"There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California." - Edward Abbey

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Discussion Questions

Discussion Question 5

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Directions:

  • After reading the lecture, answer one of the following questions. This question is due no later than Thursday, October 8.
  • Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Sunday, October 11.
  • Remember: in order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond thoughtfully to at least 3 or 4 other people's postings. This set of discussion questions is worth a possible 20 points.
  • Late answers and responses receive 0 points, so post early :)

We will be using the ETUDES Discussion Board for this class. Click on the link below to get to the ETUDES portal, sign in, and then click on the tab for this class. You will find the "Discussion and Private Messages" link on the left side of the screen:

Discussion Board

1. Steinbeck submitted Tortilla Flat to Alfred Knopf for publication, but it was rejected; the editor complained that it did not have a theme. In frustration, Steinbeck wrote to his agents, "The book has a very definite theme. I thought it was clear enough. I had expected that the plan of the Arthurian cycle would be recognized, that my Gawaine and Launcelot, that my Arthur and Galahad would be recognized." How does Tortilla Flat parallel the Arthurian legend? In what ways does it depart from it?

2. Critic Arthur Simpson, Jr., argues that Tortilla Flat is flawed because it is trying to do two contradictory things at once: present the characters in a sympathetic light, and satirize them: "...it makes a realistic presentation of obviously sympathetic characters; at the same time the book's satiric artifice doesn't quite take them seriously..." In your opinion, is the novel flawed, and if so, for this reason? Explain.

3. Critic Jay Martin argues that, in Ask the Dust, Fante is balancing between Modernity and Catholicism--that is, between the idea that life is meaningless and pointless, a series of random accidents, and the idea that life has a meaning which one must find through meditation on one's experiences. In your opinion, does the book ultimately lean more toward meaning or meaninglessness? Explain.

4. In Ask the Dust, is Los Angeles presented as a utopia or a dystopia? Explain.

In Hollywood a marriage is a success if it outlasts milk.
~ Rita Rudner