De La Salle Senior English / Sr. Pat

NOTES ON SHORT STORY

AUTHOR TRANSFORMS LIFE INTO LANGUAGE
• NON-FICTION RECREATES REAL PERSONS AND EVENTS AND SHOWS DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS
• STORYTELLING IS THE OLDEST FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT.
• EARLY CIVILIZATIONS TOLD STORIES THROUGH SONG.


THE PRINTING PRESS ALLOWED STORIES TO APPEAR IN BOOKS AND MAGAZINES.


IN THE 20TH CENTURY STORIES WERE
PRESENTED ON TELEVISION OR IN THE MOVIES.


A GOOD SHORT STORY IS SHORT


A SHORT STORY AIMS FOR A SINGLE EFFECT.


LIVING IN THE 19TH CENTURY, POE WAS CONSIDERED THE ORIGINATOR OF THE SHORT STORY.
THE OPENING LINES SET THE TONE.
• THE FIRST LINES SHOULD TEMPT THE READER TO GO ONTO THE PLOT.
• THE PLOT IS THE STORY LINE THAT IS MADE UP OF EVENTS.
• THE EXPOSITION IS THE BEGINNING STAGES OF THE PLOT.
• THE COMPLICATION SHOWS THE PROBLEMS PRESENTED IN THE EXPOSITION.



*THE CLIMAX SHOWS THE MOMENT OF GREATEST INTENSITY.

*THE DENOUEMENT IS THE OUTCOME, THE FINAL WORKING OUT OF THE DETAILS OF THE CLIMAX.


*THE FOCUS OF A SHORT STORY IS ON A SPECIAL EVENT OR A SLICE OF LIFE.

ELEMENTS OF THE SHORT STORY
NOTES

PLOT-A SERIES OF RELATED EVENTS THAT MAKE UP A STORY
 CONFLICT-STRUGGLE BETWEEN OPPOSING FORCES
 MAN VS. MAN-EXTERNAL STRUGGLE BETWEEN TWO OR MORE INDIVIDUALS
 MAN VS. HIMSELF-INTERNAL STRUGGLE CONCERNING EMOTION AND DECISION
 MAN VS. NATURE-EXTERNAL STRUGGLE BETWEEN MAN AND AN ELEMENT OF NATURE.

COMPLICATION

 MINI-CONFLICTS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE RISE IN ACTION

CLIMAX
 TURNING POINT OF THE STORY; EMOTIONAL HIGH POINT FOR THE CHARACTER, NOT THE READER.

FALLING ACTION
 EVENTS THAT LEAD TO RESOLUTION

RESOLUTION
 OUTCOME OF THE CONFLICT

FOUR TYPES OF CHARACTERIZATION-TECHNIQUES THE WRITER USES TO DEVELOP CHARACTER
 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
 SPEECH AND ACTIONS OF THE CHARACTER
 DIRECT COMMENT FROM THE NARRATOR
 SPEECH AND ACTIONS OF OTHER CHARACTERS

THEMES OF LITERATURE OR ANALYZING CHARACTERS
 MOTIVATION-CAUSE OF ACTIONS
 BEHAVIOR-ACTIONS OF THE CHARACTER
 CONSEQUENCES-RESULTS OF ACTIONS
 RESPONSIBILITY-MORAL, LEGAL, OR MENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY
 EXPECTATIONS

SETTING AND DESCRIPTION
 SENSORY DETAILS-WORDS THAT APPEAL TO THE SENSES.
 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
 SIMILE- COMPARISON USING LIKE OR AS
 METAPHORE-CONPARISON USING IS OR A FORM OF IS
 IMPLIED METAPHOR
 EXPENDED METAPHOR
 PERSONIFICATION


SHORT STORY—NOTES

50 GREAT SHORT STORIES
Introduction

 A GOOD SHORT STORY MAKES US CURIOUS TO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.
 EACH STORY WORKS IN A MAIN FRAMEWORK WHICH INCLUDES—
 CHARACTERS, PLOT, SETTING AND THEME.


HOW IS INTEREST ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTER DEVELOPED?

THE AUTHOR DEVELOPS A CONFLICT BETWEEN TWO CHARACTERS OR WITHIN THE CHARACTER.

THE CONFLICT IS THEN WORKED OUT IN THE PLOT.
WHAT DOES THE AUTHOR USE TO TELL US THE STORY?

 POINT OF VIEW
 1ST PERSON-LIMITED CHARACTER IN THE STORY.
 3RD PERSON-LIMITED
 3RD PERSON-OMNISCENT-KNOWS ALL AND SEES ALL.

SUSPENSE

FLASHBACKS

FORESHADOWING

IRONY

ATMOSPHERE

TECHNIQUE-THE WAY THE STORY IS TOLD

THE WRITER DEVELOPS A THEME OR CENTRAL IDEA.

LINE OF ACTION
 EXPOSITION IS THE INTRODUCTORY PART OF THE STORY. CHARACTERS AND CONFLICTS ARE IDENTIFIED. SETTING AND TONE IS ESTABLISHED.


 COMPLICATION PRESENTSN THE EVENTS THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF RESOLVING THE CONFLICT.

LINE OF ACTION
 CLIMAX IS THE POINT OF HIGHEST TENSION IN THE ACTION OF THE STORY. THE MOVEMENT WHEN THE CONFLICT OR PROBLEM IS ABOUT TO BE RESOLVED.


 DENOUEMENT IS THE PART OF THE ACTION THAT FOLLOWS THE CLIMAX.

 CONCLUSION IS THE ENDING OF THE STORY.


THE TWO BASIC AREAS OF LITERATURE ARE…
 PROSE
 NON-FICTION
 FACTS, OPINONS, OBSERVATION, ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, OBJECTIVE, EXPOSITORY EXPLANATION, STORY FORM, ARGUMENT



FICTION
 FICTION IS IMAGINATION, SUBJECTIVE, NARRATIVE
 TWO TYPES OF FICTION ARE… *NARRATIVE-NOVELS, READING, AUDIENCE
 DRAMATIC-TRAGEDY, MAINLY VIEWED BY AN AUDIENCE
2ND TYPE OF FICTION--POETRY
 POETRY IS RHYMED OR NOT RHYMED (FREE-VERSE)
 TWO TYPES OF POETRY
 NARRATIVE CAN INCLUDE EPIC AND BALLAD
 LYRIC IS GENERAL, DRAMATIC REVEALING THE POET’S FEELINGS.

THE THREE DAY BLOW BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY

NOTES

THE THREE-DAY BLOW

BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY

BORN 1899-DIED 1961
HE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN OAK PARK, ILL.

WHEN WORLD WAR I BROKE OUT, EYE PROBLEMS PREVENTED HIM FROM SERVING WITH THE U.S. ARMY.

HE COMMITTED SUICIDE IN 1961 IN IDAHO AFTER YEARS OF SUFFERING FROM DESPAIR AND PARANOIA.

THEMES AND MEANINGS
• WHAT HOLDS THE STORY TOGETHER IS IT HAUNTING VISION OF THE OWRLD IN WHICH HUMAN IDEALS ARE OFTEN RUINED BY INCOMPETENCE OR DESTRUCTIVE FORCES OF NATURE. (RUINED HUMAN IDEALS)
LOVE ENDS SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING

NICK CONCLUDES THAT EVERYTHING IN LIFE DISSOLVES INTO NOTHINGNESS AND NO ONE IS TO BLAME.

BILL FEELS MARRYING AND SETTLING DOWN REPRESENTS THE STIFLING OF THE SOUL AND THE DEATH OF MALE INDEPENDENCE. (Every Hemingway Hero fights not to lose)

LIVING ALONE IS PREFERRED TO MARRIAGE.


STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
• Hemingway conveys a great many things on paper without writing them down.
• His act of implication is making one sentence say 2 or more different things without description.
• Hemingway conveys depth and emotion through image and smybol

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
• The lack of emotional commentary in the story reflects the boys’ fear of emotional complexity.
• The boys rely on the physical experience and try to disregard the moral experience.
• The basic theme of the story is loss.
• The author is an American novelist, short story writer and journalist. He is a master at objective prose style. Hemingway explores man’s physical a metaphysical strivings.

• This story is taken from a book called IN OUR TIME ( or the Nick Adams story).

Nick is Hemingway’s universal hero.
He will be in Hemingway’s books under different names.
Nick is an outdoors man, virile (strong), but also very sensitive.
Nick is Hemingways’ hero.
The book was written in Paris in 1925.

• Most of Hemingway’s stories deal with love, but not love that is satisfactory, lasting or mutually shared.
• His protagonist usually finish alone
• Hemingway reverences the natural world but may over balance it with a sense of blank, dark meaninglessness of our existence.

• Nick comes to Bill’s cabin (they are best friends).

• • The story is about male bonding and ends with Nick being somewhat sensitive about his break-up with Marjorie.
• • Bill does not want to see Nick married, but Bill is unsure that Nick has made the right decision concerning Marjorie
• • Nick tries to decide if he should be a man’s man or a family man.

• “The Three Day Blow” is symbolic of Nick’s life.

He is in a flurry trying to decide what type of person to become.
The early 20th Century is a moment of massive change from rusticity to modernity.
“The Three Day Blow” represents a time of change and chaos in the world as well as in the life of Nick.
This radical weather phenomenon signifies life, societal change and spiritual decree.
It could refer to the biblical story of the 40 day flood.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.


THE THREE-DAY BLOW BY Ernest Hemingway

A. Write brief answers for the following questions

1. Where are the men when the story opens?
2. What descriptive phrases tell the reader what time of year it is?
3. The names of the two men are __________and _______________.
4. Why is this story called “The Three-Day Blow”?
5. Describe the sleeping arrangements in the cottage.
6. What activities do the men engage in by the fire?
7. Why are fall storms important to the characters in the story? How does this relate to the theme of the story?
8. According to Bill’s father, what makes people become drunkards?
9. What is a solitary drinker?
10. Nick’s father is a _____. Bill’s father is a _______. How do the sons feel about their fathers?
11. What do the men burn for warmth?
12. When the Irish whiskey is gone, the men switch to__________.
13. What sport do the men especially enjoy?
14. Describe each man’s attitude toward women.
15. What does the liquor make Nick realize?
16. Where do the men go at the end of the story?
17. List four subjects Nick and Bill discuss.
18. Why does Nick have a feeling of loss?
19. How does Bill feeling about marriage?

B.Write a sentence for each word. Sentences must reflect the story.

1. peat
2. compensation
3. cinch
4. apricot
5. league

THE THREE-DAY BLOW by Ernest Hemingway
B. Answer these questions.

1. What is the external action of the story?


2. What are the characters common interests?


3. What is the atmosphere like outside the cabin? Inside the cabin?


4. What do the two boys agree upon concerning the “Cards” and baseball?


5. What do the boys talk about during their second glass of whiskey?


6. What do they talk about when drinking their third glass of whiskey?


7. How does Nick show he can hold his liquor and still be practical?


8. What is the conversation during the fourth glass of whiskey? During the 5th glass of whiskey?


9. What is Bill’s opinion about marriage, especially marriage for Nick?


10. How does Nick feel about his break-up with Marge?


11. How does Nick rationalize his break-up with Marge?

THE JOCKEY BY CARSON MCCULLERS

NOTES

THE JOCKEY

BY CARSON MC CULLERS

TIME PERIOD IS THE DEPRESSION

MAIN CHARACTER IS BITSY BARLOW, A JOCKEY, WHO IS UPSET ABOAUT HIS FRIEND, MCQUIRE(THE KID), WHO WAS HURT ON THE RACE TRACK (BROKE A LEG AND HIP ).

MCQUIRE IS A PARTICULAR FRIEND OF BITSYS, AND NOW HIS LEG IS 2 INCHES SHORTER THAN THE OTHER.


THE OTHER THREE MEN IN THE STORY ARE SYLVESTER, THE TRAINER, SIMMONS, THE BOOKIE, AND A RICH MAN WHO OWNS SELTZER.

THEY RESPOND TO BITSY AND HIS FRIENDS MISFORTUNATE PLIGHT BY SAYING “THAT’S LIFE.”

CARSON MCCULLERS
 BORN 1917 AND DIED 1967
 HER CONCERNS WERE INDIVIDUALITY, SELFHOOD, FRAGILE HUMAN PERSONALITY
 HER STORIES ARE ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING DESPERATELY TO GAIN AND KEEP A HOLD ON AN INDIFFERENT WORLD.
SHE WAS BORN IN COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, AND WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED MUSICIAN.

