1. Read and annotate the chapter entitled "The Forked Tongue."
2. Go back and read your classmates responses to the last blog we did on chapters 3-5 (the one that was due Tues). Reply to at least 2 of your classmates.
3. For this blog, think about some of the issues that you see coming up in the blog comments and some of the things you've been noticing and wondering about as you've been reading the following chapters: "Frost," "Ubermensch," "Slice of Life," and "The Forked Tongue." Submit 3 possible questions you think would be worth exploring in our next graded discussion. Post these 3 questions as your comment for this blog.
Gideon Schmidt
ReplyDeleteOld School discussion questions
1) How does writing shape the society of this school? Does it affect everybody, or just a select population? Might the narrator’s view of this be biased in any way?
2) How is Ayn Rand’s visit a turning point for the narrator? With all the changes to him and the way he sees the world, what’s likely to happen next in the story?
3) How does writing shape the relationship between the narrator and his friends? Would that relationship exist without it?
1) Does Big Jeff saying that he will leave is little jeff is kicked make little jeff stay?
ReplyDelete2) Did the narrator plagiarize the other girls work or just take the ideas from it?
3) Why does the narrator choose to do the troubadour rather than go to the school dance that everyone else, even George, went to
Questions for discussion:
ReplyDelete1) Is good writing characterized based on the content of the material or how well the author is able to hook their reader?
2) Compare and contrast the approaches in which Ayn Rand and Frost presented themselves to the students.
3) How does one go about finding their voice? Is their voice really found if they never speak their mind?
1) Do some people in the school agree with Ayn Rand's idealogy? Do they support her?
ReplyDelete2) How does Ayn Rand's visit change the narrator's view on people?
3) How does the narrator see himself compared to his classmates? Inferior or superior?
"Old School" Discussion Questions
ReplyDelete1. Analyze Ayn Rand's personal background. Are there any particular events or experiences that may have shaped Rand's beliefs, or did they just come naturally to her? Are these kinds of ideas something one can simply be "born with?"
2. Imagine Robert Frost and Ayn Rand meeting each other. What would they say to each other? Where would they find common ground, and where might they disagree?
3. Explore what a world of "Randism" would realistically look like. What might an individualistic self-centered society turn into? Would leaders eventually develop, or would everyone simply do what they - and they alone - want to do?
Based on today's socioeconomic situation, what kind of revolutionary ideas might arise that could be comparable to Rand's in the near future?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the narrator's relationship with the school? Positive? Negative? There is evidence for both.
Do you think the narrator has the kind of passion (in comparison to the other students) required to actually win one of these writing contests?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. How can Ayn Rand respect her followers, when they act so inferior to her? Because isn't it true that she believes inferior people to be unworthy of her respect?
ReplyDelete2. If these are her followers, and they agree with her idea of individual superiority, then why aren't they enforcing their superiority towards others and instead are asserting their inferiority towards her?
3. Did Ayn Rand choose Big Jeff's story because it was actually the best, or do you think she just chose it because she saw herself as the bull in the story?
Why did Tobias Wolff wait until more than halfway through the book to reveal so much of the narrator's home life through "Summer Night"?
ReplyDeleteDiscuss the significance of Purcell's visit to church. Was he doing it, as the narrator suspected, to avoid the embarrassment of Big Jeff making a scene, or was it for other reasons?
How does Ayn Rand's visit seem to impact the other students at the school, other than the narrator?
1. Is Ayn Rand religious?
ReplyDelete2. Why did Ayn Rand agree to visit the school if "everything" she does is for her own benefit/to make herself happy?
3. What happened to make the narrator so distant from his father/not want to go back home?
1) What did the students think about what Ayn Rand said and what her views about society were?
ReplyDelete2) Do the students take into consideration what the visiting authors say and do they apply it to their lives?
3) Are academics the main focus in this school, because they don't mention much about other activities that take place in this school?
1) What could happened happened to George Kellog that has changed him into a ruder, more aggressive person?
ReplyDelete2) Why is the narrator so afraid of opening up to Bill White even though it seems like he wants to?
3) What could Bill be writing about that leaves him so seemingly depressed and exhausted all the time?
1) Why do you think think Wolff left the narrator and the school unnamed?
ReplyDelete2) Why might chapter six be titled "The Forked Tongue" ?
3) Why might both of the authors that have come to the school so far have been against such an establishment themselves and why would the school allow this?
1. What were other students perspectives on Ayn Rand and her theories? Were they similar to the narrator's views or did they differ?
ReplyDelete2. Why did Big Jeff say he would leave with Purcell if he got expelled for not attending chapel? What was his motive?
3. What did the narrator title his story? Did he keep it the same as the girl had it?
1. How does the narrator's Jewish ancestry affect his life, and his opinions of himself and others?
ReplyDelete2. Why does the narrator lie to Bill about writing a story? In general, why do Bill and the narrator refuse to tell each other anything about themselves?
