Course Assignments
Reading Responses
These topics are suggestions, meant to give an idea of appropriate topics for the responses; you are not limited to the questions listed.
RR 1 (Feb 2):
Chose one poem and offer your interpretation by answering a relevant question: For example
- In the poem "For Elsie," who or what are "the pure products of America"? Why do they "go crazy"?
- What "depends / upon // a red wheel / barrow?"
- Why does speaker in "This Is Just to Say" write this note?
RR 2 (Feb 9)
Offer a line-by-line interpretation of any single poem. Such line-by-line readings are called "explications"; they are not quite essays, since they don't require a thesis, but often they are used as part of an essay. Don't simply paraphrase the poem, however. A line-by-line explication should have some focus— a unifying theme, a series of related images, a formal concern (for example, pointing out the sound patterns throughout a poem).This focus can become a thesis for a full essay.
RR 3 (Feb 23)
Choose a question to guide your response to the play:
- Why is Moss so enraged after he speaks to detective Baylen? And why does he direct his rage at Roma?
- Is Shelley Levene a sympathetic character?
- Write an analysis of any single character, using quotes from the play to support your analysis.
- What is the theme (or themes) of this play?
- Why is the setting important?
RR 4 (March 9)
Respond to any one of the O'Connor stories we've read so far ("A Good Man is Hard to Find," "Circle in the Fire," "A Late Encounter with the Enemy," "Good Country People"). Some questions you might consider:
- Why does the Grandmother reach out and touch the Misfit in "A Good Man is Hard to Find"? What does she mean when she says "you're one of my babies"?
- Why does the Misfit shoot her? What does he mean when he says "she would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life"?
- Why do boys burn down the farm in "Circle in the Fire"?
- Why is Mrs. Cope "punished" in "Circle in the Fire"
- What is the irony in "Late Encounter with the Enemy"?
- What is the significance of names in "Good Country People"?
RR 5 (March 30)
The first section (Chiba City Blues) of Neuromancer establishes the setting (time and place) of much of the novel. While not all of the novel takes place in Chiba city, it does take place in a future world. For the first response, you could describe this setting or the situation that is developing:
- What kind of a world do these characters inhabit?
- How far in the future do you think this is? Why?
- What kind of character is Case?
- What do you think Armitage is up to?
RR 6 (April 6)
The second (The Shopping Expedition) and third (Midnight on the Rue Jules Verne) sections of Neuromancer develop the plot and complicate the physical/virtual issues introduced earlier. Some questions to consider:
- Is Dixie a character? Is he alive?
- Is Wintermute a character? Is Wintermute alive?
- Are Wintermute's motives understandable? Consider what Dixie tells Case on pp 131-132.
- What kind of person is Peter Riviera? Why is he part of this team? Why does Molly have such a powerful dislike of him?
RR 7 (April 13)
Use the final reading response on Neuromancer to address any questions you are left with when you finish the novel. That is, what issues do you still find confusing? The mind/body issue becomes more complicated, as the the question of whether the AI is alive. And what does the final scene mean?
RR 8 (April 20)
For the first response on Toomer's Cane, you might consider the following questions:
- In the first part of Cane, the stories or character sketches all concern female characters (Karintha, Becky, Carma, Fern, Ester, Louisa). What do these women have in common?
- How do the poems relate to the prose sections?
- What does the narrator in "Fern" want to do for her?
- Discuss the racial epithets/racist language: Is it offensive? Is it meant to offend? Was it offensive at the time?
RR 9 (April 27)
In Part 2 of Toomer's Cane, you could consider the following questions:
- How do the characters in the northern cities differ from the characters in rural Georgia?
- What contrasts do you notice between parts 1 and 2?
- What is wrong with Avey?
- What is the conflict in "Theater" (or "Box Seat," or "Bona and Paul")?
- How do the poems relate to the prose sections?
Essays
These topics are suggestions, meant to give an idea of appropriate topics for the essays; you are not limited to the questions listed.
- Expand on your interpretation of one or more Williams poems. Be sure to address specific questions and issues. Do not merely summarize or attempt to paraphrase the poem. Explain what you think the speaker is trying to say, and be sure to consider why it is stated as it is (the specific words, line breaks, etc are important)
- Explain the use of lineation or some other formal element in two or three poems. Be sure to relate the poems to each other in your thesis (perhaps you see a development from the earlier to the later poems).
- Compare two or more poems in terms of subject or formal elements.
- Analyze any single character: What kind of person is Levene? Moss? Roma? Aaronow? Use quotes from the play to support your analysis.
- Which characters form alliances? Why? Can they be trusted?
- Analyze a scene from Act 1: what does the dialogue tell you about the characters?
- Identify and discuss a theme of the play (Manhood, Success, or any other theme you can identify)
- Discuss tension and dramatic structure in the play.
- Identify and discuss the use of irony in the play.
The third essay can be on any one (or two) of the O'Connor stories (you shouldn't try to include more than two in a single essay). You may analyze themes, characters, or technical issues such as point-of-view and dramatic structure. You may compare two stories, but there must be a clear point of comparison (for example, the characters of Mrs. Cope and Mrs. Hopewell seem quite similar, but they differ in their attitudes towards others). Some topics to consider:
- How do the characters of Mrs. Cope and Mrs. Hopewell differ? What are the similarities?
- Compare and contrast the Misfit with the bible salesman, Manley Pointer,
- Analyze O'Connor's moral position in any one of the stories.
- Analyze the "lessons" learned by any single character: Mrs Cope, the grandmother, Joy/Hulga.
- Discuss the irony (or ironies) in any single story.
- Discuss the importance of setting (time and place) in any one (or two) stories
Essay 4 (May 4)
For the fourth and final essay, you can choose to write about either of the book-length works: Neuromancer or Cane. The response questions can in many cases be expanded into full essays; you may expand on one of your earlier responses by including more examples and fuller discussions of the issues. For example
- The sense of self in Neuromancer
- Is Wintermute/Neuromancer alive? Is Dixie?
- Is Linda really "alive"? What does Neuromancer mean when he tells Case "To live here is to live"?
- What does the ending of Neuromancer mean?
- What are the differences between the Southern and Northern characters in Toomer's Cane?
- How do the poems relate to the prose sections of Cane?
- Compare two characters/stories from different sections of Cane; for example "Fern" and "Avey."
Final Exam study terms
| Plot | Flat Character | Scene |
| Rising Action | Round Character | Act |
| Turning Point (Climax) | Point of View | Enjambment |
| Falling Action | Point of View Character | End-Stop |
| Internal Conflict | Narrator | Metaphor |
| External Conflict | Dialogue | Metonym |
| Setting | Action | Symbol |
Not all of the terms will be on the exam, but all of the exam terms will come from this list. I'll ask you to define and apply the terms; for example, to identify a round character in a specific story and explain your choice.
Exam Times
Section 022:
Monday 5/16 10:30-1:15
Section 025: Wed. 5/11 1:30-4:15
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