Read "A Pair of Tickets" by Amy Tan. In this blog space, make connections to the thematic elements of Ghosts and Marjorie Prime.
In your journal: Imagine yourself conversing with a Prime version of an adult guardian in your life. What would you share with this individual? What would you omit? Tweak? Explore a hypothetical dialogue. How would it go? Next, what is stopping you from having this discourse with the real person? What steps could be taken to address this person?
Directions: Please choose one of the following three prompts and compose an essay using Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen as your work of choice. Please use the list of quotations and the full text as you means of citing evidence from the text. Please post your essay to Turnitin.com by the end of the block.
Prompts
1968. In many plays, a character has a misconception of himself or his world. Destroying or perpetuating this illusion contributes to a central theme of the play. Choose a play with a major character to whom this statement applies and write an essay in which you consider the following points: what the character’s illusion is and how it differs from reality as presented in the play and how the destruction or perpetuation of the illusion develops a theme of the play.
1994. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.
2005. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
1. Yes, you may be sure we'll see about it! Me that have been brought up by a lady like Mrs. Alving! Me that am treated almost as a daughter here! Is it me you want to go home with you?--to a house like yours? For shame!
2. Then never mind about marrying them. You can make it pay all the same. [More confidentially.] He--the Englishman--the man with the yacht--he came down with three hundred dollars, he did; and she wasn't a bit handsomer than you.
3. Well, I seem to find explanation and confirmation of all sorts of things I myself have been thinking. For that is the wonderful part of it, Pastor Minders--there is really nothing new in these books, nothing but what most people think and believe. Only most people either don't formulate it to themselves, or else keep quiet about it.
4. Object to in them? You surely do not suppose that I have nothing better to do than to study such publications as these? … I have read enough about these writings to disapprove of them.
5. When Oswald appeared there, in the doorway, with the pipe in his mouth, I could have sworn I saw his father, large as life.
6. Oh, how can you say so? Oswald takes after me.
7. But how is it possible that a--a young man or young woman with any decency of feeling can endure to live in that way?--in the eyes of all the world!
8. Well, then, allow me to inform you. I have met with it when one or other of our pattern husbands and fathers has come to Paris to have a look round on his own account, and has done the artists the honour of visiting their humble haunts. They knew what was what. These gentlemen could tell us all about places and things we had never dreamt of.
9. Soon after, I heard Alving come in too. I heard him say something softly to her. And then I heard--[With a short laugh]--oh! it still sounds in my ears, so hateful and yet so ludicrous--I heard my own servant-maid whisper, "Let me go, Mr. Alving! Let me be!"….It was my purchase-money. I do not choose that that money should pass into Oswald's hands. My son shall have everything from me--everything.
Act II
10. Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was as though ghosts rose up before me. But I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that "walks" in us. It is all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all the country over, as thick as the sands of the sea. And then we are, one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light.
11. Yes--when you forced me under the yoke of what you called duty and obligation; when you lauded as right and proper what my whole soul rebelled against as something loathsome. It was then that I began to look into the seams of your doctrines. I wanted only to pick at a single knot; but when I had got that undone, the whole thing ravelled out. And then I understood that it was all machine-sewn.
12. Oh, wait a minute!--now I recollect. Johanna did have a trifle of money. But I would have nothing to do with that. "No," says I, "that's mammon; that's the wages of sin. This dirty gold--or notes, or whatever it was--we'll just flint, that back in the American's face," says I. But he was off and away, over the stormy sea, your Reverence.
13. It only shows how excessively careful one ought to be in judging one's fellow creatures. But what a heartfelt joy it is to ascertain that one has been mistaken! Don't you think so?
14. At last he said: "There has been something worm-eaten in you from your birth." He used that very word… He said, "The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children." No other explanation was possible, he said. That's the awful part of it. Incurably ruined for life--by my own heedlessness! All that I meant to have done in the world--I never dare think of it again--I'm not able to think of it. Oh! if I could only live over again, and undo all I have done! [He buries his face in the sofa.]
