No More Class Meetings Left!

No More Class Meetings Left!

Grades will be on Myecc next week.

LAST TWO CLASSES!!

April 18 Bring paper to 1141 for review from 1130-300

April 20  Final Paper due--1141 in the red Area from 1130-330

Last Few Classes

April 13 Bring paper to 1141 for review from 1130-330

April 18 Bring paper to 1141 for review from 1130-330

April 20  Final Paper due--1141 in the red Area from 1130-330

Final Essay and NO CLASS WEDNESDAY APRIL 6TH

NO CLASS WEDNESDAY APRIL 6

ENG 215  FINAL PAPER

USE TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES (NOT INCLUDING THE TEXT!) AND QUOTE THE PRIMARY TEXTS AS WELL.

Refer to the class blog for outside source info: http://eng215spring2016.blogspot.com/

ONLY RELIABLE SOURCES!

HAND IN A HARD COPY AND EMAIL A COPY TO: engpapers215@gmail.com--SO IT IS EASIER FOR ME TO CHECK FOR PLAGAIRISM—ANY FORM OF PLAGAIRISM WILL RESULT IN A FAILURE FOR THE PAPER.

APRIL 13 and/or 18 BRING DRAFTS TO MY OFFICE 1141

APRIL 20 FINAL PAPER DUE (NO LATE PAPERS)

Paper #3-- must use 2 outside sources, works cited page and be 3 pages.

Pick ONE of the essay topics below for your paper.

A Lesson Before Dying

1)      Education is very important in this novel, both its attainment and the lack of it. Tante Lou continually refers to Grant as “the teacher.” The other men call him “Professor.” Yet Grant hates teaching, echoing the feelings of his own teacher, Matthew Antoine. Contrast the opinions of education presented in this novel. Why do some seek it and others consider it a burden? What role does it play in the characters’ lives and the life of the community?

2)      We talked about human rights, social justice and the relationship between injustice and self-esteem in the first class about this novel. Write an essay that discusses how the novel explores these themes.

3)      Reread the description of Vivian from Chapter 4 and the passage in Chapter 15 about Vivian’s marriage. What was the cause of conflict between Vivian and her family over her marriage? What causes the conflict between Vivian and Tante Lou over her relationship with Grant?

4)      Paul earns Grant’s respect through his treatment of Jefferson and his visitors. How is Paul different from the other jail keepers? How do his actions at the end of Jefferson’s life demonstrate Paul’s goodness? Why might he have chosen to attend the execution even though it was not part of his job/

5)      Symbolism is important in this story as it is in many stories. Pick two or three symbols from the novel and explain the role it plays and its significance. Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

6)      Compare Rev. Ambrose and Grant’s approach to helping Jefferson. What did they disagree about? How did each man defend his beliefs? Defend your thesis with outside sources and examples from the text.

 

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God

1)    After years of polite submission to her male counterparts, Janie gains her voice in Chapters 7 and 8. Prior to her defiance of Joe, Janie observes the way Daisy, Mrs. Bogle, and Mrs. Robbins are treated by the men. For this essay describe how each woman is treated in the novel.

2)    What happens to Janie after “she tore off [her] kerchief... and let down her plentiful hair” (Chapter 8)? How does her hair reflect her womanhood? How does she change when we see her take off the kerchief?

3)    Janie finds herself in two marriages with men that greatly differ from each other. These two men go by the names of Joe Starks and Vergile “Tea Cake” Woods. They both have very different impacts on Janie’s path to achieve her life goals. Compare and contrast the two characters.

4)    The hurricane makes the characters question who they are and what their place in the universe is. How would you explain this idea?

5)    How has Nanny’s experience as a slave stamped her worldview with a strong concern for financial security, respectability, and upward mobility? What is she most concerned about when it comes to Janie?

Notes 3/30

1) At the end of Chapter 12, Vivian offers to Grant an explanation of his not "running away." Is her explanation just? What does her explanation reveal about her and about her understanding of Grant and of his situation?

Vivian as a grounding or reality check for Grant.

2)Despite his agnostic (a questioning of the existence of God) beliefs, what ‘conversion’ process does he undergo as he visits Jefferson?

