Answer at least ONE Question for each author. If you like, you can answer more or you can reframe ideas, so long as you produce about 200 words on each author. As always, use close reading and textual support in your writing.
“Hard-Riding”
Is Mather’s proposal a logical one? Why or why not? On what basis is that logic built?
Is the group’s alteration of Mather’s plan a logical one? Why or why not? On what basis is its logic built? (McNickle offers another “logic,” the logic of communal needs and obligations over financial expediency, and the latter is proffered as a distinct and viable alternative to that of “modern, commercial America.”)
What is the significance of the title? How does McNickle’s description of Mather’s riding style reflect or imply the author’s evaluation of governmental policy-making?
Paredes
What does the Rio Grande symbolize for Paredes? How does he employ landscape to convey a sense of identity and/or dislocation?
What does the refrain “The White Woman walks in moonlight” mean in “Night on the Flats”?
What are the conflicts in loyalty in “When It Snowed in Kitambamba”? How is this story atypical of most WWII literature? How does the concept of transnationalism help explain that peculiarity?
What are the specific conflicts in character and culture the protagonist of “Ichiro Kikuchi” feels being the child of “mixed” heritage?
González
1. What are the conflicts in character and culture between the two muses?
2. Is there a feminist message in this story? If so, why do you think the author chose two “early” female writers from strict religious cultures to carry it?
