Here are the questions and topics. Choose three topics to respond to on any three
out of the four readings.
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
“Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
Your answers should be a minimum of three paragraphs per answer as this is not a test, but a writing
assignment. You should have a total of nine paragraphs minimum. You can write more of course.
1. Write about the theme of time as it is presented in Thornton Wilder’s play, Our
Town.
2. Describe at least two larger views of Grover’s Corners, historical, social,
political or cosmic, that enlarge our sense of the life lead in this small town.
3. Write about Emily’s realization about life that she experiences when looking
back at one day in her young life.
4. Discuss at least three features of small town American life depicted in
Wilder’s play, Our Town.
5. Explain the two opposing views of the role of the individual in society
expressed by Joe Keller and his son, Chris in Miller’s play: i.e., Joe’s
“business as usual” ethics, and Chris’s “man for man” idealism.
6. How does Joe Keller attempt to justify his wrongdoing in All My Sons?
7. Discuss the conflict between taking care of the family and doing the right
thing, that is dramatized in Miller’s play. What does Joe mean when he says
that “Nothing is bigger than family”? What does Kate mean when she says
that Chris thinks there is.
8. Examine Fitzgerald’s theme of illusion and disillusion in his story, “Winter
Dreams”.
9. What does Judy Jones represent and mean to Dexter Greene? What does
Irene Scheerer represent?
10. What is meant by the phrase repeated in the finale of “Winter Dreams”, ” Now
that thing is gone, that thing is gone”?
11. Discuss the role of music as a redemptive force in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s
Blues”. Provide specific examples.
12. Provide two examples of the use of the light, dark motif in “Sonny’s Blues”.
What do these passages suggest? What is the underlying meaning of the
imagery?
13. How is the relationship between Sonny and his older brother tested, and how
are they brought together at the end of the story?
14. In what ways does the story touch on the theme of human suffering? Discuss
at least two ways.
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