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Play in the City 2013
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Welcome to the on-line conversation for Play in the City, an Emily Balch Seminar offered in Fall 2013 @ Bryn Mawr College, in which we are addressing the question of how we construct, experience, and learn in the act of play. How is play both structured by the environment in which it occurs, and how might it re-structure that space, unsettling and re-drawing the frame in which it is performed? This is an interestingly different kind of place for writing, and may take some getting used to. The first thing to keep in mind is that it's not a site for "formal writing" or "finished thoughts." It's a place for thoughts-in-progress, for what you're thinking (whether you know it or not) on your way to what you think next. Imagine that you're just talking to some people you've met. This is a "conversation" place, a place to find out what you're thinking yourself, and what other people are thinking. The idea here is that your "thoughts in progress" can help others with their thinking, and theirs can help you with yours. |
Who are you writing for? Primarily for yourself, and for others in our course. But also for the world. This is a "public" forum, so people anywhere on the web might look in. You're writing for yourself, for others in the class, AND for others you might or might not know. So, your thoughts in progress can contribute to the thoughts in progress of LOTS of people. The web is giving increasing reality to the idea that there can actually evolve a world community, and you're part of helping to bring that about. We're glad to have you along, and hope you come to both enjoy and value our shared explorations. Feel free to comment on any post below, or to POST YOUR THOUGHTS HERE.
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The Struggle Behind a Biracial/Bicultural Marriage
A few months ago, a new commercial from Cheerios surfaced which surprisingly had a terrible response from many viewers. The commercial showed a biracial girl asking her white mother if “cheerios really were good for your heart” who later goes on to pour them over her black father. The cynical comments came from both white and black viewers who were disgusted by the thought of a biracial couple. One of Zadie Smith’s lead couples in her novel NW is also biracial and faces similar negative reactions. The overwhelmingly negative feedback from both the commercial and the characters in NW led me to question how accepted it was to be in a biracial and bicultural relationship along with the problems and barriers that stand in between.
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Structured How?
Ellen Cohn
Play In The City
10/27/2013
Structured How?
Zadie Smith, throughout her novel NW, frequently changes her style of writing depending on whose perspective and voice she is speaking through. This is seen many times throughout the book, and is also mentioned by her in an interview with Cressida Leyshon, a writer for The New Yorker. Smith, while writing the novel NW, set up a rule for herself, which she claims structured her writing differently in the various sections. In the interview with Leyshon, she responded to a question about structure by saying that she looked at “how we experience time,” and how it differs depending on whose perspective we look through (Leyshon 1). Smith mentioned Natalie’s chapters, and how they are structured more chronologically because, in Natalie’s mind, “life is a progression toward some ultimate goal…‘success’” (Leyshon 1). The chapters about Natalie seemed to move more linearly, as we followed her to her successful life, and then back through her fall into her old “Keisha” identity. However, did Smith stick with this rule throughout the entire novel?
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To What Extent Does Your Biology Determine the Direction of Your Life?
Zadie Smith’s NW mulls over how our neighborhood, clan, and race affects the path your life takes. None of the main characters are satisfied with how their lives turned out, even if in society’s view, their lives turned out rather well. They all feel various degrees of agency to do something about it. While I was reading the book on the Amtrak back to Bryn Mawr, I started thinking about where their biology fits into their predicaments. By biology, I mean how and why their brains are wired. For example, if Leah is wired to have a deficit of agency, is it still her fault?
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The Sole Author: Keisha's Identity through Existentialism
Samantha Plate
Play In The City
10/27/2013
The Sole Author: Keisha's Identity through Existentialism
Have you ever wondered who you are? Have you ever thought “Why am I here? What is my purpose?” Have you ever thought everyone knows themselves except for you? If so, you are not alone. You are questioning your existence just like Keisha Blake does all throughout NW. In Zadie Smith’s novel NW, Keisha Blake questions her identity in an attempt to understand herself while struggling with the concepts of existentialism.
