DISCUSSION AND WRITING
1)When the story opens, the narrator describes life in the early 1900s, noting that “There were no negroes. There were no immigrants.” Is this description accurate? What might this statement propose about the accuracy of historical accounts?
2)Why might the author have chosen to name the characters as he did? Why do some of the characters have general names such as Mother’s Younger Brother while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.? Does this affect the way we relate to them?
3)Describe the narrator of the story. Can we be certain of who it is, or does the point of view shift throughout the story? How does Doctorow’s method of narration relate to historical texts?
4)Why did the author choose the title Ragtime for this novel? What is ragtime music? What are its origins and how does it relate to other genres of music? What does it reveal about the society in which it was created? What literary devices does the author use to reference or re-interpret ragtime?
5)Why might the author have chosen not to use quotation marks? Does this affect the rhythm of the story?
6)Describe the setting of Ragtime. When and where does the story take place? Why might an author have chosen to write about this time period and these places and events?
7)When was Ragtime written? What was happening at the time? How might readers then have related to the story? How do we relate to it today? Is it simply a historical narrative or does it reveal things about contemporary society?
8)Why do you think that Mother’s Younger Brother chose to help Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?
9)Doctorow chooses to incorporate historical figures in a fictional context. Who does he include? Why might he have chosen to include these people? Does his portrayal of them match historical accounts?
10)The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does their presence affect the characters? Is the impact good or bad? Explain.
11)The quest for freedom and peace is a key theme of Ragtime. How does the author use Harry Houdini to illuminate the complexity of this quest?
12)While the characters represent different classes and races, they share much in common. Discuss some of these commonalities. How are the characters different?
13)What imagery does the author use in the first chapter to set the scene? What does it tell us about life in the early 1900s? What might the purpose be in revealing the murder of the architect Stanford White? Does it change our initial impression of American life during this time?
14)When Evelyn Nesbit meets The Little Girl in the Pinafore, she is tied with rope to her father’s wrist so she won’t be stolen. How does the author make connections between Evelyn, The Little Girl, and Mameh? Why is Evelyn drawn to Tateh and The Little Girl?
15)When Father returns to New Rochelle, the mirror “gave back the gaunt, bearded face of a derelict, a man who lacked a home.” What does this mean? What has changed since Father left home? How does he adapt to these changes?
16)Why might J.P. Morgan be so fascinated with Egyptology? Do his fortune and his collection of valuable objects bring him peace? Why do you think he invites Henry Ford to meet with him?
17)The notion of value is prominent in the book. What do each of the characters value? What consequences does this have for them?
18)Does Coalhouse Walker, Jr. obtain justice? What does he sacrifice in the process? How do his actions affect those around him? How does this scenario relate to the justice system and civil rights struggles in today’s society?
19)Why does Tateh reinvent himself as a baron? What does it mean for his identity? How does the style and imagery of the novel relate to the advent of cinema? How does this invention change our perception of history?
20)Many of the characters struggle for what they believe is right. Are they successful? How are these struggles tied in to the notion of identity or societal definitions of identity?
21)The author uses his characters allegorically. What groups are represented? Do you feel the portrayals are accurate? Why or why not?
22)The author presents many representations of family and relationships. Describe some. Which are most successful? Why do you think this is?
23)Why do you think that Mother and Tateh end up together? What draws them together? How would this relationship have been viewed in the early 1900s? How would it be viewed today?
24)Why do you think that the author chose the quotation by Scott Joplin as the novel’s epigraph? What does it signify?
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Last Day!
I wanted to take the time to say thank you, thank you, thank you! This class was such a treat and I loved being able to end my day with all of you! For today, we are going to go down to the library and get your next book you will be starting with Ms. Gamzon. The rest of the class is going to be very relaxed. We will eat and enjoy our last day together! I will be giving you a short writing assignment for everyone to do during class (you didn't think I would let you do nothing all class, did you?). I would like each person to write a short essay response for me to keep. It's titled "What I Would Like a First Year Teacher To Know". I want everyone to write a response of what you want me, or any other first year teacher to remember for when we begin teaching. You can use examples from our class or just anything you think teachers should try to do or remember. If you want to add in any comments about our class please do so. I would love to know what you thought about the projects, what I should do differently or what I should improve on!
One Last Reminder: Please email me your handouts and analysis from As I Lay Dying.
It was such a pleasure working with everyone. I had such a great time. Please keep in touch!
Ms. Snyder
One Last Reminder: Please email me your handouts and analysis from As I Lay Dying.
It was such a pleasure working with everyone. I had such a great time. Please keep in touch!
Ms. Snyder
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
REMINDER
Can each character tracking group from As I Lay Dying make sure you email me your handout and paper so I have an electronic copy of everything for my portfolio? My email address: NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com
Also, each group from yesterdays class can post the answers to the questions from The Real Thing to this post.
Thanks!
Ms. Snyder
Also, each group from yesterdays class can post the answers to the questions from The Real Thing to this post.
Thanks!
Ms. Snyder
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Contact Info
I would like to have the handouts and the write ups sent to me electronically if at all possible. It would be much easier for me to keep them for my portfolio. When everyone has time can you e-mail me your character tracking handout, write-up, powerpoints or anything else you think would be helpful?
My E-mail Address:
NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
My E-mail Address:
NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
Eliot's The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock
I wanted everyone to have a chance to see the translation from the beginning of Eliot's poem.
S'io credesse che mia riposta fosse
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo
Non torno vivo alcun, s' i'odo il vero,
Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Translation: If I thought my answer were to one who could return to the world, I would not reply, but as none ever did return alive from this depth, without fear of infamy I answer thee. The words are spoken by Count Guido da Montefeltro, a damned soul in the Eighth Circle of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto 27, lines 61-66.)
Translator and Quotation Source: G.B. Harrison et al., eds. Major British Writers. Shorter ed. New York: Harcourt. 1967, page 1015.
Comment: Eliot opens "The Love Song" with this quotation from Dante's epic poem to suggest that Prufrock, like Count Guido, is in hell. But Prufrock is in a hell on earth—a hell in the form of a modern, impersonal city with smoky skies. The quotation also points out that Prufrock, again like Count Guido, can present his feelings "without fear of infamy."
I know we ran out of time while discussing Eliot's poem today and I want to make sure any questions people may have had will be answered. We can go over any questions about the poem in tomorrows class but to alleviate any confusion right now about the poem you can click HERE. This is a link to a website to an analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. It will be a helpful study tool!
Thanks!
Ms. Snyder
S'io credesse che mia riposta fosse
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo
Non torno vivo alcun, s' i'odo il vero,
Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Translation: If I thought my answer were to one who could return to the world, I would not reply, but as none ever did return alive from this depth, without fear of infamy I answer thee. The words are spoken by Count Guido da Montefeltro, a damned soul in the Eighth Circle of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto 27, lines 61-66.)
Translator and Quotation Source: G.B. Harrison et al., eds. Major British Writers. Shorter ed. New York: Harcourt. 1967, page 1015.
Comment: Eliot opens "The Love Song" with this quotation from Dante's epic poem to suggest that Prufrock, like Count Guido, is in hell. But Prufrock is in a hell on earth—a hell in the form of a modern, impersonal city with smoky skies. The quotation also points out that Prufrock, again like Count Guido, can present his feelings "without fear of infamy."
I know we ran out of time while discussing Eliot's poem today and I want to make sure any questions people may have had will be answered. We can go over any questions about the poem in tomorrows class but to alleviate any confusion right now about the poem you can click HERE. This is a link to a website to an analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. It will be a helpful study tool!
Thanks!
Ms. Snyder
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Study Guide for Test Friday
I know we have covered a lot in the past couple of weeks so here's a quick outline to help everyone study for the test on Friday!
Ms. Snyder
Modernism
- Surrealism
- Stream of Consciousness
- Cubism
Southern Gothic
-Prominent features
- The “grotesque”
As I Lay Dying
-Themes (Alienation and Loneliness, Death, Identity, Language, Love, Sanity)
-Character Traits/Symbols (The Bundren’s and the most prominent other characters). Along with any important aspects of the book that we have discussed in class.
-Faulkner’s writing style
-Modernist and Gothic Traits in relation to the story and the characters
-Know how to spell Yoknapatawpha county
A Rose for Emily (Faulkner)
-Gothic elements
-Compare Faulkner’s writing style to As I Lay Dying
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (T.S. Eliot)
-Themes (Alienation and Loneliness, Identity, Aging, Indecision)
-Dramatic Monologue, Stream of Consciousness
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (Hemingway)
-Themes (Loneliness, aging, identity)
-Writing Style (Shift from dialogue to monologue)
**See handout**
A Good Man is Hard To Find (O'Connor)
**See handout**
Ms. Snyder
Modernism
- Surrealism
- Stream of Consciousness
- Cubism
Southern Gothic
-Prominent features
- The “grotesque”
As I Lay Dying
-Themes (Alienation and Loneliness, Death, Identity, Language, Love, Sanity)
-Character Traits/Symbols (The Bundren’s and the most prominent other characters). Along with any important aspects of the book that we have discussed in class.
-Faulkner’s writing style
-Modernist and Gothic Traits in relation to the story and the characters
-Know how to spell Yoknapatawpha county
A Rose for Emily (Faulkner)
-Gothic elements
-Compare Faulkner’s writing style to As I Lay Dying
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (T.S. Eliot)
-Themes (Alienation and Loneliness, Identity, Aging, Indecision)
-Dramatic Monologue, Stream of Consciousness
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (Hemingway)
-Themes (Loneliness, aging, identity)
-Writing Style (Shift from dialogue to monologue)
**See handout**
A Good Man is Hard To Find (O'Connor)
**See handout**
Eliot, O'Connor and Hemingway
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)
Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965) was an American-born English poet, playwright, and literary critic, arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century.[3] The poem that made his name, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock—started in 1910 and published in Chicago in 1915—is regarded as a masterpiece of the modernist movement, and was followed by some of the best-known poems in the English language, including Gerontion (1920), The Waste Land (1922), The Hollow Men (1925), Ash Wednesday (1930), and Four Quartets (1945). He is also known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, and educated at Harvard, Eliot studied philosophy at the Sorbonne for a year, then won a scholarship to Oxford in 1914, becoming a British citizen when he was 39. "[M]y poetry has obviously more in common with my distinguished contemporaries in America than with anything written in my generation in England," he said of his nationality and its role in his work. "It wouldn't be what it is, and I imagine it wouldn't be so good ... if I'd been born in England, and it wouldn't be what it is if I'd stayed in America. It's a combination of things. But in its sources, in its emotional springs, it comes from America." Eliot completely renounced his citizenship to the United States and said: "My mind may be American but my heart is British".
Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. She was a Southern writer who often wrote in a Southern Gothic style and relied heavily on regional settings and grotesque characters. O'Connor's writing also reflected her own Roman Catholic faith, and frequently examined questions of morality and ethics.
Regarding her emphasis of the grotesque, O'Connor said: "anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic."[6] Her texts usually take place in the South and revolve around morally flawed characters, while the issue of race often appears in the background. One of her trademarks is foreshadowing, giving a reader an idea of what will happen far before it happens. Most of her works feature disturbing elements, though she did not like to be characterized as cynical. "I am tired of reading reviews that call A Good Man brutal and sarcastic," she writes. "The stories are hard but they are hard because there is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism... when I see these stories described as horror stories I am always amused because the reviewer always has hold of the wrong horror."