15. I only mean that here people are brought up to believe that work is a curse and a punishment for sin, and that life is something miserable, something; it would be best to have done with, the sooner the better…But in the great world people won't hear of such things. There, nobody really believes such doctrines any longer. There, you feel it a positive bliss and ecstasy merely to draw the breath of life. Mother, have you noticed that everything I have painted has turned upon the joy of life?--always, always upon the joy of life?--light and sunshine and glorious air-and faces radiant with happiness. That is why I'm afraid of remaining at home with you.
Act III
16. And the refuge for wandering mariners shall be called "Chamberlain Alving's Home,” that it shall! And if so be as I'm spared to carry on that house in my own way, I make so bold as to promise that it shall be worthy of the Chamberlain's memory.
17. Well then, child of joy as he was--for he was like a child in those days--he had to live at home here in a half-grown town, which had no joys to offer him--only dissipations. He had no object in life--only an official position. He had no work into which he could throw himself heart and soul; he had only business. He had not a single comrade that could realise what the joy of life meant--only loungers and boon companions - Your poor father found no outlet for the overpowering joy of life that was in him. And I brought no brightness into his home.
18. Yes, but she was one of that sort, all the same. Oh, I've often suspected it; but--And now, if you please, ma'am, may I be allowed to go away at once? A poor girl must make the best of her young days, or she'll be left out in the cold before she knows where she is. And I, too, have the joy of life in me, Mrs. Alving!
19. Everything you point to you shall have, just as when you were a little child.--There now. The crisis is over. You see how easily it passed! Oh, I was sure it would.--And do you see, Oswald, what a lovely day we are going to have? Brilliant sunshine! Now you can really see your home. [She goes to the table and puts out the lamp. Sunrise. The glacier and the snow-peaks in the background glow in the morning light.]
20. [Sits motionless as before and says.] The sun.--The sun.
General Rubric for Mr. Pellerin’s English
Classes
(Based on the Advanced Placement Literature
Rubric)
Overview: The score that you are assigned will reflect the quality of the essay as
a whole—its content, its style, its mechanics.
I reward the writers for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written
essay may be raised a half step above the otherwise appropriate score (i.e.
from an A- to an A). In no case may a
poorly written essay be scored higher than a D.
9-8 A
These essays offer a well-focused and persuasive analysis of the
assigned prompt. Using apt and
specific textual support, these essays fully explore the assigned prompt and
demonstrate what it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Although not without flaws, these essays
make a strong case for their interpretation and discuss the literary work
with significant insight and understanding.
Generally, essays scored an A reveal more sophisticated analysis and
more effective control of language than do essays scored an A-.
7-6 B
These essays offer a reasonable analysis of the assigned prompt, and
what it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. These essays show insight and
understanding, but the analysis is less thorough, less perceptive, and/or
less specific in supporting detail than that of the A essays. Generally, essays scored a B+ present
better developed analysis and more consistent command of the elements of
effective composition than do essays scored a B or B-.
5 C
These essays respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading, but
they tend to be superficial or underdeveloped in analysis. They often rely upon plot summary that
contains some analysis, implicit or explicit.
Although the writers attempt to discuss the assigned prompt and how
the relationship contributes to the work as a whole, they may demonstrate a
rather simplistic understanding of the work.
The essays demonstrate adequate control of language, but they may lack
effective organization and may be marred by surface errors.
4-3 D
These lower-half essays offer a less than thorough understanding of the
task or a less than adequate treatment of it.
They reflect an incomplete or over simplified understanding of the
work, or they may fail to address the assigned prompt directly. They may not address or develop a response
to how it contributes to the work as a whole, or they may rely on plot
summary alone. Their assertions may be
unsupported or even irrelevant. Often
wordy, elliptical, or repetitious, these essays may lack control over the
elements of composition. Essays scored
a D- may contain significant misreading and demonstrate inept writing.
2-1 F
Although these essays make some attempt to respond to the prompt, they
compound the weaknesses of the papers in the D range. Often, they are unacceptably brief or are
incoherent in presenting ideas. They
may be poorly written on several counts and contain distracting errors in
grammar and mechanics. The writer’s
remarks are presented with little clarity, organization, or supporting
evidence.
