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Teachers' Resource Web Study Questions on Aphra Behn Oronooko Before you start writing a response, read the handout entitled "Genre," consider the various definitions of the novel that we have come up with in class or discussed, remind yourself of the characteristics of a romance. With a clear sense of how the novel represents a departure from romance and distinguishes itself as a generic category, then consider Oronooko's relation to romance and identity in terms of genre. Selecting two very specific examples from the text, make some kind of claim regarding the text's relationship to romance. Does this relationship change over the course of the story, does Behn engage the romantic tradition and disengage it in a similar way to Woolf' shifting in and out of fiction in her nonfiction piece'? Then using two more examples from the text, make some kind of claim about the text's status in terms of genre. Is it fully a novel, is it partially a novel, is it moving towards being a novel? Remember to be as specific as possible in your discussion of examples as it is excellent practice for your upcoming papers. This assignment need not be typed, as long as it is legible and should be about a page and a half to two pages in length. Due Friday, April 12. Homework Assignment 2 for Aphra Behn's Oronooko Select one of the following questions and respond to it, being as specific as possible in your examination of the language of the text. To answer the question you choose, you will have to review if not reread much of Oronooko, a task that is in your best interest as the more familiar you are with the text, the easier it will be to write a full draft of the first paper next week. In other words, the more time and thought you devote to these shorter writing assignments, the better prepared you will be to write the full length papers for the class. Track and analyze Behn's use of "we" in order to understand better the status of the narrator in relation to the hero of this novel as well as the English colonists that enslave him. With whom does Behn ally herself? And is this alliance constant or does it shift? If it does change, note when and consider the significance of such moments. Come up with a convincing reading of the changes in gender of the two animals that Oronooko kills (1895-6). What is the significance of these shifts in gender and how do those events relate to other issues of gender in the novel? It may be useful to consider the relation of these animals' deaths to that of Oronooko and the feminization of the hero toward the end of the story. What is the purpose and significance of Imoinda, the black woman, in a text that more directly speaks to white femininity and black masculinity? If you read Behn as entertaining some attraction for Oronooko, then how does she treat or use Imoinda? Note that the story ends with "the constant Imoinda" (1910). For those of you who have read Othello, you may compare and contrast this tale with that of Othello and Desdemona.
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