Oleanna Discussion Questions 3 and 5

3. Given the fact that the proposed lawsuit is based on the entire Act 1 interaction, discuss the events and comments that make up this interaction. Has Carol twisted John’s words? Is her lawsuit legitimate? Would it be legimitate in “real” life? On the other hand, has John, intentionally or otherwise, overstepped his bounds? How so? Remember that Carol’s accusations are not simply a matter of sexual harassment but of a perceived elitist, classist, and economic bias and privileging she feels John misuses.

The questions asks if Carol twists John's words and it doesn't appear as though she twists them, she just vastly misunderstands them. She even says herself that she has an issue with language. Her lawsuit is also so very unnecessary. To me, the exchange I saw in Act 1 was nothing more than a teacher attempting to understand a student, and in turn, have the student understand him. But what frustrated me so much was how stupid Carol seemed. I felt like grabbing her by the shoulders and yelling! Maybe to some John overstepped his boundaries, but in my opinion, he is just a human being and he was doing his best to understand a student that was misunderstanding him. The accusations she presents against John have somehow been planted in her head, because with the exchange in Act 1 there is no way she could've possibly gathered that information and derived that opinion.

5. What do you think of John’s decision to “reveal” himself to Carol, to confess weaknesses and sins? Are these revelations part of a genuine attempt to identify with Carol gone wrong? Conversely, are they disingenuous rhetorical moves designed to maneuver Carol where John wants her?

I said a little bit about this in my first post. I think he was just trying to show her that he was human. While reading this, I found myself siding with John, of course, I don't think Carol deserved the beating in the end, but I did find him the protagonist and her the antagonist. He was simply trying to prove to her that professors are humans too, and she even felt a tad of sympathy for him while he was speaking about his tenure, and his house, and his family. She totally manipulates his words to make it seem as though he said something worth prosecuting.