Fahrenheit 451 - The Sieve and The Sand: Study Questions and Vocabulary (11/28/16)

The Sieve and The Sand – Study Questions

Directions: Please answer the following questions in Google Docs. Your responses are due on Wednesday, 12/7/16 by 3 pm.

1. As Guy and Mildred read the books, what is Mildred doing, and why?
2. What does Mildred say about why the television is better than books? What does she mean? Do you agree with her? Why or why not? What is the essential difference between books and television?
2. Why do you think Faber gave Montag his name and phone number?
3. How do you think Montag would respond to Mildred’s question about which is more
important—her, or Montag’s books?
4. What is the message of the passage that Guy is reading aloud from a book?
5. To whom does Guy connect this idea?
6. What does Guy say about wealth and poverty, and their nation and the world?
7. What do you think is the meaning of the title of Part Two (“The Sieve and the Sand”)?
8. Why does Montag visit Faber?
9. What does Montag mean when he tells Faber that his wife is dying?
10. What three things does Faber say are missing from their society? Explain the importance of
these things.
11. What has Faber invented, and why is it important?
12. What disturbing things do the women in Montag’s parlor say to each other?
13. Why does Montag start reading poetry to the women? How do they react, and why?
14. What does Beatty say to Montag after he shows up at the firehouse? What is he trying to do? What does he know about Montag that gives him an advantage?
15. Why do you think Faber trusted a fireman to know his home address, when that fireman clearly knows he has an illegal book hidden in his coat right at that moment, and can quote poetry? In their brief interaction, what might have led Faber to believe he could trust Guy with that information?
16. Why does Guy call Faber on a secondary phone instead of on the main phone line?
17. What odd questions does Guy ask Faber over the phone?
18. After Mildred tells Guy that the ladies are coming over, what does Guy say to Mildred about one of the books he has, and what is her immediate response?
19. When Guy tells Mildred that the Bible he has may be the last one left in this part of the world, what does she remind him about?
20. What does Guy tell Mildred about what Beatty knows and what he does not know? What moral dilemma does this create for Guy?
21. Why is Guy nervous about turning in just one particular book to Beatty?
22. What does Guy visualize will happen when he brings a book to Beatty?
23. What does Guy think is the only thing left for him to do?
24. What does Mildred’s last comment to Guy before he leaves the house tell us about her character?
25. What mean trick had a cruel cousin of his played on Guy when he was a child, and why does Guy mentally compare that memory to what he’s trying to accomplish on the suction train before he gets to the firehouse and Captain Beatty?

The Sieve and The Sand - Vocabulary Words

Directions: Please define the following words in Google Docs.
Your responses are due on Monday, 12/5/16 by 7:55 am on index cards.

peer (the verb form of the word)
subside
sieve
strew
insidious
treason
linguist
accord
disperse
filigree
invigorate
manifest
cite
verbiage
rebut
beatific
tyranny
vantage
displace
halt

The Hearth and The Salamander - Study Questions and Vocabulary (10/24/16)

The Hearth and the Salamander – Study Questions

Directions: Please answer the following questions in Google Docs. Your responses are due on Tuesday, 11/1/16 by 8 am.

1. Describe the mechanical hound.
2. What did Montag believe had been done to the hound?
3. Why was Clarisse considered anti-social?
4. Who gave Clarisse most of her information about the way life used to be?
5. Who was Captain Beatty?
6. How did the firemen know which houses had books?
7. What lie did Captain Beatty tell Montag?
8. What did Montag do in the old lady’s attic?
9. Why were the alarms to burn always at night?
10. Why the did the old woman light the match and commit suicide?
11. What happened to Clarisse? Was it an accident?
12. What was Montag afraid Captain Beatty would discover when he came to visit?
13. Why did Captain Beatty believe books should be destroyed?
14. What did Montag show Mildred after the captain had left her house?

The Heart and the Salamander - Vocabulary Words

Directions: Please define the following words on index cards.
Your responses are due on Thursday, 10/27/16 in class.

Stolid
erected
Refracted
proclivities
Imperceptibly
odious
Pulverized
ravenous
Melancholy
pratfall
Capillary
dictum
Multifaceted
noncombustible
Ballistics
tactile

The Cask of Amontillado - Discussion Questions (9/27/16)

Directions: Please respond to the following questions in Googledocs. Your responses are due on Monday, 10/3/16.

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a chilling story, but Poe also uses humorous elements as the narrator recounts his experience with Fortunato.

1) Can you identify elements in the story that might be regarded as humorous?
2) What does the humor add to the story?
3) an you think of any other stories, books, or movies that blend horror and humor in a similar way?

"The Cask of Amontillado" uses a first-person narrator (a narrator that is a character in the story), and, sometimes, first-person narrators can be unreliable.

4) How reliable or unreliable do you regard the narrator?
5) Are there any ways that the narrator might be manipulating the truth?
6) How would you describe the narrator's attitude toward himself and his actions?

Although the narrator seems to assume that his actions are justified, he certainly can be interpreted as a villain.

7) What characteristics of the narrator make him an effective villain?
8) Can you think of any other villains from stories, books, television shows, movies, or "real life" that share some of the narrator's villainous characteristics?
9) Is there anything about the narrator that you find attractive or likeable?