Existentialism is extremely prevalent throughout NW. It is always there in the background, breaking through every now and then to make obvious appearances, other times passing by in the background. Leah introduces Natalie to the ideas of Kierkegaard during chapter 55 and it is shortly after this that Keisha becomes Natalie. Much later in chapter 138, Keisha tries to understand this philosopher better by doing a Google search. It is shortly after this that she begins to visit the listings site. The ideas of Kierkegaard and Existentialism can be seen in Keisha’s thoughts and actions and can be used to understand her better.
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planning ahead!
As mentioned today in class, we'd like you (please) to consult your calendars,
and come to class next Tuesday able to tell us when you are free to attend
the Nicole Canuso performance of The Garden--
possibilities include 7:30 & 9 p.m. on Fris, Nov. 1, Nov. 8, Nov. 15,
6 & 7:30 & 9 p.m. on Sats, Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 16
4:30 & 6 pm. on Suns, Nov. 3, Nov. 10, Nov. 17
6 & 7:30 on Mons, Nov. 4, Nov. 11
7:30 & 9 on Thurss, Nov. 7, Nov. 14.
Also we'd like to know if you could be free and available to fulfill Mark's fantasy of a final gathering of us all,
@ the same time, in a special place, for a special meal and conversation, in the city on December 6-8?
Thanks!
A&M
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Fifth Trip to Philly to see Thaddeus Phillips's 1-man show, 17 Border Crossings, @ 140 N. Columbus Blvd
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Writing Economically
Every so often, throughout my reading of NW, a sentence or phrase would jump out at me, and I’d underline it. When I finished the book, I typed up and compiled all these sentences into one document and sorted them into themes. One of the themes I found has to do with economic concepts, and because in my other classes I am dealing a lot with economics and economic theory, I’d be interested in applying theories of human economic thought and behaviour into analysing the characters of NW. I have five main quotes of sentences from the book, and I plan to focus on the closely surrounding passages from which they come to see how much depth I can to the characters in terms of their participation in the economic system, both in the city and globally. I want to explore how consideration of these characters (and upon reflection, ourselves in real life) in terms of their economic function can serve to reorient the reader’s perception of their emotional, social, romantic, and/or familial behaviour.
![Mindy Lu's picture Mindy Lu's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1276.jpg)
NW
When I read this book, I am really interested in the relationships of various sorts throughout the book. The friendship between Lean and Natalie\Keisha is complex, because of the great difference between their worldviews. The connection among the four characters is also subtle and valueable to be analyzed, because although their experience seems to be apart, they do interact each other. Moreover, the relationships I mention are not only among people, but also between the city and the stories,the minds and realities.
![Cathy Zhou's picture Cathy Zhou's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1256.png)
Leah and Michel
I want to focus on the different vision from Leah and Michel.It's interesting that they have a different consideration,different race and not loving each other but still like to be with each other. Leah wants to stay eighteen, but Michel is hoping to move to the next step. Their marriage is between two totally different spirit---- one longing for freedom needs no boundary and one well-planned.When I read about Leah, I thought she would not be someone needs marriage, like other normal women. She seems to have a spirit that wants something more. And Michel is a good-looking man that every woman would like, he can easily find someone suits him better than Leah. I want to find the reason of their marriage---what are they expecting out of this marriage. Even it led to a tragedy because they want different things, it should not meant to be a total mistake.
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NW
Reading NW, I found myself wanting to know more about the more minor characters. I was curious about the background of the Felix/Annie relationship, and why exactly Annie could still have such a strong pull on Felix to the point that even though he was completely in love with his girlfriend, he would have sex with Annie on the roof. Even more, I wanted to know how Annie got to living in the state that she was, drinking and smoking and doing drugs constantly.
Anyway, most of that can't really be answered in class, or by anyone other than Zadie Smith herself. So I suppose what I would like to look at and figure out is what we do see of Felix and Annie's relationship. How they treat each other, etc.
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Structures
When reading NW, and even more so when we discussed it in class, I found myself very intrigued by the structures Zadie Smith choose to use throughout the book. To break a mold and rebuild it is in some ways astonishing to me, and she certainly explored what it meant to be a chapter, a section, a dialogue. Some of her chapters were numbered while others were named or mis-numbered. She did not use quotation marks of any sort, some of her descriptions were stream-of-consciousness focus on one thing or another, and some of her chapters were made up entirely of google map directions, or a web page, or stream-of-consciousness senses along a certain path. I would love to explore in more depth the tools she uses, and where and why she might use them.
