A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams takes place right after World War II in New Orleans, Louisiana. Stella is in her mid-twenties and is pregnant with her blue collared husband, Stanley Kowalski. It is the middle of summer when Stella's sister, Blanche Dubois arrives unexpectedly carrying all her belongings with the news that she has lost Belle Reeve, the family mansion, and that she is taking a break from her teaching job. Blanche is not impressed with the Kowalski's apartment as it is small and not well kept. Stella left widowed Blanche with their dying family to pursue a life of her own. Upon meeting Blanche Stanley does not trust her thinking that she is lying to them and trying to keep the money from the estate to herself but eventually learns she is not the lying type. Blanche takes long baths and criticizes the apartment every chance she gets, irritating Stanley to no end. One night during a poker game with his friends, Stanley gets too drunk and abuses his wife Stella after getting mad at Blanche for talking to his friend Mitch. Blanche is shocked and the women go upstairs to stay with their neighbor but later that night Stella returns to Stanley. Blanche is infuriated and can't understand why Stella stays with a man like Stanley. The next day Blanche is trying to talk Stella into leaving Stanley and is saying nasty things about him when he overhears her. He threatens her with things he has heard about her past and wants to destroy her reputation. Blanche turns to alcohol to help her cope with her nerves about people finding out her past. One night after a date with Mitch, Blanche opens up and tells him how her young husband committed suicide after she found out he was a homosexual. Mitch tells her how he has lost a love and that they are meant for each other. About a month later while Stella is setting up for Blanche's birthday dinner, Stanley tells Stella about how she slept around with men and got kicked out of hotels and "she didn't resign temporarily from the high school because of her nerves...they kicked her out... I hate to tell you the reason that step was taken! A seventeen-year-old boy -- she had gotten mixed up with" (101). Stanley tells Mitch about Blanche's past and Mitch no longer has any interest in her even though they were set to be married. Stella is horrified at Stanley's birthday present which is a one way ticket back to Blanche's hometown. Stella and Stanley are about to get into a fight when Stella goes into labor. When Stanley returns from the hospital Blanche tells him that she is leaving to be with her former suitor, Shep Huntleigh, who is now a millionaire. Stanley realizes that Blanche has made up this story and takes a step toward her. Blanche threatens to break a liquor bottle that she has been drinking from in his face. Stanley then, "picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed" (130) Stella does not believe that her husband raped Blanche as she claims and the send her to an insane asylum even though she thinks she is going to be with Shep.

Discussion Questions

1. At one point in the play, Blanche tries to guess what Stanley's astrological sign is based on his loud personality. What is your astrological sign and do you think they are an accurate read of a person's personality?

2. Blanche does not have a strong hold on reality at the end of the play. How can this be good and bad?

3. At the end of the play when Blanche is being taken away by the doctor to an asylum while she thinks she is just being escorted outside she says, "Whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Do you think that strangers can ever be depended on to be helpful in today's world? Do you have any examples?

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Pip, a young boy living in Kent, was raised by his sister and brother-in-law after his parents died. They have barely any money, and Pip spends his time thinking about his future in following is sister's husband, Joe, in the Blacksmith trade, however Pip really wants to grow up and become a gentleman. Early in the book, Pip is coming home from the cemetary where his parents were buried when he meets a convict who threatens his life in exchange for a file to break his chains, and as much food as Pip can bring, as well as Pip's vow of silence. Pip follows these orders and never tells anyone of what he did. Shortly after this, his uncle unites him with an elderly woman by the name of Miss Havisham, who is very wealthy and very generous to Pip. She has a very proud, conceited and rude adopted daughter named Estella, who she raises to to break mens hearts; it is therefore no surprise when Pip falls madly in love with her. Because he is so in love with Estella, he feels that it is necessary to become a gentleman so they can be together. After he finishes him time at Miss Havisham's house, Pip recieves his Expectations: he has come into a large sum of money, and he has to use the money to leave his apprenticeship with Joe and to become a Gentleman, however his benefactor wished to remain uknown, although Pip was at the time certain it was Miss Havisham. So, Pip moves to London and learns how to enjoy become a gentleman as well as learn how to spend his money, therefore quickly goes greatly into debt. Several years go by until one night :the convict who Pip had once helped to escape comes into the local bar. He stuns Pip by annoucing that he was actually the source of Pip's expectations. Due to this news, Pip feels morally bound to help the convict escape the town, while the police are searching for him. As he attempts to help the convict escape, they are caught by the police, the convict is sentenced to death, and Pip loses all his fortune.
Once Pip is again poor and back where he was, and he sees Estella again. After she had been married and widowed, Pip found that she had become "nicer" and the book ends as the two leave Miss Havisham's empty house hand in hand.





In the book, Pip was only truly happy when he stopped pretending who he was and went back to the social status he belonged in.
1. Why do you think it is that a lot of people still today believe that money can make them happy? And what do you think leads to true happiness?
2. If you were completely poor and someone gave you a TON of money, do you think you would be able to handle it in a responsible way and make it last, or do you think you would waste it away and lose it and eventually end up in debt like Pip?

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

This novel is about a boy who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. It starts with Basil Hallward painting a picture of Dorian Gray while his friend, Lord Henry, observes. After talking with Lord Henry on many occasions, Dorian soon believes that beauty is the only aspect of life really worth striving for and keeping. He wishes that the picture Basil painted of him would grow old in his place so he can stay young and beautiful forever. Soon after, Dorian finds Sybil Vane preforming Romeo and Juliet in a dingy playhouse and proposes to her within a week. She thinks she is completely perfect and goes home to tell her skeptical mother and brother about him. Her brother, James, says that if Dorian (whom she refers to as Prince Charming) harms her, James will kill him.
Dorian invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sybil preform one night and she does a horrendous job. He goes to speak with her after the play and realizes he feels nothing for her because she can no longer produce beautiful preformances and tells her the engagement is off. In a fit, she kills herself. When Dorian comes home and looks at the painting, there is a subtle, cruel sneer on his face. This is the last of Dorian's love affairs. Over the next eighteen years, Dorian does everything wrong that he can think of mainly under the influence of a novel given to him by Lord Henry as a gift.
One night, before he leaves for Paris, Basil arrives to question Dorian about rumors of his indulgences. Dorian doesn't deny his debauchery. He takes Basil to the portrait, which is as hideous as Dorian's soul. In anger, Dorian blames Basil for his fate and stabs him to death. He then blackmails an old friend into destroying Basil's body. Wishing to escape this crime, Dorian travels to an opium den. James Vane is nearby and hears someone refer to Dorian as "Prince Charming." He follows Dorian outside and attempts to shoot him, but is deceived when Dorian asks James to look at him in the light, saying he is too young to have been involved with Sibyl 18 years earlier. James releases Dorian but is approached by a woman from the opium den who chastises him for not killing Dorian and tells him Dorian has not aged for 18 years.
While at dinner, Dorian sees James stalking the grounds and fears for his life. However, during a game-shooting party a few days later, James is accidentally shot and killed by one of the hunters. After returning to London, Dorian informs Lord Henry that he will be good from now on, and has started by not breaking the heart of his latest innocent conquest, named Hetty Merton. At his apartment, Dorian wonders if the portrait has begun to change back, losing its senile, sinful appearance now that he has given up his immoral ways. He unveils the portrait to find it has become worse. Seeing this, he questions the motives behind his "mercy," whether it was merely vanity, curiosity, or the quest for new emotional excess.

