ENGLISH 339-E Prof. Cora Agatucci Literary Genres

Seminar #2 Summaries:  Jewel in the Crown Parts 1, 2, 3 ~ 18 April 2003 Seminar #2 Leaders:  T. E. & L. S.; Summarizers:  A.K. & C. D. - Spring 2003 URL of this webpage: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng339/seminar2.htm Seminar #2 Participants:  C.A., T.C, C.D., C.D., T.E., A.K., L.L., L.S., J.V. [Absent: A.L.] Seminar #2 Summaries:  (a) A. K. |  (b) Ca. D. | Additional Contribution: Ch.D. | A.L.

Seminar #2 Summary a.  by A. K. PARTS I-III JEWEL IN THE CROWN -Discussion Summary- There are three different styles of narrators and they are all women.  What’s the author trying to say by using women narrators, especially if we look at the time period that this takes place?  And we know that women still didn’t have as many rights as they do today—they were oppressed. They’re all outsider characters. The narrators are all talking to someone, almost as if they’re being interviewed.  From the subtle details we can tell that this interviewer is most likely a British male. All of the characters are involved in both worlds, the Indian world and the English world.  The author maybe did this to give the reader a better perspective on what it’s like to be in each world.  For example, Hari Kumar or Harry Coomer, is a black Indian on the outside by physical appearance, but truly an English man on the inside.  Throughout the story there are a lot of things left unanswered; the reader is only given bits and pieces of some of the instances within the story. For example, the story of the tainted coins from Sister Ludmila’s childhood (122). Another example is the untold reason why Hari’s best friend’s family, the family of Colin Lindsay, did not take Hari in after his father died (152). The story is given to the reader in the form of a puzzle, the narrator, mirrors the process of what an historical author or historian would go through to tell a story from the past. How do you construct truth? There are two different sides to the story English and Indian, which is seen in the two different versions of the Bibighar’s story (140-141). In a way, this story is the trial that Hari Kumar never got. The narrator lets people who haven’t been heard—be heard. There are differences in the way the first three women narrators speak.  Sister Ludmila is more straight forward and follows a logical sequence of events. Lady Chatterjee seems a bit scattered, which fits her character, since she believes in the power of association, and is more holistic because she is not from the Western world.  Miss Crane is not still alive that’s why she doesn’t use the first person “I” in her narrational piece. Within the story there are several different class systems involved, for example, the title that Lady Lili Chatterjee uses.  She is from a royal bloodline. Class issues are not only with English, but are also within the Indian Colony. How important it is to have a strong British accent—it’s a sign of upper class. ~MORE DETAILS~ The two characters, Daphne Manners and Hari Kumar, that can ultimately answer the truth of what happened are not interviewed and allowed to tell their story. Another aspect of the narration is the lyrical flights once and a while. The narrator goes over the detailed descriptions of Daphne Manners’ things, almost as if he is looking for an eminence of her.

Seminar #2 Summary b. by Ca. D. -One main topic of the seminar was the different styles of the story narrators.  -The use of different narrators exposes the readers to multiple views. -No one character has the entire story; each contributes a piece of it. -Miss Crane is probably the first narrator because she is plain and somewhat reserved. -One common element of all three narrators was that none were religious, -A second common element was that all three narrators are outsiders in some way. -We notice that there is another voice in the first part which later becomes the interviewer of the story. -The interviewer could not interview Crane because she was already deceased. - The class also discussed how the film lost many details of the book because it had to make sense of the story. -The caste and class systems of India and England were also discussed in detail. -The unusual role of Daphney as an English woman rooming with an Indian woman was pointed out. -The difference in Hari's status in England and in India was also examined. -In England, Hari was seen as high class and in India he is just another person in the crowd. -Professor Agatucci also determined that this novel is not a historical romance because there are no complications in that genre.

ENGL 339 Students: For more example Seminar Summaries from Spring 2002,  please see: Spring 2002 Seminar #1 ~ What Is Historical Fiction? URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng339/spring2002/Seminar1.htm Spring 2002 Seminar #2 ~ Jewel in the Crown URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng339/spring2002/Seminar2.htm Spring 2002 Seminar #3 ~ Jewel in the Crown URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng339/spring2002/Seminar3.htm Spring 2002 Seminar #4 ~ A Pale View of Hills  URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng339/spring2002/Seminar4.htm