The Stone Gods Test & Discussion
Period 1: We will take our test on the novel The Stone Gods this morning. After your test, please work on your portfolio (see below) and when all have completed their test, we will have our Socratic seminar discussion on the book.
PORTFOLIO PROMPTS for The Stone Gods: Use any of the prompts below to create something. You may (of course) use your own ideas, or combine any of these prompts as you'd like.
I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho' not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call'd me.
3. Complete the discussion notes for The Stone Gods:
PORTFOLIO PROMPTS for The Stone Gods: Use any of the prompts below to create something. You may (of course) use your own ideas, or combine any of these prompts as you'd like.
- Write a traveler's tale about a secret place that no human has visited...until now (this could be a planet, a country, an island, a city, a house, or anything imaginable).
- Write a short story or poem in which you deliberately use a metaphor to say something about the human condition or an environmental issue.
- Pick your favorite "classic" novel, short story, or poem. Steal a line from this literary work and/or use this allusion to enhance your own story (or choose to revise something you've already written and use allusion to enhance the piece).
- Write your own science fiction story. See TV tropes for some trope ideas...
1. The Sun Rising by John Donne
2. From Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe:I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho' not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family at Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Keutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our Selves, and writer Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call'd me.
3. Complete the discussion notes for The Stone Gods:
- What puzzles/confuses me about __________ is...
- I'd like to discuss...
- This (scene/character/setting/plot event/conflict, etc.) reminds me of...
- I think that the author is attempting to...
- I have a question about...
- Did you also notice that...
- Examine the plot of this novel. Are all parts of this book necessary in your opinion? How do the parts of the book help identify themes? (Consequently then, what is Winterson’s point or message to us?)
- Choose a minor character and explore why and how this character helps to compare/contrast with a major character. If possible, each group member should select their own minor character. Listen to everyone’s opinion.
- Examine the allusions or the use of repetition in this book. How do they function or what use are they narratively?
- Winterson has been known to quote: “the truth is a version of events.” What might she mean? And how does this relate to the book (setting, characters, theme, plot?)
- A reviewer wrote: "Winterson is an orphaned/non-orphaned, religious/irreligious lesbian schizophrenic who openly discusses her periods of madness. Throughout the dichotomy of the search for her true identity, to find some cohesion with reality, and her deliberate self-maligning separation from the world, there are tiny slivers of information fed through the overwhelming prose. Perhaps reflecting her own mental – and sometimes physical - dysphoria, there is the feeling of grasping for something in desperation, but not knowing what that is: an abstract description for a predominantly abstract writer.
This is reflected in the way images drawn from seemingly nowhere are thrown into previously coherent sentences, jolting the reader from any comfort zone they may have been clinging to thus far. While these passages sometimes work, Winterson’s best moments are those of sheer clarity, of short sentences and direct language. These parts are raw and engaging, and are often the only times you feel empathy with her."
Find a passage that you feel supports this review and explain its effectiveness or question its use in the book.
- After learning about Winterson, what parts of this book seem to be autobiographical? Are these details in the book an accident or are they purposefully drawn to allow the writer to connect to her past or identity? What parts of your own life are helpful to write about? Consider how this may help your prose and poetry writing.
- If you were to write this book, what changes would you make? Why?
- Could this book work outside of its “sci-fi” genre? What genre(s) might be best suited to it? What science fiction tropes does Winterson use in the novel? How are they similar/different from other science fiction films, novels, stories, or narratives that you are familiar with?
- Examine this book through a queer or gender lens. What issues seem most relevant?
- Examine this book through an eco-criticism lens. What might the author be trying to warn us about the dangers of human development or technology as regards our world (there is no planet b)?
- Examine this book through a post-colonial critical lens. How does the text support such a reading or analysis?
- Other questions/discussion topics?
HOMEWORK: None. Feel free to contribute to your portfolio by writing about issues brought up today or from the discussion of the novel.
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