Part One: Compose a paragraph that applies a Marxist reading to any of the stories from this week. Be sure to ask yourself ( and answer) the kinds of questions discussed in this week's lecture.
Part Two: Which of the characters this week did you feel the most sympathy for? Who did you most identify with? Why? Who did you feel the least sympathy for? Why?
Part Three: In "The Open Boat," lines of philosophy about man's fate and his reward for trying hard are repeated throughout. Quote a line of this story that stands out to you as expressing something philosophical about life. Do you agree with the statement? Why or why not?
Description of week 3 and reading below
We focus this week on Naturalism and Regionalism, which was an extension of Realism, focusing specifically on the effect of physical environments on human beings. Naturalism is often said to be the even more "real" Realism. Essentially, while Realists depicted people as being heavily influenced by external environment, Naturalists depicted people (their choices and personal selves) as almost literally controlled by these external environments. To what extent do you control your fate and life and to what extent do our environments? Such a question is important in the texts studied this week.