Monday, November 10, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Great Expectations 1
In 1819, the British Parliament passed an act which prevented children under nine years of age from legally being employed and required that no child work more than
sixteen hours a day. In 1833, Parliament passed Lord Althorp's Factory Act, which furt6her limited the number of hours a child could work per week and created a system of factory inspection. Find out about the harsh child-labor conditions of the nineteenth century which made the institution of such acts necessary. What social influences helped to exploit child labor for so long? When were child-labor laws passed in the United States? What did those laws provide?
sixteen hours a day. In 1833, Parliament passed Lord Althorp's Factory Act, which furt6her limited the number of hours a child could work per week and created a system of factory inspection. Find out about the harsh child-labor conditions of the nineteenth century which made the institution of such acts necessary. What social influences helped to exploit child labor for so long? When were child-labor laws passed in the United States? What did those laws provide?
Monday, October 20, 2008
fate more vocabulary words
Native Son Vocabulary Book Three: Fate Part II
Part II: Determining the Meaning
Now match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions
46. duped A. leeway; freedom within regulations
47. flaccid B. feeling of extreme happiness or pleasure
48. elation C. lacking firmness or muscle tone
49. dormant D. location (city, state) where a trial is held
50. futile E. to call an accused person to court to answer the charges
against him/her
51. implicate F. put off; postpone
52. contrite G. dormant; present but not evident or active
53. latitude H. deceived; made foolish
54. unethical I. wrong; not within accept guidelines
55. sanction J. approve
56. arraignment K. useless
57. unabating L. enthusiastically; fervently
58. mitigating M. attributed; credited
59. venue N. asleep inactive
60. inextricably O. condition of not being able to escape from
61. latent P. sorry for past actions
62. ardently Q. not subsiding; not becoming less
63. stave R. connect incriminatingly
64. imputed S. making more moderate
Part II: Determining the Meaning
Now match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions
46. duped A. leeway; freedom within regulations
47. flaccid B. feeling of extreme happiness or pleasure
48. elation C. lacking firmness or muscle tone
49. dormant D. location (city, state) where a trial is held
50. futile E. to call an accused person to court to answer the charges
against him/her
51. implicate F. put off; postpone
52. contrite G. dormant; present but not evident or active
53. latitude H. deceived; made foolish
54. unethical I. wrong; not within accept guidelines
55. sanction J. approve
56. arraignment K. useless
57. unabating L. enthusiastically; fervently
58. mitigating M. attributed; credited
59. venue N. asleep inactive
60. inextricably O. condition of not being able to escape from
61. latent P. sorry for past actions
62. ardently Q. not subsiding; not becoming less
63. stave R. connect incriminatingly
64. imputed S. making more moderate
fate the last chapter
BOOK THREE - Fate
Pages 274 – 310
Vocabulary
renunciation – rejection
inquest – judicial inquiry
indignant – angry
imperative – urgent
hoodwink – deceive
1. What does the following passage tell the reader about Bigger’s state of mind after he is arrested?
With a supreme act of will springing from the essence of his being, he turned away from his life and the long train of disastrous consequences that had flowed from it and looked wistfully upon the dark face of ancient waters upon which some spirit had breathed and created him, the dark face of the waters from which he had been first made in the image of a man with a man’s obscure need and urge; feeling that he wanted to sink back into those waters and rest eternally. (Pg. 274)
2. What does Bigger detect in the attitude of the crowd at the inquest that gives him the strength to pull himself out of his stupor?
3. List the different ways the newspaper article Bigger reads about his fainting spell at the inquest contributes to the negative stereotyping of black people. What solutions does the newspaper article propose to help prevent further crimes by black people?
4. What do you think the following passage is saying about Bigger’s attitude toward
religion and Reverend Hammond’s visit to him in jail?
The preacher’s face was black and sad and earnest and made him feel a sense of guilt
deeper than that which even his murder of Mary had made him feel. He had killed within himself the preacher’s haunting picture of life even before he had killed Mary: that had been his first murder. (Pg. 284)
Use the following passage from the story to answer the next two questions.
