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The Glass Bead Game

The Glass Bead Game takes place in the future where the intellectually gifted are raised to play this game. The Game is supposed to combine history, mathematics and art. Only select individuals are allowed to play and they live in a fictional European province called Castalia. The only two functions of this province is to educate males in various subjects and to teach and nurture the Game. It is a very complex game and the rules are never precisely laid out for the reader. The main character Joseph Knecht becomes the "Magister Ludi" or head of the whole order that organizes and maintains the game. In order to obtain this position you must be the best at the game. Knecht become the master in a way that is sort of abstract. He visited the outside world and went on missions for the church among other things and learned as he went as opposed to in a boarding school. Knecht finds the order sketchy and questions his own loyalty. He eventually drops out of his position which has never been done and he tutors his friend's child until Knecht eventually drowns in a lake.

1) Do you think that a society could ever exist where the intelligent are appreciated like the super star athletes are today?

2) If you worked your whole life towards a goal and then realized there are flaws to it, would you leave and form a new goal as Knecht did or would you try to fix the flaws?

A Tale of two Cities

In England, Charles Darnay is on trial for treason. His lawyer needed his drunk freind to help acquit Darnay. Meanwhile Javis Lorrey escorts Lucie to her father Dr. Mannette in Paris. Marquis Evrémonde hurries home running down peasonts with his carriage to meet his nephew Darnay. After meeting Darnay, he is angered to find out that his nephew is disgusted with the way the aristocracy treats the lesser classes. Marquis Evrémonde is then murdered that night, the only clue left behind was a note left by the revolutionary Jacques. Both Darnay and Carton pledged themselves to marry Lucie. Jerry cruncher, snuck into a graveyard to steal and sell Cly's body Darnay ends up marrying Lucie and revealing his true identity to her father. Darnay and Carton end up becoming friends. The french revolution begins, and aristocrats are murdered byt the poor. One such aristocrat, Gabelle, writes to Darnay asking to be rescued from prison. Darnay is arrested for being an imigrant and Dr. Manette shows up and uses his influence to get him an aquittal. Darnay is arrested again. Cartonvows to save and rescue Darnay. During the trial, Defarge uses a letter found in Manettes cell to condemn him for his familys crimes. Darnay is senteced to death. Mamam Defarge is shot by Miss Pross for trying to arrest Lucy. Carton switches places with defarge and dies by the guillotine.

Do you think the French revolution went to far?

Is there a limit to what rebels should do to overthrow an oppressive government?

Sunday!

Happy Sunday everyone!

1984 by George Orwell

1984 is possibly depiction of what George Orwell believed the world would be like in the future. This book as written in the year 1949, so since 1984 was almost 40 years into the future, many people, including Orwell, had different ideas about the possible future, and this novel shows how easily the world can be changed and the future effected.

At the beginning of the novel, the setting is introduced. It's the year 1984 and everyone and everything is ruled by a dictator known as Big Brother. The current government is overly protective and watchful over all the citizens of Oceania. The government has put cameras and telescreens all over the city and in the rooms of people's houses so they can monitor and know everything that is happening during every second of the day. Nothing goes unseen from Big Brother since he can watch anyone at anytime. Privacy means nothing to the citizens since it was taken away by the government. The Party even goes so far as to read and listen to people's thoughts and any thought of rebelling against the Party is seen as illegal and punishable. The story follows Winston Smith, a member of Oceania. He's been living under the rule of Big Brother and wants to try and escape the totalitarian government system since he no longer has any freedom. This becomes very important to him when he meets a girl named Julia. He falls in love with her and they start a relationship together. But he must keep there relationship a secret since the government forbids sex and anything else that would allow him to express himself or his individuality.

Winston later meets a man named O'Brien who he believes is a member of the dictatorship Party. O'Brien eventually convinces him that he is against Big Brother and his controlling ways. It is later revealed that O'Brien really is a spy and his main job was to force Winston to admit to wanting to rebel against the government. Big Brother eventually gets his way and transforms Winston into a follower.Big Brother was an insanely watchful and over protective government leader.

Do you believe that our society is becoming anything similar to this in any way? Is the government we have today becoming to over protective and are they taking away certain rights that we as citizens have or are they just doing what they have to in order to keep everything organized and under control?

