"Falconer" by John Cheever

The story begins with a man by the name of Ezekiel Farragut who has been sent to Falconer, a one hundred year old prison for the murder of his brother. He is (or at least used to be) a college professor but nothing more then a criminal with no name, only a prison number and a small 8x8 foot cell he must share. The book continues with the day to day life in the prison where the prisoners are treated like animals with injustice and violence. The story also tells of Ezekiel's married life before his sentencing, which was stressed, unfaithful and mentally violent which also leads to the main theme i have come to accept for this book, when people are treated like animals, they will eventually become animals. In prison, Ezekiel lied, cheated, and acted very primal as a result of his surroundings while his social life as well has his love life out of prison forced built up anxiety and esteem issues that lead to the act of him killing his brother with a fire poker over just a disagreement. The book ends with Ezekiel successfully escaping from the prison in a body bag that was intended for his recently deceased cell mate.

1- Do you believe that if people are treated like animals, they will eventually let their surroundings be all they know?

2- Can you relate this to any story that you have heard or experienced first hand?

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut takes place during the WW2 period and a few years after. Billy Prilgrim is a soldier in the war and witnesses te devastating bombing massacre of Dresden, a "safe city" that only housed POWs(Prisoners of War) and civilians, by the U.S. Slaughterhouse 5 is a war satire and a psychological thriller as well. Chalk full of flashbacks, extraterrestrial abductions, death, satire, death, mysteries, death, millions of symbols, and more death. Billy 'travels' to Tralfamadore, a planet where these alien type creatures see everything at once, and only focus on the good things, and ignore the bad. Tralfamadore symbolizes a government that does terrible things like start wars, impose many taxes, and take away rights, that tells its' citizens not to focus on the bad things the government might do, but try to find happiness in the things that they do provide. Billy falls infatuated with that ideal and tries to spread the word of the Tralfamadorians to everyone else. Obviously, others react by calling him crazy and by pointing fingers and laughing. Billy eventually gets assassinated by Paul Lorrenzo, another soldier in the war who was a car thief and that committed many crimes and was just an all around bad person. Most of the soldiers Billy encounters in the war seem to take pride in war. They take pride in looting from who they have killed, they take pride in killing many enemy soldiers, and they also take pride in supporting their country, which in fact sent them there in the first place and took them away from their peaceful lives. Many of the war veterans have trouble coming back into society without massive violence. Some go crazy, and others commit murders and get thrown into jail. Billy just uses 'time travel' to escape the bad, aka WW2, and replaces his current situations with happy ones. Whatever happens, though, bad things always seem to happen to Billy, and he keeps on ignoring them. Billy only follows what the Tralfamorians have taught him when they abducted him and put him in a display on their planet so that he could be observed. Billy also takes advice from his favorite author, Killgore Trout. Trout's books are about propaganda and the cruel effects of what can happen if others follow what the government tells them to do and do not keep their own beliefs. The only place to find Trout's books are in the back corners of pornography shops. This shows that they are just tossed aside for the needs of those who are out of the war. Pornography is one of the many escapes to the fictional world where people can follow their dreams instead of following their heads.

1. If you knew that your government was unfair to you, would you stand up and say something? What problems might you encounter with going against everyone else? Why would you want to start problems instead of leaving it alone/Why would you want to leave it alone and not try to help your country grow and realize what's wrong?

2. What does war really do for people? Why does war happen? What can be done to prevent war and ensure that things like this don't happen? If you had gone to war and came back with a psychological trauma or disease, how would that affect you and would you try to be like you were before? In other words, would you try to hold the same job, talk to the same people, be as outgoing as you were etc, even with your disability?

