June 30, The Man who was Almost a Man ??

1. What does manhood seem to mean to Dave? How does he define being a man? it means that he could feel strong and have self-esteem. He defines it as being or feeling powerful.
2. What are the effect of dialogue, limited point of view, dialect, and setting? What about the switches between dialect throughout (especially in the contrast between an external narrator and Dave's perspective)? It's difficult to read, but it feels authentic. it puts you in the right time and place. The narrator switch, added a feeling of depth into the mind of the charachter, and insight into the scene. It also gave some relief in the difficult reading of the southern dialect.
3. Re-read the final section of the story, starting at the break on page 1617. What do you notice in Wright's diction and syntax here? Based on the final few paragraphs, what do you expect in his future? i don't notice anything about his diction and syntax that stands out. I expect that the boy is going to get himself into a lot of trouble.
4. What conflicts does Dave face in the story? How does he handle the conflicts? Inner conflict, conflict with both his parents, and with Mr. Hawkins.
5. How does the tradition of gun ownership factor into the story? What about Dave's situation seems to support his desire for a gun? Why do you think Dave wants a gun so much? Well, it wasn't out of the question for a man to eventually buy a gun. he wanted the gun because it woudl make him feel powerful. In his situation, as young black southern male, he was naturally in a powerless situation.

June 26, A Spinster's Tale

Discussion Questions for "A Spinster's Tale"

• The story is a flashback to the past for the narrator. Explain why the author may have chosen to present the story in this manner. What is the significance of the title? It shows the psycho-social foundations of what the narrator has become.
  
• What conflicts appear in the story? Which conflict do you think drives the story? What other conflicts do you see? Man v. self drives the story. The little girl is at conflict with herself, as she matures in the absence of a mother., Man v. man in the her conflict with the men in the story. man v. society in her conflict with the acceptance of what she deems to be inappropriate behavior.
  
• What impact do you think this setting has on the plot of the story? It is set in the south in the early 1900s. Considering the time period, what themes emerge from the story? Would the story be different if it was in a different setting? It would e very different. she woldn't have all of the servants she has if the story was in the future. The Mother may have been able to receive medical care. The father may have even re-married. It's definitely a period piece.
  
• Which character is most sympathetic to you? Explain why. Elizabeth.. It shows that her thinking is based in a deep wounding
  
• Do you think Elizabeth has changed from the beginning to the end? If so, what causes her to develop and mature? She grew older and took more responsibility for her home. She changed, but not as much as you would like to think.
  
• How do you think her mother's death affect Elizabeth? What else does Elizabeth suffer from and how does it affect her youth and even her future adult life? It leaves her with no role model. Nothing to guide and even distract her thoughts from her day-dreaming.
  
• There is a sense that sexual abuse may be to blame for Elizabeth’s slow upbringing. Did you sense this? Could it be true? I didn't get this at all. I thought that that was where the story was going, but I never saw any justification for it in the story.
  
• Considering the character development of Elizabeth, do you think there is any significance to the existence of Mr. Speed’s character? What do you notice about his characteristics? What do you think if at all, was Taylor’s purpose in naming his character Mr. Speed? What overall role does he play in the story? He's a scapegoat for all of her mixed up emotions. He shows the state of mind of all of the character in how they all relate to him, how sympathetic they are or are not to him.
  
• Do you see a connection between the weather and Mr. Speed in the story? What other symbolism do you see in the story? No, accept that he's out in it.
  
• Towards the end of the story, Elizabeth’s fear of Mr. Speed coming to her house becomes a reality. Thinking back in the story, does Taylor use any foreshadowing regarding Mr. Speed’s arrival? Yes.. The whole story foreshadows his arrival in the home.
  
• What do you think is the main theme of this story? This is how a young girl becomes an old spinster.
  

June 25, The Lady with the Dog

Discussion Questions for "The Lady with the Dog"

• What do you think of Dmitry when he is first introduced? Do you see any conflicts arising from his character? Yes, he has issues with the female gender
  
• How does Anna's emotions and view point on the affair change from the beginning of the story to the end? Why do you think this is? Passion, sex, excitement, meaning, all the things she didn't have in her life she found in her lover, Dmitry.
  
• Although Chekhov uses a third person narration, how does he seem more involved with Dmitry’s character? He follows Dmitry around as the focal point of the story.
  
• How would you describe Anna’s Character in the story? How would you describe Dmitry’s? This is a weird question. I would describe them the way the author described them.
  
• How has Dmitry changed from the beginning of the story to the end? He has fallen in love, had a change of heart.
  
• What are the character’s past disappointments? And what are their future hopes? No luck in love, finally finding true love, and hoping to be able to live together
  
• Do you think the fact that Dmitry’s return to Moscow was at the start of winter has any significance? Why? A return to dark days, deppression, coldness of heart, etc..
  