This book was written in 1949 and the society in this novel takes place forty years after that in 1984. It is said by many people that this was Orwell's prediction for the future. What do you think the future will be like forty years from now? Is it possible that one day?our government really could be as watchful as Big Brother.

Going After Cacciato

The novel Going After Cacciato, is a war novel set in the turbulent jungles of Vietnam. The story focuses around the thoughts of a U.S. soldier, Paul Berlin. Berlin is the leader of the squad, and as such he carries the responsibility for his group of men. The main conflict arises when Cacciato, one of Berlin's soldiers, decides to desert and run off to Paris. Desertion is a crime in the military, so Berlin and his squad are forced to try and track down Cacciato. Ultimately they cannot find Cacciato, but the story continues in Berlin's mind as he daydreams up a fantastical plan where he and his men travel half way across the world in order to find Cacciato. The story is more set in a series of vignettes as was The Things They Carried, focusing more on the emotion of war than any sort of plot. As such by the end of the novel, one is left with a better understanding of a Vietnam soldier's experience rather than any political or moral opinion of war.

1.Berlin uses his mind to escape the reality of war by daydreaming about going after Cacciato. Do you think that it is dangerous to lose focus in war, or merely a way to stay sane?

2. Cacciato deserts the war in order to go to Paris. If you were drafted to fight in a war that you did not want to fight, would you desert? Why/why not.

The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a story of a father and his son's journey over a post-apocalyptic world. The mom kills herself cause she does not want to get eaten. They are heading south to find warmer weather. The world has been ravaged by some unidentified disaster and most resources are gone. Some people have begun eating other humans as a source of food. At one point they find a dead baby roasting on a spit which is pretty messed up. The boy and his son reach the south but its not any better than the north. The dad eventually dies and leaves the son alone. The son is found by a man who takes him in and protects him. The father tells his son to carry on the light of civilization once he dies.

1) Do you think the boy will succeed in reviving civilization?

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a novel that will keep its reader on the edge at all times. The main characters are a father and his young son who are battling the catastrophic event that took place in the world. They are the only two beings left that they know of that is not a cannibal. The father is upset because the boy's mother, also his wife, killed herself after the event took place. This great novel tells the tale of the father and son's journey through the aftermath of the world changing event that took place. Through out the novel, they are hiding from the "bad people" and are in search for what the son calls the "good people". At the end of the novel, the son finds these "good people" that he was searching for. Unfortunately it was with out his father. The son has to face the new challenges of surviving without his father by his side.

Questions

1) In the novel, both main characters are unnamed. Why do you think that is?

2)If you spent the time staying alive with a parent, like the son did, then was forced to move to another family, how would you feel? Would you be open to this change?

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

Lucy Honeychurch is young and single. She is on a trip to Italy with her chaperone and cousin, Charlotte. While in Italy they meet the Emerson's, an elderly gentleman and his son George. Mr. Emerson quickly tries to switch rooms with Charlotte and Lucy when he finds out they are displeased with their view and knows the view from his own room is much better. The Clergyman, Mr. Beebe, says of Mr. Emerson, "..he is not tactful; yet, have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time -- beautiful?" (14). Charlotte is unimpressed with the men and suggests to Lucy that she stay away. While Lucy is off on her own, touring the sites, she runs into the Emerson's and learns more about them. She soon is whisked away to Rome when Charlotte finds out that the younger Emerson has kissed Lucy while on an outing. Finally, after completing her adventure, she returns home to become engaged to Cecil, an outgoing, higher class young gentleman whom her mother adores and her brother does not care for. She soon runs into George again, however, when he and his father move into the cottage next door. Freddy and George quickly learn to enjoy one another's company and Lucy sees more and more of the young Emerson. In the end will she remain with her fiance Cecil or will she break off the engagement in search of something more? 1. Do you think that someones social standing still has a large influence on who someone chooses to marry? Why or why not? 2. Although not main characters in the novel, clergy members seem to have a large influence on Charlotte and Lucy's mother, but only serve as mild advisors to Lucy. Does a pastor's opinion still have a lot of infuence on people's lives today? If so, what choices do these opinions majorly affect?