Jan had spoken a declaration of friendship that would make other white men hate him: a particle of white rock had detached itself from that looming mountain of white hate and had rolled down the slope, stopping at his feet. The word had become flesh. For the first time in his life a white man became a human being to him; and the reality of Jan’s humanity came in a stab of remorse: he had killed what this man loved and had hurt him. (Pg. 289)
5. What does the metaphor of the mountain of white hate suggest to the reader about the success or failure of Bigger’s life to change conditions for other black people? Do you think Wright is suggesting that violence is the only way to chip away at this mountain of white hate? Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
6. In what way might this passage suggest to the reader a possible solution to the hostility between black and white people?
7. For what reasons does Max say he wants to be Bigger’s lawyer?
8. What does Bigger learn from the painful visit of his family and friends to his jail cell?
He had lived and acted on the assumption that he was alone, and now he saw that he had not been. What he had done made others suffer. No matter how much he would long for them to forget him, they would not be able to. (Pg. 298)
9. Why does Bigger decide to talk to Buckley?
Pages 311 – 362
Vocabulary
stolidly – impassively; showing little emotion
exorbitant – excessive; unfair
vindictiveness – vengefulness
apprehensive – uneasy
balmy – eccentric
1. What piece of evidence helps to prove that the bones in the furnace are Mary’s?
2. Why does Max object to the following question the coroner asks Jan?
“Had you at any time in the past left Miss Dalton alone in the company of Negroes?”
“No.” “You had never used Miss Dalton as bait before, had you?” (Pg. 319)
3. What is revealed during Max’s cross examination of Mr. Dalton about the business practices of whites and how they are designed to oppress and exploit the black race?
4. Why does the coroner bring Bessie’s body into the courtroom? What is racist about that action?
5. What evidence is there that Bigger is still an angry, rebellious young man?
6. Many critics disagree on the significance of the man who is placed in Bigger’s cell.
What do you think Wright is trying to say about the effectiveness of books by educated blacks to change racist attitudes?
7. Cite incidents from the story to support or refute the following statement: Wright
wants the reader to understand that all men are alike and that through getting to know each other there will be a “response of recognition, there would be union, identity; there would be a supporting oneness, a wholeness.” (Pg. 362)
Pages 311 – 362
Vocabulary
stolidly – impassively; showing little emotion
exorbitant – excessive; unfair
vindictiveness – vengefulness
apprehensive – uneasy
balmy – eccentric
1. What piece of evidence helps to prove that the bones in the furnace are Mary’s?
2. Why does Max object to the following question the coroner asks Jan?
“Had you at any time in the past left Miss Dalton alone in the company of Negroes?”
“No.” “You had never used Miss Dalton as bait before, had you?” (Pg. 319)
3. What is revealed during Max’s cross examination of Mr. Dalton about the business practices of whites and how they are designed to oppress and exploit the black race?
4. Why does the coroner bring Bessie’s body into the courtroom? What is racist about that action?
5. What evidence is there that Bigger is still an angry, rebellious young man?
6. Many critics disagree on the significance of the man who is placed in Bigger’s cell.
What do you think Wright is trying to say about the effectiveness of books by educated blacks to change racist attitudes?
7. Cite incidents from the story to support or refute the following statement: Wright
wants the reader to understand that all men are alike and that through getting to know each other there will be a “response of recognition, there would be union, identity; there would be a supporting oneness, a wholeness.” (Pg. 362)
Pages 363 – 405
Vocabulary
lauds – praises
cagy – crafty
presiding – holding authority
mitigation – freedom; relief
dastardly – maliciously
mawkish – sickening; excessive
philanthropy – love of humankind
1. List the three possible sentences available to the judge after Bigger enters a plea
of guilty.
2. In what ways does the description of the trial illustrate for the reader the racism and oppression present in the judicial system?
