ELIT 48C CLASS 22

LoathVersus Loathe

Loathe is a verb meaning to dislike greatly; to abhor; to feel disgust for. For example, if you have a mean instructor, you might say that you loathe her.

Loath is an adjective meaning unwilling or reluctant. For example, you might say that you are loath to to spend time with your mean instructor outside of work.

Loathe versus Loath

 “Poets are the

unacknowledged legislators of the world.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley

CHAIR POET?

Last Chair PoetDiscussion:

The RoadThe Quarter in

ReviewIntroduce

Final Exam

AGENDA

Set in a conceivable future, after a global catastrophe, The Road tells the story of a father and a son as they tread along a forsaken highway awash with marauders and cannibals.

It is perhaps the most chilling commentary of the post-9/11 world. The post-apocalyptic setting plays upon the public’s fear of terrorism, pandemics, genocide, and weapons of mass destruction.

We can also hear the poetic passages of desolation and are reminded of Dante’s descent into hell or T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

McCarthy also wrestles with the ever-present question of the existence of God: the father tells the boy, “There is no God and we are his prophets.”

THE SETTING

The Road is set in some undetermined location.There is mention of distant mountains, several

rivers and creeks, the Piedmont (a plain that runs along the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains), and a coastline.

The landscape and the air are soaked in thick, gray ash.

Vegetation has been destroyed. There are no fi sh in the water.

When snow falls, it collects the ash in the air and falls to the earth already gray.

1. WHAT CAUSED THE DEVASTATION OF THE LAND? PROVIDE THE CLUES YOU USED TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION.

2. DISCUSS A THEME FROM THE NOVEL: DESTRUCTION, SURVIVAL, ISOLATION, DEATH, OR HOPE

3. EXAMINE THE CONCEPT OF TRUST AND MISTRUST IN THE ROAD.

4. ANALYZE THE SYMBOL OF INNOCENCE AND HOW IT PERTAINS TO THE SON IN THE ROAD.

5. INTRODUCE ANOTHER CONCEPT OR SYMBOL

Discussion Questions

1.Discuss the novel as a postmodern work2.Use a critical lens to start a discussion3.Discuss the American Dream as it manifests in The Road4.QHQ

DISCUSS THE NOVEL AS A POSTMODERN

WORK

POSTMODERN ASPECTS

The Road is postmodern because the characters don’t have name and they have diff erent experiences and the setting is some fragmented post-apocalypse

“The Road” is a postmodern work because of the format. It doesn’t follow the normal convention and plays with something that wasn’t really normal at the time. I am talking about the weird punctuation. Another reason why it is postmodern is because of the theme. There isn’t really much that goes on in terms of external confl ict.

The prospect that anyone and everyone could be destroyed in nuclear holocaust is a very postmodern idea, however, the survival that would come afterwards is even more so a postmodern idea. It subscribes to the primary concept that drives this literary movement; chaos.

USE A CRITICAL LENS TO START A

DISCUSSION

CRITICAL LENS

The ambiguity of “carrying the fire” in The Road can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. On a literal level, the fire is a guiding light for the father and son through the perpetual darkness of the landscape. However, the father and son roam a land that is completely desolate and devoid of any beauty, rendering the ability to see such atrocity, arguably obsolete. Not being able to see becomes a defense mechanism to not become an internal reflection of the environment—in this case, a reflection of barren hopelessness. Despite the dark, the father and son can still see their way, as their existence becomes diminished to mere survival. In reaction, “carrying the fire,” on a metaphorical level, is maintaining hope that life goes beyond than just surviving. Life becomes about moving past hardship and towards the “unimaginable future, glowing in that waste like a tabernacle” (89). Regardless of how bad the world may be, a person must first find hope within him or herself in order to gain the motivation to move forward—never worrying about the past or future, but the present moment of which they must decide whether to give up or keep fighting for new life.

DISCUSS THE AMERICAN DREAM AS IT MANIFESTS IN THE

ROAD

In modernist literature, American dream is about money and success. When the person has more money, it means the greater success. We can also find characters’ desire for the social mobility. Marriage and love often become means to achieve the higher class. Jim and Gatsby are the ones who look for the success. However, when the theme comes to the postmodernist literature, American dream becomes a matter of survival. The postmodernist authors discuss how the minority should survive among in this unequal society. Moreover, Cormac McCarthy talks about morality in “The Road.” American dream is not about success, but it’s about how to survive in this immoral dystopia.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

The American Dream is present in The Road through a deteriorated, more hopeless manifestation. The Man does everything he can, and is prepared to do absolutely anything for the sake of The Boy, which could be paralleled with the American desire to do anything “for the children”. It is typically thought to be just and upright to work hard and struggle so that one may provide for the children, as they are the future of America. Putting in work and struggling for the longevity of your nation – what’s more American than that? The Dream is also seen in The Man’s dreams, as they are fantastical and sometimes nightmarish, adding to the idea of struggle but also hold elements of the perfect American dream, such as his wife. The entire scenario is also representative of Americans pursuing the American Dream – The Man and The Boy toil, struggle, and barely survive on their way to an end destination, which is supposed to be “good”, though there is nothing concrete at the end.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

QHQS

1. Why didn’t the man and his son simply stay at the bunker and ride out the next months and years with the food and shelter it provided?

2. How do you retain your humanity in a human less world.

3. Why don’t we have the man and boy’s names in “The Road”?

4. Discuss the significance of the ‘good guys’ who are ‘carrying the fire’.

5. What is the importance of and effect of McCarthy’s use of negative contractions in the novel?

6. What do you think of the mother’s refusal to say goodbye to her son and insistence of killing herself? How does her character act as a foil to the man?

7. What is the significance of McCarthy using a father and son as main characters in “The Road”?

POSTING: SELF-ASSESSMENT

The blogging post points (100) require self-assessment. Consider three aspects of your responses: • First, how many of the posts did you make? (26

possible: four points for each one: one freebie)• Second, what was the quality of your response? • Third, how timely were your submissions? Write a brief argument justifying your grade. This is due before the final. Please submit it as an email to palmoreessaysubmission@gmail.com

END OF DAYS

Class 23: Thursday, June 25th: 9:15-11:15

Final ExamRevision of essay #1 due before class begins

Essay #2 due before class begins

FINAL EXAM: 200 POINTS

40 objective questions10 rules of writing 7 character identification 7 fill in the blank 8 who wrote it? 7 Passage identification

Name the author (first and last name and the work

1 Comprehensive Essay Question: 100 points

Prepare for Final ExamFinish Essay 2Do revision

HOMEWORK