English 211: Fiction
Discussion Question 3
Directions: Choose ONE of the following questions and write an answer. Be sure to use specific details and direct quotes from the novel to support your ideas. Your answer should be 2-3 paragraphs long. This question is due no later than Thursday, October 8.
Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Sunday, October 11. In order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond thoughtfully to at least 3 or 4 other people's postings.
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:
Remember: This discussion question is worth a possible 20 points. Late answers will receive 0 points. Points will be assigned according to the thoughtfulness of your answer, not by whether it is "right" or not, since sometimes there is no "right" answer. Just be sure your ideas are supported by the material in the novel.
Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter OR Melville, Billy Budd
1. Henry James said, of Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The fine thing in Hawthorne is that he cared for the deeper psychology, and that, in his way, he tried to become familiar with it." James sees The Scarlet Letter as a psychological study. Hyatt H. Waggoner sees it as a tragedy: "Though the novel shows us good coming out of evil, it shows it coming only at a tragic cost." Which view of the novel seems more accurate to you--or do you have your own view of it?
2. Over the years, critics have put forth any number of interpretations of Melville's Billy Budd. Many see Billy as a symbolic representation of either Christ or Adam; others see the novel as an exploration of human good and evil; yet others see it as an exposition on the evils of capital punishment; some have said it is a veiled exploration of homosexuality. Which of these views of the novel seems more accurate to you--or do you have your own interpretation of it?
