Monday, October 22, 2012
More discussion questions Catcher in the Rye
Chapter 6
1. Why do you think Holden agrees to write a composition for Stradlater?
2. Why do you think Stradlater feels compelled to follow the rules?
Chapter 7
1. From Ackley’s behavior in this chapter and from the description of Ossenburger in a previous chapter, how would you characterize Salinger’s attitude toward organized religion?
2. What is Holden’s attitude toward women based on the way he feels about Jane Gallagher?
3. In your judgment, how does Holden really feel about leaving Pencey Prep?
Chapter 8
1. Why does Holden not give his real name when talking with Mrs. Morrow?
2. When he is with Mrs. Morrow, why does Holden pretend to be the “sophisticated man-about-town”?
3. What effect does it have on our reading when Holden tells us he can “go on lying for hours” if he “feels
like it”?
Chapter 9
1. Why do you think Holden is concerned about the welfare of the ducks at Central Park during the winter?
2. Holden uses the excuse of not being in the mood for not calling Jane, just as he did in Chapter Four when
he did not go to say hello to her. What do you suppose is the real reason that he does not want to make contact with her?
Chapter 10
1. Why does Holden try to make contact with three obviously unsophisticated girls from out of town?
2. Why does Holden take the liberty of kissing Bernice on the head?
Chapter 11
1. Use your creativity to describe the nature of the conflict between Jane Gallagher and her mother’s
husband.
2. Describe Holden’s relationship with Jane Gallagher. Are they lovers? Just friends? More than just friends?
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Matan and Thomas:
ReplyDelete1. Holden doesn't give his real name because he doesn't wanna tell her his whole life story.
2. He does it to cover up the fact that he is failing out of Pencey.
3. It makes the reader question what we can believe or not. It makes the reader not necessarily trust Holden as much. The reader's relationship with Holden becomes strained and even tense.
1. Why does Holden try to make contact with three obviously unsophisticated girls from out of town?
ReplyDeleteHolden tries to make contact with the girls because he wants to hang out with somebody, because he's bored. Holden also tries to make contact with these three unsophisticated girls from the bar because he knows that nobody else would listen to him or hang out with him because they are too wrapped up in their own excitement and he knows that these girls want the attention so hes going to give it to them.
2. Why does Holden take the liberty of kissing Bernice on the head?
Holden takes the liberty of kissing Bernice on the head because she's such a great dancer, but she's still an idiot.
Oona & Alina
1. Jane's mother's husband is a drunk, so we can imagine that he is not a good father figure, and does not effectively provide for the family. He sucks up the family income buying booze.
ReplyDelete2. They are not lovers, but they have more than just an average friendship. They understand each other like their families don't, so they have a special bond. They just like to be with each other, not in the way that lovers do but with a deeper relationship than just friendship.
~Piper and Gretta
Noah, Darren, Jannah
ReplyDeleteChapter 6 Questions
1. Holden agrees to write the composition for Stradlater because he begrudgingly wants to make a deal with society. He's resents society because he's not part of it, and is still looking for his sense of place, which puts more focus on his "phoniness" and how he's a fake rebel, who is only rebelling because he does not fit.
2. Stradlater has no need to rebel against the system or society that he's involved in because the things he wants are obtainable from within his spot in the social system. Whereas Caulfield can't achieve his goals or desires whilst appeasing authority.
1. His attitude toward organized religion is that it is a scam. He says: "I gotta get up and go to Mass in the morning, for Chrissake." He is apparently a Christian, but he swears and doesn't act like he is. He doesn't follow the basic rules of his religion.
ReplyDelete2.Holden doesnt see women how the other males do. He sees them as somebody to be friends with and have as company. He doesn't look at them in such a sexual way. He also thinks a woman should stay a virgin for as long as she can because once they lose it, it is something important gone forever
3. He was happy to leave the school, but also didn't want to regret it. He didn't want to cause his mom any extra stress by finding out. Also he wanted a real goodbye when he left the school. When he came back he didn't want it to be weird for him, because he had left without having a formal goodbye.
Ahmed & Maddie
Maya&Dayanara
ReplyDeleteChapter 8
1. he does not want to tell her all about his life and life story.
