Lit 2000 Questions
This list will probably change. A lot.
UNIT ONE SET ONE
1:
Compare and contrast The Bell Jar Chapter 19, “Daddy” and Macbeth Act IV, Scene III
2:
Which characters in The Bell Jar and which speakers in Ariel are most like Lady Macbeth and why?
UNIT ONE SET TWO
1: What poem from Ariel or passage from The Bell Jar is most like Macbeth, Act 1, scene 5 and why?
2: How does revenge factor in to Ariel, The Bell Jar, and Macbeth?
3: Macbeth relies on magic (the Weird Sisters) to move along the story. What has replaced magic in Ariel and The Bell Jar?
4: All three works rely on “frenemies”. Name at least one pair from each work.
UNIT ONE SET THREE
1: What passage from The Bell Jar or poem from Ariel shares a connection with the “tomorrow” speech in Macbeth Act V, scene V and why?
2: Which characters in The Bell Jar or speakers in Ariel are most like the Weird Sisters and why?
3: Do Macbeth, The Bell Jar, or Ariel have heroes? If so, who are they and why? If not, why not?
4: Compare and contrast Macbeth, Act 1, scene 7 with “The Moon and the Yew Tree” and The Bell Jar chapter 6.
5: In what ways is setting important to each work?
6: How is betrayal important to each work?
UNIT ONE SET FOUR
1: What is the importance of sexuality to each text?
2: What is the importance of clothing to each text?
3: What is the importance of family to each text?
4: What poem from Ariel could be spoken by a character in Macbeth and why?
5: How are children important to each text?
6: What quote from each text most closely demonstrates the theme of each text?
UNIT ONE SET FIVE
1: What modern technology would be most disruptive to each text and why?
2: What modern cultural mores would be most disruptive to each text and why?
3: What quote from each character most closely fits that character and why?
4: What common themes connect Macbeth, The Bell Jar, and Ariel?
5: Which chapter, poem, or scene is most important to each text and why?
6: Which character from any of the texts is the most "woke" and why?
UNIT ONE SET SIX
1: In one sentence (150 characters or less) please describe the story of each of the three books.
2: In one sentence (150 characters or less) please describe the theme of each of the three books.
UNIT ONE SET SEVEN
1: What is the purpose of violence in each text?
2: How does each text conform to societal expectations (of the time)?
3: Hoes does each text conform to societal expectations (of now)?
4: How does each text subvert societal expectations (of the time)?
5: How does each text subvert societal expectations (of now)?
6: What is something non-thematic that connects each text?
UNIT ONE SET EIGHT
1: Pick a character from each text. What would their theme song be and why?
2: Create a premise for a sitcom using at least one character from each text.
3: Which character from any of the texts would be your ride or die and why?
UNIT ONE SET NINE
1: Pick a character from each text. Pick an office they could run for. Give them a campaign slogan and explain why it works.
2: How does humor work in each text?
3: What are the main characters in the texts most afraid of? Why? How does this fear work in the text?
4: For each text, if a character were a muffin, what kind of muffin would they be and how would they keep you from eating them?
UNIT ONE SET TEN
1: If a character from each text were a teacher or professor, what would they teach and would they be good at it? Why?
2: Pick a character from each text. Which Hogwarts house would they be sorted in? Why?
3: Compare and contrast the opening lines / sentences of each text.
4: Compare and contrast the closing lines / sentences of each text.
5: What meme would the main characters from each text be and why?
UNIT ONE SET ELEVEN
1: (by request): Pick a vine for each of the main characters and explain why it fits them.
2: What would be each character's favorite movie and why?
3: Compare and contrast chapter 9 of The Bell Jar and Act 2, Scene 3 of Macbeth and "Nick and the Candlestick" from Ariel.
UNIT TWO SET ONE
1: How are Odysseus, Hamlet, and Yossarian different from “normal” male protagonists?
2: How are they the same?
Info for 3, 4, and 5:
The Odyssey has five important female characters (Athena, Calypso, Circe, Nausicaa, and Penelope); Hamlet has two (Ophelia and Gertrude); and Catch-22 has three (Nately’s Whore, the girl with lime-green panties, and Mrs. Scheisskopf).
3: How are the women similar?
4: How are they different?
5: How does this fit with the popular narrative that women were more poorly treated in “the past” than in “modern times”?
UNIT TWO SET TWO
Read about the Hero's Journey (just go to the Wikipedia page).
1: How do the three texts fit the Hero's Journey?
2: How do they not?
UNIT TWO SET THREE
1: Compare & contrast the openings of each text
2: Compare & contrast the closing of each text
3: What purpose does the supernatural serve in Hamlet and The Odyssey? What serves that purpose in Catch-22?
