ENGLISH MIDTERM
what is the traditional role of a stage manager? why do you think Wilder uses the character of a stage manager as his narrator? How do the stage manager's actions reflect the role of a stage manager during the production of a play? How do they differ from the traditional understanding of what a stage manager does? What does Wilder's choice of a narrator suggest about the verisimilitude of the play?
-the stage manager gives stage directions -the narrator interrupts the action to let the audience reflect on what they've seen -The stage manager is unconventional, which is similar to the lack of props -the stage manager moves the things around on the stage and narrates the play, which is different from other stage managers -the narrator suggests that the play is representing real life; but it is not real life (alienation effect)
What are examples of irony in "the Lottery"?
-the title (verbal irony) -summer day- situational irony -Mr.summer's name- implies happiness but he brings death (verbal irony) -Tessie is the last to arrive, but first to die (situational irony)
What are the themes of "the Lottery"?
-tradition (especially outdated ones) -the sacrifice of one for the benefit of the many -religion and belief
How representative of humanity at large are the people and the events of Grover's Corners?
...
What is the setting of the "Masque of the Red Death"?
1300s, Middle Ages in Europe
Who is the peasant who thinks only about his family and friends?
Detering
Who is the author of "the Masque of the Red Death"?
Edgar Allan Poe
Who is the author of "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Erich Maria Remarque
Who is a French soldier whom Paul kills in No Man's Land. He is a printer with a wife and child at home. He is the first person that Paul kills in hand-to-hand combat, one of Paul's most traumatic experiences in the war?
Gérard Duval
Who can easily fit a ration-loaf in his hand and ask people to guess what it is?
Haie Westhus
Who is the mean leader who punished tjaden for wetting the bed; abused power; former postman; small; redeems by saving Haie?
Himmelstoss
Who is the first of Paul's classmates to die in the war; did not want to enlist, but he caved under the pressure of the schoolmaster, Kantorek. His ugly, painful death shatters his classmates' trust in the authorities who convinced them to take part in the war?
Joseph Behm
Who is the old schoolmaster, a stern little man with a face like a shrew mouse; told boys to enlist ; sloganeer (Iron Youth)?
Kantorek
Who is the author of "The Apple Tree"?
Katherine Mansfield
Who is the first to die; gives boots to Muller, first personal loss for Paul?
Kemmerich
Who is a soldier in a neighboring unit; is a bed wetter like Tjaden?
Kindervater
Who wears a full beard and has preference for the girls from the officer's brothels?
Leer
Who is a patient in the Catholic hospital where Paul and Kropp recuperate from their wounds. He desperately wants to have sex with his visiting wife but is confined to bed because of a minor fever?
Lewandowski
What does the Stage Manager say is a "vicious circle" (49)
Life is a vicious circle; you have to live life to the fullest
Who is one of Paul's classmates; becomes a training officer and enjoys tormenting Kantorek when Kantorek is conscripted as a soldier?
Mittelstaedt
Who is Paul's friend; still carries his textbooks, studies books and dreams of examinations, and during a bombardment mutters physics; questions what everyone will do after the war is over?
Müller
consider the stage directions for Act One. How do you think these directions will impact the audience's experience of the play?
