Reading Quicksand, writing Project #1

The reading assignment for this week is to finish reading Quicksand. How is that going? it would be great if everyone were finished with the novel when we meet on Thursday.

You are also working on Project #1, which is due–both parts–on Thursday by the start of class. If you have any questions or concerns about Project #1, please let me know by posting a comment in response to this post or to the post in which I wrote a sample manifesto. And be sure to read that sample! Remember that your manifesto should be written from the voice of either the narrator of the story or one of the characters–except perhaps a bolder version, one who is ready to make a passionate statement about the conditions in which women like those in our texts live.

As you’re reading Larsen’s Quicksand, think about what you want to discuss in class, especially which location of the remaining locations you want to focus on. Write a blog post about that location as the setting for Helga’s development as a character.

OR, think about which man in Helga’s life you’d like to discuss. Write a blog post about the relationship Helga has with that man, why it stands out to you, and how it meets or doesn’t meet your expectations.

OR, think about what Helga terms “the race question,” and how she attempts to rid it from or embrace it in her life. How were her different experiences in each setting fuel for the fire she feels about race?

OR, pose a different question about Quicksand and answer it.

And in case you thought that things would calm down after Project #1, our midterm exam is scheduled for March 27th! Coming soon on our course site: information about the format and scope of the exam, and sample questions.

6 thoughts on “Reading Quicksand, writing Project #1

  1. Hi
    I am still working on it but I don’t know if I am on the right track. I wasn’t able to come to class last week. Is it too late to post a draft of what I wrote so far?

  2. Zenia McLeod

    Feminist Manifesto

    There Was Once

    We are NOT damsels in distress, someone that needs to be rescued. Why can’t WE slay our dragons and save the day? The idea that we can’t save our own lives is ridiculous! Women do it every day. We solve our own problems and make our own decisions. We don’t need approval from anyone to do so, we just do. And we’re good at it too, great even!

    Who needs Prince Charming anyways? Isn’t anyone tired of that foolish impression of women being a burden, someone that only a man can take care of?! We don’t NEED men. They aren’t our bread and butter. We can raise families on our own, or run businesses and even nations. Who ever says that a leader has to be a man is ignorant to the vast capabilities of a women.

    I make a challenge to every women whose ever felt that you couldn’t amount to as much as a man. CHALLENGE EVERYTHING! Don’t just take things the way they are. Ask who, what, where, when, and why, especially why. We could change the status quo, you know. Don’t settle for positions and titles that society has placed on us. We’ve come a long way from just being in the kitchen. There’s so much more we can do, and be. If all women were to embrace this revelation and run with it, how much better off we would be.

    *I’m not completed with the draft, I just wanted to know if I was going in the write direction for the manifesto part.*

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