4: Hamlet reveals his mental state through monologues and soliloquies. How do Odysseus and Yossarian reveal theirs?
UNIT TWO SET FOUR
1: Who is the most important minor character in each text and why?
2: Who are the Rosencranz & Guildenstern of The Odyssey & Catch-22? Why?
3: What is the equivalent of Snowden's death in The Odyssey & Hamlet? Why?
4: How does the ocean / seas / sailing / water figure into each text?
UNIT TWO SET FIVE
1: Which part of Catch-22 or The Odyssey is most like the "to be or not to be" speech and why?
2: Which part of Catch-22 or Hamlet is most like the encounter with the sirens and why?
3: Which part of The Odyssey or Hamlet is most like Kid Sampson's death and why?
UNIT TWO SET SIX
1: Describe Catch-22 only by comparisons to The Odyssey and Hamlet
2: Describe The Odyssey only by comparisons to Hamlet and Catch-22
3: Describe Hamlet only by comparisons to The Odyssey and Catch-22
4: How would Odysseus say the "what a piece of work is man" speech?
5: How would Hamlet avoid being killed in a plane in World War II?
BREAK!
Okay so Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. won the Pulitzer Prize this week.
Let's take a look at it.
Here are the lyrics.
Then pull it up on Spotify or YouTube or whatever and listen to it as you read the lyrics.
UNIT TWO SET SEVEN
1: What would each character's favorite movie be and why?
2: Who would you cast as each character and why?
3: If a version of Hamlet were done with characters from a film or novel in character, who would do them and why?
UNIT TWO SET EIGHT
Read this poem.
Connect it to The Odyssey, Hamlet, or Catch-22.
Do it again but with another of the above texts.
UNIT TWO SET NINE
Read "Hills Like White Elephants" by Hemingway.
You may want to google some explications of it if you're unfamiliar with it and a bit confused. Also you can talk to your classmates.
Then please connect it to The Odyssey, Hamlet, or Catch-22.
Unit Two Set Ten
Unit Two Set Eleven
Unit Two Set Twelve
Unit Two Set Thirteen
Unit Two Set Fourteen
BEYOND HERE BE DRAGONS:
3/2
Look at Hamlet 3.1 55-160
The Sun Also Rises Chapter 7
Olives: On Visiting a Borrowed Country House in Arcadia
How does each author handle difficult but close relationships? What do they have in common? What do they do differently?
3/6
What do the first and final scenes in Hamlet, poems in Olives, and pages / paragraphs in The Sun Also Rises teach you about the works?
3/8
1: What do the speaker of Olives, Hamlet, and Jake have in common?
2: How do each of the texts deal with femininity?
3: How do each of the texts deal with parent-child relationships?
3/10
1: How does each text use eating and drinking?
2: What is the relationship of each text to love?
3: How does the concept of home factor into each text?
3/14
1: How does each text deal with death?
2: How does each text deal with violence?
3: Compare The Sun Also Rises, Chapter 15, “The Cenotaph”, and Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2
4: How does each text deal with conflict?
4/3
1: Both The Odyssey and Catch-22 are non-linear narratives. Why?
2: How are women important in The Odyssey, Catch-22, and King Lear in unexpected ways?
3: How is betrayal important to each text?
4: How is lying important to each text?
4/7
Compare and contrast:
The first and last chapters of Catch 22
The first and last books of The Odyssey
The first and last scenes of King Lear
The first chapter of Catch 22, the first book of The Odyssey, and the first scene of King Lear
The last chapter of Catch 22, the last book of The Odyssey, and the last scene of King Lear
4/11
Discuss the importance of Snowden, The Fool, and Polyphemus.
What role does hubris play in all three texts?
Why are women given smaller roles in Catch-22 than in the other two, much older texts?
4/13
What are the similarities in role, attitude, and presentation of Orr, Telemachus, and Cordelia?
What are the similarities in role, attitude, and presentation of Chaplain Tappman, Athena, and Kent?
In each of these texts: who is the bad guy?
4/20
What event in The Odyssey is analogous to Snowden and Cordelia’s deaths?
What event in Catch-22 is analogous to the storm in Lear and the (any of the) shipwreck(s) in The Odyssey?
What event in Lear is analogous to Odysseus or Major Major Major Major disguising themselves?
Obviously “and why” for all of these.
4/24
What is your favorite quote in each text and why?
NOTE: No one can have the same quote.
ALSO NOTE: You must email your quotes (but not explanations) to me.
4/26
What theme connects all three works and why?
What other story (define this broadly) is most like:
King Lear
The Odyssey
Catch-22
and why?
