Excellent Observations and Questions

Here are the names of the people who got "+'s" on their reading responses for Week I, along with excerpts from people's observations and a list of the "top 10" questions asked. (Note: when listing the questions, I'll always copy the wording from the first time the question was asked and put the author's name first in the list of names in parentheses after the question, so that everyone who asked a roughly similar question gets some recognition, but the first person who asked it gets more.)

Week I: Leone

Honor Roll: Andrea Caccese, Mike Copella, Adam Di Palma, Alex Herrera, Megan Hulbert, Russ Leo, Jessica Scirto, William Smith.

Excerpts

• "I think that in most cases, a reader who picks up a book that involves ghost stories may immediately think that it is the type of story that could be told around a campfire. It seems that most readers are familiar with these types of stories; however, if the reader takes it one step further, s/he will find that most of these ghosts, for example, may symbolize some type of past happening or event. Even though this type of story can be read metaphorically, one does not want to forget that these stories may be true." (Alex Herrera)
• "How to do things with ghost 1) as readers it makes you a little more tuned in to the story, because you want to find out the significance of the ghost. 2) as an author, you get to have a hidden message. The ghost might not have many parts in the story, but the times that the ghost in mentioned, you have to think beyond the ghost." (Salim Miller)
• "I believe that authors, especially Leone, use ghosts to create a more intriguing and powerful story. The fact that a 'being' which is supposed to be dead and gone but still remains, makes one wonder what would drive someone or something to come back (as a ghost). It also makes a story more powerful in that anyone can be in love and care for someone, or hate someone and feel a need for vengence, but when a person's love or hatred is still around even after that person has deseaced it shows how powerful those feelings really are." (Jim DeGolyer)
• "It sounds like [Leone is] trying to say that a ghost can come back and take care of business with the living, after the living thought that business was already taken care of." (Brad Beck)
• "Paul Leone's use of ghosts throughout the book, Chautauqua Ghosts, was incredible. Not only did he get the reader to take the idea of ghosts seriously, it seems that in some way he infiltrated the readers' minds as well. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, this book makes you think about the different reasons ghosts may have for coming back. What kind of unfinished business did they have?" (Jessica Sandeen)
• "When writing about ghosts, an author's options are completely open. The story can be scary, funny, suspenseful, etc.. I didn't particularly like Leone's style of writing. I enjoy reading books where the author lets you decide what happens, but I felt like WAY to little information, or random information was given in Chatauqua ghosts. It seemed like just when I thought I was getting to the high point of the story, it ended. Although he did give great immagery, I found myself not interested in what happened by the time I got to the end of the story." (Melissa Lancia)
• "I found the short stories by Paul Leone interesting. It seems that Leone waits to the very end of each short story to make the presence of the ghost known. I feel this style of writing is very effective for telling ghost stories. The story ends as soon as the climax of the story occrus. The reader is then left to consider the implications of the ghost's appearence." (Bill Belscher)
• "There was so much foreshadowing in ['Daniel Kenton'] that I could have guessed the ending after the third page. The only curve that was thrown was the touching father and son reunion. I hate to say bad things about Leone's writing; due to the fact that he is attempting to preserve the history and tradition of my home county. I feel that this book was written with the money making idea that a lot of people from the area are going to buy it just to see their town's name on paper. 'Daniel Kenton' is in a classic ghost story style that is probably shared in similar fashion with every town in this country. I am from Silver Creek wich also borders a section of the Seneca Sovereign Nation. I have heard many stories, and one that is extremely similar to Leone's. Though it is not a bad format, Leone could have done a little more with it." (William Smith)
• "So what was the significance of this story and of the book in general? If I were in the mood for some ghost stories these would not exactly be the ones that I would chose to make me want to sit in a corner and hug my knees. But when taking into consideration the locality of the stories I found myself reacting exactly the way Leone wanted me too. History will not be ignored. The dead will not allow it. The living will not forget it. And the simple lives of the inhabitants of Chautauqua county are important as they are all parts to a whole. They ARE signifigent and meaningful. This is something that I very often forget being from a big city. The stories make me respect Chautauqua county for what it is and for what it isn't as well as make this area seem full of life. While anything with a history becomes more interesting, the added mystery of ghosts makes Chautauqua county almost intriguing!" (Celeste Creel)
• "Generally speaking, most people are aware of the fact that Chautauqua is or was completely Native American. Which also leads me to question why Leone did not write on Native American spirits. If one contemplates that thought, Native American spirits should be the ones coming back from the spirit world. Seeing as how what their people went through was and still is horrible." (Kelly Rosemellia)
• "Leone's expressed purpose in this book is to show the role and function of the ghosts in the stories. In Daniel Kenton the ghost represents Kenton's unconcious guilt. In the pursuit of his career, he left his beloved behind, as well as the son he may or may not have known about and his family ('During his infrequent visits to his family home...'). As for the usual purpose of a ghost story, namely entertainment, Leone comes up short. The story lacks suspense." (Jesse Reiter)
• "I feel that Leone uses the ghost figure of Rachel to symbolize regret. Daniel is haunted by the fact that he was blind to a great love offered to him as a younger man. Regret is as ghostly a feeling in reality as was demonstrated in Leone's tale.... I also think that Kenton's meeting with the man at the end of the story might've been an offering of redemption. His pangs of regret led him to seek out the physical place where the other path might've been followed. At this place he finds a connection and another way to choose love again. He can develop a bond with this person who is so connected to what he has lost in Rachel." (Andrea Caccese)
• "The ghost is Daniel Kenton's guilt as he has forgotten Rachel after so many years, even after some sort of promise was made. The ghost could also be a tribute to the undying nature of love; a testament to the woman's devotion, even after her life has ended." (Russ Leo)
• "I began to wonder if somehow Rachel would be a symbol of Daniel's wild past and the fact that he never had a real, committed realationship with a woman. I think the ghost of Rachel is a symbol of Daniel's own guilt perhaps, because Leone wrote 'She had loved him. He hadn't remembered that. And he felt shame.' Rachel may have been heartbroken, and wanted to tie up a few loose ends with the doctor. OR ( from the completely different side of teh spectrum), perhaps Rachel 'haunted' Daniel as keeping her promise. She said in the letter that she would wait, and her love was like the sun. Maybe she wanted to see him again, for she loved him so much." (Stephanie Armstrong)
• "In her letter to Dr. Kenton [Rachel] says, 'I dreamed you came for me in a big shiny car.' This letter is foreshadowing to the events that would occur that night he saw her on route 17 when he picked her up in his big shiny Packard.... In the letter from Rachel, she says that she is sad tonight, and she is happy too. When Daniel finally does follow her to her grave, she appears happy at first with a smile on her face. After she turns again to the grave, Daniel describes her face as one of agony, and betrayal.... When Rachel says that her love is always, like the sun, it seems as another foreshadowing event. When David sees her on Route 17 the second time, and decides to follow her, as he gets closer to the grave site a light appears over her face. This light may be a sign of the forever love in the form of the sun shining over her to let David know that even though she is dead now, she still loves him." (Megan Hulbert)
• "Maybe the doctor [in 'Daniel Kenton'] would have been banned from attending med school if it were found out that he had relations with an indian girl." (Adam Di Palma)
• "While I liked the idea of ['Daniel Kenton'], I felt that certain parts of the story did'nt work as well as others. I find it hard to believe that he could have never known about his son. The author says that Daniel Kenton loved many women but i find it hard to believe that Rachel nor her family ever contacted Kenton or his family. If her love was so strong for him why did he not remember her. But in this idea lies a reason for Leone's retelling of a classic story. In his version the woman is an indian and maybe this is his way of showing the mistreatment of indians. To Kenton it may have been just a one night stand but to Rachel it may have much more. Why Rachel never told Kenton sooner we don't know but that may also may have been another technique of Leones to illustrate the differences in the two cultures." (Mike Copella)
• "Without ghosts I believe that man would just create another form of anomaly to answer unexplained questions." (Mike Krauklis)

