Creating Questions for a Harkness Discussion (Literature Based)

Hotel California
Logan Walters
Ask three questions about the text (three per level). These need to be questions that you want to discuss or hear your classmates
discuss. Do not ask questions that you know the answer to just to have something down on paper to turn in.
Level One Question: 1. Where does the song start?

For the seminar student, these are not mere recall questions; 2. What did he see in the distance?
rather, they establish evidence of basic facts presented in the
author’s proof paragraph. 3. What did he think to himself?

Examples:
● What evidence does the author use to support his argument
that it is man’s responsibility to care for the land?
● To what does the author compare his boyhood experience
on the family farm in order to further his argument that
man is forever attached to the land?
Level Two Question: 1. Why do you think the author wrote the song?

These questions are textually implicit, requiring analysis and 2. Who or what is the beast?
interpretation of specific parts of the text, pointing out what a
specific part of the text actually means, or what language was 3. Why does he repeat such a lovely place so many times?
used to create the meaning. It’s not about what happened on page
47 of the novel; it’s more like, “How does the author’s
description of the dying horse on page 47 of the novel create a
tone?”

Examples:
● Why do you think the author relies heavily upon visual
imagery in this passage to convey his love of the land?
● How does the heavy use of repetition contribute to the
effectiveness of the author’s argument that ___________?
● What do you think the author means when he says: _____?
Level Three Question: 1. How does this song shape The Eagles as a band?

These questions are more open-ended and go beyond the text. 2. How does the time period of 1976 influence the song?
They are intended to provoke a discussion of an abstract idea or
issue, to connect events/themes in the anchor text to other texts, 3. How did this song impact the youth of the time?
other arguments, or to universal issues of life/society/mankind
itself.

Examples:
● How has man’s attitude toward nature changed over the
last 100 years?
● How has society’s changing perception toward nature been
advantageous? Detrimental?
In one complete sentence, write what the text is about (a summary In this song by the eagles, he writes about driving along smoking
of the purpose, message, plot, theme, etc.). weed and needed to stop somewhere for the night, hence the title
hotel California an he goes on to say what a lovely place it is but
then he leaves and talks about being trapped there.

Create a textual analysis. This analysis should take into account

your previous questions and explore possible answers of your The song is made up of equally lyrical lines and intramental lines
level two and three questions. (500 words or more) which gives it the famous sound. It is just an acoustic guitar at
first and then the singer comes in and you can hear the emotion
in his voice. This is one of those songs from back then that have
 soul in it compared to today's mainstream music. The music back
then meant something and was appreciated at a different level
during the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties. The song
starts with and ends with a long instrumental on the guitar
building and sustaining the tone of the song letting the listener
rock out. The song builds up as it goes and has a very famous
hook when he says welcome to the hotel California that many
people would recognize. he describes an easier time that was
back then when driving down the desert highway was one of the
best things to do and experience even to this day. In today's age
one of the best things to do as a Vegas resident is drive down the
desert highway toward the coast and beach. You can just picture
being in a 1967 ford fastback mustang cruising down the desert
highway while the sun is just starting to set. All the windows
down and in sixth gear coasting while listening to some Tom
Petty or Pancho and Lefty just absolutely loving and enjoying
life the way it was mean to be. The way of freedom and a stress
free environment with no worries and just happiness. The desert
part in desert highway really describes this unique journey
because in other major cities, it's not a desert highway so this is a
unique experience. The beautiful, glimmering light upon the
desert floor with a nice October breeze blowing while you drive
through pure nature and you get a sense like your on Mars. This
song entitles all those feelings and moods and all that is good.
Back then this was something that people did all the time and
even driving through town in the seventies was nice and calm
and very different from today. The lifestyle of people was also
very different, yet this song is still accepted and applicable to
today and that is very interesting. Life was laid back and people
knew what respect meant and it was just so much nicer. For
example the dirt bikes back then were raw and basic and they
took a massive amount of skill to be good at desert riding. The
cars were also a representation of life. They use to be very simple
and you could repair them on your own but then the Asian
companies flooded our market with everything and now we are a
sell out to them because of it and since that cars have never been
the same and they run off of computers which is dumb and
cannot be easily fixed. It was just a simpler time with more joy
and excitement and things to discover like the moon landing.
Remember: This assignment is due at the beginning of the period in which we will discuss a text —not mid-way through. These
responses will serve as the basis for our class discussion.