Embedded Files
Reading Schedule- Click ---->
Reading Schedule- Click ---->
9/22 Friday : 1-35 “I just know”
9/25 Monday: 35-93 “disturbed air”
9/27 Wed: 93-129 “Okay”
9/28 Thursday: 129-165 “Okay”
9/29 Friday : 165- 200 “It’s okay”
10/2 Monday: 200- 260 “But we did kill him”
10/4 Wed: 260-287 End.
Savage Beauty Hallway Road
Each day come to class prepared to add a quote to the "road" of savage beauty. Anything that YOU find beautiful counts! Sometimes the subjects that are the darkest, are the most poetic and beautiful! Some days we will all participate, some days will be volunteer, some days I will choose, so always be ready!
Object Led Discussion: Find the items around the room that represent some part of last night's reading. Make a LIST. Then choose one on which to write an analytical 2 part paragraph: Context (what) + Commentary (why).
"The old man shook his head from side to side, his fingers laced in his filthy hair. The boy looked up at his father.
Maybe he thinks we're not real.
What does he think we are?
I don't know.
We can't stay here. We have to go.
He's scared, Papa.
I don't think you should touch him.
Maybe we could give him something to eat.
He stood looking off down the road. Damn, he whispered. He looked down at the old man. Perhaps he'd turn into a god, and they into trees. All right, he said.
-Allusion to the myth of Baucis & Philemon
Writing Practice: Choose one of the sections below, re-read, and write a 10 minute analaysis. Consider possible symbolism, thematic ideas, character development, use of setting/environment, motif, language. Be detailed; include quotes. Be prepared to discuss your writing with a small group.
Ely Convo: 165-174 Library Dream: 187
The Train: 174-180 Bolus of Serpents: 187-189
Nameless Sisterworld: 180-181 The Road: 189-192
Map: 181-182 Taking Risks: 192-198
Man's Sickness: 182-186 The Worst Part: 198-200
COMPLEX SYMBOLISM JOURNAL Page: After looking through the Silent Discussion Slides, choose one around which to build a journal page. Your page can take any form- art, traditional notes, SketchNotes, mind mapping, etc. Should include COLOR in some form, organization, TITLE (what is the symbol you chose?) It should include at least 1 direct quote and commentary about WHAT is being symbolized.
Rotating Seminar Questions
Rotating Seminar Questions
1. Using your journals, discuss the motifs that you tracked and any other notes on theme or character that you want to talk about.
2. Discuss the ending. Why do you think McCarthy brings back the trout? How is the map symbolism reinforced? WHY? Do you LIKE the ending? If so, why? If not, why not?
3. McCarthy has said that while some of his books are about “human evil”, The Road is about “human goodness”. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? What else do you think it’s about?
4. How is The Road a classic Hero’s Quest? (Image Below)
5. What aspects of the novel line up with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? (Image Below)
6. What is the affect of the namelessness of the characters? Why do you think McCarthy chooses to do this? Is it effective?
7. What moments in the novel did you find particularly profound? What did you learn from the book?
8. McCarthy chooses to be very spare in his use of punctuation. Why do you think he made this choice? What do you think of it?
9. What effect does the violence of the novel have? Do you think it was warranted? How do you think the book would differ if the more violent scenes were omitted?
10. Cormac McCarthy has an unmistakable prose style. What do you see as the most distinctive features of that style? How is the writing in The Road in some ways more like poetry than narrative prose?
11. As the father is dying, he tells his son he must go on in order to "carry the fire." When the boy asks if the fire is real, the father says, "It's inside you. It was always there. I can see it" [p. 279]. What is this fire? Why is it so crucial that they not let it die?
12. McCarthy envisions a post-apocalyptic world in which "murder was everywhere upon the land" and the earth would soon be "largely populated by men who would eat your children in front of your eyes" [p. 181]. How difficult or easy is it to imagine McCarthy's nightmare vision actually happening? Do you think people would likely behave as they do in the novel, under the same circumstances? Why or why not?
13. The man and the boy think of themselves as the "good guys." In what ways are they like and unlike the "bad guys" they encounter? What do you think McCarthy is suggesting in the scenes in which the boy begs his father to be merciful to the strangers they encounter on the road?
14. Which motifs do you find most compelling? How do these particular imagery motifs serve the theme of the novel?
15. If The Road is read as a cautionary tale, what is it warning us about?
16. Are there questions raised in the novel that aren’t answered? If so, what are they and why are they left ambiguously open rather than clarified?
17. What is your favorite quote from the novel? Why?
18. For all of its darkness and despair, the book been called a “love story”. Why is that? Is McCarthy’s dedication at the beginning of the book part of this love story?
19. Student generated question: _________________________________________
20. Partner generated question: _________________________________________
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