Passages from THE STRANGER

In the following passages, trace several themes by consulting the text and making notes.

1.      P The Physical experience: light, smell, sound, heat, lust, the body

2.      D Vs. Emotional Detachment

3.      Like a video camera moving through the environment

4.      G Mind the Gap--what is NOT said

5.      See Translator’s Note

page

3 Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. D

4 smell of gasoline, and the glare of the sky and the road  P

8 it didn’t matter. I offered the caretaker a cigarette D

9 I saw them more clearly than I had ever seen anyone

15 I was able to understand Maman better. . . kind of sad relief.

20 I told her Maman had died. . . “Yesterday.” She gave a little start but didn’t say anything. D

27 Then he beats the dog and swears at it. “He’s always there.”

31 nice-like

32 asking me to write it for him. . . I didn’t have any reason not to please him D

35 she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything, but that I didn’t think so. D

36 Marie said it was terrible and I didn’t say anything. D

37 But she wasn’t hungry. I ate almost everything. G

39 “Pay money for that bastard—ha! He can damn well die!” I realized he was crying. For some reason I thought of Maman.

41 I said one life is as good as another. . . none of it really mattered.  D

47 bright with sun, hit me like a slap in the face P

50 For the first time maybe, I really thought I was going to get married.

56 I said to Raymond, “take him on man to man and give me your gun.”

56 I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot.  D

57 With every blade of light that flashed off the sand. . . my jaws tightened. P

59 The trigger gave. . . like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.
  End of Part I!

Finish Camus, finish Camus essay

Due date for finishing Camus is today, possible quiz.
Work on your Camus essay, due 4/22, with possible extension till 4/26

Camus Essay Assignment due April 22

Camus Essay
Due date: Friday, April 22 by midnight to Turnitin.com
·         At least 2 ½ pages, double-spaced, carefully edited, mostly error-free, no fragments, typos
Proper MLA parenthetical documentation, header, first-page info (upper-left corner), and proper works cited page with at least two references (one can be a personal interview).
·         Uploaded with works cited page to Turnitin.com by midnight on date due
Works Cited should include Camus and any other works consulted
·         Do NOT go on the internet to search for ideas about Camus, risking unintentional plagiarism
A narrow topic of your own choosing—with your own clear thinking and analysis
Consider Camus’s novel, The Stranger, and any of the following:
·  personality, detachment, choice, internalized thinking (the trivial thoughts and sensations that constantly run through our heads), and being an outsider from society
Write an essay in which you explore any of these ideas, or the theme of alienation and being an outsider
·         Relate your analysis of being an outsider (or whatever you decide to focus on) to your own generation.
·         Find just one event, character, or passage from Camus and use it to make a connection to your own world and through it explore in great detail one aspect or idea: Marie’s love, the prison, the funeral, the beach scene, the trial, the dog, Arabs and the French, Meursault’s reporting and writing style, etc.

ALTERNATE MULTIMEDIA ‘ESSAY’

Or you can choose to create a multi-media response to this assignment. Here is what is required:
1.      A written one-page portion explaining your main point and also how you used different media to express that point. (due Fri. April 22. The presentation will be due the following week during class on Monday, April 25)
2.      Choose from among various media available to you, combining them:
a.       Video or imovie
b.      Videoblog
c.       PowerPoint
d.      Survey (monkey survey, etc.)
e.       Chatzy or other chatroom forum hosted and moderated by you
f.       Audio or typed interviews with members of the larger community
g.      Musical composition (in addition to other media)
h.      Artistic composition (in addition to other media)
i.        A digital literary zine (see http://fablogs.org/space/2010/04/14/hello-world/ )
j.        More than just a blog, but some kind of project involving blogs
k.      Animoto.com
l.         Other media
3.      Focus narrowly on one topic of your choosing, incorporating The Stranger in at least one paragraph or part.
a.       Detachment and alienation: Being a stranger to our world or to ourselves
b.      Individual choice vs. passive compliance
c.       Internal reactions to events vs. individuals controlling events
d.      Detaching from high school and home to go attach to college and peers
e.       Other topics that are both personal but can be related to The Stranger

MORE NOTES ON ESSAY:
--As you read in class and at home, try to find one aspect of the novel, or one scene, or one idea that you connect with and begin brainstorming your essay.
--If students want to collaborate, talk to the instructor.

Multimedia 'Essay' on Camus (due April 22)

Essay on Albert Camus The Stranger

            Due date: Friday, April 22 by midnight to Turnitin.com

Requirements for the Essay:
At least 2 ½ pages, double-spaced, carefully edited, mostly error-free, no fragments, typos, etc.
Proper MLA parenthetical documentation, header, first-page info (upper-left corner), and proper works cited page with at least two references (one can be a personal interview).

