English Paper Read and Answer Six Questions

Reading Guide, “Crucifix across the Mountains”

1) Choose a crucifix to consider:

a. The crucifix with the Bavarian Christ (pages 1-4):

b. The crucifix with the “little Christ” by the Isar River (appears twice, once on page 4 and again on page 7 – make sure to look closely the description on page 7, particularly at how this “little Christ” differs from the other Christs described above it on pages 6-7).

c. The crucifix in Klamm Gorge of the Zemm Valley in Tyrol, as well as the nearby crucifix featuring Christ with a “fair beard” (page 5-6)

d. The “elegant, combed and brushed and foppish” crucifix of page 6, as well as the nearby “weak and sentimental” and “ordinary, factory-made” crucifixes (pages 6-7).

e. The Christ of the valley near St. Jakob (page 7).

f. The fallen, broken crucifix (page 8).

2) For whatever crucifix you choose to consider, stop and look carefully at the imagery and details Lawrence uses to describe it. After cogitating a bit, find …

a. What interpretation does Lawrence impose on the crucifix?

b. What descriptive details about the crucifix does Lawrence use to support his interpretation?

c. How does the crucifix inform the context in which it appears? (What does the crucifix reflect about the people who made it or the place where it appears?)

d. What imagery or sensory details about the context (the people/place) does Lawrence provide to support the relationship he finds between the crucifix and the context?

· Remember that you’ll need to make similar connections between your object and its context in your Descriptive Analysis essays!