• Why is Dmitry so infuriated when the official says, “the sturgeon was just a leetle off?” (2nd to last paragraph pg. 291) Because he had attempted to reveal the contents of his heart. He was in dire need of a friend that could enter this place inside with him, but everyone was living very superficially.
  
• The fence surrounding Anna’s house is mentioned a couple of times in the third section of the short story, do you think it holds any symbolism or has any additional meanings? It symbolized that she was trapped in that life. She was like a caged lioness.
  
• There is a lot of conflict in the story as a whole. Would you say that the man vs man conflict is more prevalent or the man vs self conflict? Man vs. self
  
• The ending of this story almost leaves you wanting to know more about what happens in their relationship. If you had to add to the story and come up with an extended version, what would you add? The fallout
  
• In the author’s bio, there is information about him being a “people watcher”. Do you think that The Lady with the Dog stems from some of the people he had observed?of course
  

June 24, Chrysanthemums

Discussion Questions for "Chrysanthemums"

• Why does the pot fixer man throw away the flower after he leaves, and is his character trustworthy? because he only wanted the containers that she put them in. No
• Is Elisa flirting with the strange man, and if so why? It seems she is. I think she just wants to be sen as pretty. She wants to be understood deeply. I don't know.
• In certain parts of the world chrysanthemums are a symbol of death and mourning, but usually in our country they are cheerful and positive, relate this to the story. she was growing her own happiness with the skill of her intuitive fingers and hands.
• Why does Elisa bring up the fights again at the end of the story? I think she's angry and wants to express her rage.
  
• The description of the setting at the beginning foreshadows the stranger’s visit, what else do you notice about it? The detail. The author puts a lot into the detail, which brings the geography into the stroy almost as a charachter itself.
• Henry is a quiet character, but still significant. What is he representative of? I'm not really sure.
• Why is Elisa so enthralled with the flowers, what are they symbolic/representative of? I think I already answered that in the question about the flowers, above.
• How and why does the man use Elisa’s vulnerability to his advantage? because he could. that's really his racket..
  
• What was the impact of finding the seeds on the road to Elisa? She felt weak, as if she had been takenadvantage of because fo her kindness. She imediately wanted to wash away her weakness, maybe even go to a fight. She wants to be strong.
  
• What is the universal message in The Chrysanthemums? A woman may be as strong and able as a man, if only alowed to express herself freely, but still she has the sensitive heart of a woman.
• At the beginning of the short story Elisa was a portrayed as strong, what can you draw from the end of the story when she was “crying weakly”? That's the irony, the paradox of a woman. They are strong, and ther are sensetive all at the same time.
• What are the major conflicts in the story? Elise with the pot fixer, her husband, herself, and society.

June 22, The Birthmark

• Hawthorne's short story exhibits both internal and external conflict. Focusing on the conflict Man vs. Nature, expand on Aylmer’s quest to rid Georgiana of her imperfection. What are your feelings on man tampering with Mother Nature? His quest was presented as a loftiness of spirit, when in fact it was an expression of self rejection. Man has no choice but to contend with nature for his own survival, but not for vanity's sake.
• In the text Georgiana becomes exceedingly more and more tortured by her birthmark: "Danger? There is but one danger—that this horrible stigma shall be left upon my cheek!” cried Georgiana. ‘Remove it, remove it, whatever the cost, or we shall both go mad” (657). What first appeared a “charm” in her eyes has become a curse. Explain Georgiana’s conflict, and why you think her attitude has changed from the beginning of the story. It is conflict within herself. her identity is tied up in how she's viewd by her husband rather than how she feels on her own.
• In the opening paragraph Hawthorne describes the character of Aylmer as “a man of science.” Reread this paragraph and explain how Aylmer’s unrivaled passion for science sets the tone for the story (think in terms of Aylmer’s internal conflict with his science vs. his wife). it showed that his compulsion towards science whould overshadow or overpower his love for his wife if he could not find the perfect integral balance between the two. It foreshadowed the conflict to come.
• Georgiana’s birthmark seems to have a metaphorical function. What do you see as the significance of the “crimson hand”? blood, life, the hand of nature, of God
• Aminadab is a name that represents an early figure in the Book of Genesis. Why do you think Hawthorne gave this character this name? How is Aminadab portrayed in the story? Why do you think he laughs at the end? He represnets the earthbound human, more connected with nature and the natural, worldy human fate. He laughed at the end, because in a way nature, what he represented had won. it could not be conquered.
• Some scholars have found a connection between Aylmer’s character, and Mary Shelley’s character of Victor in Frankenstein. If you are familiar with Shelley’s novel, what similarities, if any, do you notice? man's compulsion with overcoming nature, and the moral questions brought on by his attempt.
  