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Nat & Leah
While reading NW, I found the friendship between Natalie/Keisha and Leah very intriguing. They started out doing everything together, not because of common interests but because of the "dramatic event." Gradually, they grow apart, but throughout the course of the novel it appears as if they're rekindling their friendship. I also found myself curious about how Leah sees their relationship versus how Natalie/Keisha sees it. Both of them seem insecure about being around the other, but for different reasons. I'd like to explore the course of their friendship and the direction it's headed in at the end of the book.
![Taylor Milne's picture Taylor Milne's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1272.jpg)
NW
As I was reading NW, I found myself most invested with the character and storyline of Keisha/Natalie. I felt that the discontinuity and split personality of Keisha/Natalie mimicked the structure of the novel NW, which I also saw as a unit that did not have any clear direction, or a real sense of what it was. I would like to take a deeper look into how Keisha/Natalie’s different identities interact, and how although Natalie desperately tries to escape where she is from and her background, Keisha is still always with her. I would also like to see how the structure of her section of the novel is reminiscent of the structure of her life and the novel as a whole, but I think that may be too much to do well and fit into a three-page paper.
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The Streets of NW
I have always wanted to live in England and found London to be one of the most interesting cities I've ever visited. Because of this what really caught my attention in NW was Zadie's vivid and detailed descriptions of the streets (like those on pages 42-43). I wondered how she wrote them. Did she walk down them and record what she saw? Was it all made up? I would like to look at the streets that she gives the most attention to and see what is really there and possibly what the socioeconomic makeup of the area is.
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Thoughts on NW
The fragmented stories of the four main characters in NW perplexed me. The book is composed of fragmented words and scenes. And none of the characters have a happy ending, which is what we typically see in novels or movies. The book is not like a mosaic that put broken things together as a whole, but let broken things staying broken. Why does Zadie Smith set the book this way and what does she trying to say or show? Another thing I noticed is fate associated with roots. Natalie, or Keisha, tries to leave her root behind but somewhat still can't shake it off. She leads a perfect life by pretending to be someone else but . In the opposite, Felix accepts his roots and turns into a better person, but he dies. Is this because their fate will follow them no matter what they do or who they become? Is it pointless to try to get out of the poverty they were born into since their roots will follow them along the way?
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ideas
I am interested in Felix and what, if anything, is accomplished by giving him an entire section rather than just a mention, besides making the reader care about him. Also, I am not convinced that Nathan killed him and would like to explore that.
I would also like to further explore the structure, but I think I would need another week's time off to write that subject well.
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NW Leah v. Keisha/Natalie
I'm interested in the difference between Leah and Natalie. Leah has spent her whole life going against what was expected of her: she did next to nothing with her college degree, is living in a home worse than the one she grew up in, is deciding not to have children. Natalie, on the other hand, has spent her life doing only what was expected of her: went to college, got an excellent job, lives in a nice house, has a family. Leah, however, appears to be more happy with where she is than Natalie. Why is this? This is made more interesting when we take into account the fact that they grew up together and were best friends...many of the things they did, they did together.
![Claire Romaine's picture Claire Romaine's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1257.jpg)
Breaking
In class we began discussing Keisha/Natalie's near-suicide, and particularly her comments about breaks and "a complete and total rupture" (385). It got me thinking about Natalie's actual mental breakdown and when it actually occurred (because I don't think it was on top of that bridge), and all of the smaller things leading up to that like her constant name-changing and interest in sex with multiple partners. It is even more interesting to compare this to the breakdown that Leah has which leads to her sitting out in a hammock seemingly because her dog died.
Besides this, if this turns out to be too broad of a topic, I also wanted to focus solely on the difference between Keish and Natalie because it is really not as simple as Natalie being the public face and Keisha the true self. Each of these names come out in very different scenarios and I want to understand the purpose behind the switch.