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Gallery 

"From Mozart to Tupac: Intertextuality in Zadie Smith’s On Beauty" (An extract from Olivia's essay):

"Smith connects critically acclaimed works that characters treat as genius to intertexts that are not always identified in this way. Smith for instance places the Mona Lisa and Piero Manzoni’s Merda d’Artista within the same paragraph. […] Can the Merda d’Artista even be compared to [what Howard describes as] the “lovely” work of the Mona Lisa? And, does filling cans with “shit,” sealing them, signing them, and then selling them even qualify as genius? I believe that Smith, by connecting these two art pieces, is saying yes…”

A Showcase of Final Projects from English 329

​Olivia's stop motion animation

based on Cloud Atlas
 

​Sabrina's "Narrative Sextet" Remix

 

“In the first set, each solo is interrupted by its successor: in the second, each interruption is recontinued in order. Revolutionary or gimmicky? Shan’t know until it’s finished” (Mitchell 445)


 

Tracy's photographs of "order and control"

(based on Briony's fascination with miniatures in Atonement)

Carmel's "pocket diving" 

(Not quite part of her final project, but work she did for static zine that takes inspiration from Ali Smith's Hotel World) (see more photos here: http://staticzine.com/)

Annie's Creative Project: "Irremediable" (The Sense of An Ending) see the whole photo essay here: http://britfic329.tumblr.com/ password: tonywebster)

Michael, on "Aping" Humanity (extract from an essay on Me, Cheeta):

“Cheeta’s legacy is not the discovery of a firm, immortal identity, but the realization that humanity is always in a state of becoming, always play-acting, always climbing the monkey-puzzle tree of self-creation.”



“Hypocrisy in Zadie Smith’s On Beauty” (an extract from Surbhi's essay):

“Despite the construction of Monty Kipps and Howard Belsey as antithetical characters, Zadie Smith uses indirect characterization and third-person omniscient narration in order to establish a connection between the two men that exposes their similar social failings and shared hypocrisy.”



“Slavery and Freedom in Cloud Atlas(an extract from Kaleigh's essay)

“Mitchell in An Orison of Somni-451 creates a dark dystopian future where people are created for the sole purpose of being enslaved. Through this story Mitchell can explore the theme in a more radical way because it is not tied directly to a long history of conquering and colonialism.”

The Cover Art for Vanessa's story "Freshwater Pearls" (On Beauty) (click here to read the whole story!) 

Angie's "look book" (On Beauty)

“Imagining History One Memory at a Time” (an extract from Fatima's essay on The Sense of An Ending and Atonement)

 

“In history, there has to be fictionality because there is no ‘full story,’ only ‘great unrest’ (150), an unrest that is shown by Barnes in denying Tony’s conclusions repeatedly till the very last page. However, this anti-conclusion shows how memory can only allow for a ‘sense’ of an ending, but fiction can allow one to make a  ‘sense’ of history, making the ‘fabulation’ into a ‘plausible narrative.’”

Gender in On Beauty (an extract from Kelly's essay)


“The characterizations of Kiki and Carlene become central to [the topic of gender] as they engage in ideological conversations on gender, race, class, and religion […] They revel in their shared experience […] “Both mothers, both familiar with England, both lovers of dogs and gardens, both slightly awed by their children” (Smith 178). Despite their differences, this passage achieves a certain level of shared experience for these matriarchs and in this commonality they find a source of empowerment.”


“Effective diction in Cloud Atlas (an extract from Dale's essay)

“In her 1923 essay, “How It Strikes a Contemporary,” Virginia Woolf criticised the writers of her time stating that, “our century has not lacked industry; but if we ask for masterpieces it appears on the face of it that the pessimists are right. It seems as if an age of genius must be succeeded by an age of endeavor; riot and extravagance by cleanliness and hard work.” For those who share similar opinions of today’s contemporary writers one can look to Mitchel as a writer who at once embraces the past while also leaving his own unique mark on literature. By careful use of diction Mitchell creates worlds which pay homage to works of the past. At the same time, he blends all of these genres and settings to create something new”

Mark's Demo Tape, based on Me, Cheeta (to see the full project, with the explanation, click here). 

“Challenging Narrative Reliability and Textual Authenticity: Redefining Realism and Reality in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of An Ending(extract from Edrina's essay)

“Although Tony has been telling readers that he hardly knew his ex-girlfriend’s mother, the letter in his memory takes an intimate language and has an air of untold secrecy. […] If memory cannot be evidence, an actual physical text, in this case the letter, can be “proof” and “corroboration” that could discern truth from unreliable memories […] If the novella privileges text as a window to truth and reality, The Sense of An Ending, as a textual object that favours narrative unreliability, faces an internal paradox.”



“Subjective vs. Objective Time in Ali Smith’s Hotel World (extract from Alana's essay)

“ ‘That is then. This was now’ (119). The statement should be ‘That was then. This is now,’  but the confusion of tenses contributes to the idea that Lise is behind everyone else, isolated in a tense of her own.”

Lillian's "epistolary curses" project (The Sense of An Ending. click here to view the original website).

Nadira's Cloud Atlas soap opera (click here for download)

Joni on emails and letters in On Beauty and Howard’s End“…Jerome adopts a  more formal greeting as his emails progress. He goes from saying “Hey Dad”, to just “Dad”, to “Dear Dr. Belsey” with excitement […] There is also the lack of physical or material form with the use of emails which are electronic in nature so it is easy to manipulate, delete, or resend if necessary.”  


“Cultural Appropriation, Beauty, and Hegemony in Zadie Smith’s On Beauty” (a selection from Paul's essay)


“While at a surface level, the novel appears ethically straight-forward, pronouncing definitive judgment upon its abundant anti-heroes, the precise nature of those judgments is wildly ambiguous. It is a novel of deep ambivalence and trepidation, where characters present cautious ethical assertions, only to find them perpetually altered by conflicting ideologies. Smith’s own voice becomes impossibly intertwined with her characters’ often fleeting and contradictory beliefs.”

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