Please contribute to our developing guidelines for assessing multimodal projects: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xs2fL_gg1rNHW9sCbP8m7FgYzXZmAPkCQL8QwYlZ1dc/edit?usp=sharing

• narrative structure: jumps back and forth in time, similar to oryx and crake but less stream-of-consciousness
• secrecy
• creativity: why do human pigoons need to be creative
• what’s going on with Madame? are they afraid of her? why does she take their art?
  • pp. 33-35: fear for its own sake, or fear triggered by guilt?
  • is Madame a Dr. Frankenstein kind of figure?
  • did Madame have something to do with the children’s creation as human pigoons?
  • the children are so similar to her even though they’re not the same kind of person — recognition but difference — what makes them different is what makes characters afraid — similar to Jimmy’s reaction to genetically modified animals
  • could it be pity rather than guilt? avoiding them because she doesn’t know how to act around them without making them feel bad
  • fear of the unknown — a lot responsibility for something she doesn’t understand
  • uncanny — fear of the familiar/unfamiliar
• tone: dystopian society but we don’t know a lot yet; society is very similar to ours; not set in the future, but in a parallel present

What do these words mean?

Why does Snowman collect them?

What is their significance in the context of the novel?

Group 1: pp. 84-85 “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…” OR “sere” and “incarnadine”

Group 2: “cork-nut”

Group 3: p. 148 “mephitic, metronome, mastitis, metatarsal, maudlin”

Group 4: “bogus” and “awesome”

• Disorienting structure – not really chronological – we have a now, and a then, but not the intervening events
• No transitional moment
• Stream-of-consciousness, first person narrator
  • We don’t seem to be the audience – the narrator seems to be his own audience
  • Almost feels poetic in its lack of adherence to chronological narrative – or not. Interiority.
  • Why does the author choose this narrative structure?
    • Feels more realistic, more human – which makes sense, we assume he’s the last human
    • We are disoriented because our narrator is disoriented
    • Apocalypse tends to be describes as very sudden – narrators try to adjust – perhaps breakdown of narrative self – lack of cohesion
  • Is there significance to the chapter titles?
    • Flotsam – he is sort human flotsam
      • Describes other people as Crakers
      • Attaching memories to humanity – jumping from memory to memory – fragments of memory
      • Crakers go through flotsam to collect material
        • Snowman gives nonsensical explanations for what they find
        • Old meanings don’t matter anymore – everything he’s ever is irrelevant garbage
        • He’s alone, looking to keep himself busy – entertainment, almost at their expense
        • They want to know what’s dangerous
      • Definition 2b: “miscellaneous or unimportant material; a notebook filled with flotsamand jetsam”
    • Feathers
      • they’re making up their own fantasies about him – treating him like a mythical creature
      • their stories make him different but also sympathetic
      • he is free to make up random b.s. about the world – they’re taking the flotsam of his explanation and trying to spin it into a narrative about the world – sense-making
      • is he being sarcastic to protect what’s left of his humanity?
    • Are the Crakers human?
      • No?
      • Genetically modified humans, probably
      • Depends on how we define human
        • Does following religion make them human? The stories that they make up sort of seem like the beginning of a religion
        • Biologically can they breed with humans?
        • Depends on whether we consider humans special as a life form and if so why?
      • They were imagined by humans first
      • Are the pigoons human? If they’re more than 50% human organs, are they human?
      • Crakers have language that Snowman can understand and pigoons do not
    • First memory of duck boots
      • Shows Jimmy’s moral discomfort with harming animals that aren’t even real – insight into his relationship to animals – feels sympathy for things that don’t exist
      • Gives story credibility – relatable moment – developing mind doesn’t quite distinguish between real and not real – a very human experience
      • Humans are supposed to care for others even when they can’t feel – it makes us human to imagine that they can feel – much like he relates to pigoons because he imagines that they don’t understand what’s going on either – much like the Crakers project their understanding of the world onto Snowman
      • Immediate connection to the animals being burned – first understanding of death is a mass death
      • Anything with eyes looks back at him – eyes are processing that he is there as well? Winnicott – mirror theory – we can project our image onto it because it has eyes
    • What’s the significance of the name Snowman?
      • Abominable – shouldn’t exist – thought up – doesn’t have a place in the current world
      • “I’m melting!” – mortality – they eventually die – some relationship to climate change
      • more b.s. because he can and it doesn’t matter

Individually:

1. In 1-2 sentences, identify a theme, scene, setting, or character that particularly interests you, and explain why.
2. What words are phrases are associated with the element you identified? That is, how is it described? Write down about 5 examples.
3. Analyze what you found. What additional meaning is conveyed by these particular words or phrases?

As a group:

1. Discuss your individual work. What broad themes emerge?
2. Are these themes transferable to the modern era?
3. How might an author or artist convey meaning about these themes today? You can think in terms of descriptive writing, but you are also encouraged to think across media: how might you use visual, auditory, sculptural, or conceptual elements to convey your interpretation of these themes today?

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

How does a website communicate information?

• organization by pages rather than by paragraphs
  • reader/user can skip to the part of interest — which means that self-referentiality has to be integrated throughout
  • should be easy to find your way through
  • limited amount of space — information should be conveyed in a shorter format
• author as character (in case of blogs)
• thesis statement — title, homepage — gives purpose
• name of blog and URL can cause confusion if different
• “evidence” and “analysis” contained to each page/post
  • could each blog post be evidence/analysis
  • could comments be considered analysis?
• what is the purpose? thinking in terms of audience — is the audience the class? or a public?
  • right now, it privileges student ability to find course information, rather than featuring student work
  • can there be additional incentive to post/comment?
  • more interactivity?
  • homepage could feature student work
  • or glossary on homepage
  • can we make blog posts connect in some way? structure blog posts as debate — have a whole debate page?
  • can there be a reminder part to the page?