Her two novels were Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960). She also published two books of short stories: A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955) and Everything That Rises Must Converge (published posthumously in 1965).The Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, named in honor of O'Connor by the University of Georgia Press, is a prize given annually to an outstanding collection of short stories. O'Connor was the first fiction writer born in the twentieth century to have her works collected and published by the Library of America
 |
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American author and journalist. His distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his life of adventure and public image. He produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway's fiction was successful because the characters he presented exhibited authenticity that resonated with his audience. Many of his works are classics of American literature. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works during his lifetime; a further three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After leaving high school he worked for a few months as a reporter for The Kansas City Star, before leaving for the Italian front to become an ambulance driver during World War I, which became the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms. He was seriously wounded and returned home within the year. In 1922 Hemingway married Hadley Richardson, the first of his four wives, and the couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent. During his time there he met and was influenced by modernist writers and artists of the 1920s expatriate community known as the "Lost Generation". His first novel, The Sun Also Rises, was written in 1924.
After divorcing Hadley Richardson in 1927 Hemingway married Pauline Pfeiffer; they divorced following Hemingway's return from covering the Spanish Civil War, after which he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940, but he left her for Mary Welsh Hemingway after World War II, during which he was present at D-Day and the liberation of Paris.
Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952 Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Hemingway had permanent residences in Key West, Florida, and Cuba during the 1930s and '40s, but in 1959 he moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1961.
Source: Wikipedia
Sunday, November 28, 2010
TENTATIVE reading schedule for the week of 11/28/10
Hey Everyone!
I'm excited to see the rest of the presentations this week. I'm hoping to get done with presentations on Monday but if we have to go into Tuesday that is fine. However we can't ignore the reading we need to get done for this unit. The marking period is over this Friday so we need to try to finish everything up! Here is a TENTATIVE reading schedule for this week. Please keep in mind that there's an excellent chance it may change. I will re-post the assignments if I have to move a few things around so everyone stays updated. This Friday is your final test on As I Lay Dying and the other Modernist writers so please start reviewing!
Monday:
PRESENTATIONS
HW: Read A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Tuesday:POSSIBLE PRESENTATIONS
HW: Read T.S. Eliots The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock and A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway
Wednesday
HW: Read A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor
Thursday
HW: TBA
Friday
FINAL TEST
Please do not get stressed out on the readings for this week. It may look like a lot but the readings are all short stories or poems. It will be a breeze compared to As I Lay Dying!
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
I'm excited to see the rest of the presentations this week. I'm hoping to get done with presentations on Monday but if we have to go into Tuesday that is fine. However we can't ignore the reading we need to get done for this unit. The marking period is over this Friday so we need to try to finish everything up! Here is a TENTATIVE reading schedule for this week. Please keep in mind that there's an excellent chance it may change. I will re-post the assignments if I have to move a few things around so everyone stays updated. This Friday is your final test on As I Lay Dying and the other Modernist writers so please start reviewing!
Monday:
PRESENTATIONS
HW: Read A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Tuesday:POSSIBLE PRESENTATIONS
HW: Read T.S. Eliots The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock and A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway
Wednesday
HW: Read A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor
Thursday
HW: TBA
Friday
FINAL TEST
Please do not get stressed out on the readings for this week. It may look like a lot but the readings are all short stories or poems. It will be a breeze compared to As I Lay Dying!
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Contact Info
Hey everyone!
The presentations have been great so far! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else present. I will be working on putting the grades together for the group presentations over Thanksgiving Break. If you would like to know your grade for the presentations I will e-mail it to you. Just post your e-mail address as a comment to this blog. If your Login ID is something that I won't know who it is, please put your name with your e-mail address so I give everyone the correct grades.
You do not have any homework during the break. I'm assuming that we will not get through all of the presentations in class today so we will have to finish them on the Monday we get back. Take this time to relax and have a few days off!
Thanks and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Ms. Snyder
The presentations have been great so far! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else present. I will be working on putting the grades together for the group presentations over Thanksgiving Break. If you would like to know your grade for the presentations I will e-mail it to you. Just post your e-mail address as a comment to this blog. If your Login ID is something that I won't know who it is, please put your name with your e-mail address so I give everyone the correct grades.
You do not have any homework during the break. I'm assuming that we will not get through all of the presentations in class today so we will have to finish them on the Monday we get back. Take this time to relax and have a few days off!
Thanks and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Ms. Snyder
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Monday Presentations
I hope everyone had a great weekend. We have presentations the next two days so please come prepared to class! If you have any questions please let me know. Here's a reminder of the line-up for Monday:
1. Vardaman (Gaelynn, Sam, Michelle, Danielle, Valerie)
2. All Other Characters (Chastity, Alex, Aubry, Tatiana)
3. Darl (Darnell, Zach B., Leah, Emma)
4. Cash (Brianna, Kennethea, Whitney, Shayla)
If possible, would the groups be able to e-mail me the power point or prezi for the presentations so I am able have electronic files of them? Also any other resources the groups used (handouts, etc). The groups can e-mail me at NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com
Thanks!
Ms. Snyder
1. Vardaman (Gaelynn, Sam, Michelle, Danielle, Valerie)
2. All Other Characters (Chastity, Alex, Aubry, Tatiana)
3. Darl (Darnell, Zach B., Leah, Emma)
4. Cash (Brianna, Kennethea, Whitney, Shayla)
If possible, would the groups be able to e-mail me the power point or prezi for the presentations so I am able have electronic files of them? Also any other resources the groups used (handouts, etc). The groups can e-mail me at NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com
Thanks!
Ms. Snyder
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Presentation Line-up
Monday 11/22
1. Vardaman (Gaelynn, Sam, Michelle, Danielle, Valerie)
2. All Other Characters (Chastity, Alex, Aubry, Tatiana)
3. Darl (Darnell, Zach B., Leah, Emma)
4. Cash (Brianna, Kennethea, Whitney, Shayla)
Tuesday 11/23
1. Dewey Dell (Aireanna, Maggie, Nadia, Erin, Emma D)
2. Jewel (Sarah, Kiera, Rosie, Michael)
3. Anse (Thomas, Zach, Khari, Bolan)
Every Group should hand me the following on the day of their presentation: Each person should have completed a rubric. Each group needs to hand in one handout on your character and one 2-3 page write up, A CD (if your group chose to do a playlist)
For the groups that chose to do a character playlist: You need to choose a minimum of 5 songs that relate to your character. Print out the lyrics to ONE of the songs and attach it to your write-up. Your write-up should be an analysis of the song and how it relates to your character. Use specific examples from the text and the lyrics in your analysis. Also, burn the playlist onto a CD. I will provide CD's for groups that need them.
ALL OTHER GROUPS: Provide a 2-3 write-up on why you chose the type of presentation your doing and how it relates to your character, the books themes etc.
If you have any questions you can e-mail me at: NatashaKSnyder@ gmail.com or call/text at 414-4844
Thanks and Good Luck!
Ms. Snyder
1. Vardaman (Gaelynn, Sam, Michelle, Danielle, Valerie)
2. All Other Characters (Chastity, Alex, Aubry, Tatiana)
3. Darl (Darnell, Zach B., Leah, Emma)
4. Cash (Brianna, Kennethea, Whitney, Shayla)
Tuesday 11/23
1. Dewey Dell (Aireanna, Maggie, Nadia, Erin, Emma D)
2. Jewel (Sarah, Kiera, Rosie, Michael)
3. Anse (Thomas, Zach, Khari, Bolan)
Every Group should hand me the following on the day of their presentation: Each person should have completed a rubric. Each group needs to hand in one handout on your character and one 2-3 page write up, A CD (if your group chose to do a playlist)
For the groups that chose to do a character playlist: You need to choose a minimum of 5 songs that relate to your character. Print out the lyrics to ONE of the songs and attach it to your write-up. Your write-up should be an analysis of the song and how it relates to your character. Use specific examples from the text and the lyrics in your analysis. Also, burn the playlist onto a CD. I will provide CD's for groups that need them.
ALL OTHER GROUPS: Provide a 2-3 write-up on why you chose the type of presentation your doing and how it relates to your character, the books themes etc.
If you have any questions you can e-mail me at: NatashaKSnyder@ gmail.com or call/text at 414-4844
Thanks and Good Luck!
Ms. Snyder
Monday, November 15, 2010
Literary Terms for Quiz Friday
Remember that the quiz will also include week 4 spelling and vocabulary.
Syntax
Theme
Thesis
Tone
Transition
Understatement
Wit
Syntax
Theme
Thesis
Tone
Transition
Understatement
Wit
Sunday, November 14, 2010
11/15-11/19 Reading Schedule
Here is a TENTATIVE reading schedule for this week:
Monday: HW: NONE! Take this time to work on your presentations
Tuesday: We will have the rest of the Wallwisher presentations. HW: Read pages 177-211
Wednesday: Group Work. HW: Read pages 212-261
Thursday: We will hopefully have time in the library to work on presentations. HW: TBA
Friday: Vocab Quiz. HW:TBA
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
Monday: HW: NONE! Take this time to work on your presentations
Tuesday: We will have the rest of the Wallwisher presentations. HW: Read pages 177-211
Wednesday: Group Work. HW: Read pages 212-261
Thursday: We will hopefully have time in the library to work on presentations. HW: TBA
Friday: Vocab Quiz. HW:TBA
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Presentation Handout
A few of the groups had questions about the presentation handout that needs to be completed for the character tracking presentations. Here's some clarification:
Guidelines for Presentation Handout
Each handout should highlight the main points of your group’s presentation. Refer back to the list of guiding questions I provided for you in Part One of the presentation handout. Some other things to consider: possibly providing key quotes of your character or key quotes that reveal something about your character.
The handout only has to be one page long. You can email me your finished handout as an attachment or print out a hard copy. The handouts are meant to be a study guide for the test.
Here is my email address: NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com Feel free to email me with any questions about the presentations!
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
Guidelines for Presentation Handout
Each handout should highlight the main points of your group’s presentation. Refer back to the list of guiding questions I provided for you in Part One of the presentation handout. Some other things to consider: possibly providing key quotes of your character or key quotes that reveal something about your character.
The handout only has to be one page long. You can email me your finished handout as an attachment or print out a hard copy. The handouts are meant to be a study guide for the test.
Here is my email address: NatashaKSnyder@gmail.com Feel free to email me with any questions about the presentations!
Thanks,
Ms. Snyder
Thursday, November 11, 2010
As I Lay Dying Groups
DO NOT FORGET WE ARE MEETING IN MS. GAMZON'S ROOM (239) ON FRIDAY
Here are the character tracking groups for As I Lay Dying
Darl
1. Darnell
2. Zach B
3. Leah
4. Emma M.
Dewey Dell
1. Aireanna
2. Maggie
3. Nadia
4. Erin
5. Emma D.
Anse
1. Thomas
2. Zach G.
3. Khari
4. Bolan
Jewel
1. Sarah
2. Kiera
3. Rosalind
4. Michael
Vardaman
1. Gaelynn
2. Sam
3. Michelle
4. Danielle
5. Valerie
Cash
1. Brianna
2. Kennethea
3. Whitney
4. Shayla
All other characters
1. Chastity
2. Alex
3.Aubrey
4. Tatiana
Here are the character tracking groups for As I Lay Dying
Darl
1. Darnell
2. Zach B
3. Leah
4. Emma M.
Dewey Dell
1. Aireanna
2. Maggie
3. Nadia
4. Erin
5. Emma D.
Anse
1. Thomas
2. Zach G.
3. Khari
4. Bolan
Jewel
1. Sarah
2. Kiera
3. Rosalind
4. Michael
Vardaman
1. Gaelynn
2. Sam
3. Michelle
4. Danielle
5. Valerie
Cash
1. Brianna
2. Kennethea
3. Whitney
4. Shayla
All other characters
1. Chastity
2. Alex
3.Aubrey
4. Tatiana
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Class 11/09/10
Hello Everyone!
Today we will be having a class discussion on As I Lay Dying. I will help facilitate discussion by providing discussion questions to about five group leaders. These are just guiding questions. I want to make sure everyone has time to share their initial reactions of the book and answer any questions if there are any. I also wanted to let everyone know that there will be a supervisor in class today to observe me.
Remember to keep up on the tentative reading schedule I made. So be sure to read pages 35-66 for next class.
