Thursday, April 7, 2011
Quote Circle?
I for one love the quote circles we do in class before each quiz. Since we have no time to do this before the quiz on Monday I thought it might be helpful to have one on the blog. I guess I'll start, you're welcome to follow. :] pg 142, first sentence: "Some people will send a bread and butter note...Anatole sent us a boy." -I particularly like this one because it shows the difference between the life in Georgia and in the Congo. It also says to me that Leah is starting to acknowledge the differences and take them into effect in her new life. pg 173, last sentence: "Our Baptist ears from Georgia will never understand the difference." -This is when Adah was talking about how they pronounce words differently for different meanings. I thought it was interesting that Adah pays so much attention to this and no one else, especially Nathan, does. And she used the word 'ear' rather than mind or anything else, maybe cause she chooses to hear things instead of say them. pg 196, 2nd paragraph: "That was the last I would...and trust in the miracle of good fortune." -This is from Orleanna when she is recalling the accident that happened to Nathan in the war. It gives me the impression that she now sees a clear dividing point between her life before and after Nathan's accident. Her life seems so much worse now, but Nathan seemed like he had changed for the better. Well, I hope this gives some recollection of what happened in the early parts of the book (it helped me to skim through it all again).
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Great quotes Casey. It is interesting how, because she spends so much time listening, Adah is able to recognize the shortcomings in the Price's ability to speak and to understand in the Congo. I really like that section... they write the Poisonwood Bible... a bible of misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and mistakes, through which genuine "truth" is revealed. Nice. I love many quotes from Orleanna in Judges. These are my favorite: "This is how conquest occurs: one plan is always larger than the other." I love how Orleanna views her relationship with Nathan as a "conquest." She was weak and vulnerable and allowed Nathan's truth to become her own. She never fought back. Then finally when she was ready to fight back she related herself to Methuselah who tried to fly "but discovered he had no wings." You can feel the connection that Orleanna makes to the Congo... she actually describes the Congo as a "barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the Kingdom." This quote shows the parallel between Orleanna's dysfunctional marriage and the colonization of the Congo. The Belgians and later other European (and American) nations controlled her, exploited her, and then left her to flounder without wings. I love this connection!
ReplyDeleteOn page 135 and 136 (among other pages) Adah keeps referring to Leah as a twin and herself as a niwt. I think this is really interesting and it shows exactly how Adah thinks of herself: completely the opposite of Leah.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember which page it was, but it was with the attack of the ants. Adah speaks for the first time in the past year (I think that is how long they have been there, about?). She says to her mother, "help." And she then speaks again, saying, "please." However, she is left behind. I like that part because I have felt left behind before and I know how she feels.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things thats stands out about these sections was Brother fowles. The section were he appears has some great quotes such as on pg 252 "If the first handful of dough is consecrated, the whole mass is, and if the root of a tree is consecrated, so are its branches. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you who were only a wild olive shoot have been grafted in, and made up to share the richness of the olive's root, you must not look down upon the braches. Remember that you do not support the root; the root supports you." and further down the page he says "don't you sometimes think about this, as you share the food of your Congolese brethren and gladden your heart with their songs? Do you get the notion we are the branch that's grafted on here, sharing in the richness of these African roots?" Both of these two quotes express to me the level of understanding and respect brother fowles has for the people of the Conggo, which is the complete opposite of what nathan thinks. Another quotes i like is "But each of those wives has profited from the teachings of jesus, i can tell you. tata Ndu and i spent many afternoons with a calabash of palm wine between us debating the merits of treating a wife kindly. in my six years here i saw the practice of wife beating fall into great disfavor. Secret little altars to Tata jesus appeared in most evry kitchen, as a result." This quote shows that brother fowels unlike nathan has manage to change the life of the congolese for the better. Overall i think that brother fowles symbolizes the best that developed countries have to offer, he is a compassionate man who doesent view the natives as inferior, and he takes the time to understand them and their culture unlike nathan
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ReplyDeletequote circles are a huge help to understanding details of specific quotes in the novel. this single post is a study tool by communicating our ideas and opinions..i love the quote circles. :))
ReplyDeleteIt was awesome that we got to get through an entire quote circle on monday!! everyone got a chance to talk.
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