Title: “The Living” Forum Response
Course: BC - Literary Studies 11 - 1.1 > Section: Unit 6 - Short Fiction & Poetry

Task: Choose one of the following quotations from the chapter, and write an explanatory paragraph of 200-250 words, remarking on the use of language, themes, emotional depth, or overall impact of the passage. Feel free to tie the quote to your own experience, other literature you have studied in this course (such as Karen Green’s Bough Down), or comment on how it has caused you to think about its topic in fresh, maybe even hopeful ways.

- “As I have told it over, the past visible again in the present, the dead living still in their absence, this dream of time seems to come to rest in eternity. My mind, I think, has started to become, it is close to being, the room of love where the absent are present, the dead are alive, time is eternal, and all the creatures prosperous. The room of love is the love that holds us all, and it is not ours. It goes back before we were born. It goes all the way back. It is Heaven’s. Or it is Heaven, and we are in it only by willingness. By whose love, Andy Catlett, do we love this world and ourselves and one another? Do you think we invented it ourselves? I ask with confidence, for I know you know we didn’t.” (158-9)
Hannah Coulter’s view of the world is heavy with hope and philanthropic in nature. Comment on how her view of memory, time, and the interconnection of humanity squares with your own view of the world.
- “I was working at the counter by the sink, not daring to turn around. I was brokenhearted, furious, scared, and confused, crying, and determined not to let him see that I was. I was beating the hell out of a dozen egg whites in a bowl. Why I had started making a cake, I don’t know. It was what my hands had found to do, and I was doing it….My tears were falling into the bowl of beaten eggs and then my nose dripped into it. I flung the whole frothy mess into the sink. I said, ‘Well, what are you planning to do? Just die? Or what?’ I couldn’t turn around. I heard him fold the paper. After a minute he said, ‘Dear Hannah, I’m going to live right on. Dying is none of my business. Dying will have to take care of itself.’” (160-1)
Comment on the juxtaposition of Hannah and her husband Nathan’s emotional responses to the recent news of his terminal cancer. What does this scene show about their marital dynamic, and of how each is processing the inevitability of his death. Which response seems more realistic or human to you? How do you think you would, (or maybe even have), respond(ed) to tragic news? Is Berry’s portrayal of grief accurate?
- “He didn’t want his life to be the end of a technological process” (161) and “He doesn’t want to die of a cure” (162) are interesting remarks about the approaches of modern medicine.
From what you know about contemporary cancer treatments, what do you think is meant by these quotations? Later in the story, in the context of her son Mattie, Hannah says “He is in a way given over to machines, but he is not a machine himself” (164); what do you take from these quotations about our relationship to technology, and how do they square with your own thinking about the role of scientific advancement in human life?
- “The death of an old man is not the same as the death of a young one. It is not wrong, it is not a surprise. It has been a long time coming. You have seen it coming a long time” (165).
Discuss Berry’s use of repetition in this passage, and the effect it has on the meaning of the sentiment. Do you agree with Hannah’s conclusion here? How might this idea inform the differences between Karen Green’s response to the death of her husband in portions of Bough Down you may have read? The cliched expression “Life is short” might be being called into question here. Do you think it is an appropriate statement to potentially criticize, based on the context here?
- “It is wonderful how much grief and sympathy in Port William have gone into cooking” (165).
From this and another passage you can find and provide, discuss the role of community and communal grieving in this chapter. How is Hannah’s membership in the life of her family and friends an instrumental ingredient of the process of countenancing loss? How have you experienced this in your own life’s experiences with grief?
- “After she left, the house slowly filled up with silence, Nathan’s absence came into it and filled it. I suffered my hard joy, I gave my thanks, I cried my cry. And then I turned again to that other world I had taught myself to know, the world that is neither past nor to come, the present world where we are alive together and love keeps us” (166)
How might this approach to thinking about time as a kind of continuous present be helpful in someone’s grieving process? Do you think there is merit and hope in this sentiment, or do you find the concept of “living in the moment” to be vapid and cliche?

After you have created your own post, find one other student to respond to with a 75-100 word response. In your response, don’t just say, “I agree! Great job!” Ask a question, disagree charitably, add other evidence that you drew from the reading or personal experience, or counter with a different interpretation of the quotation(s). Try to add something meaningful and insightful to the conversation so that everyone’s understanding of “The Living” can be increased.

Forum Post Rubric

 | Not Completed | Emerging (Unsatisfactory) | Developing (Satisfactory) | Proficient (Very Good) | Extending (Excellent)
 | 0 | 4 5             6 7   8 9 10
Initial Post | Not complete | Demonstrates lack of awareness of the topic. Comments are off topic or irrelevant. Demonstrates thinking that is confused or off-topic. Doesn’t make any reference to the lesson material. | Demonstrates awareness of the topic but offers little reflection on it. Provides mostly relevant comments. Demonstrates thinking that is mostly clear and organized. Occasionally references the lesson material to support reasoning. | Demonstrates consideration of the topic. Provides relevant comments. Demonstrates thinking that is clear and organized. References the lesson material to support reasoning. | Demonstrates thoughtful consideration of the topic. Provides relevant and insightful comments. Demonstrates exceptional logic and organization. Clearly references lesson material to support reasoning.
Response Posts | Not complete. | Responses demonstrate a lack of comprehension of the original post or are disrespectful. | Responses are respectful but do not add much to the conversation. | Responses are purposeful and respectful, adding to the conversation. | Responses are thoughtful, insightful and respectful,  adding meaning and depth to the conversation.
Total          /10 (averaged between posts)