Allison, "River of Names," 3
Braverman, "Tall Tales From the Mekong Delta," 89
Lombreglia, "Men Under Water," 320
Raymond Carver, "Cathedral," 108
John Edgar Wideman, "Daddy Garbage," 521
Carol Bly, "Talk of Heroes," 48
Susan Power, "Moonwalk," 426
Jones, "A White Horse," 291
Directions: After reading the lecture, answer one of the main questions, which will appear in bold. This question is due no later than Thursday, Feb. 23. Following that 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.
Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Sunday, Feb. 26. In order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond to at least 2 other people's postings.
This set of discussion questions is worth a possible 20 points. Remember: late answers receive 0 points, so post early :)
We will be using the ETUDES Discussion Board for this class. Click on the link below to get to the ETUDES portal, sign in, and then click on the tab for this class. You will find the "Discussion and Private Messages" link on the left side of the screen:
Allison, "River of Names," 3
The narrator says that her relationship with Jesse will eventually end. Do you think she is right? Explain.
1. Reread the first paragraph; why did Allison choose to open "River of Names" with this incident?
2. Why does the narrator lie to Jesse?
3. Why doesn't Jesse realize that the narrator is lying?
4. On page 4, the narrator says, "The mystery is how many no one remembers." Explain what she means.
5. What is the narrator's attitude toward herself?
6. Why does the narrator want to punish Jesse?
7. Why won't the narrator have children?
Braverman, "Tall Tales From the Mekong Delta," 89
Does Lenny really exist?
1. What do you know about the narrator's life in the time before the events of the story?
2. How does Braverman set up the contrast between the narrator and Lenny in the beginning of the story?
3. How does Braverman create tension right in the beginning of the story?
4. Why is it important that Lenny sees her tracks, when she doesn't?
5. Lenny says she wants to get in over her head (p. 91); is he right?
6. The color blue is mentioned a number of times in the story; how is it significant?
7. At the end of the story, Lenny tells the narrator, "You're getting off easy, you know that?" (p. 106) What does he mean?
8. How does Lenny take control of the narrator's life?
Lombreglia, "Men Under Water," 320
Does the narrator of this story have anything in common with the narrator of Braverman's "Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta?"
1. Is Gunther insane? Is the narrator insane?
2. Are the screenplays crazy?
3. What is Lombreglia saying about the movie industry?
4. Why is the narrator so "hooked" to Gunther?
5. How is the diving scene symbolic?
Raymond Carver, "Cathedral," 108
What is the significance of the drawing session at the end of the story?
1. Why does the idea of the blind man bother the narrator so much?
2. Why is the narrator so hostile to the blind man?
3. When does he begin to feel more comfortable with the blind man?
4. Why is it so important for him to describe the cathedral well?
5. What does the narrator mean when he says at the end of the story, "My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. But I didn't feel like I was inside anything"? (124)
John Edgar Wideman, "Daddy Garbage," 521
What comment is Wideman making in this story by making the protagonists two poor, boozing black men?
1. What is the significance of the epigraph that begins the story?
2. Why begin in the present, then flash back to the past?
3. Why begin the story with images of the kids getting ices?
4. Why did Wideman choose to set the story of the baby during the winter?
5. Why did Wideman choose to call the town "Homewood"?
6. Strayhorn feels the baby was "owed something" (527); what was it owed?
7. On page 529, Wideman inserts an episode about Lizabeth; why did he choose to use this episode, and why insert it here?
8. Does it matter whether the baby is black or white? What is Wideman saying about race? About humanity? How are people's attitudes changing?
9. Why does Wideman choose to show Lizabeth having her own baby?
Carol Bly, "Talk of Heroes," 48
Why, at the end of her talk, does Emily ask the audience to choose which picture of Willi to remember? What point is Bly making in this passage?
1. How does the opening paragraph introduce the themes of the story?
2. What point is Bly making by beginning with the daughter's problems, and saying she has her own war? (See p. 50)
3. Why does the author spend time letting us see the personal concerns of so many of the minor characters?
4. Why doesn't Carol Bly choose to have Willi Varig tell his own story? In other words, why does she choose to put his story in Emily's mouth?
5. Why does Emily begin her story 11 years after the end of the war?
6. Why does Emily understate the torture Willi went through?
Susan Power, "Moonwalk," 426
What does Margaret teach Harley about magic and tradition in this story? How does she do it?
1. What is the significance of the fact that Margaret thinks she looks "as transparent as baby crayfish..." (426) while she is dying?
2. Evie believes reservation life is "out of balance" (427); she has no regard for her family's traditions. What does she prefer to believe in?
3. Why does Margaret tell her real story now?
4. How does Margaret's story affect Evie?
5. Who is Evie's real father? Who is Evie named after? Was Margaret telling the truth when she said that Evie was her favorite, or was she mistaking her for Lydia?
6. Evie says, of the reservation, "You look back, you never get off the res" (428). How does this statement, ironically, have implications Evie is not aware of?
7. Why does Margaret reject Catholicism before her death, and go back to the old traditions?
8. Lydia doesn't speak, but she does sing at powwows. Read the description of her voice on page 430; how is this passage related to her mother's death?
9. Margaret tells Harley about her grandmother's dress; she tells him, "She wore it to only the most sacred ceremonies, and when she danced at the edge of the dancers' circle, she said she was dancing them back to life" (438). How is Margaret "dancing them back to life" at the end of the story?
10. Margaret tells Harley to imagine the moon inside his head, and he does. She tells him to remember what the feeling was like, and as she does, her hand moves in a circle (440). Why?
11. On page 443, Lydia and Evie have different thoughts about their mother's death. What do these thoughts reveal about each of them?
Thom Jones, "A White Horse," 291
Why does Ad Magic feel such an affinity for the horse?
1. Why does the story begin with an "epileptic premonition" and a car accident?
2. What is the role of "magic" in the story?
3. What is the role of money in the story?
4. Why does Ad Magic like the doctor's dog so much?
5. Why is it important to the story that Ad Magic's "illness" be amnesia?
6. Why is the memory of the carnival ride (see p. 297) important?
7. Why are there so many examples of callousness? What contrasts with them?
8. Why is Ad Magic an advertising copywriter? How is this symbolically significant?
9. Why does Ad Magic quote the passage from Revelations at the end of the story? (See p. 304)