Congratulations, Freshmen!
Write a personal reflection about the Fall Coffeehouse (1 page single spaced):
- TITLE: "My First SOTA Coffeehouse" Nonfiction Reflection (personal narrative)
- Write a one page personal narrative about your experience at the Coffeehouse for your portfolio.
- What were your expectations about this event? Any fears about public speaking?
- Were the rehearsal classes helpful?
- Why did you select the pieces you read?
- What did you think about other readers?
- What was your overall feeling about the event and how you "performed"?
- What did you "discover" about yourself?
The Enchanted
Go to library for The Enchanted
Read Ch. 1 and post a response to Q. 1
HMWK: Read The Enchanted to pg. 37
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/the-enchanted/excerpt
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18090147-the-enchanted
http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/9694-enchanted-denfeld
1. The novel opens with the line, "This is an enchanted place. Others don't see it but I do." The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "enchant" as, "to attract and hold the attention of (someone) by being interesting, pretty, etc.; to put a magic spell on (someone or something)." Why does the narrator call this place enchanted? What beauty does he find in his surroundings that others do not? What does this tell us about the narrator?
2. Talk about the main characters: the narrator, the lady, the priest, and York, the prisoner on death row at the center of the story. How are these characters' lives and their fates intrinsically connected? What do we learn about the lady and the priest from the narrator?
3. Why does York want to die and why does the lady want to save him? Is he worth saving? How does she go about gathering evidence to understand his case, knowledge that might prevent his execution? What propels her choice at the novel's end?
4. Think about York. What were your first impressions about him when he's introduced? As you discovered more about his story, did your outlook towards him change? How does the experience of investigating York's past affect the lady and her outlook towards York? How does it shape how she sees her own life?
5. What draws the lady and the priest to one another? Why do you think each chose the career they pursued? How do their callings sustain them emotionally? Are they good at what they do—even if the priest is himself fallen from grace?
6. What has being locked inside done to the narrator—and for him? What about some of the other prisoners he watches? Do you believe in rehabilitation? Do you think our prison system today encourages rehabilitation? Is there something else we can do besides imprison those who commit crimes?
7. One of the Ten Commandments is "thou shalt not kill." Isn't executing someone—even someone who committed a heinous crime such as taking another's life—going against morality? Why is the death penalty still used in the United States compared to most other modern democracies?
8. Do you believe that we are products of our circumstances? How much can free will mitigate terrible damage that inflicted in a person's youth, when he or she is most vulnerable and impressionable? Why do people do such terrible things to each other and to innocent children? "There is too much pain in the world, that's the problem," the lady tells the priest. What causes so much of the world's pain and can we, both individually and as a society, do to help alleviate this suffering? How much responsibility do we carry for our fellow men and women?
9. What do you think is the worst punishment that the prisoners in the novel face being locked away? "It is meaning that drives most people forward into time and it is meaning that reminds them of the past, so they know where they are in the universe. But what about men like me? For us time doesn't exist." Think about time in your life and in the narrator's. How do you respond to him? What can give a life that is not measured by the events of time real meaning? How is such a life measured? Think about not being able to touch someone or see the sky. How would that affect you for a day? A week? A year? A lifetime?
10. What happens to people when they are incarcerated? How can we make the prison system more humane? Should it be humane or do convicts, regardless of the level of their crimes, "deserve what they get"? As a society, do we see prison more as punishment or as retribution? How can we save people from having failed lives? Is it possible to save someone?
11. Do you think that death offers release for men like York and the narrator? Did they find peace?
12. Like the lady, Rene Denfeld is a fact investigator in death penalty cases. How do you think her work shaped the story? Did reading The Enchanted alter your view of prison?
13. Rene Denfeld touches on many issues and themes: Mental illness, justice, time, kindness, remorse, forgiveness, the need for love and connection, life and death itself. Choose one or two and trace them through the novel, using examples from the novel to enrich your analysis.
14. Why did you choose to read this novel? Did the novel surprise you in any way? Explain why or why not. What did you take away from reading The Enchanted?
(Questions published by the publisher.)
I think that the narrator calls the place enchanted because it is a place where he finds sanctuary.
ReplyDeleteI think the narrator calls the prison an "enchanted place" because its where he finds sanctuary from the outside world. He finds beauty in the cold, dark dungeon that the other prisoners don't see. The narrator sees little men with hammers and golden horses, and witnesses magical things. This tells us that the narrator has a very active imagination.
ReplyDeleteI think the narrator calls the prison enchanted, because hes on death row and is trying to find happiness in his last moments of life.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1.I feel like he calls the place enchanted because he sees it as a place where something interesting happens everyday
ReplyDelete2.The narrator is a guy who is aware of anything and is sort of an optimist, York is a guy who anything you says doesn't really matter in prison and wants to get out of prison,the lady is trying to help york and the priest is fallen so he can't go back to church. We learn that The lady and the priest have some relation.
