As you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, remember to give thanks for those who sacrificed so much to keep our country safe and free. Give thanks, too, for the many in our day who continue to serve in places of great risk and even danger.
Literature 7-8
The Slave Dancer: Read "Nick Spark Walks on Water" and the comments below. Respond complete sentences. Due Tuesday, May 26. Do not send it until then.
1. Purvis has a gift for using words. He makes jokes, exaggerates, and is talkative. We see him using this gift to tell a story. a) What is it about? b) How does it foreshadow what happens near the end of the chapter?
2. Drunkenness continues to be a problem among the sailors, while the slaves in the hold are continually moaning. How are these two facts connected?
3. Ned Grime is another "Christian" character that we don't like very much. How does Jessie describe Ned's heart on p. 63?
4. At last the enslaved people are brought up on the deck for Jessie to "dance." He spends some time telling us about their appearance, especially the nakedness of many of them. According to him, why is this nakedness so significant (it isn't their poverty)?
5. Jessie feels pity for the slaves, although there is little he can do for them. Yet at the same time, he says he hated them (p. 69). Briefly explain how both things can be true at the same time.
6. Although Jessie is outwardly very different from the enslaved Africans, it is easy for him to identify with them. Like them, he has been taken by force from his home; like them, he is trapped on the ship; like them, he is forced to do what he does not want to do; like them, he is verbally tormented; like them, he is physically beaten; like them, he is living in a nightmare. In your own words, what is the point I am trying to make here?
7. Why was Jessie whipped, and who administered the punishment?
8. The sailors routinely treat the enslaved people as if they were not people at all. Yet at the same time they often play games with the African children. How might you explain this seeming inconsistency?
9. Ben Stout is in charge of the Africans in the hold. He uses his knowledge of African languages to give them orders. According to Purvis, how else does he use this linguistic knowledge?
10. As we have already said, life onboard the ship is a living nightmare. How does Jessie "escape" (p. 74)?
11. Jessie has noticed one African boy in particular. When the little girl died and was tossed overboard, Jessie let out a cry and then locked eyes with this boy. Later, when Jessie was being whipped, he thought of him. How are the two boys linked in this chapter?
12. The chapter ends with a flurry of violence: strangling, whipping, shooting, and a man being tossed aboard alive. They are all connected. Explain what happened.
13. According to Purvis, why was Nick Spark's punishment so severe?
American Literature
A. Read "About the Author" (Archibald MacLeish) on p. 579. 1. What is his play J.B. based on? Read "About the Selection." 2. What is the meaning of the poem's title? 3. What is the main point it is trying to make?
B. Read the poem aloud or listen to it here. Answer 1-9 in "Reviewing the Selection" (p. 582).
Due Tuesday, May 26. Do not send it until then.
British Literature
Finish Lord of the Flies and respond to each remaining chapter by the end of the day. No further assignment unless you owe me work, in which case I expect to see it coming in.
C.S. Lewis
Finish That Hideous Strength in time for our Zoom session on Wednesday afternoon. You do not need to send any responses to chapters 14 to 17, so long as you have read them well. I plan to discuss them with you at the meeting. If you owe me work, you need to do it and send it in.
Luke and Acts
Read the portions of Acts 25-26 assigned below and respond in complete sentences. Due Tuesday, May 26. Do not send anything until then.
A. 25:1-12.
1. Why were the Jewish leaders so anxious to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem--the real reason?
2. What did Festus prefer to do?
3. After hearing Pau's defense, Festus decides to send him to Jerusalem after all. What was his motive?
4. How did Paul keep this from happening?
B. 25:13-22
1. Who are Agrippa and Bernice?
2. Why does Festus want to discuss Paul's case with them?
In 25:23 to 26: 23, four main things take place: 1) Festus introduces Paul's case; 2) Paul speaks of his background as a Pharisee and his persecution of the Church; 3) he retells his conversion story; 4) he speaks of his missionary activity and defends it.
C. 26:24-32
1. Why does Festus interrupt him?
2. What does Paul say to Agrippa that makes the king so uncomfortable?
3. What does Agrippa conclude about Paul's case?
Poets and Prophets
Isaiah 61 is a chapter that shines brightly even among the many other gems in this section of Isaiah. I can't tell you how much I would love to go over this chapter in person and in detail. But we simply can't do that, so instead, with due reverence for God's inscrutable providence, we will do something else.
1. Read the whole chapter or listen to it being read. You will notice that everything in the chapter relates in some way to this theme: By the power of the Spirit, God's people are restored and glorified. Why do you/we need to hear this?
2. The rhetorical power of this chapter does not just come from the many beautiful images or the biblical connotations they may suggest to us. Much of the power of the passage comes from the way the different sets of images reinforce and augment each other to form a seamless whole. Say this in your own words.
3. The first two verses are familiar to us from the NT. Read or skim Luke 4:14-30, and then respond.
a) Where does this episode take place? b) When Jesus states that this prophecy is fulfilled in their hearing, the people seem impressed. But as he continues to speak, he offends them. What were they offended by? c) What did they do in their anger?
4. Jesus quotation, which refers to various kinds of restoration, was literally fulfilled during his earthly ministry. How does it continue to apply in some way to our era?
5. Another cluster of images has to do with beautification, which overlaps with the lexical field of weddings. a) Write out a verse or portion of a verse that illustrates this well. b) Write out a verse or part of a verse from Is. 60 that fits into the same lexical field. c) Do the same for Is. 58. d) Do the same for Is. 35. e) How does these related images connect to Job 28? f) to Ps. 45? g) to Song of songs?
Due Tuesday, May 26. Do not send anything until then. We will discuss more of this chapter later.
Introduction to French
Read and respond to ch. 5 for Tuesday; ch. 6 (the end) and response for Wednesday. Those who owe me work need to get it in.
Intermediate French
No assignment for Tuesday. Enjoy a well-earned break from your French studies!
Advanced French
Finissez l'Ecclesiaste et repondez.
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