Soldier's Home (Thurs 2/3)

Read the selection on reader-response criticism (pp 2098-2100) in Chapter 51, "Critical Strategies for Reading," and consider the following:  Perhaps after having been away from home for a time, you have returned to find yourself alienated from your family or friends.  Describe your experience.  What caused the change?  How does this experience affect your understanding of Krebs?  Alternately, if alienation hasn't been your experience, how does that difference affect your reading of Krebs?

Soldier's Home (Wed 2/2)

The title, "Soldier's Home," focuses on the setting.  Do you have a clear picture of Kreb's home?  Describe it, filling in missing details from  your own associations of home, Krebs's routine, or anything else you can use.

Eveline (Tues 2/1)

1.   Why does thinking of her mother make Eveline want to escape?


2.   Read carefully the water imagery in the final paragraphs of the story.  How does this imagery help to suggest  Eveline's reasons for not leaving with Frank?

Eveline (Mon 1/31)

Read James Joyce's "Eveline" on page 532- 534 in your Bedford literature textbook and answer the following questions:

1.  What sort of relationship does Eveline have with her father?  Describe the range of her feelings toward him.

2.  How is Frank characterized?  Why does Eveline's father forbid them to see each other?

Dorian Gray Free Response #1

Authors frequently employ elements of irony in order to reveal their attitude toward the text and to enable the readers to evaluate plot developments and characters' actions effectively and critically.  Write a well-organized response in which you explore the central irony of the novel.

Dorian Gray CH 20 (Wed 2/2)

Does Dorian Gray intend to kill himself?  Use textual evidence to support your literary analysis.

Dorian Gray CH 19 (Tues 2/1)

What sets Dorian apart from his "mentor," Lord Henry, when they discuss the death of Basil Hallward?  How does Wilde show the reader that Dorian is quite different from Lord Henry, even though both men seem to share the same interests and sentiments?

Dorian Gray CH 18 (Mon 1/31)

What are some of the factors that could have caused Dorian to change his attitude towards Hedonism?(Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses)?

DORIAN GRAY CH 17 (Fri 1/28)

How had Dorian's character changed in regard to the pursuit of pleasure?

DORIAN GRAY CH 16 ( Thurs 1/27)

How does the similes in the chapter illustrate the changes taking place in Dorian's life?

Dorian Gray CH 15 (Wed 1/26)

What is is the significance of the Florentine cabinet?  What does the diction in the description of the cabinet reveal about its contents?

Dorian Gray CH 14 (Tues 1/25)

How does Dorian's reaction when he awakens on the morning after the murder help characterize him?

Siddhartha Free Response #4 (Thurs 1/27)

Siddhartha tells Govinda, "I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity , and the most shameful despair in order to learn how to surrender all resistance, love the world, and stop comparing it to some kind of world that I imagined or wished for- a perfection that I had dreamed up.  I had to learn how to leave the world as it is, to love it, and to enjoy being part of it."

In a well-developed and textually supported post, explain how Siddhartha came by this wisdom, and why this advice is appropriate for Govinda.  Avoid plot summary.

Siddhartha Free Response #3 (Wed 1/26)

Bodies of water are common archetypes in literature, representing the origin of life, a source of purification or rebirth, and the natural border between one state of being and another.  Write a well-organized and textually supported post in which you explain how Hesse used water as a structural and metaphoric foundation for the development of Siddhartha.

Siddhartha Free Response #2 (Tues 1/25)

A foil is a character in literature who highlights certain traits of the main character by contrasting them.  For example, a coward helps to show the hero's bravery in a stronger light.  Choose either Govinda or Kamala to write a well-developed and textually supported post in which you show how he or she serves in the novel as a foil for Siddhartha.

Avoid plot summary.

Siddhartha Free Response #1 (Mon 1/24)

According to E.M. Forster, a "round" character is dynamic and changing, and may even be contradictory.  A "flat" character is familiar and unchanging.  Choose a supporting or secondary character from Siddhartha and write a well-organized and textually supported post in which you show the character to be round or flat.