No props or scenery makes this play different from the lavish broadway plays. for this reason, the audience needs to think about what is happening in the play and experience the play differently
"The front is a cage in which we must await fearfully whatever may happen. We lie under the network of arching shells and live in a suspense of uncertainty. Over us, Chance hovers. If a shot comes, we can duck, that is all; we neither know nor can determine where it will fall" (Remarque 101)
Occasion: After rumors of an offensive, Paul and his friends go to the front Figurative Language: personification of chance Explanation: the front is like a cage and the soldiers are the "prisoners" or "animals" trapped inside. They can only depend on chance to keep them alive because they can not control what happens around them. Chance is the judge deciding their fate
"It is when one is alone that one begins to observe Nature and to love her. And here I have not much companionship, and do not even desire it. We are too little acquainted with one another to do more than joke a bit and play poker or nap in the evenings" (Remarque 189)
Occasion: Paul is at the training camp waiting to go back to the front Figurative Language: Personification of Nature Explanation: Rather than talk to the other soldiers, Paul walks around in the woods and realizes how beautiful Nature is
"I find I do not belong here any more, it is a foreign world. Some of these people ask questions, some ask no questions, but no one can see that the latter are proud of themselves for their silence; they often say with a wise air that these things cannot be talked about. They plume themselves on it" (Remarque 169)
Occasion: Paul is one leave and feels like an outsider at home Figurative Language: metaphor Explanation: Paul says there are two types of people: the ones who ask what war is like and the ones who ask no questions at all. Paul says that the ones who ask no questions at all are worse because they think they already no everything about war
"Comrade, I did not want to kill you. If you jumped in here again, I would not do it, if you would be sensible too. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed. But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me" (Remarque 223)
Occasion: Paul just stabbed the French soldier Figurative Language: Simile Speaker: Paul Explanation: Paul hesitated and stabbed the French soldier immediately after he saw him. After doing so, he realized that the man was no different than himself. He immediately felt guilty for taking the life of an innocent man, father, husband, and son
"It is a great brotherhood... the feeling of solidarity of convicts, and of the desperate loyalty to one another of men condemned to death" (Remarque 272)
Occasion: Paul reflecting upon his comrades Figurative Language: metaphor Explanation: The comrades are almost promised death, this bond unites Paul and his friends
"At once a new warmth flows through me. These voices, these quiet words, these footsteps in the trench behind me recall me at a bound from the terrible loneliness and fear of death by which I had almost been destroyed. They are more to me than life, these voices, they are more than motherliness and more than fear; they are the strongest, most comforting thing there is anywhere: they are the voices of my comrades" (Remarque 212)
Occasion: Paul scouts out enemy positions and gets lost Figurative Language: theme- importance and growth of camaraderie Explanation: Paul sweeps the trench to see if it is safe. while doing so, he hears the voices of his comrades. with all the death that flows around him, Paul only finds comfort from these voices. His comrades are his light in the darkness
What are examples of irony in masque of the red death?
Prospero's name because Prince is the first to die (situational irony); abbey is not safe at all (situational irony(
Who is the author of "Our Town"?
Thornton Wilder
Who is the skinny locksmith who dislikes Himmelstoss?
Tjaden
Why is there foreshadowing at the beginning of "the Lottery"?
in the first few paragraphs, the author talks about a pile of stones, boys putting stones in their pockets
Does the lack of scenery and props detract from or add to the play "our town"?
the alienation effect allows wilder to distance the audience from emotional involvement in the play, which allows them to think about what they are seeing rather than getting lost in the plot unfolding before them
What purpose does the Stage Manager say he hopes that the play will serve? What does this suggest about Wilder's purpose in writing Our Town?
-It does not want the play to just be a piece of literature. He wants it to be a symbol of American History.
What is significant about the amount of money in the legacy that Mrs. Gibbs left George and Emily? How did they spend the money? Contrast their purchase with Mrs. Gibbs' desire for spending the legacy. What does their purchase suggest about their values?
-Mrs. Gibbs sold the HighBoy -George and Emily bought drinking fountain for the animal -Mrs. Gibbs wanted to use the money to go to Paris -Mrs. Gibbs wanted enjoyment from the trip (she longed for experience) -Emily and George are more practical (they can actually use the item)
What are some allusions in Masque of the Red Death?
-red death= black death -"out-heroded herod"= worse than Herod, the man in charge of slaughter of Innocents -hernani=describes costumes
What are examples of symbols in Masque of the Red Death?
-red death= black death -partygoers= dreams/nightmares -grandfather clock= closer to midnight is closer to death -blue= water, life, birth -green= nature, spring, fertility -purple= royalty, wealth -black= death, decay, darkness
What are the themes of "our town"?
-routine as ritual (even the most mundane tasks have a richness and a meaning behind them) -the transience of life (our lives are fleeting, so even the smallest acs should be approached with energy and love) -living in the moment (appreciate the present and avoid looking behind and in front of you) -community -the traditions that bind us together -the constancy of home (if you cannot find your heart's desire in your own backyard, it is not worth looking for anyway)
What are some examples of symbolism in "the Lottery"?
-the battered Black Box= symbolizes old, out-dated tradition -the Black dot= symbolizes death -Mr. Graves' name -rocks= biblical punishment -tessie= jesus
Themes of All Quiet on the Western Front
-the horror of war -the loss of youth/innocence -the uplifting power of camaraderie -patriotism vs nationalism -man's inhumanity to man -the nature of identity -the "lost generation" -the abuse of authority
What does Mrs. Gibbs talk to Mrs. Webb about? What does Mrs. Gibbs want her husband to do? What advice does Mrs. Webb give her? What does this conversation suggest about the roles of husbands and wives in the early 20th century?
