Read chapters from 31 to 32 and answer the following questions

1. How did the family finally resolved to calm their situation?

2. What as the tangible proof of Coalhouse’s grievance that was presented to public?

3. How come Mother’s Younger Brother appeared n Coalhouse’s gang? Describe the gang, their common idea and some peculiarities of their interrelationship.

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Borne (adv)

Totter (v)

Spite (n)

Dissemble (v)

Crutch (v)

Concoct (v)

Cohort (n)

Trip (v)

Drip (v)

Tangible (adj)

Waterlogged (adj)

Aldermen (n)

Implacable (adj)

Renegade (n)

Alienist (n)

Irate (adj)

Martyr (n, v)

Torpor (n)

Concession (n)

Defame (v)

Commodious (adj)

Corrugate (v)

Concourse (n)

Intermittent (adj)

Mortician (n)

Appraisal (n)

Commence (v)

Pilferage (n)

Clandestine (adj)

Mercenary (adj)

Munificent (adj)

Cot (n)

Barracks (n)

Cultural Notes:

Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity rail station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. The station is located in the underground levels of Pennsylvania Plaza, an urban complex located between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue and between 31st Street & 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and is owned by Amtrak. It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States and by far the busiest train station in North America.

The Baths of Caracalla - (Italian: Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The baths remained in use until the 6th century when the complex was sacked by the Ostrogoths during the Gothic War, destroying the hydraulic installations. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction.

Read chapters from 33 to 34 and answer the following questions:

1. Describe the summer the family spent in the seaside. Speak of their activities and the other guests of the hotel.

2. Who of the family would recalled the good old days in New Rochelle and how?

3. How did the two families meet? Describe Tateh’s new life and hoe he achieved it.

4. Speak about the little girl and the boy’s relationship. What made them cling together?

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Breaker (n)

Strut (v)

Starched (adj)

Shir (v)

Fluted (adj)

On nodding acquaintance (phr)

Escalloped (adj)

Spout (v)

Fringe (n)

Twinge (n)

Ablution (n)

Heedless (adj)

Prod (v)

Limber (adj)

Sheepish (adj)

Ebullient (adj)

Incessantly (adv)

Malapropism (n)

Reel (n)

Mischievous (adj)

Fleck (v)

Defiance (n)

Audacity 9n)

Shuttle (n)

Footage (n)

Ebb tide (n)

Lappet (n)

Crust (n)

Squat (v)

Casing (n)

Freak show

Penny arcade

Tableaux vivants

Behemoth (n)

Irrepressible (adj)

Oscillation (n)

Unflagging (adj)

Comely (adj)

Rodent (n)

unencumbered (adj)

cow (v)

ample (adj)

Winslow Homer - rescue

Somersault (n)

Cartwheel (n)

Consternation (n)

Cultural Notes:

Buffalo nickel - Indian Head (or Buffalo) (1913-1938) - These pieces are known as Buffalo, Bison or Indian Head nickels. In the first year of issue, 1913, there were two distinct varieties, the first, showing the bison on the mound, and the second with the base redesigned to a thinner, straight line. James E. Fraser designed this nickel employing three different Indians as models. His initial "F" is beneath the date. The bison was modeled after "Black Diamond" in the New York Central Park Zoo. Matte Proof coins were made for collectors from 1913 to 1916.

One-reeler - It is traditional to discuss the length of theatrical motion pictures in terms of "reels." The standard length of a 35 mm motion picture reel is 1,000 feet (300 m). This length runs approximately 11 minutes at sound speed (24 frames per second) and slightly longer at silent movie speed (which may vary from approximately 16 to 18 frames per second). Most films have visible cues which mark the end of the reel. This allows projectionists running reel-to-reel to change-over to the next reel on the other projector.

A so-called "two-reeler" would have run about 20–24 minutes since the actual short film shipped to a movie theater for exhibition may have had slightly less (but rarely more) than 1000ft (about 305m) on it. Most projectionists today use the term "reel" when referring to a 2,000-foot (610 m) "two-reeler," as modern films are rarely shipped by single 1,000-foot (300 m) reels. A standard Hollywood movie averages about five 2,000-foot (610 m) reels in length.

Read chapters from 35 to 39 and answer the following questions:

1. Why did Coalhouse and his accomplices decide to take over the Morgan’s library? How did it happen?

2. Speak on the personality of Charles S. Whitman and his dedication to work, why was he the one to be in charge for the Coalhouse’s case?