Top 10+ Questions

1. I do not think that the question should be what are the issues that Leone is trying to bring up, but rather why is he bringing up these issues? (Jessica Scirto)

2. What was Rachel's main purpose for having Dr. Kenton see her again? Was it so that he would see her with all the agony and betrayel? Was it so that he would feel bad for never coming back for her? Or was it simply to meet their son? (Sarah Boyle, Kristen Schoonover)

3. Is Paul Leone making some sort of racial or social statement in ["Daniel Kenton"], as the setting and the ghost, the two major forces opposing the main character, are of Indian origin? (Russ Leo) Could the doctor have impregnted Rachel when on one of his drinking spees as a college student? If so, did he leave town to get away from responsibility to a half indian child? Were mixed racial relations accepted back in 1912? If not could this social attitude have affected the doctors life in some other way? (Adam Di Palma, Celeste Creel)

4. Assuming that the revelation at the ending [of "Daniel Kenton"] is accurate, is it a happy or a sad finish? (Russ Leo, Stephanie Armstrong, I'Lema Codrington)

5. Leone implied in the foreword that ghosts return to right wrongs, or to finish business... what exactly would be "the wrong" in this case, if in fact Mr. Damon did kill his wife in a fit of rage? (which I believe wasn't the case) (Brad Beck)

6. What is considered a ghost story? Are ghost stories supposed to scare you, or they just to show the existance of ghosts? (Amy Keister)

7. Is there such a thing as a stereotypical idea of what a ghost is? (Alex Herrera)

8. Why is there little is any physical contact with the people bealived to be ghosts? Also, why is there very little verbal communication with any of the ghost characters? Finally, I am cuerious as to why there can not be any prolonged relationships with there ghosts? (Ryan Barone, Karine Torlet)

9. I have a general question, are these stories at all taken from real events or are they all flights of the authors fantasy? (Kris Krajewski, Tom Priester, Jake Proper, Jessica Sandeen, Alex Herrera, Holli Neal, Kristine Cuomo)

10. Do you think that Chautauqua County fits the description that Leone gives it in the foreword? (Jesse Reiter, Jeff Green, Alex Herrera)

11. In todays society people react to ghost and ghost stories in fear, why? (Kristen Konieczny)

12. Why would someone rather read to a ghost story than one of live human beings? (David Dunning)

13. Is an individual's beliefs concerning ghosts closely related to that individuals religious beliefs? (Bill Belscher)

14. How does the setting affect the outcome of each story? (Beth Prechtl)

EN 209: Novels and Tales, Spring 1999
Created: 2/2/99, 3:42 pm
Last modified: 2/17/99, 8:29 pm