Assignment #6 (86-102): 1.) Explore the significance/symbolism of the Nagaumsett. (You may have to refer to earlier readings to supplement your answer).

The Nagaumsett River is one of the major symbols representing what will come in Gene’s future. Its dark waters are unfamiliar, whereas the Devon River is friendly and well-known by the students at Devon. The Devon was where the boys had easy, uncomplicated fun in the Summer Session, but the Nagaumsett was never explored. It is only when the new school year begins that Gene really gets the chance to visit it. He decides to work as an assistant crew manager, and unfortunately, that means that he has to work with ill-tempered Quackenbush. Gene later gets in a fight with him,  and the fight results in them both to falling into the Nagaumsett. Gene decides to take a shower “to wash off the sticky salt of the Nagaumsett” (Knowles 86). Gene has grown accustomed to the purity and consistency of the Devon, and the moment of entering the Nagaumsett has shaken him. He grew to cherish the Devon River and all the sweet memories he has associated with it, and Gene explains that “going to the Devon was like taking a refreshing shower” (Knowles 86). Gene tries to wash off the darkness of his coming maturity and lost innocence by cleaning himself after falling into the Nagaumsett. He then realizes that “it seemed appropriate that my baptism there had taken place on the first day of the winter session and that I had been thrown into it, in the middle of a fight” (Knowles 86). The start of his senior year signifies the beginning of an unpredictable journey that lies ahead for Gene and the boys. Not only have the results Finny and Gene’s end of summer “war” traumatized Gene and his classmates, but it is now possible for the students to be drafted into the actual war. The Nagaumsett represents that inevitable, yet daunting new world of possibility that has been introduced with the end of summer. Gene falling into the river is Knowles way of showing that, despite Gene’s opposition to it, the fun, simple days of the Summer Session have passed, taking Gene’s innocence with them as Finny fell.

Assignment #6 (86-102): Explore and explain the significance of the scene in the Butt Room.

The significance of the Butt Room is that this is where Gene tells the group of people in the room that he had shaken Finny off of the tree. The room is described as a "dungeon" and is an indication that bad things happen in the room. "The Butt Room was something like a dungeon... The school's policy, in order to discourage smoking, was to make these rooms as depressing as possible" (Knowles 88). Gene finds himself being harassed and hurt by a unsavory cult, of which Brinker is the leader of. Brinker accuses Gene of "killing" his roommate and by doing this getting his dorm room all to himself. Gene makes up small lies at the start of his interrogation to avoid admitting himself to the crime, but the student group does not believe it. Gene eventually gets desperate to leave the room and makes up a huge lie about the relationship between him and Finny, but does include the fact that he had pushed Finny off of the tree. Satisfied with the answer the group lets him leave. The significance of the scene is to show how the truth comes out on way or the other, and that the truth of how Finny got hurt is no longer a secret between Gene and Finny anymore.

(Tayseer) How does Gene feel about war and enlisting in this reading (look closely at pages 100-102)?

    Gene, like all the other students his age at Devon, will soon be drafted to the army for World War 2. Just like many of the other students, he is excited to get into the war, although it may be for a different reason for him than for others. For Gene, to join the war is to, "to slam the door impulsively on the past" (Knowles 100). For Gene, the war is an escape from the life he has right now. No matter how much he, or anyone else, says, the moment of the double jump with Finny still stays with him, on whether or not it is still his fault that Finny fell and shattered his leg. This thought haunts him, and he can never forget it. So, he decides that signing up for the war would be the best way to get rid of the memory. As a soldier, all ties to his life before it will be cut, and the things he did before the war will become insignificant to him. He will be too preoccupied to even think about his life before the war, and will slowly draw away from it.
    Do you think the war will affect him as deeply as he says? Will he ever forget these events?

Assignment #5 (72-85) Why does Quackenbush use the word “maimed”? Explore the significance and connotation.

