Here are more examples of specific forum questions designed for particular texts. Notice the final forum assignment asks students to give their thoughts on the texts read for the semester. This lets students evaluate the texts for the course and gives the instructor some ideas about which texts may need substitution in future classes.
Forums for the Entire Class – E238
Week 2, Prompt #1: Slaughterhouse-Five
Description: Complete by Monday, 1/28, 10am. How do you define "fiction"? What experiences (i.e. previous classes, personal reading, etc.) have helped shape your definitions of "fiction"? How does SH5 fit with your expectations for fiction? and/or What influences writers? What factors, in your opinion, shape the stories writers tell?
Week 2, Prompt #2: Slaughterhouse-Five (last posting of the week)
Description: Complete by Wednesday, 10am: Consider the aspect of heroes and villains in the book. Are there both, or neither? How might this book challenge your conceptions of a “war novel” or a “war hero”? Bring in specific examples from the book to illustrate your points.
Week 3, Prompt #1: Slaughterhouse-Five
Description: Complete by Wednesday, 2/6, 11am. Slaughterhouse-Five is full of both overt and subtle biblical and religious references, especially allusions to the birth of Christ and the Crucifixion. Why are they included and why do they figure in so prominently (the book's epigraph, for example)? How do they fit in with the themes we've discussed so far (free will, war, etc.)? Try to be as specific as you can in your answers, referencing specific passages or moments in the book.
Week 3, Prompt #2: Slaughterhouse-Five (last posting of the week)
Description: Complete by Friday, 2/8, 11am. Answer any or all of the following: All in all, would you consider the film a successful adaptation of the novel? Why or why not? What were the essential differences? Did these differences alter the themes of the book? What scenes stood out for you in the film? Why? Were these different scenes that stood out for you in the book?
Week 4, Prompt #1: Slaughterhouse-Five
Description: Complete by Monday, 2/11, 11am. Think about ideas of structure (refer back to the traditional narrative structure diagram, available under the “file folder” button). What is SH5 lacking in the traditional sense of a novel, in terms of structure or otherwise? In that light, why might it be considered such a successful and innovative book? Do you think this is a work that will be read in a hundred years? In five hundred? Why or why not?
Week 4, Prompt #2: The Things They Carried (last posting of the week)
Description: Complete by Friday, 11am. Are there aspects of this book that would make you believe it’s non-fiction? That is, are these stories “true”? What does that mean, a “true” story? (And/or) Keeping in mind both the reading for Friday and “Spin” (31-38), what comments is the book making about storytelling? Do you agree with this commentary, especially in light of the fiction/non-fiction debate?
Week 5, Prompt #1: The Things They Carried
Description: Complete by Monday, 11am. What are the instructional criteria O’Brien presents in “How to Tell a True War Story”? In your opinion, does he follow his own rules in the collection? Which does he or doesn’t he follow, and when?
Week 5, Prompt #2: The Things They Carried (last posting of the week)
Description: Complete by Friday, 11am: Compare the ideas on free will presented in The Things They Carried and Slaughterhouse-Five. In what ways are the ideas themselves – or the ways they’re presented – similar or different? Be as specific as you can in referencing both texts.
Week 6, Prompt #1: The Things They Carried
Description: Complete by Monday, 11am: In Slaughterhouse Five, Mary O'Hare takes the narrator (Kurt Vonnegut) to task for (she presumes) writing war stories in which the characters "…pretend you were men instead of babies . . . . And war will look just wonderful, so we'll have lots more of them. And they'll be fought by babies like the babies upstairs" (18). What would Mary O'Hare think about The Things They Carried?
Week 6, Prompt #2: Jazz (last posting of the week)
Description: Complete by Friday, 11am: “There is no air in the City but there is breath” (34). The City plays a central role in Jazz, both as setting, catalyst, and at times seemingly a character in itself. Discuss the importance of the City from any angle you’d like. How does its presence further the themes you see emerging in the book? Be specific in your answers, referencing Jazz to illustrate your points.
Week 7, Prompt #1: Jazz
Description: Complete by Wednesday, 11am: Take one of these characters (Violet, Joe, Dorcas) and write a short letter to them from the point of view of the City (based on our discussions of its attributes, and your perception thereof), where the City is reflecting on this character's actions. Look back over the book and last Friday’s forum to refresh your ideas about the City.
Week 7, Prompt #2: Jazz (last posting of the week)
Description: Complete by Friday, 11am: Unlike Beloved, Morrison’s most famous work, Jazz was not an overwhelming critical success. Why do you think this was the case? Should it have been more universally well-received? That is, what do you think this book is attempting to do, and does it achieve it? (You may reference Beloved if you've read it, but it's not necessary.)
