Today we spent a long time discussing the story "The Darling." We talked about the protagonists' first name, Dolores, being a possible reference to Nabokov's "Lolita," we talked about the pattern Dolores seems to repeat and what kind of person such behavior is typical of -- victim behavior. We discussed some craft aspects, like the use of the word "usually" on the first page, which reveals a crucial piece of information about the plot, and then we discussed the idea of the lack of women in Dolores's life and what that meant for her own identity. We finished by talking about Dolores's "cure" and how that bodes for her future, and by discussing the temporal markers that tell us this story was written in an earlier era in America, one where women did not have the same professional standing as men and where the division between personal and professional may not have been as conscientiously observed.
Homework:
Reading: AmPo: 43-53, Volkman, and pick a favorite poem. Be prepared to explain why and to give specific reasons (at least three) that point to specific language in the text.
Writing: Write a story in which an everyday object represents something intangible, and in which the “reveal” is at the end. Take inspiration from the Beattie story "A Vintage Thunderbird" in your text.
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