3. What personalities of his time did Whitman choose to help him resolve the situation, why exactly them?

4. Describe Booker T. Washington’s speech as he entered the library, what words of Coalhouse made him affronted and disappointed?

5. Speak on how the situation unfolded as Father became a part of it. What was problematic about the demands from the side of Coalhouse and Morgan (whose interests Whitman was meant to protect)?

6. How did Father become a negotiator between the two sides? How did he help?

7. Why did Coalhouse’s final intentions revolt his men? What were his arguments? Describe the final plan itself.

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Bigot (n)

Reverberate (v)

Fiefdom (n)

Reconnoiter (v)

Edifice (n)

Impunity (n)

Thug (n)

Pince-nez (n)

Vellum (n)

Incunabula (n)

Fretful (adj)

Wedge (n)

Flinch (v)

Stein (n)

District Attorney (n)

Untenable (adj)

Statute (n)

Grecian (adj)

Fund-raising (n)

Deplore (v)

Exponent (n)

Vocational training (n)

Homburg (n)

Gilded (adj)

Facsia (n)

Pilaster (n)

Alcove (n)

Straddle (v)

Admonitory (adj)

Frame of mind (n)

Fornicating (adj)

Impecunious (adj)

Shackle (n)

Probity (n)

Icebox (n)

Spittoon (n)

Investiture (n)

Absolve (v)

Dray horse (n)

Grate (v)

Misgiving (n)

Glee (n)

Feller (n)

By the scruff of the neck (phr)

Somber (adj)

Apprehensive (adj)

Recompose (v)

Wilted (adj)

Underling (n)

Lair (n)

Defy (v)

Magneto (n)

Windshield (n)

Den (n)

Fervor (n)

Slack (n)

Sibilant (adj)

Cultural Notes:

Tammany machine - Tammany Hall, or simply Tammany, was the name given to a powerful political machine that essentially ran New York City throughout much of the 19th century. It began modestly as a patriotic and social club established in New York in the years following the American Revolution, when such organizations were commonplace in American cities.

The Society of St. Tammany, which was also called the Columbian Order, was founded in May 1789 (some sources say 1786). The organization took its name from Tamamend, a legendary Indian chief in the American northeast who was said to have had friendly dealings with William Penn in the 1680s.

The original purpose of the Tammany Society was for discussion of politics in the new nation. The club was organized with titles and rituals based, quite loosely, on Native American lore. For instance, the leader of Tammany was known as the “Grand Sachem,” and the club’s headquarters was known as “the wigwam.”

Before long the Society of St. Tammany turned into a distinct political organization affiliated with Aaron Burr, a powerful force in New York politics at the time.

Portico - (from Italian) is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea first appeared in Ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.

Adoration of the Magi - is the name traditionally given to the Christian subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him.

Ionic column - The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian.

The Hell’s Kitchen - is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that covers roughly the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. Several different explanations exist for the original name. An early use of the phrase appears in a comment Davy Crockett made about another notorious Irish slum in Manhattan, Five Points. According to the Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area: When, in 1835, Davy Crockett said, '"In my part of the country, when you meet an Irishman, you find a first-rate gentleman; but these are worse than savages; they are too mean to swab hell's kitchen," he was referring to the Five Points.

The Tenderloin - was a once-seedy neighborhood in the heart of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Police Captain Alexander S. Williams allegedly coined the term in the late 1870s. This district was in Midtown Manhattan from 23rd Street to 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue, much of which is known now as Chelsea and the Garment district. The northwest corner of the Tenderloin was Longacre Square, now called Times Square.

Tuskegee Normal - Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States.

Booker T. Washington – see the character reference part.

SS Carmania - was a British passenger liner, which in World War I was converted to an armed merchant cruiser.

Read chapter 40 and answer the following questions:

1. Follow the fate of Mother’s Younger Brother as he had left New York. Why do you think would he dedicate his life to the revolutionary struggle?

2. Comment on the phrase: “The signs of the coming conflagration were every­where”. Speak about Europe as Morgan found it before his trip to Egypt. What was the purpose of the trip, did he achieve it?

3. The career of Harry Houdini was experiencing its rise, but what was the strange occurrence he had had when swaying in a straitjacket over Broadway and Seventh Avenue? Comment on the phrase: “It was at this moment that an image composed itself in Houdini's mind. The image was of a small boy looking at himself in the shiny brass headlamp of an automobile”.

