Study Guide 5:

Prompt: If we were to write a dystopian novel in our present historical moment,

what do you think it should be about?
The human species seems to be the dominant life form on planet earth, with our established
culture and customs—plus our penchant for canine companions that conform to our ways of
thinking and organizing. But what if dogs dominated instead, setting the social trends for our
interactions, entertainment, global guidance, and more?

It seems to me that a great dystopian novel could have dogs at the centre of it. It would be hard
to believe a society in which the so-called men’s best friend is now the new ruler. I imagine a
world where the original reason of why dogs became so attached to humans was to learn from
them so they can eventually take over the world. I believe this because one cannot deny that
nowadays most of the households have at least one dog. This is how it would start, they would
collect information from us in order to learn from our practices and habits so that when the time
to start their revolution would come, they would know exactly what to do according to the data
they have collected.

Moreover, another good reason to write a dystopian novel about dogs assuming control is to
narrate the feeling of betrayal that would cause knowing that the pet you love actually considers
you an enemy and that had been thoroughly planning how to rule over you.

Even though humans are at the top of the food chain that may change in the wink of an eye. If
an animal species, in this case dogs, were to get together and combine their skills, they would
actually have a good chance of wiping out the human race.
Journal:

The novel that I chose to read was “The Handmaid’s Tale”. I do not have words that can express
what such novel made me feel. Powerless, impotent, angry, sad, a turmoil of feelings and
emotions that me as a reader I am lucky to feel it just in my head. While I was reading the novel,
it came to my mind the countless women in the world who suffer different kinds of injustice just
for being a women. Moreover, as the uncle of a little beautiful niece, this novel made me want
to show my niece how to enjoy the world as it is, not paying attention in the differences that
society draws between men and women. I want to separate her from all of that, and at the same
time educate her to construe a better world so that everyone regardless sex and gender can live
happily without having to concern on things such as discrimination.
Study guide 3:

Task: Write an expository text where you discuss the way gender issues emerge in
the texts you have read in this lesson. Remember to cite your sources between
parentheses within the text, and then in a list of References at the end.
The text we have deal with in this study guide present the issues of gender as emerging in such
a way that societies will have to redefine its critical systems encompassing a new way of thinking
and new ways of teaching. This means breaking down the old conception of binaries and
enhancing the growth of women’s power within the limits of their context.

To put up with the emergence of the “gender issues”, it is essential to first know what genre
means

“Gender is (…) it’s a social and legal status, and set of expectations from society, about behaviors,
characteristics, and thoughts. Each culture has standards about the way that people should
behave based on their gender. This is also generally male or female. But instead of being about
body parts, it’s more about how you’re expected to act, because of your sex”.
(https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-
identity)

Moreover, in the lessons that were devoted to this study guide we have discovered the
paramount changes that women brought about when they were allowed to teach in universities.
To learn that in the past some text that were about gay people or that showed sides of women
that were not the “normal” ones were not allowed to be read in universities was astonishing.
And that it was thanks to women that such books were introduced into universities. This fact
only makes me think that one usually takes for granted events that are common in the today’s
world, but a deeper exploration on how such events became the way they are now is to be truly
interested and ready to embrace a change.

With all this taken into account, the feminist movement now will be seeing as a criticism to the
ways in which women were economic, political, and psychologically oppressed. This point of
view puts “the male as dominant” and gave us awareness about how woman were marginalized
since the beginnings, like for example in the traditional literary canon women writers were
excluded.

References:

- https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theor
y_and_schools_of_criticism/gender_studies_and_queer_theory.html
- https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-
identity
Journal:

The texts that were required to read for this study guide made learn a lot of new thinks and at
the same time they made learn more about myself. Being able to distinguish the differences
between gender and sex helped me realize how the world is changing and the struggles that
were and are necessary in order to create equality for all human beings regardless of their sex,
gender, sexual orientation or race.
Study guide 1:

Task: Write an expository text where you discuss the controversies surrounding
some of the concepts introduced in this lesson. Remember to cite your sources
between parentheses within the text, and then in a list of References at the end.
Literary Studies in English are in a period of rapid and disorienting change, which are summarised
in terms of the traditional periods.