Quackenbush uses the work "maimed" because he was in a fight with Gene, and he thought Gene was crippled.  Gene signed up as the assistant crew senior manager, which means that he didn't really have to play any sports.  When Quackenbush, the crew manager, tells him to get towels, Gene says that "jobs like mine were usually taken by boys with some physical disability." (Knowles 77)  This probably led Quackenbush to believe that Gene was 'maimed' or had a disability.  Maimed is a disrespectful word, and Quackenbush was trying to insult Gene by calling him that, even though he wasn't sure if Gene actually had a disability, but Gene got even more insulted, because Finny was maimed, and he didn't like Quackenbush using it as a careless insult.  Quackenbush wanted to insult Gene, but Gene felt defensive because Quakenbush was insulting Finny.

-Elizabeth

Assignment #5: Re-read the last sentence of chapter 6 (p84-85). Explain what is happening in the quote (establish context) and then explore and explain the last part “I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas” (85).

In the final part of chapter six Finny calls Gene and asks him how the new academic year is going so far and what sports teams he will try out for.  To the disappointment of Finny, Gene says that he is going to be the assistant manager for the crew team.  Gene says that since he cant play sports Finny will have to play for him.  "Listen, pal, if I cant play sports, you're going to play them for me," (Knowles 85).  Here, Finny essentially giving permission for Gene to play sports.  He's saying that now its his turn to be the athletic one out of them.  He is telling Gene to play sports because he knows that it is the only way that they will be able to connect, and it is the only way that Gene will get over his guilt.  This passage really depicts the power of Gene and Finny's friendship.  Here Finny is giving up his passion and handing it to Gene.  This takes a lot of courage from Finny finally accepting that whats done is done and now letting Gene move on with his life. -Benjamin Thomas Blackburn

Assignment #5 (72-85): Explore the significance/symbolism of the Devon River (Lily Denton).

            The two rivers represent the shift in attitude from the summer semester to the new starting school year. The Devon River portrays how the summer session was for Gene and the rest of the Devon school. It was remembered as fun, and carefree with many new and exciting memories made there. “The fresh-water Devon above the dam where we’d had so much fun, all the summer” (Knowles 76). Unlike the untroubled Devon River, the Naguamsett was described as being, “ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud and seaweed” (Knowles 76). A waterfall that flowed from the Devon River into the Naguamsett connected these two rivers. “And then [the Devon River] threw itself with little spectacle over a small waterfall beside the diving dam, and into the turbid Naguamsett” (Knowles 76). Knowles is linking the accident with Finny to the waterfall, and the Naguamsett River to the aftermath of the incident, while the Devon River is the antecedent to the event.  

Assignment #4 (Pages 61-71 and poem):  What is symbolic in that fact that the summer session is coming to an end – look specifically at the passage on page 67? 

Because of the memories during the summer session of 1942, it would last forever in the mind of our narrator. The session had been "irresolutely suspended" (Knowles 67) in Gene's mind, meaning that it hadn't been finished. Gene thinks this because there wasn't a very fitting conclusion to the end of such an eventful session, with happenings ranging from the creation of the Secret Suicide Society of the Summer Session to Finny's invention of blitzball, which was a great example of the summer's craziness. This is because Finny was the leading catalyst of the events of the summer, and that the session would come to an end with Finny having to leave the school is unthinkable to Gene. In a way, however, it is a fitting end to the session. Because Finny was such an instinctive person, because his creativity was on a level unbeknownst to others at the school, he was the summer session. But for Gene, so much of life at the Devon School was created by Finny. When he stands in the mirror wearing Finny's clothes (Knowles 62), it is a relief to him because he has tricked himself into thinking things are the same as they were when Finny was there. When a person loses someone or something that was an important piece of their life, it clouds vision, often making people lie to themselves. It is impossible for a person to lie to themselves, due to the fact that people can't outsmart themselves.

Assignment #4 (61-71 & Poem): What is guilt? Do we all have it? Is it part of being human? Can someone live guilt free?

Guilt is a powerful emotion and is linked with regret. Because Gene was impacted by guilt, he regrets jouncing the limb. This is shown in Gene the most in the infirmary because of the way that he spoke and acted towards Finny. He couldn’t speak and he didn’t know what to say, and eventually chickened out into telling Finny about what actually happened.

