Discussion |

Initial post of 250 words or more to one of the questions is due by Thursday. You must make a substantive and thoughtful reply post to a classmate who answers the other question, the one you do not answer, by Sunday.

Discussion Question 1

What is the setting in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”? How is the atmosphere established? What is the time period, and how can you tell?

Discussion Question 2

Consider how symbols (concrete and abstract) convey the central meaning of “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever. What do you think the story is about?

reply to this question

the reply should be 150 words min cause last time she took points off cause it was short

that what the teacher said

“The initial post is very good. The response post is a bit short and is not as in-depth an analysis as it could be.”

Question 2

John Cheever’s “The Enormous Radio” is about Jim and Irene Westcott, an ordinary middle-class family living in an apartment in New York City. Jim and Irene are different from their neighbors because of their love for music. However, Jim and Irene do not share their passion with their neighbors. Their secrecy foreshadows the couple’s relationship with their neighbors; the couple keeps to themselves but expects to know the secrets of their neighbors. One day, Jim and Irene’s radio breaks. Jim buys Irene a peculiar, and enormous radio that soon transmits the conversations of their neighbors. Irene begins listening in on the conversations of her neighbors and finds herself invested in their lives. At first, she begins to think highly of her situation. She saw herself as better than her neighbors because she didn’t experience their problems. Jim then pays good money to have the radio fixed. However, Jim and Irene’s personal problems about their finances come to light, with Irene staying quiet. She listens to the radio instead as she fears her neighbors would hear their problems.

The radio symbolizes knowledge. Jim and Irene often kept their hobbies and personal problems to themselves and ignored the struggles of their neighbors. They made a choice to fall blind and feign ignorance. When the radio came into their lives, it symbolized an uprooting of their ignorance and Irene’s platform. Irene placed herself above others only to realize that in the end, she is experiencing the same problems as everyone else. The radio is a tool that sheds light on Irene’s hypocrisy and superiority complex.

Essay:

Please address one of the following:

Pick one of the two topic choices below. In addition to using specific quotes from the story, you should utilize at least one additional outside credible source.

Prompts:

Topic Choice #1:

What is the nature of the conflict in John Updike’s “A&P”? What do the girls represent in the story? Why does the central narrator react to his boss’ decision to reprimand them by quitting?

Topic Choice #2:

Examine at least two examples of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. How is dramatic and verbal irony used to foreshadow Fortunato’s eventual demise? How do those examples relate to the theme of revenge in the story?

• Essays must be in MLA format
  • The Bedford Handbook provides a guide (MLA Chapters 48 to 51)
• Essays should be a minimum of 1,000 words
• Upload your assignment

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