Post

sitting in lit now

Discussion Q's

Yes I'm doing the odds. Get over it. :)

1.) Why do you think Jack finds the students excitement about the new year as well as the parents complacent happiness so interesting? Will these contrasting ideas be prevalent throughout the novel?

3.) The barn does not satisfy Jack's interest, however Murray finds it curious. What is Don DeLillo suggesting through Jack's argument that there is nothing special about the barn?

5.) Earlier in chapter 4, Jack recounted how the college chancellor told him to make himself look more academic when he founded Hitler Studies. Now, at the end of chapter 5, Jack remarks on the fake "aura" Murray has put on to make himself more attractive. What does this suggest about the "masks" that people often wear?

7.) Why is Jack obsessed with the idea of death, and what does it add to the novel?

9.) Much humor is incorporated into White Noise. When the special team is investigating reports of strange symptoms in the school, they wear protective suits made of a material which disrupts their equipment. Does such humor dampen or discredit the themes of the novel, or just the opposite?

11.) Similar to Jack and his students, discuss television and its cultural significance in modern America.