3. How does Max hope to convince the court to spare Bigger’s life?
4. What is Max trying to tell the court when he says that “fear and hate and guilt are the keynotes of this drama!”? (Pg. 386)
5. Cite incidents from the story to support or refute the following statement: Max does nothing to help save Bigger’s life. He uses the courtroom as a forum to make a speech about the inevitable consequences of oppression on society.
6. How does Max define Bigger’s level of ambition and hope to improve his life?
7. Why does Max argue that sending Bigger to jail would be like “conferring life upon him”? (Pg. 404)
Pages 406 - End of Book Three
Vocabulary
specious – sounding true, but really false; attractive
brooding – meditating
imputed – credited; related
imperiously – pressingly
averted – turned away
1. Briefly list three reasons Buckley thinks the judge must give Bigger the death penalty.
2. Why does Bigger want to see and talk to Max again after the sentencing?
3. At the end of the novel, Max and Bigger do not seem to be able to understand each other. They shake hands and Max leaves. How do you think Max feels about Bigger after this last conversation? Is he disappointed that he cannot make Bigger understand the overall oppression of the working class by the rich, or is he moved by Bigger’s struggle to find a meaning in his life?
4. When Bigger is saying his final words to Max, what evidence is there that Bigger is finally at peace with himself and his identity? What do you think that identity is from Bigger’s perspective?
Pages 274 – 310
Vocabulary
renunciation – rejection
inquest – judicial inquiry
indignant – angry
imperative – urgent
hoodwink – deceive
1. What does the following passage tell the reader about Bigger’s state of mind after he is arrested?
With a supreme act of will springing from the essence of his being, he turned away from his life and the long train of disastrous consequences that had flowed from it and looked wistfully upon the dark face of ancient waters upon which some spirit had breathed and created him, the dark face of the waters from which he had been first made in the image of a man with a man’s obscure need and urge; feeling that he wanted to sink back into those waters and rest eternally. (Pg. 274)
2. What does Bigger detect in the attitude of the crowd at the inquest that gives him the strength to pull himself out of his stupor?
3. List the different ways the newspaper article Bigger reads about his fainting spell at the inquest contributes to the negative stereotyping of black people. What solutions does the newspaper article propose to help prevent further crimes by black people?
4. What do you think the following passage is saying about Bigger’s attitude toward
religion and Reverend Hammond’s visit to him in jail?
The preacher’s face was black and sad and earnest and made him feel a sense of guilt
deeper than that which even his murder of Mary had made him feel. He had killed within himself the preacher’s haunting picture of life even before he had killed Mary: that had been his first murder. (Pg. 284)
Use the following passage from the story to answer the next two questions.
Jan had spoken a declaration of friendship that would make other white men hate him: a particle of white rock had detached itself from that looming mountain of white hate and had rolled down the slope, stopping at his feet. The word had become flesh. For the first time in his life a white man became a human being to him; and the reality of Jan’s humanity came in a stab of remorse: he had killed what this man loved and had hurt him. (Pg. 289)
5. What does the metaphor of the mountain of white hate suggest to the reader about the success or failure of Bigger’s life to change conditions for other black people? Do you think Wright is suggesting that violence is the only way to chip away at this mountain of white hate? Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
6. In what way might this passage suggest to the reader a possible solution to the hostility between black and white people?
7. For what reasons does Max say he wants to be Bigger’s lawyer?
8. What does Bigger learn from the painful visit of his family and friends to his jail cell?
He had lived and acted on the assumption that he was alone, and now he saw that he had not been. What he had done made others suffer. No matter how much he would long for them to forget him, they would not be able to. (Pg. 298)
9. Why does Bigger decide to talk to Buckley?
Pages 311 – 362
Vocabulary
stolidly – impassively; showing little emotion
exorbitant – excessive; unfair
vindictiveness – vengefulness
apprehensive – uneasy
balmy – eccentric
1. What piece of evidence helps to prove that the bones in the furnace are Mary’s?
2. Why does Max object to the following question the coroner asks Jan?
“Had you at any time in the past left Miss Dalton alone in the company of Negroes?”
