Week of February 27

1. What three things does Macbeth learn from the witches and apparitions and how does he react to them?

2. How does Macbeth react to Macduff's departure? (use concrete details)

3. What action is taken by Macduff and Malcolm in Act IV? (use concrete details)

Week of February 21

1. As Act III begins, Banquo is reflecting on what has happened to Macbeth. What 3 events does he state and what does he hope for himself ? (Use concrete details)

2. Wat reason does Macbeth give the murderers for wanting Banquo killed? What reason does he give for not doing it himself? (Use concrete details)

3. Why do you think Macbeth does not tell Lady Macbeth about his plan to murder Banque and Fleance? (Use concrete details)

4. When Banguo's ghost enters the banquet, what is Macbeth's reaction? (Use concrete details)

5. What does Lady Macbeth say to the guests is the reason for his behavior? What can you say about their relationship at this point in the play? (Use concrete details)

Week of February 7

1. With what words does Banquo reaffirm his loyalty to King Duncan?

2. What lie does Macbeth tell Banquo and why?

3. How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth differ in their reactions to the murder?

4. Who are Macbeth's other victims? Why does he commit more murders?

5. Considering journal entry number 3, what are some recurring motifs in Act 2?

Week of January 31

Dear Honor Students,

Please analyze the following quotes from Macebeth; identify the speaker, provide context for the meaning, and interpret the meaning.

1.   

Yet do I fear they nature;

It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness

To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,

Art not without ambition, but without

The illness should attend to it.

2.  

The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step

On which I must fall down or else o'erleap,

For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.

3.

Hie thee hither,

That I may pour my spirits in thine ear

And chastise with the valour of my tongue

All that impedes thee from the golden round.

Week of 1/23

1. What are the witches planning at the beginning of the act?

2. What happened to the original Thane of Cawdor and why did he lose his title?

3. How do the wicthes greet Macbeth after the battle? Why?

4. What is the significance of Lady Macbeth's "unsex me" scene?

Week of Jan 9

1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?

2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?

3. What two incidents in the novel indicate that the author believes that the psychiatric profession has contributed to racism?

Week of 12-6-10

1. Describe some of the many ways in which Bessie Mears, Bigger's girlfriend, is trapped in a life that is not of her own choosing (use concrete details).

2. Describe the way Bigger is hunted down after he has fled the Dalton home. How would this manhunt have been different if Bigger were white?

3. Mr. Dalton's private investigator, Mr. Britten, alternately expresses his hatred of African Americans and of Communists. After he interrogates Bigger, Bigger thinks to himself that "Mr. Britten was familiar to him; he had met a thousand Brittens in his life." What is it about Mr. Britten's thinking that makes him so easy for Bigger to understand, and how does Bigger intend to use Mr. Britten's prejudices to his own advantage?

Native Son 11/29

1. Compare and contrast Bigger's attitude toward the world around him and Mrs. Thomas'.

2. Mr. Dalton and Jan Erlone both profess to be friendly towards African Americans, yet they are hostile to each other. Compare and contrast their attitudes towards African Americans and explain their mutual hostility?

3. How is really fear to blame for the muder of Mary (this is a comprehensive question, be thoughtful and think of all aspects of fear that lead to the murder of Mary)?

Week of 11-14

1. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to the Thomas family. Describe this family and the conditions in which they live? Be descriptive and use concrete details!

2, The title of Book One is Fear, how is this title symbolic and prophetic at the same time? What was Wright's intention with this title?

3. What initial event happens in the beginning of the novel that is clearly a foreshadowing of events to come?

4. How does Bigger feel about his home and its surroundings?

5. Who are Bigger's friends and what event takes place that creates a level of aggression with these friends?

6. Who are the Dalton's, and where and how do they live?

Native Son

1.       In the introduction, written by the author Richard Wright, Wright discusses at length the making of his protagonist, Bigger Thomas; he reflects on his childhood all the way up to his adulthood, and outlines specific examples of when he met a Bigger and the informing aspect of each incident. Please discuss the many Biggers that Wright experienced in the course of his life, and what did they ALL have in common. Please use concrete details to support your analysis.

2.       Analyze the following quote from the introduction to Native Son, written by Richard Wright:

From these items I drew my first political conclusions about Bigger: I felt that Bigger, an American product, a native son of this land, carried within him the potentialities of either Communism or Fascism. I don’t mean to say that the Negro boy I depicted in Native Son is either a Communist or a Fascist. He is not either. But he is product of a dislocated society; he is a dispossessed or disinherited man; he is all of this, and he lives amid the greatest possible plenty on earth and he is looking and feeling for a way out.

3.       What is at the heart of Bigger’s fears?

Gothic Literature Story

Directions: Each member of each blog group must write their own Gothic Literature short story using their understanding of the tenents of Gothic Literature. For this week only, you have to write and post your Gothic Literature stories for your members to read and discuss. Good Luck!

The Cask of Amontillado-Grigg, Ari, Allegra, Kuhen

Level 2
1. Why did Montresor want to kill Fortunado?
Level 3
1. Is it better to murder someone who is intoxicated or above the influence?

The Black Cat-Allegra

"Upon its head, with red extended mouth and solitary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me into hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb!”

 

Grigg

"When added no doubt, to my hatred of the beast, was the discovery on the morning after I brought it home, that, like Pluto, it also had been dpreived of one of its eyes"

This is very ironic that both cats happen to been deprived of an eye.

Blog Questions week of 10-10

1. Discuss who could be the protagonist and antagonist in The Black Cat; explain your logic and reasoning for why? Please remember to use details and specifics from the story to support your response.

2. What Gothic Literature that we've read so far is your favorite, explain why? (The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, The Minister's Black Veil, or The Black Cat)

3. What are some similarities between all the Gothic Literature stories we've read so far? Again, be specific and use details in your response.

Minister's Black Veil

Arianna Amini

"How strange," said a lady, "that a simple black veil, such as any woman might wear on her bonnet, should become such a terrible thing on Mr. Hooper's face!"

Allegra

"An unsought pathos came hand in hand with awe."

Grigg

"Swathed about his forehead, and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breath, Mr. Hooper had on a black veil."

Week of September 27

1. What does the black veil represent?

2. What does the earth's black veil represent?

Allegra

"Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees-very gradually-I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself o the eye for ever."