Unit+1

=//Introduction to World Literature: Examining Perspectives of Culture and Worldview in World Literature//=

Essential Questions being focused on in //Cry the Beloved Country// by Alan Paton

 * How are all narratives culturally positioned?
 * What is the foundation of thinking for the character choices made and themes developed in this novel?
 * How essential is community in maintaining stability and wellness in moral teaching and consistency in the individual, family, and overall society?
 * What is the difference between an authentic and artificial community? What is an authentic community? /What is an artificial community?
 * What happens when there is more youth than older individuals in a society? Does there need to be a balance of age for health to exist in society?
 * What is the importance of accountability? What keeps you accountable in your life?

Essential Questions being focused on in //Jane Eyre// by Charlotte Bronte

 * How and why does 'suffering' in an individual life facilitate substance of character in Jane Eyre rather than supercilious behavior and entitlement?
 * What are important characteristics to consider when dating a person and ultimately choosing who you will marry?
 * What does a balance of common sense coupled with discipline and self sacrifice have to do with character and the building of character?
 * Is it ever right to attach yourself to or have a relationship with another individual when your married if you are unhappy or that person is unable to support you in the role of a spouse [perhaps because of health reason, mental health reasons, etc.]?
 * Why is forgiveness important for the person doing the forgiving, perhaps even more so than the person who is being forgiven?
 * Is it possible to be too cautious in our relationships? Should a person "put themself out there" so to speak or "play it cool or safe"?
 * Why are readers drawn to a character like Jane Eyre? What complexies of this character are liked and disliked? What does this reveal?
 * How is Bronte's worldview woven throughout the novel and how does it compare with God's Word?

//Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys [for Honors Students only]//
 * Think about the idea of being thirsty and what it takes to quench thirst. The physical contemplation of this idea is not difficult because we have all been thirsty. Remember when you were a kid playing too long in the hot summer sun? What about the soul though? Is there a "soul thirst"? Do our souls thirst for something and if they do, how do we quench that thirst? Let's consider the main characters in this novel. What are they thirsting for? Do you get a sense that they find the very thing needed to quench that thirst? Is there a sense of fulfilment found in the writing of this novel? If yes, how is it spelled out? If no, why do you think it is missing? Finally, compare the characters and perhaps even this author to the writer of Psalms 42 and 43 [read the NIV version; you may also want to read The Message]. How does this individual seek to quench the thirst of his soul....as a deer panteth for water...and do we seek to do the same?
 * Consider Rochester [the male main character who narrates a large section of the novel]. What is his motivation for marrying Antoinette? Is his motivation pure and well-intentioned? Consider passages where Rochester is alone in his thoughts in this beautiful land in the West Indies. Is he a 'bad' guy? Is he a villian? What do his thoughts about the land, his idle time while there, his wife, and his actions reveal about him? What do his motivation for marrying Antoinette and his lack of contentment with a new wife, newly gained prosperity, and beautiful suroundings reveal about each of us, humanly speaking? Is there a path of disorder that can be identified in this Rochester character?
 * Consider Antoinette [the main female character in which the plot hinges upon]. So much consideration must be given to the ideas of Colonialism when we think about origins of prosperity, human relationships, prejudices, and resentment, and consequences of human constructs of this nature. We also cannot miss the feminine and ethnic ideas drawn fom this character's loss of voice, misfortune, and tragic forbearance of her circumstances. Examine all of this and then explore your own reasoning to the following. If you were to compare Rhys' Creole young female character Antoinette with the biblical heroine Ruth, what ideas would surface? What significant comparisons would exist, culturally, individually, etc.