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The Quiet American
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[F2F Book Discussions] July 2015: The Quiet American by Graham Greene | Moderated by Marie
Thanks for the link Marie, downloaded and ready to go next Monday. Looking forward to it!
Hello! We are going to start our discussion and activity for Graham Greene's The Quiet American! The Reading Plan:
I will not suggest a reading plan. It's all up to you. BUT if you really want structure then I can suggest you do at least one part per week (there are 4 parts in the book). I also would prefer that you finish the story before the film viewing activity in Week 4.
Activity & Discussion Schedule:
Week 1 (June 30-July 4):
Activity #1 / Discussion #1
Week 2 (July 5-11):
Activity #2 / Discussion #2
Week 3 (July 12-18):
Activity #3 / Discussion #3
Week 4 (July 19-24):
Activity #4: Online film viewing / Discussion #4
July 25: F2F Discussion
Where to find copies?
I've posted a link to an epub copy in a previous post. Please check your local bookstore for copies.
Activity & Activity Schedule:
As with any book, The Quiet American was not written in a vacuum. Thus, all online activities (except the last one) will focus on the background information you might want to know to appreciate the story.
1) I will ask a set of questions or request certain information, of which you guys will need to search/research on the internet or wherever.
2a)This is how the scores will be done:
5 points within ONE day
4 points within TWO days
3 points within THREE days
2 point within THE WEEK
2b) For questions that will ask pictures, there's an additional 2 points if the answer is given within ONE day, and additional 1 point if the answer is given within TWO days. No additional points for answers THREE days and above.
3a) Wrong answers given within a week gets ONE point each answered question (for the effort, basically).
3b) Those that gave answers (regardless if they are correct or not) after more than a week will get ONE point for each answered activity.
4) All replies must have a citation. Cite your references for your answer, cite your reference for your verification or dispute, cite your reference for your correction. No citation, no points.
5) Keep it short & simple. Maximum of 100 words per item. Max of one picture (small to medium size only) per item. If you want to share more information, post links to that information. Too long posts or too many/too large pictures will have a penalty of -3 points per occurrence.
6) The three people with the highest points will win prizes, which will be given during the discussion on July 25.
7) Open only to people who will be able to attend the discussion or I'll get to see in the next discussions or will be able to get the prize (if they win) from other TFG peeps. 'Cause I don't want the extra hassle of shipping the prize to you.
This is basically just Trivial Pursuit, TFG peeps. :-)
(Yun lang, rather than multiple choices, very short essays yung answers, hahahaha!)
Questions? Comments?
Addendum: Touch move ha? That is, once you clicked Post, no changing your answer na. :-)
I have a question Marie, should the theoretical images you mentioned be created by us or sourced from the internet?
The images must be verified, based on reality & relevant to the topic at hand. For example, if I've asked information about the author Graham Greene, the attached pic should be Graham Greene, the author, and not a dog named Graham Greene. As for the source, it doesn't need to be from the internet, but it needs to be a valid source (like an encyclopedia). If you want to draw a picture of the author Graham Greene, make sure we recognize it as the author Graham Greene.The objective of these activities is for us to learn the different background information surrounding the book. It won't help us if the info given are not factual, di ba? That's why I am giving also points to people who will verify/second/dispute the answers. :-)
Sige, so that we can grasp on how the activity is done, let's try one round. :-)All about the French Indochina! (Activity #1a)
(view spoiler)
I'll try to participate in the "citations", it's tough to engage in an online debate hihihi
The area known as French Indo/China was essentially Vietnam over which the French had exerted colonial rule for close to a century, prior to the Second World War. When Japan was defeated by the allies; Ho Chi Minh took advantage of the power vacuum to declare Vietnam's independence. In a period of anti-communist fervor the British permitted France to reestablish their pre-war colonial power. Thus began the first Indo/China war in December 1946, which lasted till August 1954, and was the forerunner of what we came to know as the Vietnam War. http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/first...Picture: http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/wp-co... General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Viet Minh’s military leader in the First Indochina War.
@Maria EllaWalang debate na magaganap, puro pabilisan mag search ng info online lang, hahaha!
@GrantHello Grant! This is a game (think Trivial Pursuit :-) ) we are doing in preparation for the book discussion next month? Do you like to join? Unfortunately, your post did not answer the game questions exactly. Although I do thank you for posting links relevant to the historical background of the book. :-)
Marie, I withdraw my earlier entry and submit this new one!Activity #1a
1. (view spoiler)
2.(view spoiler)
3.(view spoiler)
Yes I am reading the book and I do intend to participate it was my total inexperience at this that caught me out. I didn't realise there was something under the "hide spoilers" tag...lol. All I saw was All about the French Indochina! (Activity #1a) so away I went with info on that hahaha. You live and learn, I'll be more ready for the next one for sure.
Sorry Marie! I'll put my chess mentality on.