“From Grant's initial point of view, one of the "flawed" aspects of his history is the dependence of African-American society on Christianity. Grant's conflict between religion and secular humanism, reaching back to his adolescent rejection of the church, repeats a familiar situation in Gaines's work, but in this novel there is more understanding of the function of Christianity within social community and a warning concerning the social, if not spiritual, consequences of its repression” (http://alessonbeforedyingalfonzo.weebly.com/literary-criticism.html).

“The conflict between Grant and Rev. Ambrose is symbolized by the radio that Grant brings Jefferson. Characterized as a "sin box" by Rev. Ambrose, the radio is viewed as merely "company" by Grant. At first Jefferson plays the "sin box" loudly enough to distract his mind from what Rev. Ambrose and Miss Emma are trying to do for him, but finally the radio, while still playing the night before his execution, is muted. As Grant increasingly reconciles with Rev. Ambrose, and as Grant's new influence is felt by Jefferson, the radio continues to play but ceases to be a distraction” (http://alessonbeforedyingalfonzo.weebly.com/literary-criticism.html).

3)What does Rev. Ambrose mean when he tells Grant that he is the educated one and Grant is the “gump”?

What is the relationship of educated vs religious? Enlightened vs educated?

4) In Chapter 19 why does Grant become depressed? What does he think about during the Christmas program about the town?

5) How could Jefferson be a “Christ” like figure in this story?

What does it mean to be a “Christ” like figure?

A Christ figure, also known as a Christ-Image is a literary technique that the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus. More loosely, the Christ Figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.

http://www.laguardia.edu/lesson/students.html

“Developing his metaphor of education, Gaines employs the idea of the "teacher who must learn." Grant Wiggins, the central consciousness in A Lesson Before Dying, is an elementary school teacher in the fictional Bayonne, Louisiana.”

More on A Lesson Before Dying

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910622/Auger_A_Lesson_About_Manhood.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910625/Brown_Writing_for_Life.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910640/Doyle_Erasure_and_Identity.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910629/Gaines_Writing_A_Lesson_Before_Dying.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910632/Hebert-Leiter_A_Breed_between.pdf

http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1096/910632/Hebert-Leiter_A_Breed_between.pdf

http://louisiana.libguides.com/content.php?pid=430457&sid=4249210

Extra Credit Chance

If you attend the above event and write a one page reaction--I will give you extra credit for the final paper.

A Lesson Before Dying

http://departments.mercer.edu/fys/files/coretexts/gaines.html

http://www.laguardia.edu/lesson/students.html

http://alessonbeforedyingalfonzo.weebly.com/literary-criticism.html

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_lm_ER2003_152518_7.pdf

Interview with the author:

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/gai0int-1#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTHwqrPLu7Y

Links from the first class:

•The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

  

•The U.S. Bill of Rights

http://memory.loc.gov/const/bor.html

 

•Civil Rights Act 1964

http://www.congresslink.org/civil/essay.html

http://www.civnet.org/resources/teach/basic/part6/39.htm

 

 

 

 

Notes March 23

1)      Hurston uses nature – the pear tree, the ocean, the horizon, the hurricane – not only as plot device but also as metaphor. How do they function as both?

2)      Many readers consider the novel a coming-of-age novel, as Janie journeys through three marriages. What initially attracts her to each man? What causes her to leave? What does she learn from each?

3)      What do the names of Janie’s husbands – Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods – tell us about their characters and their relationships with Janie?

4)      How do the imagery and tone of the last few pages of the novel connect with other moments in the novel? Does Janie’s story end in triumph, despair, or a mixture of both?

Chapter 15

The incidents with Nunkie. At first problematic, proves to strengthen their relationship.  Because he wholly possesses her, she cannot bear the thought that she does not wholly possess him. Once again—we see the issue of possession in relationships.

Chapter 16

Mrs. Turner introduces the idea of “racism” within the black community of the muck. She dislikes Teacake because he is dark skinned and wants Janie tomarry her lighter skinned brother. This issue being raised by Hurston points out the complexity within the African American community and perhaps raises issues the dominant white culture was unaware of her. She believed this was important to include in the novel.

