Bruce Catton
Answers to Quiz
d, a, b, a, c
Answers to Questions On Meaning and Technique (332) -
The word “virtual” means “in practical terms.” While the war was not officially over, because some armies still had not surrendered, it was practically over because the South had been overpowered by the North. The opposite of “virtual” would be “theoretical” or “unreal.”
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The “chief support” was the slaves who did all of the labor on the southern farms. Without this free labor, the southern plantation owner could not remain fiscally solvent.
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The author sets this sentence off in one paragraph in order to gain emphasis. Lee represented the aristocracy of the South, but this aristocracy was about to be obliterated by a new, more democratic, society from the North.
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Have students consider the enormous power wielded by wealthy corporations and their CEOs today. Is this not another form of aristocracy, meaning “a privileged ruling class”? Perhaps the power is not inherited, but it certainly makes a distinction between upper and lower classes.
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Lee was a man whose family background was filled with culture and tradition. He was a thoroughbred southern gentleman, who believed that the ownership of land by a leisure class was important. Grant, on the other hand, was a frontiersman, who embodied toughness and self-reliance. He was a man who was far more interested in the future than in the past. Have students discuss which man appeals to them most.
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Lee harked back to a time of chivalry—almost knighthood. His soldiers were willing to die for him just because he was their leader and embodied noble ideals of aristocracy. In Lee’s world, privilege was handed down from father to son. Unlike Lee, Grant looked to the future. Like all frontiersmen, he pushed toward the West, where he believed the greatness of the future lay. In Grant’s society, privilege had to be earned. Life was competitive. We believe that the best leader is one who studies the past and learns from it, but then moves forward toward the future.
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He begins with Lee and writes about him; then he shifts to Grant and writes about him. The essay is sprinkled with contrast phrases, such as the following:
“Grant, the son of a tanner on the Western frontier, was everything Lee was not” (paragraph 7). "And that, perhaps, is where the contrast between Grant and Lee becomes most striking" (paragraph 10). “The Westerner, on the other hand….”(paragraph 11). “So Grant and Lee were in complete contrast…”(paragraph 12).
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They were both marvelous fighters, and their fighting qualities were similar. They were both utterly tenacious and faithful to their cause. Most important, in the end, both men could turn from war to peace.
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We believe that all Americans should take pride in what Lee and Grant represent in our brief history. Without skimping on modern historical studies, yes, students should know what happened at Appomattox and what it means to our present.
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Have students discuss the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth and expansion. For instance, they might analyze what happens when industry takes over agriculture and when frontiers continue to be expanded. Consider the example of colonial empires such as England, France, Spain, Belgium, and Russia. Consider also the expansionist theory of Adolf Hitler.
Priest and Pagan
Arthur Grimble
Answers to Quiz
a, c, d, a, b
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (337)
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Paragraph 2 announces that a comparison/contrast is going to be drawn between a pagan and a Christian. However, before the author begins his narration, he wants to explain that for Christians what happens before death is all important whereas for pagans, it is what happens after death that counts. Without this distinction, the story would be a mere recounting of an adventure.
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Father Choblet broke the law that forbade canoe voyages between the islands from the end of September to the end of March every year. Have students discuss whether or not Father Choblet was in the right or wrong—considering the huge danger involved in the trip. What if all the canoe boys had been drowned? Are there times when a law must be broken in order to obey a greater law? This is a subject worth discussing. You might remind students of Martin Luther King, who went to jail rather than obey the southern laws of segregation. Student sit-ins and other protests have often involved breaking curfew laws or laws against assembly in public places. Have students offer their opinions of such acts of civil disobedience.
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He received a desperate message from a mission teacher in Nukunau Island, 30 miles east of the Gilbertese island where Father Choblet lived. The message begged Father Choblet to hurry to the island of Nukunau, where Father Franchiteau lay dying, to administer the Last Sacrament to him. Since Catholics believe that unless one receives the Last Sacrament before death, one dies “unshriven”—that is, one’s sins are not forgiven. Because only an ordained priest can administer this last rite, it was important that Father Choblet respond. Have students discuss (with a sense of tolerance for differing views) what importance the Last Sacrament has for them.
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While the report was handed to the author by Father Choblet’s canoe boys, the report would be considered reliable because it came from actual witnesses.
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The canoe boys were probably inspired by Father Choblet’s own courage. Here was a frail little priest who was willing to undertake this brutal journey by himself, without anyone’s assistance. Somehow his faith and courage erased the islanders’ fear.
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Paragraph 7 is utterly captivating in its drama of how the men hung on to half of the broken canoe despite the raging sea and were finally swept by a current to the shores of the Island of Nukunau.