• The characters of Aylmer and Georgiana are not very complex, despite Hawthorne’s drawn out descriptions of them. Do you think Hawthorne meant to use them as vehicles to communicate his message? What do you think his message was and how can this be applied to the contemporary world we live in? I tihnk he only needed to use certain aspecs of their personality to convey the message. He had the moral stance that to tamper with nature is wrong, and he didn't need to bring in too many complexities of charachter to show that.
• Do a close reading of the first two paragraphs on page 651: “The mind is in a sad state..”
  Thinking back on what happened to Georgiana at the end of the story, do you find any irony in the removal of her birthmark? If so, what type of irony and why? Situational irony. We don't expect that her birthmark is what allowed her her earthly life.
• Within the story are many indicative signs. Are there any clues or hints throughout the story that allow you to foreshadow the ending? If so, what are they? She kept talking about dying.

June 19, ....Must Converge

1. What do you make of the title of this story? What is the “everything that rises”? And what things “must converge”? What rose was the status of whites between slavery and the civil rights movement. It was now converging with the status of blacks.
   

1. Like Joy/Hulga from “Good Country People,” Julian is college educated but living with his mother. What similarities do you detect between the Joy/Hulga and Julian? Between their mothers? What about differences? They both seem to be disenchanted with the common people among them, even within their own social class. They feel that the people around them are idiots, and their views of the world are a bit debilitating for them. The mothers are the same inthat they have an undying love for their children, though a limited understanding of how their children really feel and who they really are inside. They both are charachters attached to another time in history, and suffering a bit with the transition, and with age. They both seem to need their more needy child as much as the child needs them.
   

• Which characters out of the story are most sympathetic to you? What about the character(s) makes him/her sympathetic? Julian. At least he's trying to live in the reality in which he lives. His meaness was more out of looking out for the underdog, than baseless prejudice.
  

1. Based on O’Connor’s remarks on the profession of writing in “The Nature and Aim of Fiction,” consider Julian’s college education and intention of becoming a writer. Where in O’Connor’s theories does Julian seem to fit? He probabaly doesn't really have the talent to really write, nor the drive, else he coldn't just sit around waiting to write.
   

1. You have now read two of O’Connor’s short stories. How do you react to the theories about writing (and especially about short fiction) in relation to her fiction? What do you think is the “vision” (last paragraph of the excerpt) she believes is necessary? Do you think she has it? Do you think Julian has it? I thn ability to see without seeing, or to see beyond what you've seen and beyond your ability to see. It is to become possessed by genius, if only for a moment. The writer has to understand what types of situations can provoke such vision in them, and they have to do the ground work in order to become an open conduit for it, but ultimately, no matter how many experiences you've had, or how much you may think you're a writer or you like to write, this vision either strikes you or it doesn't. Julian doesn't seem to have this vision, yet.
   

June 16, Roth & Malumud

1. Both of these stories deal with faith, doubt, and questioning.How do you feel about the way the adults handled Ozzie's questions in "Conversion"? Was he out of line to ask so many questions? What do you think about Manischevitz and his questions in "Angel"? Ozzies questions reflect the importance of keeping an open and rational mind in the face of the religious certainty of others. The adults were faced with the limitations of their own view, and it made them uncomfortable, for those limitations have to be swept under the rug if one is to remain faithful. or, so they believed. I think his questions were the genuine questions a man would have in the face of such suffereing.
2. Roth has been widely criticized for the negative image he paints of his Jewish characters. Do you think the Jewish characters in "Conversion" are presented negatively? If so, what might be Roth's purpose in this portrayal? I think he wants people to be able to see themselves clearly. Human beings are funny in their unique and individual ways. Why shoudl jews or any other group of people not be able to appreciate the humor in life? I think he knows that people take themselves too seriously, and he wants to show how he feels about it.
3. Malamud's "Angel" has often been connected with the Biblical story of Job. If you're unfamiliar with the story, the Jewish Encyclopedia offers a summary of the book of Job, and Bible Gateway offers the full text. From what you know if the story, what are the connections between the situations of Job and Manischevitz? What do you think Malamud's purpose is in making the link between the two stories? There are many.. Because stories from the bible make for great drama.
4. "Angel" and "Conversion" were originally published shortly after the end of World War II (only 5 years and 14 years, respectively). How do the stories relate to the historical situation? What effect do you think the recent Holocaust has on each story? on its characters? on its themes? How do other cultural situations impact each story (race, class, location, age, etc.)? The stories are greatly affected by historical time. there seesm to be in both stories a reflection of an acute awareness of race and religion, very self-conscious. It is expressed differently among the different generations. There is almost a type of paranoia felt in the stories, though understandably so.
5. Are any characters in the stories sympathetic to you? If so, which characters in the stories are most sympathetic? I like Ozzie. He's just a mischevious kid with an open mind. I like all of the charachters in the Angle story.
6. What message do you think each author is trying to convey in his story? How does he convey it? How can we apply his message/theme beyond the situation of the characters in the story? One was trying to show how the constricted views of religion and culture can actually damage the soul. The other is showing the value of faith.