable information to Song? Does Comrade Chin believe Songs behavior is just to getinformation? Why did Song LiLing come to France? 8. THE REVEAL Did song ever feel any sympathy for Gallimard after being with him forso many years. Why does Gallimard burst into laughter when Song takes off hisunderwear? How would the story be different if butterfly was male the whole time? Why do you think that Gallimard could not love the man who was thewoman he fell in love with? If Song was in love with Gallimard, why would he tell the truth when hewas in the court? If Song revealed his true identity earlier, would Gallimard have acteddifferently?Is there ever a right time for Song to reveal his true gender identity tothe man he loves? 9. AND THEN? Why does M. Butterfly focus so intently on Western vs. Eastern? How can this story tell what the Westerner thought about the Oriental women? How does Song use Gallimards stereotypes of Asian women to elevateGallimards sense of masculinity? Has Gallimard gone mad? Why does Gallimard want us to envy his love? How could Gallimard claimed to have loved the perfect woman, while willinglybeing unfaithful and cruel to her during his various extramarital affairs? Why does Gallimard dress up as Madame Butterfly at the end? Who is whose Butterfly? Is it wrong for Song to pretend to be a woman for all those years? What are some differences between the movie and the book ? Is there any similarity between Stone Butch Blues and this story? 10. INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY #4: THE RESEARCH ESSAY. 11. INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY #4: THE RESEARCH ESSAY.Trickster characters have existed in stories from most cultures since the earliest times. The long-lasting appeal of this archetype (a recurring symbol of a recurring model) emphasizes the cultural need to acknowledge that all is not what it seems to be, that we need to be on the lookout for those who would fool us. It is not hard to account for the appeal of trickstersthey are fun in their radical assault on the status quo, yet their trickery also strikes a deeper chord for most people. 12. As societies have evolved, the cultural function of the tricksterhas been reinvented: who or what are they in a modern society?When and why do they appear?Helen Lock, in her essay Transformations of the Trickster,writes,Contentious issues include the status of the archaic archetypaltricksters (were they mortal or divine? can a god be atrickster?), the relation of tricksters to gender and to ethnicity, andthe vexed question of whether modern tricksters exist at all. Inone sense it does seem entirely appropriate that theseembodiments of ambiguity (no dispute there, at least) shouldremain so elusive. However, it is still important to address thesetricky questions, because the trickster performs suchfundamental cultural work: in understanding the tricksterbetter, we better understand ourselves, and the perhapssubconscious aspects of ourselves that respond to thetricksters unsettling and transformative behavior. 13. TOPIC: For this essay, consider trickster tales and trickster or trickster-like characters from our reading. Do they, as Lock asserts, help us better understand ourselves, and the perhaps subconscious aspects of ourselves that respond to the tricksters unsettling and transformative behavior? How? Or, do these trickster tales and trickster or trickster-like characters serve another purpose? Which? 14. ABOUT TRICKSTERSSouthern slave trickster tales focus on outwitting theplantation masters; in this way, they deviouslyattacked the very system to which they werecondemned: They learned what justice was, andthey learned, as slaves, they had none. But theywere able to make up stories and even laugh in theface of their tragic predicament(Hamilton, A Ring of Tricksters 9). 15. JEAN HARDY PROVIDES THIS DEFINITION OF THIS ARCHETYPE:The archetype of the Tricksteris the existence of theunexpected as it appears in every humansociety, sometimes fully acknowledged, sometimesfeared and hidden. He is the opposite of order but thenhe is opposite of everything: he can turn into a sheHeis the Green Man, the Jester, the clown, the witch or thewizard, Mercury, a shape shifter the Fool with thepotential at times for becoming a Savior. He upsetsnormality and hierarchic orderHe can change theexpected world, and therefore be an agent oftransformation. (1) 16. POSSIBLE TRAITS OF THE TRICKSTER Deceitful: The trickster uses trickery to bring aboutchange. Self-Serving: The trickster often feels that he or shehas been wronged and is therefore justified in takingaction to bring about change and/or to defeat theenemy. Shape Shifter: The trickster may changeforms, sex, and so forth as an element of surprise tohis victim. The change may also be psychologicalinstead of (or in addition to) a visual change. 