Society Short Story Study Guide

Transcription

1 Society Short Story Study Guide Directions: Divide up the sections amongst the people in your group. This is due at the end of period and you will be allowed to use it on the quiz. The Basics (Complexity Level 1 & 2) App/ Main Idea Gothic Plot Symbol App/Infer. Informat./ Research College Prep Terms Why did the people of Omelas walk away?. What gothic elements are present in Omelas? The fate of the people in Omelas is controlled by The room in The Yellow Wallpaper symbolizes Why is Jane intrigued by the wall paper? If The Yellow Wallpaper had a different title, what could it be? What is a scapegoat The Yellow Wallpaper Skill Vocab. Lit. Setting Lit Resolution Lit Theme Application/ Author s Perspective Lit Symbol App./ Compare Question What does the italicized word mean in the excerpt below? I don't feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I'm getting dreadfully fretful and querulous. I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Why is the setting at the beginning of The Yellow Wallpaper important?. Why does the narrator feel free at the end of the story? What statement (quote) best expresses the author s message in the short story? (Theme) The husband is viewed by the author as The wallpaper symbolizes How is the setting reflective of the narrator s circumstances and condition? (Think Gothic!)

2 The Ones that Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula LeGuin Read this excerpt from an essay by scholar Logan Hill on the symbolic meanings of Omelas and how it represents our society. Then answer the questions which follow. When Le Guin wrote that her story evoked "the dilemma of the American conscience," she might have been thinking particularly of the corporate capitalist class discrimination that allows rich corporate executives to earn hundreds of times more money than most of their employees, an American economic system in which the wealthiest one percent of the population own an extremely disproportionate share of the total wealth of the country, which has often approximated over thirty percent. She might have compared this class to the least wealthy half of the population, which typically shares less than a quarter of the Americans' total wealth, attends poorer schools, dies years earlier than the average upper-class American, has higher rates of infant mortality and imprisonment and is more likely to die as a result of serious illness because of inferior health care. Informational Text/Research Info. Test/ Research App/ Main Idea Which sentence from the essay best illustrates LeGuin s indictment/condemnation of America s economic system? What does the author use to support the point he makes about our economic system? What is the main idea of the paragraph? Read this excerpt from Omelas and answer the questions which follow. Joyous! How is one to tell about joy? How to describe the citizens of Omelas? They were not simple folk, you see, though they were happy. But we do not say words of cheer anymore. All smiles have become old. Given a description such as this one tends to make you have certain assumptions. Given a description such as this one tends to make you look for the King, mounted on a great stallion, leading the processions of dancers and citizens of Omelas. But there was no King. They did not use swords or keep slaves in Omelas. They were not barbarians. I do not know the rules or laws of their society, but I suspect there were only a few. As they did without a King and without slavery, they also did without the stock exchange, the secret police, and bombs. Yet I repeat these WERE NOT simple folk. They were not less complex than us. The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by scholars and philosophers, as considering happiness as a something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil is interesting. This is the sin of the artist: a refusal to admit that evil is dull and pain is boring. App/ Author s Perspective Fig. language Why does the author choose to repeat they were not simple folk? What type of figurative language is used in the excerpt? App/Main Idea & Detail Lit. Gothic Why is the town able to be free of disease, living harmoniously together?. Which of the following examples is the strongest gothic element in Omelas? THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME 1. "I will not lose my nerve, I will not." This quote from Rainsford is an example of what kind of conflict: Man vs. Nature Man vs. Self Man vs. Society Man vs. Technology 2. Why does Zaroff suggest Rainsford wear moccasins during the hunt? They leave less tracks

