The+Road+Walkers

Jenna Jeff Wyatt D Abby

=**Constitution**=

1) If thou procrastinates, thou shall be put to death! 2) If thou makes no effort to stay in constant communication, thou shall be put to death! 3) If thou has no open mind, thou shall be put to death! 4) If thou does not listen, thou shall be put to death! 5) If thou has not done the work assigned, nor communicate with the group, thou is commanded to bring in food for each group member.

9/4/12 Class Discussion


 * Personal Connection (Jeff):** (pg7) calling Dad's house (he's gone)-->hard to break old habits---> dog die-still called name


 * Discussion Director: prepare 4-5 discussion questions based on the reading. (Abby)**

• //Stylistically, there is little to no punctuation, correct sentence structure, and the paragraphs are spaced out unevenly. How do you think this augmented the story McCarthy is trying to tell?//

• //The man’s love for the boy is his only reason for living. What do you think he means by the sentence, “If he is not the word of God God never spoke.” (page 5)//

• //The man is not actively searching for other people, but instead seems to be wary of them. What would be the danger of finding other people in this apocalyptic situation?//

Quotes:

"He said the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and of death" (18). -agree all dreams can be helpful

Vocab: what is a Lardcan? --->

9/6/12 Class Discussion

Have you ever had to get rid of something you cared about but didn’t know how you could keep hold of it? That it was not a necessity? (51)-reference father emptying wallet-even of picture
 * Personal Connections:**

Have you ever felt like things were just so bad, things going wrong, that you ever wished you were dead? (55) – reference child wanting to be w/ mother (dead)

Have you ever been in such shock from something happening that you couldn’t talk, just kept quiet and gone through those moments as if they weren’t real? (68)- child went mute after saw father shoot man holding him hostage

The child hated his dad leaving his side for even a moment; he was so scared to be left alone. Have you ever felt this way? (71) - When left alone in my house sometimes at night …

Have you ever wanted to help someone but know you can’t do anything? How did you feel, and what did you do? (85)- child saw another child -seeing someone in a terrible car wreck wanting to help out but knowing I didn’t have enough experience at the time to be of any use… seeing someone get bullied and wanting to help but are too afraid of stepping in…fear, anger

**Discussion Director:** Do you think the father being so honest with the boy will help or hurt the boy in the long run? Yes. Looking back at the father's opinion on dreams, the boy must be exposed to the grim reality. - "He said the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and of death"

Do you think the word grey being used so much gives the book more hope than if black was used? Yes, blackness is nothingness and grey still has some light. - "The blackness he woke to on those nights was sightless and impenetrable. A blackness to hurt your ears with listening"

Have you developed any sort of connection to the characters yet? Do you find them interesting? No. We do not have any connection because we know nothing about the characters. However, it can be argued that certain details about someone do not matter in an apocalyptic setting.

What do you think the father means when he tells the boy the tracks in the snow could be from "bad guys"? What do you think defines good and bad in a world like this?

The line between good and bad are really grey as everyone is trying to survive. The only things that are really bad in this setting are catamites.


 * Vocab:**
 * Sappers
 * A soldier responsible for tasks such as building and repairing roads and bridges, laying and clearing mines, etc.
 * "They moved through the streets like sappers" (79).


 * Cheroot
 * A cigar with both ends open and untapered.
 * "She sat there smoking a slender length of dried grapevine as if it were some rare cheroot" (56).


 * Tottering
 * To move in a feeble or unsteady way.
 * "The boy sat tottering" (74)


 * Literary Luminary (Abby):**

“He pitched the sweatblackened piece of leather into the woods and sat holding the photograph. Then he laid it down in the road also and then he stood and they went on”(51). -the man has finally severed all ties to his past life. With the past out of the way, he'll be able to focus on the future.

“I dont care. It’s meaningless. You can think of me as a faithless slut if you like. I’ve taken a new lover. He can give me what you cannot” (57). -Death is seen as an enticing escape to many in inescapable situations. The woman, who must have at one time loved the man, is so deep in her own depression that she can safely rationalize the idea of dying and leaving two people that she cares for behind.