-Mrs. Gibbs wants to sell a HighBoy for $350 and use the money to go to Paris with her husband -Mrs. Webb tells her to keep dropping hints from time to time -This conversation suggests that men had the final say in decisions (Dr. Gibbs wants to be the one to provide)
Examine the use of juxtaposition (putting two different characters next to each other) in the last moments of Act Two. How does Mrs. Soames serve as a dramatic foil for the other characters in this final scene?
-Mrs. Soames interrupts the wedding with comments -She enjoys weddings. She doesn't stop talking. She is very opinionated.
What do Rebecca, George, and Emily appear to want for their own lives?
-Rebecca wants to save money -George wants to improve his studies -Emily wants to be intelligent and fall in love
Consider Mrs. Webb's comments on page 76. What do you think she hopes that Emily's girl friends have told her a thing or two about? What do you think she means when she speaks in hyperbole and says, "The whole world's wrong, that 's what's the matter"?
-She hopes Emily's friends have told her about the hardships of marriage and the duties of a wife -The "whole world is wrong" because it shouldn't be a thing that girls get married right out of high school
In "The Apple Tree", how do the various characters (Father, Bogey, and the Narrator) and the apple tree itself function as an allegory for the Garden of Eden?
-The Father= God -The Narrator= Eve -Bogey= Adam -The Apple Tree= an allusion to the Tree of Knowledge Like Adam and Eve, the narrator and Bogey are told not to eat from this tree by "Father", and like Adam and Eve, it only makes them want it more
What do you think the Stage Manager means when he says, "This is a good wedding" (75)?
-The ceremony has no behavioral issues -George and Emily genuinely love each other (this is not an arranged marriage)
What does it mean to get "weaned away from the earth" (88)?
-The dead stay on the earth, but gradually they lose their taste for life and fade away into the afterlife.
Paraphrase the Stage Manager's comments about death. According to him, what happens to people after they die?
-The earth part of them gradually fades away
What does the Stage Manager say he wants to interrupt the action of the play to insert a flashback? When he says, "I don't have to tell you how important that is" about the fact that Emily was just elected Secretary and Treasurer of the Junior Class and George was just elected President, what do you think he means? Why would this be important?
-The flashback shows that George has become more mature and responsible -George changed his ways for Emily; he stopped being conceited
What do you think the Stage Manager is suggesting when he tells the audience, "the First Act was called Daily Life. This act is called Love and Marriage. There's another act coming after this: I reckon you can guess what that's about"(48)? How does this foreshadowing impact the audience's reaction to the second act?
-The following act will be about Death -Some people in the act will die, which causes the audience to be more interested in the events of the play
Explain how Wilder slowly suggests and then reveals that Emily has died. Why would he choose to reveal her death in this way?
-The funeral director says that someone young has died -Page 92- Mrs. Gibbs says "My daughter in law, Emily" -Sam Craig says he is there for his cousin's funeral -This builds anticipation and leaves the hints about the death of the main character
What do you think the Stage Manager means when he says, "The real hero of this scene isn't on stage at all, and you know who that is" (75)? Who is the real hero of this play?
-The real hero is God. He created everything and brought George and Emily together.
What is the role of the stage manager in "our town"? How does his involvement in the play alter the way the audience views the play?
-The stage manager serves as both character and narrator, encouraging the audience to reflect on what they are seeing by interrupting the plot and commenting on the action -He clarifies the action onstage, bridging the gap between the audience and the stage
Summarize the conversation between George and Rebecca at the end of Act One. Why do you think Wilder chooses to end the first act with these lines? How are they thematically significant?
-They are having a conversation about a letter from Jane Croft -The conversation shows how small Grover's Corners is
What does Emily mean when she says that living people are "sort of shut up in little boxes" (96)?
-They don't understand how precious life is
What type of behavior does the narrator characterize as "layers and layers of nonsense" (87)? Why do you think he considers this "nonsense"? Do you agree with him?
-Wanting to know where you came from is nonsense. -He doesn't think knowing who your ancestors are will affect your life in any way
What are examples of figurative language in "the Apple Tree"?
-apple tree compared to virgin mary and the annuciation, "the apple tree seemed to have been miraculously warned of its high honour" (personification, allusion) -imagery: primarily with description of the apples themselves ("pink stripes painted on them", "fine clear crimson", "as though the apples had been dipped in wine")
What are the themes in "the Apple Tree"?
-disappointment -expectations -childhood vs. maturity -fleeting nature of life -power of imagination
What are the themes of Masque of the Red Death?
