|
Chapters 1 - 9: Comprehension1. The events in the plot that lead up to the climax are
called "rising action." Identify three examples of rising action in the early part of the novel. 2. What are the different countries visited by Christopher Newman? What takes place in each
country making the visit pertinent to the story? 3. Discuss fashion/dress as a theme in the first section of The American. An example of an applicable passage would be that first
describing Newman: "... the fashion of his garments, in which an exposed shirt-front and a cerulean cravat played perhaps an obtrusive part, completed the conditions of his identity."
4. Discuss language/communication as a theme in the first section of The American. You might begin with the passage that appears near the close of Chapter 1 where Newman tells Nioche of learning the
French language, "Hang me if I should ever have thought of it! I took for granted it was impossible. But if you learned my language, why shouldn't I learn yours?" Interpretation
1. Explain how the physical aspects of the following characters help bring them to life for James' readers:
- Christopher Newman
- Valentin de Bellegarde
- The Tristrams
- Urbain de Bellegarde
- Nioche
- Madame de Bellegarde
- Noémie
- Madame de Cintré (Claire)
2. When Newman encounters Noémie painting in the Louvre, the narrator reports the first word that Newman speaks: "Then, addressing her with the single word which constituted the strength of his
French vocabulary, and holding up one finger in a manner which appeared to him to illuminate his meaning, 'Combien?' he abruptly demanded." How does this sentence and the use of the term combien (how much?) help
delineate Newman's character and foreshadow later plot developments? 3. The narrator says in Chapter 3 of Mrs. Tristram, "circumstances had done much to cultivate in Mrs. Tristram a marked tendency to
irony." Find several examples of this verbal irony in Mrs. Tristram's dialogue, and discuss the importance of her ironic tone. Analysis 1. Newman tells Tristram in the second chapter
about his loss of a great sum of money, saying that "The idea of losing that sixty thousand dollars, of letting it utterly slide and scuttle and never hearing of it again, seemed the sweetest thing in the world.
And all this took place quite independently of my will, and I sat watching it as if it were a play at the theater. I could feel it going on inside of me." Discuss how this passage helps shape Newman's
character and foreshadow his behavior. 2. Why, in your opinion, does James send his character on multiple journeys, instead of simply to Paris, France? Relate your answer to Newman's declaration at the end
of Chapter 3, "I want the biggest kind of entertainment a man can get. People, places, art, nature, everything!" 3. Compare and contrast the European culture, as described by James, and the
American culture that Christopher Newman represents. Then compare and contrast today's European and American cultures. What changes have taken place that might alter James' approach, should he be alive to
write The American today? 4. As in other Henry James novels, an unknown narrator presents The American, making his presence obvious by using the first-person "I" or
"we." In the first chapter, for instance, the narrator remarks, "The gentleman in whom we are interested understood no French, but I have said he was intelligent," and in Chapter 4, "The language spoken by M.
Nioche was a singular compound, which I shrink from the attempt to reproduce in its integrity." Discuss the limitations and or advantages to this narrative approach. 5. The narrator of
The American
says of Newman in Chapter 5, "He believed that Europe was made for him, and not he for Europe." How might this comment apply to other of James' "displaced Americans" traveling in Europe, such as Daisy Miller and Isabel Archer?
6. In Chapter 7, the narrator compares Claire to an actor, saying, "she was part of a play." Find additional passages that refer to acting, such as the opera scene in Chapter 17, and discuss the various
roles enacted by the characters in these "dramas." 7. The narrator tells the reader, following Newman's marriage proposal in Chapter 9, that his speech was "the longest that Newman had ever made."
Later in that scene, Claire tells Newman, "I have listened to you--against my judgement. It is because you are eloquent. If I had been told this morning that I should consent to consider you as a possible
husband, I should have thought my informant a little crazy." Analyze that proposal scene, and the speech of both Newman and Claire, and discuss its importance in shaping both Newman and Claire as dynamic
characters. Chapters 10 - 20 Comprehension1. James uses light and dark imagery in his development of
themes and characters. For instance, in Chapter 10, when Newman meets the dowager Marquis de Bellegarde for the first time, the reader learns that "The room was illumined, exactly enough for conversation, by
half-a-dozen candles," and the narrator says of Claire in Chapter 13, "...she was a woman for the light, not for the shade." Find additional light and dark imagery, and discuss the manner in which it aids reader
understanding of themes and characters. 2. Discuss class consciousness as a theme in the second section of The American, referring to passages such as that describing the attendees of the party
given by the dowager Marquis de Bellegarde in Chapter 16: "They were elderly gentlemen, of what Valentin de Bellegarde had designated as the high-nosed category...three dukes, three counts, and a baron." 3.
