Who doesn't love pictures?

The big field trip!

See. This is why we read. So when you see a sign like this, you really know what it means.

Good looking people look even better in front of trophies!

Our compost angel branches out and embraces the green culture of the Giants. I'm so proud.

Did you know this is dustless dirt. No joke. And the grass. Well, it grows really fast. They mow it every day.

More good looking people. What a bunch!

And let's not forget our fearless leader Clyde. The man knows his stuff and boy can he talk. Apparently he knows basketball, too.

The Natural: post for night #2

Lots of connections to the Parcival myth in last night's reading. Some literary critics have said that Malamud put a realistic man in a mythological setting. Is that fair? Has Malamud set Roy up for failure? So far, has Roy changed in the 15 years since the shooting? Be specific in your responses, please.

The Natural: Day 1

Free write: Most titles give us an idea what the story is about, and what we will experience if we read. But some authors use titles to do more than that; some use metaphors so their titles create additional meanings.

In the world of sports, talent scouts, managers, coaches, writers and fans examine the talent of newcomers and wonder whether they will be successful. A player whose skills seem to need no training, or whose skills seem God-given, is called a natural.

In the Middle Ages (approx. 500A.D. to 1350 A.D.), the term natural referred to an idiot, a kind of foolish innocent person whom it was thought God protected.

How does Bernard Malamud use the title of the book to allude to Roy as a natural in both senses?

Discussion

1. NYTimes Book Review

2. Allegory

3. Parzival/Percival: What parallels are present?

4. p. 26: What are we to make of Harriet's questioning of Ray: "Isn't there something over and above earthly things—some more glorious meaning to one's life and activities?"

5. Where can we see myth-making in the first section?

6. Symbols present and what might they signify?

Sunday Field Trip!

Sunday April 21

Meet in the upper parking lot (near the pool and behind the new gym) and NOON! NOON! NOON!

We should be back between 3-4pm.

See you then.

Kinsella Interview ... finally

To listen to the interview try this link

Shoeless Joe finds shoes and the story ends

Free write: Where is Salinger headed? What's beyond the gate?

1. Page 251: Salinger's baseball sermon. What's the intention behind his? How does it compare/contrast to Eddie's?

2. What changes Richard in that moment with his father?

3. Looking back throughout the novel, what's the significance of Karin or Annie always seeing the players first?

Shoeless Joe: 131-233

Discussion Question


Define each persons/items role in Ray's journey and dream: Salinger, Moonlight Graham, Annie, Eddie Scissons, Karin, the field, Richard, Ray's father.

1. "Writing is different," Salinger insists. "Other people get into occupations by accident or deign; but writers are born. We have to write. I have to write. I could work at selling motels, or slopping hogs, for fifty years, but if someone asked my occupation, I'd say writer, even if I'd never sold a word. Writers write. Other people talk." (109)

How does Salinger's idea relate to Ray? How does it relate to the idea of faith?

2. Why does Ray constantly press Salinger about writing?

3. Ray pulls out a fan letter to Salinger (p. 134), but Salinger is unmoved by the note. Why do you think Salinger is so reluctant to be loved and adored? Why include this type of character in the novel? What purpose of Salinger's reluctance serve in Ray's journey?

4. On p. 147 Graham talks about the importance of place and the connection he has to Chisholm. In what way has Ray's sense of place influenced his journey and dream?

5. Bottom of 167: what is Kinsella telling us about America's relationship with baseball?

6. “I know that some of us, and for some reason I am one of them, get to reach out and touch our heart’s desire, like a child who gets to pet the nose of an old horse, soft as satin, safe as a grandfather’s lap. And I know, too, that when most people reach out for that heart’s desire, it appears not as a horse but as a tiger, and they are rewarded with snarls, frustration, and disillusionment” (218).

Personally: What does this passage make you think of? Textually: How does this relate to the major action of the novel?

7. “A collector’s dream” (217). In what way is Ray a collector? What does he collect?

8. “Fact and fantasy swirl together” (218). What role does self-delusion have in dream fulfillment? Is Ray delusional? Salinger? Are we all, just a little? How does delusion relate to our ability to believe and have faith?

9. “We sleep.” …“And wait.” … “And dream … Oh, how we dream” (221). Dream of what?

10. Look at Eddie’s baseball sermon on p. 227 and beyond:

What’s a sermon?

What are the gospels?

What did baseball offer Eddie?

What does the Field offer Eddie?

What’s the significance of using “the word” in his speech? What effect does the repetition have? What does the repetition allude to?

What does Eddie offer Ray?

Besides the love of the game, what’s the connection between the two men?