Omelas Discussion Questions

  • How does the narrator invite the reader (“you”) to imagine the utopian city of Omelas? Why does the narrator want the reader to co-create this utopia? What purpose might it serve in the context of what happens later in the text? 

  • Why does the narrator keep asking the readers if they believe him/her? How have things changed in the story (and the readers’ perception of it) by the time the questions are asked the second time around towards the end of the story? 

  • Discuss the characterization of the child in the room.

  • Why does everyone in the city have to be aware of the existence of the child? 

  • Is it possible to have a happy/good/just society at the expense of someone else? 

  • Is ignorance bliss? Would the people in the story be better off not knowing of its existence? What would be gained from this ignorance? What would be lost? 

  • Can you think if any analogy of the child in the room in our society? If so, who is the child, and who suffers at its expense? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brief Research Assignment for 4/14

Image
This assignment is *only* for those Zooming on Tuesday 4/14. If you are doing the Moodle discussion instead, you will also be doing something similar, but I have built your guidelines into the discussion on Moodle so please disregard this post. Briefly research one aspect of climate change and relate that research to one aspect of Area X. You can relate to it to literally any part of the novel as long as you have good reasons to do so, so feel free to think of this connection broadly (Area X as a concept or idea) or narrowly (related to one specific incident or phenomenon in the book). Please include a Works Cited page with your response, but you do not need to include in-text citations within the body of the paragraph. The paragraph should be at least 200 words. Also note that your research may include online news articles and need not be library-based. You will submit your short write-up on Moodle. 
Read more

Stepford Wives Discussion Questions

The book is titled The Stepford Wives, but it could also be titled The Stepford Husbands. What do you make of the husbands in the novel, and what are their goals?       How is this a book about domestic labor and the invisible work that housewives and mothers do? What are the forms of labor that they do that are uncompensated and often not seen or appreciated?    How do media and pornographic representations of women inform the men’s vision of the “perfect” Stepford Wives? The Disney animatronics play a role in the narrative, as the creator of the women robots is a Disney animatronics engineer. In addition to being known for their  cutting-edge  innovations, Disney has also long been a huge influencer in terms of the American imagination. How might Disney’s “worldview” have also influenced the men in the novel? Do you see any parallels between The S tepford  W ives  robots and early Disney princesses such as Sn...
Read more

Discussion Questions

Questions 1-6 directions: For these first six questions, pick three to answer (they can be any three you like). You should write 75-100 words per answer, providing specific examples from the novel to support your ideas. These examples need not be direct quotations, but they do need to have accurate information, and describe specific scenes, interactions, and use proper names. If I cannot tell you read from your response, you will receive a 0. 1) Consider Mildred's experience at the hospital. What is wrong with the healthcare system in the novel? It's effective, but it's also lacking certain things. What are those things that are lacking? Do you see any parallels between their healthcare system and ours? 2) What is Clarisse ’s role in the narrative? Why is she important to Montag? 3) Why does the woman who refuses to leave her house and her books allow the firemen to burn her? What do you think she finds so valuable about the books that she is wil...
Read more