English 1A

Fall 2007

Seminar #10

Note:  Your seminar grade will be determined by the quantity of your responses (how many questions you answer and how many other students you respond to) and the quality (how well you demonstrate an understanding of the ideas you're responding to, how detailed your responses are, how coherent and in-depth they are, etc.)

Directions:
1.  Read Ursula LeGuin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

2. Choose one question and respond with 3-5 paragraphs. Include quotes and/or specific references to the text to back up your responses.

1.  Narrator: Describe the narrator of the story. What do we know about the narrator? What does the narrator think about this city of Omelas, and its people? How would you characterize the narrator's voice?  Why do you think LeGuin chose to make the narrative voice as she did?

2. Symbolism: What symbols can you identify in the story, and what are some possible interpretations? Identify at least three symbols, and pose some possible theories as to what they represent.

3. Setting: When and where is this story set, and how does the setting contribute to the overall effect of the story?  How complete is Le Guin's portrait of this place? Does it feel "real" to you? Why or why not? How are we meant feel about the city of Omelas in the end?

4.  Theme :Identify a few of the larger themes in the story, and discuss how Le Guin uses these themes to make a point. What does she seem to be suggesting about human nature, or about the world we live in?

5. Plot Summarize the plot of the story, and analyze how LeGuin structures the story. Does she use the traditional narrative arc discussed in class, or some version of it? If she fractures or distorts that arc, give examples of how she does, and explain why.  What is the effect on the audience?

6. Tone: What adjectives would you use to describe the tone of the story? How does the author's choice of words and style of writing affect the audience? What do we expect based on the tone and style, and how does the author either meet or fail to meet those expectations?

3. Save your work as a .doc or .rtf document and submit your response to the Assignment Chamber by midnight on Thursday, Dec. 13  

4. Post your responses to the appropriate forum by midnight on Thursday, Dec.13.

5. Read all the other students' posts throughout the week.

6. Respond to at least two other student's post (more is better) .  You will have until midnight, Wednesday, Dec. 19 to read and respond to the other students' ideas in the website.

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