The Catcher in the Rye – Quiz 1

1. The Catcher in the Rye – Quiz 1 • Why is Holden standing at the top of Thomsen Hill instead of being down at the football game? (2 reasons) • Why did it make Holden nervous that Stradlater was going out with Jane Gallagher? • Why did Holden write about Allie’s glove? • Why did Holden's parents want to have him psychoanalyzed? • What does Holden do right after he gets up from his fight with Stradlater?

2. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 1-3 • Why is Holden standing at the top of Thomsen Hill instead of being down at the football game? (2 reasons) • Who is Mr. Spencer and why is Holden going to see him? • What advice does Spencer give Holden and what does he make Holden reluctantly do? • Who is Ackley and what’s so bad about him?

3. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 3-4 • Who is Stradlater and what does he tell Holden that enthuses him? • Of what Holden remembers about Jane Gallagher, which memory of her does Holden fixate on? • What does Holden repeatedly say he should do while talking with Stradlater, but just doesn’t feel like it?

4. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 5-6 • What does Holden choose to write about for Stradlater’s composition and what makes it special? • What does Holden do with the composition? Why? • Starting out playful, at what point does Holden’s confrontation with Stradlater become truly physical? • What putdown does Holden repeatedly say to provoke Stradlater? Why?

5. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 7-9 • Why doesn’t Holden sleep in Ely’s bed in Ackley’s room and, instead, decide to leave in the middle of the night? • On page 52, Holden mentions that the skates his mother gave him made him sad. Why? • Who sits down next to Holden on the train? What does he lie to her about? Why? • In what sort of hotel does Holden stay? What sorts of “perverts” are there? Why doesn’t he just go home?

6. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 9-11 • Who is the first person Holden calls? Why do you suppose he doesn’t arrange to meet her the next day as she suggests? • Who does Holden meet in the nightclub of the hotel? Why do these women depress him? Why does he spend time with them then? • What is Phoebe like? How can you tell that Holden adores her? • Holden remembers the time Jane cried and he kissed her. Why does he think she was crying?

7. DO NOW: Add these questions to your notes if you are keeping track of them. • What is Phoebe like? How can you tell that Holden adores her? • Holden remembers the time Jane cried and he kissed her. Why does he think she was crying? • Why is Holden so preoccupied with where the ducks go in the wintertime? • Why doesn’t Holden have a good time at Ernie’s?

8. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 12-13 • Why is Holden so preoccupied with where the ducks go in the wintertime? • Why doesn’t Holden have a good time at Ernie’s? • Why does Holden start thinking about what a coward he is? Is he a coward? • Holden talks about his “terrific capacity” for holding liquor. Can he really drink? Is he exaggerating? Is an alcoholic? • Why does Holden approve Maurice’s proposal?

9. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 13 • What effect does Sunny have on Holden?

10. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 13 May I suggest Rule 63: Rule 63 (on the internet): For any given male character, there is a female version of that character, and vice-versa. Sunny and Holden wouldn’t really apply because their not exactly the same. Plus, Rule 63 is really just to accommodate cosplayers.

11. DO NOW • In chapter 16, Holden overhears a child singing “If a body catch a body coming through the rye.” • Explain the subject of this song, using the lyrics below. • Then, infer the significance of this song in connection to Catcher. (How does the song make Holden feel? Why? How might the song parallel events or symbols in the story? Explain.) O, Jenny's a' wet, poor body;  Jenny's seldom dry;  She drags a' her petticoatie Coming thro' the rye. When a body meets a body Coming thro' the rye,  When a body kiss a body— Need a body cry?

12. Objectives • SL.10.1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. • RI.10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

13. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 15-16 • Why is it important that the nuns didn’t ask him if he was Catholic? • After buying theater tickets, Holden recalls seeing Hamlet with D.B. and Phoebe. What did he not like about Olivier’s portrayal? What moments of the performance did he actually enjoy? Why? • Why does Holden go to the museum? What does he like about the museum? • In his halfhearted search for Phoebe, how does Holden interact with children and what might that reveal?

14. The Catcher in the Rye – Ch. 16-17 • Throughout his date with Sally, what things does she do that are phony or annoying to Holden? • Why does he like Sally so much if she does phony and annoying things? • What does his argument with Sally reveal? • Holden admits that he probably wouldn’t have taken Sally on the trip even if she had agreed to go. Why did he ask her then?

15. Closure Activity Ticket-Out-The-Door • Taking the ideas discussed today into account (the song, the museum, Holden’s interaction with children, and his date with Sally), compose a complex thesis statement (2-3 sentences) that asserts and briefly supports a claim answering the following prompt: What is Holden Caulfield’s emotional or psychological age? Where is he developmentally? An adult? A child? Neither/both? Why? (Briefly support)