4. How did the family end up after Coalhouse’s fall? Describe the run of events following it.

5. What else of the characters we had read about do we know from the last chapter of the novel?

Look up the dictionary for the following words and phrases:

Carbine (n)

Line up (v)

Intersection (n)

Volley (n)

Snort (v)

Shy (v)

Scant (adj)

Clamp (n,v)

Sagebrush (n)

Sullen (adj)

Replenish (v)

Squint (v)

Bib (n)

Adobe (n)

Billet (n)

Throng (n)

Barrel cactus (n)

Spanish bayonet (n)

Castellated (partII)

Macuch (n)

Cornhusk (n)

Cartridge belt (n)

villista (n)

Seethe (v)

Faction (n)

Gourd (n)

Fuse (n)

Smelter (n)

Garrison (n)

Zapatista (n)

Foray (n)

Spindly (adj)

Trestle (n)

Gorge (n)

Skirmish (n)

Abhorrent (adj)

Prim (adj)

Renunciatory (adj)

Dogfight (n)

Conflagration (n)

Stutter (n)

Majolica (n)

Brass (n)

Bas-relief (n)

Missals (n)

Spat (n)

Outfitted (adj)

Paddle steamer (n)

Stow (v)

Impreg­nable (adj)

Causeway (n)

On all fours (phr)

Aper­ture (n)

Deign (v)

Squat (v)

Dragoman (n)

Bedbug (n)

Incandescence (n)

Beanie (n)

Aghast (adj)

Slain (adj)

Panoply (n)

Winch (n)

Marquee (n)

Jackknife (n, v)

Confederate (n)

Wig (n)

Accrue (v)

Ordnance (n)

Recoilless (adj)

Tracer bullet (n)

Puttied (adj)

Stucco house (n)

Mischievous (adj)

Deport (v)

Bull Moose (n, phr)

Companero (n)

Cultural notes:

Leo Frank - was an American man who became the only known Jew to be lynched on American soil. The manager of his uncle's pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia, Frank was convicted in the rape and murder of one of his factory workers, 13-year-old Mary Phagan. The case is widely regarded as having been a miscarriage of justice. It was the focus of many conflicting cultural pressures, and the jury's conclusion represented in part, class and regional resentment of educated Northern industrialists who were perceived to be wielding too much power in the South, threatening southern culture and morality. The trial was sensationalized by the media. The Georgia politician and publisher Tom Watson used the case to build personal political power and support for a revival of the Ku Klux Klan.

Shortly after Frank's conviction, new evidence emerged that cast doubt on his guilt. After the governor commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, Frank was kidnapped from prison and lynched by a group of prominent citizens who called themselves the "Knights of Mary Phagan." The mob was reported to have included the son of a senator, a former governor, lawyers, and a prosecutor.

The Peace Palace - situated in The Hague, Netherlands, is often called the seat of international law because it houses the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the extensive Peace Palace Library.

Francisco Villa - José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923), better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa, was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals.

Chapultepec - is a large hill on the outskirts of central Mexico City. It has been a special place for Mexicans throughout Mexican history, and it was on this hill that the Aztecs made a temporary home after arriving from northern Mexico in the 1200s.

Paseo de la Reforma - is a 12 kilometer long boulevard in Mexico City, Mexico, built during the Second Mexican Empire on the orders of Maximilian I of Mexico. When it was inaugurated, the avenue was given the name Paseo de la Emperatriz ("The Empress's Promenade") in honor of his consort, Empress Carlota of Mexico. Nowadays, the name commemorates the liberal reforms of 19th century president Benito Juárez.

Campesino - is a Spanish language term referring to a farmer or farmworker. A possible English language equivalent term is peasant, with connotations of subsistence or simple farming that aims to survive rather than generate a profit.

Lusitania - was an ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. She was torpedoed by the SM U-20, a German U-boat on 7 May 1915 and sank in eighteen minutes, eight miles (15 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, and was instrumental in bringing the United States into World War I. It is considered the second most famous civilian passenger liner disaster, after the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

U-boat - is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot (help·info), itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot (undersea boat), and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II.

Howe Caverns - is a cave in Howes Cave, Schoharie County, New York.

CHARACTER LIST

Mother - Mother is part of the upper class family living in New Rochelle. Disappointed by her marriage to Father, she marries Tateh after Father's death. She often feels guilt over her treatment of her brother, referred to in the novel as Mother's Younger Brother. Throughout the novel she experiences many changes through her care for the child of Coalhouse and Sarah, as well as her newfound awareness of her sexuality.

