Week 7 Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions Week 7: Communication

***available in BB as an attachment

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love:

1. Use a personal definition of love and analyze one of the character’s definitions of love in “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”. Do they contradict one another? Complement one another? What do you think most contributes to one’s worldview in terms of what love is and what we ought to do with it?
2. Consider the analysis provided in this week’s lecture (in “Course Materials”). Did you interpret the story similarly? Why/why not? Does the analysis change your interpretation at all? Why/why not?
3. “Is this story optimistic or pessimistic about true love? Is the old couple a positive or a negative example of true love? What about Nick and Laura? What about Ed? Could you argue that he was in love?” (Making Literature Matter 685)

Everyday Use:

1. Consider the relationship between the story’s content and title. Ultimately, is “everyday use” a good thing? The narrator uses this term in the story itself, referencing the possibility that Maggie will receive the quilts. One sister has a very negative association with the idea that such items will be used “everyday”, and in a casual manner; the other appears to believe that such items should be used in order to demonstrate value – unused items have no value in Maggie and her mother’s household. Which definition of “everyday use” does the story, as a whole, appear to uphold?
2. Do you think the narrator is too biased to provide any kind of objective framework through which readers can view/understand her daughters? What do you attribute to the use of first-person narrative (and the fact that the narrator is someone so closely tied to the sisters) in terms of how you interpret the story?
3. “Although many students seem to prefer Maggie to Dee, most would probably rather be Dee than Maggie. Is this true for you? Why/why not?” Provide character analysis in your answer (Making Literature Matter 303)

4. Do you think it helps or hinders the social fabric to affirm ethnic differences? Do you think America is a melting pot? Is a quilt a better symbol to capture our diversity?” (Making Literature Matter 304)

Kaspar Hauser Speaks:

1. Interpret the following passage: “It’s as if I were nothing but a dream, a fantastic dream – your dream, ladies and gentlemen of Nuremberg. For whatever I may be, I who was buried deeper than the dead, I am always mindful how very much I am your creation . . . I have been formed in your image. I am you – and you – and you – I who only a few short years ago was lower than any beast” (Making Literature Matter 1086) Why/how does he consider himself formed in another’s image? What does he allude to when he suggests he’s been buried “deeper than the dead”?
2. Are you intrigued by Kaspar Hauser’s story? Do you find that you want to keep reading, or are you turned off by the narrative? In your explanation, consider structure: the author uses a “frame narrative” to concretize the story (here, within the confines of a speech to a group of people). How do you think you would have responded differently were the context NOT a speech but, say, a story told from an objective, third-person narrator?
3. “Kaspar notes the things he has lost. What are they? Do all gains imply loss? What does he gain by becoming civilized? What baggage comes with his new awareness of who he is?” (Making Literature Matter 1091)
4. ****Might Kaspar be a stand-in for the Other – the unconventional, the different, the outsider? If so, is there some irony in Kaspar’s advances? (Making Literature Matter 1091)
5. De Toqueville, the famous French observer, of early nineteenth- century American society, thought that a drawback to democracy was the tendency of small towns to move everyone to the middle – that is, to encourage conformity, to relentlessly urge every one to fit in. Btu what about those who don’t? What happens to them? Is this Kaspar’s problem?” (Making Literature Matter 1091)

****This question might be of particular interest to you if you are interested in post-colonial criticism, which highly values and interrogates concepts of identity and assimilation/internalization of a given society or group’s norms.

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Alice Walker Interview

Here, she talks about the impact of war on children and her stance on war in general (she recently authored a children's book on war).

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser: A full-length movie (with subtitles; it was originally in German) that won multiple awards when screened at the Cannes film festival. Interestingly, or perhaps ironically, the opening song is a traditional version of Pachabel's Canon, which is traditionally used in weddings (if you listen, you will indeed recognize the popular melody). If you link to it, you will see a notice advising the viewer of partial nudity, etc.

"Question of Logic" scene, Kaspar Hauser