Chapter 17-18

In this section we see Teacake beat Janie. What is the deal with that? Has she decided the positives with Teacake outweigh this new negative?

The storm is coming and Janie finds out about by the Native Americans leaving the area. This hints at the often supernatural ability of Native American characters in American Literature.  Teacake is stubborn and believes they should wait out the storm. He is wrong.

Has all that has happen between these two made Janie strong enough to survive “the storm’?

What could the storm be symbolic of? Think of storms in other examples of literature.

During the storm Janie tries to climb onto of a cow but a dog standing on top of them cow is fighting her. Teacake jumps in to save her---this can be another example of nature-vs-man. As successful as Janie has been on her journey to the horizon, she is till powerless against nature.

Chapter 19-20

Two white men force Teacake to start burying corpses. This can be viewed as an example of race still being the most important when it comes to social hierarchy.

The dog that bit Teacake during the flood is rabid and we see him start to suffer from the effects. He eventually goes and tries shooting her. An all white jury finds her not guilty.

The moment of Tea Cake’s death, though horrible for Janie to endure, reflects how much she has grown as a person and how secure she has become. Although Tea Cake means everything to her, she is able to kill him to save herself. Her relationship with him has brought her along the path of enlightenment, and now that she has achieved the horizon, she is strong enough to live on her own.

Janie survives the trial, but, in a final, complex commentary on race, Janie is welcomed by the white women but shunned by the black community. Again, this reversal seems to reflect Hurston’s anthropological views on race: racism is a cultural construct and as such, black people are as susceptible (or potentially resistant) to its doctrines as anyone else. This final scene reinforces the broad view of humanity that informs the entire book: Janie’s quest is ultimately not specifically a black person’s quest or a woman’s quest (although her race and gender are certainly significant) but a fundamentally human one.

Her story finished, Janie tells Pheoby that she is content to live in Eatonville again, having already lived her dream; she has been to the “horizon and back.”

That night, in bed, Janie thinks about the horrible day that she killed Tea Cake, and her whole world becomes sad. She realizes, however, that Tea Cake gave her so much and that he will always be with her. He showed her the horizon, and now she feels at peace.

“pull[ing] in her horizon” vs the opening image of men’s “[s]hips at a distance.”

                        What is the difference here?

“Tea Cake began to cry and Janie hovered him in her arms like a child. She sat on the side of the bed and sort of rocked him back to peace”

“Tea Cake hung back defensively. "Whut Ah got tuh do wid dat [burying bodies]? Ah’m uh workin’ man wid money in mah pocket. Jus’ got blowed outa de ‘Glades by de storm."

How is Tea Cake different from her two previous husbands?

 The short [white] man made a quick move with his rifle. "Git on down de road dere, suh! Don’t look out somebody’ll be buryin’ you! G’wan in front uh me, suh!"

Race is more important than money.

“Janie]: "Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons. Dis house ain’t so absent of things lak it used tuh be befo’ Tea Cake come along. It’s full uh thoughts, ‘specially dat bedroom”

“Soon everything around downstairs was shut and fastened. Janie mounted the stairs with her lamp…Now, in her room, the place tasted fresh again. The wind through the open windows had broomed out all the fetid feeling of absence and nothingness”

Her experiences have shaped her.

Instead, Hurston introduces a third way of achieving self-autonomy through Tea Cake. He represents an independence from reliance on communal validation, and instead serves as a mirror for Janie to discover her narrative power. In relation to the author's narrative power, Tea Cake is the epitome of a good reader, one that is receptive to the transformative message of the text. Language is the understanding and sharpening of one's identity while communication comes second. In Hurston's innovative narrative, she is attempting to fulfill the "ideal narrative", which is one that nurtures and changes both the reader and the author.

http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enam854/summer/hurston.html