The Handmaid's Tale

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian and theocratic state that has replaced the United States of America. Because of dangerously low reproduction rates, Handmaids are assigned to bear children for elite couples that have trouble conceiving. Offred serves the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Offred is not the narrator's real name. Handmaid names consist of the word "of" followed by the name of the Handmaid's Commander. Every month, Offred must have impersonal, wordless sex with the Commander while Serena sits behind her holding her hands. Offred's freedom, like the freedom of all women, is completely restricted. She can leave the house only on shopping trips, the door to her room cannot be completely shut, reading is forbidden, and the Eyes, Gilead's secret police force, watch her every public move. As Offred tells the story of her daily life, she often slips into flashbacks, that tell the events leading up to the beginning of the novel. Before Gilead, Offred married a man named Luke, and they had a daughter together. She often talked about her mother, who was a single mother and a feminist activist, and her best friend Moira, who was very independent. The founders of Gilead began their rise to power in a time when pollution and chemical spills led to declining fertility rates. Using the military, they assassinated the president and the members of Congress. They claimed they were taking power temporarily. They soon suspended the Constitution, and cracked down on women's rights, forbidding women to hold property, have jobs, and even have their own money. Offred and Luke took their daughter and attempted to flee accross the boarder into Canada, but they were caught and separated from one another, and Offred hasn't seen them since. After her capture, Offred was sent to the Rachel and Leah Re-education Center, called the Red Center by the Handmaids. At the center, women were prepared for becoming Handmaids. Aunt Lydia supervised the women, giving speeches stressing Gilead's beliefs that women should be subservient to mean and solely concerned with bearing children. Moria is brought to the Red Center, but she escapes, and Offred does not know what becomes of her. Once assigned to the Commanders house, Offred's life settles into a restictive routine. She takes shopping trips with Ofglen, another Handmaid, and they visit the Wall outside what used to be Harvard University, where the bodies of rebels hang. She must visit the doctor frequently to be checked for disease and other complications, and she must endure the "Ceremony" every month. One day when she is visiting the doctor, he offers to have sex with her to get her pregnant, suggesting that her Commander is probably infertile. She refuses, because the doctor makes her uneasy, and his proposition is too risky. After a Ceremony, the Commander sends his gardener and chauffer, Nick, to ask Offred to come see him in his study the following night. She begins visiting him regulary. They play Scrabble (which is forbidden), and he lets her look at old magazines like Vogue. At the end of these secret meetings, he asks her to kiss him. After some time had gone by without Offred becoming pregnant, Serena suggests that Offred should secretly have sex with Nick and pass the child off as the Commander's. Serena promises to bring Offred a picture of her daughter if she sleeps with Nick. The same night that Offred is supposed to sleep with Nick, the Commander secretly takes her out to a club called Jezebel's, where the Commanders mingle with prostitutes. Offred sees Moira working there. The two women meet in a bathroom, and Offred learns that Moira was captured just before she crossed the border. She chose life in Jezebel's over being sent to the Colonies, where most political prisoners and dangerous people are sent. After that night at Jezebel's Offred says that she never sees Moira again. Soon after Offred returns from Jezebel's, late at night, Serena arrives and tells Offred to go to Nick's room. Offred and Nick have sex. Soon they begin to sleep together frequently, without anyone's knowledge. One day, during one of their shopping trips, Ofglen reveals to Offred that she is a member of "Mayday," an underground organization dedicated to overthrowing Gilead. Offred becomes so caught up in her affair with Nick that she ignores Ofglen's requests that she gather information from the Commander for Mayday. Soon after this, Offred goes out shopping, and a new Ofglen meets her. This new woman is not part of Mayday, and she tells Offred that the old Ofglen hung herself when she saw the Eyes coming for her. At home, Serena has found out about Offred's trip to Jezebel's, and she sends her to her room, promising punishment. What will happen to Offred? You'll have to read to find out the ending. =]

1) The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian and theocratic state that replaced the United States of America and it's democracy. Do you think this could ever happen in real life?

2) Handmaids lived a very unhappy life. Many commited suicide or tried to escape. Some just went along with it. What would you do if you were in Offred's situation? Would you commit suicide, try to escape, join Mayday, or just go along with it?