Father - Father owns a company that manufactures fireworks and other accoutrements of patriotism such as flags and banners. He represents the traditional views held by many turn-of-the-century Americans. After his return from his trip to the Arctic, he feels alienated from his family and his environment; this feeling will never entirely disappear. While he grew up with some wealth in his family, his father later lost this wealth and he had to find his own path of success in business.

The little boy - Son of Mother and Father, the little boy is the narrative voice for much of the novel. Precocious, intelligent, observant, and curious, the little boy is constantly learning about the world around him. He forms a close friendship with Tateh's little girl. He represents the next generation of Americans.

Harry Houdini - A character stolen from real life, Houdini is a magician and performer who appears intermittently throughout the novel. He is overly dependent on his mother, and suffers greatly after her death. He begins to conduct research on the afterlife and contact with the dead. At the beginning of the novel, his car breaks down in front of the family's house in New Rochelle, and he meets the little boy, who admires him greatly.

Mother's Younger Brother - Idealistic and difficult, Mother's Younger Brother searches for a sense of self throughout the novel. He falls in love with Evelyn Nesbit, and spends some time with her before she leaves him. He becomes embittered and depressed, and soon joins the forces of Coalhouse to fight injustice. Subsequently, he travels all around the United States and then to Mexico, where he becomes involved in several revolutionary campaigns and where he eventually dies.

Evelyn Nesbit - The real-life figure of Evelyn Nesbit was a symbol of sex and beauty at the turn of the century. She endures the trial of her husband Harry Thaw for the murder of her ex-husband Stanford White. In this novel, she develops an interest in Tateh and his little girl, and attempts to help them escape the poverty of life as an immigrant on the Lower East Side.

Harry K. Thaw - Harry Thaw is Evelyn Nesbit's husband and the murderer of her ex-husband and rival, architect Stanford White. Evelyn begins to question his love for her after talking to Emma Goldman about his treatment of her.

Stanford White - A famous architect, Stanford White dies at the hands of Harry Thaw. Evelyn believes that she truly loved him.

Mameh - Wife of Tateh and mother to Sha, Mameh does not appear in the novel, but other characters allude to her. Having she performs sexual favors for her boss for money, Tateh disowns her and never sees her again. He later finds out she has died.

Tateh - Tateh is a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. In the first part of the novel he lives with his daughter on the Lower East Side, working as a peddler and a silhouette artist. He later leaves with his daughter to travel to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he becomes a filmmaker. He marries Mother at the end of the novel.

The little girl - Beautiful girl is quiet and reserved at the beginning of the novel, but grows more animated and happier when she leaves New York City. She becomes good friends with the little boy.

Jacob Riis - Riis is a famous journalist and advocate of the poor who wrote How the Other Half Lives, which exposed life in the tenements.

Sigmund Freud - A famous psychiatrist, Freud has a profound affect on ideas about sex and society in America.

Emma Goldman - An anarchist and social activist, Emma Goldman appears throughout the novel to challenge other characters' conceptions.

Coalhouse Walker - Coalhouse is a ragtime pianist. He is the father of Sarah's child. He becomes militant and violent about his cause by the end of the novel.

Sarah - Sarah mothers a child with Coalhouse and dies attempting to fight for Coalhouse's cause.

Henry Ford - Ford invents the concept of the assembly line and makes his fortune through the manufacture of Model-Ts.

J.P. Morgan - Morgan is an incredibly wealthy financier with an interest in Egyptian culture, art, and religion. Coalhouse and his followers take over his residence and library in his absence.

Willie Conklin - Obnoxious and mean, fire chief Conklin acts hostilely toward Coalhouse, and is soon forced out of New Rochelle.

Charles S. Whitman - Whitman is District Attorney of New York and helps to negotiate Coalhouse's evacuation of Morgan's property.

Booker T. Washington - Washington is a well-educated and famous orator and black civil rights leader. He believes friendship and cooperation between whites and blacks is essential to the success of blacks in America.

THEMES AND MOTIFS

THEMES

The Difficulty of Accepting Change

E.L. Doctorow addresses several major societal changes in turn-of-the-century America in his novel Ragtime. He conveys the effects of these changes through the reactions of the characters. Some characters welcome and accept change, while other reject and struggle with it. These differing reactions become one of the ways in which Doctorow develops his characters. For example, Father cannot abide by the changes he faces upon his return from his expedition. Father becomes depressed by his feelings of alienation from his family and from the ways of the new century. He feels helpless in light of the increased self- sufficiency of both his wife and his son. Mother, on the other hand, finds her newfound abilities and freedoms liberating, and thrives in Father's absence. Her duties with the family business and her responsibilities toward Sarah and her child make her realize her potential. At the end of the novel, she has become so separated from the previous societal norms that she marries Tateh at a time when marriage between Christians and Jews had not yet gained acceptance.

