​​There is often a sense of moral ambiguity that one can experience because of cultural conflict. I’ve often been faced with questions such as, "Do I believe this is right or wrong because of the way I was raised, or is it right or wrong because of a universal set of morals that all humans share?"
​As we read The Poisonwood Bible, we encounter these kind of questions constantly. Some Westerners are immediately put off by many aspects of Kikongo culture (and the culture of the Prices!) portrayed in the novel, such as their treatment of women and twins, and well as some of their ideals related to marriage and education. Yet, I still question how much my culture influences my perspective and moral standing on these issues.
- To what extent do you think our morals are defined by our home cultures?
- Do you think it is ever appropriate to say that the traditions or values of another culture are immoral?
- Have you had any cross-cultural experiences in your own life that made you realize that perhaps what is considered right and wrong in your own culture may not be universal?
- Have you wrestled with these tensions as you read The Poisonwood Bible as well?
Primary Blog Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use a name that you select as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by 11:59 pm on Friday 3/8!
Secondary Blog Response Expectations (read everyone's primary responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful, and thorough writing. Please use your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by 11:59 pm on Sunday 3/10!
Today, I would like for you to read and respond to the article, "In the Minds of Others" by Keith Oatley. You should read and annotate the print article that I give you, but I will also include a link here. This article further develops the ideas from Independent Reading Blog #2 and will be of use later when we finish our Independent Reading Unit.
-conclude with a strong comment upon the value of the author's topic/argument.
Click on the image above to go to an electronic copy of "In the Minds of Others" by Keith Oatley.
Now that you have read and annotated Lord Tennyson's poem, please apply your new understanding of Ulysses to yourself as a Senior heading towards graduation. Please use at least 3 quotations from the poem to support your reasoning. 150-200 words (please supply word count at the end of your prompt.).
Each student has been assigned a topic (you will find your name in the list at the bottom of the page).
1. After reading As I Lay Dying, you will respond to your assigned prompt in a 400-550 word informal response.
2. Once you have posted your informal response as a blog entry (I suggest typing on a word document and then copy/pasting into the blog entry box - ADD WORD COUNT AT END OF RESPONSE), you will then read all of your colleagues' entries.
3. You will then respond to 2 colleagues' entries (each in a different topic from yours and from each other) in 100-150 word informal responses. This is similar to the usual blog entries that we have completed, except that you will discussing and responding to different topics.
This is an important activity and, done correctly, will expose you to at least three different lens analyses of As I Lay Dying. In light of the importance of this activity, I will be counting this assignment as a 200 point Summative Assessment (100 points for Primary Responses and 50 points each for Secondary Responses).
-Primary Responses must be completed by Sunday, May 4th at midnight.
-Secondary Responses must be completed by Tuesday, May 6th at midnight.
As I Lay Dying could be read as a metaphor for any family; the Bundrens are stuck together on a long journey, to help or hurt each other. The conflicts between feelings of desire, love, honor, and a longing for identity outside the family eventually lead to disaster.
How do the Bundrens exemplify "family values?"
How do they fail to?
Does Faulkner see the Bundrens as a typical American family?
The religious characters in the book (Whitfield, Cora) have very little positive impact on the Bundrens. Addie explicitly rejects religion after her affair with Whitfield. Cora uses her religious outlook chiefly as a way to judge and criticize the impoverished and low-class Bundrens. Anse often quotes scripture to justify his own selfish actions.
Do you agree with Faulkner’s depiction of religion in modern life?
If so, build upon it. If not, create a counter-argument.
To the ancient Greeks, burial ritual was an extremely important religious task, representative of the loyalty a person has engendered in his family in life. Agamemnon speaks from hell to Odysseus: "As I lay dying, the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades." He is referring to his wife Clytemnestra, whom conspired to murder him.
Do the Bundrens betray Addie, or do they honor her? Does Addie betray them by asking Anse to make the journey to Jefferson?
Does it matter what happens to our bodies after we die?
“Sometimes I think it aint none of us pure crazy and aint none of us pure sane,” says Cash. He then decides that if a person acts without thinking about how his actions affect other people, he is crazy.
Do you agree with Cash? Are we all a little crazy?
How does society use the word “crazy”—or even “mental illness”— to define people?
Does Darl deserve his fate? How are Darl's "special powers" of narration related to what happens to him?
Comment on the multiple perspectives of the novel. What do we learn cumulatively about the characters through their various voices?
What is the effect of these shifts in view?
Which is the truer perspective of ourselves: the one from our eyes or from the eyes of others?
You may analyze in depth one voice, or contrast two opposing voices (Darl and Jewel, for example).
All of the family members use their mother’s burial as an excuse to go to town in order to acquire something.
Which desires are more sympathetic, and which are less so?
Is this a betrayal of Addie?
Do our modern desires for material goods come between us and those we love?
Faulkner's shifting voices often finds commonality in elemental natural symbols: water, fire, horse, earth, sky, eye, wood, bird, etc.
Choose one or more of these and make a unified comment on the symbol's ties to an allusion, perspective, insight, comment, or traditional generic convention.