Discuss the importance of the family unit as a theme, using as examples the de Bellegarde family, the Tristrams and Nioche and Noémie. 4. In Chapter 17, the narrator tells the reader about Newman, "The vulgar
truth is that he enjoyed 'treating' them." Why is this truth "vulgar"? 5. Find three examples of foreshadowing in the novel's middle section, such as the passage in Chapter 12 in which Newman tells Urbain
de Bellegarde, "In fact, I think I had better not understand you. I might not like it. That wouldn't suit me at all, you know." Interpretation
1. An example is Daisy, a fragile flower (Daisy Miller). Discuss possible symbolic meanings, and how those meanings add to reader understanding of the characters and the story, of the following
character names from The American:
- Christopher Newman
- Claire, ne de Bellegarde
- Valentin de Bellegarde
- Urbain de Bellegarde
- Mrs. Bread
- Lord Deepmere
2. At the end of Chapter 11, Newman remarks, "M. Nioche and I, I believe, are the only virtuous men to be found in Paris." Explain the significance of this statement.
3. Discuss the importance of the duel to James' plot. 4. Henry James wrote that good authors apply imagination to the realistic "stuff of life" in order to produce sound works. Identify
three examples of such "stuff" from the first section of The American. Analysis 1. Using what you learn about the female characters Noémie, Mrs. Tristram, Madame de Cintré
(Claire), Madame de Bellegarde, and Mrs. Bread, analyze the narrator's attitude toward women. How have attitudes toward women today changed from those represented in The American? 2. Compare
and contrast the relationship of Valentin de Bellegarde and his sister, Claire, to that of Isabel Archer and her cousin, Ralph, in James' The Portrait of a Lady. 3. Claire makes the following statement to
Newman in Chapter 20: "You are different. You are a man; you will get over it. You have all kinds of consolation. You were born--you were trained, to change." Discuss how her remarks support
James' interest in gender role differences. Discuss the changes in accepted gender roles that have developed since the 19th century. Chapters 21 - 26 Comprehension1. The plot of The American
involves several examples of conflict. Identify two examples of external conflict, or struggles against an outside force, and internal conflict, or struggles that take place within a character. 2.
Although "minor" characters may not receive as much page space as major ones, they are often crucial to a novel's plot. Identify two minor characters and explain their importance to plot development.
3. Discuss revenge as a theme in the third section of The American, reflecting on specific passages such as that in Chapter 22 where Newman tells Mrs. Bread of the de Bellegardes, "I want to bring them
down--down, down, down! I want to turn the tables upon them--I want to mortify them as they mortified me." 4. Identify the novel's "climax," or that moment at which the action peaks. 5. The events
in the plot that follow the climax are called "falling action." Identify one example of falling action in the latter part of the novel. 6. Review the three sections of the novel, deciding which are more
"character driven" and which more "plot driven." How does the manner by which James drives his sections increase or decrease reader interest? 7. In Chapter 20, Claire tells Newman, "It's like a religion.
There's a curse upon the house." To what does she refer? Interpretation 1. How does Newman's comment in Chapter 21 about the Bellegardes, "They're a bad lot; they have pulled off the
mask," support James' emphasis on theatrics and role playing throughout the novel? 2. What do the "tomb" and the "red ribbon" in Chapter 22 symbolize? 3. Describe your reaction to the crime
that had been committed in the past by the dowager Marquis de Bellegarde. Explain why she acted as she did toward her husband. 4. The narrator describes Newman's feelings about himself in the
final chapter as "after all and above all he was a good fellow wronged." How might this phrase apply to other of James' heroines and heroes, such as Daisy Miller from Daisy Miller? Analysis
1. Explain why you agree or disagree with Newman's decision not to reveal the crime committed by the de Bellegardes. Use your explanation to support or counter the idea that the human justice system
at times proves lacking. 2. What was your reaction to the lifestyle Claire chose to substitute for marriage? Discuss other options for Claire during the 19th century, then compare and contrast those to
options that might be available to her today. 3. Discuss the position of women as objects of barter in The American. You may also include female characters from other James' novels, such
as Isabel Archer from The Portrait of a Lady. 4. Compare and contrast the attitudes toward women of Newman, Tristram, Valentin de Bellegarde, Urbain de Bellegarde, and M. Nioche. Support or dispute
the idea that attitudes toward women have altered since the end of the 19th century. 5. In the final chapter of the novel, Newman at last experiences an epiphany, signaled through the narrator's phrase,
"Somewhere in his mind, a tight knot seemed to have loosened." Discuss James' use of this particular metaphor, and contrast and compare it to the identification of epiphanies experienced by other Jamesian heroes
and heroines. 6. James' novels seldom end with a happy marriage for his hero or heroine. How do the endings of his novels support his well-known emphasis on "realism"? 7. In "The Art of
Fiction" James wrote that "the only obligation to which in advance we may hold a novel . . . is that it be interesting. The ways in which it is at liberty to accomplish this result [are]
innumerable." Discuss some of the "innumerable" ways James makes The American "interesting." Virginia Brackett teaches at East Central University in Oklahoma. |