SHE STUDIED AT THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL OF MUSIC

AT THE AGE OF 29, SHE BECAME PARALYZED ON HER LEFT SIDE, WHICH HAMPERED HER ABILITY TO WORK.

HER WRITING IS CONCERNED WITH LONELINES AND PERSONAL CONFLICT.

• The main character, Bitsy Barlow, is a man interiorly broken from a tragic racing accident that left his best friend and fellow jockey, permanently disabled.
• Bitsy attempts to suppress his rage over his friend’s accident and the lack of sympathy and support from the major players in the facing game.
• Bitsy’s friend has no use to the owners of the horse, and so the owners abandon him.


• Bitsy’s actions are influenced by the constant thought of his friend.

• Everyone only saw his friend as a dollar sign.

• Bitsy drinks to try to deaden his rage towards these people.

• Bitsy must walk away from these people so he can regain control of himself.

• Bitsy feels his anger is justifiable

• Bitsy now has a hole in his life—but this is the only life he knows.

• There is no closure to the matter for Bitsy and he is forced to live with the knowledge that things will never be the same.

• McCullers deals with themes of alienation and loneliness in books and short stories.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE JOCKEY BY Carson McCullers

A. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Describe the setting.
2. How does the jockey react when he sees the three men sitting at the table diagonally across from him?
3. How is the jockey dressed? What is remarkable about him?
4. Who are the three men, and what are their names?
5. Who or what is Seltzer?
6. What is the jockey’s name?
7. What comment of Simmons’ suggests the jockey’s difficulty in communicating?
8. What happened in Miami six months before the story opens? Describe the incident.
9. In what condition is McGuire now (p. 61)? How would you describe the jockey’s reaction? Discuss.
10. What does Sylvester mean when he says to the jockey, “You got to behave reasonable” (p. 60)?
11. Sylvester provides a clue to the jockey’s appearance. What is it, and what particular concern does Sylvester have?
12. What detail mentioned by the author reminds the reader of the jockey’s isolation (p. 62)? Quote the line.
13. Explain what Bitsy Barlow means when he states bitterly that the three men are all libertines. What has this to do with the lifestyles of these three men?
14. How much does Bitsy Barlow weigh?
15. Describe the setting in detail including both time and place.
16. State the theme or main idea of the story.
17. What does Bitsy Barlow look like and how is his psychological state?
18. How does alcohol affect the men in “The Three-Day Blow” and Bitsy in “The Jockey”?

B. Write a sentence for each of these words. Sentences must reflect the story.

1. libertine
2. garnish
3. jockey
4. bouquet
5. precise

C. Write true or false for each statement.

1. Seltzer was a horse trainer.
2. The setting for the story is a hotel dining room.
3. The author’s tone suggests sympathy for all the characters.
4. Bitsy Barlow has become bitter because he hasn’t been winning.
5. When Sylvester asks the jockey to “behave reasonable,” he is referring to Bitsy Barlow’s need to control his temper.

D. ASSIGNMENT: Explain how Betsy tries to confront his indifferent world. Compare him to the other three characters in the short story.

THE SHOT BY ALEXANDER PUSHKIN

NOTES

THE SHOT

BY ALEXANDER POUSHKIN
THE AUTHOR WAS BORN 1799 AND DIED 1837.

HE IS RUSSIAN.

HE WROTE POEMS, PLAYS, NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES.

HE WAS BORN IN MOSCOW INTO A NOBLE FAMILY.

HE HELD AN OFFICIAL POST (1817) IN THE GOVERNMENT BUT WAS ALSO PART OF AN UNDERGROUND REVOLUTIONARY GROUP.

HE DIED IN 1837 FROM WOUNDS HE SUFFERED IN A DUEL WHICH HE FOUGHT IN ST. PETERSBURG.

THE STORY LINE
 THIS IS CONSIDERED A DOUBLE STORY WHICH IS A STORY WITHIN A STORY
 BELKIN IS AN OUTGOING, EVEN-TEMPERED ARMY OFFICER WHO COMMITS TO PAPER MUCH OF WHAT OTHERS TELL HIM.
 THIS STORY IS TOLD TO HIM BY A LIEUTENANT-COLONEL
 SILVIO IS THE MAIN CHARACTER, AND ALL ARE AWED BY HIM.
SILVIO IS A GENEROUS MAN WHO RETIRED YOUNG AND LIVES ON AN UNCERTAIN INCOME.

HIS SKILL AT PISTOL SHOOTING TAKES ON LEGENDARY PROPORTIONS.

HE CAN SHOOT A FLY FROM ACROSS THE ROOM

THE RUMOR IS THAT SILVIO IS TROUBLED BY SOME PAST DUELING INCIDENT.
SILVIO’S STORY IS ABOUT A WEALTHY COUNT WHO IS INVOLVED IN A DUEL WITH SILVIO.

THE STORY ALSO INVOLVES THE COUNT’S WIFE, MASHA.

SILVIO WILL TELL US HIS STORY—AND AS FIVE YEARS PAST THE READER WILL HEAR THE CONCLUSION OF THE STORY.

THEMES AND METHODS
 THE STORY HAS A MELODRAMATIC QUALITY.
 THE ACTION OF THE STORY DEPENDS UPON COINCIDENCES.
 SILVIO APPEARS TO BE THE EMBODIMENT OF CERTAIN VIRTUES.
 MYSTERY SHROUDS MUCH OF SILVIO’S PAST.
SILVIO DISMISSES AN OFFFICER WHO HAS OFFENDED HIM IN THE STORY.

SILVIO’S CONCSIENCE IS TROUBLED BY MEMORIES OF AN OPPONENT WHO REDICULED THE FEARS OF DUELING

THE DUEL WAS TO BE OF HONOR AND ISREGARD FOR PERSONAL SAFETY.

SILVIO FINALLY DIED AS A MERCENARY SOLDIER, FIGHTING FOR THE LIBERATION OF GREECE.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
 THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS STORY IS THE AUTHOR’S ABILITY TO BRING TOGETHER SEVERAL POINTS OF VIEW AND JOIN STORIES TOGETHER FROM YEARS APART INTO A SINGLE NARRATIVE WITH ITS OWN INTERNAL LOGIC.
 CHARACTERIZATION SHOWS QUALITIES OF RECKLESS VALOR
SILVIO IS UNCOMMUNICATIVE AND MOODY, POSSESSING DARK AND BROODING QUALITIES.

THE NARRATOR IS OUTGOING.

THE COUNT HAS BALANCED MATURITY.

THE BASIC THEME IS INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT

• “The Shot” is from the book called THE TALES OF THE LATE IVAN PETROVICH BELKIN.

Belkin is a land-owner, who in his boredom writes down true stories that he has heard during his life.

• A relative finds these stories after Belkin’s death and sends them to a publisher.

• “The Shot” is a story of malice and revenge, and how it destroys the life of a man despite his momentary satisfaction.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.


THE SHOT by Alexander Pushkin

A. Briefly answer the following questions
1. What is the practice of dueling?
2. Is there a time that dueling would be justified in today’s society?
3. On page 83, paragraph 2, there are tow examples of foreshadowing. What are they?
4. Why does the narrator say that he cannot approach Silvio on the old footing (p. 84)?
5. What “souvenir” is left of Silvio’s fight with his drunken opponent (p. 86)?
6. How does Silvio react to competition, and what is the result (p. 87)?
7. What happens in the “duel,” and what does Silvio’s opponent say (p. 87)? Quote the lines.
8. When Siovio goes to the Count’s house several years later, what “souvenir” does he leave the Count?
9. In your opinion, what is the author’s attitude toward duels as a way of settling arguments? Support you answer with references to the story.

B. Continue answering the questions.

1. What is the setting?




2. Who are the characters? Please describe each character.




3. Describe the plot.





4. What is the climax of the story?




5. What is the resolution or conclusion of the story?

C. If the italicized word is used correctly, write “C”. If not, write “I”.
1. The two officers fought a ling and bloody duel.
2. The old gentleman was attacked by two assailants.
3. John puntered around the golf course.
4. A shy, quiet person is likely to be boisterous.
5. Her pallor revealed her fear of snakes.

D. Write true or false for each of the following statements.
1. Silvio’s principal amusement appears to be shooting with his pistol.
2. One of Silvio’s “souvenirs” from a duel is a bullet hole in his red hat.
3. Silvio receives a letter from Moscow and makes plans to go there to encounter his former assailant.
4. Silvio kills the Count and then leaves after firing two bullets into a painting.
5. The narrator meets Silvio a year later.

E. Write a sentence for each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.

6. sullenness
7. surplus
8. chastise
9. supremacy
10. caustic

ONLY THE DEAD KNOW BROOKLYN--NOTES
BY THOMAS WOLFE

THE STORY PREMIS:

• YOU WILL NEVER LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THE WHOLE OF BROOKLYN. IT WOULD TAKE A GUY A LIFETIME TO KNOW BROOKLYN THROUGH AND THROUGH. AND EVEN THEN YOU WOULDN’T KNOW IT.

THE AUTHOR
• BORN 1900 AND DIED 1938

• HE WAS BORN IN ASHERVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA AS THE 8TH CHILD IN THE FAMILY


• HE ENTERED COLLEGE, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHAPEL HILL, AT THE AGE OF 15.

• HE TRAVELED TO THE WEST COAST AND BECAME ILL WITH PNEUMONIA


• HE WAS TRANSPORTED TO JOHN HOPKINS FOR SURGERY WHERE HE DIED OF MILITARY TUBERCULOSIS OF THE BRAIN.
THOMAS WOLFE IN HIS WRITINGS TRIES TO PUT ALL OF HIS EXPERIENCES OF THE HUMAN HEART ON THE HEAD OF A PIN.

• THE THEME OF THIS STORY IS COMMUNICATION.

• • The author is an American journalist and essayist. With wit and an eye for detail he describes the outward trappings which reveal the inner meaning behind the attitudes of his subjects.

HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.


ONLY THE DEAD KNOW BROOKLYN by Thomas Wolfe

A. For each of the following words, provide an appropriate translation from the Brooklyn dialect into standard English. Then write a sentence for five of the words. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. eveh
2. dat
3. den
4. duh
5. neveh
6. befoeh
7. hoid
8. yuh
9. foeh
10. heah
11. bawn
12. somp’n
13. ast
14. dose
15. keh
16. boids
17. troot
18. dere
19. nuttin’
20. coupla
21. loined
22. oddeh
23. bruddeh
24. wateh
25. yeahs
26. wondeh

B. Briefly answer the following questions.
1. Describe the narrator in detail based on what you learn about him from the way he tells the story. What kind of man is he?
2. What does the reader learn about the way the big guy spends his time? What things does he seem to enjoy doing?
3. Why does the big guy have a map, and why is it important to him?
4. What makes the narrator uncomfortable toward the end of the story?
5. What does the narrator do as a result of feeling uncomfortable?
6. At the end of the story, what does the narrator wonder about?
7. How does the narrator feel about Brooklyn?
8. Why, in your opinion, does the narrator choose “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn” for his title?
9. Why is dialect sometimes used to tell a story? What does it add to Wolfe’s story?
10. Do you see any spelling pattern in the dialect? If so, explain.


C. ASSIGNMENT: Write character sketches. Explain how Thomas Wolfe tries to put all the experiences of the human heart on the head of a pin in relationship to the characters in the story.

THE LOTTERY—NOTES

BY SHIRLEY JACKSON

THE STORY IS A TYPE OF SCIENCE-FICTION.

 SHIRLEY JACKSON WAS BORN DECEMBER 14, 1916 AND DIED IN 1965.
 SHE WAS BORN IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
 IN 1933 HER FAMILY MOVED TO ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.
 SHE WROTE NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, AND HER BEST WORK IS “THE LOTTERY.”
IN 1940 SHE RECEIVED HER BA IN ENGLISH FROM SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY.

SHE AND HER HUSBAND SETTLED IN NORTH BENNINGTON, VT. IN 1945.

SHE HAD FOUR CHILDREN.


HER WORKS APPEAL TO ONE OF TWO VERY DIFFERENT EMOTIONS—FEAR OR HUMOR.

SHE WRITES WITH A LIGHT, COMIC TONE WHICH CONTRASTS SHARPLY WITH THE DARK PESSIMISM—SPINE TINGLING TALES OF SUPERNATURAL EVENTS—OF OTHER WORLDS.

THE GENERAL THEME OF THESE WORKS IS THE PRESENCE OF EVIL AND CHAOS JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE OF ORDINARY, EVERYDAY LIFE.
“THE LOTTERY” IS A CHILLING TALE WHOSE MEANING HAS BEEN DEBATED AND PROVOKED WIDESPEARD PUBLIC OUTRAGE WHEN IT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1946.

