Then pick one of these two questions, and write about it in your blog.
1. Who is Will Self? No need to do an exhaustive “bio.” Instead, find one legitimate source, i.e. a newspaper, magazine or journal article (something that appeared in the print world) with something interesting about his life (not his work). In your response, see if whatever you find sheds some light on his writing style, literary voice, or subject matter. Be ready to expound on this in class.
2. Ch-ch-changes. In Cock, someone experiences a physical transformation, leading to... other changes. This isn't a new conceit in fiction, and the most obvious example is Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." And the whole thing comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, really, doesn't it? Find another - less obvious - example from this genre, and compare it to the transformation theme in Cock. How is Self using the tradition, following it, being consistent with it - or messing with it. (Hints: Roth's The Breast; the film The Watermelon Man; vampire stories; werewolf stories; other tales of gender transformation....)
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