-fate -the price of arrogance -man cannot conquer death (regardless of how hard he tries)
What is the moral message of "the Apple Tree"?
-nothing can live up to what we create in our minds -you cannot judge things before you experience them -beauty has a shelf life: it is one of its most spectacular characteristics, but also its most frustrating
Wilder's version the afterlife, as depicted in ACT III?
The dead eventually are weaned away from the earth after they lose taste for life
What is the climax of the "Masque of the Red Death"?
The people react to the appearance of the masqued stranger
How significant is the setting to the overall effectiveness of the play? could it have reasonably been set in other locales? why or why not?
The setting shows that Grover's Corners is such a small speck of life compared to the rest of the universe. It could not have been set in another area because it would not show how simple the community is
How does the Stage Manager respond to Emily's question: "Do human beings ever realize life while they live it" (108)?
-He says that saints and poets do (people closer to God)
What memory causes Mrs. Soames to remark, "My, wasn't life awful-and wonderful" (93)?
-Childbirth -Childbirth was very fatal at the time. -Paradox- you bring new life into the world, but you can also die at the same time (there are many outlooks and aspects on life)
What is the importance of the names Delacroix, Graves, Summers, Bentham, Hutchinson, Warner, and Martin in "The Lottery"?
-Delacroix= means "of the cross"; Tessie symbolizes Jesus -Graves= symbol of where Tessie will end up -Bentham= British philosopher and economist; "greatest good for the greatest of people" -Hutchinson= allusion to Annie Hutchinson, who was excommunicated from Massachusetts Bay colony;spoke up for her beliefs -Warner=warns the others not to change; symbolizes old traditions -Martin= old English for "monkey"; aping his parents behavior
What does Emily decide she wants to do? Why do the dead warn her not to do it?
-Emily wants to live again -They tell her not to because she will see people that she will never be with again and she'll learn things that she shouldn't know
Why does George have second thoughts about getting married? Why does Emily have second thoughts? Are they worried about the same things? What reassures them?
-George and Emily don't want to get old and have life change -The sight of each other and conversations with their parents reassures them
Examine the first scene between George and Emily (28-31). How does Wilder develop their relationship? Do they seem compatible? Explain your answer, citing specific details from the text.
-George asks Emily for help with math. The conversation contains flirting and compliments. -They seem compatible because opposites attract -"Oh, I think hints are allowed-so-ah-if you get stuck, George, you whistle to me; and I'll give you some hints"
Describe the relationship between George and his father, Dr. Gibbs
-He keeps him without yelling at him. -They have more of a formal relationship
Who is a friend of Paul's; classmate of Paul's; clearest thinker; lance-corporal; amputated leg; lone survivor; rival with Himmelstoss; suicidal after amputation; friends convinced him to get mechanical leg?
Albert Kropp
general plot details of All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is narrated by Paul Bäumer, a young man of nineteen who fights in the German army on the French front in World War I. Paul and several of his friends from school joined the army voluntarily after listening to the stirring patriotic speeches of their teacher, Kantorek. But after experiencing ten weeks of brutal training at the hands of the petty, cruel Corporal Himmelstoss and the unimaginable brutality of life on the front, Paul and his friends have realized that the ideals of nationalism and patriotism for which they enlisted are simply empty clichés. They no longer believe that war is glorious or honorable, and they live in constant physical terror. When Paul's company receives a short reprieve after two weeks of fighting, only eighty men of the original 150-man company return from the front. The cook doesn't want to give the survivors the rations that were meant for the dead men but eventually agrees to do so; the men thus enjoy a large meal. Paul and his friends visit Kemmerich, a former classmate who has recently had a leg amputated after contracting gangrene. Kemmerich is slowly dying, and Müller, another former classmate, wants Kemmerich's boots for himself. Paul doesn't consider Müller insensitive; like the other soldiers, Müller simply realizes pragmatically that Kemmerich no longer needs his boots. Surviving the agony of war, Paul observes, forces one to learn to disconnect oneself from emotions like grief, sympathy, and fear. Not long after this encounter, Paul returns to Kemmerich's bedside just as the young man dies. At Kemmerich's request, Paul takes his boots to Müller.A group of new recruits comes to reinforce the company, and Paul's friend Kat produces a beef and bean stew that impresses them. Kat says that if all the men in an army, including the officers, were paid the same wage and given the same food, wars would be over immediately. Kropp, another of Paul's former classmates, says that there should be no armies; he argues that a nation's leaders should instead fight out their disagreements with clubs. They discuss the fact that petty, insignificant people become powerful and arrogant during war, and Tjaden, a member of Paul's company, announces that the cruel Corporal