ENG 4U1 – ISP Literature Circles

NOVEL:_____________________________
Please elect one leader each week to facilitate discussion.
Segment 1 -- pp. 1-104 chapter 8 Segment 2 -- pp. 104-190 chapter12
Leader Rayhan
Feedback from today: Feedback from today:
Ghala-
we did not have time to go over her theory. but she
contributed a lot to the group discussion. She said
that she was related to Mia and Pearl.
Rayhan-
How green is expressive of calmness but the
sharpness of the grass is a juxtaposition of the
calmness of the scenery and creates underlying
harshness to the Shaker Heights scenery
Talked about how the colour gold represents the
perfection of the richardson family and how
nothing goes wrong on the outside, but it is
different on the inside of the house. White fence
represents the purity and innocence of the
Richardsons.
Riley-
Ms. Richardson breaks gender stereotypes by
creating an authoratative figure and being
someone who everyone in the family respects
- Ms.Richardson looks down on Mia (male
Gaze)
- Beautiful blonde girl breaking stereotypes
Great engagement all around for all group
members!
Leader riley
Ghala-
Izzy is overcome by her ID and seems to not take her
superego into account when making decisions
Seems very attached to Mia and her tendencies
not the most involved in the conversation otherwise, but
had good ideas to offer when it was her turn!
Rayhan-
Richardson family is ignorant towards wealth and fails to
understand and appreciate the working class and
proletariots of Shaker Heights
(maxing out visa without thought, throwing extravagant
parties for a 1 year old)
Sense of entitlement because of the money they have.
Good contribution to conversation!
Riley-
Mia is becoming Izzys mentor. Green is a common
theme throughout the story to describe shaker (luck,
birth, death) How you can live and die in shaker and if
you do not act how is expected of you, you will not be
accepted in shaker. Great Conribution to the
conversation!
Segment 3 pp. 191-296 chapter16 Segment 4 pp. 297-396 end
Leader Ghala Leader Lauren
Feedback from today: Feedback from today:
Ghala-
Mia being a strong independent woman raising a child Ghala-
on her own and rejecting the money Black : representation of power and how Pearl urges to
Defying the status quo take her life back from her mothers control
Unlikely to happen in the 1980s- frowned upon for Mia White: Innocence juxtaposition to Mrs.Richardsons
to take on male and female gender roles. actions
Great contribution! Great contribution today!
Rayhan- Rayhan-
Mrs. Richardson giving into her ID tendencies ( going to Moody calling Pearl a slut ater consentual sex is
the wright home and inspecting Mias background) degrading insinuaing that she does not have the right to
Shows a lack of control when making decisions and her own intimacy
becomes succumb to her ID through her journalist Gender roles and how a single mother is incapable
background (uses that as an excuse to dig for personal without a male figure present
satisfaction) Great contribution!
Great contribution! Riley-
Riley- Mrs. Richardson is exhibiting narcissistic tendencies,
Using the Richardson name in power- Lexie unable to doing “kind” acts out of self preservation and self
use her real name for the abortion as her name has a satisfaction
reputation. Izzy is exhibiting neurological deficits, possibly autism
Mias parents are middle class and want the best for Mia due to her lack of empathy with her siblings and parents
to make more money than they have- disapproving of as well as her disconnect from reality
mias art career as that is typically associated with great contribution!
proletariotism
Great engagement
Awesome contribution from all members!!

Name Assigned Lens and Notes -- Record only the points and quotations that are related to the lens which you are assigned
for the segment.
Include a minimum of THREE quotations with parenthetical citations and analysis.
Use the Questions to Consider to guide your analysis. Do NOT write in complete sentences.
Marxist/Reader Response ghala Psychoanalytic Feminist Archetypal

