Thursday, September 16, 2004

Book 3 questions

What, if any, is the significance to V becomming the voice of fate?

How does the young graphitti artist fit into the revolution? Do her actions represent anything, if so, what?

Does anarchy bring an age of true order? Is chaos necessary for anarcy or merely its byproduct?

What is symbolized with those becoming free being nude?

What is Mr. Finch really looking for when he traces V's path?

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

More V for Vendetta Questions

Do you think the leaderless state proposed by V is possible? Why or why not?

Why did V leave all the clues and hints for Finch? A display of genius, or perhaps a trail of breadcrumbs towards the freedom that V desired for humanity?

What exactly is the freedom that Finch realizes during his L.S.D. trip at the concentration camp?

Why was it so important that Evy didnt take off the mask of V after his death?

Describe the relationship between Conrad Heyer and his wife. Which one of them seems to be more at fault for the miserable state of their relationship, and why?

The scene where Susan is assassinated by Derek's wife is full of irony; the Leader was just beginning to love his people and then he was murdured. How do you think the leader might have done things differently following his revelation had he not been assassinated?

Monday, September 13, 2004

V for Vendetta...some questions to think about

Since there is so much going on in "V for Vendetta," I'd like us to try thinking about some general questions to begin with:

*Remember, V for Vendetta is in many ways a fictional representation of what modern europe could have been like if Hitler had won WWII.

1) What type of character is V? What do we know about him?

2) What is Fascism, and what is its role in the narrative? How is Fascism represented?

3) What is anarchy, and how is it different from fascism? how might it be similar to fascism?

4) Think about the role of "culture" within the story. Who/where is culture contained within this dystopian world? Is culture emancipatory? Or is it polluted by propaganda?

5) Think about the function of the intertextuality within the story (the references to other literary texts and cultural products).

6) Consider the relationshp between obedience and authority, madness and sanity.

7) Is this a story about revenge or revolution?

Ok, I think that's plenty to think about for now!

See you tomorrow,
Cindy

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Not Your Average Comic

Wow, just finished reading Transmetropolitan, and I definetly have never read a comic like that before. Though unexpected, it was very interesting and thought provoking. I suppose I'm supposed to ask though provoking questions now (as if the comic itself was not thought provoking enough.) But, I will give it a try.

1) One line that stuck out to me more than any other: "..There's one hole in every revolution, large or small, and it's one word long....people. No matter big the idea they all stand under, people are small and weak and cheap and frightened. It's people that kill every revolution...." How accurate is this statement in your opinion. Is it really people that kill revolutions? Or is a dead revolution more a result of its faulty ideals than of the people who act them out?

2) The author makes Fred Christ, the "leader" of the revolution, out to be an extremely ugly, disgusting character. Christ seems to use his newfound "power" for his own pleasures, such as "uninterrupted sex every six hours." Is there a reason the author makes the "revolutionary" someone with his own personal vendetta? Or is Christ just an end result of the crude society in which he lives?


ideas for questions....?

Hi...
Questions for Class Thursday Night 9/9

Transmetropolitan

Does the story advocate for or against revolution? What kind of revolution is the story endorsing/ not endorsing? Are people really the root of every problem with a revolution (within the context of the story)?

Is Spider a revolutionary? Or is he just as corrupt as everyone else? Is journalism his alternative to revolution?

Why do you think the author chose to illustrate women in such a negative light? Do you think it might illustrate how easy women are to corrupt, or maybe how extreme the corruption is within the city, or might it suggest something else?

I’ll try to post my other questions on the blogg later tonight or early tomorrow morning on the packet reading. Happy reading…. :)

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Welcome English 201

This is the English 201 blog for section 003. We will be using this as a place for posting discussion questions as well as a forum for open discussion. Instructions: If you are assigned to lead discussion for a particular class day, you must post questions to this blog by 5pm the evening before you are due to lead discussion. For those of you who are not in charge of leading discussion/posting questions, you are responsible for reading the questions and thinking about how you want to respond to them. This blog allows you to post responses to individual posts through the comments feature. You do not have to respond, but I encourage you to post any preliminary thoughts you might have so that you can bring these ideas with you to class the following day.

Technicalities:

To access the blog, go to a http://www.blogger.com, then enter your username and password (which you will have created), click on "posting" and proceed.

To view this blog on the web, the site address is http://ministryofrevolt.blogger.com

You can only post to this blog if you are in this class, but anybody with internet access can read it. So this is in a way, a truly public forum.

Have fun!