Grant: Great! I look forward to reading your replies then. :-)Kristel: Oks sige. :-)
Commenting for notification purposes. Also, good luck, Marie!
Question Marie! Since you've already awarded points for the Activity #1a, will subsequent answers from other participants also earn points? Or no points na? :)
Yes, they will. The persons with the highest accumulated points will get prizes. :-) I'll post questions at least once a day, but ideally twice. Yes, pabilisan sya but I'll be judging the answers based on the key points of the answers & its completeness. Take note the touch move rule. And the citation rule. So ingat lang in clicking that Post button. :-)
Naku Monique, I thought you mean the next activities/set of questions. No points na yung Activity#1a, nakuha na kasi nina Angus & Kristel. So sorry! :-(
Marie wrote: "Naku Monique, I thought you mean the next activities/set of questions. No points na yung Activity#1a, nakuha na kasi nina Angus & Kristel. So sorry! :-("Haha, oops. 'Sokay. Let my answers stay there na lang for the space. Hehe. :D
There is a passage in chapter 1 of part 1 that goes like this: "When she bent over the flame the poem of Baudelaire's came into my mind: 'Mon enfant, ma soeur...'"1. Who is this Baudelaire? Plus two points for a photograph of Baudelaire that is at least 3/4 or better yet, full body (not a portrait, painting or a caricature).
(view spoiler)
2. What is the name of this poem by Baudelaire? What is this poem all about? That is, summarize the gist of the poem.
(view spoiler)
3. Again, from chapter 1 of part 1: "Now it was two in the morning and he (Vigot) sat tired and depressed in the cigarette smoke and the heavy heat, wearing a green eyeshade, and he had a volume of Pascal open on his desk to while away the time." Who/What is this Pascal and what is/are he/it famous for?
(view spoiler)
From chapter 4 of part 1: "The canvas curtain sagged (I was reminded of Polonius stabbed behind the arras) and the candle wavered."
4. Who is this Polonius? How and why has he been stabbed behind the arras? Who stabbed him? What is an arras anyway?
5. Polonius is from which story? Who is the author? His death occured in which act & scene? Plus two points if you can provide the exact passage(s) of Polonius' death scene.
I answered 4 and 5 at the same time.
(view spoiler)
From chapter 4 of part 1: "Expulsion meant the end of a whole life, it meant a victory of Pyle, and there, when I returned from my hotel... was in fact his victory, the end of the affair - a congratulatory telegram of promotion. Dante never thought up that turn of the screw for his condemned lovers. Paolo was never promoted to Purgatory."
6. Who is Dante? What literature/story is the passage an allusion of? What is this story all about?
(view spoiler)
7. Who is Paolo? Who are "condemned lovers" the passage referring to? What are their final fate in the story in question #6? Plus two points for a painting of these lovers with the jilted husband.
(view spoiler)
1/ Charles Beaudelire is a French Poet who lived from 1821 - 1867 http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/ch...- picture attached https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...2/ The poem is called "Invitation for a Voyage" and is premised on the idea that one can enjoy the superficialities of life without becoming superficial. http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.co...
3/ Pascal is a French Theologian, Philosopher and physicist most famous probably for the foundation of probability theory and of course the unit of pressure measurement known as the Pascal http://www.biography.com/people/blais...
4/ Polonius is a character from Hamlet. He was hiding in Gertrude's room to spy on Hamlet. He was stabbed by Hamlet by mistake thinking it was Claudius hiding. An arras is a set of drapes to separate two parts of a room https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonius
5/ Hamlet - William Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 4 “How now! a rat?” (III.iv.22). He draws his sword and stabs it through the tapestry, killing the unseen Polonius http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare...
6/ The man is Dante Alghieri and his story is The Divine Inferno ,a story about hell an how it is made up. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature...
7/ Paolo and his lover Francesca are in Circle two of hell - the circle of carnal lust. They were sent to the second circle of hell for adultery http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature...
The condemned lovers Paolo and Francesca a painting http://theibtaurisblog.files.wordpres...
I am sorry if I showed the answers......how do you hide spoilers?
OMG, Marie, nakakaloka kung twice a day ito (maloloka ka rin sa pagveverify, hahaha!). Gotta start reading the book na!*play dead
Grant wrote: "I am sorry if I showed the answers......how do you hide spoilers?"Hi Grant, click (some html is ok) at the upper right of the comment textbox. You'll then see instructions on how to create spoiler tags (and other formatting tips). :)
Marie: I edited my entry but it was only because the painting wouldn't show up. I hope that's okay.
Take note that anybody can answer these discussions questions, which I will post once a week. :-)Discussion Questions: Week #1
1) The book has the following as epigraphs, the first one by A.H. Clough, and the second, by Lord Byron:
"I do not like being moved: for the will is excited; and the action
Is a most dangerous thing; I tremble for something factitious,
Some malpractice of the heart and illegitimate process;
We're so prone to these things, with our terrible notions of duty."
