Hemingway

In our discussions of Maupassant, we insisted on the notions of drifting and of being "afloat."  Relate these to Hemingway's idea of a *moveable* "feast."  

Consider the notion of drifting in Maupassant's Afloat.  You might think of narrative structure, geographical/imagined space, the journey, relationship to self, etc.  Please point to specific passages as you elaborate your reflections.

This will be the basis of your reflection question, to be prepared (to be presented and/or submitted) for class Monday.

Synthesis (1)

While Montaigne, Montesquieu and Mercier write seemingly very different "travel narratives," there nonetheless remain striking similarities -- if not in the form, then in the thematic preoccupations -- between their works. Reflect upon the commonalities between the Essays, the Persian Letters, and the Tableau de Paris. In the final analysis, are these texts more similar than not? Does (apparently different) form attempt to achieve a similar end? What it, for you, the most important feature that these texts share? Please be specific in your synthesis.

Montesquieu, _Persian Letters_ (2)

To a great extent, our discussions of the Persian Letters have revolved around the form of the novel; that is to say, we have related questions of interest to the nature and form of the letter.  We have considered the importance of perspective and point of view as inherently plural in the epistolary form, and suggested that both perception and knowledge are to be understood -- by extension -- as plural.  Let us now think more explicitly about the relationship between the letter and power.

Who writes, and why?  What is the relationship between the letter, the act of writing, the act of reading, and visibility?  Whose narrative is authoritative?  Whose is discounted?  Who speaks/writes on another's behalf?  Why and when?  You might relate the question of power to that of knowledge.

Thinking in a larger context, now, reflect upon the *kind* of power exercised in "narrating" the Other.  

Please provide specific page numbers when making reference to the text, and point to at least one particular passage.