Notes

1. What does jilting mean?






2. What might this choice of name be suggesting about the character?






3. What might Granny's observations of the doctor reveal about her current state of mind? How do they line up with her words?






4. Does Granny believe she is prepared for death? What do you think?






5. Why do you think Granny points to these actions of her children?






6. What do these memories have in common? What do you think they are meant to convey?






7. What do you think the fog represents, and how is it connected to Granny's state of mind?






8. The color blue appears throughout the story. What feelings is this color often associated with?






9. What might the fruit — and the need to pick it — symbolize here?






10. What might the change in the weather — from "green day" to "dark smoke" — symbolize about Granny's experience on her wedding day?






11. How might the use of cold water be symbolic here, as well as Cornelia's act of caring for her mother?






12. Hapsy is Granny's absent daughter. What do you make of Granny's statement about going back "through a great many rooms"? What does it suggest?






13. Do you believe her when she says she's forgotten him? What does this suggest about Granny's true feelings about the jilting?






14. Granny believes she is giving birth. Why do you think her subconscious might have produced this idea?






15. Who do you think this man might be? He might stand for something more than another character in the story.






16. What is the nature of this tumbling out of ideas? What's Granny experiencing?






17. How have light and dark appeared throughout the story?






The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
By T. S. Eliot
1. Which words describe the speaker's attitude toward the urban setting?






2. What sort of traits do the fog and the smoke seem to take on?






3. Why might the speaker be repeating these ideas about time?






4. Who is Michelangelo, and what sort of people might be discussing him?






5. Which words reflect the speaker's attitude toward his appearance?






6. What does the speaker mean by this?






7. Throughout the poem, the speaker focuses on clothing and body parts, rather than whole people. Why do you think that is?






8. What is the speaker comparing himself to here? Why do you think he's doing this?






9. The speaker is alluding to John the Baptist, a prophet that was beheaded. Why might the speaker make this allusion?






10. What message do you think the speaker is trying to deliver through this allusion in his internal monologue, like wise Lazarus, back from the dead?






11. Hamlet is a Shakespearean character who is of noble birth, but one of his main flaws is that he is indecisive. What do you think the speaker is trying to say by making this allusion?






12. What sort of progress has the speaker made in terms of making decisions?






13. How has the setting changed since the beginning of the poem? What do you think this change might mean?






After you've read:
1. In what ways does "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" fit the stream of consciousness style of writing, and how does that style fit with the subject matter?








2. How do the structure and symbolism of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" support the following theme?

Our significant past experiences shape our present no matter how hard we try to bury them.








3. How do the structure and symbolism of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" support the following theme?

People are constantly looking to others to validate their self-worth, but ultimately people must evaluate their own self-worth.








4. How do the structure, allusion, or symbolism of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" support the following theme?


The modern world is isolating.
5. How do the structure, allusion, or symbolism of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" support the following theme?