The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale, is a story about a handmaid named Offred in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic state that has replaced the United States of America. In this future nation, the reproduction rate has decreased significantly because of pollution and radiation. In order to increase the reproduction rate, the leaders of Gilead order women to bear children for powerful families that could not bear children of their own, like the handmaids in the Bible did for their masters. The rights of all women, not only the handmaids, are restricted. They cannot hold jobs, have their own money, and even reading and writing is forbidden. The rules for the handmaids are even more restricted. They can only leave the house on their daily shopping trips, and they must speak to one another in either the "appropriate" greetings or in a hushed whisper when no one is around. The handmaid's names consist of the word "Of" and then their Commander's first name, making it so the handmaids don't even own themselves. Offred's story is a mix of present day actions and flashbacks. While telling her daily activities, she slips into flashbacks that tell the events leading up to the story. She explains how The Republic of Gilead came to power. Using the military, the founders of Gilead killed the president and the congress on the same day. They claimed they were taking power temporarily but they seeon suspend the Constitution and take away women's rights. The reader learns that Offred was married to a man named Luke, and they had a child together. Her family tried to escape over the border to Canada, but they were caught anf she hasn't seen her husband or daughter since. After she was captured she was taken to the Rachel and Leah Re-Education Center, in order to learn how to be a handmaid. At the center, the handmaids in training are told that a woman's main purpose is to bear children. Offred's best friend Moria is also brought to the center, but she escapes and Offred doesn't know what happened to her. Offred is assigned to the Commander's house, and settles into a routine. She takes her shopping trips with another handmaid named Ofglen, and does the "Ceremony" with the Commander and his wife Serena Joy. During the "Ceremony", Offred and the other household members are read the Bible by the Commander. Then Offred must go to the Commander's bedroom and have sex with him while lying in Serena's lap. Every month, Offred must visit the doctor and be checked for any problems. During one of her visits, the doctor offers to have sex with Offred to get her pregnant, saying that the Commander may be infertile. Offred refuses because she believes it is too risky. After a "Ceremony", the Commander's gardener and chauffer Nick, finds Offred at night and tells her the Commander wants her to come to his office the next night. Her visits become part of she routine. During her visits they talk, play Scrabble, and he allows her to read. At the end of each visit, she must give him a goodbye kiss. Time passes and Offred isn't getting pregnant. Serena suggests that Offred should have sex with Nick to get pregnant, and then they can pretend the baby is the Commander's. Serena schedules a meeting between Nick and Offred. On the night of the meeting, the Commander surprises Offred by sneaking her out and into a club called Jezebel's. Jezebel's is a club where the Commanders meet with prostitutes. While at the club Offred sees Moria, and they secretly meet in a bathroom. Moria fills Offred in on her escape. She was caught just before making it over the border. After the night at Jezebel's, Offred never sees Moria again. Soon after she returns to the Commander's house, Serena get her and takes her to Nick's room. Offred and Nick sleep together. Then Offred begins to meet with Nick regularlt without anyone knowing. She finds out that Ofglen is part of an underground orgainization called "Mayday" that is trying to overthrow Gilead. Offred gets so caught up in her and Nick's relationship, that she ignores Ofglen's request for information from the Commander. One day, Offred meets a new Ofglen for their shopping trip. The new Ofglen is not part of "Mayday" and tells Offred that the old Ofglen had hung herself when she saw the Eyes, Gilead's secret police, coming for her. When Offred returns from her shopping trip, Serena confronts her about the night at Jezebel's. She sends Offred to her room promising punishment. Offred watches out the window as one of the Eye's vans pulls up the driveway. What will happen to Offred? You'll have to read to find out.

1. The secret organization "Mayday" sneaks many people to safe houses, and then over the border to Canada. How is this similar to the Underground Railroad?


2. What do you think Margaret Atwood is trying to say through her novel The Handmaid's Tale? Is it too late to change? Explain.