The Struggle for Stability and Meaning

Throughout the novel, the characters attempt to derive meaning from their experiences and from the way in which the world challenges and changes them. Doctorow focuses on the process by which the characters attempt to reconcile their own desires for stability with their knowledge that life's events often seem to possess no reason or direction. For example, in Chapter 20, J.P. Morgan asks Ford, "Suppose I could prove to you that here are universal patterns of order and repetition that give meaning to the activity of this planet." Their discussion about reincarnation also reflects this desire to seek more outside the realm of what is known and to give meaning to life. Morgan's musings, as well as his journey to the Egyptian pyramids, demonstrate his search for truth and meaning. Doctorow also briefly alludes to Theodore Dreiser, whom he portrays as constantly shifting the position of his chair to align himself correctly, yet never quite attaining satisfaction. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, and the subsequent inability to pinpoint the precise location of the North Pole express this effort to find peace amongst chaos.

The Impact of Technological Development on Culture

The Progressive Era (1900–1917) during which this novel is set was a time marked by rapid technological developments and industrialization. These years also brought a heavy influx of immigrants as well as an increasingly urban American landscape. Technological advancements enabled increased efficiency and mass production. However, Doctorow clearly brings into question the consequences of this new technology for the average American worker. J.P. Morgan's discussion with Henry Ford about Ford's assembly line innovations brings this debate to the forefront. At the end of chapter eighteen, Doctorow writes, "From these principles Ford established the final proposition of the theory of industrial manufacture - not only that the parts of the finished product be interchangeable, but that the men who build the products be themselves interchangeable parts." Here Doctorow clearly addresses the potential for technology to undermine the value of the individual and his abilities.

Imprisonment and False Liberation

Doctorow incorporates the tension between imprisonment and liberation into the struggles of several of his characters. Imprisonment manifests itself in many different ways in the novel: physical, emotional, philosophical, political, and economic. For example, Harry Houdini, a famous escape artist, astounds crowds with his ability to escape from any given enclosed area; therefore, his struggle does not originate in physical imprisonment, but in emotional imprisonment. Publicly, he demonstrates his freedom from imprisonment. However, he does not derive any sense of satisfaction from his feats, because privately, his obsession with his mother, which continues even after her death, prevents him from emotional liberation. Tateh also experiences a feeling of imprisonment during his time in New York, and attempts to "escape" to Lawrence, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and other locations.

MOTIFS

The Nature of Historical Truth

In Ragtime, Doctorow often makes allusions to familiar historical figures and events. However, he often alters certain details or entirely fabricates circumstances. In this way, the novel adopts an element of fantasy as well as addressing the subjectivity of historical accounts. Doctorow rejects one-sided absolutes in favor of a more complex view of history enriched by a multiplicity of voices. To this end, Doctorow's many interconnected characters and events draw attention to individuals' various reactions to similar events and circumstances. Through this method of characterization, the reader gains more profound insight into both the character himself and the broader social trends implicit in the character's reactions.

The Motion Picture and Photography

Imagery plays an important role in this novel. The motion picture, an innovation of the Progressive Era, gains prominence during this time, with the threat it presented to traditional art and culture, and the relatively inexpensive cost of attending a film. Tateh achieves relative well-being through his involvement in the production of movies. In addition, Doctorow's interest in imagery manifests itself stylistically in his writing. The novel also expresses an interest in the increased use of duplication as a result of technological advancements, and the consequent loss of a sense of individuation.

The Ambiguity of the Narrative Voice

In Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow employs a unique narrative style. The narrator seems to be neither an omniscient and uninvolved individual nor any one specific character. Critics have varying opinions on the origin of the narrative voice; most critics agree that the voice appears to be that of an American writing in 1974. The narrator's sense of historical perspective, as well as his use of ironic and rhetorical commentary, seems to support this notion. The narrator's knowledge about the little boy's thoughts and feelings might lead the reader to believe the little boy narrates the story; however, the narrative voice remains in the third person. In addition, perhaps Tateh's little girl provides the narrative voice. Another possibility lies in the notion that the little girl and the little boy narrate the story together. Tateh, Mameh, and the little girl seem to find their parallel in Father, Mother, and the little boy; perhaps each child provides different elements to the narration and to the story line, to produce a more comprehensive image of America at the turn of the century. The recurrent presence of "we" throughout the novel supports this belief that the two voices narrate together.

