The document summarizes an ELIT 48C class discussion on the concepts of implying versus inferring, then provides an agenda for the class covering discussions of various literary works, including "Howl," "La conciencia de la mestiza," and "Warrior Woman," as well as introducing historical context, themes, and an upcoming essay assignment. The document includes brief quotes and discussion prompts related to the readings.

1. ELIT 48C Class 19
Imply or Infer?

2. Imply / Infer
 Imply means to
suggest indirectly
(you’re sending a
subtle message).
 To infer is to come to
a conclusion based
on information
(you’re interpreting a
message).

3. AGENDA
 Discussion: “Howl"
 Lecture
o La conciencia de la mestiza/ Towards a New
Consciousness
o “El Sonavabitche”
o “Warrior Woman”
o Historical Context
o Themes and Style
 Discussion
o Intersections of identity and oppression
 The American Dream
 Introduce Essay #2

4. Chair Poet?
“If I feel
physically as if
the top of my
head were
taken off, I know
that is poetry.”
Emily Dickinson

5. Discuss
Seven minutes!
Gloria Anzaldua was a self-described
"chicana dyke-feminist, tejana
patlache poet, writer, and cultural
theorist."
Maxine Hong Kingston
Through her stories about herself and
her female relatives, Kingston paints
a picture of Chinese tradition that
portrays women as objectified and
enslaved by men.

6. Intersections of identity and oppression
As a Mestiza I have no country, my homeland cast me out; yet all
countries are mine because I am every woman’s sister or potential
lover. (As a lesbian I have no race, my own people disclaim me; but I
am all races because there is the queer of me in all races.) I am
cultureless because, as a feminist, I challenge the collective
cultural/religious male-derived beliefs of Indo-Hispanics and Anglos,
yet I am cultured because I am participating in the creation of yet
another culture, a new story to explain the world and our
participation in it, a new value system with images and symbols that
connect us to each other and to the planet. Soy un amasamiento, I
am an act of kneading, of uniting, and joining that not only has
produced both a creature of darkness and a creature of light, but also
a creature that questions the definitions of light and dark and gives
them new meanings. (841)

7.  Gloria Anzaldua is among the many feminist theorists that
move into the realm of addressing postmodern
identities. In her discussion of a new emerging
consciousness in La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a
New Consciousness, Anzaldua suggests the construction of
identities as multiple, hybrid, and more specifically,
created as a result of the Borderlands, those spaces that
intersect. While the people who live in the intersections
are privy to a world others don’t see or understand, it is a
space where cultures collide, often with incompatible
values, opposing histories, and contradictory experiences.
It can be difficult to be an individual, or member, of several
social, classed, gendered, racialized groups but never
feeling quite at home in either.
Postmodernism

8. An example of the contradictions of which she speaks is through a brief
discussion of the identities of women of color. For instance, if an
African-American woman advocates for women’s rights, does this
mean that femininity and the struggle against gender oppression takes
precedence over her racial identity and her struggle against
colonization and racial oppression?
The inverse question can also be asked. If an African-American woman
of color takes a political stance for the end of her racial oppression,
does this mean that she devalues her experience as being oppressed
by her gender identity?
Anzaldua makes a plea to feminists to bridge identities and to
understand identities as always being constituted in the Borderlands.
The sorting out the contradictions embedded between these social
identities requires a tolerance for ambiguity.

9. Blended Identity
1. Does Anzaldua feel more empowered or
marginalized by her status as a mestiza?
2. How can a person escape the inherent
oppression his or her culture faces?

10. Discuss Postmodernism, or Feminist Theory, or
Minority Theory in terms of Anzuldua
1.How is conciencia de la mestiza
comparable double consciousness?
2.What is the new mestiza?
3.Why does Anzaldua exclude the use of
translations to her Spanish text?

11. Discuss themes or meaning in
“El Sonavabitche”
 The most prevalent theme in this poem is the
exploitation of immigrant workers. In a lot of cases
such as this, illegal immigrants are screwed out of
their time and money. They are treated as
subhuman when coming to the country/going to
their place of employment: “five days packed in
the back of a pickup boarded up tight…no stops
except to change drivers, to gas up no food they
pissed into their shoes…slept slumped against
each other sabe Dios where they shit” (860).

12. Discuss themes or meaning in
“El Sonavabitche”
 Some of the themes I noticed in the poem are power,
exploitation, fear. I think these themes all fall into the
category of the immigrant struggle. Many immigrant
farmworkers are left to the mercy of their employers
who exploit them by making them work long,
laborious hours under the hot sun while paying them
very little money, or in some cases, not paying them at
all. The workers have no choice but to accept the
working conditions because there is the constant fear
of being deported looming inside their heads, which
allows for the employers to hold more power over
them.

