WLC+Jane

Divide your novel into four sections - by pages or chapters. **Post the schedule below on your wiki page with your pages/chapters due filled in for each class.
 * Reading Assignments:

World Literature Circles - Meeting #1 Pages / Chapters Due:** Chapter 1 - 5
 * Class 39

World Literature Circles - Meeting #2 Pages / Chapters Due:** Chapter 6 - 7
 * Class 41

World Literature Circles - Meeting #3 Pages / Chapters Due:** Chapter 8-9
 * Class 43

World Literature Circles - Meeting #4 Pages / Chapters Due:** Chapter 10 - 11
 * Class 44


 * Questions**
 * What do you think this novel will be about based on the cover art?: It seems like the main character will turn bad to good by a series of events.
 * READ THE FIRST PAGE ALOUD IN YOUR GROUP: :)
 * What is the POV (provide evidence): Third POV, "Raju welcomed the intrusion-" (p.1)
 * What conflict is introduced?: None yet
 * What characters are introduced?: Raju and the man from Mangal are introduced.
 * What do you learn about each of the characters (provide textual evidence)?: Raju is polite. "Raju waited for the other to say something. But he was too **polite** to open a conversation." (p.1) and he is also lonely: "Raju... relieves the lonliness of the place. " (p.1) "The man from Mangal has a daughter: "My daughter is married to my own sister's son..." (p.1-2)
 * What is the setting (time, location)? : Time: Dusk, Location: Outside somewhere near the trees and the river bank.
 * What do you think this book will be about?: I think it will be about a man who transforms and becomes a different man.

In my opinion, the most interesting discussion we had was making connections from another source to Raju from //The Guide//. For me, the actions of Raju seemed fairly seemed similar or near identical to that of Mahatmas Gandhi. Raju and Gandhi both preach the ideals of non-cooperation, fasts, and gives advices with wise and solemn words. Similarly, they are both from India. Apart from that, Raju is a fictional character while obviously Gandhi is not. Gandhi is also a true believer of his ideals and of world peace while Raju merely borrows these concepts from Gandhi to save his own life. he has no interest in worldly issues but has a good way around with his words. Later, he is seen as a holy man after he begins to fast. Carol saw connections from //The Guide// to //Romeo and Juliet// in the sense that fate seems to play a big part in both stories while for Christine and Sam, they connected it to //Things Fall Apart// after comparing and contrasting the societal roles of each character.
 * Reflection #1 - May 17th, 2010**

Location - For my novel, The Guide, I researched where the storyline took place. Just from looking at the novel alone, I could get a good grasp that it took place in India. To start with, the protagonist's name is Raju, a common name throughout India. The novel also mentions a short section about the "Tamil alphabet" in page 7, that is also spoken in India. Just by looking at the places mentioned in the story such as Ellaman Street and Peakman House, I couldn't infer anything about the setting because they all seemed to be fictional when I google-d them up. However, a short history of R.K.Narayan featured in a biography mentioned that he was a "Indian novelist... leading early Indian literature" as well as "Narayan's 14 novels and numerous stories provide descriptions of everyday village life in S India" so I could pretty much assume that the location for this novel was set in India. "__R. K. Narayan__." T__he Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008.__ //Encyclopedia.com//. 17 May. 2010<__http://www.encyclopedia.com__>.- The source seems reliable becomes it is an online version of the Columbian Encyclopedia, published by the Columbia University Press.
 * Homework #1 - May 17th, 2010**

(p.106) "The usual symptoms were present, of course: no taste for food, no sound sleep, no stability (I couldn't stay put in any one place), no peace of mind, no sweetness of temper or speech - no, no, no a number of nos. -> This is an example of Pattern 9A because it features a same word repeated in a parallel structure. **
 * Sentence Pattern #1

For today, we had a lengthy discussion on the "connection" part of the assignment. I compared Raju to Mahatma Gandhi as there were clear references to the latter in this section. "Your presence is similar to Mahatmas Gandhi" (p. 82) and "You're not another human being. You are a Mahatma. We should consider ourselves blessed indeed to be able to touch the dust of your feet." (p.82). While I compared Raju to a historical figure, Sam compared the uncle of Raju to Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart. He mentioned that both of their personalities were gruff, manly and took great responsibility in family matters. Christine compared Raju & Rosie to the animals from Animal Farm. In Animal Farm, the animals take over the farm after they push out Mr. & Ms. Jones out of Manor Farm. In a similar way, Rose & Raju take ownership of the house after Raju's mother leaves the house - forcibly. Lastly, Carol compared Raju & Rosie to Cunegonde and Candide from Candide. She noted that for both novels, the male protagonist's love for their female counterpart were driven out of mere physical appearance and actions. Hence, their "driving force" or their purpose to live on ultimately changes to being with their lover all the time. This results in Raju & Candide losing their jobs from the workforce, which damages them economically.
 * Reflection #2 - May 24th, 2010**

Today, Christine was absent because of band practice and so Sam, Carol and I had a much shorter discussion than usual. We noticed that the name change of Rosie to Nalini signified a turning point in the story. Nalini has a much lighter and brighter connotation than that of Rosie - happiness and liveliness. She is then regarded as a whole different person in society. People start to begin to notice her and audiences gather around to watch her perform. On page 139, it says "With the attainment of a new name, Rosie entered a new phase of life.". We also had some interesting connections that we made to other stories. For me, I thought that Raju was similar to characters from견우와 직녀 (a Korean folk story that tells the tale of two lovers that abandon their work after falling in love with each other). In the same way, Raju fails to complete his work and becomes a sloth. Rosie was comparable to Gregor from the Metamorphosis because they were both forced to work unwillingly. Not because of their own passion, but out of peer pressure. **
 * Reflection #3 - May 28th, 2010

- Raju's Uncle & Okonkwo : personality is gruff, way in treating siblings is very caring and are very manly. - Raju & Rosie = animals in the animal farm. They are in somewhat similar to a dictator - toppling the authorities above out of power. Raju & Rosie kick out Raju's mother out of the house to live with his uncle while the animals from Animal Farm herd out Mr. & Ms. Jones - Cunegonde & Candide = Raju & Rosie. For both couples, the male protagonist's motivation to live is to see their female counterpart. This is based on their love derived from physical appearance and actions. - Rosie = Oracle. Both are very unpredictable and very unstable. You never know what each is going to do next. - Raju = Gregor. Both live an "unwanted life", and they are constantly pressured by their parents and peers. **
 * Reflection #4 - May 31st, 2010 Literature Comparisons