Ten Steps to writing an effective essay every
time
1.Read and Read and Read Prompt: Whatever you choose, make sure to think about
every facet of the question. Read over
and over again. Think. Digest what you are about to accomplish.
2.Return to the text.
Return to your blog responses, journal, and class notes. Go back and look your work again with the
prompt in mind. How is everything new now that you are seeing the plays with
the prompt in mind?
3.Rehearse.
What? Yes! Rehearse and perform a verbal essay using the
prompt and the works. How would you
address a jury of your peers with you proposed thesis? What evidence would you use?
4.Find your Evidence:
Find and cite valuable passages for each of the parts of the above
prompt. Go to the net and cut and paste
at least 10-12 passages and or quotations to use in your piece into a word
document.
5.So what’s your point?
Thesis statement: The questions in
the prompt are guiding your essay. Look at your 10 major passages and ask
yourself…what message am I taking away from this reading experience? Write a solid one sentence thesis statement of
purpose.
6.Organization: Look
at the list of quotations and organize the quotations into the paragraphs. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO JUMP AROUND. JUMP AROUND.
JUMP UP, JUMP UP AND GET DOWN!
7.Your thesis and 10 Quotations. Your complete thesis is the heading and the
10 quotations should be arranged in the order you would use them in your
argument.
8.Compose body paragraphs: Using the prompt and your accompanying
quotations - start writing your essay.
Make sure you come to some sort of conclusion in the third
paragraph. You may even have a brief
conclusion as another paragraph.
9.Read your essay over: The professor’s eyes should not be the
first set of eyes to read your essay.
Make sure it is solid. Read it
out loud.
10.Compose your introduction: Keep it brief and make sure the thesis
statement you wrote is the last sentence.
I will give you a prompt and you will have the block to compose an essay. Please bring your computers. You will post the essay to Turnitin.com. If you will not be here, you may make this up after or before the break. NO HOMEWORK OVER THE VACATION BREAK!!!
In your journal, please compose a comprehensive response detailing your personal experiences with ghosts. How do past memories look different now that you understand the concept of ghosts? How are the events you see in the media examples of ghosts? How can we exorcise those ghosts? In this blog space, please compose a brief response to share with your classmates from your journal about ghosts.
We are going to be engaging in project with Shared Studios (Below you will find a link to the website).
For homework, please explore the website and get a sense of the possibilities. My goal is to reach out to a group of people from another part of the world and share our experiences with literature together. Further, I am hoping to open this up to the faculty and see if we can see this work on a school wide scale.
In this blog space, please interact and brainstorm ideas that we could do as a class in a Shared Studio. We will discuss this further in class on Tuesday, when we meet again.
The following passage is an
excerpt from Ghosts, a play by Henrik
Ibsen, produced in 1881. Read the
passage carefully. Then write a
well-organized essay in which you analyze how the playwright reveals his values
with regard to the nature of the society through symbolic characters. NOTE: Take as much time as want. We will concern ourselves with composing essays in 40 minutes in Term 3.
OSWALD. My
stay is indefinite, sir.-But, ah! It is good to be at home! MRS. ALVING. [Beaming.] Yes, isn't
it, dear? MANDERS. [Looking sympathetically at
him.] You went out into the world early, my dear Oswald. OSWALD. I did. I sometimes wonder
whether it wasn't too early. MRS. ALVING. Oh, not at all. A
healthy lad is all the better for it; especially when he's an only child. He
oughtn't to hang on at home with his mother and father, and get spoilt. MANDERS. That is a very disputable
point, Mrs. Alving. A child's proper place is, and must be, the home of his
fathers. OSWALD. There I quite agree with
you, Pastor Manders. MANDERS. Only look at your own
son--there is no reason why we should not say it in his presence--what has the
consequence been for him? He is six or seven and twenty, and has never had the
opportunity of learning what a well-ordered home really is. OSWALD. I beg your pardon, Pastor;
there you're quite mistaken. MANDERS. Indeed? I thought you had
lived almost exclusively in artistic circles. OSWALD. So I have. MANDERS. And chiefly among the
younger artists? OSWALD. Yes, certainly. MANDERS. But I thought few of those
young fellows could afford to set up house and support a family. OSWALD. There are many who cannot
afford to marry, sir. MANDERS. Yes, that is just what I
say. OSWALD. But they may have a home for
all that. And several of them have, as a matter of fact; and very pleasant, well-ordered
homes they are, too.