Uploaded with works cited page to Turnitin.com by midnight on date due

Include one other work that we have studied this year (may be a poem) or a personal interview

Works Cited should include Camus and any other works consulted

Do NOT go on the internet to search for ideas about Camus (this risks unintentional plagiarism)

Optional: You may include an analysis of how your point or topic affects you and those in your position

A narrow topic of your own choosing (see lists below)

A clear, debatable point or claim (not ‘each person must decide to what level they want to conform’)

Your own clear thinking and analysis

Essay prompt:

Consider Camus’s novel, The Stranger, and what you get from it about any of the following:

personality, detachment, choice, internalized thinking (the trivial thoughts and sensations that constantly run through our heads), and being an outsider from society

Write an essay in which you explore any of these ideas, or the theme of alienation and being an outsider

You must include one other work besides The Stranger

Relate your analysis of being an outsider (or whatever you decide to focus on) to your own generation.

Find just one event, character, or passage from Camus and use it to make a connection to your own world and through it explore in great detail one aspect or idea: Marie’s love, the prison, the funeral, the beach scene, the trial, the dog, Arabs and the French, Meursault’s reporting and writing style, etc.

               ALTERNATE MULTIMEDIA ‘ESSAY’

Or you can choose to create a multi-media response to this assignment. Here is what is required:

A written one-page portion explaining your main point and also how you used different media to express that point. (due Fri. April 22. The presentation will be due the following week during class on Monday, April 25)

Choose from among various media available to you, combining them:

a.       Video or imovie

b.      Videoblog

c.       PowerPoint

d.      Survey (monkey survey, etc.)

e.       Chatzy or other chatroom forum hosted and moderated by you

f.       Audio or typed interviews with members of the larger community

g.      Musical composition (in addition to other media)

h.      Artistic composition (in addition to other media)

i.        A digital literary zine (see http://fablogs.org/space/2010/04/14/hello-world/#comments )

j.        More than just a blog, but some kind of project involving blogs

k.      Animoto.com

l.         Other media

Focus narrowly on one topic of your choosing, incorporating The Stranger in at least one paragraph or part.

a.       Detachment and alienation: Being a stranger to our world or to ourselves

b.      Individual choice vs. passive compliance

c.       Internal reactions to events vs. individuals controlling events

d.      Detaching from high school and home to go attach to college and peers

e.       Other topics that are both personal but can be related to The Stranger

WARNING: Do not risk plagiarism. Do not click through the internet looking for inspiration. Those same ideas will show up in your essay without acknowledgement, and that is plagiarism. In high school, consequences can involve suspension for reasons of academic dishonesty, which must be reported to the colleges you have applied to. In college (ask about recent examples at USC), the academic integrity panel may ask a student to unenroll for one year before continuing classes. If you are in a jam because of time or because you can’t come up with ideas, it is always better to turn in your own work, even if it is lower quality, than to borrow others’ words or ideas. You can go to your college writing center for assistance or go to the professor or T.A. directly and ask for help. Avoid the temptation to borrow and then present the ideas as your own. At the very least, you should acknowledge all you have consulted, cite all of it in parenthetical citation and in the works cited page, even if the references are to Wikipedia or Sparks Notes; you can’t be expelled for being honest.

Respond to Student Observations

Respond to the following student reactions to The Stranger.

1. Meursault  is very difficult to pin down. I really wish M. Meursault would just reveal himself. I find his character so baffling that I’m having a hard time decoding the main themes of the book—he has no personal convictions of his own.
2. Meursault is frustratingly incoherent. The meaning of the book has to be that it’s as absurd to have a purpose in life as it is for purposelessness to be the purpose.
3. Going on in life without a purpose seems to me pointless, but the others in my group think it’s okay!
4. Meursault is a sponge who is open to his surroundings. He is acutely aware of his surroundings, yet is completely outside of them. Meursault finds peace of mind in this neutral state.
5. Instinct and emotions are different, and Meursault has taught himself to live on instincts.
6. Camus is encouraging us all to find our own distinct meaning in life, whatever that may be, because only that discovery and subsequent embrace can bring you consummation and happiness.  I believe Camus intentionally made Meursault a strange and almost repugnant character so that the reader could uncover his own true self through the fundamental disagreement of character that the reader feels with Meursault.

Keep reading The Stranger

Keep reading The Stranger:
--p.39 by Monday, p.71 by Thursday March 24 (or at least by the end of spring break)
--Two creative blogs/week. Two comments on blogs/week
Questions to ponder and discuss:
--DOG: Analyze the complicated love/hate relationship between Salamano and his dog. (Do humans have such relationships? Anyone you know?)
--RAYMOND: What makes Raymond tick? Why does Meursault befriend him? Why isn't he outraged? Is he morally neutral?
--MARIE: When Marie asks Meursault "Do you love me?" how does he respond and how do you interpret his response? Too honest? Unaware of others' feelings? What should a guy say? Is a white lie permissible in this case? With what consequences? How wold you recommend a man phrase his answer?

Blog about any of these questions for your creative blog