Reading Response #2 Assignment for Monday, 4/3

Reading Response #2

For our next class meeting, Monday April the 3rd, please write a response to Waiting for Godot. Your response should be around one page in length, double-spaced.

Your response should be focused on a single short quotation, speech or moment from the play, though it may make reference to the entire work. Analyze the line you quote, in order to make a claim.

Your paragraph must be written in the Claims, Evidence, Analysis (CEA) format.

 

Below, you will find a list of potential lines from the play. You may choose a different one, of course. You may also write about the same scene you considered along with your group in class – as long as you do not make the same argument that your group did.

 

 

Lines from Waiting for Godot

 

  1. Pg. 1: The play begins with the words, “Nothing to be done.” They are repeated throughout the first act. What do they mean?
  2. Pg. 8: Estragon and Vladimir often consider separating. But Estragon says, “That would be too bad, really too bad. [Pause.] Wouldn’t it, Didi, be really too bad? [Pause.] When you think of the beauty of the way. [Pause.] And the goodness of the wayfarers.” How does this quote explain their relationship?
  3. Pg. 15: When Pozzo first sees Didi and Gogo, he says, “You are human beings none the less … As far as one can see … Of the same species as myself … Of the same species as Pozzo! Made in God’s image!” Why does Pozzo burst into an enormous laugh here? How does the play present the human “species”?
  4. Pg. 33: Before Lucky’s monologue, we learn that “He can’t think without his hat.” What’s the deal with hats in this play?
  5. Pg. 43: At the end of Act One, Vladimir asks the boy, “You did see us, didn’t you?” Why? Explain what Vladimir is worried about.
  6. Pg. 50: At the beginning of Act Two, Vladimir says, “Things have changed here since yesterday?” What has changed? Why is it important?
  7. Pg. 70: When Lucky and Pozzo have collapsed to the ground, Vladimir says, “But at this place, at this moment in time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not.” Explain this. Is he speaking figuratively?
  8. Pg. 80: Pozzo’s last words in the play are, “They give birth astride a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more … On!” What is he talking about? How do these words relate to the rest of the play?