Prayer for the Dying

This haunting novel, written in the second person, paints a disturbing picture both of the reality of an epidemic in an age before effective vaccines and antibiotics and of the psychology of one who witnesses mass death. This story might take a place beside Poe's The Masque of the Red Death in a course on the literature of epidemics, raising unsettling questions about the strategies that enable some to survive what drives others to madness or suicide. Because it is told in the second person (which some readers might find a bit distracting at first) we seem to be required to fathom Jacob's complex character from the inside looking out.

Masque of the Red Death     www.online-literature.com/poe/36/

Today continue reading A Prayer for the Dying after our discussion.

Begin working on your own 2nd person short story.

Enter Sokol contest.  Go to SokolContest@gmail.com and follow instructions.  Poetry and fiction

Gannon Contest--1-3 poems.

Lelia Tupper (juniors--Alfred University)--12 pages mixed, an essay and creative writing.  See Ms. Gamzon