TOTAL ECLIPSE
Dillard begins with a description of a total eclipse in Yakima Valley in Washington where she finds the vision terrifying and apocalyptic.
“There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world. We were the world’s dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet’s crust, while the earth rolled down.”
She describes the screams that follow the eclipse and adds a story about a man who died of fright from the sight of solar eclipse. This essay is the first of thirteen essays that expose Dillard’s interest in the mystery and fragility of life.
Answer the following questions in detail.
1. Describe the eclipse that Dillard and her husband witness. What happens? What surprised Dillard about it? Why do you think that she went to see the eclipse?
2. Where do the other watchers come from? Why do you think people will travel far to see an eclipse?
3. Describe the setting for this essay and trace the route explored by Dillard and her husband.
4. The narrator through all of the essays seems to be the author, Dillard. Although the reader is never explicitly told this and no characters refer to her by name, the narrator reamins consistent throughout all of the essays which appear to be personal in nature. The narrator, Dillard, is the only common fifure between the essays.
What do we learn about her in this essay? Comment on:
· Her thoughts and questions about life
· Her curious nature
· Her passion for exploration
· Her spirituality
· Her exploration of her faith
· Her exploration of the world around her
· Experiencing the sublime through nature
5. What do learn about Dillard’s realtionship with Gary and what can we infer?
6. Describe the other Eclipse Watchers in detail. Why do you think that they let out a ‘collective scream’ as darkness comes?
7. What evidence is there in this essay to support the fact that Dillard argues that people have been placed on earth to watch and observe?
8. Do you agree with Dillard that the exploration of one’s surroundings and the world become a part of this watching as one only has a lifetime to see what the earth holds and learn from it? How is Dillard’s view supported in this essay?
9. Each essay brings a new discovery for Dillard, often of a spiritual nature or something about herself. As she discovers the world, she also discovers something about herself. She also comments on historical discoveries.
Discuss the theme of discovery in this essay and how Dillard invites the reader to observe and discover the world with her.
10. Dillard’s essays are thought provoking and are meant to evoke spiritual questioning on the part of the reader.
What are your reflections after re reading this essay?