            Guilt can affect how humans take control of situations. Gene didn’t tell Finny at the infirmary about what happened at the tree. If Gene did not have this guilt he wouldn’t have hesitated. Gene is regretting what he did and is saying ,“Its terrible everything is terrible” (Knowles 65). This also connects with Creon from Antigone because Creon had a lot of guilt because he felt like, if he didn’t execute Antigone, then he would still have everyone he loved. Finally Gene, in the moment of the infirmary, felt like Creon at the end of the play.

Assignment 4 Pages 61-71: Briefly explain Gene’s visit to the infirmary. How does Finny act? Why? Does this feel “realistic”? How does Gene’s visit impact Finny?-Oliver

         The accident on the tree causes a mistrust between the two friends, which is illustrated in Genes visit to the hospital. After Finny falls off the tree he is moved to the infirmary. While he is in the infirmary healing, Gene is tearing himself apart because he feels completely responsible for what happened on the branch. After a few weeks go by Finny becomes well enough for Gene to visit him, and even asks for him specifically. Gene does end up going to the infirmary, but is surprised by Finny's behavior. Gene was excepting Finny to confront him with the accusation that Gene jousted the branch, however when Finny even mentions it, he apologizes immediately for thinking of it. This scene tells a lot about both of their characters. " 'I thought I could reach out and get a hold of you.' I flinched violently. 'To drag me down with you!' 'to grab you so I wouldn't fall'. (Knowles 65)" This quote shows clearly how Gene views their relationship, versus how Finny does. Gene is very eager to make Finny the guilty one, while Finny is saying that he believes that he could lean on Gene, and Gene could lean on him if they needed each other. Throughout the entirety of Genes visit Finny still seems playful, and like he thinks they are still great friends, however there does seem to be a lack of trust from Finny towards Gene. This is illustrated when Finny says "and when I reached out there was only air"(Knowles 65). This shows Finny saying that Gene wasn't there to hold him when he fell, which illustrates a newfound lack of trust in Finny's eyes. This seems realistic after a friend falls/is pushed off a tree while standing right next to the other friend. The day after Gene leaves, he says that Finny was not well enough to see visitors which tells the reader that there was something maleficent about Gene's visit.
Do you think this experience will change the dynamic of their relationship?

Assignment #4: Why did Gene go to Finny's house? How did it impact Finny? Did Gene try to do the right thing? Why or why not? What would you have done? (Maggie)

In this chapter by going to Finny's house, Gene is trying to do the right thing. However, it may be too little too late. Gene has been thinking about Finny and the accident for the entire month he has been back at home, and has been ruled by the guilt of not only causing his friend to fall, but also withholding the information that it was him who moved the branch. Gene goes to Finny's house to try to apologize and come to terms with his guilt, but in the end it does more harm than good. Although Finny has regained some of his charisma and energy from the first time Gene saw him, he is still unable to even get out of a chair by himself. However, since he does seem more himself, it means that he has come to accept the fact the he won't play sports again. When he first heard this information, he was probably heart-broken and depressed. Now that he's over it, Finny is ready to move ahead with his life. Gene coming to visit him brings back memories of the event and stirs up old emotions, and Gene's confession has a negative impact on Finny. After Gene tries to confess, but Finny is sure he is just confused, Finny says "Go away. I'm tired and you make me sick. Go away," (Knowles 70). Even though Gene is just trying to do the right thing, it makes things worse by giving Finny even more emotional grief by causing him to rethink the event that ruined his life. He has to wonder if it was actually his best friend that caused his injury, and for anyone this would be a pretty mind blowing concept to wrap your head around. If I were Gene, I would have done the same thing. Once I feel guilty, the guilt never goes away. It's all I can think about until I admit or apologize. Gene is just trying to gain closure, but this is hard to do when the person your apologizing to doesn't believe you. This just makes it worse, because it makes Gene realize that they weren't competitors, that the concept of being rivals with his best friend was "so ludicrous I wanted to cry," (Knowles 66). In the end, although all Gene did was try to confess to his crime, it had a negative impact on Finny, and definitely a negative impact on their friendship.
(Maggie)

Assignment #3. What exactly happened in the tree and who do you think was responsible? Why do you say this? Delila

