Responding to Chapters 1-3: Maggie, A Girl of the Streets April 16, 2008

Consider these questions:

• What was your first reaction to our reading?  Explain.
• What events, attitudes, or plot developments stood out to you in the first three chapters?  Why?
• What was most surprising to you in tonight’s reading?  Why?
• Look back at each chapter.  What do you think was the most important thing that happened in EACH chapter?  Why?
• In your opinion, what was the most interesting expression or quote? (give the quote and page number) Why?
• Who is the most vivid character to you so far?  Why?  Describe that character and explain why he/she is so memorable to you at this point in the novella.
• How did tonight’s reading make you feel?  Why?
• What do you predict will happen next?

Please organize your responses to these questions in at least two paragraphs of 5-10 sentences.  Think deeply and thoughtfully!

Heredity or Enviornment? April 15, 2008

Whereas literary realism tended to focus on the travails of life in the upper classes, naturalist writing featured characters surviving in far grittier surroundings, often in a universe indifferent to human suffering. Heavily influenced by social and scientific theories, including those of Darwin, writers of naturalism described—usually from a detached or journalistic perspective—the influence of society and surroundings on the development of the individual. Jack London and Stephen Crane also participated in this tradition of literary naturalism, writing about city life, social class, industry, and, in two memorable short stories, the callous indifference of nature.

Key Beliefs:

1. The “brute within”—which is the notion that everyone has “strong and often warring emotions: passions, such as lust, greed, or the desire for dominance or pleasure,” leading to behavior considered taboo by society. Encountering the indifferent universe can cause this brute to rise up, often in violent ways. Students will likely see similarities to certain comic book heroes like The Incredible Hulk.
2. The indifference of nature as man struggles to survive.
3. The influence of “heredity and environment” (or one’s background and surroundings) on the development of a person. This emphasizes the difficulty of moving between or mixing social classes (even if successful, the repercussions can be tremendous).
4. Determinism: the inability to express free will or personal agency.

In your opinion, which has more influence on how a person develops and what he/she becomes in life:  heredity (genes) or enviornment?  Do you agree or disagree with the principles of naturalism 1-4 above?  Why or why not?

State your opinions on these principles in TWO paragraphs of 5-8 sentences.

Discussion Assessment: Maggie December 18, 2007

1.  In your opinion, what problems or challenges does Maggie have in common with young adolescent women of 2007?  In what ways have things improved for women and children in the United States since the late 1800s?  What problems do women and children still encounter in today’s society?  Explain in a paragraph of 7-10 sentences.

2.  What did you get from reading this novella?  What stood out to you?  On a scale of 1-10 (1 lowest, 10 highest), what would give you this novel?  Why?  Explain in a paragraph of 7-10 sentences. 

Post-Novella Reflections: Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, 12/14/07 December 14, 2007

Reflect back on our novella, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets.  Please answer these questions in paragraph format.

1.  Look back at your background packet and consider the themes of this novella:  poverty and hypocrisy.  How are these themes illustrated in the novella through the characters and plot?  Explain in a paragraph of 12-15 sentences.  Give specific examples from the text to support your answers.

2.  In your opinion, who was the most important character in this novella?  Why?  Respond in a paragraph of 8-10 sentences.

3.  What role does religion play in this novella? How do the various characters use religious language and approach religious themes? How does the narrator seem to feel about organized religion?  Give examples from the novella to support your answer.  Respond in a paragraph of 8-12 sentences.

4.  Obviously, the characters in this novel speak in the dialect of lower Manhattan, and Crane makes an attempt to preserve this dialect. Think about the use of dialect in the novel: How does it make the reader feel about the characters? How is it intended to make the reader feel? Think especially about the relationship between how the characters sound and what they are saying.

5.  Crane’s novella Maggie: A Girl of the Street raises important questions about the capacity of people to be responsible for their own deeds. Is Maggie to blame for her descent into prostitution? Is Jimmie to blame for his violence, brutishness, and casual cruelty? Or must we point the finger at the social forces and diseases that brought them to the brink of degradation (poverty, coercive capitalism, lack of education, alcoholism)? How does this book steer a path between the two extremes of absolute personal responsibility and entirely contingent morality? Or does it avoid choosing a compromise position, and instead throw itself behind the position that social circumstance, not personal choice, is to blame for Maggie’s tragedy?  Respond in a paragraph of 12-15 sentences.

6.  Color plays a crucial role in setting the symbolic and emotional overtones in Maggie. Most obviously, there are the repeated references to varying shades of red when describing Mary; it seems that her face is always “crimson” or “fervent red. . . turned almost to purple.” What are the symbolic functions of the color red in this novel? Are there any other colors that Crane uses to symbolic or emotional effect? How? Where?  Explain in a paragraph of 8-12 sentences.

Wednesday, December 12: Exploring the Historical Period of Maggie December 12, 2007

Take a look at these web and database resources I have bookmarked for you at http://del.icio.us/hamilton_11th/maggie_links .  Browse through and choose one to respond to OR you may look at books I have brought tonight.

In a blog post of 8-10 sentences, describe the resource and what you learned through your exploration of your historical resource.

Reactions to Chapters 4-7: Maggie, A Girl of the Streets December 7, 2007

Consider these questions:

• What was your first reaction to our reading?  Explain.
• What events, attitudes, or plot developments stood out to you in chapters 4-7?  Why?
• What was most surprising to you in this “chunk” of reading?  Why?
• Look back at each chapter.  What do you think was the most important thing that happened in EACH chapter?  Why?
• In your opinion, what was the most interesting expression or quote in these chapters? (give the quote and page number) Why?
• Who is the most vivid character to you as of tonight?  Why?  Describe that character and explain why he/she is so memorable to you at this point in the novella.
• How did our reading of Chapters 4-7 make you feel?  Why?
• Can you connect to any aspect of these chapters in some way—personal experience (feeling the way a character felt), something else you have read, something you have seen on television, etc.?
• What do you think of Maggie’s crush on Pete?  What is your opinion of this potential relationship?  Do you think she really likes Pete or perhaps what he represents for her?  Both?  What advice might someone like Oprah or Dr. Phil give her about Pete?  What advice would you give her?
• What do you predict will happen next?

Please organize your responses to these questions in at least THREE paragraphs.  Think deeply and thoughtfully!

Responding to Chapters 1-3 of Maggie, A Girl of the Streets December 5, 2007

Consider these questions:

• What was your first reaction to our reading?  Explain.
• What events, attitudes, or plot developments stood out to you in the first three chapters?  Why?
• What was most surprising to you in tonight’s reading?  Why?
• Look back at each chapter.  What do you think was the most important thing that happened in EACH chapter?  Why?
• In your opinion, what was the most interesting expression or quote? (give the quote and page number) Why?
• Who is the most vivid character to you so far?  Why?  Describe that character and explain why he/she is so memorable to you at this point in the novella.
• How did tonight’s reading make you feel?  Why?
• What do you predict will happen next?

Please organize your responses to these questions in at least two paragraphs.  Think deeply and thoughtfully!