SWAG May 20th event- Screening of Nancy Savoca's DIRT

To all LaGuardians, Friends, and Film Lovers -

The Committee for the Study of Women and Gender (SWAG) cordially invites you to a screening of Nancy Savoca’s DIRT on Monday, May 20 in E-242 starting at 11:45 a.m. DIRT (2003), which follows the trials and tribulations of Dolores Del Rosario, an undocumented Salvadorian domestic worker who lives with her husband and son in Corona, Queens, has earned Nancy Savoca the Best Director prize at the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival and a nomination by the Writer’s Guild of America for Best Long Form Teleplay. Prof. Jerry W. Carlson, the Director of the Cinema Studies Program in the Department of Media & Communication Arts at City College, CUNY, who co-directed DIRT with Savoca, will be joining us for the screening, and will introduce as well as talk about the film. 

See you on May 20th! 

Women's Literature Salon 3/19

To all LaGuardians -

The Committee for the Study of Women and Gender (SWAG) of the LaGuardia English Department is happy to announce our inaugural Women's Literature Salon for students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Come celebrate Women's History Month by reading a five-minute selection of a piece by your favorite woman writer from 1pm to 3pm on Tuesday, March 19th in E-111.  All genres of women's writing are welcome - stories, poems, essays, plays, criticism, etc. - as are all LaGuardians, from any department, full and part time.  There's only one rule: keep it to five minutes or less, so plan on finding a reading that will fit.  Of course, you can just drop by and enjoy all the wonderful readings.  Light refreshments will be served.

If you'd like to share a selection by your favorite woman author, please contact us to sign up. Students who would like to read work from their favorite woman author, please email us to sign up. Let us know which half-hour interval between 1pm and 3pm would work best for you and we'll put you on the list!

Contact Carrie Conners, cconners@lagcc.cuny.edu, or Claudia Moreno Pisano, cmorenopisano@lagcc.cuny.edu, to sign up for a slot or with questions.

See you on March 19th!
Carrie Conners and Claudia Moreno Pisano


Carrie Conners, PhD 
Assistant Professor of English 
LaGuardia Community College--CUNY 
e-mail: cconners@lagcc.cuny.edu 
Phone: 718.482.5965

Congratulations!!!

Thank you for all your hard work this semester!

Have a wonderful break, enjoy the holidays, and best of luck on all your future endeavors!

Extra Credit

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,                                     -A
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain                                                    -B 
Under my head till morning, but the rain                                                      -B
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh                                                     -A
Upon the glass and listen for reply,                                                                -A 
And my heart there stirs a quiet pain                                                             -B
For unremembered lads that not again                                                         -B
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.                                                         -A 
Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,                                                     - C
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,                                       - D
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:                                             - E
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,                                             - D
I only know that summer sang in me                                                           - C
A little while, that in me sings no more.                                                       - E

Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem "What my lips have kissed, and where, and why" is written in sonnet form. A sonnet has fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter. This particular sonnet is an Italian Sonnet with the rhyme scheme of a b b a a b b a in the first octave. In the following sestet, the rhyme scheme is c d e d c e. 

Alternate Ending to "A Doll's House"

The stage is set like a dimly lit street. Businesses closed for the night lined up like sleeping cattle. There are two street lamps, one on each side of a cobble stone road. Under the street lamp on stage left, Mrs. Linde stands leaning against it smoking a cigarette. Nora enters from stage right, suitcase in hand, expressing a strong sense of urgency. She is composed but visually bothered. As she turns the corner under stage right’s street lamp, Nora spots Mrs. Linde.

Nora: Kristine! (Nora runs towards Mrs. Linde as if her legs could barely support her weight.  Her eyes are watery but she is not crying) Oh Kristine! What have I done all these years? 

Mrs. Linde: (startled and confused, takes one last brief drag and tosses her cigarette into the street) What? What do mean?

Nora: These last eight years of my life. The sacrifices I have made, the risks I took, all for what? A boy wearing a man’s disguise.

Mrs. Linde: Nora, slow down. Why do you have a suitcase? What’s going on? Did you tell Torvald the truth?

Nora: (catching her breath) I didn’t have to. He read Krogstad’s letters. But oh how horrible. The     things he said to me. I sat there and listened to him tear me to shreds with his words, never once acknowledging what I did for him! I’m a fool Kristine! (looks to the dark  nights sky) A fool!  

