Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
Honors English 9
Mr. Williams
Is Conflict Necessary: Conformity
Are conflicts based on differences inevitable? Is a world in which everyone conforms always
conflict-free? The selections on which you will be tested explore the idea of conformity. As you
review, decide what each selection suggests about the relationship between conformity and
conflict. Then think about the answer each selection provides to the essential question for this
unit: Is conflict necessary?
1. “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst
 Who is the narrator in this story?
 Why does the narrator want Doodle to change?
 Should Doodle try to be the same as other children? Why? Why not?
 What motivates Doodle to try to change?
2. “Much Madness is Divinest Sense,” by Emily Dickinson
 Who is the speaker in this poem?
 What theme does the poem convey?
 How does the language of the poem contribute to its meaning? (poetic devices)
 According the speaker, who decides what makes sense?
 What does the use of the word “divinest” suggest about the person who displays
“much madness”?
 What is the speaker’s tone or attitude about conformity?
3. “My English,” by Julia Alvarez
 Is this piece a short story or an essay?
 Who is the speaker in this piece?
 What does this piece say about the power of language to bring people together or
to separate them?
 By making English part of both her life and voice as a writer, did the speaker
conform?
 Why is the speaker’s initial perception of English negative?
 What is most likely Julia Alvarez’s main purpose in this selection?
 Describe Alvarez’s voice in this line: “illegal immigrants trying to cross a border
into another language” “Those women yakked as they cooked”
4. “The Case for Fitting In,” by David Berreby
 What genre of literature is this?
 Describe Solomon Asch’s experiment.
 What did Hodges and Geyer find in their review of Asch’s study?
 How did Stanley Milgram test conformity?
 What does this piece state about conformity?
5. from “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth,” by Alexandra Robbins
 What genre of literature is this?
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
Honors English 9
Mr. Williams
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What does the author state about American schools?
Explain the term “cafeteria fringe.”
According to the author, what is the most damaging effect of conformity on
society?
What is “quirk theory”?
How does Robbins use diction to illustrate her main idea?
You will need to know the following literary terms apply to the short stories in the conformity
unit:
Setting
Conflict
Motivation
Theme
Symbol
Plot
Exposition
Inciting Incident
Rising Action\Complications
Falling Action
Resolution
Direct Characterization
Indirect Characterization
Theme
Point of View (Third Person limited, Third Person omniscient, First Person)
Flashback
Foreshadowing
Suspense
Setting
Irony (Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic)
Allusion
Pun
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
Honors English 9
Mr. Williams
Authorial Voice
Assonance
Consonance