Here are 15 questions to help you understand the text more clearly.
To help your understanding, make a list of the names of the characters in the story.
To help your understanding, make a list of the names of the characters in the story.
Please answer questions 1-3 during the summer. We will answer the rest after we meet.
The
Cowards
1a/ Fill in the blanks with words from this list:
expository, descriptive, persuasive, narrative, immediate,
irrelevant, repetitive
Škvorecký's prose is mostly _____________________and
______________________.
This style of writing is interspersed with introspective passages in which Danny
thinks in long sentences.
1b/This represents:
a) the movement of his mind from one related thought to another.
b) his inability to concentrate
c) being trapped in his reality and the present moment.
1c/ Justify with an example from the text.
2/ What
is the protagonist’s name and approximate age ? Justify with
quotes and the page numbers
3/ What motivates Danny in his actions?
4/ What do the final days of the war force Danny to confront within
himself?
5/ Danny is generally pretty condescending about girls. Reread pg 248 –
250, from “'So long...” to “I uncrossed my legs and
straightened up.” How does this passage help us understand Danny
and his attitude towards Irena?
6/ Reread pages 67 from “Her eyes looked terrified” to pg 69 “Behind
him stood two guys with sub-machine guns”. How does Danny view
himself? How does Danny imagine how others see him? How does he see
the German soldiers? How does this help us understand the German
soldiers?
7/ Jazz
is a main theme of The
Cowards.
(To help put this into context, jazz music originated in New Orleans
at the start of the 20th
century. It is the blend of African rhythms with European instruments
on American soil. The music is played in an expressive
way, as an "extension" of the human voice.) What
does this theme communicate in the book?
8/ Reread pages 136 – 139 from “We stopped talking...” to “But
then memories always were”. What does this passage evoke?
9/ Reread pg 345 – 347 from “The guy started talking...” to
“...one dumb celebration to the next”. What do we learn about
Danny's vision of himself? What does the brass band symbolize?
11/ Reread pg from “The street was shady...” to pg 406 “Seeing off
the Englishmen”. What does Danny's conversation with Siddell help
the reader understand about the view of communists from the two
points of view, English and Czech?
Why does he cry?
12/ The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is cited on the following pages;
pg 266, pg 271, pg 347, pg 356, pg 386. Write down a quote from the
page that you think shows the link between Danny and the star, then
explain what you think the link is.
13/ The final passage of the novel on pg 412-413 occur while Danny is
playing the saxophone. What does this help the reader understand
about Danny, about youth, and about the end of the war?
After reading the novel reread the preface and answer these
questions.
Author’s preface
14/ Škvorecký
talks about “Hans Christian Anderson-truths of youth”. What do
you think he means?
15/ Škvoreckýsays “...that if we have real respect for something, we express it
best in art by absolute realism, ‘harsh realism...” What do you
think he means?
If you have any questions please contact me.