             I think that in the tree, Gene, overwhelmed with his new realization that Finny was not in fact jealous of him, shook the branch intentionally, but did not mean for it to cause Finny to fall.  After Gene realized that Finny did not consider Gene his enemy, but only his best friend, as he had generously mentioned earlier, he was upset.  It made him feel inferior to Finny's kindheartedness, for Gene had worked hard to excel in his academics, not for himself, but just so he could feel as though he "would be even [with Finny]" (Knowles 52).  In contrast, Finny, when breaking the swimming record, wanted to prove to himself that he was a great swimmer, not to impress Gene, or anyone else for that matter.  While Gene craved attention, Finny worked selflessly just to prove to himself of his superiority, not for the crowd.  When Gene finally became aware of this difference in their personalities, he felt guilty and mad at himself for being so selfish.  In his anger at himself, Gene at the top of the tree, casually shook the branch without fully thinking about the potential consequences.

Assignment #3 (40-60) QUESTION 3: On pages 52-54 how does Gene's view of their relationship change? What does he think of it? How do you know this? Why does he feel this way? Do you think it is accurate? Why or Why not?

On pages 52-54 in A Separate Peace by John Knowles Gene realizes something about Finny and their friendship. Gene realizes that his envy for Finny is equivalent to Finny's envy for Gene. Gene has always been jealous of Finny for winning achievements in the athletic department at school, so he thought that if he did better academically than Phineas both boys would be equal. "If I was head of class on Graduation Day and made a speech and won the Ne Plus Ultra Scholastic Achievement Citation, then we would both come out on top, we would both be even, that was all" (Knowles 52). Later in the chapter though, Gene starts to believe that Finny is jealous of him. Therefore Gene begins to think that they are even in enmity. Enmity is the state of being opposed to someone. Then he begins to think that Finny has created distractions in order to interfere with Gene, so he wouldn't achieve any academic excellence, and in doing so Finny would be superior to him. "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society…" (Knowles 53).

I have mixed feelings on whether I believe that Gene's accusations are true. My impression of Gene is that he is overly competitive and a bit insecure, so he over thinks things. I believe Finny is a boy who assumes he and Gene will be drafted for the war, and therefore wants to enjoy his life before he enters the cruel lifestyle of a soldier. "You never waste your time. That's why I have to do it for you" (Knowles 51). While some might interpret this quote as trying to distract Gene from his studies, I see this as a friendly gesture to try to relax Gene and tell him it is okay to have fun every once in a while. The night before Gene came up with these rivalry theories Finny had sincerely told Gene that he was his best friend. Would Finny lie about something so meaningful?

Carly Newell

Assignment #2 (21-40 break): How does the invention of and the playing of Blitzball impact/influence the relationship between Finny and Gene? Be sure to provide two specific examples.

The invention of Blitzball influences Gene and Finny's friendship in a positive way. When Finny first starts making the game, he is extremely vague in his initial description. All he says is to run towards the river and tosses the medicine ball to Gene to start running. "No, not that way! Toward the river! Run!" (Knowles 37). Gene starts running to the river, unclear of the purpose of the game, though the further Gene starts running the more rules of the game Finny slowly introduces. Once, when Gene gets knocked down hard by Chet Douglass, Finny makes a rule that you can not hit a person down by using your arms, you have to keep your arms crossed if not handling the ball. When Gene tries to make a pass to an ally and the ball drops on the ground, Finny announces that it is okay for the ball to drop when passing. As Gene passes the ball to Leper, and Leper refuses to take the ball, thus meaning that another person will retrieve the ball, Finny makes a rule that if someone betrays you like this it will from here on be known as the Lepellier Refusal insulting Leper for doing this, and gives the ball back to Gene. 
                In this scene we see Finny taking care of Gene and making sure that he does not get hurt, saying that it was legal to drop the ball on the bad pass that Gene had made, and insults Leper for not taking the ball when Gene tossed it to him. Finny acts as an older brother to Gene, making sure that he does not get roughed up, and no one is mean to him in anyway. Even though Gene does not always want the ball, Finny makes sure that he has is all the times during the first introduction of the game, because it is an enjoyable game for him, and wants Gene to have fun playing the game. "Still mine? Nobody else has had the ball but me, for God sakes!"(Knowles 39).    