This tendency of dividing literary history into periods makes it really difficult to think clearly and
accurately of Literary History as a whole. This division seems to have been used as a matter of
“convenience” because periods are “traditional” or “simple”. For example, the concept of the
decade represents thinking about time in a punctuated, discontinuous manner, which
encourages viewing history not as a web of events, but as discrete, temporally fragmented
snapshots.

The fact that there is quite a bit of overlapping between the characteristic features of different
historical periods and that no single work of literature can manifest all the characteristic features
associated with a period. Historical periods seem, therefore, to be generalized abstractions, and
generalizations always carry the danger of blotting out the uniqueness of individual works of
literature and their writer(s). Instead of asking what type of writer the individual may be, we just
argue about the ways in which his/her work exemplifies (or not) a particular period.

Perhaps the greatest disadvantage of period terms is that they block any serious consideration
of change and development. As a consequence, periods not only disrupt the continuity of
cultural processes but they also serve as a way of deciding which literary work is considered
canonical and which does not fit into the considerations to be considered as such.

To sum up, Literary History should not be about what makes up a period, but rather it should be
centred in the details of individual authors, the (inter) connexion they had with other authors,
the impact that cultural entities had on them, and on specific texts.

As regards the poems that we had to read for this study guide it was a good idea in order to have
a better understanding of them to consider the history in which they are embedded: the
Philippine-American War (1899- 1902). Americans had a variety of motivations to annex the
Philippines to the USA. Taking this into consideration, we can picture that the three poems are
part of a period in which different “powers” were trying to conquer/dominate territories and
that has one specific characteristic: the hatred among the “white” and the “non-white” people.

The three poems were written to an audience which were of the same generation, but we can
see that there have been different points of view. Probably, Americans supported the idea
expressed in the poem “The White Man’s Burden” because of their national identity. This might
have happened to the “non-white people” as well.

America was part of the metropolis, the central power, which stated the rules of the colony: the
Philippines: territory under the immediate complete political control of a state. There was a fight
between powerful and powerless, strong and weak, sullen and cheerful.

Although it is not expressed in a “direct way”, “The Brown’s Man Burden” and “The Black Man’s
Burden” are part of the literary criticism to “The White Man’s Burden”. The three poems are
part of the reaction of a nation which was suffering changes.
References:

- Rehder, R. “Periodization and the Theory of Literary History.”

- Smith, J. S. “The Strange History of the Decade: Modernity, Nostalgia, and the Perils of
Periodization”, Journal of Social History.
Journal:

This is the very first time I write something as a journal. I hope this year Literature really becomes
something meaningful. Unfortunately, last year I did not have the experience I would have liked
to have.

The material that I had to read for this study guide were really interesting. I think that it is
incredible how something as simple as the decade could become something so important when
discussing literature.
Study guide 2:

Task: Write an expository text where you discuss the connection between popular
literature and the material conditions of life in the early 20th century.
How the material aspects of literary texts, such as the cover, binding, typography, and paper
stock, reflect or even determine their cultural status.

One of the most significant consequences of the Industrial Revolution was that printing became
cheaper, faster, and more easily accessible than ever before. This process began with the
development of automatic paper-making machines. Moreover, the techniques of illustration
and pictorial reproduction also went through enormous changes during the nineteenth century.

The emergence and widespread availability of popular literature was directly connected to these
new technologies, as many illustrated journals had high print runs and combined popular
content with pictures for a mass public.

