Hinsdale South High School AP English lV-Mr.

Thelen Group Project: Life and Times of Michael

Each group has been assigned one of three ordering systems, each invented by man, ostensibly, to make his life simpler. ln Life and Times of Michael K, J.M. Coetzee questions whether these systems have, in fact, enabled mankind's success or whether history has proven them limiting.

To begin the project, group members will examine one of three "systems" (law, language, and property) that Coetzee interrogates in Life and Times. Think of these systems as the book's topics, or targets. ldentify passages in the text where Coetzee addresses your group's system. Closely read these passages to see what they reveal about Coetzee's thematic purpose (What does he say about law, language, and property?). Compose a written statement of purpose, a statement to which each group member has contributed and with which each member can agree. After extensive study, each group will make a presentation to the class. The presentation must frame the issue being discussed, analyze the key question(s), and provide textual support.
Bonus opportunity: You may consider how this issue is relevant to contemporary life. Find at least two media sources that confront, in some way, your assigned topic. Explain, in writing, how you see the connection.

(Property/Capital Ownership) a. What position does the novel take on property rights? b. On Ownership: i. What claims of ownership are made in the text over various forms of capital, not just things, but over people, places, and ideas? ii. What is the genesis of these claims? Are they substantial, valid, or just iii. Are claims of dominion sustainable? c. Desire i. How does Life and Times of Michael K interrogate the concept of enslavement? Might it suggest the owner is enslaved as much by his desires as his slaves are by him? (The Laws of the Nation) a. Examine the clash between nation and nature in Michael K. Which stands victorious in the real world? What about in the world of the novel? b. The Nation continued. . i. ls the nation designed to protect or prohibit personal sovereignty? How is this concept applied in the novel? ii. ls the government in the novel simply ambivalent to people's sufferings, or is it motivated to either alleviate or sustain them? What about in the real world? c. Nature continued. . i. In today's globalized world, is it possible to escape (the ravages of) modernity? Can one escape war? ls there still a place in the world that could be called pastoral? What position does the novel take on this issue?
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2.

3. (Language) a. To what degree is language

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adequate in narrating stories of the impoverished, stories of the economically oppressed: stories of people in physical bondage, stories of political dissidents, even stories of minority populations, the stories of any people who lie outside the arc of the mainstream? ls language or physical force more intimately connected to power? Does context (historical, geographical, etc.) matter? How closely related are language and point-of-view? Explain.