To The Lighthouse and Pride and Prejudice: Socratic Seminar Questions
On Monday and Tuesday, 3/5 and 3/6, we will have a culminating Socratic Seminar over TTL and P&P. You will have Woolf-only questions and comparative questions that ask you to compare and contrast both Austen’s and Woolf’s novels.
On the day you’re not discussing in your small group (groups will be announced Monday on arrival) you will have the hour with a laptop to work on your 10 quotes assignment.
Woolf-Only Analysis Prompts:
Analyze the significance of the lighthouse symbol in TTL.
Discuss how Woolf portrays this idea in TTL: “In or about December, 1910, human character changed.” (Woolf)
Connect these (and other relevant) quotes to TTL’s modernist structure and ideas.
◦“Love had a thousand shapes.” (192)
◦“…thinking how many shapes a person might wear.” (194)
◦“One wanted fifty pairs of eyes to see with, she reflected. Fifty pairs of eyes were not enough to get around that one woman with, she thought.” (198)
Künstlerroman Analysis: What is the role of the artist in society? How does Woolf portray—and exemplify—the evolution of this role in To The Lighthouse?
Analyze Woolf’s use of allusion in To The Lighthouse.
◦“The Charge of the Light Brigade”
◦The Fisherman and His Wife
◦“The Castaway”
◦Freud
◦Others that you’ve independently researched
Analyze how Woolf uses language, technique, and style to present commentary about the following topics in TTL:
◦How much tolerance do humans have for truth? Who faces reality and who avoids it?
◦How are men and women alike and different?
◦Is marriage essential for a full life?What is love?
◦How do we balance our need for solitude with our need for society?
◦How does nature influence us?
◦What are the causes and effects of patriarchy?
Synthesize Austen and Woolf: Paper 2 Practice Comparative Prompts—each of these prompts are asking you to share your evaluation: which is a better book, in your opinion, and what choices the author makes with language, structure, technique, and style create that effect?
Analyze the similarities and differences in form and effect of P&P andTTL’stripartite structures.
To what extent can the meaning of a literary work change over time? How does this question apply to Austen’s Pride and Prejudiceand Woolf’s To the Lighthouse?
A writer speaks of being “surprised by joy.” In the Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, discuss some moments which surprised and/or delighted you and consider the ways writers have achieved those particular effects.
Discuss the means by which authors endeavor to control our sympathy in P&P and TTL.
In P&P and TTL, show how and to what extent authors have created interesting characters whose thoughts remain hidden.