October 3: Homer, The Iliad, Books 11-17; Ernest Hemingway, "A Natural History of the Dead"

October 10: Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, read to pg. 147, Chapter XIV (pick one)

1. What is wrong with Jake? As a fighter pilot in WWI he suffered a war wound that has left him impotent. How does this wound affect him psychologically, as an expatriate living in Paris in the 1920s?   Why does he drink so much? What is his outlook on his wounding or his experience of the war? Does he ever revel this? Does Jake's war experience distinguish his views on masculine behavior in relation to, say, Robert Cohn, who was never in the war? What are Jake's relations with women?  What is his relationship with Bret Ashley? Does he love her? If so why can't they be together? Why does the thought of her frustrate him so?  Discuss Jake Barnes' outlook on life, love, and the war in the early chapters of The Sun Also Rises.

October 17: Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, read to end; Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony

1. Once the action of the novel moves to Pamplona, we are carried into the mad world of the fiesta, where everyone seems to get out of hand.  We also are introduced to the bullfights, an activity that Jake seems to relish.  Why does Jake like the bullfights?  What are the elements of the fight that he describes?  What are his attitudes toward the bullfighters?  What kind of men are bullfighters in general or Pedro Romero specifically?  Does the manliness of the bullfighter provide Jake with a model for his own masculinity?  Is Jake attracted to Pedro?  Why is Brett attracted to Pedro?  Do Jake and Brett share a mutual attraction?  Describe the importance of the bullfights and bullfighters to Jake and to his sense of manliness.

2. In the end of the novel, Jake seems to have returned to his life with Brett, to the same old relationship that cause him so much frustration earlier in the novel.  Why does Jake return to Brett?  Has their relationship changed in any way?  Is their love more sustainable, more "do-able" than before the fiesta?  Has Brett changed?  Is she no longer the "bitch" she says she was?  Has Jake changed?  Doomed to repeat the failures of his love life with Brett?  What does Jake mean by the last line of the novel?  Discuss the ending of the novel and the fate of Jake and Brett's relationship.

October 24: Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony; Walt Whitman, "Come Up from the Fields Father"; Siegfried Sassoon, "The Hero," "The Glory of Women"

Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (Can also be turned in for credit by November 7th)

1. The narrative structure of Ceremony in some ways resembles a quest in which the hero, Tayo, is in search of emotional and spiritual healing. The ceremony of the title can refer to many things, not the least of which is the ritual performance that Tayo must undergo in order to be "healed." What does this process of healing entail? What does Tayo do in following the ceremony? What role dos Betonie play in the ritual? What sort of obstacle must Tayo face in his search for healing? What must he do to erase the wounds of his wartime experiences? Is his quest successful? Is he healed and, if so, how? Describe the "ceremony" that Tayo undergoes to heal his psychic and spiritual wounds.

2. Tayo could be said to resemble Jake Barnes in that both are war wounded veterans in search of some emotional or psychological healing. Yet, Tayo's individual search is somehow linked to the larger quest of his community to find spiritual or psychic wholeness. In other words, it's not just about Tayo, but about the Laguna Pueblo people. How is the individual's search linked to the well-being of the community as a whole? How do the fragments of myth and traditional stories link Tayo's personal saga to the larger struggles of the Laguna Pueblo people? Like Tayo, is the community healed at the end of the novel? If so, how? Discuss the connection between Tayo's spiritual quest, his ceremony, and that of the Laguna Pueblo community, the Laguna Pueblo people.