13. Discuss themes or meaning in
“El Sonavabitche”
The main themes that I can see throughout “El Sonavabitche”
are themes of injustice and inequality, fear and powerlessness,
the Mexican American migrant culture, and courage creating
power. […] When the workers have worked enough to actually
make any money, the landowner they call sonavabitche, calls
immigration officials in order to deport the workers so that he
wouldn’t have to pay them. Through actions like these it is even
more obvious who has the power in the relationship between
the workers and the owner. The fact that sonavabitche had an
obvious advantage in the fact that he could call immigration
services at any point tipped the scale in his direction as he could
replace the workers whenever he deemed necessary, in turn,
creating this great fear and obedience amongst the migrant
workers.

14. QHQ: “La Conciencia de la
Mestiza” and Patriarchy
 Anzuldua says “Only gay men have had the courage
to expose themselves to the woman inside them,” so
does that mean all men have a “woman inside
them?” If they expose themselves to this “woman
inside them,” will that be a large step towards
gender equality?
 Q: How can men break free from being “fettered to
gender roles” (Andzaldua 844)? And what can we
do to make this a men’s issue while being sensitive to
women, feminists and people who identify as
LGBTQIA?
 How has the change in the meaning of “macho”
relate to the mistreatment of women?

15. Historical Context: Women in Chinese
Society
Kingston takes revenge on centuries of Chinese female
oppression in The Woman Warrior, the larger work from
which “No-Name Woman” was taken. From the days of
Confucius through the early twentieth century, the
Chinese placed men above women and family above
social order. When people married, new family ties
formed, and new wives became subservient to their
grooms’ parents. Women from the higher classes lived
extremely secluded lives and suffered such treatments as
foot-binding. The Chinese chose young girls who were
especially pretty to undergo foot-binding. The binder
bent the large toe backward, forever deforming the foot.
Men favored women with bound feet, a sign of beauty
and gentility, because it signified that they could support
these women who were incapable of physical labor.

16. Setting
The narrator grows up in Stockton, California,
where she was born in 1940. The events that
actually occur in her life take place in California.
Her imagined warrior life and her mother's "talk
stories," however, take place in China. For
example, the story of No-Name Aunt, the ghost
aunt, occurs in China from about 1924 to 1934.

17. Style
Kingston combines fact with fiction—relying
on her own memories, her mother's "talk
stories," and her own vivid imagination—to
create a view of what it is like to grow up a
Chinese-American female.
She reworks traditional myths and legends to
modernize their messages.
Some critics argue that her dependence on
inventiveness (from the myths and legends)
renders her writing difficult to classify as
autobiography or fiction.

18. Postmodern Aspects
 Shrugs off old forms and limits: Her work differs from most
autobiographies in that it is not a first-person narration of the
author's life.
 Multiple genres and approaches: memory, fantasy,
speculation, translation, and point of view.
 Moves away from the metanarrative: Kingston struggles to
reconcile her identity as a member of two cultures, Chinese
and American, who does not feel entirely at home in either
culture. It is a story of an individual.
 Themes: Kingston combats what Shirley Geok-Lin Lim has
called "the cultural silencing of Chinese in American society
and ….. the gendered silencing of women in Chinese
society,” through the telling of stories about women who are
either literally or mythically her ancestors. Her words are her
weapons against silence, racism, and sexism.

19. “No Name Woman” and
Feminist Criticism
Through a feminist perspective, this text provides the cultural
context of oppression the female. Throughout the text, the
female is portrayed as being oppressed by the social engine
which appears to be controlled by the man. This is shown in the
instance of the aunt’s rapist who single-handedly destroyed her
live by perpetuating his misogynistic agenda on her and even
asserts the consequences that come with in it onto her. Likewise,
other women in the text, the mom, the ones in the raid, etc., all
promote this culture by joining in the assault of the aunt and by
teaching the younger generation the misogynistic ideals that
the culture makes them believe.

20. “No Name Woman” and
Feminist Criticism
The Aunt had to be disowned, forgotten, because of her tragic
mistake. In the institution of marriage we can also see the
restrictions women faced. On page 796 we see that, “All the
married women blunt-cut their hair in flaps about their ears or
pulled it back in tight buns”. Marriage is stripping them of their
femininity and purity. Hair, especially in Biblical terms, represents
power and innocence. Once the women are married, they lose
this. For the Aunt, she has no choice or power in her life,
especially once her secret is revealed, and is forced to accept
death. We see that even the child could not survive because it
was likely a girl, unwanted, and would receive no acceptance
in such a harsh society. The narrator states, “It was probably a
girl; there is some hope of forgiveness for boys” (800).

