World War Z reading asgmt: please read Chs. 1-5, up to Around the World, and Above, for Mon, Tues, 4/7, 4/8

For Monday and Tuesday meetings, please read Chapters 1-5, up to Around the World, and Above in Max Brooks, World War Z

For discussion in class:

The zombie figure--how is it designed here, how does it compare to others we have examined?

Zombie "spaces"--what are some characteristic settings, places, or spaces in this zombie narrative? Comparison to others, fit with May's concepts (inside/outside, the empty outside, the battle in blank space, zombie migrants)?  The shattered window-glass, the dark tunnel, the forest/wood, the institutional corridor/hallway?  Social attitudes and anxieties in the mix re zombie spaces?  City and suburb; America and the world; lower, middle, and upper classes; race and ethnicity?

The zombie-apocalypse narrative--is WWZ a story of continuing beyond the end, a survivor-narrative engaging the American Frontier myth and fantasies of escaping history?  What post-2000s American social attitudes and anxieties can we relate to this story/myth?

The global: as positive connectivity, or as negative exposure to infection, dangerous others?  Local versus global?

Literary technique--what features of the method of storytelling make this book a good read (if it is)? How does the method of telling the story connect to the concept of the global and other social issues?

What are the resonances of the title phrase World War?  What image of the military emerges in the novel?

Social critique and commentary?  Along with points highlighted above, in what ways can we read World War Z as satire, commentary, and warning in relation to post 2000s American society?