STUDENTS' WEB PROJECTS -- 1997
The materials listed on this page were created and designed entirely by
students, reflecting the range and depth of students' interests in the issues
raised by English 60A. For some students, the course readings were the thing;
for others, the possible applications of those readings to other texts and
cultural phenomena.
Partly through an accident of scheduling--students began work on their webs
right after reading Derrida--many of these webs deal with deconstruction. (I
might just add, though, that this class seemed to enjoy Derrida, to relish and
roll with his wordplay, more than earlier groups seemed to have done.)
To make things easier for
you, I've distinguished webs dealing chiefly with Derrida himself from webs
that use Derrida (or another theorist) to deal with something else. Not that
such distinctions aren't always already . . . well, you know . . .
Readings of Derrida
- Steve Rodgers, "Derrida: Passing Between
Opposites"--A discussion of Derrida's style, plus a deconstruction of the
familiar distinction between early (philosophical, rigorous) Derrida and late
(poetic, playful) Derrida.
- J. P. Mohan, "The Pharmakon: Grounds for
Play"--An essay on Derrida's "main tool" in deconstructing Plato--the
fabulous pharmakon--with side glances at figures such as Michel Foucault and
Theuth, the Egyptian god of writing.
- Seth Warren, "Play and Plato's Allergies,
or Perforating the Slash"--A discussion of Derrida's concept of play, which
explains why God--unlike Plato, Derrida, and the rest of us--"has no
allergies."
Readings in light of Derrida (and other poststructuralist thinkers)
- Julie Wroblewski, "Derrida, The
Simpsons, and Filial Relationships"--An account of the epic
monster-truck battle between Derrida and Plato, plus a discussion of
the struggles between fathers and sons, speech and writing, in The
Simpsons.
- Joe Tennis, "'CHINA': How Tori Amos Glues the
Cracks Together"--A reading of Tori Amos's song "CHINA" as an "exercise in
deconstruction," culminating in a very close reading of the lyrics, with a
focus on the artist's use of words like "CHINA," "DISTANCE," and "WALL."
- Chris Schatz, "Mozart and the 'Author
Function'"--A study of how the "author function" has been
employed and deployed in debates about a work possibly (but not certainly)
written by Mozart.
Projects that don't fit into either category
- Natasha Breen, photo essay--A
collection of photographs and commentaries, dealing with issues of perception,
authorship, and reading. Among the questions considered here are "What is a
Reader?" "Who is an Author?" and "What is dead?"
WHAT NEXT?
revised October 1, 1997
mail to Tim Spurgin