AGENDA:
Bell Work: Grammar--nouns
Go over 12 1/2 Writing Rules
HANDOUT: CLOSE READING MONTANA
Montana, 1948, prologue (and chapter one, pages 11-54)
CLOSE READING:
Guiding Questions
1. Before you even begin reading, the novel story announces in its
title the importance of its setting. What expectations are established
with this title? What do you know about Montana, about 1948, about
Montana in 1948? What do you know about novels and stories set in the
West?
2. In the prologue, the narrator, David Hayden, explains a few things:
how old he was when the story took place, how old he is now, and what
has happened since. List this information, and then speculate: why,
perhaps, is he telling the story now? What expectations does this
establish for the story to come?
3. Also in the prologue, David offers a list of images. What do these
images suggest? And what do you make of his insistence, on the
following page, that these images, and others like them, be viewed
simultaneously, not chronologically?
4. Lastly, David describes himself at the bottom of page 12 as "a
witness." What does this word mean? List all its possible meanings.
5. On page 15, David introduces the setting promised in the title. What
are the important facts, figures and details of this description? What
kind of place is Mercer County?
6. On page 16, he describes that time in his life as "a new, blessedly
peaceful era." How so? And how is this related to David's own age? (Why
is 12 more peaceful than, say 10, or 15?)
7. On the same subject, what do we already know about Mercer County that tells us to be suspicious of this idyllic description?
8. The following pages are devoted to a description of David's father,
in particular his job. In what ways does he defeat our expectations of
the typical Western lawman?
9. Along the same lines, a great deal of time is devoted to a
description his gun and holster. How does this encapsulate his failure
to conform to our image--and David's image-- of a "typical" Western
sheriff? How does Dave seem to feel about this?
10. The badge, too, gets some attention, and here David comments on
something he later learned about it (page 19). What is the significance
of his new, adult understanding of the reason his father never wore a
badge?
11. On pages 19-21, we learn that the Hayden family is something of a
dynasty in law enforcement. Later, on page 21, David describes his
father as a man "who tried to turn two ways at once." Describe this
conflict, including in your answer some thoughts on David's reference,
in the same paragraph, to his "grandfather's domain."
12. A patriarch is a father figure, one who heads a family. A
patriarchy is a society that is ruled by men. If the world of Mercer
County is a patriarchy, what values are its principle values? What is
the LAW?
13. On page 22, David lays out a second conflict. What is it?
14. Why is it significant that David and his family live "in the middle of town"? (page 23) What does this positioning suggest?
15. Comment intelligently on David's other life--his country life--at
his grandfather's ranch. Is he, like his father, a man pulled two ways?
16. What do you make of the story of the toothless Indian woman on page
25? What does it show about Bentrock, and the general attitude of
whites toward Indians? And how does this foreshadow the accusations
later made against David's uncle?
17. On the following pages, 25 to 29, David descibes Marie Little
Soldier and his feelings for her. Comment on two details: the incident,
mentioned on 29, in which he accidentally sees her naked (what else in
the story does David see that is naked?); and his remark on page 25
that "her body could be ready, at a moment's notice, for sex or work."
18. Why do you think David mentions his own encounter with chicken pox
on page 28? Hint: he's speaking of a childhood disease, suffered as an
adult.
HOMEWORK: Review Part One, finish handout for Thursday on Part One
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Montana 1948 Readings/Natalie Goldberg Test 1 "I remember"
Montana 1948 Readings/Natalie Goldberg Test 1 "I remember" Marcy Gamzon • Sep 21 (Edited Sep 21) 100 points Due Tomorrow AGENDA:...
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Alexander Liana Jocelyn Carina Emily
ReplyDelete1. 1. The expectations are that this story takes place in Montana in 1948, most likely in a country setting or western setting. Montana is located in the west so there is a lot of farmland. 1948 was Post World War 2 and America was still recovering. In Montana men were coming home from the war in 1948. Most likely in western novels there will be a lot of farmers and maybe cowboys.
2. Davis was 12 when the story took place. He is now 52 years old. Since then his mother and father have died and he had gone through these traumatic experiences. Also, Marie Little Soldier was sick and her fate is unknown. These are all things that he can’t get out of his mind and he has to let them out so he has to tell someone. It shows that the story has scarred him and changed his life. It’s a traumatic story that will stay with you.
3. These images suggest that his family was living during hard times. They are all connected and aren’t separate. They all affect each other and that is why they must be viewed simultaneously.
4. It means that he was the one that saw everything. He knew all of the information about what had happened. He had witnessed everything.
5. It’s a barren and dry land. It’s a small town. Since it takes place post World War 2, Mercer County is now in a “peaceful era”. Mercer County is a place with much farmland but very few crops. It is a quiet town and not much happens.
Nasmere Johnson, Frank Cruz, Karina Le, Alexis Jackson, Isiah Hart
ReplyDeleteCreative Grammar & Style
Ms. Gamzon
September 11th, 2014
6. On page 16, he describes that time in his life as "a new, blessedly peaceful era." How so? And how is this related to David's own age? (Why is 12 more peaceful than, say 10, or 15?)