Himmelstoss has come to fight at the front.At night, the men go on a harrowing mission to lay barbed wire at the front. Pounded by artillery, they hide in a graveyard, where the force of the shelling causes the buried corpses to emerge from their graves, as groups of living men fall dead around them. After this gruesome event, the surviving soldiers return to their camp, where they kill lice and think about what they will do at the end of the war. Some of the men have tentative plans, but all of them seem to feel that the war will never end. Paul fears that if the war did end, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. Himmelstoss arrives at the front; when the men see him, Tjaden insults him. The men's lieutenant gives them light punishment but also lectures Himmelstoss about the futility of saluting at the front. Paul and Kat find a house with a goose and roast the goose for supper, enjoying a rare good meal.The company is caught in a bloody battle with a charging group of Allied infantrymen. Men are blown apart, limbs are severed from torsos, and giant rats pick at the dead and the wounded. Paul feels that he must become an animal in battle, trusting only his instincts to keep him alive. After the battle, only thirty-two of eighty men are still alive. The men are given a short reprieve at a field depot. Paul and some of his friends go for a swim, which ends in a rendezvous with a group of French girls. Paul desperately wishes to recapture his innocence with a girl, but he feels that it is impossible to do so.Paul receives seventeen days of leave and goes home to see his family. He feels awkward and oppressed in his hometown, unable to discuss his traumatic experiences with anyone. He learns that his mother is dying of cancer and that Kantorek has been conscripted as a soldier, from which he derives a certain cold satisfaction. He visits Kemmerich's mother and tells her, untruthfully, that her son's death was instant and painless. At the end of his leave, Paul spends some time at a training camp near a group of Russian prisoners-of-war. Paul feels that the Russians are people just like him, not subhuman enemies, and wonders how war can make enemies of people who have no grudge against one another.Paul is sent back to his company and is reunited with his friends. The kaiser, the German emperor, pays a visit to the front, and the men are disappointed to see that he is merely a short man with a weak voice. In battle, Paul is separated from his company and forced to hide in a shell hole. A French soldier jumps into the shell hole with him, and Paul instinctively stabs him. As the man dies a slow, painful death, Paul is overcome with remorse for having hurt him. He feels again that this enemy soldier is no enemy at all but rather a victim of war just like himself. Paul looks through the soldier's things and finds that his name was Gérard Duval and learns that Duval had a wife and child at home. When he returns to his company, Paul recounts the incident to his friends, who try to console him.Paul and his friends are given an easy assignment: for three weeks, they are to guard a supply depot away from the fighting. When the next battle takes place, Paul and Kropp are wounded and forced to bribe a sergeant-major with cigars in order to be placed on the hospital train together. At the hospital, Paul undergoes surgery. Kropp's leg is amputated, and he becomes extremely depressed. After his surgery, Paul has a short leave at home before he returns to his company.As the German army begins to give in to the unrelenting pressure of the Allied forces, Paul's friends are killed in combat one by one. Detering, one of Paul's close friends, attempts to desert but is caught and court-martialed. Kat is killed when a piece of shrapnel slices his head open while Paul is carrying him to safety. By the fall of 1918, Paul is the only one of his circle of friends who is still alive. Soldiers everywhere whisper that the Germans will soon surrender and that peace will come. Paul is poisoned in a gas attack and given a short leave. He reflects that, when the war ends, he will be ruined for peacetime; all he knows is the war. In October 1918, on a day with very little fighting, Paul is killed. The army report for that day reads simply: "All quiet on the Western Front." Paul's corpse wears a calm expression, as though relieved that the end has come at last.
"I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently slay one another. I see that the keenest brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring. And all men of my age, here and over there, throughout the whole world see these things; all my generation is experiencing these things with me" (Remarque 263)
Occasion: Paul's first time walking with crutches in the hospital Figurative Language: Theme-lost generation Explanation: The only thing that Paul knows about life is that it's full of despair, death, and fear. The war has aged and beaten down Paul's generation. He has seen people killing each other for no reason. He has seen people using their brains to make weapons
"Do I walk? Have I feet still? I raise my eyes, I let them move around, and turn myself with them, one circle, one circle, and I stand in the midst. All is as usual. Only the Militiaman Stanislaus Katczinsky has died" (Remarque 291)
Occasion: Paul's friend Kat just died Figurative Language: Simile comparing war being war to all being usual Explanation: Paul is questioning his existence after the death of his best friend. He says that all is as usual to try to get on with his life.