3 They leave prints for General Zaroff to follow They are comfortable shoes for walking and running It will slow him down because they will not protect his feet against the wilderness 3. "They did not make me condone cold-blooded murder." What does condone mean in this sentence? believe commit approve dislike 4. "Dear me, what a righteous young man you are! I assure you I do not do the thing you suggest." In this context, righteous means: Approve of something most people disapprove of Uncomfortably ugle and strange Angry because a situation is not right or fair Innocent and easily fooled 5. "It was in Africa that a Cape buffalo hit me and laid me up for six months. As soon as I recovered, I started for the Amazon to hunt jaguars, for I had heard they were unusally cunning. They weren't. They were not match at all for a hunter with his wits about him, and a high-powered rifle. I was bitterly disappointed." After reading this passage, what character traits describe General Zaroff? strong and conceited passive and unintelligent fearful and tormented excited and careless 6. "The lights from the windows sent a flickering illumination that made grotesque patterns on the courtyard below." What does grotesque mean in this sentence? uncomfortably ugly strange dirty gorgeous 7. What is mean by the quote "He lived a year in a minute"? Rainsford is terrified and each moment seems to pass slowly Rainsford was knocked unconscious by General Zaroff

4 Rainsford could not wait to leave Ship-Trap Island Rainsford was fearful for his life when Ivan puts a gun to his head 8. When the General returns home and reads a book by "Marcus Aurelius". This reference is an example of what literary technique? suspense personification allusion theme 10."One does not expect nowadays to find a young man of educated class, even in America, with such a naive point of view." What does naive mean in this sentence? (This is social commentary). Climbed quickly Easily fooled, ignorant Certain; unavoidable Very strange 11. "He could flee. That was postponing the inevitable." What does inevitable mean in this sentence? Very strange Calm Climbed quickly Certain; unavoidable 12. How does Zaroff stock his island with "game"? He misdirects ships to crash into giant rocks with razor edges He uses native people of the land Ivan traps them with the dogs He hires people to trap humans and lock them in his cellar until he is ready to hunt 13."I think evil is a tangible thing-with wavelengths, just as sound and light have." In this context, tangible means:sat WORD OF OURS! pleasing to the senses real; about to be touched cut or torn life and energy 13. "The massive door with a leering gargoyle for a knocker was real enough."

5 What does leering mean in this sentence? GOTHIC! funny odd/different hideous looking unpleasantly 14.Why did General Zaroff believe that the animal known as "the most dangerous game" was the most fun to hunt? Because of its ability to reason Because of its great speed Because of its greater strength Because of its ability to speak Here are the IMDB summaries: Eye of the Beholder Monsters are Due on Maple Street Time Enough At Last TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODES The Monsters are Due on Maple Street 1. What are the first signs that something strange is going on on Maple Street? 2. A scapegoat is someone who people blame for their troubles. How as Les Goodman become a scapegoat? A. He had an odd personality and he always sat outside all night looking up to the sky, so neighbors assumed he was the cause of their problems. B. People in the neighborhood didn't like him and thought he was an evil person C. People didn't like him because he was an outsider and had lots of money. D. People didn't like him because he kept everyone one awake at night and was weird.

6 3. Think about the quote from the Narrator at the end: The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices- to be found only in the minds of men. Who are the true monsters on Maple Street and why do you believe this? SOCIAL COMMENTARY The Eye of the Beholder 4. By citing specific examples from the episode, what examples of GOTHIC ELEMENTS were in Eye of the Beholder? (You must find at least 3) 5. This episode is providing social commentary about WHAT? It is criticizing our obsession with Fill in the blank for #s 6-11 Time Enough At Last This indelible episode was less a portrait of society's monstrous norms and values than a reminder of how we depend on it. Burgess Meredith shies from his and job, hoping his responsibilities will disappear, so that he might find time to. When he finally sneaks away with his books to the where he works, he emerges to find the world around him has been completely. He is thrilled to be the last man left alive, until his coke bottle shatter beneath his piles of reading material. As he cries, "That's not fair," the point of the episode emerges in all its tragic glory. "Time Enough At Last" is an interesting foil for all of the haunting social commentary "The Twilight Zone" makes. Society has its, but life is impossible without it.