SHIRLEY JACKSON HAS A FASCINATION WITH EVERYDAY BEHAVIOR THAT GETS OUT OF HAND.

THEMES AND MEANINGS
 THE EVENTS BORDER ON THE ABSURD.
 JACKSON SKILLFULLY USES ELEMENTS OF SEVERAL ANCIENT RITUALS TO CREATE A TALE THAT TOUCHES ON THE CHARACTER OF RITUAL ITSELF.
 IT SHOWS THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF MOB PSYCHOLOGY
AT THE HEART OF THE STORY IS ONE OF THE OLDEST CONCEPTS OF MANKIND—THE SCAPEGOAT.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS CONDUCT CEREMONIES IN WHICH THE EVILS OF AN ENTIRE SOCIETY WERE SYMBOLICALLY TRANSFERRED TO ONE MEMBER OF THE GROUP, EITHER HUMAN OR ANIMAL, THEN THAT MEMBER WAS KILLED OR BANISHED.
THE DEATH OR BANISHMENT SUGGESTED THE EVILS OF THAT GROUP HAD BEEN REMOVED.

THIS ALLOWED A BETTER FUTURE FOR THE GROUP.

JEWISH PEOPLE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CONDUCTED THE RITUAL USING A GOAT AS A RECIPIENT OF ALL SINS AND EVIL.

THEN THEY TURNED THE GOAT OUT INTO THE DESSERT.

HENCE, THE TERM SCAPEGOAT.
TESSIE HUTCHINSON IS THE SCAPEGOAT IN HER TOWN.

THE LOTTERY IS AN ANNUAL EVENT

THE SCAPEGOAT IS USED TO BANISH THE EVILS OF SOCIETY SO THAT THE CROPS WILL FLOURISH.


TWO ANCIENT RITUALS ARE COMBINED.
 BANISHING EVILS VIA A SACRIFICIAL VICTIM
 THE IDEA OF APPEASING HIGHER POWERS IN SOME WAY TO ENSURE FERTILITY FOR THE LAND.
 MOB PSYCHOLOGY RULES THE MASSES.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
 THE ENDING IS A SURPRISE.
 THE FUTURE NATURE OF THE GATHERING ENHANCES CAMARADERIE OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE AND DIMINISHES THE HORROR THAT OCCURS AT THE CONCLUSION.
JACKSON KEEPS THE READER OFF GUARD BY USING 3RD PERSON NARRATION.

THERE ARE CHILLING FORESHADOWING SUCH AS

THE CHILDREN BUILDING ROCK PILES

THE ABSENCE OF CERTAIN PEOPLE
SYMBOLIC NAMES OF THREE CHARACTERS
 MR. SUMMERS IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FERTILITY RITES.
 MR. GRAVES IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOTION OF DEATH.
 MR. WARNER IS THE VOICE OF THE PAST WARNING THE CITIZENS THAT TO BREAK WITH TRADITION WILL HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES.
THE CHOICE OF NEW ENGLAND AS THE SETTING SUGGESTS THE NOTION OF WITCHCRAFT AND SUPERSTITION.

THE LOTTERY IS FIRST A SIMPLE TALE OF TERROR

SECOND, A STUDY OF A UNIVERSAL HUMAN PROBLEM THAT PERSISTS IN ALL TIMES IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.

• This story was published June 28, 1948 in the New Yorker.

• “The Lottery” presents conflict on more than one level.

• The most important conflict is between the subject matter and the way the story is told.

• Jackson presents her short story as a folksy piece of Americana.

• There is a horrible underlying secret, which comments on the hidden horrors of our everyday existence.

• The victim is a woman—a housewife—who raises her children and takes care of her husband and her home.

• Jackson attempts to convey two main messages in the story.
• First, the life we idolize in America has terrible secrets at its very heart.
•
• Second, she illustrates the sacrifice of women—women must sacrifice themselves and their ambitions to raise a family and take care of a husband.

• This sacrifice has been a part of the lives of all women according to Jackson.

• This reflects post-World War II American.

• The story also deals with the idea of using a scapegoat as a means of resolution. (Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.)

• In using a scapegoat people project their sins and guilt and temptation.

• The story showed pointless violence and general inhumanity.

• The world of the lottery is everyone’s world by showing a socio-economic stratification, violence and inhumanity.

• The central theme of the story is tradition.

• The point of view of the story is 3rd person dramatic and omniscient.

• Lurking beneath man’s civilized trappings is an innate savagery.

• The story contains a psychological shock.

• The horror of the story is realizing that unchanging traditions can be changed if a person realizes their implications.

• In “The Lottery” man is the victim of the unexplained and unchanged tradition.




HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE LOTTERY by Shirley Jackson

A. Write a sentence for each of the words below. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. Lottery
2. reprimands
3. survey
4. scold
5. ritual

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. When does the lottery take place?
2. Where does it take place?
3. What is the population of the town, and how long does the lottery take?
4. What are the boys in the square doing?
5. What details suggest this is a social event?
6. Who conducts the lottery and what business does he run?
7. To what other civic activities is the lottery compared?
8. What procedure is followed to determine who will “win” the lottery? Describe it.
9. Why do all the townspeople open their papers form the first drawing at the same time?
10. Why is it ironic that Mr. Summers says, “Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessis.” When Mrs. Hutchinson is late?
11. What family is “chosen” as a result of the drawing?
12. What person is drawn to become the victim?
13. At what point in the story does the reader realize what is going to happen? Quote the two key lines.
14. How does the story end?
15. Can you think of any ritual or custom that is practiced in our society but seldom questioned? Name one and discuss why traditions are not often questioned.

C. Write true or false for each statement below.
1. The lottery takes place in early August.
2. Every person dresses formally for the event.
3. The slip of paper with a dot on it determines who will be the victim.
4. The black box drawing is an annual ritual.
5. Bill Hutchinson is chosen to be the victim.

D. Answer each question below.


1. What is the setting of this story and when does it take place?


2. How often does the lottery occur?


3. What are the emotions present in this group of people?


4. Explain the ritual of the lottery.


5.Who are the first to draw from the lottery?



6. Who has first picked the slip with the black dot?


7.Who complains about the drawing and why is the complaint vocalized?


8. What is the response of the other townspeople to these complaints?


9. What is the final conclusion of the lottery?

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH—NOTES

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

EDGAR ALLAN POE
 BORN 1809 IN BOSTON, MASS
 HIS FATHER DESERTED THE FAMILY WHEN EDGAR WAS 1 YEAR OLD
 HIS MOTHER DIED WHEN HE WAS 2 YEARS OLD
 MR. AND MRS. JOHN ALLAN ADOPTED AND RAISED POE
 POE DIED IN 1849 IN BALTIMORE…THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS DEATH WERE NEVER CLEAR.
MANY THOUGHT ALCOHOL KILLED HIM.

POE WROTE A NUMBER OF POEMS AND SHORT STORIES AND ONLY 1 NOVEL.

HIS SHORT STORIES USUALLY CREATE A SINGLE, HORRIFYING EFFECT.

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1842.

POE IS CONSIDERED THE CREATOR OF THE SHORT STORY AS WELL AS THE DETECTIVE STORY AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR STORY.
HE USED A TECHNIQUE IN HIS STORIES WHEREBY A STORY COULD BE READ AS BEING EITHER ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL OR ABOUT THE IMAGININGS OF A MAD MAN.

HIS DEFINITION OF A SHORT STORY IS: A BRIEF FICTIONAL WORK, THE DETAILS OF WHICHARE CAREFULLY CHOSEN TO CREATE IN THE RADER A SINGLE DOMINANT IMPRESSION.

THE ALLEGORICAL NATURE OF THIS STORY IS INDICATED BYTHE FACT THAT ITS ONLY NAMED CHARACTER, PRINCE PROSPERO, AND ITS ONLY REAL CONFLICT IS THE SYMBOLIC ONE BETWEEN PROSPERO AND THE RED DEATH.

THEMES AND MEANINGS
 THE THEME CLEARLY FOCUSES ON THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ESCAPING ONE’S MORTALITY REGARDLESS OF POWER, WEALTH OR INFLUENCE.
 THE CHARACTERS SEEM LESS LIKE READ PEOPLE THAN FANTASIES CREATED BY A MADMAN.
 IRONY OF THE COLOR RED—RED BLOOD IS THE COLOR OF LIFE BUT POE CALLS IT THE RED DEATH.
POE’S POINT IS THE VERY PRESENCE OF LIFE WILL EVENTUALLY MEAN DEATH.

PROSPERO CREATES A WORLD OF IMAGINAGIVE REALITY WHICH IS NOT SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE EXTERNAL REALITY.

THE SEQUENCE OF ROOMS REPRESENTS THE SEVEN STATES OF MAN.

THE COLOR BLUE SHOWS THE BEGINNING OF LIFE INCLUDING LIGHT IN THE EARTH.

THE ENDING COLOR OF BLACK IS THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT IN THE WEST AND DEATH.

THE IMAGE OF THE CLOCK SUGGESTS THAT LIFE EXISTS WITHIN A TIME FRAME—IT IS TIME THAT MAKES LIFE END INEVITABLY IN DEATH.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
 THE STYLE FOCUSES ON PICTORIAL RATHER THEN NARRATIVE.
 POE ATTEMPTS TO CREATE THE STORY IN A SENSE THAT IT EXISTS WITHIN SPACE AND OUTSIDE TI
PROSPERO, FOLLOWING THE RED DEATH THROUGH THE ROOMS GOES THROUGH A TEMPORAL PROGRESSION FROM BIRTH TO YOUTH TO MATURITY TO OLD AGE AND FINALLY TO DEATH.

LIFE ALWAYS INSISTS UPON DEATH.

THIS STORY IS A MORAL LESSON ABOUT THE HUMAN INABILITY TO ESCAPE DEATH.
¨ Poe may have considered historical examples of the Black Death or bubonic plague as well as the cholera epidemic of 1790 in Philadelphia and Baltimore—but his plague takes on the form of a RED DEATH rather than black—so now blood, the substance of life, now becomes the mark of death.

¨ What is the RED DEATH? Sharp pains, sudden dizziness, profuse bleeding from the pores, scarlet stains upon the body and face and very contagious. This all took place (seizure, progress and termination of life) within ½ hour.

¨ Setting—The story covers six months during the RED DEATH—the action takes place in Prince Prospero’s abbeys. The masquerade takes place in the imperial suite which consisted of seven very distinct rooms.

¨ Character—Only Prince Prospero speaks and his name suggests happiness and good fortune—Within his abbey he has created a world of imagination.

¨ Point of View—an allegory—a prose in which characters, actions and settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities.

¨ Style and Interpretation
The story takes place in seven connected but carefully separated rooms
The significance of the number seven—history of the word had seven stages—an individual’s life had seven stages—there were seven wonders of the world—universities divide learning into seven subjects—there are seven deadly sins—there are seven cardinal virtues—seven is important in mysticism

¨ The seven rooms represent the seven stages of a person’s life from birth to death.

¨ The Prince chases a figure of the RED DEATH through all the chambers only to die himself in the final chamber.

¨ Prince Prospero’s name implies happiness and suggests that all people use happiness to wall out the threat of death.

¨ The masked ball reminds us of the dance of death where a skeleton leads a group of people to the grave. (The Prince leads his people to the RED DEATH.)

¨ The significance of time is found in the clock of ebony in the final room. The clock takes on human aspects.

¨ The relationship of time to the RED DEATH helps us understand the symbolic meaning of the story.

¨ The seven rooms were laid out east to west which was to symbolize the course of the sun which measures earthly time.

¨ The last room is colored Red and Black symbolizing Death and Time.

¨ Blood pours out form every pore indicating that death is not outside of us but is a part of each of us.

¨ Its presence is felt in our imaginations as we become aware of the control death has over us.

¨ Theme—No one escapes death—it comes like a thief in the night.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Edgar Allan Poe

A. Write a sentence for each word below. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. masquerade
2. pestilence
3. sagacious
4. voluptuous
5. defiance

B. Briefly answer each question.

1. What effect does the first paragraph have on the reader?
2. What is the reason for the group’s seclusion?
3. Describe in detail each of the seven rooms, focusing on color.
4. How does the arrangement of the rooms differ from that of most imperial suites?
5. What room differs from all the rest? How does it differ?
6. How are the rooms lighted?
7. What causes the musicians to periodically stop playing? Why are they afraid?
8. Why is this a “gay and magnificent party”?
9. Why are color and music given so much emphasis in this story?
10. What happens at the stroke of midnight?
11. Describe the masked figure in detail?
12. How does Prince Prospero react to this imposter, and what does he promise to do to this specter of death?
13. What do the guests do at this point in the story?
14. Describe the masked figure’s actions.
15. What is the climax of the story?
16. How does the story end?

