Fences 2.4 and 2.5

2.4

• Why does Troy keep trying to pick fights with Cory?
• What do you think of the last part of this scene where Troy is yelling at "Death?

2.5

• How do you think Rose is able to care for Raynell even though she knows that she is the product of Troy's cheating?
• Cory is now a corporal in the army and Lyons was sentenced to 9 months in the workhouse; is Cory's success because of Troy's influence?
• Do you agree with Rose that Cory's not attending Troy's funeral is disrespectful?
  

Their Eyes Were Watching This Blog (10-12)

Chapter 10:

In this chapter, Tea Cake is first introduced. From the beginning of the novel, we know that Janie had "run off" with Tea Cake, but returned to Eatonville by herself. It has been about 2 months since Joe died and Janie has been constantly asked about a new marriage. While everyone is at a game, Janie works in the store until about 5:30 when a man she has never seen before comes in. Unlike Joe, Tea Cake believes that she is smart enough to learn how to play checkers and resolves to teach her. Although Janie finds Tea Cake attractive, she thinks that he must be only after her money, not only because she is forty, but also because he is 25. It is interesting that Janie believes Tea Cake to not have any money just because he is young. Right before she left Logan, Joe was only about 30 and had plenty of money to spend on her and himself. Since we already know that Janie will end up marrying Tea Cake, we will have to see how her mind changes about his intentions.

Chapter 11:
Janie decides to be very cold to Tea Cake in this chapter so she can find out what kind of person he really is. Her act lasts less than a day and then Tea Cake tells her that nobody is as good as she is. The most important part of this chapter is when Janie realizes that Tea Cake is the man that she wanted when she was sixteen and used to sit underneath the pear tree. Do you think that Tea Cake will end up being that person that she wants or will it end up the same way that her marriage to Joe did?

Chapter 12:
In this chapter, Phoeby goes to Janie to talk about her spending time with Tea Cake. Janie admits that they are planning on getting married right after she sells the store. While Phoeby warns Janie that Tea Cake is only after her money, Janie says that it's not true. From what she says of Tea Cake, it becomes apparent that Tea Cake treats her as an equal and not as a possession as Joe did. He takes her hunting and fishing and to the movies, whereas Joe made her sit and do nothing when she wasn't in the store. How important is being treated like an equal to Janie? Is Tea Cake the only person who does this?

Black Boy - Chapter Three

"This was my test. If I failed now, I would have failed at school, for the first trial came not in books, but in how one's fellows took one, what value they placed upon one's willingness to fight."
-Page 91

In Chapter 3, Richard's mother suffers a stroke and he goes to live with his Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody in Greenwood. On his first day of school there, he fights another boy during lunch to prove his worth and become accepted. The theme of education in this chapter deals with both learning from life experience and learning from books. Uncle Clark tells Richard that he is to study every night and he does. He starts earning high marks until the dead boy incident. The type of learning from life is more prominently shown in this chapter, though. The chapter starts with Richard and his gang and how they talked about the racial segregation and the differences between blacks and whites. Richard learns that in the north, race is less of an issue than in the south. In Greenwood, the learning comes more from fitting in with other people. Richard knows that if he did not fight or put up a weak effort, he would have to keep proving himself to the others time after time, which would affect his school work. This is reminiscent of Richard's first experience with a new school when he could not write his name on the board even though he knew how to spell better than most of the other children.