6. And Of Clay Are We Created

TASK ONE
Locate all references to distance (emotional and physical) in the text. How does the concept of distance change as the story progresses? How are these changes related to notions of subjectivity and objectivity? How do they relate to Rolf Carlé? To the narrator?

TASK TWO
What ironic contrasts can you find between Azucena's and Rolf Carlé's journeys in the story? What role does the theme of religion/spirituality play here?

TASK THREE
Comment on the role of photojournalism in the modern world.

5. The Enormous Radio

This is an open blog forum for Cheever's story "The Enormous Radio". In other words, you are now in control of the comments you post. You may ask questions, provide interpretations of the text, analyse the characters, define vocabulary, closely examine quotations, give your reactions and so on. The choice is yours. I will also participate and provide feedback as usual. Try to make the discussion as interactive as possible. What you write here may be very useful to others in preparing for the exams or the presentation. Happy writing!

2. What is a short story? What are its elements?

TASK ONE

Listen to the podcast entitled "Introduction to the short story" from the School of Languages web site: http://www.sabanciuniv.edu/do/eng/?PodCast/PodCasts.php or download it from the iTunes store. You may listen as many times as necessary in order to understand it well, taking notes on key terms. Then define one or more of the following terms in your own words. Please feel free to expand upon and improve your classmates' definitions.

--short story
--protagonist
--antagonist
--anti-hero
--theme
--setting
--characters (flat; round)
--genre
--point of view
--first person narration
--third person narration (omniscient; limited)
--narrator's reliability

TASK TWO
Discuss your experiences of reading short stories, whether in English or Turkish. Which short stories have you read? For what purposes? Did you enjoy them? Why or why not? What do you find challenging about reading short stories? What are your feelings at this moment about reading short stories for this course? (You may discuss all or some of these questions or just add whatever comments you like. Please respond to and expand on your classmates' points in order to make this an interactive discussion. Your teacher may also participate from time to time). 

TASK THREE

Think about the elements of the short story (setting, narration, etc.) as you read William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and be prepared to discuss them in class.