Transcript Carnal Knowledge

Tom Coraghessan Boyle
"But then, that’s the beauty of writing
stories—each one is an exploratory
journey in search of a reason and a
shape. And when you find that
reason and that shape, there’s no
feeling like it."
-T.C. Boyle
Tom Coraghessan Boyle was born in Peekskill,
New York. He graduated from the State University
of New York at Potsdam and earned his doctorate
at the University of Iowa.
Boyle is a distinguished Professor of English at the
University of Southern California.
Many of Boyle's novels explore the baby boom
generation and his themes are mainly efforts of a
male hero and the appeal of an anti-hero.
His literary works are colored with satire, humor,
and realism. His fiction also explores the
ruthlessness and the unpredictability of nature and
the toll human society takes on the environment.
Boyle has published 12 novels and written over 100
short stories. In 1988, he won the PEN/Faulkner
award for his novel, World’s End, which depicts 300
years in upstate New York.
NOTABLE QUOTES
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Carnal Knowledge starts off with the narrator’s character
talking about how much he loves to eat meat. He is in the
parka lone on his birthday, dozes off, and wake to find
that a clumsy dog has peed on him. The dog’s owner, an
attractive woman named Alena, apologizes and invites
the narrator’s character to her house to wash his cloths.
Their relationship quickly develops that night with the
assistance of beer as she rants about veganism and the
daily atrocities of animal abuse. The narrator’s character
calls in sick for the first few days and then neglects to call
in at all as his daily life now consists of protesting with
Alena and developing their relationship. With
Thanksgiving approaching, Alena brings the narrator’s
character with her on a trip to free some turkeys where
he meets her friend Ralph, who he suspects of being
romantically involved with Alena. In the raid, the
narrator’s character gets left behind but escapes on foot
to be pick up in a few hours by Alena and Ralph. The
next morning Alena informs the narrator’s character
about her plans to go with Ralph to protect some bears.
Broken hearted, he drives home alone. On the way there
is traffic from a mass-road kill event with the turkeys he
freed. When he gets home he returns to his normal,
boring life and decides to fulfill his hunger for meat
claiming “it’s only meat” (281).
“I saw those ads in the
magazines, too, the ones that
showed the veal calves penned
up in their own waste, their
limbs atrophied and their veins
so pumped full of antibiotics
they couldn’t control their
bowels, but when I took a date
to Anna Maria’s, I could never
resist the veal scallopini” (268).
“There was her beauty, of
course, a triumph of evolution
and the happy interchanges of
genes going all the way back to
the cavemen, but it was more
than that—it was her
commitment to animals, to the
righting of wrongs, to morality
that made her irresistible” (274).
“It’s only meat.” (281)
Irony – a device that reveals a
reality different from what
appears to be true
Tone – the author’s implicit
attitude toward the people,
places, and events in a story
Style – the distinctive manner
in which a writer arranges
words to achieve particular
effect
Diction – a writer’s choice of
words
Please answer #1 and at least 2 of the other
questions below. Effort will be
rewarded.
1.
Did you like the story? Why or why
not?
2.
Was his relationship with Alena legit?
Did it change him? Why or why not?
3.
Look up “carnal knowledge.” Now,
knowing what it means, does this
definition play any significance in the
story?
4.
What is the significance of the last the
last words of the story and how do
they contribute to the author’s
intended message?
5.
What is the narrator’s purpose in the
story? Does he achieve this desire?
What are his motives?
6.
What is the biggest irony in the story
to you? Use quotes to support your
response.
7.
Why does Boyle put Alf in the story?
What is the purpose of Alf?
8.
Describe the tone in the story. How
does it play a role in the story?