Post-reading reflection and journal Fences

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

Pages 1-8

Directions: After we act out Fences, answer the following questions thoroughly. This is due at the end of period and will count as a Writer’s Notebook grade.

1. The play opens with Troy and Bono sitting in the front yard, having a drink after work. What did Troy ask his boss? WHY is this significant?

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2. Bono and Troy talk about hanging out at Taylor’s. What is Taylor’s?

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3. What can you infer about Troy’s relationship with Alberta? Write the passage(s) from the play that suggest your inference?

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4. “Troy Maxson, don’t you start that now!” and “I told him if he wasn’t the marrying kind, then move out the way so the marrying kind could find me.” Based on these two passages from Rose on page 6, how would you characterize Rose? (Reminder: to characterize is to describe the

personality traits of the character)

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5. On pg 8, Troy said, “The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football stuff… He ought to go get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living.” How does Troy feel about Cory being recruited for football? WHY does he feel this way?

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6. How would you characterize Troy? Write one passage to support your ideas.

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

Pages 9-20

1. On page 10, Troy compares death to “a fastball on the outside corner.” What does he mean by this metaphor? Explain the comparison.

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2. “I wrestled with Death for three days and three nights and I’m standing here to tell you about it.

Alright. At the end of the third night we done weakened each other to where we can’t hardly move.

Death stood up, throwed on his robe … had him a white robe with a hood it. He throwed on that robe and went off to look for his sickle.” Analyze this quote from Troy on page 12. What is he revealing through his personification of death? What does this tell us about his perspective about death?

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3. On page 15, Troy says the “devil standing there bigger than life.” Who is “the devil” he’s referring to? What is symbolic of him calling this man the devil?

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4. How would you describe Troy and Lyon’s relationship? Find and write a passage and explain how it supports your description.

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5. On page 18, Bono says, “I just stay with my music cause that’s the only way I can find to live in the world. Otherwise there ain’t no telling what I might do.” What does Lyons mean? How would you characterize Lyons?

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

Act 1, Scene 2 Pages 21-28

1. The second scene begins with Rose singing, “Jesus, be a fence all around me every day. Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way…” Based on this song, what do you think Rose’s interpretation of a “fence” is?

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2. How does Troy feel about people “playing numbers” and gambling? Write one passage from the text to support your argument.

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3. This is the first time we meet Gabe. How would you characterize Gabe? Write one passage from the text to support your argument.

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4. Gabe constantly tells Troy that he has seen Troy’s name in Saint Peter’s Book of Judgment. Why do you think Gabe reminds him of this? What is Gabe trying to reveal? And what could this be foreshadowing?

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5. On page 28, Troy and Rose have a dialogue about Troy managing Gabe’s money from the army.

Rose says, “Ain’t no sense you blaming yourself for nothing. Gabe wasn’t in no condition to manage that money. You done what was right by him…” Troy responds, “If my brother didn’t have that metal plate in his head, I wouldn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.” What can you infer about this situation? In other words, how do Rose and Troy’s feeling about Troy managing Gabe’s money differ?

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6. At the end of the scene, Troy says, “I’m gonna walk down to Taylor’s.” Where do you think he’s actually going?

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7. What can you conclude about Troy and Gabe’s relationship so far?

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. What is Troy and Cory’s relationship like? What passage supports this idea? Make sure to explain your answer.

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2. What is the significance of Troy and Cory’s conversation about buying a TV or tarring the roof?

How do Troy and Cory’s perspectives differ? WHY are their perspectives different?

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3. Why does Troy want Cory to keep his job at the A&P? What does he mean when he says,”That way you have something can’t nobody take away from you” (35).

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4.Interpret Troy’s quote, “You’ve got to take the crookeds with straights” (37). What does he mean by this? Explain.

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5. Cory asks his father, “How come you ain’t never liked me?” (37). How does Troy respond? What do you think about this response? What line from Troy’s monologue about responsibility on page 38 sticks out to you the most? Why?

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6. We learn more about Troy in this scene. How would you characterize Troy at this point in the play? What passage from this scene supports your idea? Explain in detail.

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. Why is it significant that Troy was promoted to a driver at work?

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2. Gabe constantly singings about St. Peter and the Judgment Day. He carries an old trumpet tied around his waist. Every prop in a play is strategically chosen by the author to develop the

characters. Why do you think August Wilson chose to give Gabe a trumpet?

