Welcome back
Today, we’re exploring Butler in more depth. Some of you may have loved the text. Some may have had trouble with it. So we’re going to think more about this trouble.
Writing exercise
Write for 5 minutes. The title of your piece is The Trouble with Gender
Being in and Making Trouble
Let’s discuss the following:
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What did you find troubling about Butler’s text?
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What do you find troubling about either the notion of gender, or how gender is imagined / reimagined within your own cultural context?
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In her 1990 preface to her book, Butler writes, “I concluded that trouble is inevitable and the task, how best to make it, what best way to be in it.” What do you think she means?
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What is the best way of making this trouble? What is the best way of being in it?
Close Reading
Finally, we’re going to do a close reading of Chapter 1 to get the argument clear. In your groups:
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Identify what you think are the most important sections of the reading.
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Summarise in your own words what the author is saying in these sections.
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Explain why these sections are important to the author’s argument.
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Give a practical example that can help us understand the argument.
We’ll discuss this in the main room.