Week 8 - No Forums
Description: no forums
Week 9, Prompt #1: The Dharma Bums
Description: Complete by Wednesday, 11am: On p. 58 (about a page before the end of chapter 10), waking on the mountain and thinking of Japhy, Smith vows to himself that he will “begin a new life.” Is he sincere? That is, do you believe him? Why or why not? What have you seen to this point in the book that makes you lean either way? How’s he doing so far?
Week 9, Prompt #1: The Dharma Bums (Last Posting of the Week)
Description: Complete by Friday, 11am: Alvah, talking to Ray, says “Japhy Ryder is a great new hero in American culture” (23, or 32 in most other editions). Given what you’ve read so far and the cultural context we discussed on Wednesday (remember, the book’s written in late 1957), what are your thoughts on this statement? Do you agree or disagree? Why? Would he be a hero only to members of the “Beat Generation” (such as Alvah), or does he embody elements that are profoundly “American” at their core? Refer to specific aspects of the text and/or cultural context in your answer.
Week 10, Prompt #1: The Dharma Bums
Description: Complete by Wednesday, noon: What comparisons can you draw between The Dharma Bums and Jazz, especially in regards to form and content working together? Think specifically about the use of narrator and the prose style, and how one or both are used to further the content of each book.
Week 10, Prompt #2: After the Quake (Last Posting of the Week)
Description: Complete by Friday, noon: In the media-saturated culture in which we live, we often find ourselves at the hands of intense secondhand experience. Consider your own experience with this phenomenon – in our culture, can secondhand experience be as overwhelming as primary experience? How/Why? Komura’s wife has no obvious connection to the Kobe earthquake – why does she react as she does?
Week 12, Prompt #1: after the quake
Description: Complete by Monday(4/14), noon: Practically all of Murakami’s best-known works employ a first-person narrator, but “after the quake” employs a third-person limited narrator (one that enters the thoughts of a single character). What might be some reasons behind such an out-of-character choice by the writer? Again, consider the context of these stories and bring in specifics from the book to illustrate your response.
Week 12, Prompt #2: The Stranger (Last Posting of the Week)
Description: Complete by Friday, noon: Hemingway described his narration as: “The principle of the iceberg: 7/8ths of it is underwater for every bit that shows.” How does this principle apply to the Meursault? As narrator, what sort of insight does he share with the reader and what seems to be missing? What do these choices – what’s there and what’s expected but lacking – reveal about his character? Think about his reactions to physical stimuli (sensory observations) and what these might reveal. Point to specific passages from the text as support.
Week 13, Prompt #1: The Stranger
Description: Complete by Monday, noon: How is prison portrayed in the book? Why are people in prison? How are criminals portrayed? Is Meursault unhappy there? How can you tell? How does prison’s role as an institution fit in with themes of society and existentialism that we’ve discussed?
Week 13, Prompt #2: The Stranger (Last Posting of the Week)
Description: Complete by Wednesday, noon: It is presented that Meursault is “a monster, a man with out morals” (94). Is this a fair assessment? Does anything about the trial make you think differently about him? As the trial nears its conclusion, and the jury is deliberating, do you find yourself in any way rooting for Meursault?
Week 14, Prompt #1: Jesus' Son
Description: Complete by Monday, noon: Compare the narrator of Jesus’ Son to Meursault – do you find them similar? How? In what ways might they be different? Point to specific evidence from each book to support your answer.
Week 14, Prompt #2: Jesus' Son (Last Posting of the Week)
Description: Complete by Wednesday, noon: “Voice” is a literary term commonly referenced but difficult to pin down. What does “voice” (in literature) mean to you? How do you view it, or what does it encompass? What is the “voice” of Jesus’ Son? In discussing “voice,” feel free to reference any of the other predominantly first-person “voice-driven” works we’ve read (Jazz, Dharma Bums, The Stranger, The Things They Carried).
Essay Topic Proposal (Required)
Description: Complete by Monday, noon: Make the subject heading the title of the book you’ve decided to write about. In the body of the response explain why you chose this book, giving (and explaining) at least 3 reasons. In this case, you do not need to respond to other postings.
Evaluation of Course Texts (Required)
Description: Complete by class time on Friday. Answer both questions. 1) Which book did you think was most valuable in terms of this needs of this course? Why? Which, in your mind, produced the most worthwhile discussions? Why do you think this was the case? 2) Which book did you think was least valuable in terms of this needs of this course? Why? Which, in your mind, produced the least worthwhile discussions? Why do you think this was the case? NOTE: These questions are NOT asking which books you most liked and disliked. For this forum, you are not required to respond to other students’ postings.