Respond to the following questions in your notebook. You are not only expected to respond to these questions but also take notes as we discuss the novel in class. It is critical to be up to date with the notebook. Note significant points, ideas, questions etc. These are invaluable when writing your World Lit Assignment.
Chapter 1 Rosa the Beautiful and Chapter 2
1. Write notes on using the following subheadings:
•Politics and Religion ( Consider the role played by Rosa and Clara)
•Power (What does Tres Marias represent?)
2. Research on Machismo and Marianismo
Chapter 3 Clara the Clairvoyant
1.Barrabas dies when Clara gets married to Estaban. Consider the origin of Barrabas, the description of the dog and the relationship Clara had with it. What do you think the dog symbolizes? What is the significance of the dog dying just when Clara gets engaged to Estaban? pp.11, 98-98, 111-112, 119
2.What does Ferula feel guilty about? Consider the narrators Comment on the effect achieved by the narrator’s description of what Ferula was doing when her mother died.
3.‘There is no love in Clara’s and Estaban’s marriage, theirs is one of convenience’ Discuss this statement with illustrations from the chapter.
Chapter 4 The Time of the Spirits
1.A foil is a secondary character who contrasts with a major character; in this chapter, who would you say the Ferula and Nana are foils to? How? What is highlighted by the presence of these characters?
2.Transito says that she wants a cooperative for ‘whores and fags…What do we need a patron for’. Comment on the role of Transito Soto plays in the novel.
3.How is the narration of Old Pedro’s cure of the plague of ants and description of the death of Severo and Nivea del Valle humorous? How is the humour achieved?
4.What is in a name? Why do you think Clara refuses to name her child after Estaban?
5.How is the story of the fox and the hens an allegory? Consider Blanca and Pedro Tercero Garcia’s reaction to the story.
6.Define the following: symbol, motif and allegory. Select three from the list below to complete.
Politics
Priests
Rape of Pancha
Fox and hens
River Bank
Doors/ Windows
Tres Marias
Earthquakes
European influences
•Scene and page number of each occurance of the symbol,allegory or motif:
•Summary of how the symbol, allegory or motif functions or is used.
•Brief analysis of the implications and meanings.What effect does it have? How does it work to achieve the authors purpose?
Chapter 5: The Lovers
1.What does Blanca and Pedro Tercero’s relationship symbolize?
2.What do you think Ferula’s wigs represent?
3.What is the significance of the earthquake, destruction of Tres Marias and Estaban’s broken bones?
Comment on the following:
4.‘My son, the holy church is on the right but Jesus Christ was always on the left.’
5.‘I like this, patron in union there is strength as Father Jose Dulce Maria says. If the hens can overcome the fox, what about human beings?
6.You can’t keep the world from changing, Estaban,’she said. ‘If it is not Pedro Tercero Garcia, someone else will bring new ideas to Tres Marias.’
Chapter 6: Revenge
1.The voice of Esteban Trueba begins and ends this chapter. Do you feel an ounce of sympathy towards Estaban? Why or Why not?
2.Make notes of the following:
•Estaban Garcia who is he? What is in a name? Characterize him. 220-221,237,241
•Shrinking of Estaban and Pedro Garcia
•Role of Count Jean de Satigny 212-213, 225, 228, 230-231.
•Barrabas’ death pp. 112-113 is mentioned in this chapter 234. What is the relationship of his death to the incident referred to?
3.Comment on the ending of the chapter.
4.What is the relevance of the chapter title?
Chapter 7: The Brothers
1.How is the house changing? What is its transformation symbolic of pp243-244, 259-260.
2.Compare and Contrast the two brothers. Does the author approve or disapprove of them? Give reasons for your answer.
3.Do you have any sympathy for the following characters: Blanca,Nicholas, Jaime and Amanda? Why or why not?
4.Comment on the allusion to Napoleon and Hitler.
5.Write short notes on the following:
• Covadonga
• Poverty
• Rejection of child
• Jewelry Motif
• Internal Conflict
• Unrequited Love
• Western Medicine
Chapter 8 The Count
1. Characterize Count Jean de Satigny. What effect does the his characterization have on you? What is the narrators attitude towards him? Use mood and tone words.
2. Describe the atmosphere of Blanca's new home. Would you say that this home is spiritual? Why or why not?
Chapter 9 Little Alba
Write notes on the following quotations
1.‘was the head of her Great-grandmother Nivea…in the coffin beside her favorite daughter.’ (336)
2.‘mothe-eaten remnants of Barrabas’. (337)
Key Passage Analysis
Directions: Annotate the excerpt .Underline, circle, draw arrows, write notes in the margins and between lines that...
