dwalker

When Marlow eases that rattrap of a steamboat out onto the river away from the central station, he has already ready begun to give the legend of Kurtz credence. Marlow wants answers to questions he can barely articulate, and he believes Kurtz will answer them. In short Marlow has expectations, no matter how practical he is. When he meets Kurtz, his initial impression is shock and disappointment because Kurtz has been decimated by his own corrution. But Kurtz speaks, and it is his voice that alarms, unnerves, enthralls Marlow. And Marlow learns, to let go of expectations and when to the truth and when to keep it hidden so that he does not participate in the destruction of another, which certainly would have happened if Kurtz’s intended had known the truth.

A quick note or two:

As you are writing, you must stick to one idea. You can make a general statement, but if you do not open it up, explore and explain it, it will lose its effect.

Many of you are summarizing what we heard in class rather than doing the leg work of uncovering meaning. Be careful!

Remember what Strunk and White say: it is not our job to comment on the excellence or talent of the writer. We must concentrate on our own observations of the reading.

So I have been reading your blogs, and I think I am changing my mind about Marlow’s experience. See what you think. I am not sure he descends. He never becomes evil, and he never goes mad. Some of you suggest a callousness or matter-of-factness, particularly in the face of his pilot’s death. Marlow has seen a lot of death, and he regrets the pilot’s death and knows there is nothing he can do. Marlow was always eminently practical, and perhaps his practicality has been his greatest defense. But then Marlow heads upriver, journeys deeper and deeper (rather than down) toward realization. The closer he gets to the Inner Station, the more his illusions and his practicality, about Kurtz, about the European presence here, about purpose itself, are stripped away. What he discovers in his discussions with Kurtz and through Kurtz’s own selfdiscovery is the meaningless that we have been discussing in class. And this discovery renders Marlow defenseless. He suffers a malaise (despair) that compromises him physically and spiritually. He does recover, but slowly, and only after his lie to Kurtz’s intended and his return to the bosom of his friends on the Nellie. So we must be careful to make the generalizations we are so tempted to make. The river does not take Marlow down, or even Kurtz, for that matter, but rather deep into what the abomination means for each.

This week we are going to be working on vocabulary. It is important that you be able to use the words in your writing as well as your reading, and we will work on how to use context clues in your sentence construction. We will also spend time with chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. In it we learn more about how these men spend their time away from work. Some play cards. Others try to get their own way. Still others look for trouble. In the middle of it all, George and Lennie remind themselves to stick with their dream, a dream it turns out is contagious.

Here is the homework:

Tuesday Night, 11/14 - read p. 42-the bottom of p. 53

Wednesday Night, 11/15 - read the bottom of p. 53-the bottom of p. 63

Thursday Night, 11/16 - finish ch. 3 over the weekend

Please be ready to write in class about what you have read, either in a short paragraph or a 4 question quiz. Remember to use “introductions and considerations” to help guide your reading.

Hi, Everyone! I’ve missed you. I hope you found Stand by Me exciting and thought-provoking. We will continue to use the film in our discussion of the hero, but for now, let’s get a look at what is happening this week.

Monday Night:

Please finish reading chapter 2 in Of Mice and Men. Please be sure to use “Considerations” to guide you through the reading.

Tuesday

No School.

Wednesday Night:

Read to the bottom of p. 55 in Of Mice and Men

Thursday

No school

Friday night

Finish ch. 3 in Of Mice and Men