Pre-AP English II: Summer Assignment with Links to Discussion Questions

9/26 Update: At this point all responses need to be made on paper. Please submit your COMPLETE (not partial) responses when all 12 questions have been answered.

Sophomores entering Pre-AP II will be expected to complete the following assignment prior to class beginning at the end of August. Estimated weekly commitment: 1 hour.

Following are six pairs of short stories. You are expected to read at least one of them (feel free to read both), and participate in an online discussion. You need to answer two questions for one of each of the short story pairs.

Week 1 (6/4-8): Irony

• The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
  (Listen to an audiofile of "The Lottery" as you read; right-click audiofile link to save file to your computer.)

Check out the discussion board questions for "The Lottery"


• The Open Window, Saki (H.H. Munro)
  (Click the yellow player link on this website to listen to the story as you read; right-click this link to save file to your computer.)

Check out the discussion board questions for "The Open Window"

Week 3 (6/18-22): Coming of Age

• Araby, James Joyce
  (Listen to an audiofile of "Araby" as you read; right-click audiofile link to save file to your computer.)

Check out the discussion board questions for "Araby"


• A&P, John Updike

Check out the discussion board questions for "A&P"

Week 5 (7/2-6): Horror

• Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe (listen here)

Check out the discussion board questions for "Fall of the House of Usher"


• Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe (listen here)
  > Abridged Graphic Novelization Supplement

Check out the discussion board questions for "Tell-Tale Heart"

Week 7 (7/16-20): Prejudice

• Barn Burning, William Faulkner (listen here)

Check out the discussion board questions for "Barn Burning"


• Cathedral, Raymond Carver

Check out the discussion board questions for "Cathedral"

Week 9 (7/30-8/3): Magic Realism

• Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (listen here)

Check out the discussion board questions for "Very Old Man with Enormous Wings


• The Monkey’s Paw, W.W. Jacobs (listen here)
  

Check out the discussion board questions for "Monkey's Paw"

Week 11 (8/13-17): Irony (yes, again!)

• The Bet, Anton Chekhov (listen here)

Check out the discussion board questions for "The Bet"


• The Yellow Pill, Rog Phillips

Check out the discussion board questions for "The Yellow Pill"

Incoming Pre-AP English II: Discussion Boards for "The Bet" and "The Yellow Pill"

9/26 Update: At this point all responses need to be made on paper. Please submit your COMPLETE (not partial) responses when all 12 questions have been answered.

This is the final set of discussion questions, but if there are any questions from previous weeks you haven't yet completed, please take care of them this week. I look forward to meeting you a week from Monday.

The Bet by Anton Chekhov (listen here)

• Character: Discuss how Chekhov uses the words, actions, and appearances of the banker and the lawyer to give his readers clues about his characters' states of mind? Identify specific examples from the story.


• Conflict:
  1. Identify the original argument from the beginning of the story.
  
  
  2. How does the conflict change throughout the story?
  
  
  3. What is the conflict at the end of the story?
  
  
  4. Is there a resolution to this conflict? If so, what is it? If not, why not?
  
  Discuss.


• Irony: Irony is defined as the gap between what is expected and what actually occurs. Discuss the irony in this story.


• Theme: What does the lawyer learn from his experience being locked up for so long? What are we supposed to learn from this story? Discuss.


• Resolution: Who won the bet? Is it possible for both to lose the bet? Is it possible for both to win? Discuss.

Alternate Project: Substitute this assignment for "The Bet" for answering the above (or below) questions.


The Yellow Pill by Rog Phillips

• Personification: At one point in the story Jerry tells Gar/Cedric "'You know as well as I do, Gar, how space madness causes you to personify everything.'" Discuss what he means by this and how it differs from what we usually think of personification. Use examples.


• Simile: At another point in the story Jerry tells Gar/Cedric that "'one of us has to be nuttier than a fruitcake." What does that expression literally mean? What connotations and/or secondary definitions do the words "nuttier" and "fruitcake" carry? Why is this appropriate? Discuss.


• Allusion: Discuss the significance that Helena's allusion to Napoleon ("'Napoleon was obviously insane because he thought he was Napoleon.'") carries in the overall scheme of the story?


• Alliteration: Just like James Joyce's story "Araby," Phillips ends this story with significant alliteration. What alliteration exists in the final paragraph? What connotations do those words carry? (Don't just explain what they literally mean.) What, if anything, does the repetition of sound suggest or reinforce about Gar's character? Discuss.


• Irony: In the middle of the story "Dr. Elton" says "'"I remember [telling Helena that she couldn't date him]…. A nice pat rationalization in any man's reality to make the rejection be my own before you could have time to reject me yourself. Preserving the ego is the first principle of madness.'" Discuss the way(s) this is ironic. What other ironies exist in the story?

Incoming Pre-AP English II: Discussion Boards for "Old Man with Enormous Wings" and "Monkey's Paw"

9/26 Update: At this point all responses need to be made on paper. Please submit your COMPLETE (not partial) responses when all 12 questions have been answered.

Respond on the discussion boards to a set of questions for one of the following stories:

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (listen here)

• Genre: The author says this about the genre of magic realism: "Magical realism expands the categorizes of the real so as to encompass myth, magic and other extraordinary phenomena in Nature or experience which European realism excluded." Discuss the ways this story exhibit traits of this genre, where the line between reality and magic are made blurry.