UNIT ONE SET ONE
1:
Compare and contrast The Bell Jar Chapter 19, “Daddy” and Macbeth Act IV, Scene III
2:
Which characters in The Bell Jar and which speakers in Ariel are most like Lady Macbeth and why?
UNIT ONE SET TWO
1: What poem from Ariel or passage from The Bell Jar is most like Macbeth, Act 1, scene 5 and why?
2: How does revenge factor in to Ariel, The Bell Jar, and Macbeth?
3: Macbeth relies on magic (the Weird Sisters) to move along the story. What has replaced magic in Ariel and The Bell Jar?
4: All three works rely on “frenemies”. Name at least one pair from each work.
UNIT ONE SET THREE
1: What passage from The Bell Jar or poem from Ariel shares a connection with the “tomorrow” speech in Macbeth Act V, scene V and why?
2: Which characters in The Bell Jar or speakers in Ariel are most like the Weird Sisters and why?
3: Do Macbeth, The Bell Jar, or Ariel have heroes? If so, who are they and why? If not, why not?
4: Compare and contrast Macbeth, Act 1, scene 7 with “The Moon and the Yew Tree” and The Bell Jar chapter 6.
5: In what ways is setting important to each work?
6: How is betrayal important to each work?
UNIT ONE SET FOUR
1: What is the importance of sexuality to each text?
2: What is the importance of clothing to each text?
3: What is the importance of family to each text?
4: What poem from Ariel could be spoken by a character in Macbeth and why?
5: How are children important to each text?
6: What quote from each text most closely demonstrates the theme of each text?
UNIT ONE SET FIVE
1: What modern technology would be most disruptive to each text and why?
2: What modern cultural mores would be most disruptive to each text and why?
3: What quote from each character most closely fits that character and why?
4: What common themes connect Macbeth, The Bell Jar, and Ariel?
5: Which chapter, poem, or scene is most important to each text and why?
6: Which character from any of the texts is the most "woke" and why?
UNIT ONE SET SIX
1: In one sentence (150 characters or less) please describe the story of each of the three books.
2: In one sentence (150 characters or less) please describe the theme of each of the three books.
UNIT ONE SET SEVEN
1: What is the purpose of violence in each text?
2: How does each text conform to societal expectations (of the time)?
3: Hoes does each text conform to societal expectations (of now)?
4: How does each text subvert societal expectations (of the time)?
5: How does each text subvert societal expectations (of now)?
6: What is something non-thematic that connects each text?
UNIT ONE SET EIGHT
1: Pick a character from each text. What would their theme song be and why?
2: Create a premise for a sitcom using at least one character from each text.
3: Which character from any of the texts would be your ride or die and why?
UNIT ONE SET NINE
1: Pick a character from each text. Pick an office they could run for. Give them a campaign slogan and explain why it works.
2: How does humor work in each text?
3: What are the main characters in the texts most afraid of? Why? How does this fear work in the text?
4: For each text, if a character were a muffin, what kind of muffin would they be and how would they keep you from eating them?
UNIT ONE SET TEN
1: If a character from each text were a teacher or professor, what would they teach and would they be good at it? Why?
2: Pick a character from each text. Which Hogwarts house would they be sorted in? Why?
3: Compare and contrast the opening lines / sentences of each text.
4: Compare and contrast the closing lines / sentences of each text.
5: What meme would the main characters from each text be and why?
UNIT ONE SET ELEVEN
1: (by request): Pick a vine for each of the main characters and explain why it fits them.
2: What would be each character's favorite movie and why?
3: Compare and contrast chapter 9 of The Bell Jar and Act 2, Scene 3 of Macbeth and "Nick and the Candlestick" from Ariel.
UNIT TWO SET ONE
1: How are Odysseus, Hamlet, and Yossarian different from “normal” male protagonists?
2: How are they the same?
Info for 3, 4, and 5:
The Odyssey has five important female characters (Athena, Calypso, Circe, Nausicaa, and Penelope); Hamlet has two (Ophelia and Gertrude); and Catch-22 has three (Nately’s Whore, the girl with lime-green panties, and Mrs. Scheisskopf).
3: How are the women similar?
4: How are they different?
5: How does this fit with the popular narrative that women were more poorly treated in “the past” than in “modern times”?
UNIT TWO SET TWO
Read about the Hero's Journey (just go to the Wikipedia page).
1: How do the three texts fit the Hero's Journey?
2: How do they not?
UNIT TWO SET THREE
1: Compare & contrast the openings of each text
2: Compare & contrast the closing of each text
3: What purpose does the supernatural serve in Hamlet and The Odyssey? What serves that purpose in Catch-22?