Avoid plot summary.

Siddhartha: Govinda (Fri 1/21)

 How is Siddhartha's advice to Govinda reminiscent of Gotama Buddha's advice to Siddhartha?  What is the significance of these similarities?

Siddhartha: OM (Thurs 1/20)

Siddhartha loved his son so much that he wanted to "keep him from suffering, pain, and disappointment."  In the process Siddhartha makes himself and his son miserable.  Why wasn't this working?

Siddartha: The Son (Wed 1/19)

Vasudeva asks the river what to do about Siddhartha's son.  In response, the river laughs  What is the river laughing at?  What realization must Siddhartha come to?  Why is this situation ironic?

Dorian Gray CH 13 (Mon 1/24)

How does Wilde's diction and style convey Dorian's emotional state and his attitude toward Basil following the murder of the painter?

Dorian Gray CH 12 (Fri 1/21)

Why does Basil hesitate to believe the worst rumors he has been hearing about Dorian?  How is this related to Basil's opinions on art?

Dorian Gray CH 11 (Wed 1/19)

How does Dorian's relationship with the portrait evolve over time?

Dorian Gray CH 10 (Tues 1/18)

What does Dorian's decision not to "allow" Basil to save him help characterize Dorian?

Dorian Gray CH 9 (Fri 1/14)

What prevents Basil from believing that Dorian attended the opera, and what does his disbelief reveal about Basil's character?

Dorian Gray CH 8 (Wed 1/12)

Why is it psychologically necessary for Dorian to write a letter of apology to Sibyl Vane?

Siddhartha: The Ferryman (Thurs 1/13)

This chapter is entitled, The Ferryman.  How is the title of the chapter and Vasudeva's occupation symbolic to Siddharta at this point in his journey?

Siddhartha: By the River (wed 1/12)

At this point in the book, Siddhartha "was full of disgust, full of suffering, full of death, until nothing in the world allured him, gave him joy, or comforted him."  Compare this with the description of life with the Samanas.  "Everything was a lie, everything stank, everything stank of lies, everything feigned meaning and happiness and beauty, and yet everything was decaying while  nobody acknowledged the fact.  The world tasted bitter; life was agony."  Both seem quite similar, yet Siddhartha hadn't considered suicide after leaving the Samanas.  How is Siddhartha's attitude and situation different from before?

Dorian Gray CH 7

What is Sibyl's explanation for acting so badly?  What is Dorian's reaction to Sibyl's explanation of her bad acting?  What the reaction of Dorian, Lord Henry, and Basil when watching Sibyl perform? 

Dorian Gray CH 6

What does Lord Henry mean when he states that being married and being engaged are two entirely different things?

Dorian Gray CH 5

How does James find out about his father, and how does his discovery affect his assessment of Sibyl's relationship with "Prince Charming"?

Dorian Gray CH 4

How do Lord Henry's comments about Sibyl Vane give the reader an understanding of traditional late eighteenth-century opinions about gender?

Siddhartha: Samsara (tues 1/11)

Siddhartha's dream of the songbird and Kamala's later release of the bird are both highly symbolic.  Explain the meaning of the dream and the release.

Siddhartha: With the Child-People (thurs 1/6)

"At times he heard, deep in his heart, a very faint, still voice that quietly admonished him, quietly lamented, so it could barely be perceived" (pg 39).  Why is the very faint voice significant?

Siddhartha: Kamala (wed 1/5)

Describe the dream Siddhartha has while staying the night at the ferryman's hut.  Interpret its literal and implied meanings as well as its possible symbolic meaning.

Siddhartha: Awakening (tues 1/4)

In the first chapter, Siddhartha's father told him, "If you find blessedness in the woods, then come and teach me how to be blessed.  If you find disappointment, then return once more and let us once again sacrifice to the gods together."  Siddhartha considers returning but does not.  Why?