1. 1 “Rocking Horse Winner” p. 285 By D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

2. 2 D. H. Lawrence http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/online/dhlawrence/biog-brief.phtml http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/online/dhlawrence/biog-brief.phtml English novelist, short story writer, critic, poet, and painter Son of a heavy- drinking coal miner Most famous novel was Lady Chatterly’s Lover

3. 3 D. H. Lawrence Sons and Lovers autobiographical novel detailing the difficulties of his childhood Believed in sex and intuition as the keys to an accurate perception of reality

4. 4 Types of Conflict in “Rocking Horse Winner” Person vs. person Person vs. self Person vs. environment

5. 5 Conflict Identify the moves from Exposition to Complication to Climax to Denouement.

6. 6 Physical: Man-made Pleasant house orderly “superior”

7. 7 Protagonist = Paul Round character Static or developing? –why? Antagonists = Mother Society

8. 8 Other Characters The parents, like the horse, remain unnamed. What is the effect of this?

9. 9 Mother Relatively flat character though with some complexity Gentle and anxious Adoring Expensive taste Works at sketching ads of wealthy people in furs Father Stock character Handsome Expensive taste “Unlucky” Uncle Oscar-flat Bassett-flat

10. 10 Title What clues does the title give to the author’s intent and emphasis? Third person omniscient point of view Find evidence for this. Why is this the most effective choice?

11. 11 Major Symbols House Wealth Superiority Superficiality Empty of love like the mother Rocking Horse Fake Materialistic values Wooden dream Going nowhere

12. 12 Figurative Language Filthy Lucre/Lucker Verbal irony—lucre (money) and luck are essentially the same thing in the mother’s and the boy’s minds. Other Symbolism Mother’s job sketching furs Like the rocking horse, this is a mockery of the reality she wishes for. Other symbols?

13. 13 The search for material wealth gets one nowhere. Only love and sacrifice can give meaning to life.