The narrator never specifies why he hates Fortunato. Instead, he states only that Fortunato caused "a thousand injuries" to the narrator and eventually "ventured upon insult."

10) What is your general impression of Fortunato?
11) Do any of Fortunato's words and actions support the narrator's belief that Fortunato is worthy of hatred?
12) Do any of Fortunato's words and actions refute the narrator's belief that Fortunato is worthy of hatred?

Every story must exist in a certain time and place, and we refer to the time and place of a story as the "setting."

13) How does the setting of "The Cask of Amontillado" change as the story progresses?
14) Why do you think Poe chose to bring together in this story the dreariness of the catacombs and the festival atmosphere of the carnival?
15) What elements of the setting in this story would you consider typical of a horror story? What elements seem unusual?

"Theme" can be defined as "a comment about the human condition that a writer makes through his or her work," and a theme or themes are often what make a work of literature relevant to all of our lives.

16) Can you identify one or more themes in "The Cask of Amontillado"? In other words, can you identify any general comments about life and the human condition that Poe is suggesting through the specifics of this story?
17) Can you think of any other stories, books, or movies that convey a similar theme?
18) Discuss the references to “the brotherhood” and “the masons.”
19) How does Poe increase the elements of suspense as Fortunato is gradually walled into the catacombs?
20) Examine the very last paragraph of the story – especially (1) the phrase, “My heart grew sick …” and (2) the very last sentence.

The Cask of Amontillado - Essay Question for Test (9/29/16)

The question below refers to the selection “The Cask of Amontillado.”

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor seems so intent upon revenge that readers might question his state of mind. Explain whether you think Montresor is a reliable narrator or an unreliable narrator. Construct a response that explains your answer. Support your ideas with details from the story. You will be expected to use notes and your writing guide to receive full credit for your response.

“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length - I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”

The Cask of Amontillado - Vocabulary (9/28/16)

Please define the words and include their part of speech and origin.
You must bring in your definitions on index cards on Wednesday, 10/5/16.

Here is an example of how I want this to look:
etymology (noun): the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. (Origin: late Middle English: from Old French ethimologie, via Latin from Greek etumologia, from etumologos ‘student of etymology,’ from etumon, neuter singular of etumos ‘true.’)

Precluded
Impunity
Retribution
Immolation
Connnoisseurship
Impose
Recoiling
Endeavored
Obstinate
Succession
Rampart
Puncheons
Sconces
Rheum
Motley

The Most Dangerous Game - Vocabulary (9/14/16)

These vocabulary words will be on your quiz for this story.
Please write the words, their origins, and their definitions on index cards and bring them to class on Friday, 9/16/16.
I will be checking them at the beginning of class.

1) dread
2) palpable
3) cannibal
4) tanglible
5) cultivated
6) aristocrat
7) refectory
8) scruples
9) barbarous
10) sallow
11) ennui
12) thicket
13) zealous
14) pungent
15) cower

The Most Dangerous Game - Study Questions (9/14/16)

The Most Dangerous Game
by Richard Connell

Directions: Please answer the following questions in complete sentences. Please type your answers. This assignment is due on Friday, 9/16/16. There will be a quiz on the story on Wednesday, 9/21/16.

You are to submit these responses in GOOGLEDOCS and share them with the following email address: ROOM316CAPA@GMAIL.COM
Please be sure to title your document "The Most Dangerous Game - Study Questions"


1) What caused Rainsford to believe Zaroff knew he was hiding in the tree? Do you think he was right? Give reasons.

2) How does Zaroff stock his island with 'game'?

3) What happened to General Zaroff at the end of the story?

4) In spite of being hurt, Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on his 'Malay mancatcher', why?

5) How do we know Rainsford is an exceptionally fit man?

6) Do you agree that hunting is the 'best sport in the world'?

7) Do you agree with Zaroff that 'instinct is no match for reason'?

8) Why has Zaroff chosen an island for his sport?

9) To what extent does the author use descriptions of Zaroff's looks to define his character?

10) Do you think Rainsford's attitude towards hunting changes through the story?

The Widening Gap (Journal #2, Marking Period 1)

At the outset of the story, one character says, " The world is made up of two classes - the hunters and the huntees."

Do you agree with this idea? How does this idea manifest itself in the modern world?
What are some examples of this in our own society?

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Summer Reading: Possible Essay Questions (9/9/16)

Four of these questions will appear on the test. Prepare enough material to answer any one of them.

What characters serve as positive role models for Maya? Specifically, how does Maya come to her conclusions about the strength of black women?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography, but it also has its fair share of fiction. How important are the facts when it comes to telling the truth?

Why is the prologue separate from the rest of the novel, and what is its significance?

Do you think readers today interpret this book differently than readers did in 1969? How so?

What other books have you read that treat the issues of race and sexuality as frankly as Caged Bird? What's different about Angelou's take?

How did Maya’s relationships with Big Bailey and Daddy Clidell differ? How does her relationship with Big Bailey compare with her relationship with Vivian?

How does friendship with Louise change Maya?

What is the significance of Maya’s confrontation with Mrs. Cullinan?

No One Knows What It's Like (Journal #1, Marking Period 1)

Some of the most exciting narratives pit villain against hero in a life-or-death struggle. The tension in such stories often depends as much on the character of the bad guy or gal as on that of the hero. Write a few sentences describing a villain from a novel, story, or movie. Why does this character fascinate you?