2. to hide the fact that he is failing out of Pencey
3. it makes us the reader feel as though we cant trust Holden any longer. It makes us think about what is true and not true, therefore the relationship becomes stressed.
Michaela and Sophie:
ReplyDelete1)because he thinks its depressing to be in a bar alone and he needs company to get rid of his lonely feeling. also because he knows the girls will listen to him.
2)because he wanted to a the time and it felt right for him.
Will & Liam:
ReplyDeleteChapter 12
42. When you are in a big city and no one is on a street, and you hear someone laugh, you feel even more lonely.
43. He asks him if he knows where the ducks in the pond go during the essay and Horwitz says, "How the hell should i know a stupid thing like that?"
44. Your life goes on even when your environment is changing.
45. He thought that Ernie was showing off and messing it up, while the audience loved it and was cheering for Ernie.
46. Lillian is really sucking up to D.B. and trying to get Holden to put in a good word for her. Holden despises this and almost completely ignores her.
47. He felt bad for her because he could tell that nobody liked Lillian, not the waiter, not her boyfriend, and not even Holden.
Chapter 9
ReplyDelete1. Holden is concerned with the welfare of the ducks of Central Park in the winter because, like the ducks, he is being displaced from his environment. The author has Holden ask that question to
2. The nature of Holden's relationship with Jane at this point is extremely fuzzy. Based on Holend reaction to the though of Stradlater having sex with Jane, the reader is led to believe that Holden has some sort of protective feelings for Jane, but whether or not those feelings are romantic remains a mystery. Perhaps Holden was afraid of having to talk to Jane's stepfather who he previously described as a drunk who wasted all of Jane's family's money. Or maybe he is afraid of what Jane will think of him when she finds out that he has dropped out of Pencey once and for all.
Hannah and Kayla
Matt Otis & Patrick
ReplyDeleteChapter 6:
1. Holden's reasons for doing the composition for Stradlader are that he is somewhat afraid of Stradlader, and fears what might come of interacting with Stradlader. But it also seems as if Holden is trying to justify the fact that Stradlater is a "moron" by doing the composition for him, and making him seem even more lazy and incompetent.
2. Stradlater doesn't want to hinder his reputation at Pencey Prep because he'll continue to be there the following years, unlike Holden who's being kicked out.
___________________________________________________________
21. He gets angry because Holden wrote the composition about a baseball mitt, as Stradlader told him to write a descriptive piece on a room or a house.
22. Holden was nervous because he knew Jane really well emotionally in the past, and he also knew how Stradlader treats girls, as well as how handsome he is. They fight because Stradlader wasn't straightforward with what happened with Jane, and Holden had an idea of what did.
23.Stradlader believes that the rule that he broke is not as serious as smoking in the dorm, because the teacher, Ed Banky, had given him approval to use his car and made it seem it wasn't a big deal.
Chapter 12 Study Guide Questions
ReplyDelete42. Holden is depressed by the laughter because, he says, that laughter in New York travels for miles at night and it reminds him of how depressed and lonely he is.
43/ Holden asks Horwitz if he knows what happens to the ducks in central park during the winter. Horwitz has no idea but goes on and on about the fish and how they get frozen in the pond.
44. The frozen fish symbolize Holden, the way that he takes all he needs in but is really frozen in one place, never growing or changing.
45. Holden only sees the man playing the music, whereas everyone else hears the music. Holden lets his first impressions spoil everything that Eddie produces, even if it's the most beautiful music in the world.
46. Lillian gets very excited when she hears that DB is living in Hollywood, probably starts thinking that he might make a movie about her. Holden thinks that this makes her even more of a phony than anyone else there.
47. Holden feels sorry for her because she is surrounded by people who dont care about what she's saying, so she has to put herself out there as much as possible, annoyingly so, so people will notice her.
-Amelia
Chapter 9
ReplyDelete1. Holden wonders about the ducks because he is fascinated by death and where people and animals go in death, what happens to them. After his brother's death he became very interested in where you go when you die.
2. Holden is nervous to contact her. He is just making excuses to not talk to her. Maybe he feels guilty about something. He obviously wants to talk to her because he keeps thinking about her.
Our comment got deleted by a dumb computer.
ReplyDeleteDominic and Tim