C. Write the letter “C” if the italics word is used correctly, and write the letter “I” if the word is incorrect.

1. The king was a sagacious ruler.
2. The word Gothic may be used to refer to a type of architecture or to a literary genre.
3. The bizarre phantasms of the night frightened Eric.
4. A dominion is a decorative piece of furniture.
5. Being blasphemous in school is inappropriate.
6. A person in seclusion is part of the crowd.

D. Briefly answer each question.

1. Who is the main character and what is his main objective?


2. What is the Red Death? Describe it manifestations.


3. Who is invited to go to Prospero’s court?


4. What and where is the center of the main action?


5. Describe the interior of the ballroom, specifically the order and color of the rooms and the windows.


6. Describe the final western room.


7. What was the result when people grabbed the masked figure?


8. What is he meaning of the last line: “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

THE OTHER TWO—NOTES

BY EDITH WARTON

EDITH WARTON
 BORN JANUARY 24,1862
 SHE WON THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR HER NOVEL, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE.
 SHE DIED AUGUST 1937, OF A STROKE.

THEMES AND MEANINGS
 THE STORY IS CONSIDED A COMEDY OF MANNERS WHICH SATIRIZES THE SENSIBILITIES OF NEW YORK ARISTOCRATS
 ALICE IS IMPERTURBABLE, LIGHTHEARTED, COMPOSED, WITH PERFECTLY BALANCED NERVES.

AS THE STORY UNFOLDS, WAYTHORN, HER PRESENT HUSBAND, COMES TO SEE ALICE IN A CHANGING LIGHT…A SHOE THAT TOO MANY FEET HAD WORN.

WAYTHORN BECOMES MORE TOLERANT OF HER AND LESS JUDGMENTAL AS THE STORY DEVELOPS.

THE STORY EXAMINES THE STRESSES AND FORCED ADJUSTMENTS TO MARRIED LIFE.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUES

 WARTON BLENDS REALISM WITH ELEMENTS OF SATIRE AND PARODY.
 IN THIS SHORT STORY THE SITUATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
 GREAT WORKS OF FICTION CONTAIN TWO ELEMENTS
 1) LIVING CHARACTERS (BELIEVABLE)
 2) A GENERAL LAW OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE
¨ This short story is taken from the book ROMAN FEVER AND OTHER STORIES

¨ In this story she dissects the elements of emotional subtleties, moral ambiguities, and implications of social restriction.

¨ The author is known for her elegance and precision and her sharpness of wit.

¨ The major theme is the effects of class on behavior and consciousness
¨
The American belief in progress and advance
¨ The contrast of customs

¨ Her writings are rooted in social and psychological realism

¨ Many of her stories deal with issues in her own life.



HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.


THE OTHER TWO by Edith Wharton

A. Write a sentence using the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. agitation
2. ballast
3. proffer
4. perennial
5. scrupulous

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. When the Waythorns return from their honeymoon, what is their first concern?
2. What does the reader learn about Mrs. Waythorn’s marital history?
3. Why has Haskett moved from Ithaca to New York City?
4. Why is it ironic that Varick becomes involved in Waythorn’s business affairs?
5. What error does Mrs. Waythorn make when she serves her husband coffee? Why is it significant?
6. Describe each husband in one sentence.
7. What are some changes in Mr. Waythorn’s attitude toward marriage? (See page 179, Part V, paragraphs 1 and 2)
8. Of what significance is the action that ends the story? What do you think will happen to the Waythorns

C. If the italized word is used correctly, write “C”. If not, write “I”.

1. In agitation the cats twitched their tails and hissed.
2. The princess had an unblemished reputation.
3. Sally was disturbed by the innuendos she had overheard.
4. A beautiful bouquet of flowers filled the earthen pot.
5. Do not lift that heavy box or you may rupture a disk.
6. A typhoid is a kind of nautical knot.
7. To be in a state of propinquity means to be far away.
8. To proffer something means to offer it.

D. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. Mrs. Waythorn has been married five times.
2. As the story opens, the reader learns that Lily Haskett is ill.
3. “The Other Two” refers to Mrs. Waythorn’s previous husbands.
4. Waythorn enjoys having cognac in his coffee.
5. Waythorn assists Varick in a business matter because Waythorn’s partner is ill.
6. Lily Haskett dies from typhoid fever.
7. At the end of the story the Waythorns divorce.

E. Briefly answer the following questions.


1. How many times has Alice been married and to whom?


2. Who is Lily and who are her parents?


3. Who is Gus Varick and what is his relationship to Mr. Waythorn?


4. What is Haskett’s complaint concerning Lily?


5. How does Waythorn view his wife’s behavior with Haskett and Varick?


6. Who ends up having tea together at the end of the story?

A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND—NOTES

BY FLANNERY O’CONNOR

FLANNERY O’CONNOR
 BORN IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, MARCH 24, 1925.
 SHE IS MOST NOTED FOR HER SHORT STORIES.
 SHE DIED ON AUGUST 3, 1964 AT THE AGE OF 39.

THEMES AND MEANINGS

 INTENSELY IRONIC STORY—THE HORRIFYING EFFECT OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE THREAT OF SUDDEN VIOLENCE AT THE HAND OF AN UNKNOWN ASSAILANT BECOMES A REALITY.
 BELIEVING THIS WOULD NEVER OCCUR, THE FAMILY IS LULLED INTO A FALSE SECURITY ABOUT ENCOUNTERING A PSYCHOPATHIC KILLER.
THE GRANDMOTHER’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE MISFIT FORCES HER TO FACE HER MOMENT OF DEATH.

HER ABILITY TO ACCEPT THIS DEATH IS THE SUPREME TEST OF HER FAITH.

THE GRANDMOTHER HAS A MOMENT OF REVELATION THROUGH HER CONCERN AND MATERNAL LOVE.

SHE REALIZES THAT SHE IS JOINED TO THE MISFIT BY THE HUMAN CONDITION.

THE STORY TAKES ITS CHARACTER FROM A REASONABLE USE OF THE UNREASONABLE.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE

 WHAT MAKES A STORY WORK IS ACTION, GESTURE OF CHARCTER THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER, AND FINDING THE REAL HEART OF THE STORY.
 ACTION IS TOTALLY RIGHT AND TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.
 AN ELEMENT OF BLACK HUMOR IS SEEN IN THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE MISFIT AND THE GRANDMOTHER.

• Setting—southern town—usually the main characters are women—The time is around the 1940s or 1950s.

• Theme—shows the moment of greatest desire and dread in a simple character’s life.
• Belief and Christianity are played out.
• She also shows the decline of the old South.

Characters

• The Grandmother—is an old lady with fashion ideas and manners—she is talkative, a bit silly, and full of herself. She tries to be manipulative. She thinks she is good, kind and loves her family, but she is also selfish.
• Bailey—is her son. He is impatient a bit silly and angry a lot of time. He attempts to be in charge.
• Mother is the wife of Bailey. She watches the kids and is a bit vacant.
• John Wesley and June Star—The children are wild, say anything and whine. They fight, manipulate their parents and make fun of their grandmother.
• The Misfit—is an escaped convict who looks educated, killed his father. He is chillingly exact, polite and can kill without remorse.

• The Conflict—The family is going on vacation while an escaped convict is on the loose. Grandmother directs the trip and directs them onto a deserted road, where they have an accident. A group of men stop to help them.

• Protagonist and Antagonist
• No one is appealing or sympathetic. Grandmother is the focal point and has a revelation towards the end. The Misfit is the advisory—good and evil are not distinct.

• Climax
• The grandmother recognizes the Misfit at the scene of the accident. The Misfit says it is to bad she recognized him.


• Outcome
• The entire family is shot and killed. Grandmother is the last to be killed. She tries to save herself but only annoys the Misfit.

• Themes—is based on Christianity and Spirituality. We would think the Grandmother represents goodness—but although she talks about goodness, she does not live it. Therefore O’Connor holds that life without spirituality is a living death—even at the end she has a chance of gaining salvation.
• God draws this family back to him forcibly.
• The grandmother is more prime and proper than any other person in the family and therefore compares herself to godliness.

• Another Theme—The dysfunctional family—The parents pay little attention to the grandmother and when they do they are quite rude. The unruly children represent the breakdown or respect and discipline and are a forecast of future generations. The Misfit represents evil.

• Point of View is 3rd person narrative from the perspective of the Grandmother.
It is also limited omniscience and total omniscience in the beginning of the story.

• The Plot—is linear and standard. If they go to Florida they are in danger—Only the end is surprising.

• The author—Flannery O’Connor wrote short stories, novels and essays. A Catholic from the Bible Belt, she laced her fiction with material from her religious background.
• Her vision is chilling—characterized by sudden violence and grotesques.
• She includes Catholic mystery and Southern manners.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND by Flannery O’Connor

A. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. What is the family doing at the beginning of the short story?


2. Who wants to go to Florida?


3. Where does the grandmother want to go?


4. What is the grandmother’s final argument for not going to Florida?


5. What has the grandmother secretly brought with her on the trip?


6. What are some of the normal things that happen on the trip before the accident?


7. What events occur to show that this trip is ordinary?


8. How could the grandmother be narrow-minded and opinionated at Red Sammy’s barbecue eatery?


9. Who is Red Sammy?


10. What events lead up to the accident? (Explain the detour, the cat, and the grandmother)


11. How does the grandmother attempt to talk The Misfit out of killing them?


12. What are The Misfit’s feelings about Jesus?

13. What is grandmother’s moment of grace?


14. Why does she say The Misfit is one of her own children?

THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS—NOTES

BY JOHN STEINBECK

JOHN STEINBECK
 BORN 1902—DIED 1968
 HIS BEST KNOWN NOVEL IS THE GRAPES OF WRATH
 THE CENTRAL THEME OF HIS WRITINGS IS THE QUIET DIGNITY HE SAW IN THE POOR AND THE OPPRESSED

 HIS CHARACTERS ARE TRAPPED IN AN UNFAIR WORLD.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
 THE SETTING OF THIS STORY IS SALINAS, CA.
 THE CHARACTERS ARE HAPPY TO BE MAKING A DECENT LIVING BUT THEY SENSE THERE MAY BE SOMETHING MORE TO LIFE.

 ELISA HAS THE TRADITIONAL ROLE OF A WOMAN’S PLACE. SHE DISPLAYS NO PARTICULAR STRENGTH, BUT WE LEARN THAT SHE IS A SENSITIVE, LOVELY WOMAN.
STEINBECK’S QUESTION TO US IN THIS STORY IS…SHOULD A PERSON SETTLE FOR SECURITY AND A LACK OF PAIN OR SHOULD HE OR SHE RISK HIS OR HER DREAMS IN AN ATTEMPT TO LIVE MORE COMPLETELY AND INTENSELY.

THE STORY SUGGESTS THAT THE RISKS ARE HIGH.


ELISA ALLEN IS GRATEFUL FOR HER HUSBAND’S KINDNESS AND PROVISIONS OF SECURITY BUT THE STRANGER BRINGS THOUGHTS OF A LIFE SHE HAS SENSED SHE WAS MISSING.

THE PARADOX IS THAT THE STRANGER HAS MANIPULATED HER EMOTIONS TO FULFIL HIS OWN NEEDS—OF MONEY—HE HAS NO CONCERN FOR HER.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE

 ELISA’S SELF WORTH IS TIED TO THE LAND
 THE SETTING IS CONNECTED TO ELISA’S PSYCHIC STATE
 ELISA IS EARTH BOUND—ROOTED TO HER GARDEN BUT ALSO HELD DOWN BY IT.
 THE STRANGER IN CONTRAST IS NOT BOUND BY ANYTHING—HE HAS A FREEDOM TO ROAM
 CONTRAST FROM ELISA AND HER GARDON TO THE WORLD BEYOND.

• John Steinbeck wrote novels, short stories, dramas and essays

• He is best known for realistic and vivid portrayals of hardships of the great Depression in THE GRAPES OF WRATH

• His chief subject is the process of life.

• All our human intentions are betrayed by our animal natures

• Steinbeck sees himself as a realist in the depression era.

• Henry Allen is the husband who is a hard working cattle farmer

• Elise Allen is his wife who is a strong woman and does not seem to receive recognition from her husband in a romantic way.

• The frustration deepens because she is childless and feels the need to mother.

• Her outlet is her flower garden.

• The chrysanthemums are a symbol which represent her tender, inner self.