4: Hamlet reveals his mental state through monologues and soliloquies. How do Odysseus and Yossarian reveal theirs?
UNIT TWO SET FOUR
1: Who is the most important minor character in each text and why?
2: Who are the Rosencranz & Guildenstern of The Odyssey & Catch-22? Why?
3: What is the equivalent of Snowden's death in The Odyssey & Hamlet? Why?
4: How does the ocean / seas / sailing / water figure into each text?
UNIT TWO SET FIVE
1: Which part of Catch-22 or The Odyssey is most like the "to be or not to be" speech and why?
2: Which part of Catch-22 or Hamlet is most like the encounter with the sirens and why?
3: Which part of The Odyssey or Hamlet is most like Kid Sampson's death and why?
UNIT TWO SET SIX
1: Describe Catch-22 only by comparisons to The Odyssey and Hamlet
2: Describe The Odyssey only by comparisons to Hamlet and Catch-22
3: Describe Hamlet only by comparisons to The Odyssey and Catch-22
4: How would Odysseus say the "what a piece of work is man" speech?
5: How would Hamlet avoid being killed in a plane in World War II?
BREAK!
Okay so Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. won the Pulitzer Prize this week.
Let's take a look at it.
Here are the lyrics.
Then pull it up on Spotify or YouTube or whatever and listen to it as you read the lyrics.
UNIT TWO SET SEVEN
1: What would each character's favorite movie be and why?
2: Who would you cast as each character and why?
3: If a version of Hamlet were done with characters from a film or novel in character, who would do them and why?
UNIT TWO SET EIGHT
Read this poem.
Connect it to The Odyssey, Hamlet, or Catch-22.
Do it again but with another of the above texts.
UNIT TWO SET NINE
Read "Hills Like White Elephants" by Hemingway.
You may want to google some explications of it if you're unfamiliar with it and a bit confused. Also you can talk to your classmates.
Then please connect it to The Odyssey, Hamlet, or Catch-22.
Do it again but with another of the above texts.
Unit Two Set Ten
Unit Two Set Eleven
Unit Two Set Twelve
Unit Two Set Thirteen
Unit Two Set Fourteen
BEYOND HERE BE DRAGONS:
3/2
Look at Hamlet 3.1 55-160
The Sun Also Rises Chapter 7
Olives: On Visiting a Borrowed Country House in Arcadia
How does each author handle difficult but close relationships? What do they have in common? What do they do differently?
3/6
What do the first and final scenes in Hamlet, poems in Olives, and pages / paragraphs in The Sun Also Rises teach you about the works?
3/8
1: What do the speaker of Olives, Hamlet, and Jake have in common?
2: How do each of the texts deal with femininity?
3: How do each of the texts deal with parent-child relationships?
3/10
1: How does each text use eating and drinking?
2: What is the relationship of each text to love?
3: How does the concept of home factor into each text?
3/14
1: How does each text deal with death?
2: How does each text deal with violence?
3: Compare The Sun Also Rises, Chapter 15, “The Cenotaph”, and Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2
4: How does each text deal with conflict?
4/3
1: Both The Odyssey and Catch-22 are non-linear narratives. Why?
2: How are women important in The Odyssey, Catch-22, and King Lear in unexpected ways?
3: How is betrayal important to each text?
4: How is lying important to each text?
4/7
Compare and contrast:
The first and last chapters of Catch 22
The first and last books of The Odyssey
The first and last scenes of King Lear
The first chapter of Catch 22, the first book of The Odyssey, and the first scene of King Lear
The last chapter of Catch 22, the last book of The Odyssey, and the last scene of King Lear
4/11
Discuss the importance of Snowden, The Fool, and Polyphemus.
What role does hubris play in all three texts?
Why are women given smaller roles in Catch-22 than in the other two, much older texts?
4/13
What are the similarities in role, attitude, and presentation of Orr, Telemachus, and Cordelia?
What are the similarities in role, attitude, and presentation of Chaplain Tappman, Athena, and Kent?
In each of these texts: who is the bad guy?
4/20
What event in The Odyssey is analogous to Snowden and Cordelia’s deaths?
What event in Catch-22 is analogous to the storm in Lear and the (any of the) shipwreck(s) in The Odyssey?
What event in Lear is analogous to Odysseus or Major Major Major Major disguising themselves?
Obviously “and why” for all of these.
4/24
What is your favorite quote in each text and why?
NOTE: No one can have the same quote.
ALSO NOTE: You must email your quotes (but not explanations) to me.
4/26
What theme connects all three works and why?
What other story (define this broadly) is most like:
King Lear
The Odyssey
Catch-22
and why?
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