House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton (first published in 1905)

Characters

Lily Bart Mrs. Peniston – aunt Grace Stepney – cousin of Mrs. Peniston, told her about Lily and Gus Tenor – inherited bulk of estate Lawrence Seldon Gerty Farish – cousin Percy Gryce Judy and Gus Tenor Bertha and George Dorset Ned Silverton – affair with Bertha Rosedale Norma Hatch – Lily took job as “secretary” to help guide her socially Freddy Van Osburgh – young – almost married Mrs. Hatch Other characters: Mr. and Mrs. Wellington Bry – hosted party where Lily was is a tableau Mrs. Haffen – sold Lily compromising letters from Bertha Dorset to Seldon Nettie Struther – helped by Lily at Girls’ Home, took Lily to her home at end of novel

 For discussion:

 

1. How is this book different from more modern novels?   What about this novel did you like more or less than the usual books you read?
1. Why is this novel considered a classic?
2. Were you surprised with the stereotypes used to describe Rosedale?  Would that happen today?
3. Compare Lily and Gerty’s lives.  Do you think one was more happy or satisfying than the other?  Why?
4. Discuss Lily and Gerty’s friendship.    At one point Lily said that “friends say disagreeable things others would not say.”   Does this define their friendship?  Do you agree with this statement?
5. Discuss Lily’s relationships with Seldon, Tenor, Dorset and Rosedale.  Would you have advised her to handle things any differently? 
6. Was Lily capable of doing anything different with her life or was she a victim of her upbringing?  At one point she reflected that she “had been brought up to be ornamental, not to serve any practical purpose.”
7. What did you think about Mrs. Peniston cutting Lily out of her will?  Why did she do that?  Can you understand Mrs. Peniston thinking?
8. How did Lily change or not change over the course of the novel?

• Compare conversation with Rosedale at the beginning of the novel to the conversation in the tea shop at the end.
• She declined to move in with Gerty when offered because she did not want to be dependent on others.
• The satisfaction that she got from helping Nettie.

 

Vocabulary Quiz
Word	Definition
______…to escape from the threatened vacuity of the afternoon….   ______…cuirassed in shining black…   ______It was from her that he inherited his detachment from the sumptuary side of life…   ______….he still felt himself agrope…   ______Her worldly wisdom would have counseled her against such as act of abnegation…   _____ But brilliant young ladies, a little blinded by their own effulgence …   ______Mrs. Tenor’s complaints of Carry Fisher’s rapacity…	a. renouncement or relinquishment   b. covetous   c. emptiness   d. radiant splendor, brilliance   e. like a piece of armor covering body neck to waist   f. the act of groping   g. designed to regulate extravagant expenditures or habits

 

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

 

Answers:  c, e, g, f, a, d, b

Run, by Ann Patchett

Characters

Bernard Doyle – former Mayor of Boston Bernadette Sullivan – deceased wife Sullivan – oldest son – had been in Africa – driving car in which girlfriend was killed Tip – Black - adopted – Ichthyologist Teddy – Black - adopted – memorized famous speeches, interested in Catholic faith   Father John Sullivan   Tennessee Alice Moser – previously Beverly – took friend’s name and raised her daughter Kenya Moser Tennessee Alice Moser – deceased

 

For discussion:

NOTE:  All page numbers are from 2008 Harper Perennial paperback.

 

1. Discuss Sullivan:

* How did adopting the two boys impact his life both positively and negatively?

* How did his life change because of the death of his mother?

* Why did Doyle encourage him to lie about accident when he was driving and Natalie was killed?

* How did the accident and lie impact everyone’s life?

* His connection with Tennessee – when he was visiting her before her surgery he could not stop telling her his story. Why?

 

2. What did you think about Tennessee and Kenya following the Doyles’ lives?  Was it sweet or creepy?

 

3. How would things have been different if the second Tennessee had lived?

How would things have been different if Bernadette had lived?

 

4. What was the connection between Tip, Teddy and Kenya?  Why did they have similar features?  How were they related?

 

5. Did the way Tennessee raise Kenya give you any insights into being a minority?  For example, her mother taught Kenya to always be vigilant (page 80).  Is that trait you encouraged in your children?

 

6. Kenya was driven to run – it was impossible for her not to run.  Have you ever felt that driven to do something?  Could you understand her feelings?

 

7. How did the various family members connect with Kenya? 

 

8. How did his belief in God change for Father Sullivan?  When he was younger he “believed in a carefully ordered universe: action and reaction.  But now he could no longer picture a God who kept track of such minutiae or who would think to punish anyone for it.”  (page 126)  Also he felt, at the end of his life in the home, that “God seemed more abundant to him in the Regina Cleri home than any place he had been before.”  (page 131)

 

9. What was happening when Nena DeMatteo and Helen Cain where healed after visiting Father Sullivan?  Did he have a special insight when he was visiting Tennessee?

 

10. Both Tip and Teddy felt they had to punish themselves for what happened by going back to school – Teddy for law and Tip in medicine.  (page 284) Why did they feel so responsible?   Should Doyle have understood their feelings and intervened?

 

11. How did you feel about Tip abandoning medicine after he received his degree and returning to ichthyology?

 

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.