We reviewed Matthew's homework which entailed completing study guide questions and where necessary supplemented his answers with plot details or textual support. We then traced Ivan's attempt to deny his illness and mortality, through the next stage , Ivans's anger at his failing health, to the following stage, where Ivan first questions the meaning of life given the inevitability of death. Tolstoy paints the hollow, empty, superficial life of Ivan as the source of his existential dilemma .I pointed out that unlike existentialist authors who rejected God and religion as a source of meaning , Tolstoy underwent a religious conversion which will become evident as the protagonist searches for and discovers meaning and purpose . In this regard, I defined symbolism on the board ,and we analyzed the symbolic use of light and dark as recurring symbols .Light , with all its implications , will ultimately become Ivan's salvation in the final chapters.HW finish study guide for chapter 2-4, r ch 6 Due Weds.