“No.” “You had never used Miss Dalton as bait before, had you?” (Pg. 319)
3. What is revealed during Max’s cross examination of Mr. Dalton about the business practices of whites and how they are designed to oppress and exploit the black race?
4. Why does the coroner bring Bessie’s body into the courtroom? What is racist about that action?
5. What evidence is there that Bigger is still an angry, rebellious young man?
6. Many critics disagree on the significance of the man who is placed in Bigger’s cell.
What do you think Wright is trying to say about the effectiveness of books by educated blacks to change racist attitudes?
7. Cite incidents from the story to support or refute the following statement: Wright
wants the reader to understand that all men are alike and that through getting to know each other there will be a “response of recognition, there would be union, identity; there would be a supporting oneness, a wholeness.” (Pg. 362)
Pages 311 – 362
Vocabulary
stolidly – impassively; showing little emotion
exorbitant – excessive; unfair
vindictiveness – vengefulness
apprehensive – uneasy
balmy – eccentric
1. What piece of evidence helps to prove that the bones in the furnace are Mary’s?
2. Why does Max object to the following question the coroner asks Jan?
“Had you at any time in the past left Miss Dalton alone in the company of Negroes?”
“No.” “You had never used Miss Dalton as bait before, had you?” (Pg. 319)
3. What is revealed during Max’s cross examination of Mr. Dalton about the business practices of whites and how they are designed to oppress and exploit the black race?
4. Why does the coroner bring Bessie’s body into the courtroom? What is racist about that action?
5. What evidence is there that Bigger is still an angry, rebellious young man?
6. Many critics disagree on the significance of the man who is placed in Bigger’s cell.
What do you think Wright is trying to say about the effectiveness of books by educated blacks to change racist attitudes?
7. Cite incidents from the story to support or refute the following statement: Wright
wants the reader to understand that all men are alike and that through getting to know each other there will be a “response of recognition, there would be union, identity; there would be a supporting oneness, a wholeness.” (Pg. 362)
Pages 363 – 405
Vocabulary
lauds – praises
cagy – crafty
presiding – holding authority
mitigation – freedom; relief
dastardly – maliciously
mawkish – sickening; excessive
philanthropy – love of humankind
1. List the three possible sentences available to the judge after Bigger enters a plea
of guilty.
2. In what ways does the description of the trial illustrate for the reader the racism and oppression present in the judicial system?
3. How does Max hope to convince the court to spare Bigger’s life?
4. What is Max trying to tell the court when he says that “fear and hate and guilt are the keynotes of this drama!”? (Pg. 386)
5. Cite incidents from the story to support or refute the following statement: Max does nothing to help save Bigger’s life. He uses the courtroom as a forum to make a speech about the inevitable consequences of oppression on society.
6. How does Max define Bigger’s level of ambition and hope to improve his life?
7. Why does Max argue that sending Bigger to jail would be like “conferring life upon him”? (Pg. 404)
Pages 406 - End of Book Three
Vocabulary
specious – sounding true, but really false; attractive
brooding – meditating
imputed – credited; related
imperiously – pressingly
averted – turned away
1. Briefly list three reasons Buckley thinks the judge must give Bigger the death penalty.
2. Why does Bigger want to see and talk to Max again after the sentencing?
3. At the end of the novel, Max and Bigger do not seem to be able to understand each other. They shake hands and Max leaves. How do you think Max feels about Bigger after this last conversation? Is he disappointed that he cannot make Bigger understand the overall oppression of the working class by the rich, or is he moved by Bigger’s struggle to find a meaning in his life?
4. When Bigger is saying his final words to Max, what evidence is there that Bigger is finally at peace with himself and his identity? What do you think that identity is from Bigger’s perspective?
fate overall
Overall Questions - The answers may be found anywhere in all three books.
1. Do you believe that Bigger’s acts of violence are acts of rebellion and a way of rising
above oppression, or do you think they are reflex actions created by the oppression?
Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
2. Wright, at one time in his life, belonged to the Communist Party. He left it because of
their philosophy of suppression of the individual for the greater good of the many.
