More Help With The Road

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/447754/summary

http://search.proquest.com/docview/198091990?pq-origsite=gscholar

This article will help with any questions dealing with God or religion in the novel.

"Yet, in The Road, the question of redemption returns, with allusions to biblical prophets and to the boy as a messianic figure. Three paragraphs into the book, McCarthy conveys the father's thoughts: "Then he just sat there holding his binoculars and watching the ashen daylight congeal over the land. He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: if he is not the word of God God never spoke" (4). The question, however, is: how are we to interpret this language within the context of a world that has collapsed? The context is critical here. How do we read images such as the breath of God and the messianic references to the boy after the end of the world? This is a persisting and unavoidable dilemma for readers of The Road - the moment you think redemption, you encounter its impossibility - the ending has already happened."

Essay 3 Assignment

ENG 215 Honors Essay #3

3-4 pages, double spaced, MLA Guidelines

DUE THURSDAY Dec 15^th

Pick one of the following topics and be sure to use TWO RELIEABLE OUTSIDE SOURCES!

http://eng215honorsfall16.blogspot.com/

The Road

1) One man they meet on the road says "There is no God and we are his prophets." What does he mean by this? Explain the role of God and faith in The Road. As always, use direct references to the text as your proof.

2) Describe the relationship between the boy and his father.  What do they feel for each other? How do they maintain their affection for and faith in each other in such brutal conditions? How do they support each other during the tougher times of the novel?

3) What does The Road ultimately suggest about good and evil? What separates the “good guys” from the “bad guys”? How do we as readers know this?

4) Use the idea that the boy is symbolic of a religious figure or “the one” and explain how his role changes over the course of the novel.

5) Compare any of the themes often seen when looking at post-apocalyptic novels to what we see in the The Road. You can use any of the many examples we currently see in pop culture.

6) We discussed light and darkness on class last week, using the link to 'The Allegory of the Cave" in the last blog post, discuss light and darkness in the novel.

The Road

NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Kennedy.t.html?pagewanted=all

http://blog.mattmecham.com/2007/05/29/cormack-mccarthy-the-road/

Hope:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200805/coping-and-procrastination-the-role-hope

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CGoQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swarthmore.edu%2FSocSci%2Fbschwar1%2Fpitfalls.pdf&ei=5epxT-OyKoPC0QGIlOWgAQ&usg=AFQjCNHKErPOuXD1lgCFc7gjizHGBkt_jg&sig2=Iz-GAe8EOtNQLnsdv7Ws9g

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joyce-mcfadden/the-psychology-of-hope-an_b_141856.html

This is an article on The Road and "The Allegory of the Cave"

tp://journals.tdl.org/cormacmccarthy/index.php/cormacmccarthy/article/view/852/616


More about The Road
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Kennedy.t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.themodernword.com/reviews/mccarthy_road.html

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n02/philip-connors/crenellated-heat

http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2639&context=etd

http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/013_04/499

http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/013_04/499

http://network.bepress.com/explore/arts-and-humanities/english-language-and-literature/literature-in-english-north-america/?facet=publication_facet%3A%22Cormac+McCarthy+Conference%22

More Hurston

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RuGMORXyF4YC&oi=fnd&pg=PA155&dq=nature+in+their+eyes+were+watching+god&ots=I9lQ3c8-t-&sig=1VQGjqg6o4V4Zv_6QdFSoBu17pI#v=onepage&q=nature%20in%20their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DjQMg8gTzygC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=nature+in+their+eyes+were+watching+god&ots=iRj260ZYrT&sig=vyS5ro_-BwgLohx-7JMIrAnMCzM#v=onepage&q=nature%20in%20their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&f=false

We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Pafko at the Wall

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

 

1)      Explain the gothic elements of the story. What makes this story “gothic”? How does it shape the story?

 

2)      The relationship between the sisters has been looked at with a “feminist eye” by a number of critics. Examine their relationship and how it could be considered feminist?

 

3)      We discussed the elements of magic and superstition in the novel in class; explain how these two ideas have a role in the novel.

 

4)      Defend or refute the following statement: “The greatest evil in the book comes from Merricat’s innocence, because she doesn’t yet have the experience that engenders empathy.”

 

                Pafko at the Wall

 

1)      This novel has been described as “history (with a lower case h) up against History”(with an uppercase H). Think about how DeLillo engages the larger force of history through some element of Pafko at the Wall — find one element of the narrative’s language, plot, character, or some other element and make a case for how DeLillo uses that element to imagine or describe some sort of counter history against the larger forces controlling the history of this period.

2)      We spoke a lot about the influence of environment on Cotter and Bill quite a bit in class for this story. Examine that chase scene between the two characters and what we see going on there.

Zora Neale Hurston Website

http://www.zoranealehurston.com/

Thier Eyes Were Watching God

"How It Feels to Be Colored Me"

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/grand-jean/hurston/chapters/how.html

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/folklore-zora-neale-hurstons-their-eyes-were-watching-god

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WBNuLxTzzwMC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god+&ots=KAzRr1Ma0_&sig=mxqil9lKNLCWkG8Ycj1Jvc6N2_k#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RuGMORXyF4YC&oi=fnd&pg=PA155&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god+critical+&ots=I9gN-e64o7&sig=fZIDfaYqwb2NZjUuQPtX5rGQAsk#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god%20critical&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DjQMg8gTzygC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=their+eyes+were+watching+god+critical+&ots=iRe-22X1m-&sig=SNAVAwSdsHW_WfsojBWRQlGiupA#v=onepage&q=their%20eyes%20were%20watching%20god%20critical&f=false

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/464063?sid=21105518868921&uid=2&uid=3739256&uid=3739808&uid=4

https://books.google.com/books?id=WWDZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36&lpg=PT36&dq=Simmons,+Ryan.+%22The+Hierarchy+Itself:+Hurston%27s+Their+Eyes+Were+Watching+God+and+the+Sacrifice+of+Narrative+Authority%22.+African+American+Review+36.2+%28Summer+2002%29:+181-93.+Print&source=bl&ots=TDBQHQO9Cc&sig=hYD7BMCCCTuHvHxUDTm7JGrO6NU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tSUHVenhE4uyggS9s4CIBQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Simmons%2C%20Ryan.%20%22The%20Hierarchy%20Itself%3A%20Hurston's%20Their%20Eyes%20Were%20Watching%20God%20and%20the%20Sacrifice%20of%20Narrative%20Authority%22.%20African%20American%20Review%2036.2%20(Summer%202002)%3A%20181-93.%20Print&f=false

Podcast:
 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/neas-the-big-read/id303133830?mt=2&i=52870823