“This is Zora Hurston's third novel, again about her own people--and it is beautiful. It is about Negroes, and a good deal of it is written in dialect, but really it is about every one, or least every one who isn't so civilized that he has lost the capacity for glory”

https://books.google.com/books?id=WWDZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36&lpg=PT36&dq=Simmons,+Ryan.+%22The+Hierarchy+Itself:+Hurston%27s+Their+Eyes+Were+Watching+God+and+the+Sacrifice+of+Narrative+Authority%22.+African+American+Review+36.2+%28Summer+2002%29:+181-93.+Print&source=bl&ots=TDBQHQO9Cc&sig=hYD7BMCCCTuHvHxUDTm7JGrO6NU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tSUHVenhE4uyggS9s4CIBQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Simmons%2C%20Ryan.%20%22The%20Hierarchy%20Itself%3A%20Hurston's%20Their%20Eyes%20Were%20Watching%20God%20and%20the%20Sacrifice%20of%20Narrative%20Authority%22.%20African%20American%20Review%2036.2%20(Summer%202002)%3A%20181-93.%20Print&f=false

Notes 3/21

Chapters  7-8

In chapter 7 and 8 we see Jody Starks start to break down and dies. Janie describes it as  “de change uh life.” The other men are gathered on the porch and hear her insult him like this and he hits her. This is basically the final insult Jody will be able to deliver to Janie.  

“Joe Starks didn’t know the words for all this, but he knew the feeling.”

After this incident, Jody moves into another room, refuses to interact with Janie and stops eating her cooking.  Not eating her cooking and refusing to acknowledge her as a housewife is a total rejection of her and her role in this marriage.

Before he dies Janie goes to see him one last time and they only end up arguing. He says she never appreciated all he has done for her—she says he never let her truly be herself.  So once again Janie is unable to be herself in life and she realizes she still has to work to do so. She is still not sure who she is.

The symbolism of her hair:

Janie takes the rag off her head, freeing her imprisoned hair, but then realizes that she has to be in a state of mourning. She end up putting the rag back on her head and will play the role of a sad widow.

Chapters  9-10

After Joe Starks’s funeral, Janie realizes that “She had been getting ready for her great

journey to the horizons in search of people; it was important to all the world that she should find them and they find her.” Why is this important “to all the world”?

Janie spends six months “mourning” Jody as she is supposed to but she is really thrilled to finally be free.  Many men attempt to woe her but she has no interest in getting to another relationship where she’ll be controlled again.

Teacake comes to the store one day as she is closing up early and they start to get to know each other. They play a game of checkers.

Why is it symbolic that they play a game of checkers?

By the end of this section Janie begins to realize that she may be able to realize some of her dreams and eventually achieve a certain amount of self-realization.

                       

                        Logan

Jody                             You can trace Janie’s development through these three men

                       

Teacake

Teacake pushes Janie further in terms of creativity and the ability to explore who she is. He is not interested in controlling her rather he wants her to be herself.  Logan and Jody would never “play checkers” with her because they did not view her as equal. Teacake does.

Tea Cake seems to Janie the man who will complement her and take her toward the horizon for which she longs.

Chapters 11-12

Teacake doesn’t come back for a week and Janie assumes he may never come back. She is rude to him when he does return but he quickly breaks that down and they end up playing checkers again. They sit together on the porch eating cake and lemonade. He suggests they go fishing even though it is late at night. Janie loves the idea and sees it as an adventure.

At first Janie thinks they are nothing more than friends but Teacake convinces her that they should be much more. He is much younger than her but they decide to go public with their love and this causes the town to gossip. She states  that she has lived her grandmother’s way and now wants to live her own way.  Her relationship with Teacake represents her true journey. She sees her horizon for the first time and it appears to be truly achievable.  Janie’s quest for self-discovery is literally a quest to find her own voice. Thus, it is important to note her description of Tea Cake’s meaning to her: “He done taught me the maiden language all over.”

Think back to the very first sentences of the novel:

"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."

Janie has spent her life like the women in the above quotation, she was not allowed to dream but now it appears she can. Janie has begun to see him in mystical terms and has developed a conscious sense that he is the partner that she needs in order to travel to the horizon.

            Why is this important “to all the world”?

Chapters 13-14

Janie moves to Jacksonville and marries Teacake. She hides $200 just in case it does not work out. Teacake finds the money and takes it town. He buys his fellow railroad workers a big lunch and it turns into a big party. When he returns he admits that he did not bring her because he thought she would consider it too low class. Janie tells him he wants to experience everything he experiences. She is establishing herself as his equal in all aspects.

