2023-2024 AP English - Plans
*** Dates in the past are what we did those days. Dates in the future are what we have planned, and the plans may change. ***
FIRST SEMESTER
August 23 (half day)
pre-test
We talked a little about what the class involves:
August 24
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
August 25
distribute Pride and Prejudice books
Pride and Prejudice:
August 28
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
August 29
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
August 30
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
John Donne: "For Whom the Bell Tolls":
August 31
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
September 01
no school
September 04
no school
August 23 (half day)
pre-test
We talked a little about what the class involves:
- Together we'll read Pride and Prejudice, The Grapes of Wrath, Robinson Crusoe, and Hamlet.
- Individually, students will be expected to read on their own.
- They will be encouraged to read material similar to that above ("could be taught in a college class"), but that is a suggestion, not a requirement.
- Here is the reading schedule for when you should be finished with each section of the book.
- It's a good idea to get started ahead of time if you can.
- audio books:
- What's really nice about this audio book is that it's broken down by chapters, and the text is also on screen, so you can read along even if you don't have your book with you.
- Here's another audio option on YouTube.
- What's really nice about this audio book is that it's broken down by chapters, and the text is also on screen, so you can read along even if you don't have your book with you.
- It certainly wouldn't hurt to watch a movie of the story before reading the book, perhaps this weekend or over Labor Day weekend.
- Here's one version (2005).
- Here's another one (1995) that was a mini-series. It's longer (5.5 hours), but it's closer to the book.
- on-line book
- Have parents either sign the letter or (better yet) email me saying they saw the letter sent home about classroom policies.
- Join Google Classroom using the following code: kiza36a
- Also recommended: Sign up for Remind (text @g7afbh4 to the number 81010)
August 24
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- We just skimmed the questions on this handout.
- key takeaways:
- important to read diversity of authors, time periods, genres, and themes/topics
- This is important because of the format of the AP test, which includes an AP Open Question, so it's a good idea to consider reading something from the suggested authors from one of these two handouts.
- On this handout about open questions, consider the following questions and books that could be used to respond:
- 1983: a villain (could write about O'Brien in 1984 or Macbeth in Macbeth, for instance)
- 1990: a parent-child conflict (could write about Lizzy Bennett and her mother in Pride and Prejudice)
- This one has numbers next to the titles, and the higher the number, the more often the book was determined to be "suitable" for answering the open essay on the AP test.
- Students typically ask about some books on these lists or other similar lists (or books from around the room) such as the following:
- The Scarlet Letter
- Invisible Man
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Brave New World
- Huck Finn
- Crime and Punishment
- Waiting for Godot
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- The Catcher in the Rye
- The Kite Runner
- The Road
- Things Fall Apart
- Lord of the Flies
- Slaughterhouse 5
August 25
distribute Pride and Prejudice books
Pride and Prejudice:
- handout: some of the locations in P&P
- handout: P&P character map
- a few thoughts about social expectations for men/women:
- What would you think if an adult man wanted to be a babysitter?
- How many women would propose marriage to a man?
- Certainly many more than would have 200 years ago, but would all women be willing to do that these days...?
- In the book, "Miss Bennett" almost always refers to Jane Bennett (the oldest sister).
- We talked about the findings from the research and related topics quite a bit.
- multiple reasons people marry (love, financial, stability, have children, and more)
- what ages are "acceptable" for marriage vs. "too young" or "too old" (for a first marriage to not seem odd)
- divorce
August 28
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
- audio books:
- Remember to take notes whenever we talk about the book.
- We glanced at the author's Wikipedia page here.
- Then we used the these slides (saving the poll questions for tomorrow).
- Here's an interesting quote connected to "playing hard to get":
- One of the points I want to make is that we still have different expectations and acceptable behavior for men and for women.
- a few examples that often come up, in addition to the ones from last week (proposal of marriage, running a daycare)
- showing (or not showing) emotion, etc.
- colors
- types of clothes (girls wearing boy clothes vs. boys wearing girl clothes)
- wearing makeup
- spending 30+ minutes in front of a mirror in the morning
- stay-at-home dads
- a few examples that often come up, in addition to the ones from last week (proposal of marriage, running a daycare)
- Here's a sample of the open-essay part of the test.
- Notice that you're not limited to the list of suggested books.
- Still, it's worth noting which books have been suggested multiple times over the years.
- Handout: Archetypes and Symbols
- Notice how some of the most popular stories hit most (all?) of the common situation archetypes.
- stories such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, etc.
- It's not an accident...
- We briefly discussed some of the more uncommon symbols as well has how some authors/artists like to twist the symbols (e.g. have the hero wear all black) to mix things up some times
- Notice how some of the most popular stories hit most (all?) of the common situation archetypes.
- multiple handouts in one file:
- Handout: Terms Used in Essay Instructions (p.83-86)
- Handout: Terms Used in Multiple-Choice Questions (p.89-90)
- Handout: Metrical Terms / Grammatical Terms (p. 91-92)
- Handout: An Introduction to Stress and Meter
- We will use this to introduce the practice of "scanning" lines of poetry.
- We plan to spend a decent amount of time talking about this throughout the year, as there are quite a few questions about this stuff on the AP test.
- This is often difficult for the class because it's new.
- We barely got started today, but we'll pick it up where we left off tomorrow.
August 29
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- introductory discussion using the slides, specifically the poll questions (starting with slide 9 or so)
- Here's an interesting quote connected to "playing hard to get":
- As with most years, this was difficult for the class because it's new.
- After I did the first few on the board, students tried to label the rest on p.2
- We noted the patterns on p.3 and how they sound different from each other.
- p.4: It's impressive that he wrote a poem about the different types of "feet" using those feet.
- p.5: most important for us = tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, and blank verse
- We'll pick it up on p.6 tomorrow.
- short story: "The Emperor's Three Questions," by Leo Tolstoy
- We started reading this out loud and got about 25% through it.
- We talked about trying to read a little deeper than just the surface level:
- Why doesn't the emperor have a name?
- Why three questions? Why not just one? Why not more?
- assignment: finish reading the story before the next class.
- Take notes directly on the handout while reading and when we discuss it tomorrow.
August 30
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- theme / are those the correct answers to the questions?
- Are there any exceptions to the hermit's answers?
- They at least give us something worth thinking about.
- wisdom
- symbolic meanings:
- hermit/separated from others
- simplicity (no distractions)
- mountain/superior perspective
- can see farther, clearer; up above the noise, etc.)
