"Accident," 88
"55 Miles to the Gas Pump," 97
"Kansas," 109
"I Stand Here Ironing," 180
Directions: You are required to answer only one of the main questions, which will appear in bold. This question is due no later than Thursday, Sept. 23. Following the bold questions will be other questions which you should read and think about--they may help you answer the main question. However, you are not required to answer these questions in writing.
Please answer the question as thoughtfully as possible, after reading the lecture. Then post your answer to the English 102 Message Board by the deadline.
Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Saturday, Sept. 25. In order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond thoughtfully to at least 3 or 4 other people's postings.
If you are registered in Section 7622, you'll use Message Board 1. Click on the button below to visit your Message Board:
If you are registered in Section 7623, you'll use Message Board 2. Click on the button below to visit your Message Board:
Remember: This discussion question is worth a possible 20 points. Late answers will receive 0 points. Points will be assigned according to the thoughtfulness of your answer, not by whether it is "right" or not, since sometimes there is no "right" answer. Just be sure your ideas are supported by the material in the story (see Lecture 1).
"Accident" is told from a second-person point of view. Why?
- The narrator mentions several times that he worries that the other driver will become violent; why does he repeat this so often?
- The narrator gives us very few details about the accident; why is this information omitted?
- The narrator says he is "connected" to the driver; what does he mean?
- Why is it important to the story that the narrator be at fault in the accident?
- What is revealed about the narrator in the last two paragraphs of the story?
Why is the story called "55 Miles to the Gas Pump"?
- What does the story tell you about Rancher Croom in the first paragraph?
- The first paragraph is one long sentence fragment. What is the effect of making it such a long sentences, and what is the effect of making it a fragment?
- What does Mrs. Croom discover in the attic? Did she know what she was going to find?
- Does the last line of the story refer to Rancher Croom or Mrs. Croom?
- Why does Proulx choose to end her story before telling us what Mrs. Croom does about her discovery?
Different versions of the story are presented. Why?
- Does the author give you any clues as to which version of te story is "real"?
- There is very little plot or character development; why?
- Why keep mentioning the farmer's boil?
- In version 1, did the boy's encounter with the farmer affect the direction of his life? Explain.
- In paragraph 25, the man "was listening for something in the distance." What might he have been listening for?
- Why describe, in the last paragraph of the story, what happens after the man dies? Why emphasize the fact that the son keeps seeing the zipper?
- What point of view does the author use to tell the story? How does the point of view affect the reader's perception of the story?
How do ironing and the iron function as metaphors in the story?
- What regrets does the mother have? How does she feel now about the decisions she made in the past?
- How did the mother's life force her to make decisions she now regrets?
- What comments is Olsen making in this story about social class and economic issues?
- Where does Emily get her gift for comedy?
- In paragraph 17, the narrator says, "There were all the acts of love." What were her acts of love?
- To whom is this story addressed? Why did Tillie Olsen choose this point of view?
- What specific details does the narrator give to make us feel Emily's suffering?
- Why don't Emily and Susan get along?
- The narrator says of Emily, "Now suddenly she was Somebody, as imprisoned in her difference as she had been in her anonymity." (paragraph 47) What does she mean?
- Explain the point the narrator makes in the last paragraph of the story.