Instructions: Check the assignment page before doing a post—sometimes there are instructions or suggestions for particular posts.  In general, the content of the posts is up to you.  You can write about your thoughts on the story (but don't do an amazon.com-type "I like it or don't" review).   Or read a commentary or background essay about the story and discuss it in your blog; if it's an online article, make a link to it.  (See the bibliography page on each book for a list of articles.)  Or do a little research and provide some helpful information, e.g., something about the places mentioned in the story, something about the author, etc. (again, make a link to your source).  Or, if you have a personal experience that's relevant (e.g., you've visited a place mentioned in the story), write about that.

1. Travel Story

Due Thursday, Sept. 10. Post before class.

For Thursday, read Pico Iyer's "Why We Travel" and Aldous Huxley's "Why Not Stay at Home?"  Then, for the first blog entry, write a short travel story (fiction or nonfiction), about 400 words, developing one of the themes in these articles.  Try to learn how to include a picture—you can upload one of your own or grab one from another website.  The instructions for posting blog entries and images are on the help page.

2. Daisy Miller

Post by Monday, Sept. 14.

Read Henry James's Daisy Miller.  Post a blog entry about the story, as it relates to the theme of travel or place.  Take a look at the bibliography on the book and think about including a quote from one of the articles.  Include an image with your blog post.  Remember to post a comment on someone else's blog.

3. The Sun Also Rises

Post by Mon., Sept. 21

Read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.  Post a blog entry about the story, as it relates to the theme of travel or place.  Take a look at the bibliography on the book and think about including a quote from one of the articles.  Include an image with your blog post. Remember to post a comment on someone else's blog

4. Evening of the Holiday

Post by Mon., Sept. 28

Read Shirley Hazzard's Evening of the Holiday.  For the post, write about a travel theme in the novel, or take a look at one of the articles on the Hazzard bibliography (there's not much criticism about the book per se, but the articles can be helpful anyway), or try this: The title comes from a poem by Giacomo Leopardi you can find here, and at the end of chapter 2, Sophie tries to remember Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" (here's an explication of the poem)—how do these allusions function in the novel?

5. Heart of Darkness

Post by Mon., Oct. 5

Read Conrad's Heart of Darkness and one of the articles on the Conrad bibliography page.  Post a reply to the article.  As always, include an image, and remember to post a comment on someone else's blog.

6. The Sheltering Sky

Post by Mon., Oct. 12

7. On the Road

Post by Mon., Oct. 19

8. Death in Venice

Post by Mon., Nov. 2.  (This is the original due date, and it is still the due date.)

9. The Comfort of Strangers

Post by Mon., Nov. 9

Read McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers and post a response.  You might take a look at one of the articles on the McEwan bibliography page. As always, include an image, and remember to post a comment on someone else's blog.

10. Phenomenology of Tourism

Post by Mon., Nov. 16.

In lieu of the midterm, the assignment for this post is to write a response to Erik Cohen’s “A Phenomenology of Tourist Experiences” as it relates to one or more of the novels we’ve read so far.  The length of the post should be approximately like a regular post, i.e., about 500 words (not the 1200 words originally assigned for the mid-term).  As always, include a picture and write a comment on someone else's post.

Cohen’s article is itself a response to two well-known texts about tourism, and if you’d like, you can take a look at them as well; they are Daniel Boorstin’s “From Traveler to Tourist” (from his book The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America) andDean MacCannell, “Staged Authenticity: Arrangements of Social Space in Tourist Settings” (which was developed into his book The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class).

Assume your reader has read the articles so you can use most of your space analyzing the book(s) with respect to some of the ideas in the article(s).

For Thursday, read Mahfouz's The Journey of Ibn Fattouma, and post by Nov. 24.

11. The Journey of Ibn Fattouma

Post by Nov. 23.

Read Mahfouz's The Journey of Ibn Fattouma for Thursday, Nov. 19, but you can do your post anytime before class on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

12. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

Post by Nov. 30

Read A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers for Tuesday, Dec. 1.  Post a response by Mon., Nov. 30.  For a good scholarly article on the novel, check out Fiona J. Doloughan, "Design and acts of translation The art of textual remaking and generic transformation".  As always, include a picture and post a comment on someone else's blog.  If you're behind in the posts, time's running short for catching up.  If you're behind in the comments on other posts, write two or three on recent posts rather than going back to books we read weeks ago.

13. Sputnik Sweetheart

Post by Dec. 7

Read Sputnik Sweetheart for Tuesday, Dec. 8.  Post a response by Mon., Dec. 7.  For related readings on the novel, check out the bibliography page.  As always, include a picture and post a comment on someone else's blog.  If you're behind in the posts, time's running short for catching up.  If you're behind in the comments on other posts, write two or three on recent posts rather than going back to books we read weeks ago.

14/15. Epiphany.  Two final posts, an essay and a story: the instructions are here.

Post by Tues., Dec. 15, class time.