- Also, notice that the emperor
- a.) had to go himself (not just be told an answer) and
- b.) had to work for it (climbing a mountain isn't exactly easy).
- farming/gardening while teaching
- with puns intended:
- The hermit is "down to earth," "well grounded," "getting his hands dirty," etc.
- with puns intended:
- emperor falls asleep
- a symbolic death
- waking up as a new person, with a new perspective
- hermit/separated from others
- We talked about the ways poets can "cheat" on the meter (p. 7-8).
- Most importantly, we need to understand the need to shorten (really, delete) syllables in order to fit the pattern of the poem.
- Perhaps most obviously:
- 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house (11 syllables)
- Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. (11 syllables)
- That's why the poet used 'Twas instead of saying the full It was.
- Perhaps most obviously:
John Donne: "For Whom the Bell Tolls":
- islands vs. continents as a metaphor for men/humanity
- Why use the word continent?
- What other options did he have?
- Is continent a better choice?
- Why use the word "clod"?
- It's not just used for a clump of dirt.
- See the second definition here.
- Then what's a promontory, in human terms?
- Why use the word continent?
- What would it be like if any manor (a large country house with lands) of yours were washed away?
- That would be devastating.
- And some versions of the poem have the spelling for this word as "manner."
- What would it be like if any of your manners (sense of humor, for example) were washed away?
- You wouldn't be you, exactly, anymore.
- That would be devastating.
- His most important lines:
- No matter whose funeral it is, it's also yours.
- You are affected by anyone else's death.
- No matter whose funeral it is, it's also yours.
- This poem is asking us to consider how we react when we see a funeral procession.
- The poet suggests that just knowing that a funeral is taking place should make us feel loss.
- We often have time to check out the Metallica song by the same name, but the song seems to be more about the Hemingway novel titled For Whom the Bell Tolls rather than Donne's poem.
- From Wikipedia: "Metallica's second album Ride the Lightning (1984), features a song entitled "For Whom the Bell Tolls," which can be seen as a lyrical adaptation of a particular scene from the book (chapter 27)."
August 31
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- Take notes on these as well as the poems themselves. (You can write notes directly on the handouts.)
- These will be collected when we're finished ("done") with John Donne's poetry.
- Checked out the basics of John Donne's life.
- It's a sonnet.
- giveaway: the shape is roughly that of a square
- also, the rhyme scheme (and the turn at the last two lines)
- and the meter (10 syllables per line, although there are a few exceptions to the rule)
- giveaway: the shape is roughly that of a square
- personification: feeling pride, thinking, being a slave, dwelling (living), and dying
- overall message:
- People are afraid of Death, but it's nothing to be scared of because it can't really kill people because...
- Death's results look like sleeping (which is good for us)
- it is a delivery of our souls (to something better) -- these first two show how Death actually helps us.
- it's just a slave to others, so it isn't even its own boss
- it lives with poison, war, and other nasty things, and so it's just a nasty thing, like them
- poppy (drugs) and charms (spells) can bring about the same effects, so it's nothing special
- and when we "sleep," a common euphemism for "die," we wake up in Heaven, so it really is to our benefit to die
- The paradox that Death will die (when people are in Heaven, i.e. have eternal life)
- See August 23 above for links.
September 01
no school
September 04
no school
September 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- If you still haven't watched a movie version of Pride and Prejudice, it's still a good idea to watch a version of it before getting too far in the book.
- We did the math, and it takes less than 12 pages per day to stay on schedule .
- (got through the first two stanzas today)
- personification - the Sun as an intruder on his love life
- Lovers' lives aren't run by the changes of the Sun.
- He tells the Sun what he can do (things that don't matter, compared to his love life)
- Because love is eternal, not changing with the hours/days/months/seasons nor with climate
- Plus, he is more powerful than the Sun anyways -- he can blink to make it disappear (but he won't, 'cause then he wouldn't see her...)
- irony/paradox -- she's so beautiful she may blind the Sun.
- But if the Sun isn't blinded yet, it can look at the vast wealth across the earth and report back tomorrow, only to find out that all that is valuable is really right here in his bed already.
- The princes of the world (who care about and for their lands) are just acting like the speaker, who does the same for his lover (his world).
- Indeed, if the Sun wants to warm the entire world, he could do so just by warming up this couple.
- I.e. they are the world (as far as he's concerned).
- This bed is the center of the Universe, and the Sun orbits around it.
September 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
John Donne: "The Sun Rising"
- finished it (see yesterday for details)
short story: James Thurber: "The Catbird Seat":
- Look for (and circle) language that makes this seem like a trial/courtroom, at least in Mr. Martin's mind.
- Look for (and underline) characterizations of Mr. Martin that make him look innocent later in the story.
- Look for (and squiggly underline) language of animals with Mrs. Barrows. What's the effect of this wording?
- Look for (and draw a box around) clues about what kind of relationship the boss has with Mrs. Barrows.
- Right up to when he determines she is guilty and deserves the death penalty!
- We will finish reading the story in class tomorrow.
September 07
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
back to short story: James Thurber: "The Catbird Seat":
- Look for (and circle) language that makes this seem like a trial/courtroom, at least in Mr. Martin's mind.
- Look for (and underline) characterizations of Mr. Martin that make him look innocent later in the story.
- Look for (and squiggly underline) language of animals with Mrs. Barrows. What's the effect of this wording?
- Look for (and draw a box around) clues about what kind of relationship the boss has with Mrs. Barrows.
- We will work on a written response to the story in class tomorrow.
September 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
written response:
- Using Google Classroom, submit a response of at least 250 words that answers one or more of the following questions about "The Catbird Seat":
- Assuming you found this story funny, what makes it funny?
- What about Ulgine Barrows makes her so offensive to Erwin Martin? (Part of this should explain how we know what he likes.)
- Why doesn’t Thurber depict any moral conflict in Mr. Martin over his plan to commit murder?
- Be careful with this one if you choose to answer it since there are many things we don't know: Do you think the story has any serious insights to offer about male-female relations or workplace politics (especially with the boss and Ulgine Barrows...)?
September 11
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
John Donne: "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning":
- title = a farewell speech forbidding sadness
- Let's say goodbye so quietly/calmly it's like a good man dying in a hospital
- calm, no noise, hard to even tell when he's dead
- We can't even explain our love to common people (laity).
- because we're soul mates.
- Normal lovers can't stand to be apart.
- But our love is so strong that we can.
- Why use gold as a metaphor?
- its value, and it can be spread out -- as they are -- while retaining its great value
- Why use a compass?
