6. QHQ: ”LIVING” MA
1. Q: What could be the figurative significance
of Ma asking to close the door to Room one
final time?
2. Q: How does the intervention of the world
affect the intimacy between Jack and his
mother?
3. Why is Ma’s relationship with her mother
tense?
4. Will Jack and Ma ever be able to overcome
the trauma they experienced in room?
7. QHQ: “LIVING” JACK
1. Q: Does Jack still seem to be getting traumatized now
that he is out of “Room”?
2. Q: Although the story ends on a powerfully optimistic
note, could it be possible that Jack and Ma have truly
escaped the room and their trauma?
3. Q: Although Jack has the necessary methods to cope,
such as his Grandmother and Steppa to take care of
him, is Jack then still traumatized when his mother is
hospitalized, or is he just learning how to be a normal
human being?
8. • “I want some, I really really want some, I can’t get to sleep without. I suck
on Tooth that’s Ma, a bit of her anyway, her cells all brown and rotten and
hard. Tooth hurt her or he was hurted but not anymore. Why is it better out
than in? Ma said we’d be free but this doesn’t feel like free. Grandma’s
singing very quietly, I know that song but it sounds wrong. ” ‘The wheels on
the bus go–‘ ” “No, thanks,” I say, and she stops. * * * Me and Ma in the
sea, I’m tangled in her hair, I’m all knotted up and drowning– Just a bad
dream. That’s what Ma would say if she was here but she’s not. I lie
counting five fingers five fingers five toes five toes, I make them wave one
by one. I try the talking in my head, Ma? Ma? Ma? I can’t hear her
answering.”(84).
[Jack’s] anxiety is present when he begins to feel
like he can’t sleep without getting milk from Ma.
Next, Jack’s nightmares express how distressed he
is. He has his nightmare of him and his mother,
and Jack is drowning in the sea. This explains how
he is overwhelmed in his new living environment.
9. “’…Need to listen to jack.’ ‘We’re all jack, in a sense,’ says
another man sitting at the big table. ‘Obviously,’ says another
one. Are they called jack too, are they some of the million?
‘The inner child, trapped in our personal room one oh one,’
says another of the men, nodding. I don’t think I was ever in
that room. […] ‘At least jack had TV.’ Another man laughs.
‘Culture as a shadow on the wall of Plato’s cave.’” (293-294)
In this passage Jack does accept himself as one
of the Jacks who is of “the million” but he does
not accept that the room, that they speak of
metaphorically, is his and ma’s room. The media
is opening up to a larger audience with
philosophy ideals and cultural stigmas that are
embedded in to the society that Jack is becoming
more aware of everyday.
10. If looking at this through a Feminist lens, this
conversation is also a big step for Ma, who is finally
allowed to have her own space, away from Jack. In
some ways, it can be a space away from male
influence, or Jack’s needs, wants, and even just his
presence. Additionally, this is a way for her to
separate her societally determined role as a mother
and lets herself be who she is, and to figure out her
own identity, separate from Jack, while still retaining
her role as his mother, which is clearly a big part of
her life. In other words, she is allowed her own room
and her own individuality.
“‘I read a book at college that said everyone should have a room of their own,’
she says.
[…]
‘I can do my thinking in a room with you.’ I wait. ‘Why you can’t think in a
room with me?’
Ma makes a face. ‘I can, most of the time, but it would be nice to have
somewhere to go that’s just mine, sometimes’” (Donoghue 304).
11. Our voices sound not like us. “Has it got shrunk?” “No, it was
always like this.”
“Good-bye, Room.” I wave up at Skylight. “Say good-bye,” I tell Ma.
“Good-bye, Room.” Ma says it but on mute. I look back one more
time. It’s like a crater, a hole where something happened. Then we
go out the door.
Why does Jack want to go back to Room? How does he
feel in Room?
12. What role do you think the media play in the
novel? How does the media contribute to the
trauma.
The media is contributing to Ma and
Jack’s trauma because they are making
them experience things very abruptly.
For Ma, she is being judged by the eyes
of society for the way she raised her
child, with some believing she should
not have raised him at all and had her
captor take him far away from her to be
raised in a foster home. And for Jack, the
media portrays all of the lies (or unlies)
that Ma taught him about the world,
which can be confusing in Jack’s time of
questioning and need.
The media plays the role of
amplifying how
overwhelming our reality can
be, and how the media can
have detrimental effects. Ma
in particular is very
distraught by the way the
media asks evasive
questions, and the
expectation of yielding to the
media. This furthers her
trauma by making what was
once normalized suddenly
horrific.
13. ESSAY #3: RESPONSE TO THE NOVEL/NOVELLA
• The Writing Assignment
• In a thesis driven essay of 4-7 pages, analyze one or more
aspects of Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank
Redemption, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Elie Wiesel’s
Night, or Emma Donoghue’s Room. Consider using one
extrinsic theoretical lens (Feminist, Psychoanalytic, or Trauma
theories), that we have practiced this quarter to complicate
your argument. Aim to convince readers that your
interpretation adds to the conversation among those who
read stories and write about them. Back up your analysis with
reasons and support from the story. Use the critical strategies
that we have practiced this quarter.
See the complete assignment on our website
14. POSTING: SELF-ASSESSMENT
The blogging post points (100) require self-assessment. Consider three
aspects of your responses:
• First, how many of the posts did you make? (26 possible) So give
yourself 4 points for each one you made. That gives you one to miss
with no penalty. Let’s say you did 25, so x 4=100
• Second, how timely were your submissions? Let’s say you posted twice
late: If they were less than 24 hours late, subtract 1; 48 hours late,
subtract 2. More than that, they don’t count unless you have special
circumstances you can explain. Ok, let’s say you have one of each, so
you subtract 3 from 100 and you have 97 points.
• Third, what was the quality of your responses? B+? Ok, Multiply your
post points 97 x 88% = 85 points
• Write a brief argument justifying or explaining your grade.
This is due Friday, week 11, before noon.
Please submit your assessment through Kaizena
15. FINAL
EXAM
• 200 points available: same format
as mid-term
• Comprehensive objective section:
The style is the same as the mid-
term. It covers the whole quarter.
100 points.
• Essay Question: 500-1000 words:
100 points
16. SCHEDULE AND DUE DATES
• Friday, week 11 (this week)
Homework Evaluations due
at noon
Online Class 32: Work on
Essay #3
• Wednesday June 28th, 9:15
to 11:15
18. HOMEWORK
• Post your homework assessment
as comment on Kaizena.
• If you need a copy of the
homework you have done,
please email me. I will post your
homework on Kaizena.
