*** Reminder: Three of you who were supposed to post for Monday’s class are posting for Wednesday’s class instead. Please use these questions again, since we didn’t get through Chapter 7 in Monday’s discussion.***
Thank you to our five volunteers for getting us started with our discussion on Quicksand. Here are some questions to get you started thinking about the novel. If you have other ideas that you want to focus on, feel free.
Posters: remember to write approximately 300 words, use quotations to get us into the text where you are, and consider asking questions or including a statement for others to respond to.
Commenters: remember to write 2 comments, each approximately 100-150 words, responding to the ideas your classmates have generated. You can also respond to a comment. Try to include quotations so we can find what you’re referring to when we discuss the text.
* Helga and family: what is Helga’ s relationship to her own family, and how does that affect her other relationships?Her work? Her life in general? Reflect on this, using specific examples from the text.
* Helga and Naxos: Helga has strong feelings about the school, its treatment of students and faculty, its treatment of what gets referred to as the race question. Reflect on this, using specific examples from the text.
* Helga and race: in Chapter One, Helga is enraged by a white preacher who comes to address the Naxos community. He believes he is praising them, but he isn’t. Look carefully at that passage (where we ended class) and further to track Helga thoughts and feelings about this, using specific examples from the text.
* Other topics you might consider in relation to Helga: work, travel, love/marriage, art, beauty, appear.
