Extinction Agenda

"Rather than go on suffering, he had learned to
stultify himself to introspection" (109).
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954)

Points for Reflection

I Am Legend, chps. 15-21

1. has Robert retained those qualities necessary to be considered "human," or has he become more machine than man?  Answering this obviously requires thinking carefully about humanity's most important, distinctive characteristics, so ponder before pontificating. [sec 01: Gondica S]
2. has Robert's vulnerability to feminine wiles totally, irrevocably evaporated? [Marielle]
3. Robert considers his difficulty accepting Ruth's story and her apparent, uninfected condition, and concludes that his doubt is a function of his long-lasting isolation and his new need to see something "in a microscope" before he can believe it.  Is Robert's scientific-minded approach able to save him?
4. does Robert Neville, in the final analysis, fear his own death?
5. does the human capacity for violence appear to be doomed to extinction?
6. does this tale prove progressive or regressive when it comes to configuring its primary female character? [sec 02: Allison D]
7. is the conclusion to this novel just? [sec 02: Wyatt D, sec 03: Raymond W]
8. what does Robert mean by the notion that "normalcy [is] a majority concept" (159 top)?
9. interpret the story's closing line (also the story's title). [sec 02: James C]
   

W. H. Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts" (1938; 1940)

1. does Auden configure death as central or peripheral to human awareness?
2. do you think enigmatic line six refers to imminent grandparents eagerly awaiting their first grandchild, or to the advent of Christ in Christianity? Why?
3. what is the antecedent of the pronoun "They" (l.9)?
4. do you think Auden's reading of Breughel's painting apt given what you see within the frame?
5. what has your own experience proven? Do you see a preponderance of people attuned to the suffering of others, or apathetic to it?

Vampire (1894)
Edvard Munch

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu