Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/CUNY, LaGuardia Community College/ENG 295: WORLD LITERATURES IN ENGLISH (Fall 2014)

Plot Synopses
Students: visit the following pages to contribute to the plot synopsis for your chosen play-text.

Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not to Blame

Rita Dove's The Darker Face of the Earth Bd1896 (talk) 15:12, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

Themes/Topics
List topics/themes you want to explore in the article on The Darker Face of the Earth here (and sign off!): Slavery Rustypapergun (talk) 14:21, 17 November 2014 (UTC) Relationship to Canon Anticlause (talk) 14:39, 17 November 2014 (UTC) Free Will Tej809 (talk) Miscegenation Rojascatblk (talk) 15:56, 13 November 2014 (UTC) Fate Starfry2001 (talk) 14:48, 17 November 2014 (UTC) Love and Hate TetraLoli1198 (talk) 22:00, 14 November 2014 (UTC)
 * 1) Themes

List topics/themes you want to explore in the article on The Gods Are Not to Blame here (and sign off!):

Editors
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Darker Face of the Earth Plot:

Themes (list each theme and the editor): Slavery Rustypapergun (talk) 14:39, 17 November 2014 (UTC) Relationship to Canon Anticlause (talk) 14:41, 17 November 2014 (UTC) Free Will Tej809 (talk) 03:55, 19 November 2014 (UTC) Miscegenation Rojascatblk (talk) 16:08, 13 November 2014 (UTC) Fate Starfry2001 (talk) 16:14, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

The Gods Are Not to Blame Plot:Dreenw (talk) 16:09, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Characters: Odewale, Ojuola, Aderepo, Baba Fakunle, King Adetusa... Toys Bet On Tea (talk) 15:56, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Themes (list each theme and the editor): Culture Toys Bet On Tea (talk) 16:00, 13 November 2014 (UTC), Culpability: Purple poet gigglingPurple poet giggling (talk)16:14, 13 November 2014 (UTC), Fate & Death- collegegurldotcomCollegegurldotcom (talk) 16:06, 13 November 2014 (UTC),

African symbolism Dreenw (talk) 16:06, 13 November 2014 (UTC), Language,
 * Purple poet gigglingPurple poet giggling (talk) 16:17, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Foxy0408 (talk) 15:15, 17 November 2014 (UTC)==Research Assignments==

Each student will be responsible for reading/summarizing at least one article. I'd suggest you first do this in Word, GoogleDocs, or whatever word-processing program you typically use - then transfer it to our Course Talk Page.
 * 1) Introducing the author, summarize the main point/argument of the article in a sentence or two ("In this article, Johnny Appleseed argues that...").
 * 2) If there is a particularly illuminating quote that touches upon one of the group's topics, include the quote and give the page. You might also paraphrase any additional parts that touch upon one of the major topics.
 * 3) Let us know why this particular article is a helpful source for clarifying or better understanding the play. Are there any parts that you disagree with or think are wrong?
 * 4) Log into Wikipedia. On our course talk page, you'll put this summary and also create an MLA-style footnote using the "ref" tags at the bottom of the composing window (see the "Welcome2WP_English_Flap_081810.pdf").
 * 5) Sign your contribution. Preview and save here on the course's Talk page.

Anticlause (talk) 15:16, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Theodora Carlisle's article “Reading The Scars: Rita Dove’s Darker Face of the Earth” concerns itself with the act of reading: how it's a central thematic element and how it responds to Sophocles' original. She acknowledges that Darker Face of the Earth is an artistic rendering of Oedipus Tyrannus, while also maintaining that Rita Dove's play can stand on its own. Reading is positioned as a refutation of authoritarian power and slavery. Carlisle also discusses fate at length, noting how the tradition Delphic oracle is reinterpreted and made new via the “undercurrents of difference” Dove has injected into the character of Scylla and the play as a whole. The article includes production data (Premiere production: July 1996, directed by Ricardo Khan, Oregon Shakespeare Festival).

Bd1896 (talk) 15:43, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

In an interview with Rita Dove conducted by Marlin Pereira, she discusses with Dove her play, Darker Face of the Earth along with it’s complex history and different versions in reference to the performed play. She then discuss with Dove the feeling of having some of the pressure of being Poet Laureate off her shoulders, and the different poets that have influenced her such as Breyten Breytenbach and Derek Walcott, as well as Dove’s different works that include Grace Notes, Mother Love, and Thomas and Beulah. When discussing Darker Face of the Earth, she says, “As the three of them piece together, in this moment of craziness, what exactly the story is, that indeed Amalia is Augustus’s mother, each reacts in a different way, and Amalia then kills herself to try to save Augustus, which means that the revolutionaries think that he did what he was supposed to do and he’s a hero”. This part is helpful because it shows that even though Augustus succeeded in his plan of revenge, he was not truly happy in the end.

TetraLoli1198 (talk) 22:48, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

In Lifting the Veil: Revision and Double-Consciousness in Rita Dove's "The Darker Face of the Earth" by Danny Sexton, he talks about the changes due to Rita’s revision of her first publication. She gives the characters of Amelia, Hector and Augustus’s parents more importance compared to the first publication. Rita looks into W.E.B Du Bois idea of double consciousness and adapts it into her second revision to expand on the characters of Amelia and Augustus that possesses “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled; [and] two warring ideals inside one dark body” {Du Bois 3} He talks about the white as a race instead of the normal definition where they are normal and the black’s/women are seen as others not entirely due to history but on his imagination. Rita’s creation of Amelia is used to address his failure because the character is strong but also affected by society. As a result, she became more masculine and less feminine that was present in the first version. Her father tried to raise her both ways but she shifted toward the masculine side. This part talks about the gender role present in the revision comparing the two versions. 

