Read the introduction and underline passages before answering the questions
1-Look up the word “Macabbees”
2-why is it a “state of emergency”? (in the dedication by the author)
3-What stood as strange to you, from the dedication of the author to the title and the structure of the story?
4-Write down 4 quotes that fall into the category of “elements of writing”, or “quotes about writing”, “the craft of writing”, or “metafiction”. (write the page numbers after each quote)
5-Who was this woman, do you sense that from the beginning pages? Get 4 quotes about who she was?
6-What is the narrator trying to do? Does he come from the same “class” as her? What is fascinating about her to him? What are the conflicts she is dealing with (class versus society, the way people look at her versus the way she sees herself etc)?
7-Lispector is known for an element in her style, which is called “epiphany”. Can you find words that might describe that in the first 50 or so pages (write down 4 of them)? Look up the word epiphany and write down the meaning below as well:
8-What was the woman’s state as a human being? Describe what you read? Does it make you feel compassionate? Is he trying to tell us something about those people “not seen” in society?
9-What’s Macabea’s “boyfriend’s” name?
10-What happens to their relationship?
11-What is the name of Macabea’s co-worker? Where is she from?
12-What star does Macabea want to be like? What does she do to resemble her?
13-What does the palm reader say to Macabea?
14-What is “the hour of the star”, in your opinion?
15-What did the palm reader used to do before becoming a card/palm reader?
