Three Questions and a Word

1. Is it expected for the upper castes to give food to the lower ones?

2. Why does Bakha's father favor his younger brother over him?

3. What was the meaning of Bakha's dream on the porch?


Word: Throw

Three Questions and a Word

1. Why does the author not use chapters in the novel?

2. What is the relation between Muslims and the caste system?

3. How could Bakha defended himself in the street when he was being accused of running into the higher cast member?

Word: Tommy

A Temporary Matter

 In the short story "A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri it tells the story of a married couple and their struggles to be together. The tone of the story is extremely grim. At the beginning of the story Lahiri paints the picture of a bleak marriage. After the still birth the romance is gone and there is nothing left for the family. Shoba, once someone who cared dearly about organization has turned into a slob. The tone of the story remains bleak, but then rises once they begin this game. As this game goes on it appears to the reader that the love has been rekindled. The attitude at this time seems optimistic as this marriage may be salvaged. This is symbolized by they have sex again. This leads the reader to believe that the rough times are past them and that they have finally gotten over the pain of the still birth. However, the end crushes this hope as Shoba reveals she wants to move out and this deteriorates to Shukmar telling her the gender of the baby. The attitude is like a mountain in this story. It starts out depressing gets optimistic then spirals back to depressing. The attitude contribute to the theme of the importance of having an open dialogue with your spouse. The struggles in their marriage had been brought about by internalizing their pain. They tried to move past the still birth but they could not. The game allowed them to finally vent what was going on and talk about their worries and tell secrets. This dialogue improves their relationship again. However the communication comes back to them at the end as Shukmar in a rage drops the bomb that he knew all along the gender of their baby rehashing the pain of the death.

Metamorphosis Response and Questions

Questions
1.  Why is Gregor so nonchalant about being a bug at the beginning of the novel?

2. Why is Grete so obsessive about being the caretaker of  Gregor?

Response: Why does Gregor abandon speaking in the story?

When Gregor first transforms into the beetle he can still speak. He notes how his voice sounds more high pitched so he attempts to speak slowly. He abandons this when trying to tell the manager why he was not at work. Then after this Gregor seemingly abandons speaking for the rest of the novel. I believe this was done to show Gregor detaching himself from humanity. At the beginning he still tries to act like a human. Examples of this are Gregor getting out of bed and trying to walk upright. Then as the story progresses he begins to accept his bug instincts such as being in tight spaces and crawling on the ceiling. He wrestles with staying human when the family tries it take his furniture away. At first he is in favor of this, but when it actually happens he hates it because it shows his acceptance he will be a bug forever. I believe that Gregor accepted his bug instincts in the end because he comes to terms with being a bug. At the end his family wishes he could understand them, which he can. He still does not speak then because he has become immersed in his new body and has accepted he will never be a human again. Even though he still dreams of being a human again to help out his family Gregor knows this is not possible.

Response and Two Questions for "Death of a King's Horseman"

Response: Contrast Between the First Two Acts

 The first act of "Death of a King's Horseman" shows the tribal customs as everything to the natives. If Elesin does not sacrifice himself the whole world will be thrown out of balance. The people around him are doing everything to make sure he follows through. This includes Iyaloja giving up her daughter for marriage just to make sure Elesin is happy. In this first act the reader is also convinced that  Elesin's sacrifice is extremely important. Then the author takes us to the perspective of a British citizen in the second act. From the point of view of  Pilkings the once important sacrifice is ridiculed as some pagan act. This shows the disconnect between the natives and the British. This disconnect is also furthered in the costumes of Pilkings and his wife. The officer, a native, who comes to see them is spooked by this as it seems to be disrespecting the dead even though he is a converted Muslim. While Pilkings views these cotumes as funny. Even the tension between Pilkings and Elesin shows the disconnect. Elesin is mad at Pilkings because he allowed Elesin's son to be sent to medical school. This act would be seen as extremely generous to us westerners, but the action is views as despicable by some natives because it took Elesins eldest son away from him. The contrast between the first two acts set up the tension throughout the play as the two parties, Pilkings and Elsein, have fundamental differences in thought process's 

Questions: 

1.  How do the tribal customs and British laws interact in everyday life?

2. What are Elesin's true motives for marrying someone so close to death?

Analysis of Post-Colonial Reading of the Tempest

1. The de-colonization movement in the 60's and 70's led to intellectuals looking at Caliban more as the rightful heir of the Island and Prospero the European oppressor.

2. Caliban is the embodiment of the "savage" that European sailors claimed they saw when colonizing new places.

3. Prospero's justification of  the enslavement of Caliban represents how Europeans believed that the natives had no culture and they were saving them from barbarism.

4. The enslavement of  Caliban also represents how if the Natives did not conform to European values they were lost causes.

5. European writers rewrote the tempest to put more emphasis on Caliban's words against Prospero and his justification for ownership of the Island. This represents the shift of peoples view on the Tempest and how Caliban is now shown in a more positive light.


Questions
1. Does Prospero's magic that he uses to keep Caliban obedient represent something physical such as guns or the perceived intellectual superiority of the Europeans?

2. With this newfound knowledge of the relationship between colonization and the Tempest what does the final interaction between Caliban and Prospero represent?

"As I Lay Dying" Questions

1. Why do you think Faulkner chose Cash to narrate the last chapter of the novel?

2. What role does the gramophone symbolize in regards to the Bundren family?