"He fell in October 1918, on a day that was so still and quiet on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: All Quiet on the Western Front" (Remarque 296)
Occasion: This occurs at the end of the novel after all of Paul's comrades have died or gone away Figurative Language: Situational irony Explanation: Following the death of all of his comrades, Paul fell quietly and peacefully, almost as if he was happy that he was away from the horrors of the war. His army report didn't mention his name because the "nameless men" who control the war do not appreciate his sacrifices
"Kemmerich will stay dead whether she knows about it or not. When a man has seen so many dead he cannot understand any longer why there should be so much anguish over a single individual" (Remarque 181)
Occasion: While on his leave, Paul visits Kemmerich's mother to tell her about her son's death Figurative Language: irony Explanation: Paul has seen so many deaths at war that he is not affected by one death
"But here in the trenches they are completely lost to us. They arise no more; we are dead and they stand remote on the horizon, they are a mysterious reflection, an apparition, that haunts us, that we fear and love without hope. They are strong and our desire is strong- but they are unattainable, and we know it" (Remarque 121)
Occasion: on the front for a few weeks of bombardments Figurative Language: personification Explanation: Paul and his comrade's memories of the past will never be remembered the same. Dreams of the future are not achievable
"It will go pretty hard with us all. But nobody at home seems to worry much about it. Two years of shells and bombs- a man won't peel that off as easy as a sock... the war has ruined us for everything" (Remarque 87)
Occasion: playing cards and talking about the future Speaker: Kropp Figurative Language: simile Explanation: The experience of the war has permanently scarred them and they will carry that around with them forever
"Yes, that's the way they think, these hundred thousand Kantoreks! Iron Youth! Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk" (Remarque 18)
Occasion: the men are reading a letter from kantorek Figurative Language: theme- loss of youth Explanation: they scoff at being called youth because their youth has already been destroyed in the war.
"To no man does the earth mean more so much as to the soldier... she is his only friend, his brother, his mother; he stifles his terror and his cries in her silence and security; she shelters him and releases him for ten seconds to live, to run, ten seconds of life; receives him again and often for ever" (Remarque 55)
Occasion: there will a bombardment soon Figurative Language: personification Explanation: Earth is a soldier's most reliable protector. No one else has the relationship with the Earth like a soldier does.
Based on Joe Crowell Jr.'s comments about his schoolteacher's upcoming marriage, what can you infer about the way marriage impacted a woman's career in the early 20th century?
Once a woman gets married, her job is to be a mother to her child
general plot details of "our town"
Our Town is introduced and narrated by the Stage Manager, who welcomes the audience to the fictional town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, early on a May morning in 1901. In the opening scene, the stage is largely empty, except for some tables and chairs that represent the homes of the Gibbs and Webb families, the setting of most of the action in Act I. The set remains sparse throughout the rest of the play.After the Stage Manager's introduction, the activities of a typical day begin. Howie Newsome, the milkman, and Joe Crowell, Jr., the paperboy, make their delivery rounds. Dr. Gibbs returns from delivering a set of twins at one of the homes in town. Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb make breakfast, send their children off to school, and meet in their gardens to gossip. The two women also discuss their modest ambitions, and Mrs. Gibbs reveals that she longs to visit Paris.Throughout the play, the characters pantomime their activities and chores. When Howie makes his milk deliveries, for example, no horse appears onstage despite the fact that he frequently addresses his horse as "Bessie." Howie does not actually hold anything in his hands, but he pantomimes carrying bottles of milk, and the sound of clinking milk bottles comes from offstage. This deliberate abandonment of props goes hand in hand with the minimal set.The Stage Manager interrupts the action. He calls Professor Willard and then Mr. Webb out onto the stage to tell the audience some basic facts about Grover's Corners. Mr. Webb not only reports to the audience, but also takes questions from some "audience members" who are actually characters in the play seated in the audience. Afternoon arrives, school lets out, and George Gibbs meets his neighbor Emily Webb outside the gate of her house. We see the first inkling of George and Emily's romantic affection for one another during this scene and during Emily's subsequent conversation with her mother. The Stage Manager thanks and dismisses Emily and Mrs. Webb, then launches into a discussion of a time capsule that will be placed in the foundation of a new bank building in town. He tells us that he wishes to put a copy of Our Town into this time capsule.Now evening, a choir in the orchestra pit begins to sing "Blessed Be the Tie That Binds." The choir, directed by the bitter yet comical choirmaster Simon Stimson, continues to sing as George and Emily talk to each other through their open windows. Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Gibbs, and their gossipy friend Mrs. Soames return home from choir practice and chat about the choirmaster's alcoholism. The women return to their respective homes. George and his sister Rebecca sit at a window and look outside. Rebecca ponders the position of Grover's Corners within the vastness of the universe, which she believes is contained within "the Mind of God." Night has fallen on Grover's Corners, and the first act comes to an end. Act II takes place three years later, on George and Emily's wedding day. George tries to visit his fiancée, but he is shooed away by Mr. and Mrs. Webb, who insist that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride-to-be on the wedding day anytime before the ceremony. Mrs. Webb goes upstairs to make sure Emily does not come downstairs. George is left alone with Mr. Webb. The young man and his future father-in-law awkwardly discuss marriage and how to be a virtuous husband.The Stage Manager interjects and introduces a flashback to the previous year. George and Emily are on their way home from school. George has just been elected class president and Emily has just been elected secretary and treasurer. George has also become something of a local baseball star. Emily tells George that his popularity has made him "conceited and stuck-up." George, though hurt, thanks Emily for her honesty, but Emily becomes mortified by her own words and asks George to forget them. The two stop at Mr. Morgan's drugstore for ice-cream sodas and, over the course of their drink, admit their mutual affection. George decides to scrap his plan of attending agriculture school in favor of staying in Grover's Corners with Emily.We return to the day of the wedding in 1904. Both the bride and groom feel jittery, but their parents calm them down and the ceremony goes ahead as planned. The Stage Manager acts as the clergyman. The newlyweds run out through the audience, and the second act ends with the Stage Manager's announcement that it is time for another intermission.Act III takes place nine years later, in a cemetery on a hilltop overlooking the town. Emily has died in childbirth and is about to be buried. The funeral party occupies the back of the stage. The most prominent characters in this act, the dead souls who already inhabit the cemetery, sit in chairs at the front of the stage. Among the dead are Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Soames, Wally Webb, and Simon Stimson. As the funeral takes place, the dead speak, serving as detached witnesses. Death has rendered them largely indifferent to earthly events. Emily joins the dead, but she misses her previous life and decides to go back and relive part of it. The other souls disapprove and advise Emily to stay in the cemetery.With the aid of the Stage Manager, Emily steps into the past, revisiting the morning of her twelfth birthday. Howie Newsome and Joe Crowell, Jr. make their deliveries as usual. Mrs. Webb gives her daughter some presents and calls to Mr. Webb. As Emily participates, she also watches the scene as an observer, noting her parents' youth and beauty. Emily now has a nostalgic appreciation for everyday life that her parents and the other living characters do not share. She becomes agonized by the beauty and transience of everyday life and demands to be taken back to the cemetery. As Emily settles in among the dead souls, George lays prostrate by her tomb. "They don't understand," she says of the living. The stars come out over Grover's Corners, and the play ends.
Who is the narrator, a former student who enlisted because of his senses of patriotism, now disillusioned, bitter toward elders, cool in battle, values comradeship?
Paul Bäumer
Who is the author of The Lottery?
Shirley Jackson
"In himself man is essentially a beast, only he butters it over like a slice of bread with a little decorum. The army is based on that; one man must always have power over the other. The mischief is merely that each one has too much power" (Remarque 44)
Speaker: kat Occasion: the men are talking about himmelstoss Figurative Language: simile Explanation: men are animals but they try to make believe that they are not. In war, men have authority over others, which makes it impossible for men not to abuse their power
Who are the major characters in "Our Town"?