As promised, here is the list of vocabulary words for Friday's test:
sarcasm
satire
semantics
style
subject complement
subordinate clause
syllogism
symbol/symbolism
synecdoche
synesthesia
Do not forget that you have to still study the SAT Vocabulary- Group 3
~Ms. Snyder~
Today we will be having a class discussion on As I Lay Dying. I will help facilitate discussion by providing discussion questions to about five group leaders. These are just guiding questions. I want to make sure everyone has time to share their initial reactions of the book and answer any questions if there are any. I also wanted to let everyone know that there will be a supervisor in class today to observe me.
Remember to keep up on the tentative reading schedule I made. So be sure to read pages 35-66 for next class.
As promised, here is the list of vocabulary words for Friday's test:
sarcasm
satire
semantics
style
subject complement
subordinate clause
syllogism
symbol/symbolism
synecdoche
synesthesia
Do not forget that you have to still study the SAT Vocabulary- Group 3
~Ms. Snyder~
Sunday, November 7, 2010
William Faulkner Bio
William Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, and began to write poetry as a teenager. He was an indifferent student, and dropped out of high school when he was fifteen. During World War I, he joined the Canadian Royal Flying Corps - he was too short to join the U.S. Air Force - but never fought; the day he graduated from the Flying Corps, the Armistice was signed. The only "war injury" he received was the result of getting drunk and partying too hard on Armistice Day.
After the war, Faulkner came back to Oxford, enrolled as a special student at the University of Mississippi, and began to write for the school papers and magazines, quickly earning a reputation as an eccentric. His strange routines, swanky dressing habits, and inability to hold down a job earned him the nickname "Count Nocount." He became postmaster of the University in 1921, but resigned three years later, after the postal inspector finally noticed how much time Faulkner spent writing (and ignoring customers). In 1924 his first book of poetry, The Marble Faun, was published, but it was critically panned and had few buyers.
Faulkner wrote four more novels between 1926 and 1931: Mosquitoes (1927), Sartoris (1929), The Sound and the Fury (1929), and As I Lay Dying (1930), but none of them sold well, and he earned little money during this period. Sartoris, also known as Flags in the Dust, was Faulkner's first book set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. The difficulty Faulkner faced getting Flags in the Dust published led him to give up on the publishing process in general, and he decided to write only for himself. The result of this was The Sound and the Fury, the first of Faulkner's truly classic novels. The Sound and the Fury was published to good critical reception, although it still sold very few copies.
Faulkner wrote his next novel, As I Lay Dying, while working the night shift at a powerhouse. With this novel's publication, Faulkner was finally, if still falteringly, a writer on the literary scene. However, Faulkner still did not have any financial success until he published Sanctuary in 1931.
In 1950, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and, in typical Faulkner fashion, he sent his friends into a frenzy by stating that he would not attend the ceremony (although he eventually did go). This award effectively turned his career around, bringing him the economic success that had so long eluded him. However, most critics find the works he wrote after winning the prize largely disappointing, especially compared to his earlier, mythical works.
In the latter part of the 1950s, Faulkner spent some time away from Oxford, including spending a year as a writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia. He returned to Oxford in June of 1962 and died of a heart attack on the morning of July 6 of that year
Class- Monday 11/8
Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to post something up so you guys got used to seeing me on here. For Monday's class we are going down to the library to get your next book, As I Lay Dying. You are going to be breaking up into six groups for character tracking. A sign-up sheet will be going around tomorrow. Once the groups have been assigned I will make sure to post the list on the blog incase anyone forgets. I have a few different handouts for everyone to get yourselves organized for your groups. We are also going to be reading and discussing Faulkner's Nobel Prize Speech in class once we get the books. I also posted the video of him reading it on the blog. If we have any extra time in class we will start reading.
I understand that everyone has stuff going on with school and outside of school so I created a tentative reading schedule to allow yourselves to organize your homework and reading better. This way incase you aren't sure of the homework it will be posted and if you want to read ahead then it will make it easier for you to plan your reading and assignments better. Remember this is just TENTATIVE but I believe we will be right on schedule.
Monday 11/8/10:
• Read Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech
• Pick character tracking groups
• Begin Reading As I Lay Dying
HW: Read pages 1-34
Tuesday 11/9/10
• Full class discussion led by group leaders
HW: Read pages 35-66
Wednesday 11/10/10
HW: Read pages 67-119
Thursday 11/11/10
NO SCHOOL
Friday 11/12/10
• Vocab Quiz
• Time in class to work in Prezi groups
HW: Read pages 120-168
Thanks and I look forward to working with everyone the next four weeks!
Ms. Snyder
I just wanted to post something up so you guys got used to seeing me on here. For Monday's class we are going down to the library to get your next book, As I Lay Dying. You are going to be breaking up into six groups for character tracking. A sign-up sheet will be going around tomorrow. Once the groups have been assigned I will make sure to post the list on the blog incase anyone forgets. I have a few different handouts for everyone to get yourselves organized for your groups. We are also going to be reading and discussing Faulkner's Nobel Prize Speech in class once we get the books. I also posted the video of him reading it on the blog. If we have any extra time in class we will start reading.
I understand that everyone has stuff going on with school and outside of school so I created a tentative reading schedule to allow yourselves to organize your homework and reading better. This way incase you aren't sure of the homework it will be posted and if you want to read ahead then it will make it easier for you to plan your reading and assignments better. Remember this is just TENTATIVE but I believe we will be right on schedule.
Monday 11/8/10:
• Read Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech
• Pick character tracking groups
• Begin Reading As I Lay Dying
HW: Read pages 1-34
Tuesday 11/9/10
• Full class discussion led by group leaders
HW: Read pages 35-66
Wednesday 11/10/10
HW: Read pages 67-119
Thursday 11/11/10
NO SCHOOL
Friday 11/12/10
• Vocab Quiz
• Time in class to work in Prezi groups
HW: Read pages 120-168
Thanks and I look forward to working with everyone the next four weeks!
Ms. Snyder
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Intro to Modernism
Wednesday's class we will be beginning to learn about modernism. Just a F.Y.I. there will be a supervisor in class to observe my lesson. I will provide a handout for everyone in class describing modernism. There will also be a power point with extra key ideas. I'll list them here as well just so everyone has them. I will also be providing examples of artwork that were created during the Modernist era. Again, I will post the pictures here so everyone will be able to reference them and to keep everyone updated for whoever may have missed class!
Thanks!,
Ms. Snyder
Key Ideas to remember about Modernism:
*An emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in writing. HOW instead of WHAT
*A Movement away from objectivity provided by third-person narrators, fixed narrative POV’s, and clear-cut moral positions (ex. Faulkner)
*Blurring distinctions of genres, so poetry seems more documentary (ex. Eliot)
*Emphasis on fragmented forms and discontinuous narratives
*A tendency toward reflexivity, or self-consciousness, about artwork
*Modernists champion the individual and celebrate inner strength
*Modernists believe life is unordered
*Modernists concern themselves with the sub-conscious
Here are examples of artwork from the Modernist Era
Surrealism
VanGough
Picasso- Cubism
Modernist Architecture
Thanks!,
Ms. Snyder
Key Ideas to remember about Modernism:
*An emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in writing. HOW instead of WHAT
*A Movement away from objectivity provided by third-person narrators, fixed narrative POV’s, and clear-cut moral positions (ex. Faulkner)
*Blurring distinctions of genres, so poetry seems more documentary (ex. Eliot)
*Emphasis on fragmented forms and discontinuous narratives
*A tendency toward reflexivity, or self-consciousness, about artwork
*Modernists champion the individual and celebrate inner strength
*Modernists believe life is unordered
*Modernists concern themselves with the sub-conscious
Here are examples of artwork from the Modernist Era
Surrealism
VanGough
Picasso- Cubism
Modernist ArchitectureFriday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Themes in The Great Gatsby/1920's America
Go to www.wallwisher.com
With a small group. gather information and create a wallwisher panel. After creating your page, please copy the URL and POST a COMMENT under this post with the URL address so other students can access your work. Please remember to include your name under your post so that you get credit.
http://wallwisher.com/wall/gatsbyand1920s
With a small group. gather information and create a wallwisher panel. After creating your page, please copy the URL and POST a COMMENT under this post with the URL address so other students can access your work. Please remember to include your name under your post so that you get credit.
http://wallwisher.com/wall/gatsbyand1920s
The Great Gatsby Treasure Hunt
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Skim the biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald. List the major influences on his life and writing.
- World War I
- After the war ended, the economy skyrocketed, making it possible for people to spend more time and money on leisure activities. After reviewing the website in this section, list three major innovations that came out of the WWI experience.
- After the War: List the dominant postwar American attitudes and the major movements of the 1920's. Pay close attention to the attitudes of the "Lost Generation" and the "Prosperity & Consumerism" movement.
- 19th Amendment
- What right did women gain from the passage of the 19th Amendment?
- The Roaring Twenties
- List three major events that occurred in 1922 (the year in which the novel is set).
- 18th Amendment
- What exactly does the amendment abolish? What was the result?
- 18th Amendment
- Wikipedia: Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
- Prohibition
- What is a Speakeasy? Based on information you have already collected from previous questions, why do you think Speakeasies popped up across the country?
- Wikipedia: Speakeasy
- Speakeasy photos
- Organized Crime and Arnold Rothstein
- What's in a name?: List three elements of Rothstein's character that interest you. Explain.
- The Organizer: Read the quotes at the beginning of this site. What is his primary occupation? What are his "sidejobs"?
- Did your impression of Rothstein change from one web page to the next? Explain.
- Flappers
- Read the first five paragraphs of the article about "Flapper Jane." According to the author, what are the essential elements of being a true flapper?
- After reading the article, look at the selected photos of Louise Brooks. Does she fit the "Flapper" profile as proposed by the author of "Flapper Jane"? Why or why not?
- Read Dorothy Parker's poem "The Flapper." Do you think Ms. Parker approves or disapproves of Flappers? Explain.
- Automobiles
- Why were cars considered "the most important catalyst for social change in the 1920's"?
- The Rise of Automobiles
- Photos of 1920's era automobiles.
- Gatsby Coachworks: Reproductions of 1920's era automobiles. The white and gold car is similar to what Jay Gatsby would have driven.
- Music
- Listen to the music on the radio blog music player to the right (click on the track with your mouse).
- As you listen, record your thoughts and reactions to the songs.
- 1920's Slang
- Read some 1920's slang terms.
- List 5 slang words or phrases and definitions from this site and write them down in your notes.
- Why did you choose these terms?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Quiz on Friday
Vocabulary and Spelling Groups #2
Literary Terms:
litotes, loose sentence, metonymy, mood, narrative, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, parallelism (the rhetorical effect it has), parody, periodic sentence, personification, point of view, prose, repetition, rhetoric, rhetorical modes:
Exposition
Argumentation
Description
Narration
Literary Terms:
litotes, loose sentence, metonymy, mood, narrative, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, parallelism (the rhetorical effect it has), parody, periodic sentence, personification, point of view, prose, repetition, rhetoric, rhetorical modes:
Exposition
Argumentation
Description
Narration
Discussion questions Great Gatsby
Pre-Reading
- Why are we still reading a book written in the 1920's? What gives a book its longevity?
- How was the 1920's a reaction to WWI?
- Some people think that having money leads to happiness. Do you agree? Why or why not? What are the advantages or disadvantages of being wealthy.
- What is the "American Dream"? Where did it originate, and how has it changed over the centuries?
- Have you ever wanted to relive a moment from your past, to redo it? Describe the situation. How and why would you change the past?
- Notice how many times Fitzgerald uses the words hope, or dream. Why does he do this?
- Nick starts the novel by relaying his father's advice "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." List Nick's advantages. Does he reserve judgement in the novel?
- Pay attention to time. What is the day and year during the first scene at Daisy's house?
- Describe Nick. What facts do you know about him, and what do you infer about him? What kind of a narrator do you think he will be?