• They may symbolize her children--she loves and care for them and protects her flowers.

• Elisa becomes interested in the “junk man” because he shows interest in her chrysanthemums ( in order to persuade her to find something for her to fix)

• With the strangers comments about the chrysanthemums, she feels appreciated and attracted to him.

• In their exchange she gives the man a potted chrysanthemum—which is a part of herself.

• She now has confidence in her womanhood and she transforms from a gardener to a model.

• The stranger’s interest in her chrysanthemums gives her confidence to grow and blossom.

• The last critical scene—Elisa sees her precious chrysanthemums on the ground minus the pot they were in.

• She was fooled into giving a part of herself to a stranger only to find that part of her is discarded.

• As she begins to cry she reverts back to her old self—losing her self confidence.

ESSAY QUESTIONS ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS

1. Explain the contribution of Steinbeck’s description to the story’s themes and ideas. How, where and why does he use description?

2. Articulate Steinbeck’s treatment of the chrysanthemums as a symbol.

3. Discuss Elisa in relation to constructions to womanhood. How does this story depict` women and why does Elisa cry at the end of the story?


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS by John Steinbeck

A. Write a sentence for each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. foothills
2. shaggy
3. burro
4. aphids
5. terrier

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Describe the setting. Why was it a time of “quiet and waiting.”?
2. What is Elisa Allen doing at the beginning of the story? Be specific.
3. What statement does Henry make about Elisa’s talent for gardening, and how does he wish she might use her talents?
4. What business deal has Henry just made?
5. How does he plan to celebrate?
6. How does Henry joke with Elisa? What is her response?
7. Who arrives, and what is his mission?
8. What does the author suggest when he says that the man’s eyes are full of “the brooding that gets in the eyes of teamsters and of sailors”?
9. What is the tinker’s annual route, and how long does it take?
10. At first, Elisa is annoyed by and resistant to the tinker’s sales pitch. What does the tinker do to change her attitude?
11. Why does Elisa give the tinker a pot of chrysanthemum shoots?
12. Do you believe the tinker’s story about the other woman’s garden? Why or why not?
13. What effect does Elisa and the tinker’s discussion of flowers have on Elisa? Describe it.
14. Describe her reaction to the tinker’s visit as she prepares for her evening out.
15. Comment on the kind of communication that exists between Henry and Elisa based on his comments on her appearance. What is the dark speck in the road, and how does it get there?
16. What does Elisa realize when she sees the dark speck?
17. Elisa asks to have wine at dinner and suggest she might be willing to go to the fights. Why does she do this?
18. Is Elisa aware of the importance of her need to communicate with her husband? If so, how does the reader know?

C. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. Henry sells the three men and oil well.
2. Elisa is a woman who enjoys caring for her flowers.
3. The tinker repairs two old aluminum saucepans for Elisa.
4. In appreciation she invites him in for a cup of specially brewed coffee.
5. Elisa asks Henry if they could have wine for dinner, and she asks him questions about the prize fights.

D. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Who is Elisa Allen?


2. What do she and her husband compliment each other on?


3. What will they be celebrating that evening?


4. How will they celebrate?


5. On what does Elisa focus her energy?


6. What does the stranger offer to Elisa?


7. Describe the stranger.


8. What does the stranger do to finally get work from Elisa?


9. What does Elisa give to the stranger and why?

10. What feelings does Elisa experience after the stranger leaves?


11. What does Elisa notice on the road as she and her husband drive to town?


12. Why is Elisa “crying weakly—like an old woman” at the end of the story?




ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS

1. In the beginning of the story how is Elisa Allen characterized? How is her close connection with nature established? Describe her husband. What details suggest there is something lacking in their relationship?









2. The arrival of the repairman reveals another side of Elisa. How do her actions and remarks differ from those with her husband earlier?





3. How is Elisa affected by the repairmen’s visit? What does he represent to her? What emotions has his visit aroused in her?



4. After seeing the discarded plant shoots, Elisa realizes the repairman has exploited her dreams. Why does she ask detailed questions about the fights in which she had earlier shown no interest?

THE CATBIRD SEAT—NOTES

BY JAMES THURBER

JAMES THURBER
 BORN 1894 IN COLUMBUS, OHIO
 DIED 1961
 HE PRODUCED NOVELS, STORIES, PLAYS AND DOODLE DRAWINGS.
 HIS FAILING EYESIGHT FORCED HIM TO GIVE UP HIS DRAWINGS.
 FOR THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE HE WAS TOTALLY BLIND.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
 HIS SHORT STORIES ARE AN ACCOUNT OF THE ONGOING WAR BETWEEN THE SEXES.
 THURBER’S WOMEN SEEM TO HAVE THE ODDS ON THEIR SIDE.
 THE ONLY THING THAT WILL BRING VICTORY TO THE MALE IS HIS IMAGINATION.
IN THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SEXES EACH SIDE USES CHARACTERISTIC WEAPONS.

MRS. ULGINE BARROWS IS THE ANTAGONIST.
SHE HAS GOTTEN HER JOB THROUGH USE OF STRENGTH AND SEX APPEAL.

THE BOSS, MR. FITWEILER, IS COMMITTED TO HER AND GIVES HER COMPLETE CONTROL . HE IS COMPLETELY AT HER MERCY.
MR. MARTIN IS THE MAIN CHARACTER.
 AT FIRST HE THINKS TO DESTROY HER BY BRUTE FORCE.
 HE REALIZES VIOLENCE IS NOT HIS BEST WEAPON, HE CANNOT BEAT THE HEFTY, STRONG MRS. BARROWS.
 HIS IMAGINATION CAN DEFEAT HER
 HE BECOMES ANOTHER PERSON REVEALING THIS PERSONALITY ONLY TO MRS. BARROWS.
SHE IS TRAPPED WITHIN THIS LIE AND SHE IS INTERPRETED AS MAD.

MR. MARTIN’S SELF-DISCIPLINE WILL NEVER REVEAL HIS SECRET SELF.

TO THURBER WOMEN ARE THE STRONGER SEX.

MEN WILL TRIUMPH OVER WOMEN IF THEY USE CRAFTINESS, IMAGINATION, AND THE ABILITY TO KEEP A SECRET.

The author is a short story writer, cartoonist, wrote essays and dramas. He is also considered a humorist.

• He satirized the events of middle-class life and relations between the sexes.

• The stereotypical Thurber man is bewildered and beset by the world’s mundane woes.

• He sees women as winning the battle of the sexes—but sets out to achieve secretly a compensatory victory.

• In “The Catbird Seat” Martin, the main character, is considered an exception in Thurber’s world.

• “The Catbird Seat” explores the myth of the submissive man at the mercy of the dominating woman.

• Mrs. Barrows and Mr. Martin are contrasted throughout the story.

• She is athletic and loud—he is more submissive and less competitive.

• She attacks his very being by ridiculing his self-perceptions,frugality and efficiency in the filing department.

• His ultimate goal becomes how to get Mrs. Barrows out of his precious filing department.

• Mr. Martin feels that intellect will always overcome brute force.

• His mode of attack is based on his reputation and Mrs. Barrows reputations at F&S.

• When Mr. Martin goes to Mrs. Barrows house to kill her—she thinks he is there to seduce her and acts as if she is on a date.
• After his visit to Mrs. Barrows—Mr. Martin tells her that he sitting in the Catbird Seat.

• Mrs. Barrows, reporting all to Mr. Fitweiler, the boss, looks like she has lost her mind and is escorted out of the building.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE CATBIRD SEAT by James Thurber

A. Write a sentence using each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. cunning
2. oxcart
3. rampage
4. edifice
5. substantiate

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Thurber’s tone is set forth in the first two paragraphs of the story. How would you describe it? Why?
2. What is Martin’s job? Is he successful at it? How do you know? Quote the line.
3. Why does Martin dislike Mrs. Barrows?
4. Does he feel threatened by her? If so, discuss. (P. 325)
5. For what is Martin especially commended by his employer (p. 325)?
6. What does Martin mean when he says that if he couldn’t “rub out” Mrs. Barrows, he would have to place “the rubbing-out of Ulgine Barrows in the inactive file forever”?
7. What is Martin’s scheme when he goes to visit Mrs. Barrows’ apartment?
8. What actually happens, and what does Martin realize during their visit?
9. What comment does he make as he leaves?
10. What does his comment come to mean in terms of the story’s outcome? Explain.

C. If the italized word is used correctly, write “C”. If not, write “I”.

1. Mrs. Barrows screamed imprecations at Mr. Martin.
2. Some mushrooms are not to be edificed.
3. The storm last night was unruly.
4. She was appalled…
5. …by his obscene language.
6. Hot pink is a drab color.
7. Something that is ornate is not likely to be colorful or covered with decorations.
8. The angry boy went on a rampage and wrecked his room.

D. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. Mr. Martin is head of the filing department at F&S.
2. Mrs. Barrows is a Dodger fan, according to an assistant.
3. Mr. Martin enjoys Mrs. Barrows’ visits to his office.
4. Before Mr. Martin visits Mrs. Barrows’ apartment, she appears to be “sitting in the catbird seat.”
5. His reason for visiting her is to discuss his filing system.
6. Mr. Martin enjoys drinking a Scotch-and-soda.
7. He also enjoys smoking Winston cigarettes.
8. Mr. Fitweiler fears that Mrs. Barrows suffers from a persecution complex.
9. At the end of the story Mr. Martin is dismissed from his position at F & S.

E. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. In one sentence, describe the main plot line of the story.




2. Describe Mr. Martin and his habits. What is unusual in his purchase of the pack of Camels? Why does he buy the cigarettes?




3. What qualities in Mrs. Barrows lead Mr. Martin to plot her murder? Why does he like the term “rub out”?





4. Describe Mrs. Barrows. What is the source of her strange verbal expressions that so annoy Mr. Martin, such as “Are you tearing up the pea patch”? and “Are you scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel?”





5. Mr. Martin thinks of Mrs. Barrows, “She had begun chipping at the cornices of the firms’ edifice and now she was swinging at the foundation stones with a pickax.” What does he mean with this metaphor? Why does he see this as justification for murdering Mrs. Barrows?





6. Explain Mr. Martin’s movements on the day he plans to kill Mrs. Barrows. Why is he so careful to follow all of his usual routines?





7. Describe the humorous scene in Mrs. Barrows’s apartment. At what point during this scene does Mr. Martin think of a new way to eliminate Mrs. Barrows? What causes this change of plans?





8. Describe Mrs. Barrows’s reaction to Mr. Martin’s odd behavior. Does her behavior at the office the following day seem plausible to you?





9. What takes place in the interview between Mr. Martin and Mr. Fitweiler? Why is Mr. Fitweiler so nervous and apologetic?





10. What do we assume will be the fate of Mrs. Barrows at the end of the story? Why is the final sentence a fitting place to leave Mr. Martin?





11. Both Mr. Martin and Mrs. Barrows are one-dimensional characters who lack development and depth. They both possess only one or two prominent traits. One-dimensional characters are common in comedy. What trait does Thurber emphasize in Mrs. Barrows? In Mr. Martin? How do Mr. Martin’s habits complement these traits? In what ways are Mrs. Barrows and Mr. Martin opposites? Mr. Fitweiler is in some ways a stereotyped character, the typical boss. Explain how this is so.





12. The plot of “The Catbird Seat” turns on various clever ironies. In view of Mr. Martin’s character, what is incongruous about his decision to murder Mrs. Barrows? What is ironic and humorous about Mr. Martin’s behavior in Mrs. Barrow’s apartment? What is ironic about his language? Explain how the humor of the final scene of the story depends on incongruity. What is so ironic about the final turn of events?








13. Thurber liked to write humorously about the battle between the sexes. Often his pieces on this topic show a timid, contemplative man cunningly getting the better of an obnoxious, domineering woman. What does the expression “sitting in the catbird seat” mean? Explain how in the final scene Mr. Martin is sitting in the catbird seat. Why is his situation even better than what he had hoped for?

THAT EVENING SUN—NOTES

BY WILLIAM FAULKNER

WILLIAM FAULKNER
 BORN 1897 IN NEW ALBANY, MISSISSIPPI
 HE WAS HE OLDEST OF FOUR SONS AND CAME FROM AN OLD TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN FAMILY.
 HE DIED IN 1962 SHORTLY AFTER HIS 65TH BIRTHDAY.