- attached at all times, no matter how far apart the legs are
- plus, it draws a circle, which is symbolic of...
- perfection, infinity
- Also, the circle is the strongest shape in nature.
- It's for these reasons, among others, that ring is used as a symbol of marriage/love.
- hearken?
- Is that sexual innuendo with "erect"?
- most likely...
- We also discussed how the form (predictable rhyme scheme and meter) made it feel comfortable, calm, safe and how an author might subtly change the patterns to give a poem an opposite feeling.
- independent reading (Pride and Prejudice quiz on Wednesday)
- reminder of the reading schedule
- consult a study guide for Pride and Prejudice
- e.g. SparkNotes, CliffsNotes, LitCharts (may not be free), etc.
- work on the written response for "The Catbird Seat"
- see Sept. 08 for details
- due by midnight tonight
September 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- How much money are these guys making per year? And how do they make money?
- What’s St. James’s? And why would Mr. Lucas appear there?
- How old are the characters?
- Notice that Charlotte Lucas is on the older side for a single woman, even in our time -- especially back then.
- This is why it makes sense for Charlotte to marry Mr. Collins.
- It's not about "love." It's about life.
- And she's not wrong.
- reminder: quiz over Pride and Prejudice p.001-095 tomorrow
September 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- QUIZ over p.001-095
- What's Mr. Darcy's first name?
- Fitzwilliam
- and what Fitz in a name means:
- at times, illegitimacy; at other times and in literature, nobility
- What does "Yours, &c" mean (at the end of a letter)?
- ______shire?
- "former" vs. "latter"
September 14
Learning Target:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Pride and Prejudice p.001-095
- Does Mrs. Bennet love her daughters?
- Does Mr. Bennet?
- Do the parents love each other?
- Is Mr. Collins a creep, or is he a nice guy trying to do the Bennet family a favor?
- What do you think of how quickly Collins switches from interest in Jane to Elizabeth?
- (if time) What do you make of his proposal to Elizabeth, listing reasons to marry?
- And the reasons themselves...
- Mrs. Bennet's plot to let Jane get sick.
- Mrs. Bennet "exposing" the family. (Embarrassment.)
- Women acting in a different way around men (and vice versa), including trying to show off their... good features.
- Darcy and Wickham
- one of them is lying
- Darcy: Wickham is good at making friends but not keeping them
- Wickham: Darcy wronged me in the past.
- one of them is lying
- (if time) We also examined Wickham's speech (near the beginning of ch. 16 [p.70-71])
September 15
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Pride and Prejudice: textual analysis (p.001-095)
- Look for terms that show the following in the relevant section:
- pride vs. vanity (do we misuse these words?)
- words of expertise, scientists or even words of sports/games/contests
- pessimism
- sarcasm
- good first impression (Elizabeth sees Wickham) / surprise (Darcy sees Wickham)
- trustworthiness
September 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6
- Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
- Irony in the poem's ending.
John Donne: "The Flea":
- Stanza 1
- A man talking to a woman: What you're denying me is just a little thing. Come on...
- This flea sucked some blood from both of us, so it has our blood mingled inside it.
- What it did isn't a sin.
- Nor is it something to be ashamed of.
- And it didn't take your virginity or anything.
- But what it did is more than what I want to do...
- Stanza 2
- Wait! Don't kill it!
- And don't kill my chances...
- We are more than married ("The two shall become one flesh") in it, since our blood is actually combined inside the flea.
- Don't kill your "self" by killing the flea which holds some of your blood.
- You'd be killing three: the flea, a part of you, and a part of me.
- Wait! Don't kill it!
- Stanza 3
- It was cruel that you killed it!
- You won, but you have to admit that you're not weaker for having lost this amount of blood -- same for me.
- See, you were afraid of nothing.
- And it'll be the same if you yield to me.
- You'll lose just as much honor (loss of her maidenhead) as this flea took blood, so it won't hurt one bit...
- After we talked about what the title means (constancy?), I pointed out the many question marks and the repeated use of the word "or."
- antedate?
- We also briefly discussed the prefix "ante," including the words ante, antebellum, antediluvian.
- antedate?
- The speaker's lover has loved him for a day, so will she have an excuse not to love him when tomorrow comes?
- He goes through a long list of possible excuses she could come up with, including
- a (fake) prior engagement (antedate = "put an earlier date on it")
- being different persons (we've changed)
- having made her lover's vow under duress (afraid of consequences if she didn't say "I love you")
- having slept in the meantime (as sleep is similar to death, which parts spouses -- "Till death do us part" -- a lover's contract [I'm seeing just you, no one else] is similar to a marriage. If these are similar, does sleep, then, cancel a lover's contract?)
- or having lied to others as a way of remaining true to herself (she's just a liar).
- He then says, since he's a fool, he could argue against (and defeat) these excuses
- but he won't
- because he may feel like using one of them tomorrow, too...
- Irony, but also an honest admission that he is (and all men are?) just as un-constant as this woman is (and all women are?).
September 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- Then students had the majority of the class period to read independently.
- reminder: quiz over Pride and Prejudice p.095-184 tomorrow
September 20
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- After the quiz, we had time to talk about it, as well things like these:
- Darcy's letter to Lizzy
- Bingley
- Jane not showing affection towards Bingley
- appearance vs. reality
- Mrs. Bennet an embarrassment
- Jane's family gold diggers?
- Jane not showing affection towards Bingley
- Wickham
- again, appearance vs. reality
- the money
- the scheming involving Georgiana Darcy (age 15)
- Bingley
- some of the most famous lines of the book:
- Were she not to marry Mr. Collins, Lizzy will never talk to her mother again.
- Were she to marry him, Lizzy will never talk to her father again.
- How do you feel about Mr. Bennet after this? :)
- Darcy's letter to Lizzy
September 21 (Mr. Bulgrien had a sub since he was on a college visit with the juniors.)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- Students had the entire class period to read.
- reminder: the reading schedule
September 22
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
John Donne: "Love's Alchemy"
- Title:
- alchemy as a discredited, superstitious way of creating/finding something
- This is about the secret mysteries of love and how we can never find or understand them.
- If there's time, before reading it together, we looked up words that looked unfamiliar, such as the following:
- alchemy, odoriferous, minstrelsy, etc.
- We examined all of the negative terms in the poem and the way they make us feel:
- I should not find, imposture, odoriferous, winter-seeming, vain, scorn, wretch, rude hoarse, hope not, mummy, possess'd
- Stanza 1:
- Some people who know more about love say they know the most important thing, the centric happiness.