- What image does the author use to describe Jordan Baker? What does it mean?
- How does Nick react to Jordan?
- What does Tom's behavior reveal about his character?
- Describe the "valley of ashes." What does it look like and what does it represent?
- Describe Mr. Wilson and Myrtle. Do they seem to fit into the setting?
- What more have you learned about Nick in this chapter? Is he similar or different than the people he spends his time with?
- Describe the violent act Tom comitted against Myrtle. What does this reveal about him?
- Pay attention to Nick's judgements. What do they reveal about his character that he does this (especially in relation to his opening comments)?
- Describe Gatsby the first time Nick sees him.
- What rumors have been told about Gatsby? Why does Fitzgerald reveal rumors rather than fact?
- What does Nick think of Gatsby after meeting him?
- How is Gatsby different from his guests?
- Why does Nick choose to share his thoughts and feelings with Jordan?
- Nick thinks he's one of the few honest people he knows, why? Do you think he is honest?
- List all of the rumors told about Gatsby.
- Why does Fitzgerald list all of Gatsby's party guests?
- Why does Gatsby tell Nick about his life? Do you believe Gatsby? Does Nick?
- What role does Meyer Wolfsheim play in the novel? Why is there so much focus on his nose and what does this tell you about Fitzgerald's politics?
- What does Jordan's story of Daisy's marriage reveal about Daisy?
- Why did Gatsby want Daisy to see his house?
- Nick says, "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." What does Nick mean? How does each character in the novel fit into this schema?
- Why does Gatsby deliver so many goods and services to Nick's house?
- Describe the effect of rain on the plot.
- Why does Gatsby offer Nick work? How does Nick feel about this?
- Explain the significance of the green light.
- Why does Gatsby get so many phone calls? What does this say about him?
- How truthful was Gatsby when he relayed the story of his life to Nick? Why does Fitzgerald tell the story of Jay Gatz now?
- Describe the meeting of Tom and Gatsby. What does this meeting reveal about them?
- Why did Daisy and Tom find Gatsby's party loathsome?
- How did Gatsby measure the success of his party?
- When Nick told Gatsby that "you can't repeat the past", Gatsby replied, "Why of course you can!" Do you agree with Nick or Gatsby?
- Who is Trimachio? Explain how this describes Gatsby.
- Describe Daisy and Gatsby's new relationship.
- Compare George Wilson and Tom. What did each man learn about his wife and how did they each react?
- If Daisy says she's never loved Tom, is there someone whom she thinks she loves?
- Describe the fight between Gatsby and Tom. What do these men think of each other? How are they similar and how are they different?
- What was significant about Nick's 30th birthday?
- What do you think Tom and Daisy were saying to each other in the kitchen? Do you think that Tom knew Daisy was driving the "death car"? Why, why not?
- At this point, how would you end the novel?
- How does Fitzgerald achieve a melancholic mood in the beginning of this chapter?
- How are seasons used in constructing this novel?
- Who is Dan Cody and what is his significance in Gatsby's life?
- How does Nick's statement "You're worth the whole bunch put together" show a change in Nick from the beginning of the novel?
- How does T. J. Eckleberg affect Mr. Wilson?
- Why did Nick take care of Gatsby's funeral?
- How was Jay Gatz's childhood schedule consistent with the adult Gatsby's behavior?
- Who attended Gatsby's funeral? How and why is this significant?
- What is the purpose of Nick's last meeting with Jordan?
- Why does Nick call Tom and Daisy "careless people"?
- Does this novel have villains and heroes? Why, why not? If yes, who fits into these categories and why?
- Nick is both part of the action and acting as an objective commentator. Does this narration style work? Why, why not?
- How did Fitzgerald use weather to reflect the mood of the story?
- Again, why are we still reading a book written in the 1920's? What gives a book its longevity? And which of its themes are eternal in the American psyche.
Nobel Lecture Toni Morrison
Two years ago, Zoe Johnson wrote this response:
zjohnson2692 on October 2nd 2008, 11:53 am WKeller on October 2nd 2008, 11:55 am
Nobel Lecture
zjohnson2692 on October 2nd 2008, 11:53 amI thought it was an interesting metaphor, and I think I got it, though it might've been a bit of a leap. Morrison is talking about language, and how it is necessary to have different kinds of language, because language is a reflection of culture, and if, say, a nation bans a language, it's like banning an entire culture. She also emphasizes the importance of knowing how much you need language, and what you need it for. I guess that some parts of the speech were confusing, and there were perhaps some references I didn't get, but if it's possible to look at the speech as a whole, without getting caught up on certain, more bewildering and detatched, sections, one can begin to really see what she's saying about the necessity of preserving language.
Zoe Johnson
Zoe Johnson
and William Keller posted this:
Re: Lecture: Toni Morrison, Nobel
WKeller on October 2nd 2008, 11:55 amMorrison's use of the bird being comparedto language is similar to Shordinger's cat. The Bird can be though of as alive and dead at the same time. The same can be said for language. There are the writers who can't kill language, they only sap engery from it, weakening the power of it. It is times like these when spoken and written word become less powerful than one's actions. You can't always take someone's word for something, because it has no meaning anymore.
However, there are the writers who have such a powerful command over language they begin to revive it. In periods such as the Enlightenment, people began to believe what was spoken, what was written, because it gained meaning, it had power.
Langauge is like the cat in the box. We don't know if its alive. We don't know if its dead. The only way to tell is open the box. These writers, who are thinking outside of the box keep literature alive, those who think inside drain it. At the same time language is both alive and dead. It depends on where in the spectrum you're standing.
The bird is used as a symbol. The bird means life, when at the same time it means death. If the bird is alive, then it is alive, but it can still be killed, just like Schrodinger's cat. If the bird is dead, then it was either found that way, or it was killed.
However, there are the writers who have such a powerful command over language they begin to revive it. In periods such as the Enlightenment, people began to believe what was spoken, what was written, because it gained meaning, it had power.
Langauge is like the cat in the box. We don't know if its alive. We don't know if its dead. The only way to tell is open the box. These writers, who are thinking outside of the box keep literature alive, those who think inside drain it. At the same time language is both alive and dead. It depends on where in the spectrum you're standing.
The bird is used as a symbol. The bird means life, when at the same time it means death. If the bird is alive, then it is alive, but it can still be killed, just like Schrodinger's cat. If the bird is dead, then it was either found that way, or it was killed.
Would you agree? What parallels are there to American literary language and the place in it for African-Americans?
Friday, October 22, 2010
Week of 10/18-10/22
Monday--review answers to packet #2Tuesday--Discuss TONE, Exercise on TONE
Wednesday--in A239 lab--Malcolm X passage and intro--Writer's PURPOSE and INTENT
LOGOS, PATHOS, ETHOS
DICTION vs. SYNTAX
Thursday--Discuss and read ending of The Bluest EyeFriday--Closure discussion The Bluest Eye--finish tone exercises
GET GREAT GATSBY
HMWK: Read Toni Morrison's Nobel Prize Lecture for Monday
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1993/morrison-lecture.html
Set your personal schedule to finish The Great Gatsby by Nov. 1. Start reading NOW!
Next week's Friday quiz--Vocabulary and Spelling SET #2--Literary terms will be posted. over the weekend
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Alice Walker "Beauty: when the Other Dancer is the Self"
Read and discuss essay.
Test Friday on vocabulary and literary terms.
Continue work on The Bluest Eye.
Finish reading your book by Friday.There will be a quiz on Friday about the vocabulary words and literary terms.
Vocabulary for this week: Literary Terms
generic conventions
genre
prose
poetry: lyric dramatic epic narrative
drama: tragedy comedy farce melodrama
hyperbole
homily
imagery: visual auditory tactile gustatory olfactory
inference/infer
invective
irony: verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Readings in The Bedford Reader
Gloria Naylor The Meanings of a Word pg. 406
Check online for quizzes on books.
Test Friday on vocabulary and literary terms.
Continue work on The Bluest Eye.
Finish reading your book by Friday.There will be a quiz on Friday about the vocabulary words and literary terms.
Vocabulary for this week: Literary Terms
generic conventions
genre
prose
poetry: lyric dramatic epic narrative
drama: tragedy comedy farce melodrama
hyperbole
homily
imagery: visual auditory tactile gustatory olfactory
inference/infer
invective
irony: verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony
Readings in The Bedford Reader
Gloria Naylor The Meanings of a Word pg. 406
Check online for quizzes on books.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday--papers due, read and discuss Zora Neale Hurston's "How It Feels to be Colored Me"
Thursday--discussion in groups of "Autumn" in The Bluest Eye. Show video clips of productions of The Bluest Eye
HMWK: In The Bedford Reader, read Brent Staples "Black Men in Public Spaces" (181)
and Maya Angelou's "Champion of the World" (88). Bring books to class for Friday.
Friday--Discuss essays. HMWK: For Tuesday, read "Winter" section in The Bluest Eye.
Our goal is to finish the novel by Friday (so read ahead into "Spring" as far as you can).
Have a nice weekend!
Thursday--discussion in groups of "Autumn" in The Bluest Eye. Show video clips of productions of The Bluest Eye
HMWK: In The Bedford Reader, read Brent Staples "Black Men in Public Spaces" (181)
and Maya Angelou's "Champion of the World" (88). Bring books to class for Friday.
Friday--Discuss essays. HMWK: For Tuesday, read "Winter" section in The Bluest Eye.
Our goal is to finish the novel by Friday (so read ahead into "Spring" as far as you can).
Have a nice weekend!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Videos--A Girl Like Me/How Children View Skin Color
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Discussion Questions for End of Things They Carried
1. Does your opinion of O'Brien change throughout the course of the novel? How so? How do you feel about his actions in "The Ghost Soldiers"?
2. Reread the first paragraph of "The Lives of the Dead." How does O'Brien set us up to believe this story? What techniques does he use to convince us this story is "true"? In general how are details used in this collection of stories in such a way their truth is hard to deny?
3. In your opinion, why does O'Brien choose to include this story about a young girl named Linda in this collection? What does it accomplish?
4. In many ways, this book is as much about stories, or the necessity of stories, as it is about the Vietnam War. According to O'Brien, what do stories accomplish? Why does he continue to tell stories about the Vietnam War, about Linda?
5. Reread the final two pages of this book. Consider what the young Tim O’Brien learns about storytelling from his experiences with Linda. How does this knowledge prepare him for not only war, but also to become a writer? Within the parameters of this story, how would you characterize Tim O’Brien’s understanding of the purpose of fiction? How does fiction relate to life, that is, life in the journalistic or historic sense?
6. Assume for a moment that the writer Tim O’Brien created a fictional main character, also called Tim O’Brien, to inhibit this novel. Why would the real Tim O’Brien do that? What would that accomplish in this novel? How would it strengthen a book about “truth”?
7. Tim O’Brien makes use of repetition as an important stylistic device. What effect does repetition have? Is it effective? Why? Cite an example of his use of repetition in a short story form from each section of the novel and what it achieves in each story.
8. What are some of the characteristics of modern literature found in these stories?
9. Which of these stories did you like best? Why?
2. Reread the first paragraph of "The Lives of the Dead." How does O'Brien set us up to believe this story? What techniques does he use to convince us this story is "true"? In general how are details used in this collection of stories in such a way their truth is hard to deny?
3. In your opinion, why does O'Brien choose to include this story about a young girl named Linda in this collection? What does it accomplish?
4. In many ways, this book is as much about stories, or the necessity of stories, as it is about the Vietnam War. According to O'Brien, what do stories accomplish? Why does he continue to tell stories about the Vietnam War, about Linda?
5. Reread the final two pages of this book. Consider what the young Tim O’Brien learns about storytelling from his experiences with Linda. How does this knowledge prepare him for not only war, but also to become a writer? Within the parameters of this story, how would you characterize Tim O’Brien’s understanding of the purpose of fiction? How does fiction relate to life, that is, life in the journalistic or historic sense?