Robinson Crusoe

In 1651, the main character, Robinson Crusoe, sets sail against the wishes of his parents. His first voyage is cut short by a storm, but Crusoe decides to give the sea another try. This time it is not a storm that ruins his journey, but pirates. Crusoe is then put into slavery for 2 years, but escapes and finds himself guess where? The sea. This time he lucks into finding a ship with a powerful captain from Portugal, who is able to set him up with land in Brazil. But once again the passion for the sea gets the best of him, and he joins the slave transporting business. But once again, suprise, his ship wrecks and he is the lone survivor stuck on an island he calls the Island of Despair. The experience with owning land back in Brazil helps him out now because he can grow his own food, and he was able to salvage some weapons from the ship so he can hunt also. During this time, he also becomes very religious because the only book he has to read is the bible, which he follows during his time on the island. A band of cannibals come to the island every few years to eat prisoners they have captured. One manages to escape, and is named Friday by Crusoe. Another tribe of natives come to the island and the two kill most of the tribe and save two prisoners, one happens to be the father of Friday. The other man tells Crusoe that there are more men who have shipwrecked, and he leaves with the father to go get them and bring them back to the island. However, before the return, another ship shows up. This ship intends to leave its captain on the island, but the two men side with the captain and some members still on his side and take back the ship. Finally after many years, Crusoe returns to England. He becomes wealthy off of his land down in Brazil which he eventually sells on a trip to Lisbon. After around ten years back in England, Crusoe's love for the sea gets the best of him, and goes back out to sea as a trader in the Caribbean, where he visits the island he was stuck on for so many years.

1- If you were stuck on and island for multiple years, what would keep you fighting for your life? At what point would you think about giving up?

2- At what point would you give up on a dream/passion? Crusoe failed miserably and almost died multiple times, why do you think he kept at it?

For Whom the Bell Tolls By Earnest Hemmingway

Robert Jordan is an american professor who enlists in the spanish republican army during the spanish civil war. He is sent by General Golz to meet with a group of guerrilla fighters in the mountains. His task is to wait until the general's attack starts and then blow up a fascist controlled bridge. Jordan meets with the guerrillas and finds that many have become lazy and no longer wish to fight. Many are completely opposed to blowing the bridge because it means that they will be discovered and would force them to move from their hideout. A schism forms within the group with The band's leader, Pablo on one side and Jordan and Pablo's wife on the other. An argument occurs in which Jordan almost shoots Pablo but eventually things get calm and the group goes to bed. The next day, Jordan and Pablo's wife Pilar go to speak to a neighboring group of guerrillas led by a man named El Sordo. They agree to help blow the bridge and suggest that they can get some horses for the attack. As they return to camp, it begins snowing. They return to find Pablo drunk. He begins provoking Jordan and arguing about the bridge. Again Robert is prepared to kill Pablo, this time, however, he learns that he has the entire band on his side and that no one believes Pablo is still a good leader. Pablo leaves before Robert gets the nerve to kill him. Several minutes later he returns saying that he no longer wants to lead and that his wife, Pilar should. The group then turns in for the night again. The next morning Jordan wakes up to a Fascist patrol walking through the camp. He kills the man and realizes that El Sordo had tried to steal horses from the Fascist camp and were followed into the mountain by their tracks in the snow. The group gets ready for a large scale battle but the patrols pass by and attack El Sordo. Jordan realizes that neither group stands a chance so they must hide and watch as all of Sordo's men are killed. When the battle is over Jordan attempts to prepare for the next days battle with even less men than he thought. And to make matters worse, Pablo has left with the dynamite needed to blow the bridge. That night, however, Pablo returns with another neighboring band of guerrillas. The battle begins early in the morning, and Jordan has no problem blowing the bridge. Though he does lose a few men. During their retreat Jordan is on a horse. A bullet hits the ground near him and his horse falls on and breaks his leg. He tells the group to leave him. He sits alone contemplating suicide and waiting for the Fascists to find him. Several feet away he sees a Fascist officer. He takes aim, and the novel ends.

1. Robert Jordan is an american who has never lived in Spain. Would you ever fight for a country other that your own just because you believed in the principles of that country?

2. Robert is told by the general that he is essentially on a suicide mission. Would you ever go on a mission like his knowing that you were most likely going to fail and possibly be killed?

Ajax by Sophocles

Ajax is one of the earlier plays by Sophocles and displays the meaning of Greek tragedy. This piece recycles the characters from Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey but Sophocles finds a way to twist the characters to suit his needs while not straying too far from Homer’s original creation. Characters that reappear are Ajax, Menelaus, Agamemnon and Odysseus, to name a few. The action takes place after the death of Achilles during the Trojan War staying true to Homer’s series of events from the Iliad.