Janie eventually reveals that she has $1200 in the bank but Teacake assures her she’ll never have to touch it because he will always provide for her. This marriage is different from the previous because Janie doesn’t need Teacake for money or anything else. She has a sense of freedom.

The two share a happy life in “the muck.” They plant beans, Tea Cake teaches Janie how to shoot a gun, and they go hunting together. She eventually develops into a better shot than he. This is further proof that they are on the same level.  Eventually she goes to work in the fields with him during the day so they can spend more time together. Ironically, she is doing the work Logan would have appreciated but because there is mutual respect in her marriage—it is different. This acceptance of inequality is related to the idea of gender differences explained in that paragraph at the beginning of the novel. Hurston may be implying that men have a fundamental need for possession that women lack. Agree?

At different points in this section Tea Cake manipulates her in subtle ways, raising, once again, the specter of male domination in her life. But it always ends up being okay—why is that? What is different here? Has he simply tricked her into thinking she is making the decision to work on her own?

Tea Cake has enabled Janie to begin her quest and, in the process, has become the goal of her quest. What does this mean? How can another person become a person’s quest?

Tea Cake often disappears for lengths of time in this section: what effect does this have on their relationship? Do you believe in distance making the heart grow fonder? Or does it make the heart forget?

More Their Eyes Were Watching God

https://books.google.com/books?id=QDpS_foJC8IC&lpg=PA69&ots=4UW7seZdiU&dq=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&lr&pg=PA69#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&f=false

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2904333?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=QDpS_foJC8IC&oi=fnd&pg=PA175&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god&ots=4UW7seZejU&sig=4UwDu2Tms6F08khOB7mfbLLfVxs#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&f=false

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2903284?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Sources from in class discussion:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/old-WILLA/fall99/berridge.html

http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enam854/summer/hurston.html

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420115484&v=2.1&u=astevenson&it=r&p=GLS&sw=w&asid=cb119f0facbbdd75bbf6a4a0fd66cfb8

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/lrc/detail/detail?sid=cabe7a67-389e-41a4-ad9e-50e184c17825%40sessionmgr4005&vid=0&hid=4107&bdata=JnNpdGU9bHJjLWxpdmU%3d#AN=9709053248&db=lfh

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/lrc/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=022d9224-ca8c-42be-88bc-6d7e49aee1c9%40sessionmgr4003&vid=1&hid=4107

NO CLASS WEDNESDAY MARCH 16

Their Eyes Were Watching God

"How It Feels To Be Colored Me"

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/grand-jean/hurston/chapters/how.html

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/folklore-zora-neale-hurstons-their-eyes-were-watching-god

Essay written around the same time as the novel:

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5129/

NYTIMES:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/19990522friday.html

Voodoo and Female Empowerment in the novel:
http://www.womenwriters.net/aug08/Voodoo%20Imagery.htm


http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WBNuLxTzzwMC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god+&ots=KAzRr1Ma0_&sig=mxqil9lKNLCWkG8Ycj1Jvc6N2_k#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RuGMORXyF4YC&oi=fnd&pg=PA155&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god+critical+&ots=I9gN-e64o7&sig=fZIDfaYqwb2NZjUuQPtX5rGQAsk#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god%20critical&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DjQMg8gTzygC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god+critical+&ots=iRe-22X1m-&sig=SNAVAwSdsHW_WfsojBWRQlGiupA#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god%20critical&f=false

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/464063?sid=21105518868921&uid=2&uid=3739256&uid=3739808&uid=4

https://books.google.com/books?id=WWDZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36&lpg=PT36&dq=Simmons,+Ryan.+%22The+Hierarchy+Itself:+Hurston%27s+Their+Eyes+Were+Watching+God+and+the+Sacrifice+of+Narrative+Authority%22.+African+American+Review+36.2+%28Summer+2002%29:+181-93.+Print&source=bl&ots=TDBQHQO9Cc&sig=hYD7BMCCCTuHvHxUDTm7JGrO6NU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tSUHVenhE4uyggS9s4CIBQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Simmons%2C%20Ryan.%20%22The%20Hierarchy%20Itself%3A%20Hurston's%20Their%20Eyes%20Were%20Watching%20God%20and%20the%20Sacrifice%20of%20Narrative%20Authority%22.%20African%20American%20Review%2036.2%20(Summer%202002)%3A%20181-93.%20Print&f=false

