Two Great Essays about Lynd Ward's Wordless Novels

Hello R&C Students, 

Please read/skim these two essays for tomorrow's class.  You will need to copy and paste the URLs. 

You do not need to read every word. Find the main idea. Be ready for discussion tomorrow.  --- Casey

Faust Animated

 

This animation gives the basic plot to the "Faustian Bargain" theme in art, literature, and real life. At its core, a "Faustian Bargain" is the trading of spiritual and moral values for money, fame, sex, riches, etc. At first, the trade seems pretty good. Eventually, however, it turns out to be a very bad deal: painful death, infamy, poverty, loneliness, etc. Lynd Ward's Gods' Man follows this pattern. 

It can't be coincidental that Scott McCloud, author of the justly famous Understanding Comics, put a Faustian Bargain at the center of his graphic novel, The Sculptor. Check out this video. 

The Final Two Assignments for Reading and Composition

Almost there! We have only two assignments left in the semester. 

1. An essay about Lynd Ward and/or William Joyce: One page, single-spaced, upload to Populi no later than Thursday, December 7, by the start of class. 

2. A creative "broadside": You will make a piece of art (it could be drawing,  painting,  sculpture, collage, photography, etc). You will select a single line or short passage from one of the stories we've read this semester and type that on the base of your document. You will then make a corresponding piece of original art that works together with your brief quotation. Scan this and upload it to Populi no later than before class begins on December 12, our final session together. 

Details for both of these assignments to follow. Both assignments count for ten points. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Draft (Graphic Organizer?) Information for November 16 Assignment

 Reading and Composition

(AS101-3 & AS101-4)

Instructor: Casey Smith

14 November 2023

 

 

Assignment for Next Class: 16 November 2023

 

Upload this draft worksheet to Populi no later than the start of class on Thursday. (5 pts)

 

______________________________________________________________________________

Baldwin, Okorafor, Lispector: The Uses and Abuses of Art. (15 pts)

 

For this essay, think about how art and artists feature in one or more of the stories in this unit. What are these authors saying about the power of art? Be specific. Avoid the obvious. Do you agree? Why or why not? Directly engage with the primary text(s) and use secondary quotations sparingly. Include specific examples from your life to support your position.

 

Double-spaced, approximately 4-6 pages + Works Cited page

Due: No later than 2:00 pm on 21 November 2023. Upload to Populi

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

______________________________________________________________________________

 

You are, of course, free to write a complete draft of your essay for this Thursday’s class. However, it’s not required. What is required is the following. Please pay close attention to directions.

 

1. Begin by formatting an MS-Word docx file in MLA style. Google docs and and other formats will not be accepted. Note: You can save a Google docs file as an MS-Word file. Got to “Save as” and choose MS-Word.
2. Write the necessary information in the top left corner. Single space this. Make sure you spell your name correctly. See the example above.
3. Go to the settings and choose Times New Roman 11pt. Choose double-space. Make sure your margins are the standard 1 inch on each side. Easy.
4. Give your essay a meaningful (tentative) title. You can change it later if you want to.
5. Write a complete opening paragraph. Your thesis statement should be placed toward the end of the opening paragraph, but it might not be the final sentence. Make it bold (like this text).
6. List the three main reasons that support your thesis (argument or claim might be easier to understand than the word “thesis”). Be as specific as possible.

a.

b.

c.

 

7. List three or more sources from Jstor in correct MLA format.

 

a.

b.

c.

 

8. Write a complete concluding paragraph. Much like your introduction, this paragraph will need to be rewritten once you’ve completed the paper.  

 

Research Essay: Due Tuesday, November 21 at the start of class

 MLA-Formatted Research Essay: Baldwin, Okorafor, Lispector

Required Draft Due: November 16 no later than the start of class. Upload to Populi. This is required and will count for 5 of the 20 points. We will have a critique this day. 

Final Paper Due: November 21 no later than the start of class. Upload to Populi.

These three stories are really different, yet they share certain elements. Like all of the short fiction we've encountered this semester, they all feature art and artists in one way or another. Baldwin and Okorafor write about social justice issues and musical artists. Baldwin's story is rooted in real life, Harlem circa 1940s. Okorafor's story takes place in Nigeria in an unspecified future time.  Some people would classify Okorafor's "Spider the Artist" as science fiction or speculative fiction. 

Clarice Lispector's story, "Amor", explores the interior spaces and psychology of an artist who can no longer practice their art. It shares a theme with "The Yellow Wallpaper" yet goes about it in a completely different way. 