The opening of the play begins by stating that the armor of Achilles will go to one of the men in the army. Both Odysseus and Ajax are men that have proved themselves throughout the war as being strong and courageous. It is left to Agamemnon and Menelaus, the leaders of the army, to choose who would receive the armor. When Odysseus is picked to have the honor of having Achilles’s armor, Ajax goes into a jealous rage. He believes he was the better of the two and that one that should be picked.

As Ajax’s anger builds, his mind starts to darken. He thinks about killing the men in the army with Menelaus, Agamemnon and Odysseus at the top of his list. As Ajax is contemplating these thoughts, Athena the god of wisdom begins to play with his mind. To save the army and protect her champion Odysseus, Athena causes Ajax to see the cattle and herds as men. Through the night he starts slaying and capturing animals believing that they were actually people. Ajax keeps a few animals tied up with the intention of torturing them before he murders them. These animals that he keeps are ones he believes to be the three he most hates.

As morning breaks news gets out as to what Ajax had done. The spell cast onto him by Athena lifts and Ajax is upset by what he has done. He speaks about how going after weak animals means nothing and gives foreshadowing as to his future actions. While this goes on the chorus and his wife Tecmessa beg him to live and do what is right.

1. Do you believe it is wrong for the Greek gods to interfere? Why or why not?

2. What do you think brought on Ajax's anger? Pride, jealousy, both, or something else?

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe is a collection put together by the company Barnes & Noble Inc. It contains every single piece of literary work that Poe had ever written. Including his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, which sadly ended up being one of the worst novels ever published. However, I decided to read several of his poems, all having a related theme: The death of a beautiful girl. I chose the following poems: "The Raven," "Eldorado," "To Helen," "Deep in Earth," "A Valentine," "Annabel Lee," and several other poems. They all hold the central plot of either a beautiful girl dying or the lost of a love one. Sub plots include simple reflection on Romance and the feeling of loneliness. Poe has commonly been looked at as been a Dark Romantic, which is a somewhat accurate description of his writings and beliefs. However, when you deeper into his work, the reader begins to feel sympathy for this man and begins to understand why so much of his work is seen as almost depressing in some cases. The poem "Annabel Lee" is usually connected to the death of his beloved wife, Virginia Clemm, who died while they were young. And "The Raven" talks of a man who has lost the love of his life and feels no need to live a happy life anymore. "A Valentine" is one of his only poems that contains no signs of depression or darkness. It's a simple, yet elegant love poem; possibly for Virginia. It should also be noted that Poe's idle, a mother of a friend, died when he was still in his younger years. This definitely contributed some grief to the hopeless romantic. Overall, his love was anything but amazing. However, the reader must keep in mind that not all great writers come from a great past. If that was the case, there would be nowhere as much amazing literary work than there is today.

1. If the love of your life died, would you be able to accept his/her death? Or would a piece of you feel broken for the rest of your life? Would you be able to fall in love again?

2. What are your views on Poe? Do you like his work? Why do you think his only novel flopped?

3. Would you consider Poe to be an 'old school emo?'

A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange is a story about a hypothetical future, the likes of which mankind should never hope to see. The book starts off in England, in a little bar in a small city. Here we meet Alex, the protagonist of the story, and his "droogies", or friends as they say in NADSAT, the hip, Slavic rooted lingo of the teens. Alex is the boss of his three friends, a criminal boss, and they are all about to go out on a night of pillaging and ransacking. Throughout the night they commit heinous acts of violence, stealing, and Alex ends up raping a poor woman by the end of the night. After all is said and done there is a small quarrel within the group of "friends" and they decide to call it a night and continue with the shenanigans the next day. The next day, Alex is betrayed by his friends and caught by the police. In jail, the government, in their desperate attempt to quell the unstoppable crime rampant throughout the country, use a corrective behavior technique calle Ludovico's Technique. The technique strips away the ability to choose one's actions freely, instead replacing the violent action with one of benevolence. While in this helpless state, Alex is kidnapped by two police officers, one of which was his old gang rival, and one who was his own friend who betrayed him. They leave him in the country side to fend for himself. Luckily for Alex, there is a small village nearby where he finds a place the stay. This man, F. Alexander, we learn is the husband of the lady Alex rapes at the beginning of the story, we find out that this lady died from the trauma. F. Alexander soon learns of Alex's true identity and decides to use Alex to overthrow the government, driving Alex to kill himself and blame Ludovisco's Technique on his death. His suicide attempt fails, but still raises an uproar throughout society. With this uproar, the government, in an attempt to stay in power, fixes Alex. Alex then goes back to a life of crime, but soon tires from it and realizes that violence is not all there is to life. the book ends with Alex day dreaming about raising a son, the right way.

