A Good Man is Hard to Find 369-370

Please note: don't just say something that someone else has said. If someone else has already made the point you wanted to make, find a phrase or sentence from the story that no one has quoted yet and explain how that phrase bears on the point you're trying to make. Briefly quoting the text in connection with or support of what you're saying = good.

1. Name one or more of the characters and come up with an adjective to desribe him or her.

OR

2. Notice the imagery to describe the mother in paragraph two: " . . . whose face . . . rabbit ears." Comment.

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3. Is there anything about the sotry that seems comic so far?

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4. Is there a use of language (diction, syntax, other) that you find notable?

one more "Country Husband" entry

Turner, Hannibal Crossing the Alps

1. How much compassion does the story or the author have for Francis and his plight, and how would we know?

OR

2. Consider the sentence in par. 135: "He had been lost once in his life . . . the path that he'd lost." Consider also the last sentence in the story: "Then it is dark . . . over the mountains." Consider also the sentence, in par. 36, "The sky shone like enamel." Comment.

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3. Can you find comic elements in this story? Like what?

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4. Notice something that no one else has noticed yet about the story.

The Country Husband 73-81

1. Find a moment in the story at which you think language is being used effectively, quote it, and briefly say why. Diction (word choice)? Syntax (word order)? Sound? Irony? Something else?

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2. Why do you suppose Francis treats Clayton Thomas so badly, and of what does his bad treatment consist?

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3. In paragraph 121, Francis imagines what it will be like for his wife Julia if he and she split up. Comment.

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4. The whole part in which Julia decides to leave but is persuaded to stay by Francis: comment.

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5. The cat dressed in doll clothes at the end of the story: comment.

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6. The last sentence of the story: comment.

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7. Notice something that no one else has noticed yet about this reading.

The Country Husband 69-73

1. Find a moment in the story at which you think language is being used effectively, quote it, and briefly say why. Diction (word choice)? Syntax (word order)? Sound? Irony? Something else?

OR

2. Is there anything so far about the story that makes it seem a little different from other stories you have read? Briefly explain.

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3. Francis is rude to Mrs. Wrightson on p. 70 (paragraphs 33-35). Comment.

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4. Can you find a connection between Gertrude (p. 72) and anything else in the story so far? What?

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5. Notice something that no one else has noticed yet about this reading.

The Country Husband 65-69 (up to para. 30)

What Jupiter in the story might look like.

A couple of notes about last night's comments:

Remember you need only answer one prompt (Eric--though I appreciate the effort!)

Sarah D--try the first question, the one about effective use of language--that won't give anything away. I appreciate your consideration.)

Some of the same questions as last night,question as last night. Don't forget to check in a half hour after your original comment.

Thank you!

1. Find a moment in the story at which you think language is being used effectively, quote it, and briefly say why. Diction (word choice)? Syntax (word order)? Sound? Irony? Something else?

OR

2. Is there anything so far about the story that makes it seem a little different from other stories you have read? Briefly explain.

OR

3. Notice the references to memory or the absence of memory: his memory of the "public chastisement" of the woman who had slept with a German soldier; "some submerged memory" (para. 28);"he had not developed his memory as a sentimental faculty (para. 12); "the people in the Farquarsons' living room seemed united in their tacit claim that there had been no past, no war . . . ." (para. 14). Comment.

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4. Notice something that no one else has noticed yet about this reading.

Country Husband 62-65

1. Find a moment in the story at which you think language is being used effectively, quote it, and briefly say why. Diction (word choice)? Syntax (word order)? Sound? Irony? Something else?

OR

2. Is there a moment in the story that seems particularly realistic to you? Briefly explain.

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3. Is there anything so far about the story that makes it seem a little different from other stories you have read? Briefly explain.

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4. Name an adjective that could be used to describe the main character, Francis
Weed.

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5. Notice something that no one else has noticed yet about this reading.

A Doll's House (to the end)

Jane Fonda as Nora and David Warner as Helmer in a made for TV production of A Doll's House.

1. To what extent does Nora gain our admiration by the end of the play?

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2. The slam of the door at the end of the play is famous. Speculate as to why it might be.

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3. Krogstad: do we know enough about him for his restoration to the ranks of virtuous characters to make sense? Is it the actor's job to make the transformation credible?

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4. Assume for a moment that the play is a critique of urban Norwegian society of Ibsen's time. What does Ibsen disapprove of in his society, based on this play?