Friday, December 19, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Scholastic/A Prayer for the Dying
AGENDA:
Work on entries for Scholastic. Upload and print out.
Answer Questions 1-3 for A Prayer for the Dying on the blog.
Work on your 2nd person short stories.
HMWK:
Work on entries for Scholastic. Upload and print out.
Answer Questions 1-3 for A Prayer for the Dying on the blog.
Work on your 2nd person short stories.
HMWK:
Thursday, December 11, 2014
A Prayer for the Dying/Michael Lesy's Wisconsin Death Trip
AGENDA:
Continue to work on stories and movies and contest entries.
Michael Lesy's book and A Prayer for the Dying:
http://backstoryradio.org/2014/05/12/wisconsin-death-trip/
enotes summary A Prayer for the Dying (SPOILER ALERT!):
http://www.enotes.com/topics/prayer-for-dying
Continue to work on stories and movies and contest entries.
Michael Lesy's book and A Prayer for the Dying:
http://backstoryradio.org/2014/05/12/wisconsin-death-trip/
enotes summary A Prayer for the Dying (SPOILER ALERT!):
http://www.enotes.com/topics/prayer-for-dying
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Poetry Presentations/A Prayer for theDying
AGENDA:
Present poems.
Go over A Prayer for the Dying questions.
READING GROUP GUIDE
A Prayer for the Dying
A Novel
by Stewart O’Nan
ISBN-10: 0-312-42891-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-42891-4
About this Guide
The following author biography and list of questions about A Prayer for the Dying are intended as resources to aid individual readers and book groups who would like to learn more about the author and this book. We hope that this guide will provide you a starting place for discussion, and suggest a variety of perspectives from which you might approach A Prayer for the Dying.
About the Book
Set in Friendship, Wisconsin, just after the Civil War, A Prayer for the Dying tells of a horrible epidemic that is suddenly and gruesomely killing the town's residents and setting off a terrifying paranoia. Jacob Hansen, Friendship's sheriff, undertaker, and pastor, is soon overwhelmed by the fear and anguish around him, and his sanity begins to fray. Dark, poetic, and chilling, A Prayer for the Dying examines the effect of madness and violence on the morality of a once-decent man.
About the Author
Stewart O’Nan’s novels include Last Night at the Lobster, The Night Country, and A Prayer for the Dying. He is also the author of the nonfiction books The Circus Fire and, with Stephen King, the bestselling Faithful. Granta named him one of the Twenty Best Young American Novelists. He lives in Connecticut.
Discussion Questions
1. The book is narrated in the second person, addressing the main character, Jacob, as “you.” Who is speaking? Why do you think the author chose this mode to tell the story?
2. When Jacob is called to take care of Clytie, he has a very hard time pulling the trigger. Look at the passage (p. 49) in which he has to convince himself to kill her. Why does he agonize when he knows it’s the right thing? What does it mean that he’s “still clinging to some dream of innocence, blamelessness”? Does he continue to cling to that dream later in the story?
3. Why does Jacob elect to bleed and treat the bodies of some victims, even after Doc has told him not to, and even though he knows he’s putting himself in danger? Why is precision and diligence so important to him even when everyone around him is worried only about survival?
4. What role does religious faith play in the story? How does it influence Jacob, Chase, and other citizens of Friendship? Is their faith rewarded?
5. Jacob is a veteran of the Civil War. How does his experience there affect the way he behaves in the crisis in Friendship? How did the war change him?
6. How would you describe the relationship between Jacob and Doc? How do their different ideas about the world lead to different strategies for handling the outbreak in Friendship?
7. How does Jacob’s relationship with Marta affect his behavior in the outbreak? How do his priorities as a father and husband conflict with his responsibility to the town?
8. How do you interpret the book’s ending? What is Jacob choosing when he returns to Friendship? What do you imagine happening to him next?
9. Is Jacob sane at the end of the book? How does the author demonstrate the changes in his mind as conditions worsen?
10. “You’ve stopped believing in evil,” the narrator says of Jacob early in the story (p. 6). “Is that a sin?” Is there evil in this story? Does Jacob come to see it by the end?
11. How do the book’s two epigraphs relate to each other? Why do you think the author chose them?
12. Jacob is committed throughout the book to saving Friendship, and willing to sacrifice himself if necessary. Is he naïve? Does his commitment to principle do more harm than good in the end? Begin working on second person short stories.
CONTESTS: Sokol, Gannon, and of course, Scholastic!
Present poems.
Go over A Prayer for the Dying questions.
A Prayer for the Dying Discussion questions
A Prayer for the Dying
A Novel
by Stewart O’Nan
ISBN-10: 0-312-42891-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-42891-4
About this Guide
The following author biography and list of questions about A Prayer for the Dying are intended as resources to aid individual readers and book groups who would like to learn more about the author and this book. We hope that this guide will provide you a starting place for discussion, and suggest a variety of perspectives from which you might approach A Prayer for the Dying.
About the Book
Set in Friendship, Wisconsin, just after the Civil War, A Prayer for the Dying tells of a horrible epidemic that is suddenly and gruesomely killing the town's residents and setting off a terrifying paranoia. Jacob Hansen, Friendship's sheriff, undertaker, and pastor, is soon overwhelmed by the fear and anguish around him, and his sanity begins to fray. Dark, poetic, and chilling, A Prayer for the Dying examines the effect of madness and violence on the morality of a once-decent man.
About the Author
Stewart O’Nan’s novels include Last Night at the Lobster, The Night Country, and A Prayer for the Dying. He is also the author of the nonfiction books The Circus Fire and, with Stephen King, the bestselling Faithful. Granta named him one of the Twenty Best Young American Novelists. He lives in Connecticut.