Dreenw (talk) 04:29, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Akin Odebunmi, explores Rotini’s use of proverbs in his play The God’s Are Not Blame. Odebumni finds that a reason why this particular play is a rather difficult is the constant proverbs. Although overlooked these proverbs hold an important clue in the overall construction of the play. Instead of just reading the proverbs Odebunmi makes it clear to get a full understand one must analyze “the context in which it is used”. I consider this particular article a key element in analyzing this play as Odebumni states the importance of not only language, but also as how it ties in with ones culture.



Toys Bet On Tea (talk) 14:50, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

"Ola Rotimi: The Man, The Playwright and the Producer on the Nigerian Theater Scene" is a brief biographical essay on life and works of Ola Rotimi, written by Chinyere Grace Okafor. It goes at length to describe how Rotimi draws inspiration from Yoruban myths, songs, and practices to bring the life and culture of Yoruba to the stage. Okafor goes on to attribute Rotimi's "cathartic exploration of man's response to the dynamics of power, change, and fate" (27) in order to deliver the tragic mood that is crucial in the work.

Okafor, Chinyere. "Ola Rotimi: The Man, The Playwright and the Producer on the Nigerian Theater Scene." World Literature Today 1 Jan. 1990. Print.

Purple poet gigglingPurple poet giggling (talk) 15:13, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

In the article “Modern African Literature and Culture Identity” Tanure Ojaide doesn’t write much but the few lines she does write is enough to imply that language doesn’t always hold much significance in regards to literature. Ojaide implies that not all African literature is written in the countries native language: “Most African writers, however, write in English, French, and Portuguese.” This implies that even though Africa has its own language most writers choose to write in languages other than their own. These Africans would know the significance the language they write their stories in hold. Obviously in regards to “most” not much. If it did I’m sure the story’s original language would be that of African origin with an English translation. Tanure Ojaide (1992). Modern African Literature and Cultural Identity. African Studies Review, 35, pp 43-57. doi:10.2307/525127.

Ola Romitis’s The Gods Are Not to Blame tells us, the definitive story of the African ‘Yoruban’’ tribe and struggles between each other. The writer Ola Romiti has significant adversity with the Nigerian culture. Perhaps, his use of symbolism in this play contributes with the Yoruban culture. with a certain African tribe. On this article found written by Brian Crow African Metater says, Ola Romitis play The Gods Are Not To Blame “ Notably, in The Gods Are Not to Blame, Ola Rotimi created a play intertextual with Sophocles's King Oedipus” (136). While “Soyinka did likewise with another famous Greek tragedy in the rather oddly named The Bacchae of Euripides” (137). Perhaps changing these critics show same ideas through differences in society. Most likely the stage production must of been different of course.

Rustypapergun (talk) 15:49, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

'WHEN THE PEAR BLOSSOMS / CAST THEIR PALE FACES ON / THE DARKER FACE OF THE EARTH': MISCEGENATION, THE PRIMAL SCENE, AND THE INCEST MOTIF IF RITA DOVE'S WORK

In this article by Pereira, Malin, the writer points out how the effects of slavery in America affected the characters within the play. The quote of "When the pear blossoms/ cast their pale faces on/ the darker face of the earth" tells how white masters would go off at night to rape the slave women they had. In the play, Amalia states that Louis has often went out with his whip and raped the female slaves and so she as a response does the same with Hector. Amalia ends up pregnant and gives birth to a mulatto baby who would later be named Augustus. Further in the story, Amalia and Augustus begins a romantic relationship, neither of them aware of their familial connection with each other. Despite the low standings of African Americans in society at that time, plantation owners were free to do whatever they wanted to their slaves because they were considered their property rather than as people.

Rojascatblk (talk) 22:47, 18 November 2014 (UTC) In Malin Pereira’s, “’When the Pear Blossoms / Cast Their Pale Faces on / the Darker Face of the Earth’: Miscegenation, the Primal Scene, and the Incest Motif in Rita Dove's Work,” Pereira suggest that miscegenation produces the “mulatto;” the bridge between two cultural identities, as revealed through the use of Augustus. Pereira also notes the motive of miscegenation between the characters in Rita Dove’s Darker Face Of The Earth by distinguishing the four characters’ participation that ranges from simple to complex. Amalia, a rebel going against the societal norm of an antebellum belle and vindictive, Louis, an abuser of power, Hector, a slave enamored by his slave masters daughter in his youth, and Augustus, the mulatto offspring of Amalia and Hector, who falls in love Amalia.

Tej809 (talk)In the article “Reading the Scars: Rita Dove’s The Darker Face of the Earth” by Theodora Carlisle, she talks about the “Africanist Vision” which had to do with Scylla’s vision and her knowledge of all that is to come to the plantation when Augustus arrives. Carlisle talks about the Yoruba phrases used in the play, and how this was the one thing she knew of the country of her ancestors. Carlisle points out Hector’s funeral scene and how that little bit of ancestral knowledge that he shared with Scylla, kept their culture alive in the plantation, and as a result this, Scylla is able to see the curse approaching, “In this particular instance, the distinctly non-European customs and musical elements both emphasize and honor the community’s African roots.” This article is helpful, because it helps us understand how even the least amount of knowledge can become indispensable to a single person. Carlisle, Theodora. "Reading The Scars: Rita Dove's "The Darker Face Of The Earth.." African American Review 34.1 (2000): 135-150. /ref>

Drafting Article Sections
Visit the Google Docs listed above in the "Plot" section for plot/character listings. Work on the themes and analysis for The Darker Face of the Earth via this Google Doc. Work on the themes and analysis for The Gods Are Not to Blame via this Google Doc.