THEMES AND MEANINGS
 THE SETTING IS EARLY 20TH CENTURY WITH SOUTHERN LIFE TRADITIONS SHOWING INEQUALITY OF THE RACES.
 THIS IS MAINLY A STORY ABOUT FEAR
 WHEN THE EVENING SUN GOES DOWN, NANCY’S IMAGINATION IS MOST ACTIVE AND FEARFUL.
 IF NANCY’S HUSBAND, JESUS, TAKES ACTION AGAINST THE WHITE FATHER OF HER BABY, NANCY WILL BECOME THE TARGET.
 SHE HAS NO ENFORCEABLE LEGAL RIGHTS



CHARACTERS
 FATHER, MOTHER, THREE CHILDREN
 QUENTIN (NARRATOR), CADDY AND JASON
 THREE BLACK CHARACTERS
 NANCY(THE HELP), DILSEY(COOKS AND CLEANS), JESUS (NANCY’S HUSBAND)
 MR. STOVALL RECEIVES SEXUAL FAVORS FROM NANCY AND DOES NOT PAY HER.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
 THE STORY USES MORE NARRATIVE RESOURCES IN DEVELOPING THE THEME.
 THERE IS LITTLE ACTION
 THE STORY USES A RETROSPECTIVE POINT OF VIEW.
 QUENTIN, THE OLDEST CHILD, NARRATES THE EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED 15 YEARS EARLIER.
 THE STORY JUXTAPOSES(COMPARES) THE ADULT WORLD AND ITS PROBLEMS WITH THE CHILDREN’S WORLD.
THE CHILDREN ARE NOT INNOCENT BECAUSE THEY HAVE ABSORBED THEIR PARENT’S ATTITUDES.

THEY ARE CRUEL AND PITILESS IN A MANNER OF INEXPERIENCES CHILDREN

IN QUENTIN’S ACCOUNT THERE IS NO SYMPATHY FOR NANCY’SCONDITION OR SITUATION.

• Characters (Important):
 • Nancy—washes clothing for a white family. Also sleeps with white men for money such as a Mr. Stovall, who did not pay her.
 • Dilsey—the black cook
 • Jesus—Nancy’s husband
 • Caddy Compson—child (white girl); later in life she is the boldest of the children, the most curious and alive.
 • Jason Compson—child (white boy); is a cowardly bully, who blames everyone else for his own mistakes.

CHARACTER (CONT.)
 • Father and Mother Compson—(white); Mother is an insufferable hypochondriac who whines about everything. FATHER is an idealistic and compassionate but pessimistic man, who senses the decay in the culture around him.
 • Quentin Compson—child (white boy) narrator of the story…narrates it after a lapse of 15 years; is a sensitive, intelligent, but ineffectual idealist.


• Faulkner wrote novels, short stories and poetry

• He is considered by many as a great writer

• He is best known as the chronicler of the decadent south.

• In the book THE SOUND AND THE FURY the character of Quentin comes back as an adult. He is the narrator of this story.
• Nancy is pregnant but it is not Jesus’s baby.

• Jesus is determined to get even with Nancy over her sleeping with white men.

• Jesus leaves and then comes back.

• Nancy is afraid to walk home alone, so Father and the children walk her home, but Mother is not happy about this, because Father is leaving her alone at home while walking their maid home.

• Quentin tells the story with a child’s perspective.

• Jesus can do nothing about the fact the Nancy sleeps with white men for money. He is a black man in a Southern society and both his wife and his property belong to the white man. This is not in actual ownership but in Southern practice.

• Jesus decides to punish Nancy rather than Mr. Stovall (who is white) because Jesus, as a black man, is submissive to the white Southern patriarchal values.

• Faulkner’s work is psychologically complex and often tragic.

• Faulkner tries to show the reader universal truths of the human heart by examining the characters he found in the South.

• Faulkner tries to symbolically represent the tragic bonds between black and white.

• He creates the universal human emotion…terror.

• Nancy’s hopelessness is not only just from her situation but also who she is…powerless in the white society.


• If Nancy’s husband would seek revenge on the white man (Mr. Stovall), he would be lynched.

• Nancy clings to the Compson child children because she knows her husband will not hurt her when the white children are around.
• Faulkner wrote between the two World Wars are was part of a generation who was trying to reconcile the horrors of war with the idealism that America was founded.

• He also had to deal with the rift imposed by the Civil War…slaves had been freed on paper, but the legacy of racism and discrimination continued to tear the south apart.

• Faulkner symbolically represents these tragic bonds between black and white by introducing elements of miscegenation and incest into his plot.

• The story is split by the innocent squabbling of the children and Nancy’s desperation.

• The story is like a detective story…the reader must piece together the different clues to come up with a story that makes sense.

• The reader must piece together the comments of a naïve child and the significance of the incidents in town where Nancy is kicked and then thrown in jail.


• The contrast between the innocent naivete of the children and Nancy’s desperate attempts to draw their protective normalcy between her and Jesus emphasize her vulnerability.

• These plot elements unite to create an unforgettable atmosphere of fear and desperation.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THAT EVENING SUN by William Faulkner

A. Write a sentence for each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. intimation
2. personnel
3. foretell
4. momentary
5. harried

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Why is Monday morning no different now from any other day of the week?
2. How long ago had the events in this story taken place?
3. What sort of man is Mr. Stovall? Be specific
4. What happens to Nancy in jail?
5. Why is Nancy afraid of Jesus?
6. Why does Nancy take the children to her cabin?
7. At the end of the story, does the reader know whether Nancy will return to work for the white family?
8. What is the significance of the title?
9. What is the author’s attitude regarding black women?
10. How is Nancy treated by the family for which she works? Give an example.
11. Why is she jailed?
12. What does Jesus mean when he tells the children that Nancy has a watermelon under her dress?
13. Of what does the mother of the white family complain?

C. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Who is Nancy?


2. Who is Dilsey?


3. Who is Jesus and what is his relationship to Nancy?


4. What does Nancy do to supplement her income?


5. What is Nancy afraid of?


6. What does Mr. Compson allow Nancy to do?


7. Where does Nancy think she will be ambushed?


8. How does Mrs. Compson feel about Mr. Compson’s actions?


9. Who walks Nancy home on her final day of employment with the Compson’s?


10. What is Nancy doing at the end of the story?


11. Who is the narrator of the story?

D. Continue to briefly answer these questions.

STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. How are we first introduced to Nancy? Why do the children go to “chunk” her house/ Why can’t they go up to the door?

2. Why does Mr. Stovall knock Nancy down and then kick her in the mouth?

3. What vice did the watermelon come off of?

4. Why did Father tell Jesus to stay off this place?

5. What kind of wife and mother is Mrs. Compson? Who is her main concern?

6. What sense to you get of Caddy from her comments and questions. For example, “I’m going, too…Let me go, Father.” “Let what white men alone?…How let them along?” and when Jason says, “Nancy’s scaired of the dark,” Caddy says, “So are you” and the mother jumps on “You, Candace!”

7. Why is Dilsey’s husband’s name ironic?

8. What is Dilsey like? How can you tell from what she says and does?

9. How can you see the similarly manipulative and selfish natures of Jason, Jr., and his mother. How does their father respond (don’t miss the humor in this.)

10. Be prepared: the “n-word” appears frequently in this story. Compare and contrast how the word is used by Nancy versus how the word is used by Jason. Remember that Jason is only five years old. He is just learning how to use the word. What does he learn during the course of the story? Why does Nancy respond? “I hellborn, child” to Jason’s question.

11. What is the significance of the last exchange between Caddy and Jason? Is Caddy sympathetic with Nancy? Is Jason? What does Caddy think of Jason?

THE MINISTER’S BLACK VEIL—NOTES

BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
 BORN 1804 IN SALAM, MASS INTO AN OLD PURITAN FAMILY
 DIED 1864
 SEVERAL OF HIS STORIES WERE PUBLISHED IN TWICE-TOLD TALES WHICH ESTABLISHED HIM AS A WRITER
 IN 1841 HE JOINED A COMMUNAL SOCIETY AT BROOK FARM NEAR BOSTON.
MOST OF HIS WRITINGS WERE PREOCCUPIED WITH THE EFFECTS OF PRIDE, GUILT, SIN, AND SECRECY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SYMBOLISM AND ALLEGORY.

HE WROTE THE SCARLET LETTER IN 1850 WHICH REVEALS PSYCHOLOGICAL INSIGHT WITH WHICH HE PROBED THE GUILT AND ANXIETY IN THE HUMAN SOUL.

THE SCARLET LETTER CONCERNED THE SIN AND GUILT AMONG THE PURITANS AND PROBED THE PROBLEMS OF EVIL AND ISOLATION IN HUMAN LIFE.

HAWTHORNS IS A ROMANTIC WRITER BUT HIS PERCEPTION OF THE DARK SIDE OF HUMAN LIFE OVERPOWERS OPTIMISM.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
 THE MAJOR THEME OF THE STORY IS THE SYMBOL OF THE VEIL REV. HOOPER WEARS.
 MR. HOOPER SUGGESTS ALL HUMANS SHOULD COVER THEIR FACES BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE SOME SECRET SIN OR SORROW.
 THE MAJOR THEME IS EVERYONE WEARS A BLACK VEIL—EVERYONE HAS A SECRET SIN TO HIDE FROM OTHERS.

THE 2ND MAJOR THEME IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SIN AS SORROW DEMANDS A HIGH PRICE.

THE VEIL STRIKES FEAR IN THE VILLAGERS HEARTS.

HIS FIANCEE, ELIZABETH, CANNOT MARRY HIM AND THE REV. HOOPER BECOMES A LONELY MAN.

IF YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE SECRET SINS OF YOUR HEART YOU WILL LEAD A LIFE OF LONELINESS AND BECOME APRISONER OFYOUR OWN HEART.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
 THIS IS A SYMBOLIC TALE OF SECRET SIN OR CRIME.
 THE MORAL LESSON IS THE FEAR THE VEIL STRIKES IN OTHERS BUT ALSO THE TRUTH IT MAY REVEAL.

• The story begins with a dramatic and unexplained change in the appearance of the town’s pastor.

• The darkened aspect of the veil is important as it parallels the changed viewpoint of the minister towards life.

• It also foreshadows the effect it will continue to have on him throughout the story.

• There is a dual reference to Hooper’s view being obscured from others and also from his reading the Bible.


• Hooper has come to the conclusion that human beings in their sinfulness are irrevocably far from God.

• He believes nothing he can do can bring his congregation into full communion with God because people are simply too worldly.

• Hooper knows he is different—he is only too aware of his mortal sinfulness.

• But he is different because of his profound awareness of sin.

• This is what separates him from his fellow man—the veil is merely a symbol of the realization.

• Because he is so conscious of his sinfulness he cannot share in the simple joys of life.

• He also is incapable of clarifying the Scriptures because now he is more aware of the obscurity of the ways of God.

• The dramatic conclusion shows that Hooper sees all people with a veil upon their faces—and they are filled with sinfulness.




HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE MINISTER’S BLACK VEIL by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A. Write a sentence for each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.

1. parable
2. crape
3. discourse
4. pathos
5. sagacious

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. What is odd about the Reverend Mr. Hoopers’ appearance?
2. What parts of his face are covered by the veil? Explain
3. How do the parishioners react? Be specific.
4. How does the wearing of the veil affect the impact of his sermons?
5. How do the people of the parish react to the minister’s blessings (p. 407, paragraph 1)?
6. In what other ways do the parishioners express their feelings toward the minister’s wearing of the veil (p. 407)?
7. Was the veil appropriate for funerals? For weddings? Discuss, providing the evidence (p. 408).
8. Mr. Hoopers’ fiancée, Elizabeth, discusses his wearing of the veil. What is the outcome of their conversation (pp. 410-411)? Why?
9. What is the one good effect of the black veil (p. 412)?
10. Who takes care of Mr. Hooper on his death bed?
11. At this point the author begins to explain the significance of the black veil. What impact has it had on the people around him? Quote the lines from page 413, paragraph 3.
12. The minister of Westbury, who is with Hooper as he is dying, ask if Hooper is ready for “the lifting of the veil that shuts in time from eternity.” How does Hooper react?
13. Is the minister buried with his veil still on?

C. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. Mr. Hooper’s veil covers his entire face.
2. The wearing of the veil during the preaching of sermons made their impact even more powerful.
3. Elizabeth asks Mr. Hooper to “Life the veil but once, and look her in the face.”
4. Mr. Hooper and Elizabeth celebrate their wedding vows.
5. When Mr. Hooper dies the veil is removed by the minister of Westbury.

D. Briefly answer the following questions.


1. What is the subject of Mr. Hooper’s sermon on the first day he wears the black veil?


2. What does Reverend Hooper tell Elizabeth the veil is? What two possible explanations for wearing the veil do they discuss?