Discussion Questions
1. The book is narrated in the second person, addressing the main character, Jacob, as “you.” Who is speaking? Why do you think the author chose this mode to tell the story?
2. When Jacob is called to take care of Clytie, he has a very hard time pulling the trigger. Look at the passage (p. 49) in which he has to convince himself to kill her. Why does he agonize when he knows it’s the right thing? What does it mean that he’s “still clinging to some dream of innocence, blamelessness”? Does he continue to cling to that dream later in the story?
3. Why does Jacob elect to bleed and treat the bodies of some victims, even after Doc has told him not to, and even though he knows he’s putting himself in danger? Why is precision and diligence so important to him even when everyone around him is worried only about survival?
4. What role does religious faith play in the story? How does it influence Jacob, Chase, and other citizens of Friendship? Is their faith rewarded?
5. Jacob is a veteran of the Civil War. How does his experience there affect the way he behaves in the crisis in Friendship? How did the war change him?
6. How would you describe the relationship between Jacob and Doc? How do their different ideas about the world lead to different strategies for handling the outbreak in Friendship?
7. How does Jacob’s relationship with Marta affect his behavior in the outbreak? How do his priorities as a father and husband conflict with his responsibility to the town?
8. How do you interpret the book’s ending? What is Jacob choosing when he returns to Friendship? What do you imagine happening to him next?
9. Is Jacob sane at the end of the book? How does the author demonstrate the changes in his mind as conditions worsen?
10. “You’ve stopped believing in evil,” the narrator says of Jacob early in the story (p. 6). “Is that a sin?” Is there evil in this story? Does Jacob come to see it by the end?
11. How do the book’s two epigraphs relate to each other? Why do you think the author chose them?
12. Jacob is committed throughout the book to saving Friendship, and willing to sacrifice himself if necessary. Is he naïve? Does his commitment to principle do more harm than good in the end? Begin working on second person short stories.
CONTESTS: Sokol, Gannon, and of course, Scholastic!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
More writiing in the Second Person
Agenda:
http://42opus.com/shortstory/secondperson
And more:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/tag/second-person
and Italo Calvino:
http://www-control.eng.cam.ac.uk/hu/Calvino.html
WRITING: Work on previous post about "Until Gwen" response
Work on Poetry movie
READING:
Two more short stories in 2nd person
And more:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/tag/second-person
and Italo Calvino:
http://www-control.eng.cam.ac.uk/hu/Calvino.html
WRITING: Work on previous post about "Until Gwen" response
Work on Poetry movie
Monday, December 1, 2014
Writing in Second Person
AGENDA:
Morning Reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY
Shane Koyczan
Writing in the Second Person
What does this picture say about the story?
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76576
An interview with Dennis Lehane
theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/hookers-guns-and-money/3125/
Until Gwen Response
1. What about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you? You could focus on a scene, an image, a character, the style, the point of view, a theme--anything really. Write a perfect paragraph of 5-7 sentences in response.
or
2. "Until Gwen"
Use the title "Until Gwen" in a sentence about the main character of this story: "Until Gwen, he ______. During Gwen, he ______. After Gwen, he ______." Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father ______. During Gwen, his father ______. After Gwen, his father ______."
Describe the lasting impact Gwen had on these two men. Are there similarities?
At the story's end, the main character has all the means to completely re-invent himself. Financially he is secure. On paper he has no past. He is able to completely start somewhere new where no one knows him. If you could write an epilogue to this story, one year later, where would he be?
Post your comments! Continue working on animated poetry and contests
Current Contests: Sokol--a poem and/or story
Gannon--1-3 poems
https://www.gannon.edu/NewsDetail.aspx?id=8589940409
Lelia Tupper Scholarship---essay, and creative writing variety, (up to 12 pages total--4 essay and 8 creative writing)
Scholastic --December 17!!!
Morning Reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY
Shane Koyczan
Writing in the Second Person
Go to library for A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan
HMWK for Wednesday: Read Ch. 1 to pg. 26
Read short articles. Discuss and report back to class:
Group #1 Wikipedia on second person narrative:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative
Group #2 Why you should write in 2nd person:
http://thewritepractice.com/second-person/
Group #3 Writing in second person:
http://www.chuffedbuffbooks.com/writing-in-second-person-atwood-to-tolstoy/
UNTIL GWEN--Dennis Lehane
Click on this link and read (saving paper):
adlibris.com/se/images/UntilGwen.pdf
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76576
An interview with Dennis Lehane
theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/hookers-guns-and-money/3125/
Until Gwen Response
1. What about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you? You could focus on a scene, an image, a character, the style, the point of view, a theme--anything really. Write a perfect paragraph of 5-7 sentences in response.
or
2. "Until Gwen"
Use the title "Until Gwen" in a sentence about the main character of this story: "Until Gwen, he ______. During Gwen, he ______. After Gwen, he ______." Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father ______. During Gwen, his father ______. After Gwen, his father ______."
Describe the lasting impact Gwen had on these two men. Are there similarities?
At the story's end, the main character has all the means to completely re-invent himself. Financially he is secure. On paper he has no past. He is able to completely start somewhere new where no one knows him. If you could write an epilogue to this story, one year later, where would he be?
Post your comments! Continue working on animated poetry and contests
Current Contests: Sokol--a poem and/or story
Gannon--1-3 poems
https://www.gannon.edu/NewsDetail.aspx?id=8589940409
Lelia Tupper Scholarship---essay, and creative writing variety, (up to 12 pages total--4 essay and 8 creative writing)
Scholastic --December 17!!!
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