Continued: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Chapters 4-5)

Chapter Four:

1) Language is a huge accessory to the book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In the previous chapters Yunior would write with mild cursing but in chapter four when he is speaking about his own experiences with Oscar he uses curses more frequently, why do you think that is?

2) Chapter four, openes up with Yunior being portrayed as the first-person narrator. What is the relationship between Yunior and Oscar? Can Yunior be seen as Oscar's ghostly twin?

3) a) The novel is implanted with a variety of supernatural elements. The most obvious is a fukú that provides the drift for the entire narrative, leading the reader to wonder if the events are all a result of fukú. Do you think that Oscar trying to kill himself, but ending up surviving was a part of the curse?

 

   b)We learn that Oscar may or may not be cursed by the Fuku. Throughout his life, Oscar was warned of the family curse, and due to his Hispanic heritage, he believed it, lived by it, was ruled by it, and ultimately, it is was what brought him to his death. Do you think we are in control of our own destiny?

 

Chapter Five:

 

1) What is the symbolism of the Packard? Who was it used by, and what is it's significance?

 

2) Junot Diaz arranges the novel in reverse chronological order. What is he trying to show by doing so?

 

3) On page 243, Diaz writes,“So, which is it? you ask. An accident, conspiracy or fukú? The only answer I can give you is the least satisfying: you'll have to decide for yourself. What’s certain is that nothing is certain. We are trawling in silences here.” Why do you think he is speaking directly to the reader here?

 

Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Chapters 4-5)

1. Yunior, in chapter 4, decided to help change Oscar's life because he himself was heartbroken over Suriyan; do you think Yunior had every right to get mad at Oscar when he no longer wanted to run or was he still angry at his break-up and was taking it out on Oscar? (Page 178)

2. At the end of chapter five (page 261) there is a paragraph that says Beli had a recurring dream with children in it; do you think there is a psychological connection with her mother and father who both, on page 236, had dreams of children in a house? If not who do you think Beli is dreaming of?

3. Abelard was given advice on page 221 to either sneak his daughters into Cuba, keep them under house arrest, or do nothing; if you were living in the Reign of Trujillo what would you have done to protect your daughter(s)?

4. When it came time to attend the party Abelard decided not to bring his wife and daughter Jackie, do you think this was the right decision?

5. Putting consideration into the fact that Trujillo didn't, as far as we know, sleep with Abelard's daughters but all of his papers and documents disappeared, do you think Abelard's arrest was a conspiracy since no one can give a straight answer about it?

Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Chapters 2-3)

1. (For those of you who have not finished the book) The novel appears to be narrated by a third person omniscient narrator. The footnotes seems to take on a different narrator. What do these two different narratives contribute to the story?

2. How is the city of Patterson, NJ described compared to Bani, DR? How can this be approached in a "transnational" sense?

3. What is the significance (if any) of Beli meeting "the gangster" at a club in DR called Hollywood?

4. At the end of Chapter 3, what does NYC (America in general) represent to the Dominicans?

Junot Diaz's The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao: Questions for the introduction and Chapter 1

1. In the introduction, Diaz uses relatively academic rhetoric sprinkled with slang and causal language (i.e:" No matter what its name or provenance, it believed that the arrival of the Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fuku on the world, and we've all been in the shit ever since" [1]). What effect, if any, does this rhetoric have on the reader? Does it enhance or hinder our understanding of the "fuku" Yunior is describing?

2. Why does Diaz decide to write extensive footnotes on certain terms and people, such as Trujillo (page 2) or "parigüayo" (pages 19-20) and omits to define others?

3. What effect does omitting quotation marks in the dialogue have on your understanding of the text? Why does Diaz choose to do so?

4. Why does Diaz choose to decide the first chapter into subcategories such as "Amor de pendejo" (36) and "The Moronic Inferno" (19)? Does it have an impact on our digestion of the chapter?

5. It's often emphasized that Oscar is the opposite of what a Dominican man should be: "he wasn't no home-run hitter or a fly bachatero, not a playboy with a million hots on his jock" (11). How is masculinity emphasized in Oscar's world? How does this idea of masculinity affect the way Oscar thinks of relationships? Consider Oscar's uncle and Oscar's relationship with Ana.

6. What do the characters of Olga and Martiza tells us of the role of women in this novel? Similarly, how does Oscar's sister, Lola, differ from the rest of the women introduced thus far?

7. What effect does Oscar visit to the Dominican Republic have on him? How does it relate to the idea that the Dominican republic and Northern Jersey are extensions of each other?

8. How does family help define Oscar? Throughout the text, the narrative is interlaced with interjections from Oscar's mother. What effect does this have on our understanding of character development thus far?

9. Oscar deals with a great deal of "othering" by family, friends, and foes alike. How does Oscar offer any parallels between other trans-nationalistic narratives we've discussed?

10. As we've been forewarned, this text is riddled with Dominican slang, specific fanboy terminology, and unfamiliar historical figures. Now that you've read the first chapter, was it difficult to follow the text or easier than you expected? Do you think Diaz intentionally tries to confuse the reader or educate them forcefully?

Nancy Foner " Transnationalism Old and New

1. Foner tells us about immigrants that come to America, work for a number of years, with the profits they make they would buy land in the countries the originally came from. they would then return back to America and keep sending money back and forth as so. do you think that these immigrants are mis-using America and its opportunities? taking jobs away from other deserving Americans, just for there own benefit? (65)

2. Just as with " Old Nationalism" do you think that America is the culprit behind some of todays diaspora's against immigrants? (68)

3. How do you feel about non-naturalized immigrants holding massive political rallies and political demonstrations, without proper citizenship? (68)

4. With new technologies constantly being introduced, do you think this could hinder job opportunities for immigrants, as well as non immigrants? (74)

5. How do you feel about Dual- Citizenship? Can it create problems for the United States? (75)

James Baldwin , "Encounter on the Sein" , "Stranger in the village"

1) What is the cruel psychological warfare that negroes are subjected to when leave U.S. ghettos ? (pg 118)

2)How has the negro "learned to anticipate: as the mouth opens he divines what the tongue will utter"? (pg 120)

3)Do you think it is better to be an African living and not knowing the pains of "the american experience" or to be an african in america who has lived , witnessed , and overcame these struggles? page (pg 122)

4) page 166 quotes "He(white man) is inescapably aware , never-theless , that he is in a better position in the world than black men are, nor can he quite put to death the suspicion that he is hated by black men therefore" . With the growing roles in society for black men or black people in general do you think these ideals still remain?

James Baldwin, "Encounter on the Seine: Black Meets Brown"

1) How AND why has the African-American man become 'the invisible man' in Paris? (118)

2) How is being in Paris similar to living in America for African Americans? (121)

3) How do French Africans experience Parisian life? Is it similar to the way in which African Americans do? (122)