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The god Nakaa, according to Gilbertese belief, is the guardian of the gate between earth and paradise. He sits forever at this gate, waiting to catch and strangle the ghost of any dead persons who did not receive the proper rituals to send them into a happy afterlife. Underlying the entire plot of this anecdote is the belief that rituals for the dead are extremely important.
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Another important ritual was the young boys’ passage into manhood. This initiation required the young boys to face some terrible ordeals, such as being segregated from the other villagers and then facing the “test by fire,” which presumably required the boy to undergo some severe burns. Tabanoara’s young brother Tebina successfully passed the initiation into manhood, which caused Tabanoara to be proud of his younger brother since Tabanoara had been the one to school Tebina.
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Because the ritual required some part of the dead person’s body, Tabanaora valiantly goes to find the shark who killed his brother. He meets him in the lagoon and kills him with his spear, triumphantly bearing his brothers remains, found in the maw of the shark. It is common for people who accept a new religion to hang on to their old beliefs because there is comfort in tradition.
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The final paragraph of the essay tells us clearly what the two stories have in common: First, both Father Choblet and Tabanaora showed immense courage in the face of overwhelming danger. Second, both men had faith in the god or gods of their choosing. Third, both men revealed deep love for mankind. Have students discuss whether or not it is important to have a certain belief when one faces death. The author seems to consider the government bureaucracy ultimately fair and even generous.
Beauty Is in the Eyes of the Beholder, Along With Everything Else
Lee Dembart
Answers to Quiz
c, b, d, a, c
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (341)
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The process of seeing seems simple enough: Light passes through the lens of the eye and strikes the retina behind it, which tickles the optic nerve and sends an electrical signal to the brain. The mystery is how the scenes we perceive get put together by the brain. Somewhere in the brain the physical sensation is turned into a mental one, but how this happens is a mystery.
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It is related to the whole mind-body question with which philosophers and scientists have grappled for centuries. Thoughts are mind; brain is body, but to fully understand how the two interact is extremely complex and may never be sorted out completely.
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The question is at the heart of the essay; yet, the author never fully answers the question because exactly how seeing works is not understood. All we know is that somewhere in the brain the physical sensation is turned into a mental sensation.
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The brain is an organ of the body, but it is different from other organs like, say, the pancreas, which secretes insulin. The brain secretes thoughts, but you cannot measure this secretion the way you can measure insulin. The whole process is baffling even to experts in the field.
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The author announces that he plans to simplify the problem of understanding the relationship between the brain and the mind by dividing the approach into two theories. He achieves coherence by using the transition, "On the one hand…." in paragraph 8, and then moving on to paragraph 9 with the transition, "On the other hand." This kind of parallelism in phrasing makes the paragraphs easier to follow.
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The author admits that she does not have the full answer, but she declares that she favors the reductionist position, which says that mind and brain are the same. She is confident that some day neuroscience will be able to trace and explain the relationship. Have students discuss the possibility of how “soul” works in the equation.
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She quotes a famous experiment in which electrodes were placed on the heads of human subjects so their brain activity could be monitored. This experiment proved that brain activity preceded conscious decision to move. Have students discuss how convincing they found this experiment. This kind of scientific experimentation is at the basis of most progress in complex scientific problem solving.
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The author questions our present notions of free will. For instance, she suggests that if thoughts follow brain activity, then we have much less freedom than we think. She even goes so far as to ponder that if mind and brain are the same, then people who are smart shouldn’t be praised or rewarded for it. They can’t help themselves. Certain religious people will vehemently oppose the idea that human beings have no free will because believing so would put an end to the great controversy between good and evil and a matter of choice. Allow for a lively debate on the question of free will.
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The final sentence summarizes the whole essay by quoting a famous philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, who wrote that “All the interesting things can’t be written down and described.” That is precisely what the author has been saying throughout her essay. We just don’t know enough about such complex things as the brain and mind to explain them in clear terms.
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The title emphasizes the idea suggested in paragraph 19: “But it is fair to conclude that most of what we say about the world says more about us than it does about the world.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A nswers
How Mr. Hogan Robbed a Bank
John Steinbeck
Answers to Quiz
c, a, b, c, a
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Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (350)
1. a. He observes all the daily operations of the bank.
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He decides on which day to rob the bank—just before vacation when plenty of money would be available.
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He goes to work as usual but makes himself a mask out of a cereal box in the store where he works.
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He waits until the safe is open and the cash is in the tellers’ boxes. He puts on a coat, which covers his revolver and Mickey Mouse mask.
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He puts on his mask, enters the bank, motions a teller to the floor with the gun, steals money out of a cash register, and leaves.
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He goes back to work as if nothing had happened.
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It draws the lesson that many people whose lifestyles label them as nice, respectable middle class people harbor secret sins that would shock their neighbors if they knew about them. The story is an attack on the kind of moral hypocrisy that compels certain people to pretend to be good, decent, and upright in public when in actuality they are behaving despicably in secret.