What evidence is there in the conclusion of this story that the power of the individual
(Bigger) wins over the pressures of society to suppress it?
3. Support or refute the following statement with incidents from the story: Max helps
Bigger only because he wants to further the cause of communism and clear up some of
the media stereotyping of communists in America.
4. Some critics believe the themes of racism, oppression, and religion are merely rehashed
in Book Three. What is your opinion of the quality of the story in Book Three
compared to the readability and interest levels maintained in Books One and Two?
5. What is your opinion of Bigger’s sentence? Do you think he should have been spared
because he could not receive a fair trial under the biased judicial system?
6. Were you disappointed or satisfied with the ending of the story? What could have been
included in Book Three to help the reader better understand Bigger’s fate? Cite
incidents from the story to support your answer.
1. Do you believe that Bigger’s acts of violence are acts of rebellion and a way of rising
above oppression, or do you think they are reflex actions created by the oppression?
Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
2. Wright, at one time in his life, belonged to the Communist Party. He left it because of
their philosophy of suppression of the individual for the greater good of the many.
What evidence is there in the conclusion of this story that the power of the individual
(Bigger) wins over the pressures of society to suppress it?
3. Support or refute the following statement with incidents from the story: Max helps
Bigger only because he wants to further the cause of communism and clear up some of
the media stereotyping of communists in America.
4. Some critics believe the themes of racism, oppression, and religion are merely rehashed
in Book Three. What is your opinion of the quality of the story in Book Three
compared to the readability and interest levels maintained in Books One and Two?
5. What is your opinion of Bigger’s sentence? Do you think he should have been spared
because he could not receive a fair trial under the biased judicial system?
6. Were you disappointed or satisfied with the ending of the story? What could have been
included in Book Three to help the reader better understand Bigger’s fate? Cite
incidents from the story to support your answer.
fate overall
Overall Questions - The answers may be found anywhere in all three books.
1. Do you believe that Bigger’s acts of violence are acts of rebellion and a way of rising
above oppression, or do you think they are reflex actions created by the oppression?
Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
2. Wright, at one time in his life, belonged to the Communist Party. He left it because of
their philosophy of suppression of the individual for the greater good of the many.
What evidence is there in the conclusion of this story that the power of the individual
(Bigger) wins over the pressures of society to suppress it?
3. Support or refute the following statement with incidents from the story: Max helps
Bigger only because he wants to further the cause of communism and clear up some of
the media stereotyping of communists in America.
4. Some critics believe the themes of racism, oppression, and religion are merely rehashed
in Book Three. What is your opinion of the quality of the story in Book Three
compared to the readability and interest levels maintained in Books One and Two?
5. What is your opinion of Bigger’s sentence? Do you think he should have been spared
because he could not receive a fair trial under the biased judicial system?
6. Were you disappointed or satisfied with the ending of the story? What could have been
included in Book Three to help the reader better understand Bigger’s fate? Cite
incidents from the story to support your answer.
1. Do you believe that Bigger’s acts of violence are acts of rebellion and a way of rising
above oppression, or do you think they are reflex actions created by the oppression?
Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
2. Wright, at one time in his life, belonged to the Communist Party. He left it because of
their philosophy of suppression of the individual for the greater good of the many.
What evidence is there in the conclusion of this story that the power of the individual
(Bigger) wins over the pressures of society to suppress it?
3. Support or refute the following statement with incidents from the story: Max helps
Bigger only because he wants to further the cause of communism and clear up some of
the media stereotyping of communists in America.
4. Some critics believe the themes of racism, oppression, and religion are merely rehashed
in Book Three. What is your opinion of the quality of the story in Book Three
compared to the readability and interest levels maintained in Books One and Two?
5. What is your opinion of Bigger’s sentence? Do you think he should have been spared
because he could not receive a fair trial under the biased judicial system?
6. Were you disappointed or satisfied with the ending of the story? What could have been
included in Book Three to help the reader better understand Bigger’s fate? Cite
incidents from the story to support your answer.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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