Category Archives: assignments
Lu Xun, “In the Wineshop”
–The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived. Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story. –What is the connection between our narrator and Weifu? Why do you think so much … Continue reading
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
–The poem opens, “Let us go then, you and I….” Whom do you think the speaker is addressing here? –What is Prufrock’s relationship to time? –Look at the description of the yellow smoke in the second and third stanzas of … Continue reading
Rabindranath Tagore, “Punishment”
–How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”? What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies? –What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see … Continue reading
Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” – Assignment Due November 3rd
I am not posting my customary set of discussion questions about this text. Instead, please complete the following assignment before class on Wednesday, November 3rd. Identify a passage from “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” that seems to you to be … Continue reading
Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler
–What motivates Hedda to encourage Lovborg to resume drinking? –Discuss the role of Thea in the play? What function does she serve? –What role does class play in Hedda Gabler? –What does Lovborg’s death mean to Hedda? –Do you feel … Continue reading
William Wordsworth
–In what sense does “Tintern Abbey” offer readers a “religion of nature”? What are some of the specific ways in which nature works as a substitute for traditional religion? –Why do you think Wordsworth gives “Tintern Abbey” such a precise … Continue reading
William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience
1. Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this? 2. Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are … Continue reading
Olympe de Gouges and Mary Wollstonecraft Response- Claudia Agosto
I found item 12 to be particularly interesting. Item 12 states that women and men should be prosecuted under the law equally and fairly; they should also adhere to the same set of legal rules. I found this interesting, because … Continue reading
Olympe de Gouges and Mary Wollstonecraft
Please respond briefly to the three questions below. Post your responses as a new post (not as a comment on this post): Choose one of the seventeen items in De Gouges’ “Declaration of the Rights of Woman” that seems particularly … Continue reading
Rousseau, The Confessions
1. What is the narrator’s purpose in writing these “confessions”? How do you know? 2. For Rousseau, what is the relationship between feeling and thinking? 3. How does Rousseau describe his childhood? What significance can we draw from this description … Continue reading