I infer that he said this because, the effects of World War 2 has just been fading off and now America was drifting to poverty again. Also, after the men came back from fighting in the war, they wanted nothing else but to work at their farms and live a quiet life. Honestly, I don’t think its related to David’s age because he is living through the same depressing things as every other person in Bentrock.
7. On the same subject, what do we already know about Mercer County that tells us to be suspicious of this idyllic description?
We are already aware of how the Grandfather of David tended to have a strong thirst of power and took pleasure in having a higher role in the community. More importantly, now, we know of Uncle Frank’s tendencies to abuse his role as a doctor and sexually abuse some, if not all, of his Native American patients that were of female class. So, it twists the description of Bentrock being of a small friendly town, since things happening in there are far from friendly.
8. The following pages are devoted to a description of David's father, in particular his job. In what ways does he defeat our expectations of the typical Western lawman?
David was kind of disappointed in his father. Who was the sheriff but never carried a gun and didn’t do many exciting chases or shoot outs but only arrest drunks and look after the town’s youth. On page 19 the author wrote “my father didn’t fit my ideal of what he should be in his occupation”. This shows David was disappointed in his father.
9. Along the same lines, a great deal of time is devoted to a description his gun and holster. How does this encapsulate his failure to conform to our image--and David's image-- of a "typical" Western sheriff? How does Dave seem to feel about this?
It fails to describe our image because he describes the gun and holster but not about how he looks. Also Dave’s image of his father in the regular “western sheriff” image failed because Dave’s father wore Brogans and a fedora and he never carried his gun whether it was on duty or off duty.
10. The badge, too, gets some attention, and here David comments on something he later learned about it (page 19). What is the significance of his new, adult understanding of the reason his father never wore a badge?
As a child, David always wondered why having such an honorable position such as the town’s sheriff, why his father Wes never wore his badge. While maturing, David learned that the badge that his father wore was very heavy and altered the appearance of his clothing. Also, because of the weight of the badge and the metal pin, it had the potential to create massive holes in shirts, thus limiting the father’s usage of the badge.
Serita McKenzie
ReplyDeleteDan’nae Palmer
Tamaron Mc’Knight
Sammy Nazario
Kyra Majewski
11. Wes Hayden tries to turn two ways at once because his wife, Gail, wanted him to become an attorney. Meanwhile, Wes’s father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a sheriff. “If my father didn’t fit my ideal of what he should be in his occupation, he certainly didn’t fit my mother’s either.” (19). Because they were in a town where Julian had a large influence on the people and he was respected, it was like his “domain”. Because of this, Wes decides to become the sheriff.
12. The principle values of Mercer County are that men are the superior gender to women. The men are the head of the household and therefore are like the masters of the women.
13. David’s conflict is within himself. He does not fit in with the other children. He doesn’t understand how to act around other people. “I never felt as though I understood how town life worked.” (22).
14. It is significant because David’s father is the sheriff and he wants to be the center of the drama. This suggests that Wes likes to know what is going on in his town.
Isabella Watts, Ellie Sklair, Yanira Rosario, Azana Reed, and Thalia Perez
ReplyDelete15. Comment intelligently on David's other life--his country life--at his grandfather's ranch. Is he, like his father, a man pulled two ways?
David doesn’t realize that there is a difference between his grandfather’s beliefs and his dad’s beliefs. So he doesn’t know anything outside of Mercer County and prefers to be in the country at his grandpa’s ranch. “Wildness meant, to me, getting out of town and into the country.” Pg. 22
16. What do you make of the story of the toothless Indian woman on page 25? What does it show about Bentrock, and the general attitude of whites toward Indians? And how does this foreshadow the accusations later made against David's uncle?
The toothless woman was often mistreated because she is an Indian woman and not white. It shows how Bentrock is prejudice against Indians with the Indians beliefs on medicine, and how the culture is misunderstood in the town. The toothless woman may be shy and scared when she met the Hayden’s, because of the rumors of Frank. “When Marie introduced her to my mother, Marie’s mother looked at the floor and couldn’t say a word.” Pg. 25
17. On the following pages, 25 to 29, David descibes Marie Little Soldier and his feelings for her. Comment on two details: the incident, mentioned on 29, in which he accidentally sees her naked (what else in the story does David see that is naked?); and his remark on page 25 that "her body could be ready, at a moment's notice, for sex or work."
David’s feelings grew for Marie Little Soldier after seeing her get out of the shower, naked. He saw Marie differently after that. ‘’as if all that body could be ready, at a moment’s notice, for sex or work.” Pg. 25. David is telling the reader before the truth came out about Frank abusing Indians (he was giving a hint) it shows how he was thinking back on pass experience and what he thought of Indians and their body.
18. Why do you think David mentions his own encounter with chicken pox on page 28? Hint: he's speaking of a childhood disease, suffered as an adult.
David mentioned his encounter with chicken pox because it doesn’t make sense how Marie got sick when she is in the Hayden’s germ free household due to his germ phobic mom. “It sounds silly, but it must have worked. We were seldom sick, and I did not get the usual childhood diseases until I left home.” Pg. 27-28