No class. Come to the organizational meeting.

Compare the first four pages of three different Russian translations of Alice in Wonderland (handed out by the teacher, or pick up your copy from Slava's mail box in Room 226 Morrill Hall). Note anything that surprises, delights, or disgusts you in these translations. Note any differences between the translations that you think are indicative of the translator's goals, philosophy, or technique. The discussion of this analysis will serve as a first look at the issues you will be confronting in your own work this semester. Think about what English-language stories you would like to translate.

Translate as much of Ray Bradbury's "The Last Night of the World" as you have time for. (You can also find this story elsewhere on the Web, but strangely, not all versions have exactly the same text.) Upload your translation as a Word file to the shared Google Drive folder that Michelle set up--no later than Monday night. That will leave you all day Tuesday to look at everyone's translations and take notes for a discussion: which solutions do you like? Why? Which parts gave you the most trouble? Are you happy with all of your solutions? We will not, of course, be able to discuss all the details of all translations, but the Word format will allow me to annotate all of your work for your next version. We will work on this story until we feel satisfied, no matter whether everyone's translation is completed and polished or not. For the purposes of this course, it will be alright to leave some of the work undone.

In class last week, we decided that so long as a translation reads like good Russian, it is up to the translator to decide how close to the original each phrase needs to be (although the meaning or the author's intent should never be distorted, of course). Continue working on your translation: revise your first draft and translate more. Consult other people's translations as you revise the part that you have already translated: if someone else's solution fits your style, there is nothing wrong with borrowing it. Do take a look at Slava's Working Notes 1 for examples of possible directions a translation can take.

Mark Twaine. "A Telephonic Conversation." Here is a slightly different version.

Mark Twaine. "A Telephonic Conversation." Here is a slightly different version.

Rudyard Kipling "Tods' Amendment"

Revise the first page or so of your Kipling translation. Look at the boldfaced phrases in Slava's Notes for things that definitely need to be changed, and also consider what we discussed in class. Plus, it is always useful to look at your classmates' translations; you don't have to copy what they said but you may get ideas for improving yours.

Finish the work on the Kipling story by addressing Slava's highlighting in your current version and making any other changes you deem necessary. Put the word "final" in the filename or send Slava an email to tell him to give your text one last read-through. Then translate a portion of our next story, Jack London's "A Klondike Christmas".

Finalize your partial translation of Jack London's story; put the word "final" in the filename or text. Then translate as much as you have time for: Exceptionalism: The divine purposes of America and Russia (in case The Economist page is unreachable, the same text was temporarily placed on our Google Drive)

Finish translating the "Exceptionalism" article.

Polish your translation of the "Exceptionalism" article and translate as much as you have time for of "The Boy and The Wolves".

Complete your translation of "The Boy and The Wolves".

Translate "And Death Shall Have No Dominion", a poem by Dylan Thomas.

Translate the inscriptions on the stones behind Morrill Hall. They are all shown in the photos in folder Cornell Slogans on Google Drive.