Good Questions!
To start off, a crossword puzzle
By Kelty Garbee
(If you want to check your answers, clicking on the puzzle will fill it in.)
Next, some short answers, the first
By Jared Foster
1. Anyone who has read Alger's novel would argue that clothes play a large part in
Ragged Dick. One might even argue that clothes say more than people do in the book.
Exactly what do clothes say in this novel? Do you feel they say more than the people do?
By Kelly Voigt
1. The following is a list of objects that to the characters in the books we read
symbolize their desire for upward mobility and their struggle to become somebody. List the
character who goes with each object and describe the way the object is connected to him or her
becoming somebody.
example: Amy covets Sallie's carnelian ring as a symbol of wealth and
popularity, but later uses the turquoise ring Aunt March gives her to discipline herself and remind
her not to be selfish.
By Peter Brownfeld
3. Identify two of the three quotes, including the speaker and context:
A. "Ah gits lonesome out dere all day 'thout yuh. After dis, you betta
come git uh job uh work out dere lak de rest uh de women."
B. "I'm afraid I shall do something dreadful some day, and spoil
my life, and make everybody hate me. Oh, Mother, help me, do help me!"
C. "Why, you are not noble, for instance."
By Rachel Van Tassel
1. Identify the speaker and the listener in this quote. Was the advice taken? If so,
how?
"If you try to learn, you can, and if you ever expect to do anything in the world, you
must know something of books."
By Matt Tatusko
PART I Below are situations in which characters from one of the works
we've read share opinions and experiences with characters from other works. Choose
TWO of the following situations and elaborate in accordance with the
directions provided.
2. If after Janie's trial she were to wander into the Invisible Man's 1,369 lightbulb-lit room, and the two were to compare notes on their lives and experiences and the
things they've learned, (a) what things would they have in common? (b) what things would
they disagree on? (In other words, how clearly might Janie "see" the Invisible Man,
and vice versa?)
3. If Mademoiselle Noemie and Carrie were to meet each other and talk
about their respective experiencesand strategies for being somebody, (a) what similiar
experiences might they discuss? (b) what are their respective ideas about how to be somebody?
(Have the two characters been cast from the same mold?)
Last, a couple essay questions, the first
By Susan Youssef
2. How does beauty define the character as "somebody" in one, two, or three of
the following books?
Does beauty leave the definition of the character in the hands of others? Would this character be
somebody else if he/she was not perceived as beautiful? Does beauty aid or harm the character in
being somebody?
By Michael Herce
2. In Sister Carrie, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The
American and Invisible Man, each protagonist undertakes a journey to a new region or
city (for example, Janie's trip down to the Muck with Tea Cake). In what ways does this change
in surroundings shape the identity of the character? More specifically, how does it influence the
person that they are and direct their vision of the person they hope to become? In spite of a
change in locale, how are the characters tied to the homes and the lives they've left behind?
