1.  Think of a moment in one of your favorite films, books, video games, songs, etc. that involves weather. Describe the scene then take a stab at WHY the “author” of the scene chose to use this particular kind of weather.

2.  “It was a dark and stormy night.”- Edward Butler-Lytton  The terribly cliché beginning to a pretty dull novel  Why would an author choose to start a novel in this fashion? What is he up to?

3.  We don’t often ask questions of the weather. “Why is it raining?” isn’t a question that usually gets us a very satisfying answer because the weather is controlled by forces beyond my comprehension at least.  So why should we ask “why” of the weather in literature?

4.  Because now it’s a choice  The author has complete control over the weather in his/her writing  Asking “why” he/she decided to make it rain is a question that will likely yield some answers; sometimes a lot of them

5.  In literature weather is an important part of setting, but it’s also good to keep in mind that it’s never (or at least rarely) JUST weather  What are some possible significances of the following: rain, snow, sun, warmth, cold, sleet, etc.?

6.  We’ve talked abour rain and how it’s often biblically significant (Baptism, the Flood and subsequent rainbow, etc.), but what other possible meanings could it have?  Let’s think about Thomas Hardy’s story “The Three Strangers”

7.  A condemned man (escaped), a hangman, and the escapee’s brother all converge on a shepherd’s house during a christening. The hangman doesn’t recognize his quarry (nor do the members of the party), but the brother does, and runs away, leading to a manhunt, all of which happens on a dark stormy night. But why?

8.  Plot Device – Forces men to be uncomfortably together  Atmosphere – Rain is mysterious, murky, hard to deal with (see also fog)  Misery – Everything usually sucks a little more when you’re getting rained on  Democratic element – Rain falls on everyone one; free and condemned, rich and poor

9.  Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish”  What does the poem seem to be trying to communicate and how does “weather” (particularly rainbows) play in to that meaning?

10.  How does Dickens use weather in chapter two of A Tale of Two Cites?

11.  What about snow? Look at this excerpt from Russell Banks’s novel Continental Drift:  “The half foot of old crusty snow has covered the ground since the first week of the month, followed by days and nights of dry cold, so that the snow has merely aged, turning slowly gray in yards and on rooftops and in heaps alongside the streets, pitted and spotted along sidewalks and pathways by dogs and mottled everywhere with candy wrappers, beer cans and crumpled cigarette packs. The parking lots and sidewalks, plowed and salted weeks ago, are the color of ash, so that the new snow gently falling comes as a cleansing fresh coat of paint, a whitewash that hides the old, stained and tainted world underneath.”

12.  SNOW Wallace Stevens’s “The Snow Man” James Joyce’s “The Dead”  Always check the weather!

13.  Of course, seasons can be lumped into this conversation as well  What sort of symbolism comes to mind when we think of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter?  Think about one of your favorite films and how seasons might be used to push forth some sort of message

14.  Spring – Childhood, Youth, Rebirth, Life  Summer – Adulthood, freedom, fulfillment of passion, romance  Fall – Decay/Decline, Middle age, tiredness, harvest  Winter – Old Age, Death

15.  Consider the following four songs: Simon and Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter” Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ‘69” Arcade Fire’s “Month of May” Joanna Newsom’s “Autumn”

16.  Write three questions you have about the story.  In what way does Boyle use weather or seasons to expand the “message” of the story?  What other interesting devices do you see Boyle using? How? Where?