“This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man’s brains out of his hair. That is my job” (74). -The man's every breath is for his child. He is protective and cares for him very much. I think this line (and scene) is very telling of the type of relationship the two share. It's a sad comfort, I think.

“I’ll be in the neighborhood. Okay? Where’s the neighborhood? It just means I wont be far. Okay” (95). -This showcases the kid's lack of a substantial cultural upbringing. When you're fighting for survival and cut off from communication with others you have a gap of information you're missing. It also reminds me of times when I'd ask my dad what a term or phrase meant. The childhood innocence is still there.

9/10/12


 * Vocabulary: (Abby)**
 * Doric:** a style of ancient Greek architecture


 * Cochere**: the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage (or motor vehicle) can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.


 * Kilned:** Burn, bake, or dry


 * Gable**: the vertical triangular end of a building from cornice or eaves to ridge


 * Formica**: a heat-resistant, wipe-clean, plastic laminate of paper or fabric with melamine resin.


 * Mendicant**: refers to begging or relying on charitable donations, and is most widely used for religious followers


 * Discussion Director: Jenna**

Could you kill yourself to keep from a worse pain? (114) "They came upon themselves in a mirror and he almost raised his pistol. It's us, Papa, the boy whispered. It's us" (132) Can you imagine what it must be like to not even know what you look like-how would you feel seeing yourself for the first time in a long time, and to find that not only do you look different, but filthy and sick? "If you're on the lookout all the time does that mean that you're scared all the time" (151) What do you think-are you constantly on the lookout?


 * Literary Luminary: Jeff**

"'Let's just sit,' he said. 'We won't even talk.'" (Page 135) "He took the boy's hand and pushed the revolver into it." (Page 112)


 * Connection Master: Wyatt**

"In what direction did lost men veer?... Finally he put it out of his mind. The notion that there could be anything to correct for. His mind was betraying him. Phantoms not heard from in a thousand years rousing slowly from their sleep" (116).

On occasion, I can connect to this moment of the road very much. During certain math tests when I become confused on a problem, my mind may begin to betray me and mix up formulas. The best way to describe what I am thinking when this happens is definitely "In what direction did lost men veer" (116)? "Oh my god, he whispered. Oh my god. Come down" (138). This one time while I was on vacation in South Carolina, my friends and I were walking around downtown Charleston. It began to rain around. It was soft at first, but then it turned into a downpour from the heavens. While my friends and I were running to our car, stomachs began to grumble one by one. We tried many resturants downtown but were unsuccessful. ( on a friday is not a good time to not have reservations.) Once we got closer to home, we found that one of my favorite resturants had a table open. Our food may have taken forever to come out, but we were satasfied like the man and the boy.

Notes for 9/13 (Note-Taker=Jeff) Any goals for staying alive?- In some regards yes, the boy wants to live a normal life as much as he can, and try to retain some human values and morals. Moon a metaphor for hope?- Well, we saw it as sometimes, there is goodness showing through the grey, and that there can be hope, even if it is few and far in-between. Personal Connections; Emaciated dog on the side of the road, wanted to pull over and help regardless of whether or not it is beyond help. Related to the old man in the book who needed help. Basic questions; Do the boy and the man have a better chance of surviving at sea?- No, not enough supplies to survive, or equipment necessary to obtain food. Will they take a ship and travel somewhere else?- Not enough food to make it far. Why did the boy give food the old man?- He was tired of not helping, and it was the final straw so to speak. Wants to retain some morals and values. Why do they keep finding food, is there any deeper meaning?- We think it shows that unless you keep going until the very end, you won't survive. You never know, even when things look their darkest, when the grip of death is approaching, you could find a cache of food. The inability to know what happens next can either be motivation to keep going or give up on how you perceive it.

Notes 9/17/12 (Wyatt):

__**Will be added soon. Technical issues= meh.**__

Quotes- w/ our quotes, short answer--what do you think--incorporate 4 jobs Vocab- Matching Essay- 1of 3 topics What do you think the overall theme of the Road is and why? Give examples and details What are some lasting metaphors throughout the book? Explain their meaning.