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For Monday: Wells, The Time Machine, Chs.1-7 (see below)


* NOTE: If you have a different edition from the Oxford World's Classics, be sure to read to the chapter that begins "It may seem odd to you" (stop when you see this chapter). It should be the first 40 or 50 pages, depending on your version.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Though this is a science fiction story about time travel, how does The Time Machine function like a traditional Gothic story like Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? What familiar tropes and characters do you recognize, and how does Wells employ them? (hint: consider the narration)

Q2: When considering what man might be like in the distant future, The Time Traveler reflects, "What might not have happened to men? What if cruelty had grown into a common passion? What if in this interval the race has lost its manliness, and had developed into something inhuman, unsympathetic, and overwhelmingly powerful?" Why might these be important questions to ask in the late 19th century? What fears and concerns might they address in light of what we've read about in class (and why is "the future" the perfect metaphor to address them)?

Q3: Why does the book open with a chapter recording the discussion of several gentlemen, none of whom have names other than "The Time Traveler," "The Medical Man," and "The Provincial Mayor?" Why is this chapter important for Wells' readers and for setting up the rest of the book? What are they talking about that might have seemed exciting--and disturbing--in 1895?  

Q4: Even though the Time Traveler is catapulted thousands of years into the future, he often uses quite primitive metaphors and imagery to describe his emotions and surroundings: "I felt hopelessly cut off from my own kind--a strange animal in an unknown world"..."The old instinctive dread of wild beasts came upon me." What seems to be so uncanny about this future that makes it seem more like the past?

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