TODAY IN CLASS
Some Act I questions--Support the following brief format with the richer (longer, more directed) questions in your book.  Make sure you've thought through 1-6 here; in your book 1-3 is enough because then they start jumping around, even to things that involve the end of Act III. Your group might not have gotten to all of these--that's fine; think the rest through on your own.  Re: #5, be sure to understand the precise "illegal" thing that she did, vs. merely uncustomary or even inappropriate in terms of the expectations for trust and honesty within a marriage.

Act I of [Ibsen’s play about the Helmers]

1. From the opening conversation between Helmer and Nora, what

are your impressions of him?  Of her?  Of their marriage?

2. At what moment in the play do you understand why it is called

A Doll’s House?  (other translation!) Compare to the question in YOUR

book, asking why the phrasingA Doll House is more appropriate.Which version 
of the title do you think is more appropriate?  Does it matter in terms of the 
analogy Ibsen is making?

3. In what ways does Mrs. Linde provide a contrast for Nora?

4. What in Krogstad’s first appearance on stage, and in Dr. Rank’s remarks

about him, indicates that that the bank clerk is a menace?

5. Of what illegal deed is Nora guilty?  How does she justify it?

6.  When the curtain falls on Act I, what problems now confront Nora?

FOR TOMORROW

There will be a timed write on Heart of Darkness. You do NOT need your book because I'll give you a printed passage; in fact, you won't be allowed to use your own copy.

Despite the fact that (unlike most passage analysis work), you know the basic text, this assignment is also carries the expectation of individual preparation, unaided by friends or by online research.  Integrity is the name of the game.

But in keeping with the attention Marlow pays to women (and his views--which, by the way, may/may not reflect Conrad's, right?) and the fact that Ibsen is definitely concerned with the place of women, and the fact that we had looked closely at the depiction of Kurtz's Intended the other day, this passage will be the one in which the native woman on the bank looks out at the steamboat onto which Kurtz has just been carried.

Review it.  Think about it.  DON'T look anything up (I am good at that too), and do not have a prep session with your friends.

FOR FRIDAY 

You will need to have read Act III of  A Doll House--a bit more guidance given tomorrow.