Ethan+Frome+5W

Group Members:
Reed* Lizzy Nalini


 * Amy T.


 * Agenda:**
 * Introductions
 * First Impressions of the novel

Discussion Questions:
 * 1) Plot
 * 2) Describe the time structure that the novel follows.
 * 3) Did Zeena know about Ethan's feelings for Mattie?
 * 4) Were the fates of the three characters unavoidable?
 * 5) Setting
 * 6) How is the environment a reflection of the characters' personalities?
 * 7) What is the role of winter in the advancement of the plot?
 * 8) How is Starkfield similar to Yarmouth? Would you like to live there?
 * 9) Where does the climax of the novel occur?
 * 10) Characters
 * 11) What is the purpose of the unnamed narrator that appears in the first and last chapter?
 * 12) How are Mattie and Zeena similar? How are the different?
 * 13) Chart the changes to Ethan's physical appearance and personality and character over the course of the novel.
 * 14) Describe the role of Jotham Powell.
 * 15) Symbols/Imagery/motifs
 * 16) What is the significance of the big oak tree half way does the coasting hill? What does it represent?
 * 17) What does the cat and the bowl represent?
 * 18) And how Ethan placed it back on shelf trying to pretend that it never happened..
 * 19) Themes
 * 20) What is the role of women in Ethan Frome?
 * 21) How does illness play a role in Ethan's life?
 * 22) What is the significance of the gravestone: "Ethan Frome and Endurance his wife." How does it relate to the novel's themes?
 * 23) Style/Diction/Tone/Voice
 * 24) Is Ethan Frome a moral allegory? If so, what is the lesson it tries to teach us?
 * 25) What characters does Edith portray positively? Who does she portray negatively?
 * 26) How does Zeena being introduced not as Mrs. Frome but as Mrs. Zenobia foreshadow the events of the story?
 * 27) Author
 * 28) How is the novel connected to Edith Wharton's life?
 * 29) Outside sources
 * 30) How does the novel connect to the Scarlet Letter?
 * 31) React to Edith Wharton's quote about the style of Ethan Frome: "It must be treated as starkly and summarily as life had always presented itself to my protagonists; any attempt to elaborate and complicate their sentiments would necessarily have falsified the whole." Do you agree that simplicity was necessary for the success of Ethan Frome?
 * 32) Is Ethan Frome a modern greek tragedy?