17. Cultural Hero:The trickster may be idealized as a cultural hero when, as theagent of transformation, he or she overturns a cruel or unfairleader or political/social system or reverses the fortunes of themore powerful party. According to Helen Lock, this characteristicseparates the fool from the trickster. The true tricksters trickerycalls into question fundamental assumptions about the way theworld is organized, and reveals the possibility of transformingthem (even if for ignoble [shameful] ends) (6). Michael J. Carrollincludes cultural hero as an attribute as well; he characterizes thetrickster as a transformer who makes the world habitable forhumans by ridding it of monsters or who provides those things[such as fire] that make human society possible (Levi-Strauss, Freud, and the Trickster 305). Hardy characterizes thetrickster as the source of unexpected changes in a world wherechange is not always comfortable and as a symbol of theuncertain world in which we live. 18. Solitary creature: Many tricksters are solitary animals (orhumans), working alone rather than with a partner or within agroup to undertake change. Michael P. Carroll notes thatRavens are usually sighted singly or at most in pairs; coyotesforage independently; hares have long been noted for theirsolitarinessSpiders generally associate with members of theirown species on only two occasions: when they are born andwhen they mate (Trickster as Selfish Buffoon 115). Physically, intellectually, or socially weak creature: Thetrickster is often portrayed as a much weaker character than hisprey, and yet through cleverness and trickery, he is able toovercome all obstacles and prevail. In some cases the trickstermay appear to be weaker physically in order to confuse his prey(false frailty). 19. Special tools: The trickster may have special tools orabilities that enable him to perform his acts. Often thesetools include magic and/or supernatural powers. Anexample would be the Chinese Monkey who keeps aneedle behind his ear; when he removes the needle andrecites a request, the needle may turn into any tool orimplement that is required for a particular story. Teacher: The trickster is a purveyor of life lessons throughthe stories, from manners to ethics. The teacher oftenforces the reader to examine the status quo and often, tobreak out of old stereotypes, whether theyve beenimposed by ourselves, our families, our culture, orcircumstances (The Trickster 3). 20. Which, from our reading, are clearly identifiable as trickstertales? Can you include others, or parts of others, that are not so easilyidentifiable? What makes them trickster tales? Which, from our reading, are trickster or trickster-like characters What characteristics make them tricksters? Morrison: Recitatif Hughes: Passing and Passing Hughes: Whos Passing for Who? Chesnutt: The Passing of Grandison Roth: The Human Stain Feinberg: Stone Butch Blues Hwang: M Butterfly 21. DEFINING THETRICKSTER 22. IN CLASS WRITING: SONG AS ATRICKSTER CHARACTER:How can we envision Song as a Trickster character?Which of the definitions does she fit?What are her goals as a trickster?How many people and how many ways is she fooling people?What is her motivation?What are the outcomes?Does Song help us better understand ourselves, and theperhaps subconscious aspects of ourselves that respond tothe tricksters unsettling and transformative behavior? How?Or does she/he serve another purpose? Which? 23. HOMEWORK Reading: Review primary texts you might use in your essay. Writing: Finish and post in-class writing.Post #24: Discuss another character in terms of one of thetraits we discussed in class today. For example, Jess Goldbergas a shape shifter or cultural hero; Grandison asintellectually weak; or Song as physically weak; maybeeven the Iowans as teachers. Any of them might bediscussed as agents of change. Or discuss Grandison,Recitatif, and Whos Passing as Who as Trickster tales inthe African American tradition. Next Class: We will meet in Library Lobby at 8:15 am for alibrary orientation and an opportunity to do research for yourpaper. Please do not be late. Plan to work until 9:45