1. Warming up with three good things and our old friend, Foster:
"If we only understand Beloved on the surface level, Sethe's act of killing her daughter becomes so repugnant that sympathy for her is nearly impossible. If we lived next to her, for instance, one of us would have to move. But her action carries symbolic significance; we understand it not only as the literal action of a single, momentarily deranged woman but as an action that speaks for the experience of a face at a certain horrific moment in history, as a gesture explained by whip scars on her back that take the form of a tree, as the product of the sort of terrible choice that only characters in our great mythic stories--a Jocasta, a Dido, a Medea--are driven to make. Sethe isn't a mere woman next door but a mythic creature, one of the great tragic heroines." (Foster 91)
Take a look at the shifts in point of view in Chapters 16, 17 and 18.
- How would you describe the point of view(s) in each chapter?
- Why do you think Morrison structures it this way? What's the purpose of each chapter?
- Other ways of thinking about the above question: Why not just tell the story from Sethe's point of view? How is the story being filtered?
- How does the point of view affect the way you perceive Sethe? Does your perception shift throughout these chapters? Do you agree with Foster that Sethe comes across as a great tragic heroine?
2. Engaging in a Socratic seminar on Beloved, Chapters 16-18
3. Wrapping up with questions, epiphanies and kudos
HW:
1. For tomorrow (Nov 28): Bring in a hard (or electronic) copy of the poem you've chosen for your paper/project. You will write your metacognitive in class this day.
2. For Wednesday (Nov 29): [ADJUSTMENT] Please read the first half of Chapter 1 in Part 2 of Beloved. No reading ticket necessary.
3. For Friday (Dec 1): Finish Chapter 1 in Part 2 and complete a reading ticket for Socratic. Your ticket can encompass the entire chapter or focus on the second half--whatever works for you. Here's a challenge if you need one: Try focusing on a minor character.
3. Wrapping up with questions, epiphanies and kudos
HW:
1. For tomorrow (Nov 28): Bring in a hard (or electronic) copy of the poem you've chosen for your paper/project. You will write your metacognitive in class this day.
2. For Wednesday (Nov 29): [ADJUSTMENT] Please read the first half of Chapter 1 in Part 2 of Beloved. No reading ticket necessary.
3. For Friday (Dec 1): Finish Chapter 1 in Part 2 and complete a reading ticket for Socratic. Your ticket can encompass the entire chapter or focus on the second half--whatever works for you. Here's a challenge if you need one: Try focusing on a minor character.
Heads-up! December 6-7: Poetry papers and project are due.
