CYCLE 11 - DAY 3 - SEMESTER 1

Today, we concluded our discussion of the novel.  It seems greater than half of you thought the ending was too tidy and kind, though others put forth the argument that for this type of story, such an ending is fitting: villains shouldn't live and heroes shouldn't die without a greater purpose, and many felt that Hazel deserves to see the warren through to self-sustaining completion (then again, Moses himself wasn't allowed into the land of milk and honey, so there would have been precedent for killing him off).

One group raised an interesting question: "Have we as a class gotten any better as leaders and followers throughout the process?"  While time constraints prevented an in-depth exploration of this question, it merits reflection.

I'm sad to see this book end.  Watching you engage, analyze, dissect, interpret, hypothesize, debate, concur, and relate to one another in discussing this particular text has been incredibly rewarding from my perspective.  I don't think I have ever taught a book that has garnered more consistent and worthy engagement.  When you are serious of purpose, you're a most impressive group of folks.  When you're not, you're still pretty great, and certainly entertaining, but your smarts acting in concert is really the best show in town.  Thank you.

HOMEWORK:

Complete the worksheet passed out in class about the stages of the hero's journey and common archetypes.  Nothing fancy--just basic plot points and page numbers will do.