1. Do you think Dorian and Lord Henrey are right in thinking that beauty and the conquest for it are the only important things in life? Why or why not?
2.If you had the option of never aging past 17, would you take it? What would you do if you stayed 17 forever?
3. The last aphorism in the preface of the novel is "All art is quite useless." Do you agree or disagree with this?

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

This novel shows the struggles of finding one's identity in relation to one's family and heritage. The Garcia family leaves the Dominican Republic for their own safety when their father is targeted by the politicians in power. The four Garcia sisters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia, must adjust to their new, lower economic status in New York after living a fairly high class life in the Dominican Republic. They also had to adjust culturally, with many people around their new home making derogatory statements because the family is of Hispanic descent. All the daughters deal with different issues throughout their life. Carla wanted to be a writer, though her father deemed this an inappropriate career for a woman and even tore up her valedictorian speech the night before graduation because he found it disrespectful. She becomes a psychologist and begins analyzing her family's many mental problems. Yolanda, also known as Yo, Yoyo, and Joe, had trouble relating to men, which caused her divorce, and she eventually suffered a mental breakdown during which she wouldn't form an original sentence, only quoted, sometimes incorrectly, things she had previously heard. After her divorce and mental breakdown, she returned to the Dominican Republic, where she finds that she feels more comfortable speaking English than Spanish and she realizes she is generally more comfortable identifying as American than Dominican. As the youngest daughter, Sofia only has vague memories of the Dominican Republic. She also has the most openly hostile relationship with her father as she continually challenges the double standards involving gender and sexuality of Dominican/Hispanic culture by embracing American attitudes toward relationships and sex. She eventually elopes and has children with a German man.

1) This novel is told in reverse chronological order. At the beginning, the reader gets to know the adult Garcia girls who are more comfortable speaking English than Spanish and who consider themselves to be American. As the book progresses, the reader sees the struggles of the Garcias when they were younger and learning English and American culture. Do you think this says something about the experiences of immigrants? Why do you think Alavarez chose to write the book this way?

2) There are a couple recurring types of conflicts (men vs. women, Dominican vs. American, younger generation vs. older) in this novel. Which do you think would be the most challenging to deal with or overcome?

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Neuromancer by William Gibson is a science fiction novel released in 1984 that won numerous awards for science fiction and is generally regarded to have founded the genre known as "cyberpunk." It is an extremely intriguing tale of cybernetics, cyberspace, artificial intelligence, and the effect of high technology on the world.

The book is a fairly difficult read in the sense that at a given time it can be difficult to know if "you" are in the real world, cyberspace, on earth or in space so I'm going to give some background on each character and the general setting before getting to the summary & questions.

Characters

Wintermute - one half of a "Super-AI" that was created illegally by the TA family and they lost control of it. Needs to unite with it's other half "Neuromancer" to become the true "Super-AI" as it was illegal to create a singular "Super-AI" at the time of Wintermute's creation. It directs the team of Armitage, Case, Molly, and The Dixie Flatline to attempt to accomplish this goal.

Case - degenerate former computer hacker who had is ability to "jack-in" to cyberspace taken from him after he stole from one of his employers. Has this ability returned to him after Armitage (at Wintermute's command) pays for his nervous system to be repaired so he can help Wintermute.

Armitage - former military, part of an experimental program known as "The Screaming Fist" that has left him psychologically unstable. He is the head of the crew that Wintermute is putting together.

Molly - A "razorgirl" who is also recruited by Armitage. She has extensive cybernetic implants including implants granting her superhuman reflexes and retractable 4cm double-edged razor blades that come out from under her finger nails. She also has implanted mirrored lenses over her eyes with various optical enhancements (a heads up display of info., etc.). So where her eyes would be just looks like mirrors from the outside.

Peter Riviera - a crazy, hopelessly drug-addicted, thief who can project holographic images using cybernetic implants.

The Dixie Flatline - famous computer hacker, taught Case how to hack, became famous for surviving three flat-lines on his EEG while trying to hack an AI. He is now dead but his mind is stored on what is basically a flash drive. It is this "construct" that helps Case throughout the novel.

General Setting

A dystopian future where technology rules. The space where data flows freely is formally called the Matrix (I am not kidding, no relation to the movie), also known as cyberspace (Gibson invented this term). Organs and any kind of tissue can be grown in a lab. Instead of steroids there are "muscle grafts" where surgeons implant muscle grown in a lab onto people's bodies. Cybernetics are common place. Many people think of their body as "the meat" and the matrix is slowly becoming the new reality.

Summary

The novel starts off with Case as a low level drug dealer/hustler in the underworld of Chiba City, Japan. He is living a self destructive lifestyle, sleeping in 9' long 3' high "rooms" called coffins by day, and dealing drugs by night. It is a given that he will be killed if he continues living like he is much longer. Luckily for him Molly comes along and recruits him for Armitage's team with the promise of restoring his ability to enter the matrix. His ability is restored but sacs of poison are placed on his blood vessels that will re-disable him if he fails to complete the job in time. Case's first task is to hack into the network of a corporation called Sense/Net so that Molly can steal The Dixie Flatline from the building. After this is done Molly and Case start investigating Armitage and find out that he used to be Colonel Willis Corto. Many years prior the government had sent him on a suicide mission to test Russian air defenses. Corto didn't know it was a suicide mission and his survival was a problem for the government. They rebuilt him as he was extensively wounded during his escape from the Russians and used him to cover up the whole incident. However, Corto was left mentally unstable and the government abandoned him. This is when Case and Molly find out that it is the AI Wintermute that is actually calling the shots. The team then travels to Istanbul to recruit Riviera into the team. While in Istanbul Case and Molly find out that Wintermute was created by the TA family who's fortune alternates among members of the family who spend most of their time in cryonic preservation, only thawing for short periods of several decades to manage the company. They are housed in the Villa Straylight, a mansion on the space station called Freeside. Inside Villa Straylight the member of the TA family that is thawed currently resides and has the code that Wintermute needs to unite with Neuromancer. Case's job is to use a virus program to break down the barriers of Villa Straylight's network security so Molly and Riviera can get to this person. Riviera will use his abilities to obtain the code that Wintermute needs from the currently thawed member of the TA family, Lady 3Jane Marie-France (the third clone of the original Jane). Once the team of Molly and Riviera make it to Lady 3Jane Riviera turns on Molly and Case goes in after her. A standoff between Case, Molly, Lady 3Jane, Riviera, and Lady 3Jane's vat grown ninja bodyguard Hideo ensues. I will not ruin the ending for you.

Artist's rendition of what the matrix/cyberspace as portrayed in the novel might look like.

Random other interesting tech. in the story

-Molly has had a "simstim" implanted in her brain that allows Case to use his computer to connect with her brain and see through her eyes and feel what she feels. He can hear what she says and what goes on around her but she cannot hear anything he says.

-Molly's ranged weapon of choice is a pistol called a "fletcher" that shoots microscopic poison darts.

-The human-computer interface is handled by what are called 'trodes that plug into the person's skull. When these are plugged in it is referred to as "jacking-in"

Discussion

1) With the success of Watson on Jeopardy humanity is coming closer and closer to being able to build computers that actually "think" (artificial intelligence) instead of just process data. An AI is one of the central characters in Neuromancer and is an extreme technological breakthrough but also is something that is able to kill people indirectly and appears to have no sense of morality or what might be referred to as a "soul." Do you think humans should continue trying to develop artificial intelligence? Why? What could some of the benefits be, a quick example is that IBM says Watson (who is not a true AI) could be used for medical diagnosis? Risks?