Mrs. Linde: Calm down Nora. You’re not a fool. (goes to give Nora a hug) You were in love. You did what you felt was the right thing to do at the time. (after a pause she releases Nora from the friendly hug) I understand why you borrowed the money. I may not have agreed with it, but I understand why. If Torvald wasn’t able to see past the illegal nature of what you did then he is the fool Nora, not you.

(Nora looks down and gently rubs her eyes clear from any would-be tears, then looks  back up at Mrs. Linde)

Nora: Really? Do you think so?...But what about the children? What if this is all a big mistake?

Mrs. Linde: (confident and stern) Listen to me. Leaving tonight was the best decision you have           ever made. You are free. (Nora looks at Mrs. Linde and forms unbreakable, but soft eye contact) Free to make something of yourself. Free to find someone who sees you as a partner in life, not a pet. As for the children, they will be in good hands with Helene. Torvald… he will recover from this and he will still have a job so your babies wont starve. Write them, and when they are old enough to understand, you can explain to them how the strength you possessed as a woman was far too intimidating to Torvald. He            left you no choice but to walk away.

Nora: (after a short pause, takes a deep breath and exhales slowly) You’re right. You were always right Kristine. Thank you. You really are a true friend.

(Stage lights dim and the curtain closes)

extra credit

scene : Nora picks up her bag, and waves her hand to Helmer. Then, Nora goes out the home in a hurry. She arrives at Kristine's home by taking a taxi. The doorbell is ringing. Kristine opens the door, and let Nora into her bedroom.
Kristine: What's matter, Nora? Why do you come here late at night?
Nora:  I leave my house. I am homeless. So, your house is only place I can go.
Kristine: Are you broken? You and Mr.Helmer?
Nora: Actually no. I just leave him. We all need to calm down and think about the problem with us.
Kristine:Problem? You look like so loving.
Nora: Yes, I really love him very much. But he...
Kristine: Mr.Helmer don't love you? No, no, no... He is very kind to you.
Nora: Yes, he is very kind to me. But, I have been his  doll-wife. He treats me just like my fsther does. He gives me his opinion about everything. He arranges everthing according to his own  taste, and so I have to have all the same tastes as him. I am just like a doll without any thoughts. I cannot endure the life such like that. Thus, I leave him, leave my children, leaving  my family. I even think about killing myself.
Kristine: Don't! Don't do that. You should consider more about your chiildren. They need you.
Nora: But... I cannot find a good reason for me to live. I don't know what I should do.
Shortly afterwards, Nora and Kristine are silent. Then, Nora burst into tears.

Extra Credit

Same scene. The kids and maids are asleep. Helmer still sits in the chair by the door. Unsure of what he will do, he repeatedly open and closes the door. He hears rapid steps down the hall. Enters Krogstad.


Krogstad: Mr. Helmer!  My letter, her note!  Did you not receive it? I am here because a miracle has occurred in my life-- and you have committed a terrible mistake. To turn away from your wife--, did you not read my note?

Helmer:  I did no such thing. Never to turn away from my wife, but miracles, miracles do come true, don't they? Yes, they do.

Krogstad: As I was leaving Kristine's, I turned around to gaze at my miracle, and I saw your wife entering Kristine's home. There she was, your Nora, very distraught. You must have read the letter and disowned her for her crime.

Helmer: No, I forgave her but she left me! She said we never had a true marriage. She said that all these years, I was a stranger who only mistreated her. Is she right, Krogstad? No she can't be. I nurtured her and I loved her. Like a child, she said. Like a doll, I made all the decisions for her. She's right. I did, but that is how our relationship is suppose to be.

Krogstad: It is. But Helmer, do we always have to behave the way we are expected to? Kristine-- my miracle-- the job you have offered her will allow her to support both of us. That is not the way, but I have accepted it because it is her wish. I must allow it for her sanity, regardless of what society thinks.

Helmer: You are right. I must do the same. I must change my ways if I wish to have my Nora back. Nora wants the freedom to make her own decisions, she wants to know herself and she wants purpose. Satisfying her family is not enough for her like the other women. My reputation will be harmed if I allow this but it is her wish.

Krogstad: You must! Go now!

Helmer: I will but not now. It is not time yet. She has not achieved what she desires. She is still a stranger to herself. I must fall in love with who she is and in order for that to happen, she must be made. I too, must reflect on what has occurred tonight. Alone, I must think.

Krogstad: As you wish. Best of luck Helmer. Goodnight.

Helmer: Thank you. Although your letters have caused this mess, they have also given Nora and I the opportunity to transform our marriage. Thank you, the miracle will come true.