[MRS. ALVING follows with
breathless interest; nods, but says nothing.]
MANDERS. But
I'm not talking of bachelors' quarters. By a "home" I understand the
home of a family, where a man lives with his wife and children. OSWALD. Yes; or with his children
and his children's mother. MANDERS. [Starts; clasps his hands.]
But, good heavens-- OSWALD. Well? MANDERS. Lives with--his children's
mother! OSWALD. Yes. Would you have him turn
his children's mother out of doors? MANDERS. Then it is illicit
relations you are talking of! Irregular marriages, as people call them! OSWALD. I have never noticed
anything particularly irregular about the life these people lead. MANDERS. But how is it possible that
a--a young man or young woman with any decency of feeling can endure to live in
that way?--in the eyes of all the world! OSWALD. What are they to do? A poor
young artist--a poor girl-- marriage costs a great deal. What are they to do? MANDERS. What are they to do? Let me
tell you, Mr. Alving, what they ought to do. They ought to exercise
self-restraint from the first; that is what they ought to do.
OSWALD. That
doctrine will scarcely go down with warm-blooded young people who love each other. MRS. ALVING. No, scarcely! MANDERS. [Continuing.] How can the
authorities tolerate such things! Allow them to go on in the light of day!
[Confronting MRS. ALVING.] Had I not cause to be deeply concerned about your
son? In circles where open immorality prevails, and has even a sort of
recognized position--! OSWALD. Let me tell you, sir, that I
have been in the habit of spending nearly all my Sundays in one or two such
irregular homes-- MANDERS. Sunday of all days! OSWALD. Isn't that the day to enjoy
one's self? Well, never have I heard an offensive word, and still less have I witnessed
anything that could be called immoral. No; do you know when and where I have
come across immorality in artistic circles? MANDERS. No, thank heaven, I don't! OSWALD. Well, then, allow me to
inform you. I have met with it when one or other of our pattern husbands and
fathers has come to Paris to have a look round on his own account, and has done
the artists the honour of visiting their humble haunts. They knew what was
what. These gentlemen could tell us all about places and things we had never
dreamt of. MANDERS. What! Do you mean to say
that respectable men from home here would--? OSWALD. Have you never heard these
respectable men, when they got home again, talking about the way in which immorality
runs rampant abroad? MANDERS. Yes, no doubt-- MRS. ALVING. I have too. OSWALD. Well, you may take their
word for it. They know what they are talking about! [Presses his hands to his
head.] Oh! That that great, free, glorious life out there should be defiled in such
a way! MRS. ALVING. You mustn't get
excited, Oswald. It's not good for you. OSWALD. Yes; you're quite right,
mother. It's bad for me, I know. You see, I'm wretchedly worn out. I shall go
for a little turn before dinner. Excuse me, Pastor: I know you can't take my
point of view; but I couldn't help speaking out. [He goes out by the second
door to the right.]
Please read and respond to Act I of Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. How does Ibsen use dialogue, characterization, and symbolism to teach us philosophy? Use direct examples from the text. Also, end your response with a question for class discussion.
Directions: Please read the following poems. All the poems connect to the thematic elements of A Doll House and Ghosts. Please respond to the 1-2 poems in a response. Think about theme, form, and the use of tone.
Poems:
Marge
Piercy, Barbie Doll
Richard
Wilbur, A Barred Owl
Billy
Collins, The History Teacher
Taylor
Mali, Like, Totally Whatever
Jan
Heller Levi, Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad
Theodore
Roethke, My Papa’s Waltz
Eric
Pellerin, Death of a Timeshare Salesman
Barbie
Doll
by Marge Piercy
This
girlchild was born as usual
and
presented dolls that did pee-pee
and
miniature GE stoves and irons
and
wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then
in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You
have a great big nose and fat legs.
