Guiding Questions for a Deeper Understanding of Stranger Than Fiction

Transcription

1 Guiding Questions for a Deeper Understanding of Stranger Than Fiction 1. Why does the narrator focus so much on Harold s obsession with time? 2. (Harold goes to sleep.) In this scene, Harold s watch is personified. Personification is a literary device in which an inanimate object is given human characteristics or attributes. Why do you think the narrator personifies Harold s wristwatch? On a personal basis, what do you think of Harold and the life he chooses to live? 3. (Missing the bus.) What happens when Harold begins to notice the narrator? List the things he does, says, and thinks that you think are revealing about his character. 4. (Filing and the waves scraping against sand.) Why do you think Harold stops every time he hears the narrator? What does the following quotation reveal about Harold? Sometimes I do imagine a deep and endless ocean. 1

2 5. ( Get bent tax man! ) What kind of character is Harold? What do you think of him? At this point, you should have enough evidence to determine Harold s hamartia. What is it? If you were writing a story about Harold, why would you create him to be the way he currently is? 6. ( Shut up! ) The narrator says Harold is cursing the heavens in futility. Is Harold is control of his own life? (Think back and compare to Oedipus Rex.) Give evidence and reasons to support your answer. 7. ( I don t know how to kill Harold Crick. ) Why is Karen Eiffel (the author and narrator) trying to kill Harold Crick? Why can t she just throw him off a building? 2

3 8. ( Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death. ) How does Harold react to the news that he is about to die? What new side do we see in Harold when he realizes he will die? 9. (Professor Jules Hilbert in the restroom) The English professor, Jules Hilbert, states Dramatic irony, it ll fuck you every time. Dramatic irony is a common device used by authors (usually in tragedies) in which characters reveal their inability to understand their own situation. Dramatic irony is most effective when characters make fateful choices based on information the reader realizes is incorrect. Let s assume that Professor Hilbert is correct. What is it that Harold does not understand about his own situation? 10. ( Did you have enough time to count the tiles in the bathroom? ) Why is Professor Hilbert so concerned with Harold s obsession with counting? 3

4 11. ( Little did he know ) Professor Hilbert says Son of a bitch, Harold. Little did he know means there s something he doesn t know. That means there s something you don t know. Do you know that? Why is it important that Harold doesn t know something? (Hint: There are two terms from Aristotle s poetics that you should connect to in your answer.) 12. (Harold is on the bus.) For a few brief moments, all the calculations and all the rules in Harold s life just faded away. How perfect then that in this space, Ana Pascal would appear. Why is it perfect that Ana would appear in this moment? (Hint: The word perfect means both flawless and something else in this situation.) 13. ( King of the Lanes ) Professor Hilbert asks Harold is he is the king of anything to determine if he holds a high status in life. Why does Hilbert want to know this? (Hint: Look back at The Poetics by Aristotle for help answering this question.) 4

5 14. ( I m not in the business of saving lives. In fact, just the opposite. ) Given what Aristotle states about the purpose of tragedies, how is Karen s statement here ironic? 15. ( This might sound like gibberish to you. But, I think I m in a tragedy. ) Why does Harold thinks this? (Hint: This question is more difficult than it seems.) 16. ( It may be that you yourself are perpetuating the story... Some plots are moved forward by external events and crises. Others are moved forward by the characters themselves. If I go through that door, the plot continues. The story of me through the door. If I stay here, the plot can t move forward, the story end. ) What would Aristotle say about external forces affecting the plot of a story? Which plot do you think Harold is involved in? Why? 5

6 17. (Hilbert: Harold, you don t control your fate. Harold: I know. Hilbert: You do?) Why is Hilbert surprised that Harold knows that he doesn t control his own fate? Use a course concept to explain your answer. (Hint: Aristotle s Poetics.) 18. ( Aren t you too old for Space Camp? You re never too old for Space Camp. ) What is the significance of this statement to Harold? 19. (Harold brings a gift to Ana.) What type of irony does Harold s gift represent? How does this type of irony make the gift better or more humorous? 20. ( Beautiful tragedies. Just beautiful. ) How can a tragedy be beautiful? 6

7 21. ( Harold, she only writes tragedies! ) Why does Harold bound after Karen Eifeel when he finds out she is the narrator? 22. ( It s simple, ironic, and possibly heart-breaking. ) Why is it important to Karen that Harold dies an ironic death? Also, why is also important that Harold s death be heart-breaking? (Hint: See Aristotle s Poetics.) 23. ( I need to talk to her and ask her to stop. ) What would you do if you were in Harold s position? 24. (Hilbert: You have to die It s absolutely no good if you don t die at the end. Harold: You re asking me to knowingly face my own death? Hilbert: Yes.) Would you want to know your own death? Why or why not? 7

8 25. ( I could change. ) Why does Harold think that changing his life will spare his life? 26. ( It looks like you cracked your head, you broke three bones in your leg and foot, you suffered four broken ribs, fractured your left arm, and severed an artery in your right arm, which should ve killed you in a matter of minutes, but amazingly, a shard of metal from your watch obstructed the artery, keeping the blood loss low enough to keep you alive... which is pretty cool. ) What was the irony in Harold s miraculous survival? 27. As Harold took a bite of Bavarian sugar cookie, he finally felt as if everything was going to be okay. Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren t any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems stranger, but I also know that it just so happens to be true. And, so it was, a wristwatch saved Harold Crick. ) How exactly do these nuances, anomalies, and subtleties help save our lives? 8