- I have
- 1.) loved
- 2.) got and
- 3.) told about love
- but if I did those three things for the rest of my life, I still wouldn't find the secret to happiness in love.
- I'll never find it.
- I think it's all fake ("imposture").
- Some chemists, for example, brag about what they're making that isn't finished yet (pregnant pot).
- In the same way, some lovers dream of having a rich and long delight, only to end up with the opposite of what they'd expect.
- such as the paradoxical "winter-seeming summer's night"
- Stanza 2:
- Should we work, spend money and time, and dishonor ourselves to get something that's so vague it's not even possible to see clearly, let alone hold (a bubble's shadow -- i.e. love's secret)
- Can my man (interesting: the speaker apparently is a woman) be as happy as I am once he gets through a bridegroom's play (wedding?)
- A play is something fake, scripted.
- Are we saying our own words at a wedding when we say "I do"?
- It's a fool who says that minds marry instead of just bodies.
- He might as well say he can hear the other planets ("spheres") orbiting us while he's here on earth.
- According to the speaker, these statements are equally ridiculous.
- There's no hope to find a woman with a mind.
- They may seem nice, but they're more like mummies.
- just bodies without brains
- possessed -- not under their own power, not a real mind
- They may seem nice, but they're more like mummies.
- So why might he write something like this, especially since it's through the eyes (words) of a woman, a wife?
- It's very negative, pessimistic.
- This is not like the view of love in some of his other poems, at least the ones we read recently.
- "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" and "The Sun Rising"
- Perhaps this was when he was having a bad day or had a bad experience with love.
September 25
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.
AP Practice Test: Poetry (John Donne)
- We did a practice test on "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning."
- lifetime, life span, metaphysical poet, from a wealthy and artistic family, priest
- and apparently a very selfless, caring priest
- Here's a video talking through some of this in case you want it.
- rhyme scheme (including slant rhyme in first stanza: glass, place, grace)
- He's comparing pastors to windows.
- a.) They don't have anything in common.
- b.) So that's what makes this a metaphysical conceit.
- He wants you to see something by comparing two very dissimilar things.
- a play on words with multiple meanings of the word reverend
- Check out the multiple meanings here.
- can mean "a pastor"
- can also mean "something worthy to be revered (or regarded with awe)"
- Check out the multiple meanings here.
- good windows don't get noticed, and they give a clear view of the other side
- good pastors live out what they teach (practice what they preach) rather than use "speech alone," and they give a clear view of God
- compare the opposites:
- How would bad or dirty windows be like bad pastors?
- They would block the view of what is on the other side.
- How would bad or dirty windows be like bad pastors?
- pastors can be like windows
- with God's help
- If they "practice what they preach," they are effective and inspiring. If they don't (if they're hypocrites), then they have no lasting effect.
September 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- Then students had the majority of the class period to read independently.
- reminder: quiz over Pride and Prejudice p.184-270 tomorrow
September 27
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6
- Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
- For various reasons, we moved the quiz scheduled for today to tomorrow.
textual analysis (p.096-184)
- Look for terms/wording that show the following:
- humor
- exaggeration
- women's prospects at the time
- humor
- pride > love
September 28
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- After the quiz, we discussed the quiz itself and also some questions from reading Pride and Prejudice so far, such as these examples of typical topics:
- Wickham's motivation(s)
- Mr. Collins's letter
September 29 (many absent and shortened class due to Homecoming)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
After that, we talked about last night's Powderpuff game, previous assemblies, etc.
October 02
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- a reminder about the reading schedule for the book
- We moved the upcoming quiz over the last part of Pride and Prejudice to this Thursday.
- rhyme scheme, metrical pattern
- similarities to John Donne's "Death, Be Not Proud"
- Death used to be feared, looked at as something a long way off and to be avoided.
- We used to look on this side of death (our own lives), but we were missing the whole point on the other side (the afterlife).
- But our bodies are "shells of fledge" that our souls left behind.
- Our bodies are the "eggs" of our souls, which "hatch" when we die.
- Notice that the verbs in the first half of the poem are in the past tense:
- wast (was), was, couldst not (could not), considered, turned, looked, did find, left
- the shift in the middle serving as a shift in thought but also a shift in human history (B.C. / A.D.), which gave Death "life"
- Notice that the verbs in the second half of the poem are in the present tense or even the future tense:
- art (are), now behold, shall wear, shall be clad, can go die, trust, have, making.
- Now, death isn't all bad.
- And maybe it's not bad at all.
- Maybe it's all good.
- And maybe it's not bad at all.
- Death itself will be honored ("thy bones with beauty shall be clad") for the part it plays in all this.
- Now life is not ended by death.
- Rather, death is more like a midpoint (and that shift happens in the exact middle of the poem) when one "sleeps" and wakes up for the rest of his life (afterlife).
- last stanza:
- There's no difference between a down pillow (sleeping in bed) and a dust pillow (in a grave) because it's just sleep.
- the relevance of Easter to Christians
- look at the shape of the poem as it was originally published (picture)
- compare that to a picture of angel wings (picture)
- the rhyme scheme, structure [shaped poem], syllable count
- how the form fits the wording - "poor" and "thin" are the thinnest parts
- stanza 1 is about humanity in general - or about the distant past
- stanza 2 is about him personally - or about today/now
- "imp" = grafting
- Because of Adam and Eve's fall, humans have suffered
- as a result, Jesus came and died for our sins
- and as a result of that, we can be saved and not only restored to what we lost but made much better
- able to fly, even? like angels?
October 03
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Pride and Prejudice
- First, we had to finish this from before: textual analysis (p.096-184)
- Look for terms/wording that show the following:
- humor
- exaggeration
- women's prospects at the time
- humor
- pride > love
- If you were absent, check your notes with these.
- Along with the analysis, we often discuss questions about the book, such as the following topics:
- Notice that the description of Mr. Darcy's house (Pemberley) sounds similar to how he would be described if he were a house.
- (This is detailed in the textual analysis for this section of the book.)
- Notice that the description of Mr. Darcy's house (Pemberley) sounds similar to how he would be described if he were a house.
October 04
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- Students should have a book prepared for independent reading by Monday, Oct. 09.
- We will talk soon about possibilities, suggestions and questions.
- Then students had the majority of the class period to read independently.
- reminder: Our last quiz over Pride and Prejudice (through the end of the book) is tomorrow.
October 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- After the quiz, we discussed the quiz itself and also some questions from reading Pride and Prejudice so far, such as these examples of typical topics:
- marriage proposals like business deals in that time period?
