T or F: The reader forgives Nel and Sula for their handling of the Chicken incident.
OR
T or F: Overall, Ajax is presented as a positive character (p. 50)
OR
T or F: the depiction of the whites (63-64) is, overall, positive.
OR
T or F: the part in which Sula and Nel lie down in the shade, but before Chicken arrives, has some symbolic or matephorical possibilities.

Sula 30-48

I'm having trouble finding an image to go with this weekend's reading. Any suggestions?

Do just one:
T or F: Hannah Peace and Helene Wright are opposites of each other.
OR
T or F: as terrible as Eva's killing of her own son is, it does not mean that Eva is a monster.
OR
T or F: the author's attitude towards Eva's killing of her son seems to be about what it is toward most everything else.
OR
T or F: Eva's killing of her son is of a piece with her other ways.

True or False: Helene Wright is a sympathetic character in this reading assignment (that is, the reader finds herself rooting for Helene).

OR

T or F: Helene's mother, Rochelle, is a sympathetic character.

OR

In the scene on the train, the novel makes a nuanced (specific, fine-grained) statement about racism.

Same directions as yesterday.

King Lear 3.2-3.6

Ian McKellan as King Lear. This from a scene in the play we haven't read yet; he's embracing Gloucester.

Please comment on what's going on in these scenes in a general way or comment on a specific line or moment. If you haven't already and don't know what to write, try grappling with/handling a few specific lines. Then you'll have something to say. Don't forget to check in.

Mrs. Dalloway 181-190

A street map of part of London. The orange dots trace Mrs. Dalloway's morning walk. The violet dots are Elizabeth's route up to St. Paul's. Septimus and Crezia are in red. Peter is blue,
Richard is yellow. Source: http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sparks/TVSeminar/dallwalkmap.html

In this final reading assignment, Clarissa Dalloway leaves her party behind by going into an unoccupied room in order to take in the information that a young World War veteran being treated by Dr. Bradshaw has killed himself by throwing himself out a window. Meanwhile, Peter and Sally (now Lady Rosseter, by marriage) are talking together and waiting for Clarissa, who has asked them to wait until others have left so they can talk. Sally and Peter go over together what they think of certain others (Peter saying funny, sharp things), go over their past times at Bourton, and allude to what has happened to each in the intervening years. They watch Elizabeth crosses the room to be with her father. Clarissa comes out of the unoccupied room to talk to them, and the book ends.

Possible prompts:
--characterize Clarissa's inner response to hearing of Septimus' death.
--what quality does Sally have that has allowed her to be happy in a way that neither Clarissa nor Peter have been happy?
--what quality does Sally say that Clarissa has that has caused her a certain "lack"? Do you agree?
--briefly describe the very end of the book and then think about why the author might have chosen to end the book this way.
--note the design on the cover of the book, a reproduction of a Kandinsky painting, painted at about the same time Mrs. Dalloway was written. Why might somebody have thought it was a good idea to have this painting on the cover?

Remember, you are not required to respond to all of these. Just choose one, or if you really want to, do two.

Mrs. Dalloway 171-181

A picture of an Edwardian graden party. Clarissa's party is indoors, and at night, and the book takes place after the Edwardian era, but it's the nearest image I could find.

Write a haiku about tonight's reading.
five syllables
seven syllables
five syllables
good luck!

Mrs. Dalloway (161-171) and King Lear (finish 1.4)

Back on page 157 of Mrs. Dalloway, the narrator writes, "For this is the truth about the soul, he thought, our self, who fish-like inhabits deep seas and plies among obscurities . . . suddenly she shoots to the surface and sports on the wind-wrinkled waves; that is, has a positive need to brush, scrape, kindle herself, gossiping."

Do one of the following:

1. paraphrase the above.

2. comment on how this remark about the our selves, our souls, work bears on something in pages 161-171.

3. In 1.4 of King Lear, everyone is trying to assert their selves; everyone's self is shooting to the surface and sporting on the wind-wrinkled waves, but in a different way than we observe this happening in Mrs. Dalloway. Comment.

I meant to keep this blog not too-time-consuming. Feel free just to do one of the above, and to keep things succinct, even though I do appreciate your more lengthy, in-depth explorations.