Assignment #2 (21-40 Break): Re-read Gene’s recognition of his use of sarcasm in the middle of page 29. In what ways has young Gene revealed himself to be weak and then to use sarcasm to mask this weakness?

    When Gene and Finny are coming back from the little "party" that Mr. Patch-Withers had thrown, they talk about it, and Gene basically says that Finny did most of the talking. Making a joke out of it, Finny asks Gene if he really thought that, and Gene denies it, saying, "You? Talk too much? How can you accuse me of accusing you of that!" (Knowles 29). However, looking back on it, Eugene tells us that, "It was only long after that I recognized sarcasm as the protest of people who are weak."(Knowles 29). Eugene, both older and wiser, now realizes that sarcasm is simply a way to hide the true feelings of yours under a layer of humor. Gene, not wanting to stand up and tell Finny what he had really meant, instead sarcastically agrees with Finny, keeping his true opinion to himself. He doesn't want to give out how he really feels to Finny, so he decides to hide with humor, to keep Finny away from his opinions, because he is too scared and too "weak" to share them. He thinks that if he tries to give out his opinion, he might receive some negative feedback from Finny, and Gene does not want anything like that at all. So Gene, weak as he is, decides to keep his opinion to himself, and uses sarcasm to hide it.
(Tayseer Chowdhury)

Re-read the opening paragraph of chapter 3. Explore and explain the quote “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me” (33). Explain what Gene is saying and why he is saying it at this point. What are the larger implications of what he is saying?

At the end of chapter two in A Separate Peace Phineas and the Gene decide to jump off the tree to form the "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session." Gene describes that when he went to make a remark to Finny he almost fell off the tree but Finny saves him. “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me” (Knowles 33). The narrator explains how even though Finny had saved his life he also put him in the position to lose it. This describes the relationship between Finny and Gene. Finny is known to be the wild half of the friendship, always putting Gene in situations where he feels uncomfortable and can potentially risk his being. Gene on the other hand is a nervous kid that thinks that Finny is a little crazy, but is always pressured into uncomfortable situations. This can be a dangerous situation for Gene because Finny is more impulsive with his actions. I think that this could potentially foreshadow an upcoming event where Finny puts Gene in potential danger again, but maybe he won't be to save him the next time.

Assignment #2 (21-40 break): Once the story shifts to the summer of 1942, Gene begins his narrative about his summer, the war, the school, his friendships, and most specifically, his relationship with Finny. Provide three specific examples of characterization about Finny, most specifically what kind of person he is and how do you know this.

            According to Gene, Finny is ‘the perfect kid.’ In his small boarding school, Finny is considered the “top dog” and the most popular. Finny, “had been the best athlete in the school” (Knowles 16), and was particularly charming. He could, “get away with anything” (Knowles 25). During the substitute head master’s tea party, Finny was caught wearing his tie informally, but he was able to use his social skills to extricate himself from the punishable offense. A daring teenager, Finny was not afraid to jump out an exceedingly tall tree into the lake below. This potentially dangerous act did not deter Finny; instead, this challenge motivated him even more. Finny was not one to worry about what other students thought of him. While getting dressed for the head master’s party, Finny decided to wear a pink shirt. This was an unusual color among the boys at the Devon school. No one, however, though to tease him since he was well liked in the group. As Gene stated, “No one else in the school could have [worn a pink shirt] without some risk of having it torn from his back” (Knowles 25). With a friend like this, it must be hard for Gene to live in his shadow. How can Gene be a supportive friend without letting jealousy get the better of him?

Assignment #1 (9-20) Gene visits two specific places upon his return: the First Academy Building and the tree. Namde and explain two specific things he notices / realizes about these places / things now (as opposed to then) and why Knowles might have done this.