2) In the world of Neuromancer personal identity is an interesting concept. Who is a person really, what makes up someone's identity? Just their personality, as is the case with The Dixie Flatline? A combination of their personality and physical body, as it the case with Molly? Who they are in the matrix, as could be the case with Case as he is a drastically different "person" in the matrix then in the real world? Does an AI have an identity and if not then what is it? What does the matrix do to the concept of identity? Feel free to comment on any one of these questions.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

This novel is written by Jhumpa Lahiri, the author of the short story collection "Interpreter of Maladies." Consequently, it shares many of the same cultural themes; it portrays the struggles of a Bengali couple who recently immigrated to the United States to begin a new life. The novel begins with a character named Ashima Ganguli who is a young bride about to give birth to her first child in a hospital in Massachusetts. Her husband, Ashoke, is an engineering student at MIT. Ashima is nervous not only because of the fact that she is on the verge of giving birth but also because she wishes that she could be delivering this baby in Calcutta, watching friends execute all of the proper Bengali ceremonies. As the two new parents are preparing to bring home their new son, they quickly realize that the hospital will not let them leave before they give their son a name. However, the traditional naming process amongst the Bengalis is to have an elder present the baby with a name. Ashima's grandmother was chosen to assume this role, yet unfortunately, the letter inscribed with the baby's name never reaches them. The grandmother soon dies, and Ashoke decides to name their son Gogol. Gogol is the name of his favorite Russian author and additionally, he had been reading a work of Gogol before he encountered a near death train accident. When Gogol reaches the age of about fourteen, he begins to hate his name. As a result, his parents attempt to give him a more "public" name, a Bengali tradition. They choose Nikhil, and he has his name legally changed to this before departing for college. Not only does Gogol change his name, but he also diverges from following in his father's footsteps, for he chooses to go to Yale instead of MIT. This causes tension amongst the family; it is becoming increasingly more and more clear that Gogol wishes to become American versus Bengali. He starts going home less frequently, dates a series of American girls, and becomes very enraged when people refer to him as Gogol. Later in the novel, when Nikhil goes home for the summer, his train stops abruptly due to a man that had jumped in front of the train in an attempt to commit suicide. Ashoke picks him up from the train station and once the two have arrived home in the driveway, Ashoke explains the meaning behind his decision to name him Gogol. It is during this moment that he starts to regret ever changing his name. Nikhil now lives in a small apartment in New York City where he works in an architectural office. One night at a party, he meets a girl named Maxine. He quickly becomes extremely involved amongst the activities within her family and has truly become a contributing member. Not long after Nikhil's parents meet Maxine, Ashoke dies of a sudden heart attack. Nikhil then decides to end his relationship with Maxine. After a little while, Ashima suggests that he call the daughter of one of her good friends, a daughter that he knows from his childhood. Her name is Moushumi, and she is Bengali. Rather reluctantly, Nikhil decides to meet with her. They become very much attracted to one another and eventually decide to marry. Unfortunately, Moushumi begins to regret this decision to marry, and when she comes across the name of a man from her high school days, she begins an affair with him. Nikhil and Moushumi divorce. The novel ends with Ashima selling their house in order to be able to live in India for a few months. Sonia, Nikhil's sister is planning to marry an American man, leaving Nikhil alone yet again. However, the novel closes with him feeling a sense of comfort from the collection of Russian stories that his father had left him many years ago; he has now truly accepted his name.

Discussion questions:

1). What, if any, are the significances of Gogol's many love interests? Do you think it has to do with his struggle for his identity?

2). Why do you think it is so difficult for people to assimilate within a new culture while upholding their original culture at the same time? What traditions do you value in your own family or culture, and why do you feel it is important to have them? Do you think that sometimes these traditions fade away? Why or why not?

William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The tragedy of Julius Caesar opens with Caesar returning from battle and the Romans are ecstatic because of the victory. The crowd is so pleased with Caesar, they try to crown him king three times. Caesar though, does not take the crown. That night, storms and supernatural events happen all over Rome, and Caesar's closest friends and guards meet up to plan a murder because they are afraid Caesar will become too powerful. They decide that they would kill Caesar the next day at Senate.

The next morning, Caesar's wife, Calphurnia, tries to convince him to stay home because she had night terrors that had to do with Caesar's fate. Dispite his wife's wishes, Caesar still travels to the city. On his way there, he is approched by a witch type person who warns him to "beware the ides of March". Caesar basically blows her off, saying that she is just foolish. After Caesar's speech at the senate, the men who planned to kill Caesar ask to speak with him. They all begin to bow down to Caesar, then one by one begin stabbing him. When Caesar see's his best friend, Brutus, he gives up his struggle to survive and dies. (Spoiler Alert?)

The murdurs soak their hands in Caesar's blood, but Brutus weeps for him, guilty of his actions. Antony approches the men and ask's why Caesar had to be killed and they reply it was necessary for the good of Rome. When the men leave, Antony swears that Caesar's death will be avenged.

From this point on to the end of the play, the murdurs must deal with their guilt of killing Caesar and learn to deal with their own internal conflicts. Some of the men fail when confronting their internal conflicts, leading to their downfall.

Questions:

1.) In the story, Calphurnia, Caesar's wife, tries to get him to stay home because of bad dreams she had dealing with Caesar's fate. If you had a dream that your significant other was going to be harmed, would you try to convince them to take caution or would you just let it go?

2.) Brutus, being a loyal Roman, knew that he had no choice but to kill Caesar in order to be loyal to Rome. If you knew someone within the country was going to do harm, would you go to such drastic measures to uphold the well-being of the country?

In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood by: Truman Capote

This graphic novel goes into detail about the murder of four in a small midwestern town. This murder takes place decades ago where people lived a much simpler style of life. A respected, church going, honorable man, named Herb Clutter fathers the family of four including his wife, son, and daughter. Owner of a very successful farm, Mr. Clutter is both successful and well liked. Within the small, spread out community, everyone seems to know everyone's business, and everyone is Herb's friend, or so he thought. One summer night, all was quiet in the small town, except in the Clutter house. Following a date with daughter Nancy Clutter's boyfriend, two convicted felons breached the house, searched for money, and disposed of the 4 Clutter family members. Capote's rendition of these murders is extremely graphic, much too graphic for this blog, and I warn anyone interested in this book that it is very disturbing. The novel does not conclude with the murders, but rather focuses on the hunt for the evil murderers. They travel from Kansas to Mexico, to California and back to Kansas, all while evading the authorities. The motives for the murders, along with the mental issues of the criminals, are revealed through flashbacks while on this journey. Also, Capote puts you in the head of many of the small town's residents. Scared and intimidated, many move or cannot sleep for months. Everyone is worried they are next. With the FBI on the case, this search has gone nationwide with authorities everywhere looking for the culprits. Will the criminals be caught? Read it or watch the movie and find out!

1) Within this novel, Truman Capote combined elements of fiction and nonfiction to complete the work. Based off a true story and using real facts, while still fabricating some portions Capote felt he had made a major impact on the literary community. Are novels better when they are fiction, nonfiction, or a combination of? Why?

2) Would murderers like this be able to run from the police today like they did within the novel? How has technology, awareness, and larger police forces helped us to catch some of the most dangerous of criminals?

