If you cannot respond to this chapter in a mature way--skip it.
In all honesty, I would say that very few of the books you will read for high school classes will contain much sex. There are a couple of scenes in1984, but they are more like those scenes mentioned in the previous chapter.
However, I think Foster makes some legitimate points. I would agree that the act itself in quality literature always has a deeper meaning. There is a reason beyond the physical act why the scene is included. Have any of you read Lady Chatterley's Lover? I haven't, but I think I might now. I checked, but it's not on the AP list...(There are actually several books mentioned in this book so far that I would like to read!)
OK--so what should you write about? Well, what did you think about this chapter? Do you agree with him? Have you read any novels with sexual scenes--which have a deeper meaning?
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I think that sex is an awkward subject to write about. Therefore, I agree that if the author isn't writing it in the means of just doing it to do it that they are writing it for a deeper meaning.
ReplyDeleteHonestly i haven't read many books with the actual act of having sex has been mentioned but i do believe, like foster, that if the reason why they are having sex is for a deeper meaning then i believe that would be ok. But what i would dislike is if they included the scene of the act and didn't have any reason to explain why. This issue of sex is very important and people should take it seriously because it is an issue that many people like to hide or keep secret, but its not an issue we should be afraid of. We should all learn to take this seriously and learn to be responsible enough that it does have deeper meaning than just the act of doing it.
ReplyDeleteI do agree sex has somewhat of a deeper meaning in alot of books, but also there are adult books that just exploit it. But in most novels where there is sex, which i have not read or do not remember meaning, i beleive it would be a symbol of love or something similar.
ReplyDeleteTo a certain degree yes, because sex isnt just sex anyway, at least to me. It always has a meaning because to is so meaningful. But there are always those people who make books who just make books with sex it in just to have sex in it. The only book I can remember that had ever mentioned sex was My Sister's Keeper and all they said was they had sex, they didn't really go into details and I didn't see any meaning behind it.
ReplyDeleteSex in some books can symbolize something more than just what it is. Unfortunately, I'm not sure of any books that do so. In the books that I have read that include sex could probably have done without. Though, sex in books can be used to symbolize trust than someone has in another and what better way to prove one's trust than to share one of God's most sacred gifts.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've read many books (if any at all) where sex had a deeper meaning to it. Now a days, it's just about the act. That's what advertises. I agree with Foster, if the purpose for having sex in a literary work is other than that of just the act, then it is alright to be included.
ReplyDeleteI honestly have to agree with Kelli. It used to be that sex was a special thing shared with the person you loved and were going to spend the rest of your life with. Lately, it isn't that way. People are more concerned with just having sex to say "Oh hey guess what, I just had sex." A lot of times people just have meaningless sex and don't care about any of the consequences that arise from it. So I also agree with Foster, if there is a sex scene in literature and it is only to say that two people who have no feelings for each other are just having sex because "they can", then it is completely unnecessary to put all that description in the writing.
ReplyDeleteI have read a couple stories/books that the act has had more meaning than just the act. In most of them I think the deeper meaning is "freedom." Granted, these books were older. They were books I found in my grandmother's house. One of them was set in the Victorian era, er...the era of arranged marriages. The woman had sex with a man, other than the one she was engaged too, because she loved the other man, and didn't lover her fiance. In the end, she ended up marrying the man she loved, so in that novel, at least, there was a deeper meaning. It was her way of freeing herself from the arranged marriage.
ReplyDeleteSex is rather odd to write about. some authors may have a problem writeing it sometimes. however most of the time it has a deeper meaning such as like tiffany said "freedom" but for me i think its more of a connection between the two people they become more connected and become close.
ReplyDeleteI think that sex in literature always has a meaning. Even if it seems meaningless look closer. Say for instance two people meet at a party and hook up, which seems pretty meaningless, until you find out that the people having sex have a mutual friend- the girls just hooked up with her best friends boyfriend whom she'd never met before, or they end up meeting later on in the future at a family gathering and its your cousins room mate. There's that kind of meaning for sex in literature then there is the more obvious one where two people consumate their love through sex. I think that just about every book i've read has sex with a deeper meaning.
ReplyDeletei havent read any books with a sex scene in it, but i believe thet when an author includes that it is meant to show that the two people truely love each other
ReplyDeleteyes, romeo and juliet actually. i think it was just more than two teenagers having sex. i think it was them sharing what they thought of each other. i mean come on both were doing a risk by even speaking to each other let alone doing that. they both had such a bond that they shared it.
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