When Gene goes back to visit his school, he notices that he has changed.  In the beginning of the book, Gene was walking into the First Academy Building he sees the marble stairs that he has walked up many times before.  He notices that "although they were old stairs, the moons in the middle of each step were not very deep.  The marble must be unusually hard." (Knowles, 11)  Although the stairs were always hard, Gene never noticed this while he was in school.  While at school, Gene was too preoccupied to notice little things like that.  When he returns, he has less to worry about, and he becomes more aware of his surroundings.  Later, Gene is walking to a tree that stood out  to hin his memory.  He says that  "it had loomed in [his] memory as a lone spike dominating the riverbank." (Knowles, 13). Where comes back to revisit the tree, he has a hard time finding it because he realizes that it is just like all the other trees around ther riverbank, not as majestic or special as he had imagined it.  This shows that Gene has gotten over what caused him to think that the tree was so much more significant than the other trees.  Knowles had Gene mention these changes before the retrospective because if the reader knows about these changes before hand, the reader will be more alert during the retrospective to try to figure out why Gene overlooked these details.  These details that he overlooked shows that Gene has become a different person.

In the beginning of the book, Gene says that the school looks more polished and preserved than he used tor remember it.  do you think that this was because the school changed, or because Gene changed?

Assignment #1(9-20): The novel opens up with present day Gene (1958ish) narrating his return to Devon 15 years after he graduates (until the middle of page 14). Why does John Knowles begin the novel this way? What is the purpose? What is the effect?

                  John Knowles begins A Separate Piece with present day Gene visiting Devon and reflecting on what differences he’s noticed. He observes that the school now looks more rigid and less lively, and to Gene, it looks “…as though a coat of varnish had been put over everything for better preservation” (Knowles 1). The air is heavy with fog, and the picture that Gene paints of Devon is bleak and colorless. The first part of Chapter 1 sets a mood of nostalgia and solemnity, but in a stark contrast, later in the chapter, young Gene describes Devon as vibrant, warm, comforting, and bursting with life and excitement. Landmarks that embody Gene’s time at Devon have been restored and made magical again as Gene flashes back in time. When Gene visits his school as an adult, he sees that the places he once loved, such as the tree that had been to him “one of the giants of your childhood” (Knowles 14), now look completely unremarkable to him. Places he used to love have lost their that childhood magic, and he can barely tell places that once defined him apart from others. As Gene's age shifts, we even see a transformation in color and weather from Gene’s heavy, dark business shoes dragging in the mud to Finny’s bright white sneakers gliding over the dirt, as well as the overcast, foggy November day turning to a refreshing summer afternoon. After feeling that dark, gray mood for the first half of the chapter, and then being thrown back into a time when there was sunshine and adventure at Devon, it seems as if Knowles is trying to hint that something drastically changed the way Devon sees his former school, and possibly, the world around him.

We watch as Gene travels around Devon, constantly being thrown into his past. He has forced himself to revisit the days he attended Devon, and he realizes all that time has changed. The memory of his school has been preserved in his mind, and he can’t seem to forget all that happened there, making the readers understand how important the events that took place there were to Gene’s growth. He had gotten to know a location a certain way so well in one time, and now it looks different to him in another. This illustrates how time has shaped a place he once new well until that same place is nearly unrecognizable.  In reality, it really is his individual perspectives that have changed. The happiness and simplicity of being a child has disappeared and been replaced with the heaviness and complexity of being an adult. Knowles very deliberately helped readers feel the difference between the two time periods to create the same effect that this experience has on Gene– who hasn’t visited his school, or his childhood, in 15 years. Gene’s observations indicate that this once happy place has turned into a ghost of a memory of happiness. His school, representing his time as a carefree adventurous boy, has turned into a glossy museum, a memorial for his lost childhood innocence. Gene tells us, “Everything at Devon slowly changed and slowly harmonized with what had gone before. So it is logical to hope that… I could achieve, perhaps unknowingly already had achieved, this growth and harmony myself,” (Knowles 12). This makes the reader realize that Gene has evolved since the adventurous moments before high school, and it makes us wonder what could have happened during high school, as well as throughout his early adulthood, to change how he views the world around him. Gene, as well as the readers, see that his life experiences after he graduated have accumulated and buried the boy he once knew himself to be. By showing such contrasting images of the same place, one in the summer before high school and one 15 years later, Knowles sets the stage for the explanation and story of all that happened in between.