Seniors- Answer the following questions in your notebook in preparation for tomorrow's graded discussion of "The Agony of Intimacy." You can find the story at this link: Click Here and in the "texts and links" page of this blog.
1. Describe the narrator. What kind of person is she? What is she trying to discover or understand in this story?
2. How are Helen, Leda and Daphne characterized? What might these characters represent in our society?
3. On the top of page 281, the narrator describes the bar as being “run by a woman called Leda who bought it out of her compensation money when she was raped by Zeus. In the old days the gods could get away with it, but now you can call a lawyer on a no-win, no-fee basis.” What does this dialogue reveal about the setting of the story? Is it similar to our setting? How?
4. In "The Agony of Intimacy," the encounter between Zeus and Leda shifts from sexual to violent. What causes this shift? Does this parallel anything in our society?
5. On page 283, the narrator thinks, "Everyone I meet is really saying the same kinds of useless stuff. They say, Love is everything, throw yourself off a cliff for him. They say, Love doesn't exist. Get the money and the house. The lovers all die of betrayal and a broken heart. The non-lovers live longer and hate everyone. Is that all there is?" How do these messages reflect or differ from the messages you receive about love?
6. What happens at the end of the story? What do you make of the last few paragraphs?
7. How does this short story compare to the poem, "Leda and the Swan?"
AP Language - Finish reading the sample essays. In your notebook, write a page that answers the following questions:
1. What do you have to do to write a high level rhetorical analysis?
2. What will you need to learn in order to write this essay?
3. How does the mother who wrote the letter view her role in her son's life?
Please be sure to have "Looking for Work, "Those Winter Sundays" and the intro from Rereading America in class tomorrow.
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