Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Wanted/Unwanted Help

As I browsed blog posts from the first week, I skimmed through a lot.  Many of them were based on how the US is still in Iraq, and many wondering why we are still there.  The blogs reflected a questions of if we had even changed Iraq at all and also if all the deaths that have occured, both US soldiers and Iraqi natives, are worth it.  Thinking back to Thursday's class, I remember a quote from Bartleby, something about organic/natural, sin? I don't really remember the quote, but I remember realizing that in the book, the narrator (boss) feels the need to help Bartleby, but Bartleby doesn't want the help.  What were the narrator's intentions? This got me thinking back to the blogs of the first week- Why did the US feel the need to help Iraq?  Are they making a difference?  Do they even want the help? What are the true intentions of the US? (oil advantages?, )  Like Bartleby, Iraq has been invaded by help that is questionable.  

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