To be a Classic or not to be a Classic...Who decides?

At first I was going to write on the readings we have done in class, but today’s discussion on what makes a classic really perked an interest in me. In fact I believe it would be a great research project for students in a high school especially but a middle school as well because it offers the students an inside look at what makes a book a classic and may give them insight to why others liked a book and it lasted through history when they did not enjoy the novel. This may also help defend reading certain texts to students because if they understand why it became such a strong fixture in the literary world then they may be more willing to explore the ideas in the novels. It can also help to teach students how to question what they are reading and research the arguments or critiques that were made on a piece.
However, I really question how much cultural ideas and society influence what becomes considered a literary classic. I also wonder who in the Norton Anthology world makes the decision to put certain pieces by one author in the volumes but they omit others. This then leads to my curiosity about what certain aspects do they look for in different pieces of writing that help to make such major decisions, especially when one book may be more stylistically valued to one person but the content is poor and another book contains both but the poorer of the two is considered a classic.
In class I liked that we delved into this topic rather deeply because I was fascinated by the wide range of opinions and ideas about what makes a classic. I believe deeming something a classic in the literary world is a very difficult task, with all the various pieces available, and admire the patients it must take to read through so many different works. However, I think it would be nice to know a little more from these people who make these decisions what influenced their choices. I am excited to learn more about this, for myself, but also for my students in the future.

The Veiled Woman

I was really interested in “The Vine Leaf” after we discussed it in class. When I first read the piece I was neither, completely excited about it nor did I hate it so I was excited when we analyzed it in class and discussed how it really developed. What interested me even more about the piece was how in depth it was. The author did a great job not only making it a mystery to the reader why the masked woman wanted to keep her identity a secret but he also is creating an almost completely different story with the surgeon whom claims he will keep secrets but ends up telling a secret in order to gain is patients trust; something has been lost in that train of thought.
More on the veiled woman, I really believe that she had not told her fiancé that she had posed nude and knew that if he did know it was she, he would not approve. So, in order to preserve her future life and her reputation she results in killing the artist and getting her birthmark removed to mask, in itself, the truth about the murder and who she is. However, no matter what I believe happened it is truly one of those great stories that allows the reader to make the decision from himself/herself; although that could drive some people crazy. I think the best situation would be if I could meet the author and ask him what he thinking when he wrote the piece and what he would say the reason was if he chose to write it into the story.
Also, I thought it was great how we discussed the different stories and how unique that really is in most writing. There are not many pieces that I am aware of that really make these types of intertwined stories of very different characters and how their paths end up crossing one another. I am interested in reading more pieces like these because they force the reader to think which I do not feel many authors successfully accomplish.

Two Different Cultures, One Similar Love

Sui Sin Far’s piece Mrs. Spring Fragrance was one of my favorite readings on Tuesday. The author did a great job at showing the importance of culture as well as learning how to adapt to a new culture. In her piece, the reader is brought into the lives of a young Chinese couple and the expectations of the culture even though they are living in America. I was fascinated by this piece because it discussed wide spread ideas such as love, but the differences they have within different cultural groups. Unlike many pieces that I have read that are similar to this one is that, Sui Sin Far does not make the differences seem awful. It does not put one idea above another and it shows a real struggle between differing cultures trying to understand one another.
More specifically I was interested in how the seemingly young Mrs. Fragrance became Americanized when her husband had not. Furthermore, I was surprised that even though she was Americanized she still believed in some very important traditions, such as honoring one’s husband through taking care of him, and asking for his permission. She was a very dynamic woman and her sense of love was crossing many boundaries. More specifically, she quotes Tennyson by saying “ ‘Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” This quote transcends cultures because it can be true for people of all ages, around the world and still be difficult to truly define and understand. Love means many things to many people and Sui Sin Far does a great job expressing those differences and similarities within varying circles. It makes me wonder however, if Sui Sin Far was trying to make a statement through this piece as well. If she was trying to show that even though there are several differences between people we all function under the same basic principles. I think this piece is important in how it connects two very different cultures.