Purgatorio by Dante Aligheri

Fresh from the depths of hell, Dante and Virgil must prepare their ascent into heaven, beginning at the bottom of Mount Purgatorio on Easter morning, but Dante must first wash away his "uncleanliness" from the Inferno. As a ship approaches, Dante must kneel and fold his hands because an angel guides the ship. While the pair are entering Ante-Purgatory, Dante notices he has a shadow while Virgil does not. Virgil simply says it is one of God's phenomena. The illegitimate son of Fredrick II, Manfred, approaches Dante to tell Manfred's daughter his sins were absolved even though he did not receive proper burial; that even repenting late in one's life can buy a path to heaven. As they reach the First Spur, Virgil explains this is where those who are late repenters must stay because of their negligence and Purgatorio is on the opposite hemisphere of Jerusalem (back then there was only one hemisphere) so the sun is always at Dante's left. Mount Purgatorio is where spirits who have been released from their bodies must stay to wait for their chance at heaven. Dante and Virgil reach the Valley of the Rulers, where kings have been placed, and his first day comes to an end; leaving only six more days to complete the ascent. As Dante dreams, the angel St. Lucia carries him to the Purgatory from the Valley of the Rulers and then must pass through seven levels of the mountain. The First Terrace (farthest from heaven) belongs to the Prideful. One spirit explains he regrets his unwarranted pride because then he would not have witnessed the downfall of his people. Great acts of humilty are the only way to make it past the First Terrace. Those who are Envious claim the Second Terrace and suffer with their eyes sewn shut so they cannot cry. As an angel blinds Dante, the pair approach the Third Terrace, where the Wrathful remain. Dante learns the cause of human corruption: men do not take responsibility for their actions but that also men are born inexperienced and innocent, but also need guidance from their leaders. The Fourth Terrace consists of the Slothful. Virgil explains to Dante during the night that all actions, good and evil, stems from some form of love. The Fifth Terrace is then made up of the Avaricious (Greedy) and the Prodigal (wasteful extravagance). Dante feels frequent earthquakes now, which represents spirits entering Heaven. The Sixth Terrace is then reached, also known as home of the Gluttons. These spirits suffer by living in Limbo without food or water. Virgil reveals Antigone and Ismene are kept in the Fourth Terrace. The final Terrace is approached where those who are Lustful reside. Virgil explains, at death the sould either goes to the entrance of the Prugatorio or the Inferno, but the soul retains its intellect, memory, and will. Dante and Virgil cross a river of fire and then dante becomes his own guide. Dante reaches Earthly Paradise and a chariot approaches. Beatrice rides with the chariot and Dante begins to cry but she criticizes him that he did not follow God's plan after death. Beatrice says she had to take Dante on this journey to see the torture and torment of lost souls for himself. Dante then finally must wash away his sins and dismiss his shame and fear to finally reach Paradise.

1. If Dante's works of literature were taken as seriously as the bible, do you think Purgatorio would be considered the way into heaven?

2. Do you believe in Virgil's explanation that all actions, good and evil, have stemed from the roots of love?

3. Does one's spirit contol one's intellect, memory, and will? Does the soul move onto the afterlife?

Mrs frank I cannot comment on people's blogs. This counts though

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Atonement is the story of an annoying little twelve year old girl named Briony who enjoys making up stories. The novel starts off the day her older brother Leon is returning home from college and she plans to put on a play for him and his friend called "The Trials of Arabella" along with her cousins, a girl and two boys, that are staying with her family. Earlier that day she saw a scene with her older sister Cecilia and the son of one of the maids, Robbie Turner, and came to the conclusion that Robbie was some sort of "sex maniac." In actuality the two have fallen in love. That night the two boy cousins run away and everyone goes out to search for them. Briony is by herself searching in the woods and stumbles on a man raping her cousin Lola. She's not sure who it was, but tells the police it was Robbie. Robbie is then sentenced to jail and eventually enlisted into the army for WWII. Robbie and Cecilia never see eachother again and they both die before Robbie's tenure in the army is up. In the end Briony realizes it was her brother's friend who raped her cousin. The reader also realizes by the end that the book was actually written by Briony and that it was her "atonement" for what she did to her sister and Robbie.

1.Do you think that any amount of apology could make up for what Briony did to her sister?

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf was written in 1925 follows the ordinary day of an english woman named Clarissa Dalloway. The novel takes place in one post-world war I day from morning to night. Clarissa begins her day picking up flowers and finishing her plans for her dinner party that evening. She begins thinking about her husband Mr. Dalloway and how she had made the right choice between two other men, one being Peter Walsh. Peter then unexpectedly drops by Carissa's house later one just back from India. The meeting abruptly ends when Peter asks his ex-girlfriend and the woman he proposed to, Clarissa, if she was happy with her life. Peter begins to feel all the emotion again and leave to spend sometime in Regent's Park. Peter then watches a man named Septimus, a man who suffers WWI injuries, and his wife. Lucrezia and her husband decided to wait in the park for Septimus' psychiatrist appointment. He obviously suffers from a mental illness due to the horrors of the war. Sir William Bradshaw, the psychiatrist, fails to realize that he may be able to help Septimus and decides to send him to a mental institution. Later on, the doctors come to pick up Septimus, but he feels that they will take away everything he is. Septimus, being suicidal, believes the only way out is to kill him self. Septimus throws himself off the window ledge. The party starts and all major and minor characters arrive, but Bradshar arrives later because one of his patients has died. Clarissa hears of the news and is angry that he has brought news of a death to her party but almost admires Septimus for not compromising himself or his soul. She begins to feel disgraced that she only strives for a higher social status while other people are dealing with problems greater than her own. Clarissa ends the novel with an epiphany that she has chosen the wrong path in life. She regrets most of the decisions she has made, yet accepts them and returns to her party.

1. Clarissa begins to see her own life in a new light once she hears of Septimus' death. Do tragic events put things into perspective and show what's important in life?

2. At the end of the novel, Clarissa regrets the decisions she made in life, but accepts the mistakes she has made. Do you think that you are able to accept the past or never move on from it?

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This Side of Paradise was the first of many novels written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who today is best known for his later novel, The Great Gatsby. Amory Blaine, the main character in Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, starts out as a privileged young boy, born to a prestigious and wealthy family with a bright future ahead of him. He spends his childhood traveling the world with his mother, and eventually ends up at Princeton University after nonchalantly coasting his way through prep school. However, things begin to turn around for Blaine when he reaches campus. When he fails one of his courses, he finds that he is no longer able to get away with doing the bare minimum. From that point on, he turns himself over to idleness.

As the end of his time at Princeton approaches, America enters World War Two, and Blaine enlists to fight. Things again seem to take a turn for the worst for Amory; while he is away, his mother dies. He returns soon after and falls madly in love with Rosalind Connage, the sister of an old college friend. However, this time period was very much so based on social standing in the community, and poor investments had left Amory broke. To add insult to injury, it was for this reason that Rosalind broke off their engagement - how could she ever marry a poor man?

After the engagement is broken off, Armory realizes that he needs to find out who he is. As a child he was defined by the wealth and social standing of his mother. As a young adult, he was defined as a student, a war hero, and a lover. But now as he comes of age and see the difficulties that life presents, he finds that self discovery is necessary for survival and success.

Discussion Questions:

1. This book takes place in the 20's, a time period where status was everything. It determined the clothes you wore, the people you associated yourself with, the restaurants you ate at, etc. How is the idea of social standings is different today than it was back then?