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3. In this scene, we get to know about Troy’s childhood, specifically about his own father and their relationship. How would you characterize Troy’s father? Describe him, based on Troy’s

descriptions.

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4. How does Troy treat Lyons and Cory in comparison to the way his father treated him? Explain with examples (not passages).

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5. Why is Troy being so stubborn regarding Cory playing football? Offer at least two potential reasons and explain each with examples (not passages).

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6. At the end of the scene, Troy says to Cory, “I’m gonna tell you what your mistake was. See… you swung at the ball and didn’t hit it. That’s strike one. See, you in the batter’s box now. You swung and you missed. That’s strike one. Don’t you strike out.” What does Troy’s metaphor reveal? Give a thorough analysis and then give a prediction of what you think will happen between Troy and Cory in the second act of Fences.

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. What happened to Gabe and what does Troy do to help him out?

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2. Bono and Troy discuss Troy’s relationship with Alberta. What do we learn about Bono and Troy’s relationship through this conversation?

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3. Troy tells Rose that he’s going to be a father with Alberta. He tries to explain to her why he went with another woman, using another baseball metaphor. Explain this metaphor. What is Troy trying to tell Rose through this metaphor? Cite passages to support your analysis of the metaphor.

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4. Rose tells Troy that she stood in the same place with him for 18 years, always trying to be the best wife she could be. She says, “I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn’t take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn’t never going to bloom”

(71). Interpret this quote. What is Rose saying? What does this metaphor mean?

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5. If you were Troy how would you handle the situation? Explain

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6. If you were Rose how would you handle the situation? Explain.

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. On page 75, Troy and Alberta have a dialogue about Gabe. What happened to Gabe? Troy insists that he had nothing to do with what happened to Gabe. What are your thoughts about Troy’s involvement?

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2. In Troy’s soliloquy on page 77, he speaks directly to Death. Explain what he says to Death. In your opinion, why does Troy all of a sudden start talking to Death?

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. Troy brings his daughter to his house, and at first Rose is unwelcoming. She then tells him that she will take care of the child because “…you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child” (79).

Interpret this quote. How does this apply to Raynell?

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2. Rose tells Troy that while she’ll raise his daughter, he is “a womanless man” (79). How would you characterize Rose during Act 2 Scene 3. Include a passage to support your answer and be sure to paraphrase and connect the passage to your perspective?

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. In the beginning of this scene, Cory is in the front yard, practicing his batting stance. What could this symbolize? (Remember, he is dissatisfied with his ability. What could that symbolize too?) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. Rose and Troy have a brief dialogue in this scene. What is the tone of this conversation? What conclusions can you draw about their relationship now?

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3. Bono stops by to see Troy. What is the tone of their conversation? AND how has their relationship changed? Include a passage to support your ideas.

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4. Bono mentions that Troy has finally finished building the fence around the yard. What is symbolic about Troy finishing the fence at this point in the play, after everything has happened?

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5. Troy says to Cory, “They’ll (Cory’s things) will be on the other side of the fence” (89). What could

“fences” symbolize for Troy?

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6. The scene ends with Troy talking to Death again, explaining that he’s ready for Death’s arrival and will continue to fight him. Why do you think August Wilson finished this particular scene in this way? What could this be symbolic of?

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

1. The final scene opens with Rose telling Raynell that the garden won’t grow overnight, that she has “to give it a chance. It’ll grow” (91). What lesson is Rose trying to teach Raynell through the metaphor about the garden? (Think back to 2.1, when Rose told Troy that she waited for him to bloom but the soil was hard and rocky.)

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2. Cory uses the metaphor of a shadow to describe how he felt about his father. Explain this metaphor from Cory’s perspective. How does he view his father? Include a passage to support your argument.

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3. Explain the metaphor from Rose’s perspective. How does she view Troy? Include a passage to support your argument.

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4. Cory and Raynell just me and yet they knew the same song. How did this happen and what does it reveal about the Maxson family?

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5. Gabe was in the hospital during the final scene, so his family didn’t know if he would be able to make it to Troy’s funeral. Why is it significant that Gabe was able to make it? What does his presence symbolize?

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Fences

By August Wilson

Post-reading reflection and journal

Post play

1. What are three themes you can extract from Fences?

a.

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b.

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c.

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