Reference no: EM133691767
Assignment:
Sweat" Questions
1-Talk about the relationship between Delia and Sykes. How would you summarize or characterize their relationship? Do you think they ever were able to support one another? Why or why not?
2-How does the men's discussion on the porch further your understanding of the relationship between Delia and Sykes? How does this impact your understanding of what is happening in the story? Do the men help you to gain additional perspective? How so? What does the reader come to know and understand about Delia and Sykes through the conversation of these men?
3-How would you compare the window that Delia looked through at the end of the story to watch Sykes after he is bitten by the snake to the window that Louise Mallard looked out from with a "monstrous joy" in "The Story of An Hour"after learning about her husband's death? Are there any similarities or differences with what they both were feeling?
4-Can you compare or contrast Louise Mallard's heart disease in "The Story of An Hour" to Delia's agony in "Sweat"? Why/Why not?
5-What do you think might be the intentions of how "Sweat" begins with: "It was eleven o'clock of a Spring night in Florida" and how "The Lottery" begins with "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." Why do you think the stories opened this way? What do you think the authors might be trying to say?
6-Do you think the reader ever comes to see Delia not simply as a victim but as a woman responsible for her own life? Do you think Delia comes to understand her strength?
7-What do you think about Delia's action (or inaction) when Sykes is dying?
8-To what extent do you think Delia is responsible for Sykes's death? To what extent is Sykes responsible for his death? How so?
9-How does Hurston characterize Delia and Sykes in the story? Strong or weak? What if anything do you think this tells about Zora Neale Hurston's attitude toward gender?
10-What do you think the rattlesnake symbolizes in the story? Why do you think the snake bit Sykes and did not bite Delia?