2. If you were alive in this time period and were in the shoes if Rosalind, would you choose love or money? Explain why.

3. By the end of the novel, Amory discovers that knowing who you are is the most important key to being successful. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, written by the very talented Jane Austen, tells the story of the many conflicts involved with finding love. The story begins with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, the parents of five young women, discussing that a young man named Mr. Bingley has just purchased Netherfield, a home not far from theirs. Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed to hear such great news. She instantly imagines that this rich man is bound to marry one of her daughters. As the story progresses, Mrs. Bennet becomes increasingly assertive in her quest to have all of her children married off. Her daughters attend many balls and meet many men throughout the story’s plot, some of which include Mr. Bingley, Darcy, Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham. Jane, the oldest daughter likes Mr. Bingley and he seems to really like her too. On the other hand, Elizabeth (the second oldest) meets Darcy and instantly finds him unbearable and arrogant, when he refuses to dance with her at a ball. Things start to change though as the story progresses and Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, only for her to reject him. This incident makes Mrs. Bennet furious because one of her daughters had the chance to get married, but instead turned him down. While Elizabeth is out of town visiting Darcy, she receives a letter stating that her youngest sister, Lydia, has eloped with Mr. Wickham. This news shocks everyone so Elizabeth apologizes to Darcy for leaving so quickly and then returns home. No one can find Lydia which causes the whole family anxiety because they know that if the two don’t have an official wedding the entire family’s reputation could be ruined. Luckily they are able to find Lydia and Wickham, but Wickham agrees to the marriage only if the Bennets will provide him with a small income in return. They quickly agree and Lydia marries Mr. Wickham soon afterward. Next, Mr. Bingley finally asks Jane to marry him and they soon marry, which pleases the whole family. Darcy comes to visit often, and Elizabeth finds out that Darcy is the one who found her sister and paid Wickham. This news, coupled with Elizabeth’s gradual change in feelings toward Darcy, leads Darcy to ask for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage and this time, she accepts it. Love conquered Darcy’s pride in social status, while love also proves more important than Elizabeth’s prejudice.

1. In the novel, marriage was extremely important because women were looked down upon after a certain age if they were unable to find a gentleman to marry. Women were couldn't inherit anything, therefore; women were completely dependent on men. Do you think that this way of living is more difficult than what women face today?

2. Mrs. Bennet is very critical of her daughter's choices of whom they should marry, to the point where they were practically forcing Jane to marry Mr. Bingley. Do you think that parents should have that much control over their child's life?

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Hillsboro is usually a small, quiet, Southern town, but not anymore. People from all over are flocking to see the trial of Bertram Cates. Cates is a school teacher who is being prosecuted for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution to his students because, despite scientific proof, it is against the law. For the prosecution, the town brings in none other than the former presidential candidate, Matthew Brady. The town is filled with excitement as it prepares for Brady's arrival, and they hold a celebration when he arrives. Brady is ready to speak out for the community and defend the Bible. In his first speech to the town, he says, “My friends of Hillsboro, you know why I have come here. Not merely to prosecute a lawbreaker, an arrogant youth who has spoken out against the Revealed Word, but to defend that which is most precious in the hearts of all of us: the Living Truth of the Scriptures!” (19). It is clear what Brady stands for, but he is not the only one ready to stir up the town. Cates writes to the Baltimore Herald for some help, and the infamous Henry Drummond is sent to be his attorney. The newspaper also sends the outspoken reporter E.K. Hornbeck, whose cynical view creates even more chaos in the town.

After everyone arrives and the jury is selected, the trial begins. Everything is against Cates' favor, but Drummond is determined to prove that he did nothing wrong. Ironically enough, Cates and the Reverend's daughter, Rachel, are school teachers together and have been involved with each other for quite some time. She begs Cates to say that he was wrong so that this can all be over, but he refuses and along with Drummond, stands up for what he believes in.

The trial continues, and there are many witnesses including one of Cates' students that says Betram told them that men descended from monkeys and mentioned nothing about the Bible or God creating the Earth and its organisms. Brady also calls Rachel to the stand, and she explains why Cates stopped going to church. Further trying to prove evolution wrong, Brady brings in scientists to share their ideas. But the turning point of the trial is when Drummond calls Brady to the stand because he is an “expert” on the Bible. Drummond weaves his way into the mind of Brady. Brady contradicts himself, while proving that everyone should be free to think what they want. The Bible is not the law of the land and should not be the basis for education in the U.S. Whether or not Cates is found guilty or not, there is a lesson to be learned by everyone in the town from this trial. Since everyone in Hillsboro believes in following the Bible, maybe they should reread the section that gave this play its name. “He that troubleth his own house/ Shall inherit the wind” (Proverbs 11:29)

Questions:

1) The characters in the book overlook scientific research that has been proven and blindly follow the Bible without thinking at all for themselves. Are there any other issues, besides evolution, that people over look due to religious beliefs even though there are facts that they are real?

2) This book is set in the 1920's, but was published in the 1950's during the time of the Red Scare and McCarthyism. Why do you think the authors felt this was a good time to publish this work? Are the ideas and lessons in the play still relevant to society today?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte starts off with Mr. Lockwood, a wealthy Southerner, renting an estate called Thrushcross Grange in England. Here Mr. Lockwood meets Heathcliff, the wealthy owner of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff and his family seem strange to Mr. Lockwood, so he asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to tell the story of Heathcliff and the other inhabitants of the estate.

Nelly Dean was a servant years ago when Heathcliff was only a boy. Heathcliff was adopted by the wealthy Mr. Earnshaw and brought back to Wuthering Heights to live. Despite Mr. Earnshaw's hospitality, Heathcliff was rejected by Mr. Earnshaw's son Hindley. Along with Hindley was Catherine, who also hated Heathcliff but soon began to passionately love him. Heathcliff and Catherine grew very passionate about each other and could not be separated. Hindley hated this and was sent off to college for three years by Mr. Earnshaw.

When Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley comes back with his newly wedded wife, Frances. Hindley immediately seeks revenge on Heathcliff by treating him like a servant instead of a family member. Even though Heathcliff and Hindley have a terrible relationship, Catherine remains close to Heathcliff until she meets Edgar, a wealthy and spoiled man. When Catherine becomes engaged to Edgar, Heathcliff runs away and finally comes back three years later shortly after Catherine and Edgar get married. Heathcliff has become wealthy and Frances has died giving birth. When Hindley dies, Heathcliff inherits the Wuthering Heights and treats Hindley's son like a slave, just as Hindley has done to him in the past. Then, Heathcliff places himself in line to inherit Thrushcross Grange by marrying Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister. In the mean time, Catherine has a baby girl, which they also name Catherine, and then shortly dies. Even though Heathcliff treats Isabella very poorly, the two have a child, which they name Linton. Heathcliff gains control of the two estates and treats the children of those who have wronged him like servants in order to get revenge.

After many years pass, Linton and the young Cathering meet. They play in secret and eventually develop a romance. However, Linton is forced to be involved with Catherine by Heathcliff just so he can inherit Thrushcross Grange and get revenge on Edgar Linton, the man who took his beloved Catherine away from him. Heathcliff holds Catherine and Nelly hostage until Catherine agrees to marry Linton. Soon after, Linton dies and Catherine becomes the servant of Wuthering Heights.

1. Hindley seeks revenge on Heathcliff because his father, Mr. Earnshaw, liked Heathcliff better. Later in the novel, Heathcliff seeks revenge on Hindley and Edgar. Does the cycle of revenge ever end? If your family treated you as a servant, would you be able to forgive them or would you seek revenge?

2. Even though Catherine is deeply in love with Heathcliff, she marries Edgar because of his social status. Would you ever choose social status and wealth over love? Why or why not?

