A Room with a View ch. 3

1.  Comment on the description of Lucy as a piano player.

2. At the bottom of 303, Mr. Beebe comments to himself that Lucy the piano player is quite different from Lucy the person. In your own words, what is the difference between the two Lucy's?  And is it possible for someone to be a more profound and sophisticated musician than than person?

3.  Why does Mr. Beebe not want his sermons to be remembered?

4.  "It was one of Mr. Beebe's chief pleasures to provide people with happy memories." What do you think of this?

5.  Mr. Beebe is "somewhat chilly in his attitude toward the other sex, and preferred to be interested rather than enthralled." Comment.

A Room With A View chap. 2

The church of St. Croce in Florence, Italy

a painting of St Francis being mourned; the painting is in the church of St. Croce Note: Giotto is a famous pre-Renaissance Italian painter; Ruskin is a famous writer and art historian from just before Lucy's time; Baedeker is a guidebook (written in English, for English people) that well to do English tourists were known to rely on.

1. What do you make of Miss Lavish?

2. What do you make of the names of people in this book? Emerson, George Emerson, Lucy Honeychurch, Miss Lavish?

3. Is Mr. Emerson inappropriate? Inappropriate to the point of being unsympathetic, too awkward?

4. In what way is Miss Bartlett annoying in this chapter?

5. Miss Lavish is against Baedeker; Mr. Emerson is in favor of Baedeker. Comment.

A Room With a View chapter one

1. Delicacy v. beauty: Miss Bartlett is for delicacy, Lucy is for beauty. Explain.

2. What indications are there that social class is a big issue for Miss Bartlett?

3. For whom is social class not a big issue?

4. Where might Mr. Beebe--is social class a big issue or not?

5. In what ways is Lucy a sympathetic (likable) character?

6. In what ways is Miss Bartlett not as sympathetic/likable?

7. What do you make of George, the son of Mr. Emerson?

Dead Man's Cell Phone 51-63 (II.4-6)

1. From time to time a stage directions says "film noir" music. What is film noire music like? Look up film noire on wikipedia if you don't know what it refers to.

2. Why might "film noir music" be given as a stage direction from time to time?

3. Surprises occur in these last scenes. Please cite them.

4. "Money and organs and trade--up here--it's just road kill of the mind." Discuss.

5. "Life is essentially a very large brillo pad." Discuss.

6. What in this reading was funny?

Dead Man's Cell Phone I.5-6; II.1-3

1. Can you put into your own words what Jean might mean when she says, "It's like we're all disappearing the more we're there"? (scene 6; p 35)

2. From what we can tell, is Dwight nicer than his brother Gordon was?

3. In Gordon's monologue, some of our curiosity is satisfied. Do his words and actions accomplish something else? Like what?

4. Can you connect Gordon's way of making a living to what has gone on in the play so far?

5. In II.2, Jeans apparently makes Gordon more of a priority that she does Dwight. Comment.

Dead Man's Cell Phone Scenes 1-4 (pp 11-25)

Respond to one of the following questions, or comment on or ask about some other aspect of the play:

1. What are three adjectives that would describe Jean? Explain.

2. What possible evidence is there in these scenes that this play is a comedy?

3. Any thoughts as to why Jean makes things up that aren't true?

4. Periodically a character, not Jean, stops and doesn't say a word--instead she just thinks it (grief, p 16; lovers, p 19; dead?, p 23. Comment.

What You Learned from Re-reading the Story

First re-read what you have written for this essay so far:

a) your common ground interpretation paragraph

b) your two complicating rows

Then re-read the story you're writing about, keeping in mind what you've written.

If all goes well, you will have some new thoughts that bear on what you've been writing.

Write a paragraph describing what you learned and include it here as a comment.