Podcast:
 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/neas-the-big-read/id303133830?mt=2&i=52870823

Essay 2

ENG 215

 

ESSAY #2*** DUE Monday March 14***

 

2 PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED, SIZE 12 TIMES NEW ROMAN

 

YOU DO NOT NEED OUTSIDE SOURCES FOR THIS PAPER.

 

 

Pick ONE of the essay topics below for your paper.

1. The play is really a challenge to the American Dream because it is the tragedy of a man troubled by the society. Willy believes in the American myth that “Success is obtained by being well-liked”. His dream ends up in nightmare. In your essay explain how Willy misunderstood the American Dream
2. Illusion vs. reality is something that comes up in a lot of literature. We saw some in The Great Gatsby. In Death of A Salesman Willy has illusions about just about every aspect of his life. Pick one aspect of his life, whether it be from the past or the present, and explain how he uses illusions to distort his reality. Use examples from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
3. The characters in this play each want something from life; what does each major character seem to want? How do their interests align or conflict? How does what each character wants differ from what each has or gets? Use examples from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
4. Compare Willy and Gatsby. How are they alike? How are they different? What do they do differently and why do they both end up dead?
5. How does the play address consumerism? Think about the fridge, the car and the home itself. How does acquiring more “stuff” play into the role of happiness?
6. Explore the role of women in the play. Compare Linda and Willy’s mistress. Why does Willy cheat on his wife? What does this tell us about Linda?

***YOU CAN INCLUDE EXAMPLES FROM THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS IN ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS***

 

 

Quote dialogue between two or more characters by also using block format and putting the characters' names in all capital letters. Don't forget a lead-in and a citation that includes all speeches being quoted. Willy's delusions consistently show how much Happy and Bernard idolized Biff, especially when they argue over who will carry his football gear:

BERNARD. Biff, I'm carrying your helmet, ain't I?
HAPPY.  No, I'm carrying the helmet.
BERNARD. Oh, Biff, you promised me.
HAPPY. I'm carrying the helmet. (Miller 12)

Remember again that you are always explaining quotes in your own words. Quoting one character’s dialogue is explained in the below paragraph.

Questions on Death of a Salesman From Class

Act 2

1)      In the scene where Willy is asking Howard for a job in NYC Willy is attempting to remind Howard of what he has done for him and his family in the past. Howard says, “Business is business,” and later Charley says, “When are you gonna realize that stuff doesn’t matter anymore?” What doesn’t Willy get here?

2)      How would you describe Willy’s treatment of Linda? Find an example in the text that displays how you feel he treats her.

3)      As we stated in class last time, Willy has a way of looking at things from the past and altering them to fit his current needs. How does he do this when speaking to Bernard about Biff’s issues with math in high school?

4)      With which character in the play do you feel the most sympathy and why?

1)      How do The Great Gatsby and Death of A Salesman address the American dream”?

 

Requiem

2)      In the Requiem section of the play, we find out that no one shows up to Willy’s funeral. What do the other characters make of this? What do you make of this?

 

3)      Biff says: “Charley, there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made “ (Miller 110). What do you think he meant by this?

 

4)      How do Biff, Happy and Linda end up feeling about Willy by the end of the play?