This Side Of Paradise

THIS SIDE OF PARADISE, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about Amory Blaine. Amory was born into wealth and spent his early childhood years traveling with his mother until he is sent to live in Minneapolis with his aunt and uncle. Amory slacks his way through at his new school, being far more educated than his peers, and decided to instead attend a prep school in New England. He gains admission into Princeton University. He concentrates mostly on trying to regain the hero status that he once held at the prep school, St. Regis. He makes new friends and becomes involved in a number of clubs. World War I begins in Europe at this time, but Amory pays little attention to it, being preoccupied by the many clubs and activities that he is involved in and a girl named Isabelle who he believes may be his first love. After a break up and a failed course that exempts Amory from keeping his post in the newspaper club, which his social success hinders on, he loses his motivation as a student. Shortly after, Amory's father dies. Amory is not concerned with the loss, but concentrates more on what will happen to his family financially. He continues on with his education, and soon leaves Princeton to go to war. While there, his mother passes away, leaving half of her money to the church. Upon returning, Amory falls in love with a wealthy, self-involved girl named Rosalind. He acquires a job at an advertising agency to try to earn enough money to please her. Rosalind's mother, however, talks her out of her engagement with Amory. She tells him that she would not be the same woman that he fell in love with if they were to marry without money. This leads Amory into a drunken disposition, in which he quits his job and is therefore unable to pay his rent. When the prohibition is passed, Amory relies instead on reading to numb the loss of Rosalind, who after a time, he discovers, will be married to a wealthier man. On top of this news, Amory also recieves the news of the death of his father figure, Monsignor Darcy. Being broke, Amory decides to walk back to Princeton. On the way, he is picked up by a wealthy man named Mr. Ferrenby, who is the father of a friend Amory lost during the war. They have a long discussion on politics and wealth, and Amory starts walking again towards Princeton. He passes a Civil War graveyard on the way, and reflects on the loves he has lost. The novel ends when Amory arrives at the University, pitying the students there who are still striving to fit the mold of the students before them.

1) Rosalind chooses a wealthier man over Amory because she feels that she will not be satisfied without money. Do you think that money often plays a larger part in marriage than love?

2) In the novel, Amory concentrates immensely on his social status at Princeton rather than his success as a student. In what ways do students today enforce the same concept of choosing their social life over their education?

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, takes place in England around the nineteenth century. It is about a young girl named Jane who starts her life out living in Gateshead with her so called aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins. The main reason why Jane lives with them is due to her parents charity. Throughout her childhood, Jane is treated poorly by the Reed family and puts up with it for many years. Finally, one day Jane speaks up which ends in her being sent to the “red-room,” which is where Mr. Reed died. Jane states, “no severe or prolonged bodily illness followed this incident of the red-room: it only gave my nerves a shock, of which I feel reverberation to this day” ( Bronte 22). The room made people nervous and sometimes made them feel things. Jane feels her uncle’s presence in the room, and thinks that he is out for revenge on Mrs. Reed for treating Jane unlike her own children. Finally Jane gets the right to go to school at Lowood; however, the school is for orphans, requires no money to go there, and does not allow the students to groom at times. Jane’s aunt tells the school how “bad” of a kid she is and after a little Mr. Brocklehurt tells the school about Jane’s so called lying issues she has. This made everyone shun her in school. Jane makes a friend, Helen, who along with her teacher, Miss Temple, assist Jane and make her life much easier to endure. Soon after life for the students gets easy, it gets hard again but to an illness that overtakes more than half the children in the school. After school, Jane attends a position in Thornfield. Before she parts for her new position, she is told that her father’s brother, John Eyre, came looking for Jane. Once she arrives at Thornfield, she feels very welcomed and meets the owner Mr. Rochester. Rochester and Jane seem to get very close throughout the novel. He stays awake one day telling Jane about his past. Later on, Jane saves his life from a burning room. After this, she feels something for Rochester. Jane says, “he made me love him without looking at me”(Bronte 177). Also, Jane gets suspicious of Grace Poole, who works at Thornfield. Jane later returns to Gateshead where she learns that her father’s brother had wanted to adopt her three years ago. Once she returns to Thornfield, Rochester asks her to marry him and he later on explains many significant situations that occur before their wedding comes. As the wedding day arrives, Jane finds out that Rochester is married still to Mrs. Mason, who is locked up and is taken care of by Grace Poole due to her becoming insane. This ends up making Jane leave town and live at the River families house who help her out. She lands a job as a teacher and becomes infatuated with St. John and Rosamond’s relationship. St. John figures out that Jane is really Jane Eyre and he tells her about a large sum of money that was left behind for her from her uncle. Jane ends up allowing St. John to direct almost their whole life, and asks her to marry him, but she refuses and moves back to Thornfield. She arrives at the place to find out that it has been burned down by Mrs. Mason. Rochester and Jane end up finding each other and he proposes again to Jane. They end up marrying and live as equals. Jane does some good deeds for people after their marriage. The fire had made Rochester blind, which Jane helps him to cope with. Later on, Jane and Rochester end up making a family of their own. The novel shows the way social class was split up during the nineteenth century. Also, the book shows how women were seen still inferior to men. St. John felt that he was greater than Jane, and ended up ruling her life. The novel mostly revolves around how people fit in with society related to their gender, religion and wealth.

1) How would you feel if you were treated poorly by a family that you did not choose to be raised by?

2)Would you want to live as an orphan, like Jane,atleast for a day to see what it is like? If so what do you think a true American orphanage looks like and treats children like?

3)Jane loves Rochester, but throughout the novel she seems to run away from her love. What would you do if you were about to marry someone and you find out they are already married, yet they say that there is nothing to worry about?

4) Many people in America treat others poorly, like how Jane was treated by the Reed family. What is there for us to do to help out the ones being teated badly?

5)Today do you feel like people are still put into social classes due to their wealth, religion, or gender? If so give an example.

Sense and Sensibily by Jane Austin

When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave most of his estate to his son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in hard circumstances. They are taken in by a kind cousin, but their lack of money "fortune" affects the marriageability of both practical and sensible Elinor, and romantic and outgoing Marianne. When Elinor falls for the wealthy Edward Ferrars, his family disapproves and separates them. And though Mrs. Jennings tries to match the worthy and also very rich Colonel Brandon to her, Marianne finds the dashing Willoughby more to her liking. But love has a way of getting lost, and sometimes never comes back. This is a time in life where one must have money ( the man of course) and if the woman is not wealthy she has a hard time finding someone, "for he was rich, and she was handsome." Chapter 8, pg. 32. Many of the poeple only married for money, but these sisters weren't like them and wanted something more. Will love concur all and will the hardships and heartbreak leave true love lost and is a happy ending in the future for both the sister who is all sense and the one who is all sensibility.

1) In this novel money is very important and has a great deal on marriages. If you would get married would money play a role in your decision?

2) Do you think it is fair that most woman back then could not have and control much money even if it belongs to them? How have women changed since that time period?

To the Lighthouse- Virginia Woolf

To the Light House by Virginia Woolf is a novel that reflects the impermanence of life and focuses more on thoughts and the inner workings of the characters rather than their actions. It follows the life of the Ramsay family and their various friends and is separated into three parts, "The Window", "Time Passes", and "The Lighthouse". The first part of the story begins with the words of the youngest child who wants desperately to go to the lighthouse which is close to their summer house. His father, however, is a realist and informs him that the weather will not permit that. Mr. Ramsay is a philosopher and spends his entire life on intellectual pursuits. Throughout the novel, Mr. Ramsay's complete focus on these pursuits and his need for his own intelligence to establish his own worth and give meaning to life contrast Mrs. Ramsay who needs her family and friends for that. Another big character that is introduced during this book is an Asian painter named Lily who paints pictures of the family. Instead of using intellect or family, Lily relies on her paintings to preserve memories and give meaning to her life. The rest of the novel focuses mainly on these three characters and their thoughts and feelings. Mr. Ramsay continues to seek knowledge but is ever plagued by the knowledge that fame and reputation are fleeting and that the will eventually fade. Mrs. Ramsay continues to focus on the family and constantly has to reassure her husband of his intelligence when he doubts himself. Lily, despite Mrs. Ramsay's efforts, refuses to marry, thereby representing a new and evolving social order, one in which a woman is not defined by her husband.
By the final part in the book, many things have happened and even more has changed. Mrs. Ramsay and two of her children are dead, leaving the rest of the family incomplete. Mrs. Ramsay's death left the family desolate and lost, but it also led them to new understanding and brought the surviving members closer together. The story ends with Lily completing a painting of Mrs. Ramsay that she started at the beginning of the novel.