- parents more involved
- the concept of a dowry
- marriage proposals like business deals in that time period?
- Students should have a book prepared for independent reading by Monday, Oct. 09.
- We talked more about that, including suitable books based on these guidelines:
- Some other suggestions we did or will talk about in class include the following:
- Oedipus Rex (my mythology class)
- There are important things that affect us that we can't control (e.g. our DNA, our upbringing, etc.)
- Does this mean we are controlled by "fate"?
- Antigone (also my mythology class)
- What do we do if God's (or the gods') law doesn't line up with our government's law?
- Which law is superior?
- Lysistrata
- especially interesting as "an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society"
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Our Town
- has been called "the greatest American play ever written"
- Death of a Salesman
- same playwright as The Crucible, but nothing like that
- "It is considered by some critics to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century."
- Pygmalion
- famous concept: take "lower class" person and train to be "better"
- some variations:
- Pretty Woman
- She's All That
- Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
- Lord of the Flies
- What would life be like without any laws (or someone to enforce the laws)?
- Are people naturally good? or naturally evil?
- For what it's worth, this is one of the books most often discussed in college dormitories.
- Oedipus Rex (my mythology class)
October 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- May 08, 2024, at 8:00 until 11:00 A.M.
- We talked briefly about the multiple choice part, which we've seen an example of already:
- one hour
- two poems
- two prose selections (short story, part of short story, chapter from a novel, part of a novel, etc.)
- 10-15 questions per selection; 50-55 questions total
- 5-choice multiple choice
- Then we talked about the written part, which looks like this:
- two hours
- three essays (avg. 40 min. each)
- one poem -- analyze/explain it
- We practice this whenever we read poems.
- one prose -- analyze/explain it
- We practice this whenever we read a short story or when we do a "textual analysis."
- and one open question
- We practice this when we talk about bigger ideas in the novels (e.g. appearance vs. reality in the book, gender roles in the book, etc.)
- "Shell Station, Tennessee" by Kelly Scott Franklin (currently a professor at Hillsdale College):
- sonnet
- rules it has to follow
- # of lines
- length of lines (ten syllables)
- rhyme scheme
- turn (or turns) -- usually indicated by change in rhyme scheme
- rules it has to follow
- lines 01-08
- a description of a gas station
- words of decay due to neglect
- ravage
- concrete torn (trees would take a long time to do that to concrete -- could easily be prevented)
- ragged grass (not fresh-cut grass -- doesn't take long to cut the grass, especially for a small place like a gas station)
- guts of fuel pumps (personification?)
- splintered glass (broken, but not cleaned up)
- climbing vines (easily cut down, sprayed to prevent)
- moth and rust (some care can prevent/repair these threats)
- graffiti
- on outside walls?
- in the bathroom? where many of us see graffiti even in functional gas stations
- perhaps "smell of something worse within" is about the bathroom...
- lines 09-12
- Then a shift due to use of the word I:
- emphasis on neglect
- things I did not do
- let decay, withheld, didn't say, didn't pray
- Notice the question marks here as well, another indication of the shift into this part of the poem from the description of the gas station (01-08).
- Then a shift due to use of the word I:
- lines 13-14
- a final turn/shift in focus
- a reflection on what this sight and (personal) realization has to say to all of us
- comparing the broken-down gas station to other things (relationships) we have neglected
- a final turn/shift in focus
- sonnet
- Read something you're interested in, even if it doesn't follow the other guidelines here.
- It's nice if it's something "suitable" for an AP class (i.e. "college level").
- It's nice if it's something that is on AP lists (see earlier handouts or lists like this or this).
October 09
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Then we looked at the biographical details of our next author: Ursula K. Le Guin.
- It's also worth looking up details of one of her most famous book, A Wizard of Earthsea.
- She has had a profound impact on other writers, including Mr. Bulgrien's favorite author, Patrick Rothfuss.
Assignment - notes:
- While reading this short story, at the end of each page jot down your thoughts about Mr. Underhill's character (or at least what the narrator suggests about him).
- You should have a sentence or a phrase per page, so there should be at least six of these.
- We'll finish reading the rest of this story in class tomorrow.
October 10
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
We finished the short story from yesterday: Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Rule of Names"
- reminder: assignment - notes:
- While reading this short story, at the end of each page, jot down your thoughts about Mr. Underhill's character (or at least what the narrator suggests about him).
- You should have a sentence or a phrase per page, so there should be at least six of these.
- in Google Classroom
- due by Tuesday, Oct. 17
October 11
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
George Herbert: "Love (III)":
- If you were absent, here's a video of this poem that will help explain what follows.
- Prior to reading the poem, we marked off the lines spoken by the speaker (whoever is saying I, me, my):
- lines 7, 9-10, 13-14, 16
- and the lines spoken by "Love":
- lines 8, 11-12, 16, 17
- Then students were encouraged to read the poem in an effort to figure out who this "Love" is, keeping in mind there are a few clues throughout the poem.
- (Clues include words like "soul" and "sin" early on, mentioning making eyes in the second stanza, and being called "Lord" in the third stanza.)
- After realizing that Love is God, it's easier to realize who the speaker is:
- a soul recently arrived at Heaven
- If still stuck, students were encouraged to replace the word Love with the word God and to try to add quotation marks where they belong.
- Like most poems written by the metaphysical poets, this one is a metaphysical conceit:
- This poem describes a host insisting on welcoming a guest to a party, even though the guest doesn't feel welcome, to God welcoming a sinner to Heaven.
- Personification: Love = God = host of a party
- Stanza 1:
- I acted like I didn't want to come in.
- But God came out to get me, tried to figure out what was missing.
- Stanza 2:
- "I'm not worthy!" due to being guilty of dust (not lust) and sin (mentioned in line 2).
- Dust, here, seems to mean the problems of the flesh (as opposed to the soul).
- My eyes can't even look at you.
- God's reply: Of course they can, I made your eyes, so I know what they can/can't do.
- "I'm not worthy!" due to being guilty of dust (not lust) and sin (mentioned in line 2).
- Stanza 3:
- The speaker feels like he deserves to go to Hell instead of being welcomed in Heaven.
- Nope, says God, because someone else (meaning Jesus) bore the blame.
- OK, then, I'll be a servant (in order to earn my way or pay you back)
- No, says God, you are the guest, and this is free.
- eating as communion/Mass
- Pay attention to the multiple definitions at play here.
- If you have it, there are some interesting comments about Communion in the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor (p.7-8 especially).
