Homework for Friday and Monday

Prep. test tomorrow
Rewrite critical essay by Monday
Poem due Monday

Homework for Thursday

Object of the Preposition Ex. D
Poem due Monday
Object of the Preposition Quiz on Friday
THINK about a good idea for your story!

Homework for Wednesday, Feb. 24

Rules of the Game Object of the Preposition B-C pp. 63-65

Grammar

Do Ex A of Objects of the Preposition

The Monkey's Paw - Due Friday

“The Monkey’s Paw”

Comprehension Questions

1. What is the initial mood of the story? How is the weather juxtaposed with the inside atmosphere in the parlor?

2. Who are the initial characters in the room?

3. Who is the old man who comes to the door? What do we learn about his background and his character?

4. What is a “fakir”? (Look this up.) Why did the fakir place a spell on the paw?

5. What was the first man’s third wish? How might this be an example of foreshadowing?

6. What does the paw immediately do after the first wish? What can you infer from this?

7. What does Mr. White see in the fire the night of his first wish? How is this an example of foreshadowing?

8. What are the family's feelings about the wish in the morning?

9. How do the Whites come to receive the 200 pounds?

10. Why does Mrs. White want the monkey's paw? What is the second wish?

11. What do you think Mr. White’s third wish is?

12. What is ironic about Mr. White’s first wish?

13. Before making his first wish, Mr. White says, “It seems to me I’ve got all I want.” In your opinion, what point is the author making?

14. What about the author’s writing made this story so suspenseful? How did the author succeed in keeping you enthralled and invested?  

15. What is your opinion of the ending? Do you think it ended too abruptly or mysteriously? How would you change it if you could?

16. Look up “Arabian Nights.” (Mentioned in the second page, Line 93.) What story from this compilation of stories do you think Mrs. White is alluding to? How is this an allusion? 

The Lottery Questions - Due Thursday

Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery" – Discussion and Analysis Questions

Answer the following questions in complete sentences. Use evidence from the story to support your answers.

1. Why has Jackson chosen common people for her characters? How does this choice make the story more disturbing and close to home?

2. What is the setting like in the beginning of the story? How is this mood and setting ironic?

3. What seems to have been the original purpose of the lottery? What do people believe about it?

4. Why do you think it is important that the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost? What do you think this detail is actually so important and symbolic?

5. Why have some of the villages given up this practice? Why hasn't this one?

6. What is the significance of Tessie's final scream, "It isn't fair, it isn't right"? What aspect of the lottery does she explicitly challenge; what aspect goes unquestioned?

7. This is a different sort of story when you read it for the second time. What elements (such as Mrs. Hutchinson's attempt to have her daughter, Eva, draw with the family) might take on a different meaning the second time through?

8. Some critics insist that the story has an added symbolic meaning. Do you agree? If so, what is Shirley Jackson trying to tell us about ourselves?  (Hint: Consider that this story was written right after WWII during the height of the rise of Communism and the Soviet Union.)

9.  Is the lottery a collective act of murder? Is it morally justified? Is tradition or collective compliance (look this up) sufficient justification for such actions?

10. What current practices occur in American today that could be compared to the lottery? Consider types of violent acts justified by religious beliefs or values. Or consider blind allegiance to tradition that may not be quite as extreme as the lottery but just as disturbing and irrational.

Homework Tonight

Do Ex. D p. 60.
Appositives test on Friday.
Finish Critical Essay Outline with quotes. Rough draft of the essay is due Friday.