Archetypal rayhan Marxist/Reader Response Psychoanalytic Feminist

 Feminist riley
Psychoanalytic lauren
“From the outside you saw only one front door,
one front-door light, one mailbox, one house
number… Every house on Winslow Road held two
families, but outside appeared to hold only one.
They had been designed that way on purpose. It
allowed residents to avoid the stigma of renting,
instead of owning” (NG 11).
- houses designed to look perfect but have
secrets on the inside
- like the Richardson family
- So caught up by the idea that wealth is the
most important thing
- a reflection of the Richardson family
“Mr. Yang was exactly the Kind of tenant
Mrs.Richardson wanted: a kind person to whom she
could do a kind turn, and who would appreciate her
kindness”(NG 16).
- Mrs. Richardson always feels the need to
do some sort of good to feed her own ego
- Attempting to portray a godly role
- needs her kindness to be recognized to
uphold her reputation
- likely a product of her childhood as she
always up donating to UNICEF
- mentality that doing a good deed needs to
be rewarded (more selfish than
unconditionally good)
We see this when Mrs. Richardson offers to
purchase a painting.
“That's very generous of you” Mias eyes slid
towards the window briefly and Mrs. Richardson
felt a twinge of irritation at this lukewarm response
to her philanthropy”
- sense of entitlement
- outraged that Mia does not have more
gratitude for her “good deed”
- attempting to pin Mia as poor, and
needing Mrs. Richardson’s help when that
may not be the case
- philanthropy has a positive connotation
but Mrs. Richardson uses it in a negative
way (like she uses her good deeds in a
Archetypal Riley
Feminist lauren
Conversation: The idea of “White feminism” describes
how feminism and womens rights are percieved in
different races. Exhibited through Mia, Bebe, and
Mrs.Richardson who all ridicule eachother for their ways
of motherhood (based on their cultures and upbringings)
instead of uniting as a sisterhood.
“Mrs.Richardson tipped her head to one side and studied
her tenant. Hair, as always, unkempt atop her head… A
sweet face. A young face, but not an innocent face” (NG
162).
- rejecting sisterhood by being critical of Mia’s
untidy appearance
- affecting Mia and Mrs.Richardsons relationship
by dividing social classes (reinforcing patriarchal
ideology)
- insinuating that Mia is unable to look nice as her
hair is “always, unkempt atop her head”
- Mia having a “sweet face” promotes
infantalization as being sweet is typically a trait
of a child
“Mrs.Richardson had secretly been proud of how fertile
her body had proved, how resilient. She would push
Moody in his stroller, with Lexie and Trip tagging along
behind her, each clutching a handful of her skirt, like
baby elephants trailing their mother” ”(NG 126)
- Promoting stereotypical gender roles that a
woman's purpose is to have children
- Basing her own self worth by how fertile her
body is to have children
- Wearing a skirt and dressing up even while
walking down the street with children promotes
the unrealistic idea of how a traditional
housewife should dress (Takes place in 1997 so
the gender role expectations have greatly
changed)
- Mrs. Richardson gives herself a lack of personal
freedom reaverting to a housewife after having
each child (cooks, takes care of children while
breadwinner husband is at work, dresses in
skirts and heels daily)
Marxist/Reader Response
Archetypal lauren
Conversation:
How does being educated on Mias background change
your perspective of her and her actions?
“By the time winter came, Mia would bring her newest
photographs to show Pauline nearly every week, and
they would talk them over, Pauline pressing her to
articulate what she’d done and why” (NG 242)
- Winter : season of famine and hunger
representing disease and death
- Mia as a proletartiot in New York gets invited to
Paulines in survivance of the cold and is often
invited to stay and eat dinner or sleep in the
guest room
- Pauline brings Mia in as her mentor and guides
Mia to think outside the box
“Pearl.round,simple, whole as the peal of a bell” (NG
273).
- round and circular represents wholeness,
perfection, and fluidity
- representing Pearl as she has wholly
experienced poverty, wealth, loneliness and
community.
- peal of a bell ringing one after another, creating
a musical sound
- Similie “whole as the peal of a bell” represents
how Pearl has found her identity and sense of
community
“She dropped a plate of eggs at the diner, sliced her
finger on the jagged edge, watched a trickle of blood
ooze onto the white china. Over and over during the day
she passed her hand across the flat plain of her belly, as
if inside she might feel something that could give her
clarity. ” (NG 257).
- White = purity, innocence, blinding truth
- Blood (red)= sacrifice, hate, evil, love, anger,
violence, passion, sin
- Innocence on hate and sin
- Innocence represents Mias surrogate baby
despite Mias “sinful” actions of having a baby
Psychoanalytic
Marxist/Reader Response lauren
Conversation:
What compels Izzy to ditch her bourgeois lifestyle and
adopt a proletariot lifestyle? What did this influence do
to make her feel so strongly?
“When the baby was found,she had been
undernourished. Her fontane was sunken in, a telltale
sign of dehydration, and her ribs and the small bones of
her spine had been visible under her skin, like a string of
beads. At 2 months old she had weighed only 8 pounds”
(NG 298).
- Shows that she is from a proletariot family and
the famish that mirabelle and bebe have gone
through
- emphasis on how skinny she was comparing to
a string of beads
- Bourgeosie typically are very well fed, and often
are very fat, unlike mirabelle in the beginning
months of her life
“The half-open door to Mia’s room, where a mattress lay
on the carpet. It was such a pathetic life, she thought;
they had so little” (NG 356).
- Elena is unaware of the social-economic factors
around her and is arrogant to Mias situation
- displaying her true intentions, out of self
preservation and wealth rather than true
kindness
- devaluing Mias integrity due to her socio-
economic status
- Using Mias social status as a medium for
oppression
“The Ryans are rich. They wanted a baby so desperately.
They’d have given her a wonderful life. If pearl had
gotten to choose, do you think she’d have chosen to stay
with you? To live like a vagabond?” (NG 357).
- Vagabond: A person who does not have a fixed place
to live and moves around a lot
- Suggesting that because of the Ryans capitalist status,
that they would be better parents that produce better
 negative way)
- How does Mrs.Richardsons behaviour
affect her relationship with her children?
- How does Mia and Mrs.Richardson reflect
on the younger generation
- Simile to compare Mrs.Richardsons family like despite her parents wishes kids
one of an elephant - Love for the baby and sacrificing her education - oppression of Mias capability to be a good mother
“Elephant mothers are fiercely nurturing and and money for human life
protective… Elephants live in very complex social
matriarchal groups” (FFA 1)
- a depiction of how Elena sees herself as a
mother
- to be protective and provide all the nurturing
motherly traits society believes she should hold
- Matriarchal- Women in authority and power
(Elena demands to be the woman in power with
both Mia and her family)
“Barbara Pierece with her stilettos and Dolly Parton hair.
Showed up at my doorstep and shoved a microphone in
my face” (NG 152)
- Stilettos are a symbol of femininity and
sexuality often seen as seductive
- large, voluminous hair seen as a sign of
femininity, wealth, and social status
- Used against her to undermine her status and
mock her for her femininity
- Looked down upon for a woman to be so
outspoken
https://www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/blog/elephant-
mothers#:~:text=Elephant%20mothers%20are
%20fiercely%20nurturing,with%20their%20mothers
%20for%20life!