3. What reasons does Hooper give Elizabeth not to desert him? For what reason does he smile after Elizabeth breaks their engagement and leaves?


4. What does the author say is “the one desirable effect” the black veil has?


5. On his deathbed, what does Reverend Hooper say men, women, and children have done? What doe she say he sees on every face?


6. What human emotions are shown to fail between Elizabeth and Reverend Hooper as a result of the veil?

7. What is the chief effect that the veil has on Reverend Hooper? Support your answer with evidence from the story.


8. What might Reverend Hooper mean when he says that everyone wears a black veil?


9. List at least four possible reasons Reverend Hooper might have for wearing the veil. Why is if appropriate that we never learn the precise reason?


10. Hawthorne purposely leaves the meaning of the veil ambiguous and up to the reader. What do you think the veil means? Why?


11. A critic writes about “The Minister’s Black Veil”: The fullness of life…can only come about through self-surrender, through a refusal to withhold oneself, or any part of one’s personality, in a human relationship.
In the last analysis, this was what Hawthorne believed was the essence of human reality. The most compelling truth of all that Mr. Hooper tried to teach by means of his dismal veil is the necessity of self-surrender.
Do you agree that self-surrender is central to the story? Support your opinion by discussing Mr. Hooper’s intended marriage and the marriage of “the handsomest couple in Milford village” in he light of this statement.

THE STRING OF BEADS—NOTES

BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

W.SOMERSET MAUGHAM
• BORN IN 1874 IN PARIS AS THE 6TH YOUNGEST SON TO A SOLICITOR OF THE BRITISH EMBASSY
• HE WROTE OF HUMAN BONDAGE WHICH IS HIS BEST KNOWN NOVEL AND IS SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.
• HIS WRITING IS CONSIDERED GREAT NARRATIVE FACILITY, USING SIMPLICITY OF STYLE, DISILLUSIONED AND IRONIC POINT OF VIEW.
• HE LIVED TO BE 91 AND DIED DEC. 16, 1965.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE STRING OF BEADS by W. Somerset Maugham

A. Write a sentence for each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.

1. aggrieved
2. bortsch
3. piqued
4. flushed
5. insinuated

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. What story does Laura tell? Provide a synopsis
2. How would Laura change the ending of the story.
3. Does the narrator like this kind of story? Why does he or doesn’t he like her proposed ending?

C. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. Laura tells the narrator a story.
2. They are enjoying the food at a dinner party.
3. Miss Robinson’s necklace is valued at fifty thousand pounds.
4. Two agents arrive to redeem the necklace they have accused her of stealing.
5. Miss Robinson continues with her job as governess with Sophie after returning from vacation.

D. Briefly answer each question.

1. Who is the narrator of the story?


2. What is the initial setting?


3. When did this story actually happen?


4. Whom did the Livingstones invite to dinner?


5. Who knows more about precious stones than anyone in the world?


6. What does he notice about Miss Robinson?


7. What was Miss Robinson’s reply?


8. Who comes to talk with Miss Robinson during the dinner?


9. What would be thrilling to find out about Miss Robinson according to Laura?


10. What did Miss Robinson throw on the table?


11. What was Miss Robinson’s explanation?


12. What did the men give Miss Robinson?


13. Where does Miss Robinson end up with her 300 pounds?


14. What is the long and short of it?

THE GOLDEN HONEYMOON—NOTES

BY RING LARDNER
RING LARDNER
• AN AMERICAN WRITER AND HUMORIST
• BORN IN 1885 IN NILES, MICHIGAN
• DIED IN 1933

THEMES AND MEANINGS

• THE MEANING OF THE STORY ISNOT IN WHAT HAPPENS BUT HOW IT HAPPENS AND TO WHOM.
• BOTH CHARLEY AND LUCY REMAIN UNAWARE OF THEIR PREJUDICES, NARROWNESS, SENTIMENTALITY, AND BORINGNESS OF THEIR LIVES.
• THE STORY IS TOLD IN 1ST PERSON POINT OF VIEW FROM CHARLEY;S PERSPECITGVE
• IT TAKES PLACE IN THE 1920’S AND THE WRITING IS IN THE FORM OF A DAILY DIARY ENTRY.
¨ The story uses language of monologue to establish the relationship between Charley and Mother and to establish the whole character of Charley.

¨ Charley is a character dominated by age.

¨ He repeats old jokes and clings to the boring details of life.

¨ The crisis of “The Golden Honeymoon” is equally narrow and querulous with age.

¨ Charley and his wife encounter her old suitor (boyfriend) and the two couples begin a rivalry at cards, checkers and horseshoes.

¨ Charley get into an argument with his wife’s old boyfriend and also gets into an quarrel with his wife which eventually ends when the other couple move onto Orlando.

¨ The writing is concerned sympathetic human interest writing.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE GOLDEN HONEYMOON by Ring Lardner

A. Write a sentence for each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.

1. compartment
2. berth
3. giddy
4. stroll
5. fret

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Why wouldn’t Mother and the narrator be welcome at a Quaker meeting?
2. The narrator will repeat the sentence, “You can’t get ahead of Mother” several times in this story. Basing your answer on the first four paragraphs, how would you describe their relationship?
3. Which anniversary are the two main characters celebrating?
4. This story is characterized by dialect, which is the language spoken by the characters in the region where they live during the 1920s, when the story first appeared. Dialect often adds to the tone of a story. Find at least eight phrases using incorrect English on page 421 and list them.
5. When, where, and by what means does the couple’s journey begin?
6. What do all the details of the trip add to the story?
7. The golden honeymoon couple stays at a hotel in St. Petersburg. The narrator comments at length on Lewis Tent City, which is the headquarters for Tin Can Tourists. What does this discussion suggest about the public’s attitude toward campers? How ha this attitude changed? Discuss, in several sentences.
8. What civic organization is featured in this story?
9. What kinds of games do the characters in this story enjoy?
10. What past connection exists between the main characters and the Hartsells?
11. How does this past connection affect Mother and the narrator as the story progresses?
12. How do you react to the face the narrator says he feels sorry for Hartsell? Do you think he really feels sorry? Discuss, giving reasons for your answer.
13. At what game does Mr. Hartsell beat the narrator?
14. The narrator’s frustration with his wife and Hartsell finally reaches a climax on page 433. Quote the lines in which he articulates his frustration.
15. What happens after this, and how does the story end?

C. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. The couple about whom the story was written is celebrating their golden wedding anniversary.
2. Most of the story takes place in St. Petersburg, Florida.
3. The couple appears to be in their seventies.
4. Mrs. Hartsell was formerly the narrator’s fiancée.
5. The narrator and his wife appear to have had an unhappy, stress-filled life.

D. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Who is the narrator of the story and what person is it told in?


2. What place do these adventures occur?


3. How does Charley reveal himself as shallow, insensitive, and a bore?


4. What structure does the story take? (how is it told)


5. What is the most important person in Charley’s life?


6. Who is John H. Kramer and what is his relationship to Charley?


7. The real story of Charley’s begins after what?


8. What is Charley’s real story?


9. What status and appearance are important to Charley?


10. Who manages and carries all the money?


11. What social activities do Charley and Lucy plunge into at the park?


12. What does Mrs. Hartsell know of Lucy and Frank’s previous relationship?


13. How does Charley fell about Mr. and Mrs. Hartsell form Michigan?


14. When playing rogue, what does Mrs. Hartsell drop?


15. Charley is unbeatable at what game? What is Mrs. Hartsell’s reaction to this?


16. What game is Mr. Hartsell very good at?


17. Who blurts out the truth about Lucy’s former relationship with Frank and why?


18. The last few paragraphs of the story describe what events?

HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE CHASER BY JOHN COLLIER

A. Use each of these words in a sentence.
1. chaser
2. imperceptible
3. potion
4. sole
5. detachment

B. Write true or false for each statement
1. The old man sells a potion specifically by designed as a glove cleaner.
2. He says the effects of his potion are permanent.
3. He also says that he sells a potion that will make a person change altogether.
4. The flavor of his potion is imperceptible in orange juice.
5. The old man suggests that one has to save up in order to purchase his love potion.

C. Briefly answer the following questions.
1. Name the two characters.
2. Are any clues given as to their ages? Explain.
3. What is ominous about the old man’s first example of a mixture with extraordinary effects?
4. What do you think the old man means when he says, “Lives need cleaning sometimes”?
5. What does the old man tell Alan about the love potion’s effects?
6. What is the theme of the story? Does the title reflect the theme? Explain.
7. How would you describe the author’s tone?
8. In retrospect, how does the description of the old man’s apartment reflect his outlook on life?
9. Why will the potion a person purchases later by more “expensive”?
10. Explain the dramatic irony in the title.

ANALYSIS
THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE
BY STEPHEN CRANE

1. Crane’s fiction is part of American literature’s shift form Romanticism into realism. He is a realist, naturalist, impressionist, and a symbolist.

2. He focused on the problems and details of ordinary life in his generous use of conversational and street language.

3. In The Red Badge of Courage, Crane broke with conventional idealizations of war by showing an individual soldier’s struggle to survive the emotional ravages of combat. Henry was in the midst of turmoil of a conflict, which had to clear meaning to him.

4. He uses objective viewpoint, personifications of nature, and approaches to human suffering.

5. This story is told in episodes. Critics complained that he could not develop a plot. The story was divided into individual scenes.

6. The conflict within Henry was staged between two traits—hero vs. coward.

7 The story is built on a philosophical and symbolic pattern.

8. At the end of the story, Crane does not leave us with moral.

9. Henry Fleming is first a coward, they he is fearful, and finally he is motivated into battle by his egoism.

10. The stream of Henry’s thoughts tells the story, and we, as the reader, must perceive the hero’s environment through Henry’s subjective consciousness.

11. The battle is presumed to be the one fought at Chancellorville.

12. Crane focuses upon one Union Army volunteer.

13. Other characters enter but are only minor and show Henry’s relationship to other soldier and his relationship to the complex war of which he is such an insignificant part.

14. We are in Henry’s consciousness…
-we share his boyish dreams of glory,
-his excitement in anticipating battle action,
-his fears,
-his cowardice and flight,
-his inner justification,
-his wish for a wound,
-his gaining the “false red badge”,
-his secret knowledge of his badge,
-his “earning” his badge as he later fights fiercely and instinctively,
-his joy at thinking of his own bravery and valiant actions,
-and his final feelings.

15. After all Henry has experienced, at the end of the novel, he tells himself that now he is a man.

16. This novel, The Red Badge of Courage, is a work of the imagination that will endure as Crane intended to be…”a psychological portrayal of fear.”

THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE

CHAPTERS 1 AND 2

-army is resting by the river
-tall soldier (Jim Conklin) comes back with rumors that the troops will move out soon
-he tells of a plan he overheard
-one private doesn’t believe him saying they will never move
-the tall soldier defends the rumor and a heated discussion begins
-the young soldier (Henry Fleming) goes back to into his hut to think about what is to come
-the young soldier has been dreaming of battles all of his life and enlisted against the wishes of his mother
-as he is leaving his mother gives him strong advice
-the young soldier sets off for Washington and is treated like a hero along the way
-young soldier has heard stories from experienced soldiers and he is worried that he might run away from the battle
-he asks Jim if he thinks anyone may run or he may run
-Jim’s response, Maybe, and it would depend on the other soldiers
-Henry is reassured that he is only lacking confidence
-soon the regiment begins to march
-Henry wishes he were home instead of marching
-Wilson (the loud soldier) comes to discuss the events with Henry he tells Henry he is sure he would not run from the battle

-Henry is a fresh-faced soldier who is eager and frightened of the battle
-being described as “the youth” lends itself to anonymity as he can represent an every man persona
-Jim Conklin initials are thought by some to suggest his role as a symbolic Christ-like figure
-Henry’s main concern is his ability to act courageously in the face of personal danger
-he doubts his own bravery
-he sees the impending battle as a test of his character
-his enlistment was an attempt to seek adventure, personal advancement and a chance to fight for his country
-soldiers are not well informed about the army’s plans and are eager to go into battle

CHAPTER 3 AND 4

-crossing a bridge in the dark, Henry is afraid they might be assaulted at any moment
-next morning the whole regiment is awakened and begins to run although they do not know why until they hear gunfire in the distance
-Henry decides he has been forced into battle by the government
-walking they pass a dead soldier on the ground
-stopping the soldiers begin to build mound with stones but then are told to withdraw
-they march again but are angry with their commanders
-Wilson tells Henry this battle will be his first and last and asks him to take a yellow envelope back to his family
-regiment is halted and bullets begin to fly by them—lieutenant is struck in the hand
-regiment stand motionless, watching the Confederate in front of them retreat