1984 by George Orwell

Written in 1949, the novel takes place in 1984 and presents an imaginary future. The state is called Oceania and is ruled by The Party, who control every aspect of life, including people's thoughts. Winston Smith is a 39 year old man living in London who secretly hates The Party, and wants to rebel against Big Brother, the dictator. He starts keeping a diary of his rebellious thoughts, knowing that he will soon be caught by the Thought Police and most likely killed. Winston then becomes fascinated by "proles", or the lowest social class of Ocieania who aren't under 24 hour surveillance. He befriends a prole shop owner, Mr. Charrington, who reminisces about life before Big Brother. He eventually starts a relationship with a girl at work when she secretly slips him a note saying "I love you". Winston and Julia sneak around, meeting in discreet places such as a clearing in the woods, and begin to rent the room above Mr. Charrington's shop as a private place for the two of them. O'Brien, a member of the Inner Party, finds an excuse to give Winston and Julia his home address and meet with them. He eventually enlists them in the Brotherhood, a secret organization dedicated to fight Big Brother. Winston is thrilled that he is not alone and goes to the room above Mr. Charrington's shop where he gets arrested by the Thought Police and discovers Mr. Charrington is really a Thought Police agent. He is taken to the Ministry of Love where he learns O'Brien is an orthodox government agent and deliberately tricked him. O'Brien tortures and brainwashes him until he fully believes in the Party and its ideals. In the end, Winston has submitted completely and all feelings are destroyed, including the ones he had for Julia.

1. Do you think there are any similarites with our society and the society in the novel?

2. Do you think that anything or anybody can really control people's thoughts or beliefs?

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary is a novel set in the mid 1800's in France. It focuses on Emma Bovary's unhappy life. The novel begins with Charles Bovary going to school for the first time. He does not fit in with the other children and is not anything special. He blends into the backround and gets his work done but not in an extraordinary way just average. He goes to school to become a doctor at his parent's urging and passes the test late after failing it once and only passes the second time because his mother helps him. He goes on to marry Heloise because she is supposed to have money but she ends up with nothing and he lives a few unhappy years with her. Monsieur Bovary then begins to treat Roualt, an old farmer, and falls in love with his daughter, Emma. He does not act on it beyond visiting often. His wife begins to suspect him and Mrs Bovary Sr then visits with the news that Heloise has no money and Heloise has a stroke and dies.

After the funeral, Charles begins to court Emma and they eventually marry. They have a huge, lavish wedding, and as soon as they are married and settling in to their new lives Emma begins to regret her decision. She soon realizes Charles is only an ordinary middle class frenchman and begins to resent him for it. She ignores her duties as his wife and falls into a depression. Charles decides she needs new surroundings to help her and they decide to move to another small town close by. Soon before they move Emma discovers she is pregnant. She is hoping for a boy because she wants a strong child who can fend for himself unlike her apathetic husband. She has the baby after they move and it ends up being a girl, who they name Berthe. The name is suggested by their neighbor and new friend Homais. Another person they meet in their new home is Leon. The more time they spend with Homais and Leon the more it is apparent that he has feelings for Emma. She sees him as an escape from her average life and begins to fantasize about how happy she would be with him but neither of them act on it. Soon Leon realizes he is being suffocated by being so close to her but not being able to love her and he moves to Paris.

Next Emma meets Rodolphe, who quickly sweeps her off her feet. He takes her riding in the woods and writes her love letters. Charles is completely oblivious to the affair and even buys Emma a horse and encourages her to ride with Rodolphe. Her meetings with him become weekly and soon begin to suffocate Rodolphe. Meanwhile her husband tries to perform a surgery to fix a local's club foot and fails miserably and ends up taking the man's whole leg off. This makes Emma hate him even more and she tries to get Rodolophe to run away with her. The night before they are supposed to leave he writes her a letter explaining why he can't. He claims she would not be happy and he doesn't deserve to take her from her husband when in reality he doesn't love her enough. Throughout this whole time Emma has been decorating the house as if she is royalty and buying clothes to impress Rodolphe and has built up a debt with the shopkeeper. The heartbreak of Rodolphe and stress of living with Charles becomes too much and she lays in bed for a month. Charles spends the whole time taking care of her and believes her to be seriously ill. He decides that she needs a distraction and takes her to the opera in Paris.