More On Death of a Salesman

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=p_LLoI1OnEEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA25&dq=American+Dream+and+death+of+a+salesman+&ots=l7T4kQv0cC&sig=I1IizlWueKD6cUUAPV5mrA5leYU#v=onepage&q=American%20Dream%20and%20death%20of%20a%20salesman&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sjc5TdesY1YC&oi=fnd&pg=PA156&dq=American+Dream+and+death+of+a+salesman+&ots=Z8S4hr8ffR&sig=gYFkkeygFYvmiYq52cwkTBRqBLQ#v=onepage&q=American%20Dream%20and%20death%20of%20a%20salesman&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=JL1Z38jBGVAC&pg=PA55&dq=American+Dream+and+death+of+a+salesman&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDgQ6AEwA2oVChMIxYatt5SDxwIVBck-Ch2JlwO0#v=onepage&q=American%20Dream%20and%20death%20of%20a%20salesman&f=false

https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-salesman49.html

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/1949/jul/30/theatre.artsfeatures

http://www.economist.com/node/21550237

http://utmost.org/the-teaching-of-disillusionment/

Death of a Salesman

This link provides a number of links from the NY Times on the play:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/teaching-death-of-a-salesman-with-the-new-york-times/

Death of a Salesman (1949) Death of a Salesman relates the story of Willy Loman, a down-on-his-luck traveling salesman. In order to cope with his failures in life, he retreats to the past in his mind and seems to be losing touch with reality. He tries to relive the good times, but keeps coming up against things that went wrong. His family try to help him by lying about their prospects, but when Loman loses his job, after a lifetime with the same company, he becomes desperate. His depression is exacerbated by the guilt he feels from a past infidelity which has estranged him from his older son, Biff. Rather than accept that his life has been a failure, and that Biff is not interested in big business, Loman decides to commit suicide in hopes that the insurance money will help Biff become successful. The play ends with his family and only friend, Charley, grieving by his graveside. 

Here is a really long look at Death of  A Salesman:

http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/DeathofaSalesmanMAThesis2004.pdf

Symbolism in Death of  A Salesman:

http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/gardens.html

Notes From Feb 1

 

eng215spring2016.blogspot.com

1)  What do you make of the quote: "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had"(1)? Explain how it is important in the first few chapters.

2)  What do you think the blue eyes on the billboard (23-4) may mean?

As well as the green light on the end of the dock (22)?

3) “Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge,” I thought; “Anything at all....”

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder (69). What does your group make of this passage? Think in reference to Gatsby, what America was becoming and read the last two sentences above that passage and what it says about race.

4) Look at the conversation between Nick and Jordan on page 59 in chapter three. Take a deeper look into that conversation; on the surface they are discussing her driving skills but there is more to it. What you’re your group think and why?

 

 

 

 

-American dream

       How is Gatsby representative of this idea?

Many Americans have a tendency to believe that if they have enough money, they can manipulate time, staying perpetually young, and buy their happiness through materialistic spending.

-The corrupting influence of wealth up against the purity of a dream. What can go wrong?

-What would you say Charlie and Gatsby have in common?

“I tried to die but lived an enchanted life” (66)

-Nick rides with Gatsby over the Queensboro Bridge and learns about his life…at least what Gatsby wants him to believe.

“Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge,' I thought; 'anything at all..'

Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular won­der”(69).

-The endless possibilities of the new America. The idea that a person could come from Gatsby’s poor background and make it as far as he had. In many ways, New York City represented that ideal…whether it is true or not…

Gatsby is pulled over by the police and simply shows him a card with his name on it…he is free to go.

Nick has lunch with Gatsby in a speakeasy and sees the type of people he hangs around with.

 

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired” (81)

       -What does this mean?

Who are:

       --the pursued (in the novel and in the world)

       --the pursuing (in the novel and in the world)      

       --the busy (in the novel and in the world)

       --the tired (in the novel and in the world)     

Gatsby offers Nick a job but he says no. Once again, Nick is the only character doing honest work.

Daisy and Gatsby meet (Nick sets it up) and Nick tells Gatsby he is acting like a child (89).

“The quality of his present happiness” (97)

       -Always a fleeting feeling, fantasies never living up to the reality.

There is more speculation about Gatsby—More rumors (98).

James Gatzà Jay Gatsby…he meets Dan Cody when he was younger and Cody becomes his idol. He travels the world with him and does not drink because that is what killed him.

“Believed nothing and everything about him” (102).

       -What does this mean?

Nick begins to understand that West Egg is a world of its own—has its own standards (109).

Tom wants to find out where Gatsby gets his money (110).

“You can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can” (111)

       -Gatsby says this to Nick and begins to sound crazy.