In the story, Alex is not given the right to choose between right or wrong. Is forcing good onto others a good way to fix violence?

Ludovisco's Technique also stripped Alex from one thing he truly enjoyed in life, Classical music, what would you do if you had something you enjoy stripped form you, and every time you even thought about it you were brought to your knees in pain?

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

When young Jane Eyre's parents die of disease, her kind uncle, Mr. Reed, takes her in and promises to raise her as his own. However, when he passes away as well, his wife shows that she does not feel the same way about Jane. Jane goes through her childhood unfairly being cruelly treated by her aunt and three cousins and never feels like she fits in or is respected. Even the maids disrespect her saying, "Yes, if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that" (Bronte 22). One day when her cousin bullied her for no reason, her aunt believed she was lying and sent her to be punished in the "red room" where her Uncle Reed had died. She believes she sees her uncle's ghost while in there and faints in exhaustion and fear. When she awakens, she is happy to find that her aunt has agreed to send her to school. However, once she gets there she is disappointed. At Lowood School, headmaster Brocklehurst does not treat Jane still with the respect she deserves. When Mrs. Reed was talking to Brocklehurst about getting Jane into the school, she explained to him, "...this little girl has not quite the character and disposition I could wish: should you admit her into Lowood school, I should be glad if the superintendent and teachers were requested to keep a strict eye on her, and about all, to guard against her worst fault, a tendency to deceit" (Bronte 30). He tells everyone that Jane is a liar at her school and she is shunned. Jane does manage to make one good friend, Helen, who is the ideal Christian. Unlike Brocklehurst who says one thing and then does another, Helen truly lives up to the standards expected of her. Many children get sick while in school, and Helen ends up dying of consumption. When others find out about Brocklehurst's mistreatment of the children, he is replaced. Jane stays at Lowood to teach for a few years. When Jane is ready for a new pace, she accepts a governess position at Thornfield manor and teaches a young French girl named Adele. Here, Jane secretly falls in love with her employer, Rochester. She even saves him from a house fire which was supposedly started by his drunken servant Grace Poole. However, Poole continues with her job, so Jane knows that there must be more to the story. Jane is upset when Rochester brings home a beautiful woman, but he ends up proposing to Jane. On the wedding day she finds out that he had already been married to a woman that is locked up on the third story because she had gone insane and that he had hired Poole to keep her under control. She leaves Rochester and is taken in by the Rivers family where St. John Rivers finds her a new job. He finds out that they are cousins and that their uncle John Eyre left her a large sum of money when he died. When St. John decides to go to India as a missionary, he asks Jane to go with him as his wife. Jane decides she doesn't love him so she doesn't marry him. When Jane goes back to Thornfield, she finds that the house had burnt down with Rochester's wife in it. Rochester lost his eyesight and one of his hands from the fire, but Jane agreed when he proposed to her again. At the end of the novel, Jane writes that she is happily married with a son and that her and Rochester enjoy perfect equality in their life together.

1) Jane grows up as an orphan in her disapproving aunt's house and is mistreated throughout her life. Jane was still family to the Reeds though, so what might be some reasons she was treated differently than her cousins that she lived with?

2) Jane decides to marry Rochester even after he is blind and has only one hand. If someone you loved became handicapped, would you still chose to marry them like Jane did if she didn't have to? Why does Jane chose him over St. John?

3) What would you do if you found out on your wedding day that the person you were about to marry was already married? Even if the person they had married had gone insane?