She
was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed
strong arms and back,
abundant
sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She
went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone
saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She
was advised to play coy,
exhorted
to come on hearty,
exercise,
diet, smile and wheedle.
Her
good nature wore out
like
a fan belt.
So
she cut off her nose and her legs
and
offered them up.
In
the casket displayed on satin she lay
with
the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a
turned-up putty nose,
dressed
in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't
she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation
at last.
To
every woman a happy ending.
A
Barred Owl
by Richard Wilbur
The
warping night air having brought the boom
Of
an owl’s voice into her darkened room,
We
tell the wakened child that all she heard
Was
an odd question from a forest bird,
Asking
of us, if rightly listened to,
“Who
cooks for you?” and then “Who cooks for you?”
Words,
which can make our terrors bravely clear,
Can
also thus domesticate a fear,
And
send a small child back to sleep at night
Not
listening for the sound of stealthy flight
Or
dreaming of some small thing in a claw
Borne
up to some dark branch and eaten raw.
The
History Teacher by Billy Collins
Trying
to protect his students' innocence
he
told them the Ice Age was really just
the
Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when
everyone had to wear sweaters.
And
the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named
after the long driveways of the time.
The
Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than
an outbreak of questions such as
"How
far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What
do you call the matador's hat?"
The
War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and
the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom
on
Japan.
The
children would leave his classroom
for
the playground to torment the weak
and
the smart,
mussing
up their hair and breaking their glasses,
while
he gathered up his notes and walked home
past
flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering
if they would believe that soldiers
in
the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed
to make the enemy nod off.
Totally
like whatever, you know? by Taylor Mali
In
case you hadn’t noticed,
it
has somehow become uncool
to
sound like you know what you’re talking about?
Or
believe strongly in what you’re saying?
Invisible
question marks and parenthetical (you know?)’s
have
been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even
when those sentences aren’t, like, questions? You know?
Declarative
sentences—so called
because
they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true, okay,
as
opposed to other things are, like, totally, you know, not—
have
been infected by a totally hip
and
tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like,
don’t think I’m uncool just because I’ve noticed this;
this
is just like the word on the street, you know?
It’s
like what I’ve heard?
I
have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I’m
just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?
What
has happened to our conviction?
Where
are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have
they been, like, chopped down
with
the rest of the rain forest?
Or
do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has
society become so, like, totally . . .
I
mean absolutely . . . You know?
That
we’ve just gotten to the point where it’s just, like . . .
whatever!
And
so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is
just a clever sort of . . . thing
to
disguise the fact that we’ve become
the
most aggressively inarticulate generation
to
come along since . . .
you
know, a long, long time ago!
I
entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I
challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To
say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the
determination with which you believe it.
Because
contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it
is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You
have to speak with it, too.
Not
Bad, Dad, Not Bad by Jan Heller Levi
I
think you are most yourself when you are swimming;
slicing
the water with each stroke,
the
funny way you breathe, your mouth cocked
as
though you’re yawning.
You’re
neither fantastic nor miserable
at
getting from here to there.
You
wouldn’t win any medals, Dad,
but
you wouldn’t drown.
I
think how different everything might have been
had
I judged your loving
like
I judge your sidestroke, your butterfly,
your
Australian crawl.
But
I always thought I was drowning
in
that icy ocean between us,
I
always thought you were moving too slowly to save me,
Directions: Chose one of the following prompts and compose an essay, using A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen as your primary source. Write an essay to the best of your ability using direct quotations from the text in your writing. You may make references to the alternative ending in your piece.
A.P. E. Prompts
1983. From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2014. It has often been said that what we value can be determined only by what we sacrifice. Consider how this statement applies to a character from a novel or play. Select a character that has deliberately sacrificed, surrendered, or forfeited something in a way that highlights that character’s values. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the particular sacrifice illuminates the character’s values and provides a deeper understanding of the meaning of the work as a whole.