- The speaker feels like he deserves to go to Hell instead of being welcomed in Heaven.
- So is the speaker dead?
- Is this his "Judgment Day"?
- If so, it's not the judgement he was expecting.
- Instead of being punished by God, he's treated as a guest of honor and served by God.
- Is this his "Judgment Day"?
- If absent, you can check your notes with this form that highlights parts we talked about.
October 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
- Now that we're done reading Pride and Prejudice, we often talk briefly about a few books that students are reading on their own at this point in class.
- textual analysis of p.270-352 (end)
- true love?
- speechless, shy?
- pride (or humility)
- feminism?
- It's interesting because there seems to be some contradiction here:
- Lizzy has (a lot of, even all of the) say in the matter of whom she marries.
- Yet her dad says she wants to marry someone she "looked up to... as a superior" to her.
- If time, we talked about the concept of love and respect, such as the ideas in this book.
- It's interesting because it's based on the theory that men and women have different emotional needs.
- Perhaps Jane Austen was aware of this and this was what she had in mind here.
- Caution: This theory (and this book) is not without controversy.
- For a second opinion, here's a column by a woman who doesn't recommend this book.
- It's interesting because there seems to be some contradiction here:
- true love?
- pride/prejudice
- If you were absent, check your notes against these.
October 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Pride and Prejudice
- textual analysis of p.270-352 (end)
- finished it today
- Class discussion about the book as a whole:
- Is it worth it to read a book like this?
- It's fiction, after all. These aren't real people, and this isn't a real relationship. So what do we get out of it?
- Many people enjoy it, so that's one benefit right there.
- We also get a chance to examine aspects of our real lives from a safe perspective, aspects like the following:
- our own pride
- our prejudices
- our motivations for what we're doing, what we're looking for (e.g. in love)
- a chance to examine historical and cultural characteristics
- class differences, gender roles, etc.
- and compare them to cultural characteristics of ours today
- whether we have divisions based on class today
- If not, then do we on race, gender, wealth, something else?
- The book serves as a reminder about first impressions and how they can be wrong.
- about second chances, and how we can get them (and give them)
- It's fiction, after all. These aren't real people, and this isn't a real relationship. So what do we get out of it?
- Who is worse?
- Mr. Collins or Lady Catherine?
- your answer to that one or Mr. Wickham?
- Is it worth it to read a book like this?
October 16 (no school)
October 17
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Pride and Prejudice
- Class discussion about the book as a whole:
- If this is a famous romance novel, where is the "romance"?
- how little (physical) romance is actually in the story
- We never read about them kissing or doing things more innocent than that.
- How would you rank the marriages in order of best to worst?
- Lizzy and Darcy best?
- then Jane/Bingley?
- Charlotte/Mr. Collins?
- If here, above the others, then what does that say about their relationship?
- Lydia/Wickham?
- the Bennetts?
- Lizzy and Darcy best?
- Charlotte (Lucas) Collins's position now that she's married.
- Are they in love?
- Are they better off married or single?
- Would you feel the way Charlotte does if you were in her shoes?
- Would you feel the way Mrs. Bennett (or Lizzy, etc.) does about Charlotte’s marriage if you were in her shoes?
- Whether or not the Bennets are "happily married."
- Like above, it matters what we think that term actually means.
- Whether or not the Collinses are "happily married."
- the importance of attraction and what is attractive about others:
- looks?
- status/wealth?
- Who is to blame for Lydia running off with Wickham (besides Wickham)?
- p.317: how the author hints that Mr. Darcy will show up, but it's Lady Catherine de Bourge!
- And p.318: Why not take refreshments from Mrs. Bennett?
- cf. this summary of a chapter in the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor
- And p.318: Why not take refreshments from Mrs. Bennett?
- Darcy and Lizzy falling in love.
- If he were really prideful, he wouldn't want her at his house, especially this shortly after she rejected him when he proposed marriage.
- Does Darcy live out the saying "If you love someone, set her free. If she comes back, she's yours; if she doesn’t, she never was"?
- Darcy's pride? It seems he's not so proud after all.
- Think about how his employees talk about him, and this is when he is not there, so they don't have to say nice things about him if they don't want to.
- Notice how he treats Lizzy, who rejected him.
- And he wanted his sister, Georgiana, to meet Lizzy.
- Notice how he treats Lizzy's aunt and uncle while they're staying in town, insisting they go fishing here since it's Mr. G's favorite pastime.
- (if time, since it's not in the book, just related) the practice of having a dowry
- More about Lady Catherine de Bourg's visit with Lizzy.
- How it's ironic that her purpose is to prevent a wedding between Lizzy and Darcy.
- That's because when she explains later to Darcy what Lizzy said at this meeting, it has the effect of encouraging the wedding.
- How should Mr. Darcy treat Lady Catherine de Bourg?
- He does put up her, but he doesn't do what she wants.
- (Keep in mind that she is family, possibly his closest living relative besides his sister.)
- Whether or not Lizzy truly loves Darcy.
- Did she just fall in love with him because of his money, his house, his property, etc.?
- We talked about the timing of events.
- We agreed that Lizzy would not have been impressed had she seen Darcy's estate in the first part of the book -- before reading his letter that explained everything.
- She probably would have thought he was proud and was just showing off his wealth had she seen it then.
- Lydia's marriage to Wickham.
- Rather, we have reason to believe it was a secret from her as well, because nobody in town seems to have had a clue.
- And we have no reason to believe she knew about his spending habits and debt before they ran off together.
- But he also had a steady job; so she thought, at least.
- I contend that love was part of it (she seems infatuated with him, although he's not with her).
- Did she marry for money or just for love?
- Who are the proudest characters?
- Who are the most vain?
- Which characters display the most (or the worst) prejudice?
- Who’s worse?
- Lady Catherine de Bourg or Mr. Collins?
- Mr. Wickham or your choice from the previous question?
- Whose fault is it that Lydia ran off with Wickham?
- part Wickham’s, obviously
- Lydia’s? should’ve known better? (How old is she?)
- her parents’? should have prevented her from traveling to Brighton?
- Who deserves credit for Jane marrying Bingley?
- or for Lizzy marrying Darcy?
- If parents take blame (e.g. for Lydia), should they also get credit?
- Or do their ages and circumstances not line up enough?
- Is Jane Austen a feminist author?
- If this is a famous romance novel, where is the "romance"?
