4 short close readings

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4 small close reading analysis on different passages. 1. https://grattoncourses.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/the-animal-that-therefore-i-am-jacques-derrida-ed-marie-louis-mallet-tr-david-wills.pdf 2. https://grattoncourses.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/the-animal-that-therefore-i-am-jacques-derrida-ed-marie-louis-mallet-tr-david-wills.pdf This is to keep in mind for #2 May be useful to keep two points in mind as you read this: 1) First, as a background, an implicit connection Derrida makes via the title of his work: • Descartes on the nature of the human: “I think therefore I am.” • Derrida on the nature of the human-animal connection: “The animal that therefore I am.” 2) Second, the passage focuses on nakedness and the animal. But who, in the basic plot of this piece, is naked? For the 1st one it May be useful to keep in mind, as a background, an implicit connection Derrida makes via the title of his work: • Descartes on the nature of the human: “I think therefore I am.” • Derrida on the nature of the human-animal connection: “The animal that therefore I am.” I meant to send that the first time i sent the link and i am sending the link for the last two now https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5cd03868094b1/4559433?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1605862800000&X-Blackboard-Signature=y4Ba9alAqsHIJM9qlj5zARBzBm4XGr3QMa2rmTm3yIw%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=200124&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Calarco_Zoographies.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20201120T030000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5SJBSTP6%2F20201120%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=4acbe5f077b5453a1b885ccb4b9046b19d7d7a2eed5c7687d67b4ee95cc40630 This is just some advise from the profsessor on what to do and not to do on the last two. Because these passages are from often-dense theoretical pieces, you may run into some road blocks with your close reading. That is expected and completely unsurprising, so please don’t panic. (Note that the more theoretical pieces you read, the easier they get) If you do run into a roadblock, explain exactly what has prompted it. In other words, even a difficult reading can provoke questions and connections. So therefore please state what the author has said, what possible connections you see, and what questions, etc. you see developing. Many in academic writing have had to confront unnecessarily dense language, and the key is to remain objective and analytical. Below are brief examples of acceptable, and less-than-acceptable, ways to handle the roadblocks, • Example, OK work with a difficult passage: Butler here develops points about her central claim: that gender extends beyond theater and into the realm of the linguistic “performative.” “As performance which is performative, gender is an ‘act,’“ Butler writes, “broadly construed, which constructs the social fiction of its own psychological interiority.” By drawing some separation between “performance” and “performative,” Butler continues on the path she has laid out in her video interview. However, as she moves into a discussion of “social fiction” and “interiority,” yet neglects to follow such points with explanation, she muddies the waters. In all likelihood, Butler is referencing cultural constructions of gender and the related social pressures for individuals to behave in a certain way (for the bullying that results from the walk of a “sissy boy,” for example). ETC.” • Example, not-OK work with a difficult passage: Butler here develops points about her central claims regarding gender. She continues to work with differences, and similarities, of the performance and the performative. Her language, however, and her often wandering sentences, stop me from understanding anything she is saying. Butler seems more interested in using philosophical terms than in clarity. I like Butler’s point about the social pressures of gender, and I agree with her that gender is a cultural construction. But Butler’s inability to communicate that point makes me think she is an ineffective messenger.