Book Club Questions #2

Read chapters 5, 7, and 11 in How to Read Literature Like a

Professor in addition to the agreed upon section of your book
club novel. Everyone should complete #1 (a response to the
Book Club Discussion), and then choose TWO other questions
to answer thoroughly and with specific text evidence, one of
which should relate to Lit Like a Prof. These responses are
due on 10/1 (A) and 10/2 (B). These and future questions are
not necessarily exclusive to the section of the novel you are
reading. You may need to bring in information from the first section of your reading to
support some of these questions. Responses should be posted to Turnitin no later than
midnight of the day they are due.
1. Review your notes from your first Book Club meeting, and choose one response
from someone else which gave you a new insight into the book, or reinforced something
you had noted. Regardless of the type of response you choose (added insight or
reinforcement) you will add specific evidence from the novel to support your opinion. In
your response, state whose response you are critiquing, what was stated that was
worthy of comment, and then state your opinion with the added evidence.
2. After reading chapter 5 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, how would you
define intertextuality and what connections do you make between your novel and
another story?
3. When you read chapter 7 of How to Read Literature, you may begin to realize that
not only are some characters in your novel familiar, but they resemble characters from
the Bible. Write about an apparent (or not so apparent) Biblical allusion in your novel
thus far.
4. Explain how one of the characters serves as a teacher or counselor to the initiate or
future hero (or antihero as in the case of Crime and Punishment). The mentor
archetype serves as a role model or father or mother figure to the initiate by teaching
him or her a skill, guiding the protagonist, showing kindness to him when others do not,
training, testing, or gift-giving. Similarly, a confidante is someone with whom the
protagonist connects and to whom he or she may reveal a secret. Sometimes the
confidante is not a major character but aides the hero in getting past fear and sends her
or him to the next stage in the heros journey. Choose a character from the novel that
the protagonist may rely upon in some way as a mentor and/or confidante. Explain the
significance of the relationship. How does this character help the protagonist on his or
her quest?
5. After reading chapter 11 in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, you may gain a
new perspective on scenes of violence in your novel. Often times, acts of violence
signify a transgression (a crossing of a moral, social, and/or psychological boundary).

Describe the scene of violence in your novel. How does the scene
of violence contribute to the novel?

6. Gothic literature became popular in the 19th century, the time

period the three novels were written. Traits of this kind of literature
include the following:
Setting has a mysterious, decaying, secretive aspect to it. It may
be in an abandoned or rotting castle or haunted house. The
setting often contains secret passages, trap doors, secret rooms, attics, dark or hidden
staircases, and ruined sections of the dwelling. The setting often symbolizes the state
of a characters mind or the social/political state of the country.
A character is or may feel imprisoned at some point in the novel, which relates to his or
her feeling psychologically trapped.
Supernatural aspect in the form of a witch, devil, vampire or ghost, which is scary
because of its refusal to abide by laws (transgression).
Dreams or visions a character has that are emotionally-charged and reveal something
that the character is afraid to confront about him- or herself (see next question).
Archetypes (character patterns we see throughout literature) in Gothic literature include
maniacs, vampires, demons, angels, fallen angels, madwomen, persecuted maidens,
villains, bandits, the villain-hero (Dorian Gray), the outsider...
Blood as a prominent symbol for both life and death, or guilt (murder) and innocence
(redemption)
marriage as a resolution
strong moral closure
Which Gothic elements are present in your novel thus far? What do you think these
Gothic elements suggest about the authors purpose in writing this novel?
7. In many distinguished novels or plays, some of the most significant events are
mental or psychological, such as dreams. Dreams often reflect reality or uncertainties
that lurk in the mind of a character. According to the powerpoint Gothic Elements*:
The hidden knowledge of the universe and of human nature emerges through dreams
because, when the person sleeps, reason sleeps, and the supernatural, unreasonable
world can break through. Dreams in Gothic literature express the dark, unconscious
depths of the psyche that are repressed by reasontruths that are too terrible to be
comprehended by the conscious mind
*For more on this, check out the powerpoint on the weebly!
8. What does the dream in your novel depict and reveal about the dreamer? How is
this revelation significant to the novel so far? Predict what this may mean for the
dreamers future in the novel.