October 18 (in Baum's room due to PSAT testing; students weren't supposed to go to their lockers, so did not have independent reading)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Andrew Marvell: "To His Coy Mistress":
- one of the most famous poems ever written
- a famous introduction
- Basic structure = If (we had time)... But (life is short)... Therefore...
- If we had time, we'd do Plan A.
- But we don't have time for Plan A.
- So we have to do Plan B.
- Had we but time...
- Notice the words that mean taking their time:
- sit down, think, walk, pass (our time)
- These locations (Ganges / Humber) represent vast distances from each other (India / United Kingdom)
- If time didn't matter, they could take their sweet ol' time:
- searching for rubies, or complaining
- complaining about having to wait for her
- He'd love her 10 years before the Flood (a long, long time ago)
- until the conversion (to Christianity, presumably) of the Jews
- which either never will happen, or it'll happen when Christ returns -- at the end of time.
- His vegetable love will grow.
- I think this has to do with how vegetables (pumpkins, for example) can grow to be gigantic if given enough nutrients... and time.
- There is some speculation this was a sexual metaphor, which is possible.
- He finds her so beautiful that he should spend hundreds to thousands of years praising and adoring her beauty, saving the best (her heart) for last.
- She deserves this.
- And his standards are this high.
- Notice the words that mean taking their time:
- "But..." the major shift in the middle
- Time is running out, and beauty is no good when you're dead
- personification:
- Time riding in a chariot
- Notice the words that mean speed:
- winged, chariot, hurrying
- "Deserts"?
- Vegetables don't grow in deserts, and he compared his love to a giant vegetable in the first section.
- And notice the words that have to do with death (from waiting too long):
- marble vault (tomb), worms, dust, ashes, grave
- The worms (eating her body) will have her virginity (with an obvious sexual metaphor here...)
- "Now..." the next major shift
- "Now" is repeated often (including "at once").
- while we're still young (and beautiful, energetic)
- Love is compared to behavior of birds of prey, which get into it when they're "making love" (amorous).
- Notice the more violent, active words used here:
- fires, sport, devour, roll, tear, strife, run
- Since we can't stop time, let's get the better of him.
- Let's give the sun (time) a run for its money.
- This ending reminds us of the saying "Time flies when you're having fun."
- This poem is essentially saying carpe diem, which is often (mis)translated as "seize the day."
- A better translation is "pluck the day" (as in "pluck it when it is ripe for harvesting")
October 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Andrew Marvell's "The Mower's Song":
- "Green" as a word to indicate healthiness, liveliness in plants.
- "Pine": what a great word when talking about grounds keeping (pine tree).
- It means to yearn for something unattainable, to lose health due to wanting it so badly.
- the relationship between his mind and the gardens:
- Before Juliana, they were images of each other:
- his mind a "true survey" of them
- Looking at them was like looking in a mirror.
- By the first stanza alone, it's hard to tell if what Juliana does is positive or negative.
- What does a mower do to the grass, for instance?
- He cuts it / kills it, but you could make the case that he cares for it, improves it.
- By the second stanza, however, his mind is unhealthy (because of her) while the gardens are still nice (and getting nicer from his care).
- So nice that there are two flowers for every blade of grass.
- That would look very beautiful, healthy and happy.
- Unlike his mind...
- By the third stanza, it's obvious that the meadows are doing fine while the speaker is crushed.
- Before Juliana, they were images of each other:
- He's mad that the meadows don't have any sympathy for him despite all that he does for them (unthankful meadows).
- The meadows seem to be having a great time, even playing May games, perhaps like what we would think of as May Day.
- clever juxtaposition:
- He is the one getting walked on (trodden under [Juliana's] feet) instead of the meadows.
- So he decides to get revenge on the grasses.
- He's going to take them down with him!
- Whether he's suicidal or not isn't clear, but he is dying as a result of his unrequited love for Juliana.
- And he'll be buried with the meadows (flowers, grasses) decorating his tomb as heraldry.
- If you were absent, here's a video of this poem.
- It seems he is talking to fireflies who are lighting up the night while he is sitting out in the field thinking about Juliana...
- Apparently, glowworms was/is a common name for fireflies.
- In all four stanzas, the speaker is talking to these glow worms.
- nightingale = symbol for the poet
- "Her" = summer night?
- perhaps more likely: Is it Juliana from the 4th stanza?
- "songs" = crickets, other night sounds / or more likely songs means poems about Juliana (his own that he's writing or those of others)
- Notice that these songs are "matchless."
- That means they are without equal, because they're so good.
- It also plays around with the notion that she does not love him back, and so she and he are both "matchless," without a match.
- They are not a couple.
- So he's meditating about summer and/or poetry when in the glow of these things.
- People used to believe that comets were omens for major events (wars, deaths of important people).
- But these ones are only predicting the cutting (or the eating) of the grass, if anything.
- No big events are coming.
- Yet they're helping him realize that he is lost (wandering), and they're trying to show him the way, with regard to a woman (Juliana), it seems.
- If he's sitting (1st stanza) yet "wandring" (3rd stanza), it must be his mind is wandring -- he is day dreaming.
- Chasing her is like chasing after "foolish Fires," which reminds us of how insects are attracted to light (yard lights, head lights, etc.) and even to dangerous lights (fires, bug zappers).
- The speaker seems to be attracted to something that is of the dangerous variety, perhaps because she has displaced his mind.
- But the glow worms are wasting their effort, even though they're trying to help.
- Their effort is wasted because Juliana shows up, and she has displaced his mind (he's crazy, driven insane, etc.)
- and he apparently will stay lost forever because of her...
- In the words of the poem, he'll never stop "wandring" "after foolish Fires.
October 20 (end of first quarter)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Andrew Marvell: "The Mower, Against Gardens":
- step 1:
- Students individually read through the poem looking for unfamiliar words.
- Then we looked up their definitions as a class.
- commonly asked about:
- stupefied
- palate (especially the 2nd and 3rd meanings)
- the marvel of Peru
- nickname for this flower
- seraglio (better link is its synonym: harem)
- eunuch
- adulterate (multiple meanings overlap here, wordplay)
- grot (meaning grotto, in this case, especially an artificial one, just like the fountain -- in a garden)
- faun (not a baby deer; especially like Pan, god of the wild)
- commonly asked about:
- step 2:
- hints:
- This is a poem attacking men who have corrupted Nature by interfering with natural processes of plant reproduction.
- further hints, if needed later, include the following:
- green houses, potted plants, cross breeding plants, selective fertilization, etc.
