ASSIGNMENT V (chapters 15 - 17).

I. Language focus:

swell - fine, great, excellent

a king's ransom - a lot of money

a spendthrift - one who wastes money or spends it recklessly

to haul it in - to earn/make a lot of money

to cost a pretty penny - be expensive

to feel blue - to feel sad, lonely

s**y - fashionable, elegant

mushy - overly sentimental

mobbed - crowded with people

to give smb the creeps - to scare smb, to make one's flesh crawl

bunk - nonsense

a lulu - smth extremely silly, bad, embarrassing

oodles - a large amount of something

to horn in on - to intervene.

to hit the ceiling - to lose ones' self-control

II. WHILE YOU READ:

1. What is the reason for Holden's constant hesitation to call Jane? How can this be understood as a theme of the novel?

2. What does childhood mean to Holden? What do children represent to him?

3. Holden says, " I don;t get hardly anything out of anything". Why is this so? Whatdoes he mean? What does it mean to you?

4. Review all of Holden's attempts to communicate with people so far. What pattern emerges from this?

III. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. Cheap suitcases. 7. The Museum of Natural History

2. A conversation with two nuns. 8. Girls and boys.

3. Charity that's not charity. 9. Sally Hayes.

4. Some Broadway observations. 10. At the theater.

5. Plays and actors. 11. At the skating rink.

6. Searching for Phoebe in Central Park. 12. A rejected proposal.

A SSIGNMENT VI (chapters 24 - 26)
I. Language focus:
hot stuff - first rate
conceit, conceited - having an excess of pride
to put something on (she was just putting it on) - to mislead, to pretend
a flit (a queer, a pansy, a fairy) - a homosexual
to beat it, to scram - to leave quickly
to be plastered - to be very drunk
to pass out - to lose consciousness
to know something/ someone like the back of one's hand - to know something very well
to be/go on a spree - to be/go on a drinking binge
to cut it out - to stop
to cry one's eyes out - give vent to one's sorrow
a firing squad - a squad that carries out military executions
inane - senseless
to get too personal - to allow oneself too much familiarity
to screw somebody up - to get (work) someone into a nervous state
not to see straight - - to be plastered
to hit the sack (the hay, the pillow) - to go to bed

II. While you read:
1. Compare Holden's speech about inferiority complexes, " the trouble with gilrs" (ch.18, page 136), and Holden's own admissions from the beginning of Ch.15. What do you notice?
2. What opinion doe Holden have about talent?
3. Think about the Central Park ducks. What do they mean to Holden? What else can you compare them to in the novel?

III. Items for Discussion:
1. Holden kills time at the stage show and movie. 4. Meeting the sex expert Luce.
2. Meditations on the army, war, and literature. 5. Holden on a spree.
3. Guys with and without inferiority complexes. 6. Reflections on death.

ASSIGNMENT VII (chapters 21 - 23)
I. Language focus:
a break - a stroke of good luck
to barge in on - to intrude upon
a bull session - an occasion when a group of people meet to talk in a relaxed way; a get-together of boys (comp. a stag party)
eyed - crooked, askew
to bump smack into something/smb - to run into
loafers - walking shoes
to take back one's word - to go back on one's word
to squeal on smb, a squealer - to inform on smb, an informer
snappy, to be snappy - quick
to yank - to pull
II. While you read:
1. In Ch. 22 Holden uses the word " ostracizing". he used this word before in the very beginning of the novel (ch,I). Think about the deliberate repetition of this word. Why does the author choose to bring the reader back to the beginning of the story?
2. Chapter 22 also contains a reference to the novel's title. Where else did we read about this? What does the novel's title mean?
III. Items for Discussion:
1. Home, sweet home. 4. Appearances are deceptive: James Castle.
2. Meeting Phoebe. 5. Holden contemplates the future.
3. Holden's account of Pencey. 6. Brother and sister: role reversal.

ASSIGNMENT VIII (Ch. 24 - 26)
I. Language focus:
oiled up - tipsy, slightly drunk
to stick to one's guns - to maintain a point of view
to bum - to ask smb for something such as money, a cigarette, a ride,etc.
to beat it - to run, to go away
an ace - a first rat eperson
to digress from - to deviate from
reciprocal - mutual
not to bat an eyelash - not to show any emotion
to hit the road - to start off on one's way
II. While you read:
1. The visit to Mr. Antolini brings us back once again to the beginning of the novel. How does it do this? What comparisons can the reader make?
2. What conclusions can you draw concerning Mr. Antolini's relationship with Holden? How is Holden affected by the departure from the teacher's home?
3. Holden sees obscenities written on the school walls on two separate occasions. What do they represent to him? What is his reaction/realization concerning the words and where he fins them? How does the firts time differ from the second?
4. Has Holden changed from the beginning of the story to the end? How does he feel after telling the story? What will Holdens's future be like?

III. Items for Discussion:
1. Holden's account to Mr. Antolini of his expulsion and Holden's views on verbal expression.
2. Mr. Antolini's prediction of a person's inevitable fall and advice to Holden to begin applying himself.
3. Mr. Antolini's written note to Holden and views on educated+ creative people versus merely creative people.
4. An interrupted badly needed rest and Holden's troubled conscience.
5. Holden's talks ot Allie.
6. Holden;'s visit to Phoebe's school and to the museum.
7. Phoebe turns up all set to go.
8. Holden, Phoebe, and the carrousel.
9. Where is Holden now?

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