6. Assume for a moment that the writer Tim O’Brien created a fictional main character, also called Tim O’Brien, to inhibit this novel. Why would the real Tim O’Brien do that? What would that accomplish in this novel? How would it strengthen a book about “truth”?
7. Tim O’Brien makes use of repetition as an important stylistic device. What effect does repetition have? Is it effective? Why? Cite an example of his use of repetition in a short story form from each section of the novel and what it achieves in each story.
8. What are some of the characteristics of modern literature found in these stories?
9. Which of these stories did you like best? Why?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
THE BIG READ--Tim O'Brien's TheThings They Carried
This year, the NEA's "The Big Read" is Tim 'Brien's "The Things They Carried".
Locally, Writers and Books is sponsoring a series of events that you can experience. Check out their calendar of events at: wab.org
Tim O'Brien will be speaking at the University of Rochester on Nov. 4 at 7 pm and at MCC on Nov. 5 at 12 noon.
Here is the website for The Big Read with lots of interesting information and a 28 minute radio interview with Tim O'Brien:
www.neabigread.org/books/thethingstheycarried/radioshow.php
Locally, Writers and Books is sponsoring a series of events that you can experience. Check out their calendar of events at: wab.org
Tim O'Brien will be speaking at the University of Rochester on Nov. 4 at 7 pm and at MCC on Nov. 5 at 12 noon.
Here is the website for The Big Read with lots of interesting information and a 28 minute radio interview with Tim O'Brien:
www.neabigread.org/books/thethingstheycarried/radioshow.php
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh
Last night I learned about this novel and have ordered a copy of it. This relates to O'Brien's The Things They Carried. You might want to check this out. I'll share passages with you.
By Edward J. Santella (Malden, MA USA) - See all my reviews--a post
This review is from: The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam (Paperback)
When visiting Vietnam last year, a man stopped me outside the war rememberance museum in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. He carried a shrink wrapped stack of books three feet high and tried to sell me a knock-off copy of "The Sorrow of War". When I told him I'd read it, he broke into a bright smile. He then offered to sell me Greene's "The Quiet American". When I told him I'd read that too, his eyes sparkled, his smile stretched and he put his arm around my shoulders. He took me to meet his friends. He said something in Vietnamese to them. All of a sudden I felt like I was a rediscovered lost relative.
"The Sorrow of War" is a book that's not so much read as experienced. There is no escaping the intensity and naked reality presented. The author is a survivor of the American War who fought in the North Vietnamese Army, but Bao Ninh is kind to neither the North Vietnamese Army nor the Americans and its allies. There's no romanticism in this novel, only honesty.
Originally banned by the Communist government, the book proved so popular that the government reconsidered and lifted the ban. It's now a national treasure.
In my next life, when I'm a teacher, I will assign this to my class to be read back-to-back with Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried". These books could stop a war.
By Edward J. Santella (Malden, MA USA) - See all my reviews--a post
This review is from: The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam (Paperback)
When visiting Vietnam last year, a man stopped me outside the war rememberance museum in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. He carried a shrink wrapped stack of books three feet high and tried to sell me a knock-off copy of "The Sorrow of War". When I told him I'd read it, he broke into a bright smile. He then offered to sell me Greene's "The Quiet American". When I told him I'd read that too, his eyes sparkled, his smile stretched and he put his arm around my shoulders. He took me to meet his friends. He said something in Vietnamese to them. All of a sudden I felt like I was a rediscovered lost relative.
"The Sorrow of War" is a book that's not so much read as experienced. There is no escaping the intensity and naked reality presented. The author is a survivor of the American War who fought in the North Vietnamese Army, but Bao Ninh is kind to neither the North Vietnamese Army nor the Americans and its allies. There's no romanticism in this novel, only honesty.
Originally banned by the Communist government, the book proved so popular that the government reconsidered and lifted the ban. It's now a national treasure.
In my next life, when I'm a teacher, I will assign this to my class to be read back-to-back with Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried". These books could stop a war.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Literary Terms for Friday Quiz
Figurative Language and Figures of Speech
New literary terms for next week:
hyperbole
irony
metaphor
metonymy
oxymoron
paradox
personification
simile
synedoche
understatement (litote)
asyndeton
polysyndeton
New literary terms for next week:
hyperbole
irony
metaphor
metonymy
oxymoron
paradox
personification
simile
synedoche
understatement (litote)
asyndeton
polysyndeton
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
AP English Paper #1
AP paper #1 Things They Carried
4-5 page paper, 12 pt. Time font, typed, double-spaced, MLA citation and style, due Oct. 4
How would one read O'Brien's The Things They Carried "literarily" versus "literally"? Using examples from your readings of the text, discuss the rhetorical devices O'Brien uses to tell "story truth" versus "happening truth"--or how he proceeds to tell "a noble lie." Be sure to use MLA citation for this paper.
1. Reading literally differs from reading literarily in several ways, including your relationship to the "truth" of the text, as well as its meaning.
2. When you read literally, you are trying to find meaning; when you read literarily, you are attempting to make meaning.
3. Literary texts provide various signals that invite us to read them literarily; they open themselves to multiple interpretations.
4. Good literary questions call attention to problematic details of the texts under analysis and encourage readers to return to the texts to reconsider those problems.
5. Such formal features as plot, setting, character, point of view, and theme provide you with opportunities to ask specific questions that will help you analyze a short story.
4-5 page paper, 12 pt. Time font, typed, double-spaced, MLA citation and style, due Oct. 4
How would one read O'Brien's The Things They Carried "literarily" versus "literally"? Using examples from your readings of the text, discuss the rhetorical devices O'Brien uses to tell "story truth" versus "happening truth"--or how he proceeds to tell "a noble lie." Be sure to use MLA citation for this paper.
1. Reading literally differs from reading literarily in several ways, including your relationship to the "truth" of the text, as well as its meaning.
2. When you read literally, you are trying to find meaning; when you read literarily, you are attempting to make meaning.
3. Literary texts provide various signals that invite us to read them literarily; they open themselves to multiple interpretations.
4. Good literary questions call attention to problematic details of the texts under analysis and encourage readers to return to the texts to reconsider those problems.
5. Such formal features as plot, setting, character, point of view, and theme provide you with opportunities to ask specific questions that will help you analyze a short story.
The Things They Carried Discussion Questions
"Stockings"
1. What did Dobbins do with his pantyhose when his girlfriend dumped him?
"Church"
1. What did the monks at the temple help Henry Dobbins do?
2. How does Kiowa feel about the soldiers camping at the temple?
"The Man I Killed"
1. What is paragraph one of the story about?
2. What did the young man hope some day to become?
3. What is Kiowa doing throughout the story?
4. What is Tim doing?
5. What did the boy fear about his performance in battle?
6. How did the other boys at school treat him?
7. What does Tim’s examination of the boy’s body tell us about Tim’s feelings about his death?
8. What was the boy carrying?
9. What does Kiowa keep insisting Tim do?
10. How does Tim respond?
"Ambush"
1. Why did Tim throw the grenade at the young man?
2. What could Tim have done instead?
3. What is the significance of the story’s final image?
"Style"
1. What was the young girl doing when the company came to her village?
2. What did Azar do that night?
3. How did Henry Dobbins respond?
"Speaking of Courage"
1. As the story opens, what is Norman Bowker doing?
2. What happened to Norman's friend Max?
3. On pg. 129, what does Max say about the necessity of God as an "idea"?
4. What happened to his old girlfriend, Sally Kramer?
5. How long has he been doing his present activity? (see pg. 140)
6. What day of the year does this story take place?
7. Which one of his medals was Norman Bowker especially proud of?
8. What medal did he almost win?
9. How did the Song Tra Bong change during the rainy season?
10. What was it about the river that especially got to Norman?
11. What did the town not care to know about?
12. What does the word "bivouack" mean?
13. What did the old women of the ville yell to the men when they bivouacked in the field?
14. What did the soldiers realize was the purpose of the field?
15. In the field, what was the difference between courage and cowardice?
16. What happened to the platoon late in the night?
17. Who did Norman hear screaming?
18. What did Norman see in the glare of the red flares?
19. How did Norman try to save Kiowa?
20. What made him fail?
21. What would Norman never be able to do?
22. Where is Norman at the very end of the story, and what is he looking at?
"Notes"
1. What did Norman do to himself in 1978?
2. What did he feel had happened to him in Vietnam?
3. What does he ask Tim to do?
4. What had O'Brien felt smug about?
5. According to O'Brien, what are you doing when you tell stories about your own experience?
6. How did O'Brien feel about the short story he published from a chapter in "Going After Cacciato"?
7. Ultimately, what "ruined" the story?
8. What did Norman have to say about the story?
9. How did O'Brien revise the story for The Things They Carried?
10. Who was "in no way responsible" for Kiowa's death, according to O'Brien?
1. What did Dobbins do with his pantyhose when his girlfriend dumped him?
"Church"
1. What did the monks at the temple help Henry Dobbins do?
2. How does Kiowa feel about the soldiers camping at the temple?
"The Man I Killed"
1. What is paragraph one of the story about?
2. What did the young man hope some day to become?
3. What is Kiowa doing throughout the story?
4. What is Tim doing?
5. What did the boy fear about his performance in battle?
6. How did the other boys at school treat him?
7. What does Tim’s examination of the boy’s body tell us about Tim’s feelings about his death?
8. What was the boy carrying?
9. What does Kiowa keep insisting Tim do?
10. How does Tim respond?
"Ambush"
1. Why did Tim throw the grenade at the young man?
2. What could Tim have done instead?
3. What is the significance of the story’s final image?
"Style"
1. What was the young girl doing when the company came to her village?
2. What did Azar do that night?
3. How did Henry Dobbins respond?
"Speaking of Courage"
1. As the story opens, what is Norman Bowker doing?
2. What happened to Norman's friend Max?
3. On pg. 129, what does Max say about the necessity of God as an "idea"?
4. What happened to his old girlfriend, Sally Kramer?
5. How long has he been doing his present activity? (see pg. 140)
6. What day of the year does this story take place?
7. Which one of his medals was Norman Bowker especially proud of?
8. What medal did he almost win?
9. How did the Song Tra Bong change during the rainy season?
10. What was it about the river that especially got to Norman?
11. What did the town not care to know about?
12. What does the word "bivouack" mean?
13. What did the old women of the ville yell to the men when they bivouacked in the field?
14. What did the soldiers realize was the purpose of the field?
15. In the field, what was the difference between courage and cowardice?
16. What happened to the platoon late in the night?
17. Who did Norman hear screaming?
18. What did Norman see in the glare of the red flares?
19. How did Norman try to save Kiowa?
20. What made him fail?
21. What would Norman never be able to do?
22. Where is Norman at the very end of the story, and what is he looking at?
"Notes"
1. What did Norman do to himself in 1978?
2. What did he feel had happened to him in Vietnam?
3. What does he ask Tim to do?
4. What had O'Brien felt smug about?
5. According to O'Brien, what are you doing when you tell stories about your own experience?
6. How did O'Brien feel about the short story he published from a chapter in "Going After Cacciato"?
7. Ultimately, what "ruined" the story?
8. What did Norman have to say about the story?
9. How did O'Brien revise the story for The Things They Carried?
10. Who was "in no way responsible" for Kiowa's death, according to O'Brien?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Review AP Diagnostic Packet #1
Sept. 16, 17---Discuss questions about The Things They Carried; Quiz on literary terms on Friday; HMWK: Diagnostic packet #1 AP
Review Diagnostic Packet #1
HMWK: Read 117-154 Focus on "Speaking of Courage"
Review Diagnostic Packet #1
HMWK: Read 117-154 Focus on "Speaking of Courage"
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
How to Write a Good Intro/ "Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong"
QUICKWRITE:
Introductory paragraphs can often be formulaic and boring. For example, the NYS exam asks you to:
A. Acknowledge the quote
B. Interpret the quote, making a philosophical statement relating to the human condition. Then agree or disagree with it (although that can be implied by your interpretation of the statement).