3. How does what you write about affect who you are?
1. How do Earnest Hemingway. Robert Frost, and Ayn rand influence the narrator?
ReplyDelete2. Which character is the narrator closest to? consider his relationship with Bill White.
3. What information is denied to the reader through first person narration?
1. Why did the author deicide to "reveal" himself in the story he was copying?
ReplyDelete2. Why is little Jeff Purcell so bitter towards his cousin big Jeff?
3. Since the Narrator is reluctant about revealing his Jewish identity, what is the attitude towards Jews in the school?
1. Do you think that the narrator takes Rand's distaste for Hemingway personally?
ReplyDelete2. Are Ayn Rand's extreme point of views actually what she believes, or is she just saying them to be different?
3. Do you think that since the boys are near the end of their time at their school and they are battling to meet Hemingway that there will be a fight?
1) What is driving Ayn Rand to be the way she is? Is her philosophy based on personal experience or just the product of her ignorance and obstinate personality?
ReplyDelete2) How are the meetings of these authors affecting the narrator? How are these authors personalities changing his perceptive on not just literature but people in general?
3) A question I've had since I've started reading the book is that, is the author in the school by choice?
Melissa Stuart
ReplyDeleteDiscussion Questions
Do you think being sheltered by the school has a positive or negative impact on the boys, if any?
Is Purcell really cutting chapel because he doesn't want to worship God, or is there something deeper that is making him so stubborn?
Why was the narrator so excited to be at the school in the beginning, but now says he "wants out" (page 109)?
1. How has the visits of Robert Frost and Ayn Rand affected the narrator’s character? Identify what causes these changes in personality and explain how these changes affected the people around him.
ReplyDelete2. What was Ayn Rand’s childhood was like? How do you think this affected her personality when she was an adult.
3. Does the narrator know that using the ideas in the story that he read was completely wrong and considered plagiarism? What caused him to resort to this, and what consequences will he face?
1- Why would Big Jeff say that he would leave if Little Jeff got kicked out? Is it just to steal the spotlight from Little Jeff (which is how Little Jeff perceives it to be) or is it something else?
ReplyDelete2- If the narrator could just tell everyone who he is, why does he choose to plagiarize the other girl's story to get his identity out? Not only is this bad just because plagiarism is a bad thing, but it's also terrible because he's using it to possibly win audience with a famous author.
3- Why are the boys being so wreckless in the spring when they just have to wait a couple months before they graduate and get to do anything they want? What is the point of risking years of schooling to do something they could do with little to no consequence after graduating?
Sarah Cook
ReplyDeleteDiscussion Questions
1. What is the real reason Purcell was skipping chapel? And why did he decide to stay?
2. How has the different authors like Ayn Rand and Robert Frost visiting the school impact the narrators life and identity?
3. Why would the narrator resort to plagiarism? What are the consequences of his actions going to be?
1. Did other students change their views of Ayn Rand once she visited the school, like the narrator did?
ReplyDelete2. Did Jeff Purcell go to chapel to keep from being expelled, or so Big Jeff wouldn't drop out with him?
3. What influenced Ayn Rand in her life that created and shaped her strong views on many subjects?
1. Why does Tobias Wolff not provide the name of the narrator as well as the details of his life before he came to the school.
ReplyDelete2. How did Ayn Rand's visit impact the other students at the school? Did they change their views after hearing her theories?
3. Is the real reason for Purcell skipping chapel because he has nothing to lose as the narrator describes on page 106? Or is there a deeper reason?
1. Why does the narrator find Ayn Rand's ideas so appealing when they are written on paper and yet is so opposed to them when he hears them in person?
ReplyDelete2. Could Ayn Rand's ideas have had some influence on Purcell's decision to stop going to chapel?
3. In The Forked Tongue, the narrator says he once took pleasure in acting like he belonged in the school. Why does he suddenly have this change of heart and decide he now dislikes who he pretended to be?
1. Will there be any ramifications for the narrator basically plagiarizing Ruth Levine's story?
ReplyDelete2. What caused Ayn to have the views she does?
3. Now that the narrator has written a story that actually shows who he is, could he win the audience with Hemingway?
1. Does the narrator realize he is plagiarizing the story? He calls it "my thoughts, this life my own."
ReplyDelete2. Does Ayn Rand's visit lead to the disgust the narrator has for his built-up character?
3. By revealing his thoughts, will the narrator's classmates' perception of him change?
1. Will the narrator regret not changing the last name of the narrator in his story?
ReplyDelete2. Why did Little Jeff break and go to chapel the day that he would have been expelled if he had not gone?
3. Why did the narrator try to write his story instead of going to the dance, knowing there would be a girl there who would want to dance with him?
1) How are these writers, such as Hemmingway or Frost, analogous to rock stars or famous athletes at the school?
ReplyDelete2) in a school that strives for equality, do all of the charachters work begin to blend together
3) how come ayn Rand allowed to come to the school when clearly she is a different kind of writer that plays whithin a different league