| Auster (day 2) Business? Correction: – meta – “on” or “about” – morphe – “shape” – Metamorphosis – change in form. – Meta-fiction – fiction about fiction Paper Naming, Authorship, Identity The Case HW – Responses due for Friday. – Finish this book for Monday. – Start thinking about what you want to write about. – Formal prompt will be sent out this evening and we will discuss it on Tuesday.

Paper: Due Fri. 8 th. Goal: Working closely with a text, explain Topics / material – You are free to select your own topic from any of the texts we have read thus far. – No research element is required, though you are free to look up articles and such if you wish. Elements – Form or Checklist – What does it say?: explicate a short passage that you see as an exemplary case in the text. – How does it relate to the larger text?: place this example case in conversation with the work as a whole. – What is significant about this conversation?: make a case for the importance of what you found. Explain, contextualize, evaluate

Specs. 3 < # of pages < 4. Any more or less will not be read. Follows standard MLA formatting instructions, including but not limited to: – Margins – Font size – Page numbering – Heading/title – Internal citation – Bibliography, etc. Due Friday, February 8 th by 5pm on CollectIt. – I’ll demonstrate CollectIt on Monday. – It rejects papers sent after the due time. You will have to see me to talk about what to do. You will lose some credit

Grading: A successful paper… – Follows all specifications (3<#<4 pages, MLA format. – Demonstrates purposeful and effective prose, employing appropriate style, organization, transitions, etc. – Treats the text with careful attention – Executes each of the elements with skill, creativity, and care.

Help!!! Office Hours: – Monday, my office PAD A031, 2:30-5 – Please don’t drafts or questions answered by the prompt. It may take a while for me to respond. Writing Centers & Websites – A note on intertextuality: – You do not need to refer to more than one book unless you want to. – Be sure to hit all the elements – Probably most interesting in the Evaluate sections.

Names Who is the narrator of City of Glass? – Daniel Quinn – William Wilson – Max Work – Paul Auster – Daniel Quinn [ DQ pretending to be PA pretending to be DQ!] – Peter Stillman [or DQ pretending to be PA pretending to be Peter Stillman] – Are there others?

Identity One has to ask then, what is essential about “Daniel Quinn?” – How do we know that is his real name? – What does it mean to have a real name? – What does the practice of naming imply about identity? – How do you pretend to be someone else pretending to be you? – How does this text address our understanding of identity?

Authorship Each of Quinn’s avatars presented here has some connection with authorship. DQ – Mystery Writer WW – Pen name for DQ MW – Recurring character’s name PA – Author of DQ What is this text doing with authorship? What is potentially interesting about this constellation?

“the writer and the detective are interchangeable” Which is Daniel Quinn, writer or detective? Which is Paul Auster, the character, writer or detective? What about Auster, the living human being?

Are Quinn and Auster interchangeable? Why set up this comparison? What does it say about writing/fiction? What does it say about reality? Identity?

The case Character sketch the principle players: – Peter Stillman – Virginia Stillman – Peter Stillman Sr. What is the case? How has it played out so far? – Train station – Stake out – Confrontation – Disappearance.

Stillman & Son What is their relationship history? What is Sr.’s big obsession? – Tower of Babel / Myth of Creation How does that relate to his son? – The Wild Child What function, then, do these two play in this meta-fictional novel? What do they operate as figures for?

Why meta-fiction?