As I have finished reading the book, Passing, the whole canonical literature concept that we have been discussing in class has become more clear to me.  I think the wiki project was an excellent idea.  I feel as though if we were forced to make one up on our own, it would have been extremely difficult to try and get every important aspect onto the page.  Working together as a group was a great way for everyone to share their thoughts and opinions and contribute to the page. It also allowed each group member to think about ideas that they may have not thought about on their own.

As my group and I worked on our page, we all thought about how our novel fit in with the canonical literature concept.  We then decided that it fits both the canonical and non-canonical themes.  It was interesting to figure out what themes fit into which canon.  I think this made it challenging, yet interesting to analyize our novel.  Some canonical themes that Passing does have are materialistic views (Clare Kendry married John Bellow who is a white man so she could acquire the wealth and easy life that the Caucasian society enjoys), obesession with the past (Clare Kendry is obsessed with her childhood friendship with Irene Redfield, who is not passing) and love outside of marriage (Brian Redfield appears to have fallen in love with Clare Kendry).  These canonical themes are some of just many that we came up with.  Some non-canonical themes that we discussed and came up with were, unlike most other books, we knew who the unreliable narrators are from the beginning. Irene we have determined is a reliable narrator up until the last ten pages of the book where the reader is left wondering, who is talking?  Another non-canonical theme was that this is the first book that we have read where everything is left unresolved. We never find out for sure who killed Clare or if she fainted or if Brian blames Irene and if the Redfield’s marriage lasts. These questions are left up to the reader to figure out. 

Passing, was a great novel to analyze.  Unlike most stories we have read and discussed in class, this novel was not boring. It was less stressful and the novel actually reflected reality which at least helped me to connect with the characters and to see how difficult life was for African Americans.