DOCUMENT RESUME ED 392 668 SO 025 539 AUTHOR Leder, Priscilla, Comp.; And Others TITLE Essays from the Edge: Citizenship and the Outsider in Literature and History. INSTITUTION Southwest Texas State Univ., San Marcos. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Humanities (NFAH), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 92 NOTE 234p. PUB TYPE Books (010) Collected Works General (020) EDRS PRICE MFOI/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Authors; Books; Citizen Role; *Citizenship; Citizenship Responsibility; Classical Literature; *Community Attitudes; English Literature; Essays; Foreign Countries; Foreign Nationals; *History; Humanities; Immigration; *Literature; Political Attitudes; *Renaissance Literature; Social Responsibility IDENTIFIERS *Greece ABSTRACT This book of essays and poetry by participants in a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar explores the portrayal in arts and literature of the "outsider" or "alien" who is cut off from country and citizenship, either by choice or circumstance. The book is divided into seven categories. Part 1, "Preliminary," contains: (1) "Citizenship on the Highway and the High Seas" (Susan Hanson); and (2) "Baptism" (Daniel Stevens). Part 2, "Classical Greece," includes:(1) "Ode to the Men of Athens" (Deborah Seigman) ;(2) "Voices of Warning: The Role of the Chorus in 'Antigone' (Susan Farris); (3) "Acting Beyond the Myth of the Citizen" (Phil Cook); and (4) "Sophrosyne in 'Antigone': Women, Family and Government" (Danette Bermea). Part 3, "The Renaissance," includes: (1) "-That Perfect Hatred': Anti-Semitism and the Banality of Evil in Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice'" (JimMcGarry); (2) "The tore You Know, The Moor You May Not Know" (Carey Christenberry); and (3) "The Silken Shield of Innocence" (Deborah Seigman) .Part 4, "The Social Contract," includes:(1) "Obligations of the Individual Inside and Outside the Social Contract" (Karl Kevin Brown); and (2) "Slavery's Influence on the American Definition of Citizenship"(Amy Nelson Thibaut). Part 5, "Huckleberry Finn," includes:(1) "Huck, a Good 01' Boy" (Dona Holloway);(2) "Deceit and Democracy: Huckleberry Finn as a Disturbing Presence" (Beverly Webster); and (3) "Go With the Flow" (Sandy Watts). Part 6, "Beloved," contains:(1) "She Haunts Me" (Paula Moeller); (2) "Beloved and Christian Citizenship: An Augustinian Analysis of Sethe and Stamp Paid" (Bill Gardiner); (3) "The Right of Dissent: Beloved's Baby Suggs and Sethe" (Kathryn D'erksen);(4) "Nobody Stopped Playing Checkers" (Teri Holmes); (5) "The Alienation Factor: Displacement Leading to Violence in 'Beloved'" (Millie Goode);(6) "The Meaning of Life" (Karl Kevin Brown);(7) "The Patchwork Quilt and Feminist History in 'Beloved'" (Cynthia Walling); and (8) "Outside the Outside: A Comparison of Walker's Maggie and Morrison's Denver" (Daniel Stevens). Part 7, "L'Envoi," contains:(1) "From the Shadows" (Millie Goode); and (2) "Bruce Mitty" (Carey Christenberry). (EH) Jt-) EDUCATION U S DEPARTMENT OF Inwprernent Clia-r of Educational Resoa,cn and INFORMATIOI THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE CENTER (ERIC) BY TERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED This document has beenreproduced as received from the person ororganization (42.i121 originating it gt/ D Minor changes have beenmade to improve reproduction quality 10 Points of view or opinions slated atthis document do not necessarily represent EST C TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES 4,A4 official OERI position or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).", Essays From the Edge Citizenship and the Outsider in Literature and History By the Participants in Defining Ethical Citizenship The Political Outsider in Literature and History A Summer Institute Sponsored by The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of English at Southwest Texas State University July 13-August 7, 1992 Institute Director Dr. June Hankins Compiled and Edited by Dr. Priscilla Leder Ms. Debbie Escamilla Ms. Lovell White Through the Office of The SWT Faculty Advancement Center Dr. Gerald Farr, Director 3 Table of Contents Preliminary Citizenship on the Highway and the High Seas Susan Hanson 1 Baptism Daniel Stevens 3 Classical Greece Ode to the Men of Athens Deborah Seigman 6 Voices of Warning: The Role of the Chorus in Antigone Susan Farris 7 Acting Beyond the Myth of the Citizen Phil Cock 12 Sophrosyne in Antigone: Women, Family and Government Danette Bermea 19 A Conflict of Values Diana Wolf 27 Antigone: A Strange but Strong Woman Joan Davis 33 Dust to Dust Barbara Donovan 41 Mother Dust Danette Bermea 45 Medea: Pathos Kindled by Eros Inflamed Paula Moeller 47 Jesus and the Medea Daniel Stevens 53 The Renaissance "That Perfect Hatred": Anti-Semitism and the Banality of Evil in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Jim McGarry 56 The More You Know, The Moor you May Not KnowCarey Christenberry 68 The Silken Shield of Innocence