Major Quotations from A Doll House
Act I
1. That is like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt. We two have kept bravely on the straight road so far, and we will go on the same way for the short time longer that there need be any struggle.
2. No, indeed; I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for any more. (Gets up restlessly.) That is why I could not stand the life in my little backwater any longer. I hope it may be easier here to find something which will busy me and occupy my thoughts. If only I could have the good luck to get some regular work--office work of some kind--
3. Do you still think I am of no use? I can tell you, too, that this affair has caused me a lot of worry. It has been by no means easy for me to meet my engagements punctually….. Well, then I have found other ways of earning money. Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do; so I locked myself up and sat writing every evening until quite late at night. Many a time I was desperately tired; but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.
4. The matter never came into court; but every way seemed to be closed to me after that. So I took to the business that you know of. I had to do something; and, honestly, don't think I've been one of the worst. But now I must cut myself free from all that. My sons are growing up; for their sake I must try and win back as much respect as I can in the town. This post in the Bank was like the first step up for me--and now your husband is going to kick me downstairs again into the mud.
5. Just think how a guilty man like that has to lie and play the hypocrite with everyone, how he has to wear a mask in the presence of those near and dear to him, even before his own wife and children. And about the children--that is the most terrible part of it all.
Act II
6. Do you think so? Do you think they would forget their mother if she went away altogether?
7. Come what will, you may be sure I shall have both courage and strength if they be needed. You will see I am man enough to take everything upon myself.
8. Do you think he is the only one - who would gladly give his life for your sake?
9. That was really horrid of you…. to go and tell me so. There was really no need - to think you could be so clumsy! We were getting on so nicely.
10. Most of us think of that at first. I did, too - but I hadn't the courage.
11. You should have let it alone; you must prevent nothing. After all, it is splendid to be waiting for a wonderful thing to happen.
Act III
12. When I lost you, it was as if all the solid ground went from under my feet. Look at me now - I am a shipwrecked man clinging to a bit of wreckage.
13. I could not endure life without work. All my life, as long as I can remember, I have worked, and it has been my greatest and only pleasure. But now I am quite alone in the world--my life is so dreadfully empty and I feel so forsaken. There is not the least pleasure in working for one's self. Give me someone and something to work for.
14. At the next fancy-dress ball I shall be invisible.
15. Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake.
16. Now you have destroyed all my happiness. You have ruined all my future. It is horrible to think of! I am in the power of an unscrupulous man; he can do what he likes with me, ask anything he likes of me, give me any orders he pleases - I dare not refuse. And I must sink to such miserable depths because of a thoughtless woman!
17. When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you… I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours….You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life.
18. I have other duties just as sacred…..Duties to myself.
19. I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are - or, at all events, that I must try and become one. I know quite well that most people would think you right, and that views of that kind are to be found in books; but I can no longer content myself with what most people say, or with what is found in books. I must think over things for myself and get to understand them.
20. The most wonderful thing of all?
Alternate Ending of A Doll House
NORA. ... Where we could make a real marriage out of our lives together. Goodbye. [Begins to go.]
HELMER. Go then! [Seizes her arm.] But first you shall see your children for the last time!
NORA. Let me go! I will not see them! I cannot!
HELMER [draws her over to the door, left]. You shall see them. [Opens the door and says softly.] Look, there they are asleep, peaceful and carefree. Tomorrow, when they wake up and call for their mother, they will be - motherless.
NORA [trembling]. Motherless...!
HELMER. As you once were.
NORA. Motherless! [Struggles with herself, lets her travelling bag fall, and says.] Oh, this is a sin against myself, but I cannot leave them. [Half sinks down by the door.]
Please finish reading A Doll House, Act III and respond in this space. Please include insights and questions for Monday's class discussion. I look forward to your responses.
Please read Act 2, and respond in this blog space. Please consider the following ways to respond:
* Choose a direct quotation from Act 2 and couple it with a quotation from Act 1.
* Can you explain what is going on in the minds of Nora and Dr. Rank in the "silk stocking" scene?
* Do you have any questions for our class discussion (I'd like to begin with these tomorrow).