4) Although during the era this novel was written women were known to be subservient to men, Jane felt that she didn't want to marry Rochester until after proving her self-sufficiency to herself so that she wouldn't feel she was dependent upon him as her “master.” How is marriage thought to be today compared to back then?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is a gripping novel centered around a mental facility and its patients. The novel is told in the perspective of first person, with the narrator being the protagonist. His name is Chief Bromden, and he is attending the ward because everyone thinks he is "deaf and dumb." However, Chief has simply made the realization that people do not listen to him due to his race, so he simply chooses not to talk. He fools everyone into thinking he is deaf, when really he understands everything and judges everyone. He does have a problem, however. He is a schizophrenic. He thinks that the "combine" is out to get him along with everyone else. He thinks that the combine is a society of machines that try to infiltrate everyday life to listen in on what he says and thinks. He always thinks he can hear machines. He thinks they are going to find out he is faking, and always has strange dreams. The other patients are mentally disturbed and each has different issues to deal with.

The antagonist throughout the novel is the nurse who oversees the section of the ward that the novel focuses on. Her name is Ms. Ratched, and she makes it her duty to attain total control. She creates a routine that is followed everyday that is never broken. She holds absolute power and uses it whenever possible. She gives the ward members little to no freedom, and makes it her agenda to point out their flaws in therapy sessions. Every day is the same in the ward, as the routine is followed.

One day, a new man arrives at the ward, and everything is soon to change. This man, McMurphy, was a prisoner at a work farm. However, he started many fights in order to be called insane, and transfered to the mental facility in order to get out of doing work. He does not actually have a mental disability, but says he does so that he does not have to return to jail. After seeing the total control the nurse has, he decides to make it his duty to try to break the other members free from the nurse's control. He breaks the routine whenever possible, disobeys the rules, and acts out in order to break away from her control.

McMurphy's actions have a profound effect on the other inmates. They relearn to stand up for themselves and make their opinions known. They begin to open up socially and interact in a more positive way. Cheif sees this, and wonders whether McMurphy could be the one to break the nurse's hold. One day Chief reveals himself to McMurphy, which only adds to his resolve. The climax of McMurphy's antics occurs as he sneaks the patients out and goes on a fishing trip in a stolen boat. One would think chaos would follow, but the members of the ward have fun and are able to be themselves. Nurse Ratched sees she is losing the battle, but soon comes up with a plan to regain power. McMurphy is a gambler throughout the novel. He bets the other inmates for their possessions and cigarettes. Nurse Ratched comes up with the idea to plant in the ward members' heads that McMurphy is scamming them.

The novel climaxes with McMurphy's final act. He invites prostitutes to the ward and bribes the janitor. He and the other ward members, including Chief, party all night and eventually pass out. The next morning, Nurse Ratched returns to the chaos and is furious. McMurphy is taken away and everyone wonders what his fate will be. Will McMurphy triumph over Nurse Ratched? What will become of the inmates if he does not return? How will Chief's new found self worth and confidence play out in his role in staying at the ward? You'll have to read the novel to find out for yourself.

Questions:

1. All of the members within the ward are terrified by Nurse Ratched's wrath. If you were a patient and you saw a new member trying to fight the system would you try to help him? Would you have the strength to?

2. If you were in Chief's position, not thinking you had a problem when you actually did, would you stay at the institution? Would you be able to see past your paranoia to see that you are fooling yourself?

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

This paragraph begins our story about a traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa who awakes to find himself transformed into an insect. He briefly lays in bed wondering how this happened to him. His thoughts lead to his job and the fact that he's already late to work. He's never been late in 5 years, so it would look suspicious if he were to be late now. Noticing that Gregor hasn't awakened yet, his mother comes to his door, to which Gregor answers her but notices something rather strange. His voice is changing. His father and sister Grete who also realize he's still home try to enter his bedroom but he locked his door the night before so they couldn't get in.

Gregor eventually gets out of bed when he realizes his boss sent the chief clerk to get him since Gregor was late. However, Gregor still refused to open the door for his family, insisting that he's ill. However, the shocked family can't understand a single word that Gregor says because his voice has changed to that of an insects. Concerned, they call a doctor and a locksmith. Gregor, however, manages to finally open the door himself.

The sudden appearence of Gregor frightens his family and the chief clerk. His father was so upset that when Gregor tried to explain himself, he kicked him back into his room when Gregor got stuck in the doorway and injured him as well. As the novel progresses, Gregor's sister would come into his room and bring him food. She would also clean his room for him as well. His family moved the furniture out as well, trying to give him more room since he liked to crawl around on the ceilings and walls. But Gregor wanted the furniture, so he came out to save a picture. The sight of him made his mother faint and when Gregor came out of his room to follow Grete to help his mother, his father started to throw apples at him, hurting him in the process. This injury, however, makes the family be more accepting of Gregor and they leave the door open.