Stage Manager - The host of the play and the dramatic equivalent of an omniscient narrator. The Stage Manager exercises control over the action of the play, cueing the other characters, interrupting their scenes with his own interjections, and informing the audience of events and objects that we cannot see. Although referred to only as Stage Manager and not by a name, he occasionally assumes other roles, such as an old woman, a druggist, and a minister. Interacting with both the world of the audience and the world of the play's characters, he occupies a godlike position of authority. George Gibbs - Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs's son. A decent, upstanding young man, George is a high school baseball star who plans to attend the State Agricultural School after high school. His courtship of Emily Webb and eventual marriage to her is central to the play's limited narrative action. Wilder uses George and Emily's relationship to ponder the questions of love and marriage in general. Emily Webb - Mr. and Mrs. Webb's daughter and Wally's older sister. Emily is George's schoolmate and next-door neighbor, then his fiancée, and later his wife. She is an excellent student and a conscientious daughter. After dying in childbirth, Emily joins the group of dead souls in the local cemetery and attempts to return to the world of the living. Her realization that human life is precious because it is fleeting is perhaps the central message of the play. Dr. Gibbs - George's father and the town doctor. Dr. Gibbs is also a Civil War expert. His delivery of twins just before the play opens establishes the themes of birth, life, and daily activity. He and his family are neighbors to the Webbs. Mrs. Gibbs - George's mother and Dr. Gibbs's wife. Mrs. Gibbs's desire to visit Paris—a wish that is never fulfilled—suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen. At the same time, Mrs. Gibbs's wish for the luxurious trip ultimately proves unnecessary in her quest to appreciate life. Mr. Webb - Emily's father and the publisher and editor of the Grover's Corners Sentinel. Mr. Webb's report to the audience in Act I is both informative and interactive, as his question-and-answer session draws the audience physically into the action of the play. Mrs. Webb - Emily's mother and Mr. Webb's wife. At first a no-nonsense woman who does not cry on the morning of her daughter's marriage, Mrs. Webb later shows her innocent and caring nature, worrying during the wedding that she has not taught her daughter enough about marriage. Mrs. Soames - A gossipy woman who sings in the choir along with Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs. Mrs. Soames appears in the group of dead souls in Act III. One of the few townspeople we meet outside of the Webb and Gibbs families, Mrs. Soames offers a sense of the interrelated nature of the lives of the citizens of Grover's Corners. Simon Stimson - The choirmaster, whose alcoholism and undisclosed "troubles" have been the subject of gossip in Grover's Corners for quite some time. Wilder uses Mr. Stimson's misfortunes to explore the limitations of small town life. Mr. Stimson appears in the group of dead souls in Act III, having committed suicide by hanging himself in his attic. He is perhaps most notable for his short speech in Act III, when he says that human existence is nothing but "[i]gnorance and blindness." Rebecca Gibbs - George's younger sister. Rebecca's role is minor, but she does have one very significant scene with her brother. Her remarks in Act I—about the location of Grover's Corners in the universe—articulate an important theme in the play: if the town is a microcosm, representative of the broader human community and the shared human experience, then this human experience of Grover's Corners lies at the center of a grand structure and is therefore eternal. Wally Webb - Emily's younger brother. Wally is a minor figure, but he turns up in Act III among the group of dead souls. Wally dies young, the result of a burst appendix on a Boy Scout trip. His untimely death underscores the brief and fleeting nature of life. Howie Newsome - The local milkman. Howie's reappearance during every morning scene—once each in Acts I, II, and III—highlights the continuity of life in Grover's Corners and in the general human experience. Joe Crowell, Jr. - The paperboy. Joe's routine of delivering papers to the same people each morning emphasizes the sameness of daily life in Grover's Corners. We see this sameness continue when Joe's younger brother, Si, takes over the route for him. Despite this sameness, however, each of the conversations Joe has while on his route is unique, suggesting that while his activities are monotonous, daily life is not. Si Crowell - Joe's younger brother, also a paperboy. Si's assumption of his brother's former job contributes to the sense of constancy that characterizes Grover's Corners throughout the play. Professor Willard - A professor at the State University who gives the audience a report on Grover's Corners. Professor Willard appears once and then disappears. His role in the play is to interact with the audience and to inform theatergoers of the specifics of life in Grover's Corners. His reference to Native Americans reflects Wilder's understanding that the European ancestors of the current population in Grover's Corners replaced and extinguished the existing Native American populations. Constable Warren - A local policeman. Constable Warren keeps a watchful eye over the community. His personal knowledge of and favor with the town's citizens bespeaks the close-knit nature of the town. Sam Craig - Emily Webb's cousin, who has left Grover's Corners to travel west, but returns for her funeral in Act III. Though originally from the town, Sam has the air of an outsider. His unawareness of the events that have occurred in Grover's Corners during his absence parallels the audience's own unawareness. Joe Stoddard - The town undertaker. Joe prepares Emily's grave and remarks on how sad it is to bury young people. This statement emphasizes a theme that grows ever more apparent throughout the play and receives its most explicit discussion in Act III: the transience of human life.
Who is Paul's best friend in the war; "leader" of the troop; serious, stern, good at gathering food and supplies, mentor, wise, father-figure, comic relief, intuitive?
Stanislaus Katzcinksiy