C. Provide two examples from your reading (authors and titles) and explain how they
relate to the quote.
(You can use literary terms subtly in the body of your essay. You do not necessarily need them in the intro.)
For a BASIC INTRO, you can do ABC. Yet, if you want to score higher and be more creative and interesting, try one of the other organizational structures.
BAC (highly recommended) or BCA (ending with the quote)
CBA or CAB (possibilities, too)
Try one of the other structures right now by rewriting your own intro.
How do these other structures work? Which ones will work well for you?
DISCUSSION GROUPS:
HMWK: POST A COMMENT TO THE INTERPRETIVE QUESTIONS
"The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
Interpretive questions:
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," what transforms Mary Anne into a predatory killer? Does it matter that Mary Anne is a woman? How so? What does the story tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War?
The story Rat tells in "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is highly fantastical. Does its lack of believability make it any less compelling? Do you believe it? Does it fit O'Brien's criteria for a true war story?
Basic Level I Reading Comprehension Questions
1. What was Rat’s reputation among the men of Alpha Company, when it came to telling stories?
2. What does Rat insist about his story in this chapter?
3. What was the military discipline like at the outpost?
4. Who were the Greenies and what were they like?
5. Who did Mark Fossie bring to the outpost?
6. What was their plan together, since elementary school?
7. What does Rat say are the similarities between Mary Ann and all of them?.
8. What did Mary Anne begin to do when casualties came in?
9. Where had Mary Anne been the first time she stayed out all night?
10. How did she change as a result of her conversation with Fossie the next morning?
11. How did she respond to Fossie’s arrangements to send her home?
12. When and under what circumstances did Rat see her next?
13. On pg. 106, what is Mitchell Sanders’ attitude about Rat’s way of telling a story?
14. What does Rat have to say about the soldiers attitude toward women?
15. What did the Rat, Fossie, and Eddie find when they entered the Greenies hootch?
16. What kind of jewelry was Mary Anne wearing?
17. What does Mary Anne tell Fossie about his presence in Vietnam?
18. What does Mary Anne say she wants to wants to do with Vietnam?
19. At the bottom of pg. 113, what does Rat say about "the girls back home"?
20. What is the metaphor that Rat uses to explain Mary Anne’s experience with Vietnam?
Introductory paragraphs can often be formulaic and boring. For example, the NYS exam asks you to:
A. Acknowledge the quote
B. Interpret the quote, making a philosophical statement relating to the human condition. Then agree or disagree with it (although that can be implied by your interpretation of the statement).
C. Provide two examples from your reading (authors and titles) and explain how they
relate to the quote.
(You can use literary terms subtly in the body of your essay. You do not necessarily need them in the intro.)
For a BASIC INTRO, you can do ABC. Yet, if you want to score higher and be more creative and interesting, try one of the other organizational structures.
BAC (highly recommended) or BCA (ending with the quote)
CBA or CAB (possibilities, too)
Try one of the other structures right now by rewriting your own intro.
How do these other structures work? Which ones will work well for you?
DISCUSSION GROUPS:
HMWK: POST A COMMENT TO THE INTERPRETIVE QUESTIONS
"The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
Interpretive questions:
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," what transforms Mary Anne into a predatory killer? Does it matter that Mary Anne is a woman? How so? What does the story tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War?
The story Rat tells in "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is highly fantastical. Does its lack of believability make it any less compelling? Do you believe it? Does it fit O'Brien's criteria for a true war story?
Basic Level I Reading Comprehension Questions
1. What was Rat’s reputation among the men of Alpha Company, when it came to telling stories?
2. What does Rat insist about his story in this chapter?
3. What was the military discipline like at the outpost?
4. Who were the Greenies and what were they like?
5. Who did Mark Fossie bring to the outpost?
6. What was their plan together, since elementary school?
7. What does Rat say are the similarities between Mary Ann and all of them?.
8. What did Mary Anne begin to do when casualties came in?
9. Where had Mary Anne been the first time she stayed out all night?
10. How did she change as a result of her conversation with Fossie the next morning?
11. How did she respond to Fossie’s arrangements to send her home?
12. When and under what circumstances did Rat see her next?
13. On pg. 106, what is Mitchell Sanders’ attitude about Rat’s way of telling a story?
14. What does Rat have to say about the soldiers attitude toward women?
15. What did the Rat, Fossie, and Eddie find when they entered the Greenies hootch?
16. What kind of jewelry was Mary Anne wearing?
17. What does Mary Anne tell Fossie about his presence in Vietnam?
18. What does Mary Anne say she wants to wants to do with Vietnam?
19. At the bottom of pg. 113, what does Rat say about "the girls back home"?
20. What is the metaphor that Rat uses to explain Mary Anne’s experience with Vietnam?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
On the Rainy River and others
HMWK: Read "Sweetheart Of the Song Tra Bong" for discussion tomorrow and the shorter "Enemies" and Dentist"
1. "Love," "Spin" "On the Rainy River"
Some Issues for this reading selection –
1. Short interlude pieces – what are they for? Examine titles
2. "Keep Your Eye On…" (characters Bowker, Azar) What do we learn about them?
3. "Spin" – moments of quiet; if this were music it would be meditative in tone.
"That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." (O'Brien 40)
4. "On the Rainy River" – let go of clichés of soldiers – what’s the "right thing to do" for Tim? Kill/die because he was embarrassed not to --
5. Introduction of fictional aspect of novel – "hallucinations" at the river.
Metafiction:
Metafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and self-reflection. It can be compared to presentational theatre, which does not let the audience forget it is viewing a play; metafiction does not let the reader forget he or she is reading a fictional work.
Metafiction is primarily associated with Modernist and Postmodernist literature, but is found at least as early as the 9th-century One Thousand and One Nights and Chaucer's 14th-century Canterbury Tales. Cervantes' Don Quixote is a metafictional novel, as is James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824). In the 1950s several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "nouveau roman". These "new novels" were characterized by their bending of genre and style and often included elements of metafiction. It became prominent in the 1960s, with authors and works such as John Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, Robert Coover's The Babysitter and The Magic Poker, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and William H. Gass's Willie Master's Lonesome Wife. William H. Gass coined the term “metafiction” in a 1970 essay entitled “Philosophy and the Form of Fiction”. Unlike the antinovel, or anti-fiction, metafiction is specifically fiction about fiction, i.e. fiction which self-consciously reflects upon itself.
Questions for discussion:
Why is the first story told in the third person? What effect does it have on you as a reader to then switch to the first person in “Love”? O’Brien also uses the second person in this collection. For example, in “On the Rainy River,” the narrator, trying to decide whether to accept the draft or become a draft dodger, asks: “What would you do?” (page 56). Why does the author use these different perspectives?
Who is Elroy Bendahl, and why is he “the hero of [the narrator’s] life” (page 48)?
At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator makes a kind of confession: "The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war" (61). What does this mean?
Literary Terms for Friday Quiz
Here are the new words for Friday's quiz:
Know logos, pathos, ethos
Click the words for examples of these AP terms. For a definition, see your AP packet.
1. "Love," "Spin" "On the Rainy River"
Some Issues for this reading selection –
1. Short interlude pieces – what are they for? Examine titles
2. "Keep Your Eye On…" (characters Bowker, Azar) What do we learn about them?
3. "Spin" – moments of quiet; if this were music it would be meditative in tone.
"That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." (O'Brien 40)
4. "On the Rainy River" – let go of clichés of soldiers – what’s the "right thing to do" for Tim? Kill/die because he was embarrassed not to --
5. Introduction of fictional aspect of novel – "hallucinations" at the river.
Metafiction:
Metafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and self-reflection. It can be compared to presentational theatre, which does not let the audience forget it is viewing a play; metafiction does not let the reader forget he or she is reading a fictional work.
Metafiction is primarily associated with Modernist and Postmodernist literature, but is found at least as early as the 9th-century One Thousand and One Nights and Chaucer's 14th-century Canterbury Tales. Cervantes' Don Quixote is a metafictional novel, as is James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824). In the 1950s several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "nouveau roman". These "new novels" were characterized by their bending of genre and style and often included elements of metafiction. It became prominent in the 1960s, with authors and works such as John Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, Robert Coover's The Babysitter and The Magic Poker, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and William H. Gass's Willie Master's Lonesome Wife. William H. Gass coined the term “metafiction” in a 1970 essay entitled “Philosophy and the Form of Fiction”. Unlike the antinovel, or anti-fiction, metafiction is specifically fiction about fiction, i.e. fiction which self-consciously reflects upon itself.
Questions for discussion:
Why is the first story told in the third person? What effect does it have on you as a reader to then switch to the first person in “Love”? O’Brien also uses the second person in this collection. For example, in “On the Rainy River,” the narrator, trying to decide whether to accept the draft or become a draft dodger, asks: “What would you do?” (page 56). Why does the author use these different perspectives?
Who is Elroy Bendahl, and why is he “the hero of [the narrator’s] life” (page 48)?
At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator makes a kind of confession: "The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war" (61). What does this mean?
Literary Terms for Friday Quiz
Here are the new words for Friday's quiz:
Know logos, pathos, ethos
Click the words for examples of these AP terms. For a definition, see your AP packet.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Discussion Questions How to Tell a True War Story
How to Tell a True War Story – Study Guide Questions (pgs 67-85)
1.) Who does Rat Kiley write a letter to?
2.) What sort of things does Rat write about his friend – Curt Lemon?
3.) What did his friend do on Halloween?
4.) What happens when he sends the letter?
5.) List at least four elements of a “true war story”.
>
>
>
>
6.) What happened to Curt Lemon?
7.) In a true war story, why is it hard to separate what happened and what seemed to happen?
8.) Why can a true war story not be believed?
9.) Summarize Mitchell Sander’s story about the six men patrol that goes up to the mountains for a listening post operation.
10.) What does Rat Kiley do to a baby buffalo? How do you explain his actions?
11.) The narrator quotes the familiar “war is hell” but adds that it is “not the half of it.” What does he mean?
12.) Why does the woman cry over the buffalo but like the grenade story? What is the deeper meaning of his saying that she wasn’t listening?
13.) What does the narrator mean by saying that the story was a love story and that stories are “never about war”?
1.) Who does Rat Kiley write a letter to?
2.) What sort of things does Rat write about his friend – Curt Lemon?
3.) What did his friend do on Halloween?
4.) What happens when he sends the letter?
5.) List at least four elements of a “true war story”.
>
>
>
>
6.) What happened to Curt Lemon?
7.) In a true war story, why is it hard to separate what happened and what seemed to happen?
8.) Why can a true war story not be believed?
9.) Summarize Mitchell Sander’s story about the six men patrol that goes up to the mountains for a listening post operation.
10.) What does Rat Kiley do to a baby buffalo? How do you explain his actions?
11.) The narrator quotes the familiar “war is hell” but adds that it is “not the half of it.” What does he mean?
12.) Why does the woman cry over the buffalo but like the grenade story? What is the deeper meaning of his saying that she wasn’t listening?
13.) What does the narrator mean by saying that the story was a love story and that stories are “never about war”?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Several Discussion topics for The Things They Carried
1. There is an epigraph at the beginning of the text. What is an epigraph? How do writers use them? This epigraph is a citation from John Ransom's Andersonville Diary. Who was he? What was Andersonville? Who "wrote" or "edited" the Diary? Given what you discover about the epigraph and what it introduces, what do you think it accomplishes?
2. "On the Rainy River" questions the American war in Vietnam (40), referring to a series of names and places. Look them up. What was the USS Maddox? Where is the Gulf of Tonkin and what is its relationship to the Vietnamese War? Who was Ho Chi Minh? What was SEATO? What were the Geneva Accords? What was the Cold War and why are dominoes mentioned?
3. Compare the "things" the soldiers carried in Vietnam to the "things" soldiers are carrying in Iraq, both standard issue and personal objects.