-the soldiers move closer to battle and Henry realizes the moment of truth is coming
-war suddenly becomes real to him and he doesn’t like it
-Crane’s description of their first taste of battle is chaotic and scattered
-soldiers retreating, but Crane’s imagery focuses on the blurriness of movement and confusion—all focus is lost
-fourth chapter ends with suspense
-novel has been building up to this great moment when Henry will have to prove himself
-air of impatience in the story and waiting for “what”
-ready for battle
-Wilson’s foreshadowing of his own death adds to the grim uncertainty


CHAPTERS 5 AND 6

-someone shouts that the Confederates are coming and the regiment prepares to fight
-a General rides by and tells then that they must hold them
-a Captain tells them to hold their fire
-Henry sees the enemy and fires one wild shot
-he suddenly feels he is part of the group and no longer an individual
-Henry feels rage and wishes he could attack the enemy with his bare hands
-he sees his fellow soldiers get shot and then he sees the enemy soldiers begin to scatter and retreat
-Henry notices the blue sky and wonders at the tranquility of nature amid all this fighting
-Henry sleeps and wakes up with new confidence-war is not frightening to him
-another Confederate brigade approaches—the man next to Henry puts down his gun and runs away and Henry puts down his gun and runs away
-Henry is overcome with fear hearing shells fly over his head
-he sees the battle in action, hears the General giving orders, and feels a great amount of anger towards the General for staying in that place
-the General shouts that they have held the army

-Henry experiences two different reactions to the battle
-first he is calm, feeling apart of the group
-second he feels nothing but fear and the desire to escape as quickly as he can
-neither case is based on rational thinking, he acts according to his instinct and desire for survival
-Crane describes the battle well, although he was never a soldier
-he creates energy and suspense
-Henry’s motives are never questionable—he acts according to the momentary and involuntary actions of his body
-Henry is not heroic or cowardly—he fights because the other soldiers do
-he runs away because the sudden fear he sees in the eyes of his comrade overwhelms him and he wants to escape
-Henry does not have a strong personality of his own
-He represents the common soldier, an average young man expected to survive in increasingly difficult and senseless situations


CHAPTER 7 AND 8

-Henry feels cheated, because they have won the battle
-he justified that running away was better in the long run
-he feels resentment to the soldiers that stayed to fight
-he feels his judgment is superior and wonders how the more foolish soliers will react when he returns to camp
-he walks into the woods and throws a pinecone at a squirrel and notices that the squirrel runs away—this is a reassuring sign to Henry that he acting according to nature’s will
-as he walks he comes to an area of trees that looks like a chapel, he sees a corpse which scares him but he continues to star at the dead man—he backs away slowly, worried that it will come to life
-he hears a loud noise and runs towards it thinking it is a battle greater than what he has just run away from
-Henry sees a group of wounded soldiers and begins to walk with them
-tattered man begin talking with Henry and asks him where he has been hit
-Henry moves away from this man and his questions

-Henry’s ashamed of his actions, but will not accept his shame as normal
-he tries to rationalize his choices, arguing that the other soldiers were wrong to stay at the battle
-he needs more reassurance
-he looks to nature for reassurance and find solace in the tranquility of nature
-he finds a sign in the squirrel
-he must now try to reconcile his opinions on bravery with his own act of cowardice
-corpse in the woods is a tragic reminder of Henry’s mortality and his cowardly behavior
-corpse is a blotch on the landscape
-it is a horrific sight to him because in the dead soldier he sees what he might have been
-walking with the wounded soldiers, he feels he has no right to be with them because they stayed and fought
-he is too ashamed to admit he is not wounded so he runs away
-he is as afraid of being found out as he was of being killed in the battle


CHAPTER 9 AND 10

-leaving the tattered man, Henry continues to walk with the wounded soldiers, but is still uncomfortable with them
-he wishes he had a wound, thinking the these soldiers are happy
-he calls the wound “a red badge of courage” –a bloody proof of bravery in battle
-ghostlike soldier walks beside Henry
-Henry recognizes him to be Jim Conklin
-he tells Henry he was shot and is afraid of falling and being run over by an artillery wagon—he asks Henry to take him off the road before the wagons come
-Jim begins to run into a field and Henry follows him trying to stop him
-Jim finds a place in the field in which to die
-Henry walks again with the wounded
-tattered man talks about home; that he is wounded; Henry should be careful especially if he has an internal wound
-Henry runs off again

-Jim Conklin returns in a Christ-like pose—marching to his death
-Henry wants to help him, but can do little—he is grief-stricken by Jim’s death and this only adds to his shame
-Henry has a full-fledged secret and resents the tattered man for trying to uncover it
-he doesn’t want to see death again and he feels compelled to escape
-he is concerned about being found out as a fraud, and worries that faking a wound is the most cowardly behavior possible
-Henry longs for the “red badge of courage” as proof of his bravery
-he feels he does not deserve to escape cleanly from battle and want to hide his cowardice
-he is jealous of the other soldiers’ wounds, thinking that they are something to be earned


CHAPTER 11 AND 12

-Henry sees wagon retreating and begins to feel that perhaps his actions were okay
-he sees forward-moving infantry and wishes he could change places with one of the soldiers
-he feels a sudden desire to fight but has no rifle
-it will be extremely difficult to find his own regiment at this point
-he doesn’t want to return after he ran away
-he feels that if he is not like the other soldiers, he will never be made into a hero
-the men in the blue uniforms come running back towards him and he is lost in the midst of them
-he grabs one of them and tries to ask him what is going on, the man picks up his rifle and hits Henry over the head so Henry will let him go
-Henry is overcome with pain and weakness and falls to the ground
-he gets up and continues to walk on—wound is painful
-another soldier walks with him and sees that he is badly injured
-he takes Henry to his regiment

-despite Henry’s fear and shame, the war still provokes a strong desire to fight
-he want to join the other infantry
-his injured head gives Henry something to think about
-if causes Henry to feel pain
-one soldier thinks he fought with his regiment and was grazed by a bullet
-Henry does not seek to manipulate, but he does not wish to clarify his recent actions


CHAPTERS 13 AND 14

-Henry fears the mockery of his fellow soldiers but can’t resist the fire and promise of food and rest
-he sees Wilson and tells him that he was wounded
-the corporal tells him that he was just grazed by a bullet, leaving a wound similar to being hit with a club
-the wound is bandaged and Henry falls asleep on Wilson’s blanket
-Henry, not feeling well the next morning, allows Wilson to adjust the bandage
-Henry observes the Wilson is no longer loud and he has lost much of his pride and conceit
-they talk of the upcoming battle, and Wilson says his attitude has changed since the last battle
-Henry tells Wilson that Jim C. is dead
-Wilson says they lost half the regiment, but they keep coming back

-Henry earns respect from his comrades for his false “red badge of courage”
-the wound gives him an excuse to avoid speaking of his escape from battle
-he worries that he will be found out
-he is somewhat paranoid and surprised by Wilson’s new attitude
-he wonders if Wilson is suggesting that all the returning men actually had run from the battle
-Henry is entrenched in the world of secrets and falsehoods
-he lied about his injury, invented a story about being shot
-Henry clearly hides behind the blood received from the blow
-he uses it as proof that he fought the enemy


CHAPTER 15 AND 16

-standing in formation, ready to march, Henry remembers the envelope Wilson game him
-he doesn’t give it back immediately because he realizes no one knows his secret and he doesn’t want to remind Wilson of his emotional state
-he does think the envelope could be a weapon he can use against his friend
-Henry thinks his is experienced, seen the battle, not as fearsome as he expected
-he remembers other soldiers running from the gunfire and thinks they are weak and cowardly
-he insists he ran away with dignity
-Wilson comes and asks him for his envelope and Henry returns it without comment
-the regiment takes the place of another group of soldiers, wait, listen, begin to march again at length
-they argue that the generals are incompetent, but a lieutenant commands them to be quiet

-Henry, losing his shame and humiliation, develops a new arrogance
-He wants to taunt his friend, who had taken care of him, for his weakness of character—he doesn’t, not because he takes pity, but because he can think of nothing to say
-Henry shares his strong opinions about the war
-he has self-righteous view and other soldiers ask if he thought he fought yesterday’s battle along
-Henry’s anxiety about his secret being found out returns
-his concern is he knows he is lying to his comrades and he feels pains of guilt when the battle is mentioned
-he appears over-confident and certain of his skill concerning the battle
-Henry is accustomed to battle and does not fear it, but is worried about his own pride than death
-he enters this battle willingly hoping to achieve heroic status


CHAPTERS 17, 18 AND 19

-Henry is physically tired at having to fight off the enemy again and wants to rest
-he fights as though the enemy is a monster and another soldier yells at him to stop firing because he is firing at nothing
-other soldiers star at him because Henry has fought wildly
-the lieutenant says they could sin the war if all of them fought so eagerly
-Henry and Wilson go for water and hear two men discuss the battle
-general asks which troops the officer can spare and he answers the 304th because they fight like “mule drivers”
-Henry and Wilson return to their regiment, realizing their own insignificance and tell others they are going to charge
-regiment attacks, running into the woods, many of them are killed
-lieutenant shouts for them to keep moving; them must cross the field or them will all be killed
-Henry runs as fast as he can; the flag beside him gives him a sense of patriotic joy
-the color sergeant dies and Henry wrenches the flag away from him

-Henry’s in the rhythm of war, thrusts himself completely into his anger and sustains his strength during the fight
-he is not concerned with self-protection; he just wants to kill the enemy
-he learns that his regiment is not as important as others and he is insignificant, which reinforces his dissatisfaction with the soldier’s life
-he wants to prove himself, but he knows he will not have a deep effect on the war
-they charge again and Henry has conflicting desires
-the flag is a symbol of why Henry continues to fight
-he doesn’t understand the war, but has a love, worship and appreciation for the flag waving beside him


CHAPTER 20 AND 21

-Henry and Wilson fight over who will carry the flag
-their regiment crumbles away and the soldiers march back
-Henry is disappointed, but the group meets a group of enemy soldiers
-the two groups start firing and the enemy disappears
-the regiment is joyful, feeling renewed enthusiasm at their success
-marching they pass a group of soldiers that taunt them and they feel anger towards this group
-they stop and rest and the general says that this group did not go far enough
-the colonel says they went as far as they could
-Words of anger pass through the soldiers but a group of other soldiers tell Henry and Wilson the colonel telling the lieutenant that Henry and Wilson did a great joy carrying the flag
-he said they ought to be made major-generals and both men are pleased as their anger fades

-Henry’s pride is wounded by his regiment’s failure and the suggestion that they cannot do any better
-he wants to disprove the general’s words
-he is more focused on his own pride and individual achievements and not on the war as a greater phenomenon
-they defeat another regiment and stop to rest with a sense of accomplishment
-they feel the reproach of the general, and Henry is filled with anger, feeling the colonel is his true enemy
-angry emotions propel him to fight; the greater purpose of the war not even in his thoughts
-Henry and Wilson finally receive the recognition they think they deserve
-they long for respect and acknowledgement
-they cannot hide their happiness at being singled out for their efforts and success


CHAPTER 22, 23 AND 24

-Henry sees two regiments fighting but cannot tell who is winning
-his regiment is attacked and they are intent on disproving the term “mud-diggers” which has been applied to them
-Henry is still carrying the flag and is resolved not to lose any ground
-they charge, move forward, reach the enemy
-Henry sees the enemy’s flag and wants it; he runs towards it
-the other enemy soldiers scatter and Henry sees the other color-bearer on the ground, fighting to protect his flag, as he is dying
-Henry and Wilson both rush for the flag and grab it as the other color-bearer dies
-they capture four gray soldiers
-one gray curses his captors, another converses easily with them
-Henry has time to think about the battle from which he ran and feels a hint of shame
-he feels that he has become a man, the earth is open to him, and he looks forward to a life of peace

-Henry’s thoughts are still centered on proving his worth as a soldier
-they all want a symbolic victory
-the enemy flag represents this achievement of their success
-Henry and Wilson are heroes of the group so they both lunge after the flag as if fulfilling a personal duty
-Henry’s experiences, coming of age in this novel, are reached in these final chapters
-he is not altogether different now than from the start of the novel
-he is somewhat wiser to war and understands more about himself and his own potential
-he continues to have all the emotions he had at the beginning of the novel, but now he realizes he can move beyond them and have some control over his own actions
-we do not know the eventual fate of Henry
-he does not exist outside of the framework of this war except for a few memories of home
-his time in the war is a turning point in his life, but he does not fully comprehend how the war will affect his future
-he has a new appreciation for peace and for the serenity of nature