"This is the patent age of new inventions
For killing bodies, and for saving souls,
All propagated with the best intentions."
Based on these epigraphs alone, what are your expectations of the book?
2) Almost immediately, we learn of Pyle's (the titular character) death. How do you feel about the book spoiling
itself and starting with the end?
3) Does Thomas Fowler strike you as a reliable or an unreliable narrator? Why?
4) A quote from Fowler: "'...He's a good chap in his way. Serious. Not one of those noisy bastards at the Continental. A quiet American.'I summed him precisely up as I might have said, 'a blue lizard', 'a white elephant'."
Why do you think Fowler equated Pyle to these mythical creatures? What do you think Fowler means when he described Pyle as a quiet American?
5) Why do you think Pyle does not believe that Phuong is happy in her current situation with Fowler? Why is he so assured that given the choice, she will definitely choose Pyle over Fowler?
6) After reading that part with Fowler & Pyle's conversation about Phuong (the one with the mortar attack going around them), what's your takeaway from the scene with regards to Fowler & Pyle's characters?
Uy Marie, hindi ko request yun, Isa lang iyon sa mga napakarami kong comments at opinions in life, haha!
Pero, may tama ka rin na malolowka nga talaga ako sa pagveverify pag ganun, hahahaha!
The img tag wouldnt show the image, the url for the image was literally still on my original code. This'll teach me not to mess with HTML anymore.
Di ba Hamlet's father is the older Hamlet? And Claudius (who was the older Hamlet's brother) was still alive at the time of that scene & is his mother's new husband? In fact Claudius was the reason why he & his mother were arguing during that scene, Hamlet was angry at the whole mother-is-married-to-Claudius thing? And a ghost did appear to Hamlet, pero immediately after he killed Polonius.
Kristel, usual errors in images are missing quotation marks in the src attribute or missing the other angle bracket (>) at the end of the tag. I suggest typing <.img src="" /> first (don't include the dot) then inserting the link between the quotation marks (make sure it starts with http:// or https://). If there's still an error, yung mismong source na yung may sala (either the site is down or requires cookies. Or basta). ;)
You're right I misread and thought the father was Claudius.
Angus, raw linking na lang ako next time ahaha. I'll have to curb my impulse to edit, typos be damned.
Yup Kristel, raw linking is fine naman. :-)
1) The book has the following as epigraphs, the first one by A.H. Clough, and the second, by Lord Byron:"I do not like being moved: for the will is excited; and the action
Is a most dangerous thing; I tremble for something factitious,
Some malpractice of the heart and illegitimate process;
We're so prone to these things, with our terrible notions of duty."
"This is the patent age of new inventions
For killing bodies, and for saving souls,
All propagated with the best intentions."
Based on these epigraphs alone, what are your expectations of the book?
(view spoiler)
2) Almost immediately, we learn of Pyle's (the titular character) death. How do you feel about the book spoiling
itself and starting with the end?
(view spoiler)
3) Does Thomas Fowler strike you as a reliable or an unreliable narrator? Why?
(view spoiler)
4) A quote from Fowler: "'...He's a good chap in his way. Serious. Not one of those noisy bastards at the Continental. A quiet American.'I summed him precisely up as I might have said, 'a blue lizard', 'a white elephant'."
Why do you think Fowler equated Pyle to these mythical creatures? What do you think Fowler means when he described Pyle as a quiet American?
(view spoiler)
5) Why do you think Pyle does not believe that Phuong is happy in her current situation with Fowler? Why is he so assured that given the choice, she will definitely choose Pyle over Fowler?
(view spoiler)
6) After reading that part with Fowler & Pyle's conversation about Phuong (the one with the mortar attack going around them), what's your takeaway from the scene with regards to Fowler & Pyle's characters?
(view spoiler)
Oh dear, are the discussion questions too difficult ba? Only Grant answered them kasi.By the way, I was planning to collect the names of everyone who will complete all the discussion questions, then randomly select one for a gift/prize sana. Do I scratch that one na ba? Or baka masyadong hectic if I do weekly discussion questions, aside from the activities pa?
^ Sorry Marie, I blame Sky Cable for our erratic internet connection. :(Discussion Questions: Week #1
(view spoiler)
I like the discussion questions. :)
Chapter 1 pa lang ako huhubelles, will answer when I'm done with Part One.
Hi Marie, will catch up this weekend! :)Perhaps you can give a simple token to one randomly selected participant who completes both the activities and discussion questions? One for the activities and one for the discussion questions, that is. (view spoiler) :)
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If it's okay with you guys, I'll start the activities next week instead (Monday, June 29). The F2F book discussion will be on the last Saturday of July (July 25) from 3 - 5 pm.
For now, here's a link to an epub version of the book. Enjoy & see you next week!