ReplyDelete1. I think the narrator calls the prison enchanted because he is on a death row, and the prison helps him find a safe place and the things that he notices helps him take his mind off of the bad things that happens inside the prison.
ReplyDelete2. The lady is a lawyer, a therapist type of person who all of the inmates seem to admire. The priest is non-hopeful, he doesn't want to leave the prison. York is a very smart inmate, and is still waiting for his death row. They are all connected by the jail and they are all on death row except for the lady.
3. York wants to die because he feels meaningless. York is worth saving, but he doesn't feel as if he is.
4. Reading this at first, I thought that York was gonna be one of those like very intelligent wise people that gives good advice like the people in the movies, but further on reading, I think he's a little a crazy.
1. I believe that the narrator called the prison an "enchanted place" because its a place where he feels comfort since he's on death row.
ReplyDelete2. The narrator is creative and has find comfort in the little things. They love reading and finding little things in the books that relate to their life. York on death row doesn't wanna be saved he would rather get executed. I think its because he's tired of living in that prison so he's kinda given up so he would just rather die. The priest is a fallen priest so he can't work at a church because he's not accepted into the catholic church. He must have did something to not be accepted. The lady is very sweet and smiles a lot. Something must have happened in the past because she's scared to go up the stairs and it talks about how she didn't get catcalled finally going down the cells.
3. It doesn't say why he wants to die but I believe he wants to die because he's given up. He probably believes that there is no longer no point in living. While the lady wants to save him because people are protesting. She takes him to the room with the window that all the prisoners love. They love it because they finally get to see something other then brick walls and darkness.
4. I think York has been through a lot of stuff. I've only read the first chapter so I don't know a lot about his story but there's probably a lot behind him. There must be a reason for him not wanting to live anymore.
The characters, the lady, the priest, York, and the narrators lives and fates are all connected because they're all somehow trapped in the dungeon together. It's the ladies job to take on the cases of the prisoners and try to save them from their inevitable destiny. The fallen priest has lost his position in a church from an "unholy" act, so he has no choice but to work for the prison. Lastly, York and the narrator are prisoners and can't leave until their time comes to take the short walk down to the execution room, where no man returns. However, from the narrator, we learn that the lady and the priest may have some history together. I can infer this because the narrator says they talk to each other like they have a secret mutual understanding.
ReplyDeleteYork wants to die because after years of being trapped down in the dungeon, he has given up on life. He doesn't want to wait anymore for the door to his cell to pop open and the guards to drag him away. However, the lady wants to save him from himself because she has empathy for him. She believes that he deserves to live. I think York is worth saving because he is just a poor man that made a huge mistake a long time ago, and just looking for a way out of that dark place. The lady goes to his Aunt's house to gather information on what he was like in his youth.
ReplyDelete2. The lady helps find evidence to take York off of death row….York is a prisoner on death row...the priest comforts York during the process of getting him off of death row.
ReplyDelete3. York wants to die because he wants to be done suffering, he knows that he will die soon and might as well die now. The lady feels bad for him and wants him to live the rest of his life happily. He is worth saving because he is a human just like the lady, even though he may have done something wrong.
4. I felt really bad for York and his situation at the beginning of the book, now I feel even more sympathy towards him. The lady feels bad that his case is hard and hopes she can find him innocent or at least less guilty.
When York was first introduced, I thought he was a pretty mysterious character and that maybe he didn't belong in the prisoner at all. He had good hygiene and found ways to keep himself busy. However, when the lady met his Aunt and she told her the story of the Rabbit, my view of him changed. I now think York is completely insane! He enjoys violence towards innocent creatures. Discovering this, the lady is now rethinking her previous empathy for York's situation. I can infer that the lady now thinks her life is not as bad as she thinks. In the second chapter she expresses how lonely and cold her apartment is, but after hearing York's story of being abandoned by his mother and left alone at home, she doesn't think her situation is so bad.
ReplyDelete3. He doesn't why he kills people and it's the ladys job to help him. York seems like he wants love but he isn't allowed to have that.
ReplyDelete4.York seems like he has trauma and a lot of it. He seems like he actually wants to stop but it's like he has this side of him that he can't control. The lady seems to understand what he is going through and actually cares. I feel like shes grateful for having somewhat a good life.
ReplyDelete1. I think the narrator calls the place enchanted because its where the narrator feels safe at and at home.
ReplyDelete2. They lives connect because they are all helping each other in some kind of way. The narrator is in prison and calls jail his enchanted place. York has been through some stuff and is kind of weird to me.
3. York wants to die because he has the death penalty and the lady wants to save her because that's her job. I think he isn't worth saving if he doesn't want to be alive. People were protesting and that influences her work.
4.