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Lesson 1 (from Chapters 1 - 10)

Objective

Chapters 1 - 10

The novel begins with the narrator describing his mother's pride in her ancestor, her grandfather Reverend Oscar Hopkins. When bishops were invited to tea, his mother would proudly show them the photo of Reverend Hopkins and tell the story of how he brought St. John's to Bellingen. This lesson will explore the narrator's ancestry.

Lesson

1) Class Discussion: The narrator is embarrassed by his mother's excessive pride in his great-grandfather. He says there was "an excess of emotion in her style" that seemed false. Although the family noticed it, they said nothing about it. His father was jealous of the church and his mother's proprietary attitude toward it. Discuss with the class the narrator's mother's pride in Oscar Hopkins. How does she express her pride in having a "pioneer clergyman" in the family? What does she have the family do every Sunday? Why does the...

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