21. Themes and Symbols
1.A major theme in The Woman Warrior is
separation of generations between first-
generation Chinese immigrants and
second-generation Chinese-Americans.
2.What is the significance of food and
starvation in the story of “No-Name
Woman”?
3.What does the No Name Woman
symbolize?

22. QHQs
1. Who is the warrior women?
2. Why does the narrator’s mother tell her
the story of her aunt?
3. Is the story the narrator’s mother tells
her real or fabricated?
4. What are her thoughts about her
culture?
5. How is the narrator of this story similar to
the narrator of “The Invisible Man”?

23. Essay #2

24. Prompt Introduction
 In this second half of our quarter, we have read
and discussed multiple texts, theories, and
opinions on both literature and literary analysis,
and for this reason, I offer you many choices for
your first essay. In a thesis driven essay of three to
six pages, respond to one of the prompts I have
offered or one of your own. You need only the
primary text for this essay, but you may
incorporate other stories, manifestos, or critical
theory as additional support. Remember, you can
also draw on your own experiences and
knowledge to discuss, explain, and analyze your
topic.

25. Prompt Introduction
 In this second half of our quarter, we have read
and discussed multiple texts, theories, and
opinions on both literature and literary analysis,
and for this reason, I offer you many choices for
your first essay. In a thesis driven essay of 750 to
1000 words, respond to one of the prompts I have
offered or one of your own. You need only the
primary text for this essay, but you may
incorporate other stories, manifestos, or critical
theory as additional support. Remember, you can
also draw on your own experiences and
knowledge to discuss, explain, and analyze your
topic.

26. Topics for Essay #2
 There are many essay topics to choose from.
 On the webpage, click on “Essay Prompts” and
then “Essay #2”
 You will see another list of choices specific to our
texts.
 Click on any of them to explore topics
 You may write an essay on any of these topics.
 You may write an essay on a topic of your choice.
 You may use fodder from one of your posts.
 The essay is due before class on the day of the
final.

27. The Road
Topic #2
Using a close reading strategy and specific textual
evidence argue for how the world was most likely
devastated. Consider climate change, earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, the explosion of nuclear bombs,
or?
Topic #15
Examine both the concept and reality of cannibalism
in The Road. Consider motivations and outcomes of
the behavior.

28. “Battle Royal”
One does not need to look very deeply in
Ralph Ellison's short story "Battle Royal" to
find different elements and examples of
racism. Use African American literary
criticism to make an argument about “Battle
Royal.”
Examine the theme of “American Dream” in
“Battle Royal.” Consider how the story defines
the concept of “success”?

29. Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has
written ten novels, ranging from the Southern Gothic, western, and post-
apocalyptic genres. He has also written plays and screenplays.
He received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, and his 2005 novel No
Country for Old Men was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name,
which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He received a
National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award for his 1992
novel, All the Pretty Horses.
His previous novel, Blood Meridian, (1985) was among Time Magazine's
poll of the best English-language books published between 1923 and
2005 and he placed joint runner-up in a poll taken in 2006 by the New
York Times of the best American fiction published in the last 25 years.
Literary critic Harold Bloom named him as one of the four major
American novelists of his time, along with Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon,
and Philip Roth. In 2010 the London Times ranked The Road no.1 on its
list of the 100 best fiction and non-fiction books of the past 10 years. He
is frequently compared by modern reviewers to William Faulkner.

30. Postmodernism Essay
 Discuss the work in terms of its postmodern
construction. Consider the postmodern
manifestos or the Mary Klages article on
Postmodernism to ground your argument.
 Discuss two or more of the manifestos,
working to define the ever-elusive idea of
postmodernism. Consider using the Klages
essay on postmodernism to support your
argument.
 Discuss the American Dream with regard
to the postmodern condition.

31. End of Days
 Class 20
 The Road
 Discuss Self-Assessment
 Class 21
 The Road
 Self-assessment due
 Discuss Revision
 Class 22: Thursday, June 25th 9:15-11:15
 Final Exam
 Revision of essay #1 due before class begins
 Essay #2 due before class begins

32. HOMEWORK
Read The Road:
Post #27: Choose one
1. What caused the
devastation of the land?
Provide the clues you used to
come to your conclusion.
2. Discuss a theme from the
novel: Destruction, survival,
isolation, death, or hope
3. Examine the concept of trust
and mistrust in The Road.
4. Analyze the symbol of
innocence and how it
pertains to the son in The
Road.
5. Introduce another concept
or symbol