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House of Wits
Welcome! to House of Wits, a spring 2009 course @ Bryn Mawr College, where we are conducting an extended visit with one of America’s most interesting and influential families: the unruly, expansive children of Henry James, Sr. We're focusing on the remarkable writings of three of them: the diarist Alice, who became a feminist icon; the great novelist Henry; and the groundbreaking psychologist and philosopher William--both exploring their work and thinking about what roles they may still be playing in our culture and in our lives.
We're creating a group commonplace book as a record of our readings and reflectings about the Jameses. Come read and write along....
A Summary of Sympathy - Class Summary, February 2
Class Summary
February 2, 2010
Aseidman
The paper –
Longer than 4 pages is acceptable because of a traumatic incident in Prof Dalke’s past.
kkazan's page
Below is the attachment of the powerpoint that MissArcher2 and I presented to the class for our final performance.
We also put a song together to the tune of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" which talked about the lives of each of the James siblings. In addition to this we discussed the possible effects that Henry James, Sr. had on each of his children and how this may have effected their work and their lives.
exsoloadsolem's Page
Post 1- 2/1/10: The Diary of Alice James
"These long pauses don't point to any mental aridity, my 'roomy forehead' is as full as ever of germinating thughts, but alas the machinery is more and more out of kilter. I am sorry for you all, for I feel as if I hadn't even yet given my message. I would there were more bursts of enthusiasm, less of the carping tone, through this, but I fear it comes by nature, and after all, the excellent Islander will ne'er be crushed by the knowledge of the eye that was upon him, through the long length of years, and the monotone of the enthusiast is more wearisome to sustain than a dyspeptic one." -Diary of Alice James, September 3, 1881
jrlewis' page
1/25/2010
“But once she found herself in the long hall and close to the glass table. “Now, I’ll manage better this time,” she said to herself and began by taking the little golden key, and unlocking the door that led into the garden. Then she set to work nibbling at the mushroom (she had kept a piece of it in her pocket) till she was about a foot high: then she walked down the little passage; and then- she found herself at last in the beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and the cool fountains,” (last paragraph of the tea party chapter from Alice in Wonderland).
Fabelhaft's Page
April 28, 2010
final performance with Calamity
[sung to the tune of that camp classic "The Princess Pat; or, Rigabamboo"]
The Siblings James
MANDATORY AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
The siblings James
Are super smart
Their IQs are
Well, off the chart.
There’s Alice, Will,
And Henry too.
(Wilky and Bob fought in the war,
But came back too blue.)
These three are
The siblings James.
The siblings James,
Now who are they?
They wrote some stuff,
Calamity's page
4/27/2010 Tomorrow's Presentation with FABELHAFT
[sung to the tune of that camp classic "The Princess Pat; or, Rigabamboo"]
The Siblings James
MANDATORY AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
The siblings James
Are super smart
Their IQs are
Well, off the chart.
There’s Alice, Will,
And Henry too.
(Wilky and Bob fought in the war,
But came back too blue.)
These three are
The siblings James.
The siblings James,
Now who are they?
MissArcher2's Page
Fresh Family Rap
Now, this is the story all about how
Henry James Sr. and his kids turned out
And we'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
And we'll tell you bout the Jameses and their life of despair.
All over the world they were born and raised
Outside the classroom they spent most of their days
Reading' and learnin' on their own instead
(‘cept for little Alice all laid up in her bed)
When their good old dad
Who spent some time abroad,
Started callin’ all their education flawed
They went to one boarding school before he volunteered,
aseidman's page
ALICE IN BED - Fiction? Wishful Thinking? Why are the blanks filled in?
In class this past week, Professor Dalke informed us that Henry James Sr. Had given Alice James permission to kill herself. The transcript she provided us of the conversation consisted of a very few words. The (presumably fictional) transcript of the conversation provided to us by Sontag was a great deal more satisfying, and it leaves me, of course, to wonder whether or not there was more to Henry James Sr's permission slip than I was originally led to believe.
Anne's Page
4/14/10: Class Notes on William James: Getting Here from There
Paul Grobstein joined us today to talk about the conversations he's been having with his "old friend," William James. He brought in "some other friends," too, to help us understand "what he was about and what he's good for," since he's "pretty old now." How did James get to where he did, and what does it make possible? Why is he of interest to us, years later? What was he up to, where did he get to, and why do we continue to read him?
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