Discussion:

1) What establishes a persons worth? Is it their intelligence, their friends, or something else?

2) Woolf's novel presents the idea that their is no such thing as objective reality and that reality is merely a collection of subjective views. DO you think that this belief is correct?

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, is the only novel ever written by Plath. This novel is actually semi-autobiographical, being based off of Plath's own life, just with the names of characters changed from real life names. It tells the story of Esther Greenwood, a young woman who recently graduated from college who lands a summer internship at a high-end magazine in New York City. While most girls would be thrilled at going to NYC to intern for a prominent magazine, Esther feels the exact opposite. She feels sad, frightened, and the reader can see that she is showing signs of depression.

Esther does not understand what she is doing with her life anymore now that she is done with school. Her mother wanted her to learn shorthand, but she was against doing any of the stereotypical female jobs like stenography or even being a mother. In the middle of the novel, Esther has a flashback to when her boyfriend, Buddy, asks her to be his wife. She promptly responds, "I'm never going to get married" (93). She refuses to follow the stereotype, mostly because she is afraid of ever becoming pregnant – a fear caused by her depression.

As her mental state begins to worsen, her mother forcefully encourages her to try seeing a psychiatrist. The first psychiatrist Esther goes to is Dr. Gordon, whom Esther does not trust simply because he is a Good looking man; she feels he is not paying attention to her and her problems. Dr. Gordon quickly diagnoses her with a severe mental illness and wants her to go to the hospital. Esther refuses to ever go see Dr. Gordon again.

After a few half-hearted attempts at suicide, Esther decides that she really does not want to live anymore. She goes down into her cellar and swallows an excessive amount of sleeping pills that had been prescribed to her for insomnia. Someone quickly discovers her, saving Esther's life. Esther is then taken to a new female psychiatrist, Dr. Nolan.

Esther is able to spill out all of her fears to Dr. Nolan, from her distrust of males to her fear of pregnancy and motherhood. Her mental state quickly improves with the help of Dr. Nolan. For once in her life, Esther is not worrying about the future and things she cannot control, saying "I had hoped, at my departure, I would feel sure and knowledgeable about everything that lay ahead - after all, I had been 'analyzed.' Instead, all I could see were question marks" (243).

1. This book was written back in the early '60s, when women we often stereotyped to be housewives. As you can see, Esther greatly feared joining that stereotype. Do you believe women today are still not seen as equals to men? If so, are there any examples of this inequality?

2. If you knew someone who was clinically depressed like Esther, what would you do to help them? Do you think forcing Esther to see a psychiatrist was the right thing for her mother to do, or should she have let Esther choose to do this on her own?

The Law of Love by Laura Esquivel

In the novel The Law of Love by Laura Esquivel, the main character Azucena Martinez, an astroanalyst, helps her patients travel through their past lives in order to heal damage done to their subconscious. The current world, at the time, has gotten to the point where everyone is aware of the existence of their "twin soul", in other words their soul mate. Each person's soul must go through 14,000 lifetimes in order to meet their twin soul.

Due to her job, Azeucena has been allowed to meet her twin, Rodrigo, early. However, Rodrigo is now lost through time and space and Azeucena must go find him. With the help of her guardian angel, Anacreonte, she leaves on her journey to rescue Rodrigo. Throughout the story, Azeucena meets many strange characters that help her find her lost soul mate. I won't tell you how it ends, but I will say the novel has a very complex, exciting plot that made the book an easy read.

Questions:

1) If you were given the opportunity to go back and fix something in your past that has negatively affected who you are today would you? Why?

2) What do you think about the concept of "twin souls"? Do you think that every person truly has a perfect match for themselves?

Enduring Love

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan is a story beginning on an ordinary Spring day at the park. Joe Rose, a science writer and his girlfriend Clarissa are enjoying a picnic when they spot a disaster. They see a hot air balloon with a child in the basket, and a man being dragged behind it. Several onlookers try to band together in order to stop the runaway balloon, but in the scuffle a man is killed. Another attempted rescuer, Jed Parry shares a look with Joe. Little does Joe know, that this chance meeting is the beginning of an obsession that will attempt to tear apart his life. Later on in the book, Jed begins to appear in random situations in Joe's life. Joe witnesses a man being shot in shoulder and comes to the conclusion that the bullet was meant for him. However, the police do not believe that Jed is the one who orchestrated the hit. Jed's obsession with Joe goes a step farther when he begins to mess with his relationship with Clarissa. Joe receives a call from Jed who is at Clarissa's home. Luckily, he had gone to buy a gun for protection against his stalker. Will Joe be able to rescue his girlfriend and stop the crazy Jed in time?

1 would you be one of the witnesses of the escaped balloon that would join in the rescue attempt?

2 if you came home to a psycho holding a knife to your significant other's throat, how would you try to diffuse the situation? and if you had a gun, would you be able to use it?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next by Ken Kesey takes place in a mental institution. The narrator of the novel is Chief Bromden, a man who all of the patients think is deaf and dumb. Bromden suffers from hallucinations during which he feels the room filling with a thick fog created by a huge mechanized matrix called The Combine which controls everyone in its grasp. The institution is run by Nurse Ratched, also known as Big Nurse, an impatient and intense woman with calm, cold disposition. When the story begins, a new patient, Randall McMurphy, arrives at the ward. He has just come from a work farm at Pendleton as part of his sentence for statutory rape. He is clearly sane and came to the hospital to avoid working. Others in the ward are Dale Harding, the president of the patients’ council, and Billy Ribbit, a thirty-year-old who stutters and seems to be very nervous most of the time. Ratched immediately sees that McMurphy is a manipulator and a con artist. During the first therapy meeting, McMurphy explains his arrest for statutory rape, saying that the girl was of legal age and certainly more than agreeable. Dr. Spivvey, the main doctor for the ward, questions whether McMurphy is faking insanity to get out of doing hard labor at the work farm. Afterward, McMurphy talks to Harding about the way the inmates submiss to Nurse Ratched so readily. McMurphy complains to Ratched about the loud music that constantly plays on the ward, but she refuses to turn it down. He suggests opening the tub room as a game room, but she refuses. At the next meeting, Dr. Spivey mentions casually that he talked to McMurphy about opening up the tub room as a game room and thinks that it is a great idea. The other inmates agree to carry out the plan while Nurse Ratched's hands begins to shake her hands—her first significant sign of weakness.McMurphy next wants to make a schedule change so the patients can watch the World Series during the day and do their work at night. The patients gradually grow more assertive in their opposition to the nurse boys and Ratched, and it begins clear that McMurphy is creating havoc in his attempts to over throw the ward. During a staff meeting, the doctors discuss McMurphy with Ratched. They believe that he might be dangerous. Ratched, however, claims that McMurphy is not an extraordinary man and is subject to all the fears and timidity of the other men. She is confident that she can break McMurphy, for he is committed to the hospital and they are in control, able to decide when he will be released. Nurse Ratched regains her control over the ward after McMurphy gives up his struggle against her, knowing that she controls whether or not he leaves. McMurphy realizes that Chief Bromden is neither deaf nor dumb. The two grow closer and along with planning the boat trip for the ward patients, plan McMurphy’s escape. Harding and the other patients decide to craft McMurphy's escape when Candy arrives on a Saturday night for her meeting with Billy. They bribe Mr. Turkle, the night watchman, with liquor and an offer of sex with Candy, McMurphy’s lady friend, and the other patients have a party that night. When Nurse Ratched arrives, she gathers the patients together in one room to take roll. She realizes that Billy Bibbit is missing. She finds him in the Seclusion Room with Candy. She chastises him for having sex with such a lowly woman, then tells him that she will tell his mother. Billy begins to stutter and shake, but she takes him into the doctor's office to calm down. When the doctor arrives, he finds that Billy has cut his throat and committed suicide. Ratched blames McMurphy for Billy's suicide, and he reacts by trying to choke her. Although the nurse boys pull McMurphy off of her before he can kill her, he rips her uniform and shows her chest to the patients. Nurse Ratched takes time off to recover, and when she returns, she cannot speak. Many of the patients check out of the hospital. Weeks later, McMurphy returns to the ward, now comatose after having a forced lobotomy. Chief Bromden suffocates McMurphy with a pillow in order to put him out of his misery, then throws the control panel in the tub room through the window and escapes the institution, fulfilling McMurphy's escape plan for himself.
1. McMurphy’s plan for a mental vacation and break from life ultimately end up in the deterioration of his life as he knows it, making him miserable and trapped. Would you take the risk in escaping the troubles and monotony of your life by trying to escape to a mental institution or some sort of hospital where faking an illness could ultimately cause everyone to baby you and give you everything you need for the rest of your life?