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Paragraph 1: The details of where and how the Hogans live. Paragraph 9: Typical middle class domestic problems, such as the children having the mumps, Mrs. Hogan having to get dentures, a relative dying, John and Joan wanting to enter the “I Love America Contest.”
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He will not allow his children to handle guns or shells; yet, he robs a bank at gunpoint.
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It is an ironic statement because the author is writing as if robbing a bank were no different from any casual business venture.
Tract
William Carlos Williams
Answers to Quiz
d, c, d, d, b
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Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (352)
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First, create a design for the hearse. Second, find appropriate decorations. Third, supply a proper place for the driver. Fourth, give instructions to the mourners.
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He is trying to point out that a funeral is a way of expressing grief for a loved one who has died. Consequently, the ritual should be neither phony nor excessively elaborate. It should be natural because dying is a natural aspect of life, and mourning a loved one is a natural way of remembering him.
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Presumably as a symbol of the fact that when a person is dead, one should gloss over his imperfections and remember only the good. The paint could symbolize the glossing over process, or the gilt wheels could be intended as a limited, unfinished concession to the practice and custom of decorating funeral equipment.
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Life is not smooth: It has its storms and rough spots.
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He suggests a remembrance typical of the life of the dead onehis old clothes, some books, or anything else that would remind the mourners of the kind of person he was. Such a remembrance, compared to flowers, is more functional and suitable for the occasion of mourning.
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Having a driver in a top hat suggests that the undertaker is the center of attraction of this ceremony when in fact he is not in the least moved by the death of the one in the coffin. He is merely doing a job and therefore should not occupy a seat of honor.
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The author exhorts the mourners to show their grief openly by walking behind the hearse, not by hiding in the carriage behind veils or curtains. In a sense, he is saying, “No one is immune to grief (not even the speaker himself as indicated by the pronoun us), so save the money you would waste on an elaborate, artificial funeral that would not rightly represent what death and mourning are all about.”
In the Garden of Childish Delights
Emily Fox Gorden
Answers to Quiz
b, c, d, a, c
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (360)
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Gordon is describing the process of how happiness is lost by growing up. The process begins with childish ecstasy and ends with the “adult variety of happiness,” which is hard won and ambivalent.
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Most likely you were left with a feeling of melancholy, realizing how gradually childhood innocence and delight become tainted on the path to adulthood. It is easy to visualize the author and her brother romping through gardens, meadows, and woods in the safety of Williamstown—their German Shepherd in tow. We feel the regret of exchanging all of this innocence and joy with the seriousness of adult life and its hard-won moments of happiness.
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Existential happiness is the kind that is so pervasive that it seems to exist spontaneously and artlessly inside the body whereas psychological happiness is the result of proper mental hygiene and adjustment. Have students discuss this contrast.
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First step: The author goes to school, where she is an academic failure, a fatty, and a disappointment to her parents. Second step: At twelve her feelings become moods. Third step: She becomes a 56-year-old adult who finds that happiness is hard to maintain. Still, as an adult she can still go back to the fantasies of her childhood.
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She believed in fairies, God, and history. Actually, some experts believe that it is healthy for children to believe in benevolent supernatural forces. For instance, children who believe in guardian angels feel secure and protected from danger. Of course, certain childhood beliefs, such as the belief in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, or the Easter Bunny need to be replaced with more adult beliefs. But most adults still need to believe in a power stronger than they—such as God—in order to deal with the enormous challenges in life.
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Arcadia is a term used by the ancient Greek poets to describe an environment of rustic simplicity. The people of Arcadia were innocent shepherds or farmers, who lived their lives in happy contentment. Her belief that she was living in an Arcadia at the end of time is probably the result of thinking that history has to end some time. The author does not describe what happens or what unravels at the end of time.
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Here are examples of the author’s figures of speech:
Paragraph 2: The Williamstown campus was “a kind of Eden” (metaphor)
Paragraph 3: “The elms stood guard” (personification).
Paragraph 5: “I pushed the threatening world of school to the margins of my mind” (personification and metaphor).
Paragraph 5: “Feelings of happiness and sadness continued to run through me in discrete layers, like currents in a river” (personification, metaphor, simile).
Paragraph 5: “Feelings become soluble in mood” (metaphor).
Paragraph 5: “They carry the air of the that time and place as if the Williamstown of my childhood had been lying under an unbroken seal for 50 years” (personification, simile).
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Allow for varying answers to this question. The author insists that she cannot “tell” a picture; she can only “describe” it. But she can tell a story. We assume that she can tell the story of her life so that it becomes a living experience.
In the Valley of the Shadow
Carl Sagan
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