• Character: Think about the reactions the different characters have toward the fallen angel: the neighbor woman wanted Pelayo and Elisenda to club him to death, Father Gonzaga thinks he is an imposter after learning that he could not speak Latin, Pelayo and Elisenda began to charge money to see him, etc.
  
  1. Is there any irony in how they are treating the angel?
  
  
  2. What do their responses to the angel suggest about human nature and society?
  
  Discuss.


• Humor: The author uses irony and humor to blur the lines between fantasy and reality.
  
  1. What are some parts that you think are funny?
  
  
  2. Do these parts help make the situation seem more or less real? How so?
  
  Discuss.


• Symbol: Think about the angel's wings. They are enormous-- so big that it seems they are impeding flight. In the beginning they are soaked with mud, making them heavy and burdensome. Then they are infested with parasites. Near the end, he barely has any feathers left. At the end he begins to sprout new, strong feathers, and in time he is able to take full flight.
  
  1. How do his wings relate to what he is going through?
  
  
  2. How do they reflect the people in the town?
  
  Discuss.

The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs (listen here)

• Suspense: What parts of the story are suspenseful? Discuss how these moments of suspense add to the overall mood of the story. (Be sure to actually identify what the mood is; "suspenseful" is NOT a mood.)


• Foreshadowing: "I don't know what the first two were, but the third was for death," spoken by the sergeant-major, is an example of foreshadowing because it hints to the reader that something could happen that would make him prefer death rather than live with the results of his three wishes. Identify and explain at least 3 other pieces of foreshadowing in the story. They do not have to be dialogue. Discuss.


• Analysis:
  1. What is fate?
  
  
  2. Do you believe in fate? Explain.
  
  
  3. How were the Whites playing with fate in the story?
  
  
  4. Bonus: What role did fate play in Romeo and Juliet?
  
  Discuss.


• Analysis: Think about all of the elements of the Other (things, places, customs that seem strange to us) in the story. (Sergeant-Major Morris spent many years in India, he obtained a monkey's paw from a fakir who put a spell on it, Mr. White talks about wanting to see the old temples and jugglers in India. When Mr. White made his first wish, it twisted in his hand like a snake. Herbert saw simian faces in the fire.)
  1. What is the difference between how Morris treats these elements and how the Whites treat them?
  
  
  2. How do these elements add to the suspense of the story?
  
  Discuss.


• Mood: The author toys with our emotions as we read, making us feel at ease in some parts, frightened in others, melancholy in others, etc. Choose two passages (only one or two sentences) and explain how it is supposed to make us feel.

  Example: "Father and son were at chess...the white haired old lady knit[ted] placidly by the fire," is supposed to make us feel relaxed because we can picture a family quietly having fun and being warm by the fire.

  Discuss.


• Adaptation: View this short movie based on the story: LEGO Monkey's Paw.
  1. What is sacrificed in converting the story to a 6-minute retelling.
  
  
  2. How does what is lost reduce the effectiveness of Jacobs' story?
  
  Discuss.

Incoming Pre-AP English II: Discussion Boards for "Lottery" and "Open Window"

9/26 Update: At this point all responses need to be made on paper. Please submit your COMPLETE (not partial) responses when all 12 questions have been answered.

Last week you needed to read either "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson or "The Open Window" by Saki (or both, if you're cool like that). This week, pick two questions for one of the stories (two for the same story), click the "Discuss" link, and add your response to the message board for that question.

I'll be checking the boards throughout the week; I look forward to your responses. In some cases I may prod for deeper thinking if you've just scratched the surface with your answers.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
("Lottery" audiofile)

• Character Names: Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, and Mr. Warner are three characters in the story. What significance can be attributed to Jackson's name choices for these three characters? Discuss.


• One form of irony occurs in a story when the opposite of what is expected occurs. What is ironic about the title of this story? Discuss.


• Re-read the story. What clues did Jackson provide early in the story that subtly foreshadow the ending? Discuss.


• This story is told in Third Person Omniscient point of view. This POV helps the author keep the narrator at a distance from the characters, even though the narrator can read their thoughts. What does Jackson gain by keeping the reader's perception at a distance from the characters? Discuss.

The Open Window by Saki (H.H. Munro)
("Open Window" audiofile)

• Character Names: Vera is the name of the self-possessed young lady of fifteen Framton Nuttel meets. The origin of her name ver is the Latin root for Truth (e.g., veracity, verity, veritable, etc.). Why is this ironic? Discuss.


• What details of her aunt's sitting room does Vera use to contribute to the believability of her story/stories? Discuss.


• Early in the story the narrator expresses some of Framton Nuttel's inner turmoil like this

  Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something which should duly flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discounting the aunt that was to come.

  How does this help the reader better understand Nuttel's character? Discuss. (Discuss other aspects of Nuttel's portrayal, including perhaps, his name, here also.)


• This story is told in Third Person Omniscient point of view. This POV helps the author keep the narrator at a distance from the characters, even though the narrator can read their thoughts. What does Saki gain by keeping the reader's perception at a distance from the characters? Discuss.

If you have other elements of the stories you'd like to discuss, add them in the comments and I'll create a message board. Thanks!