Suggested Topic #5: The last blog! Consider an “aha” moment you’ve had in ASTU this year: it might be in relation to scholarly writing, to one of our literary texts, or to something in the larger world that you viewed through the lens of our course. Reflect on that moment and how it might change things for you going forward.

Suggested Topic #4: Have you read other representations of returning war veterans? Perhaps you read accounts of other wars in high school, or have recently seen a related film or news article? Consider how Klay’s story about Sgt. Price compares to what you know–or have come to expect–about war narratives, particularly those about veterans returning home.

Suggested Topic #3: Compare 2 of the poems of the poems we’ve read in the last 2 weeks (by Spahr, Auden, Szymborska, Collins & Turner).

Suggested Topic #2: Judith Butler writes that “[if] certain lives do not qualify as lives or are, from the start, not conceivable as lives within certain epistemological frames, then these lives are never lived nor lost in the full sense” (1). Can you apply Butler’s thinking (in this representative quote, or in the chapter more broadly) to current events including–or beyond–the war on terror? What might Butler contribute to the discussion about the current migrant crisis, for example?

Suggested Topic #1: Consider the effect of the child narrator in Foer’s novel We’ve had three child protagonists now (Marji, Naomi, and Oskar). How do they compare? Can you think of other books or media that foreground the child’s experience? How does this POV affect how trauma is portrayed?

Suggested topics for personal blog posts will be posted on the Monday before the blog is due. Topics are totally optional and you can answer any of them for any blog post. (Eg. You can still choose your own topic, or you can respond to topic #1 in your blog #2.)