•interpret images, word choice, and symbols
•note contrasts, patterns and ambiguities
•make connections to themes and other parts of the novel
•Once you’ve completed annotations and outlines, you will then write an analysis on it
3.Trueba remembered that he still owed him the reward for betraying Pedro Tercero Garcia, and he decided that this was a good occasion to repay the debt and in the process acquire a useful friend in the police. You never know, he thought; I may need him someday. He sat down on his heavy desk, took out a piece of paper bearing the Senate letterhead, composed the recommendation in the usual terms, and handed it to the young man who stood waiting before him.
‘ Here, son. I’m glad you’ve chosen that profession. If you want to go around armed, you might as well be a policeman. That way you have impunity. I’m going to phone General Hurtado, a friend of mine, to make sure they give you the scholarship. If you need anything just let me know.’
‘Thank you very much. patron.’
‘Don’t mention it, son. I like to help my people out.’
He said goodbye to him with a friendly pat on the shoulder.
‘Why do they call you Estaban?’ he asked him in the doorway.
‘Because of you ,sir,’ the young man answered blushing.
Trueba did not give it a second thought. Tenants often used their patron’s name for their children. It was a sign of respect. (330)
Chapter 10 The Epoch of Decline
Continue with Key Passage Analysis
1.Reaching across the narrow space between them, she took her daughter’s hand and started telling her stories from the magic books of the enchanted trunks of her great uncle Marcos, which her poor memory had transformed into new tales. This was how Alba learned about a prince who slept a hundred years, damsels who fought dragons single handed, and a wolf lost in a forest who was disemboweled by a little girl for no reason whatsoever. When Alba asked to hear these bizarre stories again, Blanca couldn’t repeat them, for she had forgotten them. This led the little girl to write the stories down. She also began to record the things that struck her as important, just as her Grandmother Clara had before her. (347)
2.His foreman was a man defeated by his own pessimistic views, and his news was mostly a series of misfortunes; the strawberries froze, the chickens caught the pip, the grapes rotted. Hus the countryside, which had been the source of his wealth, became a burden, and the Senator Trueba frequently had to withdraw money from his other business to prop up that insatiable land, which seemed to want to return to the days of oblivion, before he rescued it from misery.
‘I have to go straighten things out. They need the patron’s eye on them,’ he murmured.
'Things are getting stormy in the countryside, patron,’ his foreman often warned him. ‘The peasants are up in arms. Everyday there are new demands. It seems as if they want to be patrones themselves. The best thing you can do is sell the property.’ (353)
3. After I had Settled Rosa and Clara in my Mausoleum I felt better because I knew that sooner or later the three of us would be reunited there, along with our other loved ones, like my mother, Nana and even Ferula, who I hope has forgiven me. I never Imagined I was going to live as long as I have and that they’d have to wait so long for me. (358)
Chapter 11 The Awakening
1.Gap filling exercise. Note how the secondary characters from earlier chapters are brought into the later chapters of the novel, Estaban Garcia in Chapter 9 and Transito Soto in Chapter 10. Create two paragraphs after
•Transito’s : ‘ I wonder who Clara is,’ I heard her murmer as she left. (362)
Or
•Estaban Garcia :‘ Garcia hesitated….He turned around, barked out a brief instruction, and the two policemnn led Alba by the arms to a van. (371)
Or
•Amanda: ‘ She tried to get up but stumbled and swayed, her brother jumped to catch her, holding her against his chest (385).
Decide what point of view you will write the paragraph. Demonstrate the author’s style and the themes that are addressed in the novel. Remember that you are filling a gap about the secondary character.
2.What is in a name? There are candidates and there is The Candidate, why do you think that the narrator does not refer to him by name. Characterize The Candidate.
3. How does the title of this chapter reflect the content?
Chapter 12 The Conspiracy
1.How does the chapter title fit chapter content? Who conspires? What is the conspiracy? Why the conspiracy?
2.Identify, illustrate and discuss the following literary devices:
•Situational irony
•Dramatic irony
•Humour
•Sarcasm
3.Symbolism. Who are the following symbols associated with? Discuss what they symbolize.
•Red rose
•White handkerchief
•Service pistol
•Guitar
4.Themes.
•Politics
•Acts of Charity
•Forgiveness
•Marriage
•Power and status
•Corruption
5.Who is the Poet? What role does he play in the novel?
Refer back to the poem at the beginning of the novel. What is the meaning of the poem?
The Movie!!
What scenes are you looking forward to watching in the movie?
How does the movie compare to the novel itself? What impressed or disappointed you ?
Notes comparing the House of the Spirits Novel and the Movie
House of the Spirits from Novel To Film
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