For Thursday, take some time to answer the following questions in your google doc. (Use your existing google doc and insert a new header – – “Thursday, Feb. 9: Last Man on Earth,” copy the questions into the doc and enter your answers.) You’ll probably want to write at least 150 words for each question (and probably no more than 250). Try to complete the writing event by Saturday (2/11) morning. Here are the questions:
- Setting: what details help to define the setting as “post-apocalyptic”? (Be very specific here and try to quote from the text itself.)
- Protagonist: what are Robert Neville’s main character traits (physical, social, psychological)? What are his goals? (Character traits are usually adjectives that describe aspects of a character’s personality: greedy, happy, self-interested, etc. Use examples to illustrate and support your traits.)
- Antagonist: how are Neville’s enemies defined? What makes them “different”? How are they delineated in terms of appearance, traits, and goals? What are the most threatening/dangerous things about them? Are there any similarities between Neville and his enemies?
- The social contract. What kind of “society/societies” or social organization/s emerge/s in the post-apocalyptic world? In what significant way is this “society” different from our conventional/pre-apocalyptic world? How is it similar?
For Tuesday, take a look at the 1964 film version of Matheson’s novella – – the Italian production of Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price. As you watch the film, you might think about where it differs from I Am Legend and where it seems more faithful to Matheson’s book. You can watch the flick here or on YouTube.