You have a lot of options with this essay. For instance, you can choose a single author's story for analysis, interpretation, and "real-life" application. You can also choose two or all three stories to weave into your analysis. The primary question is simple: What does this story (or stories) have to say about the role of art and artists in culture and society? What power do they have? Why? How can you tell in the text itself? Show, don't tell. The secondary question is also simple: What relevance (meaning) does your chosen story or stories have to do with you and your life (your dreams and desires) as an artist and designer? 

All successful essays will:

==> Demonstrate a clear understanding of the story or stories by using effective primary quotations.

==> Avoid plot summary. Assume that your reader has already read the story or stories. 

==> Display lively and specific writing that is attentive to tone, audience, and rhetorical situation.

==> Incorporate at least three secondary resources (research) that are appropriate to college writing. Jstor is a sure bet. Do not use Google to do all of your research. 

==> Show how the ideas in the story or stories are relevant to you and the time we live in. 

==> Employ standard MLA format. See Purdue's OWL for details. Click here.

==> Show evidence of careful and painstaking revision and editing. Casual errors in grammar and mechanics should be eliminated. 

This assignment is worth double the points (20) of our other assignments because it's more complicated, demanding, and time-consuming. Please be aware that this assignment will take multiple stages. It will be impossible to get it done in a single session. Research, writing, revising, and editing: They all take time. 

All final papers should end up being 4-6 double-spaced pages not including a separate Works Cited page with at least 4 entries. If your paper is longer than 6 full pages, that's ok. If your paper is shorter than 4 full pages, that's a sign that it needs to be developed further. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

The Artist as Spirit: William Joyce's "Morris Lessmore"

 

I love this story, even though it's really sad: William Joyce's The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Here's a link to a page-through of the original book with audio. 

And here's a link to the award-winning animated short.

Final Roster of Stories: A Baker's Dozen

 By the end of the semester, we will have examined thirteen very different stories that feature art and artists as a central concern.  Spend some time in contemplation. What do the stories have in common? How? Why? How are they opposed? Taken as a whole, what do they have to say about art, culture, and society in the time they were written and received? What do they have to say about our time and place: DCAD, Wilmington, 2023?

Charles Dickens: "His Brown-Paper Parcel"

O. Henry: "The Last Leaf"

Alice Dunbar: "M'sieu Fortier's Violin"

Henry James: "The Real Thing"

Nathanial Hawthorne: "The Artist of the Beautiful"

Willa Cather: "Flavia and Her Artists"

Charlotte Perkins-Gilman: "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Edgar Allan Poe: "The Oval Portrait"

James Baldwin: "Sonny's Blues"

Nnedi Okorafo: "Spider the Artist"

Clarice Lispector: "Amor (Love)"

Lynd Ward: Gods' Man

Wm. Joyce: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The Artist as Sell-Out: Lynd Ward's "Gods' Man"

 

Lynd Ward's Gods' Man (1929) is frequently considered the first American graphic novel. It tells its story not with words but with images. This genre has come to be known as the wordless novel. I couldn't find a reliable online facsimile of the book, but I did find a link to a "read-through" slide show of all the woodcuts. I recommend turning off the sound. Also, depending on your Youtube settings, you might be blasted with ads two or three times during the 21-minute video. Link here.  

Here is a link to a short film about Ward and his work.

Your final essay of the semester will be based on this text and/or William Joyce's The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore. Details to follow.

The Artist as Refugee: Clarice Lispector's "Love (Amor)"

 

Read Clarice Lispector's story "Love" for class on Tuesday, November 14. Be prepared for a vigorous debate and discussion.

The Artist as Robot Zombie: Nnedi Okorafor's "Spider the Artist"

 

This recent science-fiction story, "Spider the Artist" is by Nnedi Okorafor. It's a difficult story for many reasons. Trigger warning: This story includes brief scenes and depictions of domestic abuse. If you don't want to read it, talk to me and we'll find an alternative text. However, if you like stories about artistic robot Zombies, you're in for a treat. Check out her website here. Learn more about her work. And here's a link to her 2017 TED Talk on Nigerian Science Fiction. Here's a link to information about Ududo Okwanka, the Igbo Spider-Creator.

Read this story for Thursday, November 9. Be prepared for discussion. 

The Artist as Outsider: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues"

 

James Baldwin was a writer, speaker, activist, and many other things. He is also, in my opinion, the most important and greatest American writer of the second half of the twentieth century. As a class, we're going to focus on two of his texts: "Equal in Paris," an essay written in 1955; and "Sonny's Blues," a long short story written in 1957.

Read both of these texts for our next class on Tuesday, November 7. There will be a reading quiz.

Feel free to explore the many free online resources about Baldwin and his writing. The movie I Am Not Your Negro is available on NetFlix. You'll also find countless interviews, profiles, and reviews of his work.

Your next writing assignment will be on James Baldwin and Nnedi Okorafor is due on Tuesday, November 19. Details to follow.