"trying to piece together the memory from so many broken shards..."

The narrator of A Chronicle of A Death Foretold returns to the scene of Santiago Nasar's murder many years later to piece together clues. The villagers rely on their memories of the day's tragic events and of the many himself. What happens to memories as we age? Are memories ever reliable? How might memories distort reality, much like a mirror would do? Use examples from real life as well as from the novel.

"We must cultivate our gardens"

The last words of Candide are him stating: "We must cultivate our gardens". What is Candide's meaning behind his statement? What does the garden symbolize? How might you apply Candide's philosophy to your own life?

All is fair...or is it?

In Candide, Votaire makes fun of everybody and everything. Nothing is sacred. Today, we also feel free to make fun of everyone and everything. However, can satire go too far? Satire was originally used to bring about social change. Now, it is more about entertainment. Satire is supposed to make people uncomfortable sometimes, but does our modern satire (or even Candide's) cross the line? Do we not mind laughing at others but don't like people laughing at us? Or is all fair in this day and age? Please comment.

The Best of all possible worlds....

Pangloss has the ability to justify anything. We have noses to wear spectacles. Pants exist so we must have legs. If we didn't  have syphilis in Europe, we wouldn't have chocolate either. To him, the world is a simple relation of cause and effect and it all happens because that is how God created the world. Is everything really that simple? Is our world and the universe based on the simple laws of cause and effect? What about free will? How much control do humans really have over our lives? Or, is everything already planned out for us and we are just acting as it was ordained? Please discuss.

You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it.

Candide was so revolutionary for its time as Voltaire was brave enough to poke fun at absolutely everything-artistocracy, religion, the military, sex, relationships, education; pretty much everything. Satire used to be used to call attention to social wrongs, and bring about change. Do we still use satire in this way today? What subjects are the object of satire in the 21st century? Does our modern satire serve a greater purpose? Comment.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction...

Post-Modernism was a reaction and a rejection of all of the movements and ideas that came before. The play we are about  to read, Hernani, is a Romantic play. Romanticism was a reaction and rejection of the rigid ideals of Classicism. It seems, especially in the last 100 years or so, that everything is a reaction and rejection of something else. No one is satisfied. Everyone pushes boundaries. Is this a good thing? Should everything be challenged and tested? Should all aspects of life be constantly evolving? Or is there ever a time when things should just "stand still"? Your thoughts....

(The) Stranger Things Have Happened...

Now that we have come to the end of our journety through Albert Camus's The Stranger, what is your overall opinion of this book? Has it been a challenge? What have you learned after reading this book? Do you see things differently? Read/Analyze differently? What impact (if any) has this book made on you and your perception of literature. Feel free to discuss any aspect of the book you choose and do not be afraid to let your opinions be known.