CREDIT CLASS QUESTIONS

1. How do the novel's characters react to changes in their environment? What do their reactions say about their social positions, their historical significance as characters, and their individual personalities?

2. How does Doctorow address the role of technology in the lives of individuals? What does he imply are the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology?

3. The narrative voice in Ragtime often seems ambiguous. What could Doctorow have hoped to convey by this ambiguity? Who could possibly be narrating? What insight do they have into the characters' inner thoughts and feelings?

4. How does Doctorow incorporate metaphors of imprisonment and false liberation into Ragtime? How does imprisonment manifest itself in the novel's characters, psychologically, economically, and physically?

5. How do some of the main characters serve allegorical roles? What movements or social trends are they intended to represent?

6. What questions and concerns does Doctorow raise about the nature of historical truth?

7. How does the struggle for stability and meaning manifest itself in the characters' thoughts and actions?

8. What is the role of the motion picture in Ragtime? What is its significance as a cultural influence at the turn of the century in the United States? How is the process of "duplication" significant?

9. Render the role of Motion Picture and Photography in the novel

10. In which way the author uses a lot of stereotypes of American culture to tell the story ?

11. Why might the author have chosen to name the characters as he did? Why do some of the characters have general names such as Mother’s Younger Brother while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.? Does this affect the way we relate to them?

12. Why did the author choose the title Ragtime for this novel? What is ragtime music? What are its origins and how does it relate to other genres of music? What does it reveal about the society in which it was created? What literary devices does the author use to reference or re-interpret ragtime?

13. Why might the author have chosen not to use quotation marks? Does this affect the rhythm of the story?

14. Describe the setting of Ragtime. When and where does the story take place? Why might an author have chosen to write about this time period and these places and events?

15. When was Ragtime written? What was happening at the time? How might readers then have related to the story? How do we relate to it today? Is it simply a historical narrative or does it reveal things about contemporary society?

16. Why do you think that Mother’s Younger Brother chose to help Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?

17. Doctorow chooses to incorporate historical figures in a fictional context. Who does he include? Why might he have chosen to include these people? Does his portrayal of them match historical accounts?

18. The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does their presence affect the characters? Is the impact good or bad? Explain.

19. The quest for freedom and peace is a key theme of Ragtime. How does the author use Harry Houdini to illuminate the complexity of this quest?

20. While the characters represent different classes and races, they share much in common. Discuss some of these commonalities. How are the characters different?

21. What imagery does the author use in the first chapter to set the scene? What does it tell us about life in the early 1900s? What might the purpose be in revealing the murder of the architect Stanford White? Does it change our initial impression of American life during this time?

22. When Evelyn Nesbit meets The Little Girl in the Pinafore, she is tied with rope to her father’s wrist so she won’t be stolen. How does the author make connections between Evelyn, The Little Girl, and Mameh? Why is Evelyn drawn to Tateh and The Little Girl?

23. When Father returns to New Rochelle, the mirror “gave back the gaunt, bearded face of a derelict, a man who lacked a home.” What does this mean? What has changed since Father left home? How does he adapt to these changes?

24. Why might J.P. Morgan be so fascinated with Egyptology? Do his fortune and his collection of valuable objects bring him peace? Why do you think he invites Henry Ford to meet with him?

25. The notion of value is prominent in the book. What do each of the characters value? What consequences does this have for them?

26. Does Coalhouse Walker, Jr. obtain justice? What does he sacrifice in the process? How do his actions affect those around him? How does this scenario relate to the justice system and civil rights struggles in today’s society?

27. Why does Tateh reinvent himself as a baron? What does it mean for his identity? How does the style and imagery of the novel relate to the advent of cinema? How does this invention change our perception of history?

28. Many of the characters struggle for what they believe is right. Are they successful? How are these struggles tied in to the notion of identity or societal definitions of identity?

29. The author uses his characters allegorically. What groups are represented? Do you feel the portrayals are accurate? Why or why not?

30. The author presents many representations of family and relationships. Describe some. Which are most successful? Why do you think this is?

31. Why do you think that Mother and Tateh end up together? What draws them together? How would this relationship have been viewed in the early 1900s? How would it be viewed today?

32. Why do you think that the author chose the quotation by Scott Joplin as the novel’s epigraph? What does it signify?

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 1536