Deborah Seigman 74 William Shakespeare as Cultural Critic: The Consequences of Denial of Full Citizenship to Outsiders in The Merchant of Venice Vivian DeSoto 81 Shy lock: Outsider and Scapegoat Elizabeth Cook 87 He Who Will "give and hazard all he hath" Susan Hanson 93 What I Learned from Machiavelli Cynthia Walling 99 The Social Contract Obligations of the Individual Inside and Outside Karl Kevin Brown 102 the Social Contract Slavery's Influence on the American Definition of Citizenship Amy Nelson Thibaut 109 The Application of Social Contract Theory to the Declaration of Independence and to "Civil Disobedience" Nancy Hunter 114 3 How Life-Long Exclusion Affects an Individual Act of Civil Disobedience Julie Gardner 123 The Adventures of Eros Gonamuck Daniel Stevens 128 Huckleberry Finn Huck, a Good 01' Boy Dona Holloway 130 Deceit and Democracy: Huckleberry Finn as a Disturbing Presence Beverly Webster 132 Go With the Flow Sandy Watts 136 Everybody Should Know My Name Dona Holloway 139 Embraced and Excluded Joanne Kniffen 145 What Kind of a Boy Is This: Huck Finn and Self-Alienation Bill Martin 153 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a Warning to Society Lynn Cresson 166 Huck Finn: Naive Observer Victoria Heckendorn 171 The Much Abbreviated Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: From the McGarry/Spengemann File Daniel Stevens 175 Beloved She Haunts Me Paula Moeller 178 Beloved and Christian Citizenship: An Augustinian Analysis of Sethe and Stamp Paid Bill Gardiner 179 The Right of Dissent: Beloved's Baby Suggs and Sethe Kathryn Dierksen 185 Nobody Stopped Playing Checkers Teri Holmes 194 The Alienation Factor: Displacement Leading to Violence in Beloved Millie Goode 199 The Meaning of Life Karl Kevin Brown 205 The Patchwork Quilt and Feminist History in Beloved Cynthia Walling 208 Outside the Outside: A Comparison of Walker's Maggie and Morrison's Denver Daniel Stevens 215 L'Envoi From the Shadows Millie Goode 220 Bruce Mitty Carey Christenberry222 Citizenship on the Highway and the High Seas About one hundred miles into my northbound trip back to San Marcos, I was abruptly brought back into the here and now by the immediate slowing of the procession of cars. My thoughts had been centered on simple, happy events surrounding my visit with family and friends at home. Instead of the usual cursory glance and wave at the Sarita checkpoint for drugs and illegal aliens, I was required to come to a complete stop and declare my citizenship! I realized that my vacation was over, and I began to consider what became of those who were unable to answer the citizenship question correctly. Images of the (detention) center along with the stories told by aliens instantly flooded my mind. Once it has been determined that an alien is merely in the United States hoping for a chance at a better pay scale and is not a politica/ refugee, he is packed up and taken back across the border. In reality it is not quite that simple. While being "processed," he is searched and all belongings are taken from him. Anything of value becomes "lost," since it never existed. This stealing by officials is justified because no alien could possibly come by any money or other valuable through legal means because undocumented aliens are not allowed to work in the United States. Once back in Mexico, he simply removes what he has left, ties everything into a bundle, and wades or swims back across the Rio Grande. At this point, he has very little to lose and everything to gain. He will just be a little more cautious the next time he decides to go further north. An "illegal" once told me that the kindest gift a United States citizen had ever given him was swimming lessons. Once this cycle has been completed a number of times, the alien may decide that staying close to the border is the safest bet, and he has heard that the earnings on a shrimp boat can be amazing. He then talks his way into becoming a crewmember and spends three to six weeks out at sea. When the time comes to return with the catch, the crew occasionally will do some quick calculations and determine that they each will have a larger cut if there are fewer with whom to divide the profits. Since, for all practical purposes, the alien was never on the boat because it is against the law to hire him, he is droppe :1 overboard. Several days later his bloated, unidentifiable body washes up on the beach. One wonders whether his family back home ever learns his fate. Every two or three years OnC reads in the paper of a shrimp boat captain who does not come in with the crew. The story generally goes like this: He was checking 2 the TED (turtle excluder device) and somehow got tangled in the nets and fell overboard, and since he could not swim (amazing, but many can't), he was lost. We all wonder how many crew members he pushed over before he got his. In any event, the family of the captain begins to file lawsuits against every governmental agency that is in charge of the regulation and enforcement of the use of TEDS.