2. The way that Nurse Ratched is brutal and mean, and her methodic way of running the ward makes the patients bored, tired, and irritated. If you ran the floor in a mental institution, would you make the patients have the same boring meaningless activities every day or would you try to make their experience somewhat enjoyable even if it meant slightly messing with the stability of their daily pattern and hope that it didn’t interfere with their sickness?

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro, the Man Booker prize winner for his acclaimed novel The Remains of the Day, arrives with another acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go which explores the idea of cloning in a small boarding school near Norfolk, England.

This topic has been all the rage in Hollywood recently, with movies such as The Island and Gattica that show the struggle between natural born humans and organisms that have been genetically created, or for a more common term, clones. Ishiguro explores a deeper meaning when taking on this theme in his novel. He explains how clones have little or no freedom and are left with a loss of individuality.

The narrator of this story is Kathy, a

thirty-something woman who attended Hailsham boarding school in the late 1970's. She is retelling the events her childhood with her two friends, Ruth and Tommy, who also attended the mysterious boarding school that stresses the importance of good health and creativity.

The students at Hailsham are taught at a young age that they will be giving "donations" at one point in their life, meaning they will most likely lose their lives donating their vital organs to "originals" or the receivers who have purchased the clones. The persons in charge at Hailsham are referred to as guardians, who are often feared by students because of their strict dispositions. All of the students are taught how to create physical pieces of art, rather than theatre or music. This allows for the students to express themselves, yet they are not taught any necessary life skills.

Hailsham was essentially an experiment. In the novel, society at that point in time felt that clones were non-human organisms that were merely sources of organs. They felt that clones did not have souls nor possessed the capability to love one another. The creators at Hailsham forced the students to create artwork as a means of knowing whether or not their theories were true.

Ishiguro's novel does not focus entirely about cloning but rather the emotions that are evoked as a result of the predicament the students at Hailsham are subjected to. He uses the character's experiences to show that compassion and companionship truly have an impact on one's life.

Question:

The characters in Never Let Me Go are not given many choices in their lives. They are isolated within the Hailsham campus unable to interact with "the outside world". They are told

what to do, and when to do it, inside and outside of school, considering that Hailsham is a boarding school.They have capitulated every ounce of freedom they have to the "guardians" demands. Remember back to your elementary school days. I would assume that many of you followed the rules during the school day, but what about at home? How would you feel if you had no say in your life? You had one goal in life and you were to live isolated from the rest of the world? Would you feel lonely? How would you cope?

Side note:

This novel has been made into a major motion picture, Never Let Me Go [2010], starring Keira Knightley, Carrie Mulligan and Andrew Garfield.

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, is a novel centered around a group of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam. The protagonist of the story, Tim O’Brien, tells the story of the things that he remembers from the war through a series of vignettes. The book is extremely poignant, as one of the first things to occur is the death of one of his squadmates, and the effect that the death has on the whole dynamic of the squad. The author O’Brien concentrates more on the soldiers and less on the political or moral aspects of Vietnam, and throughout the novel he uses everyday objects and actions to help humanize the characters that he has created for this story. One of the most important recurring themes in the story deals with the emotions of the soldier, and it is evident how Vietnam has had a profound effect on the protagonist O’Brien as he is haunted by the ghosts of his former brothers in arms whilst he tries to rationalize the war to himself. Eventually, he is forced to return to Vietnam to face his demons and finally become at peace with himself, although it is ambiguous whether he shall succeed or be forever tormented by grief.


1. If you went to war and you saw your friends die as O'Brien did, do you think you would ever be able to recover?

2. Do you think it's important for novels like The Things They Carried to be written to help better understand war, or is it a waste because it is fiction?

Angels and Demons
By Dan Brown

In Dan Brown's novel Angels and Demons, the prequel to The DaVinci Code, Robert Langdon is a Harvard symbologist who is called to the scene of a violent murder. The Man who was murdered, a physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), was branded with the symbol of an ancient organization called the illuminati. The murderer also took a canister of antimatter from the lab. This canister, basically a time bomb, has a 24 hour battery life which, when over, will create an explosion comparable to that of a small nuclear bomb. This bomb has been placed somewhere inside the Vatican and Robert is sent to find it. this bomb, however, has been planted at the worst possible time: conclave. The former pope has recently died and new one is being picked from cardinals around the world. To make matters worse the four preferiti, or those who are most likely to become pope, have been kidnapped and threatened to be killed once an hour until the bomb goes off. Langdon must follow the path of the kidnapper in hopes of finding the bomb.

1. This novel like many of Dan Brown's other novels deals with the idea of forbidden knowledge and knowledge used for the wrong purpose. Do you believe there are some things man should not know?

2. What are some examples of knowledge or technology once thought to be great being used for the wrong purpose?

Grades

Please check the grade book to see if you have any missing assignments. If there is a zero listed and it also says absent, then you may make the assignment up by the end of next week. A few assignments have not yet been entered, like the reading logs and blog grades. They will be posted by early next week.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

The Blind Side is an uplifting story about a young athletically gifted black teenager named Michael Oher. The son of a crack-addicted mother and murdered father, Michael has never had an easy or privileged life. He has no confidence, a high school GPA of 0.6, and nowhere to live. The only thing he has going for him is his size and strength on the field that gives him the chance as a future NFL left tackle. Sean Tuohy, the father of a girl in one of Michael’s classes, is a very rich and powerful white man who has been known to help impoverished students in the past. The family reaches out to Michael by offering him food and clothes, and as the story line progresses, they eventually take him in as one of their own.

1. Mrs. Tuohy is skeptical at first about helping Michael. If you had the opportunity to help someone who was in a situation like Michael, would you?

2. On the other side of thing, if you were in Michael’s situation, would you accept help from people you hardly knew? Consider the betrayal that Michael has faced in the past with his own family. Would you be willing to trust again?

3. Michael Lewis writes this book to show that even a little caring and compassion can make a huge difference in someone else’s life. Why do you think most people are usually so reluctant to give to those in need?