–What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay? –

-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?

–Why do you think Azucena becomes a symbol of the tragedy that is unfolding in the story?

–What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?

–How can you connect this story with your own experiences of natural or other disasters? Are there elements of the story that you can relate to? How?

–How is the theme of maternity explored in the story? Give at least two examples.
–Morrison adds issues of class to what is already a complicated story about race. Why? Where in the story do you see evidence of this?
–What is the meaning of Morrison’s title, Recitatif? How does it work as a title for this story?
–What are Twyla and Roberta fighting about in the section about school busing? What’s going on between them?
–Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
–Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?

–Why does the narrator address his listener as “my son”?

–The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?

–What seems to be the story’s perspective on the government in newly independent Sudan? What’s the relationship between the government and the villagers?

–Explain the shift in narratorial perspective in the final passages of the story? How does it change our own view of the text

— What did you learn from this story that you did not previously know about life in Nazi concentration camps?

–This story can be described as a kind of “initiation story” for the narrator.  How is he changed or transformed by the events of the narrative?

–A tall, grey-haired woman who has just arrived on the “transport” whispers, “My poor boy,” to our narrator.  What does she mean?

–“Are we good people?” asks our narrator.  What is this exchange about? What do you think?

–Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.”  What seems strange about it?

–Do you think that Gregor is more powerful BEFORE or AFTER his metamorphosis?  Explain your response.

–How is Gregor’s family transformed in the wake of his metamorphosis?

–At the end of the second section of the story, Gregor’s father pelts him with apples.  What do you think this episode is about?

–Gregor emerges from his room one last time when he hears his sister playing her violin for the lodgers.  What is the significance of this? What meaning does music hold for Gregor here?

–Ultimately, what do you think Gregor’s metamorphosis means?  What does it mean to be transformed into a giant bug?

–Explain your understanding of Gregor’s death.  How/why does he ultimately die?

–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 of the story is spent on Weifu’s life, while the narrator shares very little about his own life experiences?

–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?

–Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger.  What is the significance of this memory?

–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story.  What is its significance?

–What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?

–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 the poem. What do you make of this description?
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
–Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
–In the final lines of the poem, the speaker shifts from “I” to “We.” How do we explain this shift?

–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 her as a hero or as a victim?

–Explain the significance of the details Tagore offers about the marriage between Chandara and Chidam.  How do they help us understand the events of the story?

–How do you understand the title of the story?

–As she approaches death, Chandara both says, “to hell with him,” and maintains that she loves her husband.  How do you reconcile these two apparently contradictory statements?

1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
2. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is full of French words. What purpose do they serve?
3. How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
4. On his deathbed, Ivan asks, “Why, and for what purpose, is there all this horror?” Does the text provide an answer to this weighty question?
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?

–What difference do you think it makes that the play takes place on Midsummer’s Eve?

–What role does the character Kristin play in the drama that takes place largely between Miss Julie and Jean?

–Discuss the symbolism of Miss Julie’s bird.  What do you think it means?

–Do you sympathize with any of the characters in this play?  If so, whom?  Why?

–What does Miss Julie tell Jean about her mother?  How might this disclosure help us understand Julie’s character more fully?