4. At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator makes a kind of confession: "The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war" (61). What does this mean?
5. According to Mitchell Sanders, "What you have to do...is trust your own story. Get the hell out of the way and let it tell itself" (106). What is "metafiction"? Why might someone call this book metafiction? See this web site about O'Brien for more information: http://illyria.com/tobsites.html
6. Are there any clues about what O'Brien thinks of his narrator? What should the reader think of him?
7. One of the web sites treating O'Brien and his books leads to a site about magical realism. What is magical realism? Here's the site: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824/magreal.htm. Find other examples of magical realism in the novel.
8. Tim O'Brien once made the following assertion in an interview with Texas Monthly: "Good movies -- and good novels, too -- do not depend upon 'accurate portrayals.' Accuracy is irrelevant. Is the Mona Lisa an 'accurate' representation of the actual human model for the painting? Who knows? Who cares? It's a great piece of art. It moves us. It makes us wonder, makes us gape; finally makes us look inward at ourselves." (Texas Monthly, Nov. 2002. Qtd. In http://illyria.com/tobhp.html#Newsletter )
What is an "accurate portrayal?" How does The Things They Carried function as art? Does it provide "accurate portrayals?" Of what?
9. Try taking any two chapters (or just Chapter 1 or just Chapter 3) and find all the metaphors and similes that O'Brien uses. List them and discuss how they work.
10. In the set of review snippets on the front pages of our paperback edition of the book, the one from The New Yorker says that "...events are recalled and retold again and again, giving us a deep sense of the fluidity of truth and the dance of memory." What does this comment refer to? Are there examples in the text that gave rise to it? What makes truth fluid? And how can memories dance?
11. O'Brien talks about courage in a range of ways. Discuss.
12. Compare Hemingway's war stories to O'Brien's. (For instance, in his collection In Our Time, which surely inspired "On the Rainy River"). Do O'Brien's characters exemplify Hemingway's definition of "guts" as "grace under pressure"? Hemingway also writes, "in modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason." Is the Vietnam War experience different from that of WWII?
13. "Stories are for joining the past to the future" (38). Is this statement true? Can "stories" affect the future?
14. "Love" is the title of an entire chapter. Are there other treatments of love in the work?
15. In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," what happens to Mary Anne Bell? (89).
16. What is the form that the chapter "Good Form" talks about? (179).
17. What do the following sentences mean? "I want you to know what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth" (179).
18. How can the narrator answer his daughter's question in both the ways he speaks of in "Good Form" and be honest?
19. Using O'Brien's The Things They Carried as a model, what is the weight of the things students carry?
20. Where are soldiers of color in this narrative vs. where were they in real life in the Vietnam War?
21. O'Brien makes intertextual references to Brigadoon, Barbarella, and The Man That Never Was. What is intertextuality? In what way do these references add to the fabric of the novel?
22. What is the legacy of Vietnam for America today?
23. Is it possible to "win" a war? Are there any victors?
2. "On the Rainy River" questions the American war in Vietnam (40), referring to a series of names and places. Look them up. What was the USS Maddox? Where is the Gulf of Tonkin and what is its relationship to the Vietnamese War? Who was Ho Chi Minh? What was SEATO? What were the Geneva Accords? What was the Cold War and why are dominoes mentioned?
3. Compare the "things" the soldiers carried in Vietnam to the "things" soldiers are carrying in Iraq, both standard issue and personal objects.
4. At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator makes a kind of confession: "The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war" (61). What does this mean?
5. According to Mitchell Sanders, "What you have to do...is trust your own story. Get the hell out of the way and let it tell itself" (106). What is "metafiction"? Why might someone call this book metafiction? See this web site about O'Brien for more information: http://illyria.com/tobsites.html
6. Are there any clues about what O'Brien thinks of his narrator? What should the reader think of him?
7. One of the web sites treating O'Brien and his books leads to a site about magical realism. What is magical realism? Here's the site: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824/magreal.htm. Find other examples of magical realism in the novel.
8. Tim O'Brien once made the following assertion in an interview with Texas Monthly: "Good movies -- and good novels, too -- do not depend upon 'accurate portrayals.' Accuracy is irrelevant. Is the Mona Lisa an 'accurate' representation of the actual human model for the painting? Who knows? Who cares? It's a great piece of art. It moves us. It makes us wonder, makes us gape; finally makes us look inward at ourselves." (Texas Monthly, Nov. 2002. Qtd. In http://illyria.com/tobhp.html#Newsletter )
What is an "accurate portrayal?" How does The Things They Carried function as art? Does it provide "accurate portrayals?" Of what?
9. Try taking any two chapters (or just Chapter 1 or just Chapter 3) and find all the metaphors and similes that O'Brien uses. List them and discuss how they work.
10. In the set of review snippets on the front pages of our paperback edition of the book, the one from The New Yorker says that "...events are recalled and retold again and again, giving us a deep sense of the fluidity of truth and the dance of memory." What does this comment refer to? Are there examples in the text that gave rise to it? What makes truth fluid? And how can memories dance?
11. O'Brien talks about courage in a range of ways. Discuss.
12. Compare Hemingway's war stories to O'Brien's. (For instance, in his collection In Our Time, which surely inspired "On the Rainy River"). Do O'Brien's characters exemplify Hemingway's definition of "guts" as "grace under pressure"? Hemingway also writes, "in modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason." Is the Vietnam War experience different from that of WWII?
13. "Stories are for joining the past to the future" (38). Is this statement true? Can "stories" affect the future?
14. "Love" is the title of an entire chapter. Are there other treatments of love in the work?
15. In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," what happens to Mary Anne Bell? (89).
16. What is the form that the chapter "Good Form" talks about? (179).
17. What do the following sentences mean? "I want you to know what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth" (179).
18. How can the narrator answer his daughter's question in both the ways he speaks of in "Good Form" and be honest?
19. Using O'Brien's The Things They Carried as a model, what is the weight of the things students carry?
20. Where are soldiers of color in this narrative vs. where were they in real life in the Vietnam War?
21. O'Brien makes intertextual references to Brigadoon, Barbarella, and The Man That Never Was. What is intertextuality? In what way do these references add to the fabric of the novel?
22. What is the legacy of Vietnam for America today?
23. Is it possible to "win" a war? Are there any victors?
Discuss "The Things They Carried"
"What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty. As a machine gunner, Henry Dobbins carried the M-60, which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded. He also carried between 10 and 15 pounds of ammunition draped in belts across his chest and shoulders."
"The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among them were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellant, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, and two or three canteens of water."
"They carried the land itself--Vietnam, the place, the soil-powdery-orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatiques and faces. They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity."
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intanigbles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specifc gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide...They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing."
* Briefly discuss the differences between "literal" things that the soldiers carried and "figurative" things. What are some "literal" and "figurative" things that the students carry with them every day to school?
HMWK: Study for quiz, read "How to Tell a True War Story"
Friday--Quiz on vocabulary
Monday --Write critical lens from Summer reading
"What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty. As a machine gunner, Henry Dobbins carried the M-60, which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded. He also carried between 10 and 15 pounds of ammunition draped in belts across his chest and shoulders."
"The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among them were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellant, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, and two or three canteens of water."
"They carried the land itself--Vietnam, the place, the soil-powdery-orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatiques and faces. They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity."
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intanigbles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specifc gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide...They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing."
* Briefly discuss the differences between "literal" things that the soldiers carried and "figurative" things. What are some "literal" and "figurative" things that the students carry with them every day to school?
HMWK: Study for quiz, read "How to Tell a True War Story"
Friday--Quiz on vocabulary
Monday --Write critical lens from Summer reading
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Literary Terms for Quiz Friday
1. Allegory
2. Alliteration
3. Allusion
4. Ambiguity
5. Analogy
6. Antecedent
7. Antithesis
8. Aphorism
9. Apostrophe
10. Atmosphere
11. Anaphora
2. Alliteration
3. Allusion
4. Ambiguity
5. Analogy
6. Antecedent
7. Antithesis
8. Aphorism
9. Apostrophe
10. Atmosphere
11. Anaphora
Ambush
View part of O'Brien video
Read "Ambush"
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to."
A finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Things They Carried marks a subtle but definitive line of demarcation between Tim O'Brien's earlier works about Vietnam, the memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone and the fictional Going After Cacciato, and this sly, almost hallucinatory book that is neither memoir nor novel nor collection of short stories but rather an artful combination of all three. Vietnam is still O'Brien's theme, but in this book he seems less interested in the war itself than in the myriad different perspectives from which he depicts it. Whereas Going After Cacciato played with reality, The Things They Carried plays with truth. The narrator of most of these stories is "Tim"; yet O'Brien freely admits that many of the events he chronicles in this collection never really happened. He never killed a man as "Tim" does in "The Man I Killed," and unlike Tim in "Ambush," he has no daughter named Kathleen. But just because a thing never happened doesn't make it any less true. In "On the Rainy River," the character Tim O'Brien responds to his draft notice by driving north, to the Canadian border where he spends six days in a deserted lodge in the company of an old man named Elroy while he wrestles with the choice between dodging the draft or going to war. The real Tim O'Brien never drove north, never found himself in a fishing boat 20 yards off the Canadian shore with a decision to make. The real Tim O'Brien quietly boarded the bus to Sioux Falls and was inducted into the United States Army. But the truth of "On the Rainy River" lies not in facts but in the genuineness of the experience it depicts: both Tim's went to a war they didn't believe in; both considered themselves cowards for doing so. Every story in The Things They Carried speaks another truth that Tim O'Brien learned in Vietnam; it is this blurred line between truth and reality, fact and fiction, that makes his book unforgettable. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Discussion questions
* Why does the narrator lie to his daughter, and how does he justify it? Do you think she will ask him the same question when she's older? Why/Why not?
* The narrator "keep[s] writing war stories." What does he expect the writing to do? Do you think it is working?
* Why doesn't the narrator let the soldier pass? How do you think you would have reacted in a similar situation?
* Why do you think the narrator focuses on the gory details of the soldier's death?
* Kiowa tells the narrator that it was a "good kill." What does this phrase mean in its military context? Do you agree or disagree with Kiowa's interpretation? Why/Why not?
* How do individuals justify killing during wartime when they would not kill during times of peace? What does this tell you about humans' tendencies toward self-preservation?
* What steps could the narrator take to end his own torment about killing the man? How can we come to grips with the guilt we feel over some of our actions?
Post a comment.
HMWK: For tomorrow, read "The Things They Carried" short story
Read "Ambush"
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to."
A finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Things They Carried marks a subtle but definitive line of demarcation between Tim O'Brien's earlier works about Vietnam, the memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone and the fictional Going After Cacciato, and this sly, almost hallucinatory book that is neither memoir nor novel nor collection of short stories but rather an artful combination of all three. Vietnam is still O'Brien's theme, but in this book he seems less interested in the war itself than in the myriad different perspectives from which he depicts it. Whereas Going After Cacciato played with reality, The Things They Carried plays with truth. The narrator of most of these stories is "Tim"; yet O'Brien freely admits that many of the events he chronicles in this collection never really happened. He never killed a man as "Tim" does in "The Man I Killed," and unlike Tim in "Ambush," he has no daughter named Kathleen. But just because a thing never happened doesn't make it any less true. In "On the Rainy River," the character Tim O'Brien responds to his draft notice by driving north, to the Canadian border where he spends six days in a deserted lodge in the company of an old man named Elroy while he wrestles with the choice between dodging the draft or going to war. The real Tim O'Brien never drove north, never found himself in a fishing boat 20 yards off the Canadian shore with a decision to make. The real Tim O'Brien quietly boarded the bus to Sioux Falls and was inducted into the United States Army. But the truth of "On the Rainy River" lies not in facts but in the genuineness of the experience it depicts: both Tim's went to a war they didn't believe in; both considered themselves cowards for doing so. Every story in The Things They Carried speaks another truth that Tim O'Brien learned in Vietnam; it is this blurred line between truth and reality, fact and fiction, that makes his book unforgettable. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Discussion questions
* Why does the narrator lie to his daughter, and how does he justify it? Do you think she will ask him the same question when she's older? Why/Why not?
