Analysis of Edward Said’s Work

Here is a link to the prezi presentation of Edward Said’s Works:

  

As mentioned in the presentation, Michael Zeeman interviews Edward Said about his background education, family and experiences growing up in the Middle East

Also adding to Said’s work on orientalism,  this short video includes Said’s response to the core question of orientalism

At 3 minutes into the video, he comments on the relationship between knowledge & humanism. He asks can we still maintain humanism while gaining knowledge that is based on differences, inferiority, and alienation of the other?

From Inside the Classroom

The Post-Midterm Classroom and Playful Pedagogy:

In the second half of class, I thought it important to emphasize play in analyzing and responding to the texts. The creation of this blog and assignments that deconstruct and reconstruct the poetry, films, and novels have all been a part of the post-midterm class. Working in small groups, students have created experimental poetry, performance/dramatic readings of critical scenes, and responded to the works creatively. All of this is an attempt to allow different forms of connections, interpretations and relationships to the texts, as well as create a sense of community within the classroom.

Here are a few photos from these sessions. We “discussed” the themes of A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar by performing critical scenes. The self-making project is fueled by the conflicts of growing up, crossing borders, transgressing boundaries, and leaving home.

Humaira, Shaan, Annette, David and Jae perform

Amira, Zabir, Liana and Helen re-enact the Kuwait scenes

Jhanavi, Aicha, Maryam as Nidali and Aylar as Father sending her off to school in Egypt

Sara, Waleed, Nazia and David: JayZ meets Arab music

Aya, Maureen and Aasma reenact Tribe Called Quest Scene

The Madman(Prologue) by Khalil Gibran — Arabic Translation

Khalil Gibran

…And I have found both freedom and safety in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us.

—The Madman(Prologue) by Khalil Gibran

 :Arabic Translation

“ووجدت الحرية والامان فى جنونى 

حرية الوحده والسلم من السنة الناس

من هؤلاء الذين يسعون لفهم ماضينا

حتى يستعبدوا ما فى قلوبنا من عزة”

المجنون(المقدمة) لخليل جبران–

Translation Team: Ishaq Matari, Annette Hantsch, Hadeer Elsbai, Shaymaa Nagud, Asmaa  Abbas

Naomi Shihab Nye poetry deconstruction/reconstruction

St. Louis, MO, 1953: Naomi Shihab (Nye) on the shoulders of her father, Aziz Shihab

When they say Don’t I know you? Say…
We have so much pain there is no place to store it
Their prayers were weathered rib bones
True Arabs believed watermelon could heal fifty ways

If they say we should get together? Say…
In Mecca? Under the olive trees? In America?
Homeless fig, this tragedy with a terrible root…what flag can we wave?

Decide what to do with your time
It will never be finished
What does a true Arab do now?

PUT TOGETHER BY: HADEER ELSBAI, HELEN HASTINGS, & AYA MOHAMED

A response to the poem, This House, My Bones by Elmaz Abinader

Elmaz Abinader

Home is about warmness,

sweetness of the heart.

Everlasting memories fill the air,

hope and fear among them.

Echoes exit the mosque and into our homes.

Each of us blessed with hope.

An indescribable feeling of miracles that can happen and will happen.

The one and only hears our cries, our hopes for a miracle.

“No amount of hope can save it.

No amount of words can stop it.

Hold the heart. Imagine it is yours.”

Aylar Abbasiazam & Sara Lemus.

Surreal Poem After Khalil Gibran’s “Dead are my People”

Khalil Gibran and Pen League

Collaborative Poem by:

Helen Hastings, Jhanavi Rambrich, Symone Biggerstaft, Jae Young

* * *     * * *     * * *

My country was blessed and engulfed

By the light of the sun.

Gone are my people, but I exist.

Were I an ear of corn

Pluck me

Were I a ripe fruit

Gather me

Were I a bird flying in the sky of my country

Hunt me

Tears shed by your people

Rivers of blood in the valleys

The earth of the unseen serpents.

The iron paws of hunger

The shadow of losing life

The withered hand stretching toward you.

The kindness that compels you

The only virtue

Which makes you worthy of-

The light of day

The peace of night

The golden chain that binds us to

The rich loving heart of God.

[Link to the full poem “Dead are my People” by Gibran Khalil Gibran: Here]