Focus: Putting together Beloved's fragmented pieces of narrative
1. Announcements! And a throwback literary crossword for your enjoyment...
2. Wrapping up yesterday's poetry activity
Select ONE of yesterday's poems and brainstorm how reading the other James Wright poems has shed a little light on the poem you have selected. In other words, how does the poem open up a little when you read it as part of a collection? A few sentences will suffice.
3. Socratic seminar: Beloved, Chapters 16-through Part 2, 1st half of Chapter 1
HW:
1. Finalize your poem for your project/paper; make sure you have an easily accessible copy of it for tomorrow's metacognitive writing. We will meet in the library computer lab tomorrow.
2. Start preparing for Friday's Socratic on Beloved, which will cover the 2nd half of Chapter 1 through Chapter 5 in Part 2. Continue working on your timeline, which will be due when you finish Part 2.
Beloved Socratic
ReplyDeleteBaylie: Is Sethe affected by mental illness? How could she kill her own daughter?
Later she says that it was out of love – kill for her own good – put them somewhere where they couldn’t feel that pain
The unknown is better than what she used to know
Acted without thinking – standing there as though she had made a mistake – just did something
Seemed like the hat was a trigger – snapped after seeing it
Depression after giving birth to Beloved
If you beat your horse beyond the point of education it will never be the same
Are we supposed to excuse her act?
No clear cut way to digest the horror of her action
She wants us to feel horrified that slavery drove her to kill her own children
Wants us to see the animosity we see on both sides. Internal animosity as well. Subhuman place as a result of slavery
Pg 177 syntax – couldn’t tell whether the author was referencing human or horse – slavery makes them animalistic
Shows that both slaves and whites are doing bad
Shack emptied for the feast – kills child in same shed – Beloved and Paul D encounter
Beloved’s blood gets in milk when Denver was breastfeeding – connected from the beginning – vampiristic imagery
She can’t leave 124 because its her only connection to Beloved
Dress compared to rigamortous – rigid, defines her as human, a lot of dress imagery – might reveal something about the character
Why is it referred to 124 when Beloved is present?
The presence of the house reveals what the characters are going through
Absence is a presence – the obsession with Beloved is because she isn’t there
What do you think about the narration/change in perpective at beginning of 16?
Gives reader empathy for the situation outside of empathy for Sethe alone
He compares himself to her – he is unaware of the reality of slavery
Presenting us with the knowledge is disturbing alone – change in perspective gives us distance
We see it as an outsider, Sethe cannot competently describe what is going on
Sethe’s act confirms the black stereotype – condition someone to be an animal, they will become one
Interesting that she killed the baby with a handsaw – used to cut wood – cutting down a tree, past
Why does she kill Beloved first?
She tries to kill Denver as well – does she kill out of love?
Physically unable to kill other children though she tried to kill all of them
Based on a true story about a woman killing her own children.
Ms. Garner is name for slave owner – Morrison wants us to know that Sethe is inspired to kill her own children – emphasizes the connection from both sides – blame on both sides
Sethe talks about hummingbird wings and beautiful things – veil brought up again – thinks of it as all the parts of her that are beautiful being destroyed
Does she not see herself as valuable?
She doesn’t want to give anything valuable to the schoolmaster
Paul D’s reaction to Sethe’s story – “your love is too thick” – blinded by her love
She kills her daughter in irrational thought – love blinds her to logic
Paul D compares her to a beast even – psychological effect on Sethe
Ice skating – she fell and stayed that way for awhile on all fours
“But nobody saw them falling” – significance?
They’ve been abandoned
Turning point in part two – Paul D leaves, so does hope – Sethe cannot let the past go
Paul D is a representation of sex – what is the significance of the absence of sex? How does that affect Sethe?
Allowed them peace – sex is associated with new life while Sethe is obsessed with the past
Emphasis on Sethe’s eyes – deep, empty – disconnection with world
Paul D is very adiment that it is not her mouth in the newspaper – he has to hear the truth from her
Why does the newspaper clipping scare him away?
Sethe apologizes, but seems indifferent
“You’ve got two legs, not four”
Moved his focus from his sorrow and regret to hers
Forest between them – tree on her back symbolizes past – past separates them because of Sethe’s obsession with it
Red ribbon? His past, past of slavery?
Scalped piece of a little girl at end of ribbon