* The narrator "keep[s] writing war stories." What does he expect the writing to do? Do you think it is working?
* Why doesn't the narrator let the soldier pass? How do you think you would have reacted in a similar situation?
* Why do you think the narrator focuses on the gory details of the soldier's death?
* Kiowa tells the narrator that it was a "good kill." What does this phrase mean in its military context? Do you agree or disagree with Kiowa's interpretation? Why/Why not?
* How do individuals justify killing during wartime when they would not kill during times of peace? What does this tell you about humans' tendencies toward self-preservation?
* What steps could the narrator take to end his own torment about killing the man? How can we come to grips with the guilt we feel over some of our actions?
Post a comment.
HMWK: For tomorrow, read "The Things They Carried" short story
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Discussion Questions Eat, Pray, Love
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Gilbert writes that “the appreciation of pleasure can be the anchor of humanity,” making the argument that America is “an entertainment-seeking nation, not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.” Is this a fair assessment?
2. After imagining a petition to God for divorce, an exhausted Gilbert answers her phone to news that her husband has finally signed. During a moment of quietude before a Roman fountain, she opens her Louise Glück collection to a verse about a fountain, one reminiscent of the Balinese medicine man’s drawing. After struggling to master a 182-verse daily prayer, she succeeds by focusing on her nephew, who suddenly is free from nightmares. Do these incidents of fortuitous timing signal fate? Cosmic unity? Coincidence?
3. Gilbert hashes out internal debates in a notebook, a place where she can argue with her inner demons and remind herself about the constancy of self-love. When an inner monologue becomes a literal conversation between a divided self, is this a sign of last resort or of self-reliance?
4. When Gilbert finally returns to Bali and seeks out the medicine man who foretold her return to study with him, he doesn’t recognize her. Despite her despair, she persists in her attempts to spark his memory, eventually succeeding. How much of the success of Gilbert’s journey do you attribute to persistence?
5. Prayer and meditation are both things that can be learned and, importantly, improved. In India, Gilbert learns a stoic, ascetic meditation technique. In Bali, she learns an approach based on smiling. Do you think the two can be synergistic? Or is Ketut Liyer right when he describes them as “same-same”?
6. Gender roles come up repeatedly in Eat, Pray, Love, be it macho Italian men eating cream puffs after a home team’s soccer loss, or a young Indian’s disdain for the marriage she will be expected to embark upon at age eighteen, or the Balinese healer’s sly approach to male impotence in a society where women are assumed responsible for their childlessness. How relevant is Gilbert’s gender?
7. In what ways is spiritual success similar to other forms of success? How is it different? Can they be so fundamentally different that they’re not comparable?
8. Do you think people are more open to new experiences when they travel? And why?
9. Abstinence in Italy seems extreme, but necessary, for a woman who has repeatedly moved from one man’s arms to another’s. After all, it’s only after Gilbert has found herself that she can share herself fully in love. What does this say about her earlier relationships?
10. Gilbert mentions her ease at making friends, regardless of where she is. At one point at the ashram, she realizes that she is too sociable and decides to embark on a period of silence, to become the Quiet Girl in the Back of the Temple. It is just after making this decision that she is assigned the role of ashram key hostess. What does this say about honing one’s nature rather than trying to escape it? Do you think perceived faults can be transformed into strengths rather than merely repressed?
11. Sitting in an outdoor café in Rome, Gilbert’s friend declares that every city—and every person—has a word. Rome’s is “sex,” the Vatican’s “power”; Gilbert declares New York’s to be “achieve,” but only later stumbles upon her own word, antevasin, Sanskrit for “one who lives at the border.” What is your word? Is it possible to choose a word that retains its truth for a lifetime?
1. Gilbert writes that “the appreciation of pleasure can be the anchor of humanity,” making the argument that America is “an entertainment-seeking nation, not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.” Is this a fair assessment?
2. After imagining a petition to God for divorce, an exhausted Gilbert answers her phone to news that her husband has finally signed. During a moment of quietude before a Roman fountain, she opens her Louise Glück collection to a verse about a fountain, one reminiscent of the Balinese medicine man’s drawing. After struggling to master a 182-verse daily prayer, she succeeds by focusing on her nephew, who suddenly is free from nightmares. Do these incidents of fortuitous timing signal fate? Cosmic unity? Coincidence?
3. Gilbert hashes out internal debates in a notebook, a place where she can argue with her inner demons and remind herself about the constancy of self-love. When an inner monologue becomes a literal conversation between a divided self, is this a sign of last resort or of self-reliance?
4. When Gilbert finally returns to Bali and seeks out the medicine man who foretold her return to study with him, he doesn’t recognize her. Despite her despair, she persists in her attempts to spark his memory, eventually succeeding. How much of the success of Gilbert’s journey do you attribute to persistence?
5. Prayer and meditation are both things that can be learned and, importantly, improved. In India, Gilbert learns a stoic, ascetic meditation technique. In Bali, she learns an approach based on smiling. Do you think the two can be synergistic? Or is Ketut Liyer right when he describes them as “same-same”?
6. Gender roles come up repeatedly in Eat, Pray, Love, be it macho Italian men eating cream puffs after a home team’s soccer loss, or a young Indian’s disdain for the marriage she will be expected to embark upon at age eighteen, or the Balinese healer’s sly approach to male impotence in a society where women are assumed responsible for their childlessness. How relevant is Gilbert’s gender?
7. In what ways is spiritual success similar to other forms of success? How is it different? Can they be so fundamentally different that they’re not comparable?
8. Do you think people are more open to new experiences when they travel? And why?
9. Abstinence in Italy seems extreme, but necessary, for a woman who has repeatedly moved from one man’s arms to another’s. After all, it’s only after Gilbert has found herself that she can share herself fully in love. What does this say about her earlier relationships?
10. Gilbert mentions her ease at making friends, regardless of where she is. At one point at the ashram, she realizes that she is too sociable and decides to embark on a period of silence, to become the Quiet Girl in the Back of the Temple. It is just after making this decision that she is assigned the role of ashram key hostess. What does this say about honing one’s nature rather than trying to escape it? Do you think perceived faults can be transformed into strengths rather than merely repressed?
11. Sitting in an outdoor café in Rome, Gilbert’s friend declares that every city—and every person—has a word. Rome’s is “sex,” the Vatican’s “power”; Gilbert declares New York’s to be “achieve,” but only later stumbles upon her own word, antevasin, Sanskrit for “one who lives at the border.” What is your word? Is it possible to choose a word that retains its truth for a lifetime?
Discussion Questions The Bell Jar
About This Book
"I was supposed to be having the time of my life."
As it turns out, Esther Greenwood--brilliant, talented, successful, and increasingly vulnerable and disturbed--does have an eventful summer. The Bell Jar follows Esther, step by painful step, from her New York City June as a guest editor at a fashion magazine through the following, snow-deluged January. Esther slides ever deeper into devastating depression, attempts suicide, undergoes bungled electroshock therapy, and enters a private hospital. In telling her own story--based on Plath's own summer, fall, and winter of 1953-1954--Esther introduces us to her mother, her boyfriend Buddy, her fellow student editors, college and home-town acquaintances, and fellow patients. She scrutinizes her increasingly strained relationships, her own thoughts and feelings, and society's hypocritical conventions, but is defenseless against the psychological wounds inflicted by others, by her world, and by herself. Pitting her own aspirations against the oppressive expectations of others, Esther cannot keep the airless bell jar of depression and despair from descending over her. Sylvia Plath's extraordinary novel ("witty and disturbing," said the New York Times) ends with the hope, if not the clear promise, of recovery.
1. What factors, components, and stages of Esther Greenwood's descent into depression and madness are specified? How inevitable is that descent?
2. In a letter while at college, Plath wrote that "I've gone around for most of my life as in the rarefied atmosphere under a bell jar." Is this the primary meaning of the novel's titular bell jar? What other meanings does "the bell jar" have?
3. What terms does Esther use to describe herself? How does she compare or contrast herself with Doreen and others in New York City, or with Joan and other patients in the hospital?
4. What instances and images of distortion occur in the novel? What are their contexts and significance? Does Esther achieve a clear, undistorted view of herself?
5. Are Esther's attitudes toward men, sex, and marriage peculiar to herself? What role do her attitudes play in her breakdown? What are we told about her society's expectations regarding men and women, sexuality, and relationships? Have those expectations changed since that time?
6. Esther more than once admits to feelings of inadequacy. Is Esther's sense of her own inadequacies consistent with reality? Against what standards does she judge herself?
7. With what specific setting, event, and person is Esther's first thought of suicide associated? Why? In what circumstances do subsequent thoughts and plans concerning suicide occur?
8. In addition to Deer Island Prison, what other images and conditions of physical and emotional imprisonment, enclosure, confinement, and punishment are presented?
9. What are the primary relationships in Esther's life? Is she consistent in her behavior and attitudes within these relationships?
10. Esther bluntly tells Doctor Nolan that she hates her mother. What is Mrs. Greenwood's role in Esther's life and in the novel? Is Esther just in her presentation of and attitude toward her mother?
"I was supposed to be having the time of my life."
As it turns out, Esther Greenwood--brilliant, talented, successful, and increasingly vulnerable and disturbed--does have an eventful summer. The Bell Jar follows Esther, step by painful step, from her New York City June as a guest editor at a fashion magazine through the following, snow-deluged January. Esther slides ever deeper into devastating depression, attempts suicide, undergoes bungled electroshock therapy, and enters a private hospital. In telling her own story--based on Plath's own summer, fall, and winter of 1953-1954--Esther introduces us to her mother, her boyfriend Buddy, her fellow student editors, college and home-town acquaintances, and fellow patients. She scrutinizes her increasingly strained relationships, her own thoughts and feelings, and society's hypocritical conventions, but is defenseless against the psychological wounds inflicted by others, by her world, and by herself. Pitting her own aspirations against the oppressive expectations of others, Esther cannot keep the airless bell jar of depression and despair from descending over her. Sylvia Plath's extraordinary novel ("witty and disturbing," said the New York Times) ends with the hope, if not the clear promise, of recovery.
1. What factors, components, and stages of Esther Greenwood's descent into depression and madness are specified? How inevitable is that descent?
2. In a letter while at college, Plath wrote that "I've gone around for most of my life as in the rarefied atmosphere under a bell jar." Is this the primary meaning of the novel's titular bell jar? What other meanings does "the bell jar" have?
3. What terms does Esther use to describe herself? How does she compare or contrast herself with Doreen and others in New York City, or with Joan and other patients in the hospital?
4. What instances and images of distortion occur in the novel? What are their contexts and significance? Does Esther achieve a clear, undistorted view of herself?
5. Are Esther's attitudes toward men, sex, and marriage peculiar to herself? What role do her attitudes play in her breakdown? What are we told about her society's expectations regarding men and women, sexuality, and relationships? Have those expectations changed since that time?
6. Esther more than once admits to feelings of inadequacy. Is Esther's sense of her own inadequacies consistent with reality? Against what standards does she judge herself?
7. With what specific setting, event, and person is Esther's first thought of suicide associated? Why? In what circumstances do subsequent thoughts and plans concerning suicide occur?
8. In addition to Deer Island Prison, what other images and conditions of physical and emotional imprisonment, enclosure, confinement, and punishment are presented?
9. What are the primary relationships in Esther's life? Is she consistent in her behavior and attitudes within these relationships?
10. Esther bluntly tells Doctor Nolan that she hates her mother. What is Mrs. Greenwood's role in Esther's life and in the novel? Is Esther just in her presentation of and attitude toward her mother?
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