Today’s agenda:
1. “The Wise Woman of Cordoba”
2. Appositives
Next week: essay work
possibilities: poetry, non-fiction
sentence review
If you have areas that you would like to see covered in the last time, tell me.
“The Wise Woman of Cordoba”
walkthrough of my thoughts on the story-
*First reading- basics of the story
– setting-where & when
- characters- major, minor, protagonist, antagonist, static, dynamic
- plot- plotline – exposition, rising action, climax, falling action,
denouement
*Second reading – deeper look- relevance of setting, symbolism,
metaphors
- guide us to a deeper understanding of the story, find deeper meaning
-on the surface, children’s story, scary story
on deeper level – meanings and significances that we can come to understand
Not reading on the surface, like a child.
Read deeper, like a mature, thoughtful human.
trust the author- meaning to be found, investigation is worthwhile
some stories have no deeper meaning, that’s fine – plot-driven stories
good fiction and movies have layers
worthwhile to uncover those layers, see what’s there
you may look at a work of fiction, movie and guess that there’s nothing there, but there may be something valuable there
matter of investigation, caring, experience, thoughtful reading,
stories can reveal what makes us human, universal experience
resonate with your life, experience
The gold is there. You have to dig. You may need someone to show you where to dig.
“long ago” – suggests fairy tale, children’s story, deeply metaphorical
Cordoba- city in Spain, city in Mexico- relationship?
history of colonialism
religion – Catholicism, Catholic Church
Mexico – syncretic- mix of religions, mix of Catholicism and pre-Contact beliefs
association between women and devil
internal conflict in the character WW – associated with the devil, yet very helpful, community-minded
Wise Woman – independent, powerful, strange, magic powers
story about powerful women – feared distrusted by men, disliked by men
WW put in jail – metaphor, keeping women under control, controlling powerful women
the judge – represents power
Story could be a metaphor for the oppression of women in the world.
This is my reading of the story.
a reading – an interpretation based on some knowledge of literary tropes, world history, sociology, human nature
Sometimes people can have interpretations of stories that are really out to lunch. Their reading of the story doesn’t seem to based in anything other than what’s in their head.
Your reading and interpretation of the text should be based in evidence from the text.
These are my thoughts. You can disagree or agree. This is my reading of the story. Take what you like from it.
superstition – based in culture
superstition – actions or object that bring good or bad luck
rabbit’s foot – good luck
walking a ladder – bad luck
* witches – female, women – negative connotation
popular culture- witch in Snow White, Wicked Witch of the West -The Wizard of Oz
negative portraits of magical women
characteristics – ugly, green skin, wart, ugly clothes, terrible voices, scary, fly on brooms
*wizard, warlock – male – no negative connotations
characteristics – strong, noble, powerful, knowledgeable, educated
sexism in Western portrayal of magic women
cultural symbols of fear, scariness
-full moon – Western - symbol of fear, madness, insanity
Asia – full moon- happy, joyful, symbol for family, gathering, festival. e.g. Mid-Autumn Festival
gender of moon and sun
the moon – feminine- French ‘la lune’, Spanish ‘la luna”
the sun – masculine- French ‘le soliel’, Spanish ‘el sol’
In most cultures, the moon is thought of a being female.
moon – ‘la lune’ ‘la luna’
lun- root for moon, associated with madness, scariness, fear
lunatic – ‘crazy’ person, make insane by the influence of the moon
loony- foolish (adj)
loonie – one-dollar coin
loon -waterbird like a duck
In my culture, references to femininity are often associated with madness and evil.
hysteria – hysterical – lose control of your emotions, freak out
witch – associated with broom- domestic tool
- cat- femininity
Black cats are bad luck.
- nothing about dogs, horses, etc.
nightmares – bad dreams – night -mare- female horse
witches have brooms
wizards have staffs
- Deeper ideas in “The Wise Woman of Cordoba”
- symbolism, importance of setting, cultural references
*TRUTH: When you reading a story or poem from another culture, if you don’t understand the culture references, then you don’t understand the story or poem.
vocab? questions?
bewildered (adj) – really confused, unable to understand what it happening, overwhelmed
We will do some writing about the story tomorrow. Test #6 paragraph
Appositives -
like an adjective clause, but shorter
e.g.
My sister’s name is Kathy. She lives in Spain.
My sister whose name is Kathy lives in Spain. adj cl
Kathy, who is my sister, lives in Spain. adj cl
appositive
My sister, Kathy, lives in Spain. appositive
Kathy, my sister, lives in Spain. appositive
My home country which is Iran is very beautiful. adj cl
Iran, which is my home country, is very beautiful. adj cl
My home country, Iran, is very beautiful. appositive
Iran, my home country, is very beautiful. appositive
My home country is very beautiful.
Iran is very beautiful.
**often used with names
Keep it to names for now.
My dog, Butter, is very loyal to our family.
Butter, my dog, is very loyal to our family.
Kai, my son, loves to play soccer.
My son, Kai, loves to play soccer. SIMPLE? COMPLEX? I don’t know.
My son Kai loves to play soccer. XXX
WeiQing wants to visit her home city, KaiPing.
WeiQing wants to visit Kaiping, her home city.
I like my teacher, Mrs Loo.
I like my teacher Mrs Loo. XXX small error, but not right
Adjective clauses and appositives are similar. They do the same job, but the grammar is difference.
My lunch smells great. It is an onion and garlic sandwich.
My lunch which is an onion and garlic sandwich smells great. adj cl
My lunch, an onion and garlic sandwich, smells great. appositive
Fatima’s son is an engineer. He is moving to Toronto next week.
Fatima’s son who is an engineer is moving to Toronto next week. adj cl
Fatima’s son, an engineer, is moving to Toronto next week. appositive
Combine these using appositives:
1. Jessica is the youngest student in the class. She had the highest mark.
2. The baby is six months old. He does not sleep well.
3. Eileen was the marketing manager. She organized the ad campaign.
4. The class was taught by Mrs. McKnight. She is a retired teacher.
5. The car was a red convertible. The car was speeding through the neighbourhood.
6. Friends is an American sitcom. It is very popular with ESL students.
7. The Nakdong River is the longest river in Korea. It is over 500 km long.
8. English is the language of business. It is a challenging language to
learn.
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