WHAT IS THE MORAL CENTER OF HOLDEN’S WORLD? What does Salinger what you—his reader—to realize about life in America? Salinger was notoriously protective of his creation, Holden Caufield. Whenever Hollywood approached him with a film proposal, or even when fans asked him questions about what the novel means, he insisted that the novel speaks for itself, and nobody could interpret it beyond what the novel contains. Of course, Salinger then becomes famous for his silence, thus making him—ironically, possibly purposefully—more famous. Based upon what we have, what is the novel’s lesson?

Monday

Examining the somewhat infamous Mr. Antolini chapter, using the johari window as a tool. What does Holden know about himself that he refuses to reveal? What does Mr. Antolini know about Holden, revealed in his attempted advice? What larger truth do we, the audience, understand about Holden?
HW: Our next book is The Lord of the Flies. Read the first three poems in the packet.

Tuesday

Close textual reading of two poems, “Mothers Day” and “Gamin.” We will also look into chapter 25: Notice that Holden worries that he might have misinterpreted Mr. Antolini’s actions, but he also worries about his complexion, and that he has cancer.
HW: Read the next three poems: “Union Square,” “On Broadway,” and “Observation.” While reading, annotate for this question: What do you notice?

Wednesday

Finishing chapter 25, and then looking at two more of the three poems read from our NYC packet. We will continue practicing our annotation and analysis technique with poetry: What do you notice? And what does the poem mean?
HW: Read the next three poems: “Juke Box Love Song,” “Refugee Blues,” and “Song of the Moon.”

Thursday

Poetry analysis in the same vein of yesterday’s work.
HW: Finish reading the poems in the packet for Friday.

Friday

We will be in the library on Monday through Wednesday of next week. Today we will continue the Salinger documentary from last week.
HW: Research project is going to be due Wedensday. This weekend, locate your five sources, and write annotations for two of them (after reading them, of course).