The lady with the dog

CR #6: The Lady with the Dog

Length: at least 500 words (approximately two pages – multi paragraphs, please!).

Format: Times New Roman 12, one inch margins, double-spaced (Use this font)

Choose either A or B (but not both)

A. The story ends with a cliff hanger. The reader wants to know what happens to this couple. Write a sequel to the story. What “plan” do they come up with? Decide and create what happens next or several months or years in the future. Please note: Use your imagination but stay true to the characters in Chekhov’s s story.

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B. Select two scenes in the story and write a diary entry for each scene from Dmitri’s perspective and then from Anna’s perspective. Write from the perspective and point of view of each character. Think of these entries as a place for the character to think out loud and work out his or her emotions in the privacy of a diary. What would s/he be thinking about? What kind of advice might s/he want or need? Please note: Use your imagination but stay true to Chekhov’s plot. Don’t create a totally different story.

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respond in a separate paragraph in at least 10 sentences. Include specific quotations or references to the story to illustrate your points. Write in full sentences – no listing please. Write in a full paragraph in which you address these questions.

CHOOSE TWO TO RESPOND TO:

1. Anna and Gurov’s Relationship: Do you think that the relationship between Gurov and Anna will last very long? Why or why not? Based on what you know about their respective marriages, desires and expectations, what are some complications that might force it to end? Please explain. (9)

2. Gurov’s Transformation and Conversion: Is this relationship with Anna really any different from other affairs that Gurov has had? Why or why not? Do you think Gurov has changed? If so, what has caused him to change? Determine the extent of Gurovs change or conversion. Is Gurov a very different person by the time Chekhovs story draws to a close, or are there major elements of his personality that remain intact? (9)

3. Disillusionment and Isolation. What specifically is each character disillusioned about? How do they try to resolve it? Does it lead to more or less disillusionment? In what ways do the characters feel isolated from their spouses, their friends, and the larger society? (9)

4. Settings: How do the settings – Yalta, Moscow, Anna’s hometown – contribute to their sense of disillusionment and isolation? How do they experience isolation and disillusionment differently in each of the story’s settings? The critical article “Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Lady with the Pet Dog’” can help you with this.(9)

5, Explicate Quotation: Discuss the following quotation within the themes of the story. How does this quotation illustrate the double life he is leading, the themes of truth in deception and society and morality. To what extent are they being deceitful to their spouses and to each other? (9)

“He had two lives: one, open, seen, and known by all who cared to know, full of relative truth and of relative falsehood, exactly like the lives of his friends and acquaintances; and another life running its course in secret.”

6. Explicate Quotation: Discuss the following quotation within the themes of the story. How does this quotation illustrate his concerns about the nature of his relationship with Anna, and the role of time? (9)

“His head was beginning to turn gray. And it seemed strange to him that he had grown so much older, so much plainer during the last five years. The shoulders on which his hands rested were warm and quivering. He felt compassion for this life, still so warm and lovely, but probably already not far from beginning to fade and wither like his own.”

7. Conflict: Conflicts propels stories forward. Describe the nature of the conflict. Is the conflict primarily character vs. character; character vs nature; or characters vs society? What is the nature of the conflict? What are some internal conflicts the struggle taking place within a character? Explain with specific examples. How are each of the conflicts resolved, if at all? Explain using specific examples. What does the way the character deals with the conflict reveal about the particular character? Explain using specific examples. (9)

8. Chekhov’s Innovative Style: Read the critical article, ” After reading it, explain some of the major contributions Chekhov made to European fiction. Which two traditions did he straddle? What did he excel at in his short stories? How does “The Lady with the Dog” illustrate his innovative style of writing? Please explain with examples from the article. (9)

Lastly-

Come up with five open-ended questions that you would like the class to discuss about “The Lady with the Dog”