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Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother”

Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother”. Mr. Cleon M. McLean AP English Ontario High School. Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother”. 1. How does the situation with Thelma and Jesse Cates mirror that of Demeter and Persephone?

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Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother”

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  1. Socratic Discussion Questions onMarsha Norman’s “’night, Mother” Mr. Cleon M. McLean AP English Ontario High School

  2. Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother” 1. How does the situation with Thelma and Jesse Cates mirror that of Demeter and Persephone? 2. How does Jesse Cates arrive at the conclusion that death by suicide is the solution to her problems? How does this perversion help Jesse to gain control over her life, (in her desperation to have autonomy in her life)? 3. Is Jesse Cates a quintessential example of the modern anti-hero? Why or why not?

  3. Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother” 4. It is clear that feelings of dependency, isolation, and hopelessness consume the life of Jesse Cates. The only exit for Jessie from the constricting livingroom that is the play’s setting involves her bedroom door with its single perspective of “absolute nothingness”. Given this information, should the reader then excuse or understand Jesse’s decision to commit suicide? 5. The saliency of time and clocks in the play is certainly not incidental. How does time or clocks work as an important element in this post-modern work? Hint: think of the mood, the writing-on-the-wall, and the beat of the play.

  4. Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother” • What is gained or lost by having only two characters in the play? Is either character an antagonist? If so, explain. • There is a noticeable absence of male characters from the play. Yet, the influence of men—Jesse’s father and son, for example—does have consequences in the lives of the two women in the play. How does the physical absence of men subtract or add to the play’s overall effectiveness? 8. At which point in the play does Thelma Cates (“Mama”) go through the stages of grief: 1.      denial—quote? 2.      anger—quote? 3.      bargaining—quote? 4.      depression—quote? 5.      acceptance—quote?

  5. Socratic Discussion Questions on Marsha Norman’s “’night, Mother” 9. What do you make of the issues of loss in modern times, as presented in “’night, Mother”? Hint: Think of loss as the following: • loss of physical or personal space • loss of psychological space • loss of moral space 10. Why is it appropriate for this story to be in play form? What might have been lost if the story were to be told in a different genre?

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