Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Reading

• Saul Bellow, “Graven Images” (Oates, 564–68)
• Edward Hoagland, “Heaven and Nature” (Oates, 507–19)

Notes

By now you know the drill: write a couple sentences on each question.

1. Bellow uses the term amour propre, which can mean (roughly) either “self love” or “self respect.” How does he play with these ideas in his essay?
2. Why do you suppose Bellow is so concerned with the “graven image”? Why do you suppose he wished Picasso had done his bust?
3. While Bellow uses aging (a developing, if unintended, “theme” of this course) to discuss imagery and memory, Hoagland uses it largely to discuss suicide. What are the different types of suicide he discusses? Do you think they all should be classified as “suicide”?
4. For Hoagland, how does love work conceptually, if it works at all? Is it an elixir for the despair that can lead to suicide?
5. Can we relate Hoagland’s essay in any way to Sontag’s “The Way We Live Now”? If so, how?

We have two people sharing their responses, as well: Daniel for Bellow’s “Graven Images” and Margaret for Hoagland’s “Heaven and Nature.”