As a result of this combination of high-speed presses, machine-made paper, publisher’s

bindings, and composing machines, all of the basic elements of the printing process could be
mechanized and eventually automated. As these machines required less human labor (and also
less well-paid and specialized labor), there was a rapid decrease in printing costs and a
tremendous increase in the quantity of print runs, which resulted in a sudden explosion of print
material in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

This increase in book production was due to a wide range of social changes, including
accelerated urbanization, a higher standard of living, a more sophisticated educational system
and higher technical training. These changes led to a greater demand for print material across
Europe and North America, as a decrease in the working day and improved education resulted
in a sudden increase in literacy rates, particularly among women and the working class. By the
1890s more than 95 percent of the population in advanced countries could read and write, which
resulted in the emergence of a mass reading public.

It is clear that the increase in both the supply and demand for books led to what is known as a
“reading revolution”.

Popular reading and publishing expanded even further in the early twentieth century, as higher
production costs and lower profit margins forced publishers to accelerate the movement
towards cheap-priced books, and to accommodate more closely the tastes of the lower-middle
and working class.

The rise of new formats and genres led to a new emphasis on the material qualities of the book,
which effectively functioned as a form of commercial advertising.

The growth of popular reading thus led to the rise of commercial circulating libraries, which not
only served poorer areas but also catered to the specific demands of working-class readers, who
overwhelmingly preferred to read popular genre fiction.
Working-class readers often rejected the kinds of books that were being offered, however, as
they preferred popular novels instead. This led to the rise of “popular libraries

The rise of a mass reading public that preferred to read popular novels, which the literary elite
considered to be vulgar, immediately inspired fears of cultural degradation.
Popular fiction was seen as a commodity that could be standardized and mass produced in order
to maximize profits, while literary fiction was based on a rejection of economic profit and an
accumulation of “symbolic capital” or prestige. This cultural shift helps to explain why publishers
did not market literary novels in the same way as popular novels.

In the end, therefore, the circulation of “symbolic capital” is indelibly linked to the circulation of
actual capital, as money generates prestige and prestige generates money. Literature as one of
its specific forms, makes no distinction here, or at least no distinction that wouldn’t matter.

Reference:

- Enns, A. and B. Metz (2015). “Distinctions that matter: Popular Literature and Material
Culture”. Belphégor.
Journal:

This study guide was not interesting for me because I did not feel anything that caught my
attention. I particularly disliked the activity in which I had to look up for the definition of so many
words. It was hard because some of the definitions were similar so I was not completely sure
whether it was correct or not.

However, one thing I do liked about this study guide was reading Agatha Christie’s “The Murder
of Roger Ackroyd.” I liked the story because I never thought that the murdered would be the
narrator! That seriously blown me away! I felt a sense of betrayal because I liked to think as I
was reading the story that I was connecting the clues and that I would get by the end of the story
knowing who the murdered was and then-bam!- surprise reader! I was shocked but also excited
by the ending. Such a great story!
Study guide 4:

Task: Write a poem about an unforgettable moment in your life. Once you get a
definitive version, interrogate it: would you say it is an “engaged” or an “artistic”
text? Write a brief text about your conclusion.
Poem:

An innocent girl playing by the sea,

She says nothing but words of love.

Isn’t it grievenly odd how an entity so holy can open up

the doors of agony and despair?

Tears, laughter, a sick TV.

All memories of what once was but no longer is.

All memories that your absence is the only thing

present.

The poem I wrote is artistic. It would not be considered part of the Engaged Literature because
I wrote it for the sake of expressing some emotions that are trapped in my heart and mind, not
in order to defend a particular stand, position or belief.
Journal:

I have to say that the final task in this study guide made me go deeper in my heart and mind. It
was a moment where a lot of feelings came out – sadness, happiness, impotence, a turmoil of
feelings and emotions that cannot be labelled under any name. It was painful to let go some
memories that I had locked inside my head, but at the same time it was great to let some of it
go so the memories start to hurt less.

Even though at the beginning I was not pleased by the idea of using such memories in order to
complete a task, in the end it turned out to be a wonderful exercise to put my mind at ease for
a moment. Memories are to be told, not kept.