While at the opera they run into Leon who takes them out to dinner. He convinces her to stay in Paris one day and let Charles return alone. While she is there alone Leon professes his love for her and they begin their affair. She tells Charles that she is taking weekly piano lessons in the city and goes to meet up with Leon. The frequent trips and hotel push her further into debt. After a few months Leon begins to be suffocated by her consuming love and decides he wants to be married with a legitimate relationship and breaks it off with Emma. Soon after this Emma is required to pay off her debts. If she does not pay them in 24 hours she will be required to give her furniture and all her belongings to her debtors. Emma begs everyone she knows for a loan including Leon and Rodolphe. They both seem to want to help but do not have the money. Emma believes that they are saying no because they do not love her and falls into a delirium and ends up injesting arsenic.

She goes home and lays down to sleep and the poison begins to take affect. Charles begins to panic and calls Homais who gives her a drug to make her vomit. He claims that if she empties her stomach the arsenic will be gone but the drug only makes her worse. She soon dies and Charles becomes a mad man who does nothing but wallow in his grief. He refuses to sell anything of hers and falls into such debt that he cannot clothe his own child and ends up killing himself. This leaves the daughter who lives with a poor aunt and works in a cotton mill.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do you think this could have been prevented?

2. What would make you act the way Emma did?

3. Do you think Emma was selfish or clinically depressed?

4. What is the purpose of this story?

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, is a novel about a young troubled boy named Oliver Twist. After Oliver was born in a warehouse in the 1830's, his mother dies shortly after on the streets. Because of this, Oliver is sent to a poor orphanage until the age of nine. He struggled greatly with being bullied by the other orphans, and eventually gets kicked out of the orphanage because the bullies pushed him to ask for more food from the "parish beadle," Mr. Bumble. Oliver struggled to stay in a stable, safe home, until a man named Fagin took him in. He sheltered many young boys that helped him pick-pocket random people on the streets. Because Oliver was too afraid to run away, he agreed to pick-pocket people for Fagin, along with some other boys. On their first mission, Oliver runs off because he is too afraid to actually steal from another person. A man named Mr. Brownlow, who had been pick-pocketed by some of the boys Oliver was with, took Oliver in and nursed him to safety. This did not last long, because two of Fagin's accomplices captured Oliver and brought him back to Fagin. Then, Oliver was pressured into doing committing burglary and gets shot. At an all time low, Oliver is taken in by the woman who lives in the home, named Mrs. Maylie. Her niece Rose lives there as well. Oliver lives with them for a perfect summer together. It only gets better from there when Oliver discovers a man named Monks is his half-brother. Their wealthy father had an affair with Oliver's mother (Agnes Fleming), so now Oliver gets his share of their family's inheritance money. He also finds out that Mrs. Maylie's daughter, Rose, is his Aunt (His mother's younger sister). Fagin is also hanged for all his wrong-doings. In the end, Mr. Brownlow, who sheltered Oliver earlier in the novel, adopts him and they live happily ever after in the countryside with the Maylie's.

Discussion Questions:

1. Oliver Twist was under a lot of peer pressure his entire life. How does peer pressure appear in our modern society today?

2. How would you react if you found out you had a half-brother or sister you never knew about?

3. Some novels and movies have a happy ending, and some do not. Oliver Twist on the other hand had a very happy ending. Do you think we all have a happy ending in life? Do we have the potential to make happy endings for ourselves? Do you think fate has something to do with it?

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?