However, as time goes by, the family begins to neglect Gregor more and more. Grete doesn't bring Gregor food anymore and when they housed lodgers, Gregor scared them to which the lodgers refused to pay the rent for the time they stayed with them. Grete believes they need to get rid of Gregor because he's nothing but a nuisance to the whole family. Gregor realizes shes right and goes back into hiding in his room, waits til sunrise, and dies.

The family is happy but also mourn for his death. They take off work and go for a stroll. Happy with their future to come, they realize their daughter is growing up and need to find her a husband. At the end of their trip, Grete is the first to stand up and stretch.

1. Gregor suddenly changes overnight and doesn't have a clue as to what happened to him. His family is unwilling to help him and neglect him. If a family member of yours suddenly changed, like they were a whole new person and you really didn't like it, would you neglect them? If not, what would you do? If so, why would you neglect them?

2. At the end of the novel, it says Grete is the first to stand up and stretch after the family's stroll and day off work. What do you think this means? Do you think it's in any way significant?

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, is a futuristic tale about clones. The story focuses on three clones, Tommy, Ruth, and Kathy, with Kathy being the main narrator. In the beginning, the story tells of the three friends time at their special boarding school called Hailsham. This is when the reader discovers that the characters are clones. The clones purpose in life is to donate their organs to "real" people when they become "of age" so to say. As the novel progresses, the reader watches the three clones grow into adults. In this progression, Ruth and Tommy begin to have a relationship. During their time in Hailsham Tommy discovers a temporary way out of their fate of organ donning. He discovers that if you can prove that you are in love, true love, you can get out of donning for a short time. Unfortunately, their lives progress as expected and Ruth and Tommy become donors, while Kathy cares for them. Ruth begins to donate her organs faster than the others and reaches "complete" before the others. "Complete" means that the clone can no longer donate organs to real people. When a clone is complete, they have no other purpose in life and die. When Ruth reaches this point, she shares to Kathy and Tommy that they should fall in love in order to escape the becoming complete. After this Ruth dies and Tommy and Kathy go to find Madame, who will determine if their love is true or not. When they reach Madame they find out that Hailsham really wasn't a school and that it was actually a way to try to prove that clones were more than donors. After this, Tommy basically gives up and is completed, while Kathy begins to donate in order to reach completion.

1. One of the main themes of the novel is based on the morality of cloning. Do you think cloning humans for organ purposes is moral/immoral? why/why not?

2. Another theme is that because clones are not "original" humans, this means the clone possesses no soul. Do you think clones are just copies, or should clones be considered human with their own soul?

1984 by George Orwell

1984 is a remarkable book in which George Orwell predicts what the future off governments around the world will become. Big Brother, the leader of the party, sees, hears, and knows everything. An act as innocent as purchasing a diary is now a crime and can be punished by death. Even though Winston works for the party, he does not agree with what they stand for and he hopes to expose them as the frauds they really are. He begins to suspect an officemate of his, O’Brien is a member of the group that plans to over through Big Brother and his manipulative government.

One day at work, Winston receives a note from a lady whom he had originally thought was an informant to the party. The note reads, “I love you” and she and Winston develop a relationship that must be kept a secret from big brother. Even though Winston is sure he and Julia will be caught for their relationship, he continues to stay with her and resents the party even more as time passes.

O’Brien decides to have Winston and Julia over to his house to confide in them his hatred of the party as well. However, while the three are at the apartment, the party police break in and arrest all three of them. But as it turns out, O’Brien is a devoted member of the party who has be assigned the task of getting Winston and Julia to complete an act of open rebellion.

The Story ends with the “break-up” of Winston and Julia, due to the brain washing Winston was subjected to. While it appears as though the hero has lost in this story, Winston’s acts will lead to more rebellions just like his, which will help gain control back from the party.

1) Do you think that George Orwell was at all accurate in his depiction of what governments can develop into?

2) If Our government were as controlling as the one in 1984, do you think you would be able to recognize it and stand up for your rights, or do you think you would fall for the manipulations of the party?