Independent Reading: Term Two
Ms. Sallee American Literature 5
7 December 2008
Independent Reading: Term Two
Goals for this unit:
v Deepen analysis of passages by incorporating analysis of language and its implications
v Strengthen interpretive independence through passage explication
v Practice process of passage explication in preparation for poetry explication and research paper (term three)
v Learn the basics of evaluating and critiquing an author’s text and style (mostly in final project) also in preparation for research project in term three
v Learn the basics of finding, evaluating and incorporating critical commentary into one’s own work (mostly in final project) also in preparation for research project in term three.
Annotation (10 pts.) and Explication (15 pts.) Instructions:
v Choose a passage of 10-15 lines from the section of the novel you are reading. Make sure it is rich with interpretive possibilities in terms of its imagery, thematic content, character possibilities—it needs to be a passage you can “run with.” It may be rich with undertones or unstated possibilities, especially characteristic of dialogue in realist and modernist writers.
v Find the passage online (or retype it) and paste it onto your page double (or 1.5) spaced with ample margins. Be sure to include the chapter and page number of the passage. Annotate it comprehensively, making sure you do not overlook any elements central to its meaning or implications. Your annotations need to be complete enough that I can follow your thinking, but they may be in note form. Please make sure your annotations are legible.
v Use your annotations as a basis for your explication. The explication, then, will focus almost exclusively on the passage you have chosen.
Explication Guidelines (explication length: approximately one page single spaced)
BE SURE TO INCLUDE COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON YOUR NOVEL IN MLA FORMAT AT THE END OF EACH EXPLICATION (-3 PTS IF MISSING, INCOMPLETE, INACCURATE OR HANDWRITTEN)
v In two-three sentences, set out the context and situation of the passage you have chosen. A mini-thesis about the passage may help you to set out better focus and direction, but it is not required.
v The explication itself should trace the meaning and deeper implications of each part of the passage. Make sure you do not overlook any element central to the passage. It is often easiest to follow the order of the passage, but you may prefer to organize it by element—the choice is yours.
v Develop the explication by exploring the connotations, implications and significance of the material in the passage. This work should be very close to the text, so be sure to make ample use of shorter embedded quotations.
v Bring closure to the piece by connecting the passage to one or two other scenes you have read thus far or by setting out what you think is the larger significance of what you have presented.
v A good explication is a sustained study of a passage and its deeper significance. Note also that “the author at work” is implied in much of what is presented. You may also use big ideas or concepts of the course, such as reform, identity, or Romanticism.
The Raging River
During Harriet Beecher Stowe’s time, slavery was a common practice down South. A major component of this institution was the slave trade itself. Slaves were often sold from the northern plantations, carried down the Mississippi, and deposited in the notorious plantations of the South. As Uncle Tom travels on the La Belle Rivière, Harriet Beecher Stowe describes the Mississippi River as a symbol for the institution of slavery.
In the earlier days, the Mississippi was regarded with a sense of awe, much like slavery. Initially, Chateaubriand saw the river as a great and fantastic mystery, “rolling amid undreamed wonders” (208). It held all sorts of possibilities. This was along the lines of Romantic thought as well, with adventurism and curiosity. Slavery, too, was first viewed as extremely positive and holding so much potential. The river helped gain an immense amount of capital for the country, as evidenced by the extremely wealthy slave traders. In addition, in theory, Mississippi’s products were all diverse, representing America’s great sense equality.
Slavery began to grow though, and at a destructive rate. In a similar fashion, the Mississippi had “turbid waters, hurrying, foaming, [and] tearing along” (209). The raging waters represent the raging business around slavery. The slave trade was brutal, ripping apart families, just as the river would rip apart shorelines and trees. Stowe then evokes the reader’s sympathies further with slaves, who uttered “the tears of the oppressed, the sighs of the helpless, [and] bitter prayers of poor, ignorant hearts” while on these steamboats (209). Their condition is run-down and hopeless. The slaves lead a destitute life with no hope of even salvation in sight. All the prayers and hopes that people uttered to them about Heaven, Stowe describes with a huge sense of sarcasm. She sees no hope in their life after death for redemption. As the sun sets on the boat, the trees it passes represent the slaves’ weary condition. There are “shivery canes, and the tall, dark cypress, hung with wreaths of dark, funeral moss” (209). The trip down the Mississippi has worn many a slave out. In a way, the river mourns the loss of these people prematurely, before they have even gotten all the way South. The trees, or slaves, are completely harmless, but the river is wearing them away. They have become weak and overgrown, just as many slaves start to give up on life. However, the trees do have a “glow in the golden ray” of sunlight (209). Stowe does see the slaves as heroic and worthwhile, even if others do not.
It is ironic how Stowe juxtaposes the original Romantic view of the river with the horrifying condition of the slaves, enhancing the discrepancy between the two views. If the Mississippi is slavery itself, than different people saw it in different ways. Stowe’s varying interpretations of the river exemplify this opinion. The aristocracies saw the Mississippi River as a capital opportunity, whereas the slaves saw it leading to their demise. In terms of the aristocracies, they saw the river with the “slanting light of the setting sun” (209). They twisted everything that they saw to make it their own. For instance, St. Clare later talks about how religion has been perverted to mean that African Americans are naturally inferior to whites. The holy word of the Bible itself was changed to fit what the plantation owners wanted. The owners saw wild nature in the river and African Americans and wanted to harness it for their own benefit and use. Exploitation was not out of the picture, and they only slightly morally justified their measures by changing existing laws and societal boundaries. The slaves saw the river as both an instrument of their failure and as a salvation. It led them to a life of torture and hard work, away from their families and everything they had once known. On the other hand, the river also proved a good way for Lucy to commit suicide and save herself from more pain.
The contrasting descriptions of the river itself, and therefore of slavery, show how different opinions of the time were so drastically dissimilar. Stowe condemns the Romantic view of it, and mainly sees it as a destructive tool of capitalists.