- further hints, if needed later, include the following:
- Notice all the words with negative connotations for man:
- early on: luxurious, vice, seduce, proud, tyrant
- Notice all the words with positive connotations for nature:
- early on: plain, pure, sweet, wild and fragrant innocence
- This is a poem attacking men who have corrupted Nature by interfering with natural processes of plant reproduction.
- hints:
- step 3:
- analyze the poem in small groups (2 or 3 students per group)
- Notes from our discussion are included immediately below in order to keep it all in one place for this poem.
- step 4:
- class discussion:
- Man has done some unnatural meddling with nature, bringing wild things into gardens.
- possibly even green houses and plants in pots
- but "within the gardens square" could simply mean a garden that is blocked off (by trees or fences) from the outside, natural, wild meadows, so that there is a "dead and standing pool of air"
- Man has made many changes to flowers, modifying their smell and color.
- Roses are "taught to paint," and white tulips are looking for a different complexion.
- Notice the personification of flowers here, as if they are applying makeup (lining cheeks).
- It seems men held these modified plants as so valuable that one tulip bulb (a tulip's "onion root") was worth as much as an entire meadow.
- Men explored a New World (North and South America) for more plants to corrupt.
- Remember that this was written in the mid-1600s.
- By the way, the Marvel of Peru is a type of flower native to South America that was first taken back to Europe in 1525.
- So that it's all in one place, here's what we'll add to this next class:
- All this might have been forgiven, but then men messed with trees as well.
- As a result, there are many plants that can't trace their family trees (pun!) due to man's interference.
- The poet uses a lot of sexual or spousal language:
- adulterate, seraglio (harem), eunuchs, procreate without a sex.
- And man has made it so many plants cannot reproduce naturally (sterile or infertile) so that man is the one determining which plants reproduce.
- Man is like a tyrant, jealously controlling his wives, and so only a eunuch (in this case, plants that are unable to produce pollen) could guard them.
- Notice the positive terms for wild nature: sweet fields, wild and fragrant innocence.
- The speaker claims there are still fauns and fairies involved in plant reproduction.
- But their magic is only in their being there, not in their direct meddling in plant reproduction.
- Men may have statues of these fauns and fairies in our gardens, and the statues may look very lifelike.
- But the gods themselves -- which I take to mean these fauns and fairies (or the forces of Nature they represent) -- are real, not statues.
- and they are natural and wild -- not controlled by man.
- Another possibility is that he's talking about the plants, flowers and trees as "the gods."
- Man has done some unnatural meddling with nature, bringing wild things into gardens.
- class discussion:
- Most years, we also talk a bit about the other side of this argument:
- why we buy seedless watermelons and grapes, for example
- and about selective breeding of livestock and even crops in order to increase quality and yield
- Are these "bad" things to do?
- Or would Andrew Marvell not like these practices?
October 23 (start of second quarter)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Andrew Marvell: "The Mower, Against Gardens":
- finished discussing it today
- See October 20 for full details.
October 24
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- probably wouldn't finish this poem in one day if we read first
- If you were absent today, watch this video of this poem.
- Have you ever walked through a nice garden? Or an extravagant park? What effect does it have on you?
- We talked about the effects of standing in a magnificent garden, e.g. the one at the Palace of Versailles. Pic 1 / Pic 2
- I talked about my experience walking through the grounds at the Palace of Versailles and how it had a way of lifting me up, much like Marvell talks about
- Here are some pictures (note to self: 2013.06.12).
- Palm, oak, bay (scroll down to Rome, esp. the picture) = rewards for martyrs, conquerors and poets, respectively.
- also see laurel wreath
- Plants/trees are often the highest prizes.
- and these come from gardens...
- Quiet and Innocence (both personified here) are only found in the garden -- away from society.
- notice the positive wording: delicious solitude
- delicious is obvious, but solitude is important
- Lonely/loneliness means the same thing, but with a negative connotation.
- Solitude has a positive meaning.
- Green is a better color for love, better than whites or reds, which we typically think of as love colors (e.g. Valentine's Day)
- And it's not cool to carve some girl's name in a tree.
- You should carve the tree's name in the tree, 'cause it's better than the girl.
- This guy really is a "tree hugger..."
- If it hasn't been said already, this speaker reminds us of the Lorax...
- Lovers hang out (best) in gardens. Look at the gods as our examples:
- Daphne turned into a tree when chased by Apollo
- Syrinx turned into reeds when chased by Pan.
- He even made a flute out of her...
- Ripe apples dropping reminds us of Isaac Newton.
- We looked up their dates.
- It seems at least possible that Marvell was alluding to Newton here because of the timing of the matter.
- The poem was published in 1681 and Newton was theorizing about the properties of gravity in the 1660s.
- We looked up their dates.
- These fruits (apples, nectarines, peaches) seem to want him to pick them, and the grapes from the vine already taste like wine.
- These fruits are at eye level, easily in reach.
- Melons just grow on the ground, again, easily in reach.
- When he trips (due to the melon vines), we imagine he doesn't mind that.
- He might even roll around in the grass or do a "grass angel..."
- This speaks to a mutual relationship between man and nature, specifically man and the garden.
- Even more important than the food, the mind is affected by this place.
- Even when bored when not in the garden, I can daydream of being back there, and thus "annihilating all that's made [by men] to a green thought in a green shade."
- I can cast aside my body the same way my body can cast away clothing.
- And my soul flies and sings like a bird, preparing for a longer flight (Heaven).
- i.e. walking through a garden is the next best thing (is practice for) going to Heaven.
- He's talkin' about Adam and Eve in the penultimate stanza, but really before Eve showed up.
- Adam didn't need a "help meet" [a suitable helper: The King James Bible calls Eve that] because he had all he could want:
- The speaker actually says he had two paradises combined into one:
- 1.) paradise
- 2.) solitude
- The speaker actually says he had two paradises combined into one:
- But apparently that's too much of two good things for any one person...
- Adam didn't need a "help meet" [a suitable helper: The King James Bible calls Eve that] because he had all he could want:
- Should "gard'ner" be capitalized in the last stanza?
- Is it God? Adam? The speaker?
- Another possibility (and perhaps more likely) is he's talking about someone making a Linnaeus' flower clock.
- Especially check this explanation here.
- Apparently, the last couplet (the last two lines) has become a common inscription on sundials.
- Here's a plan for such a thing.
- Clearly, such a thing would take a great amount of gardening skill (i.e. the "skillful gard'ner" of the last stanza).
- Either way, some gardener has made flowers and trees follow a new cycle (fragrant zodiac)
- and the bee (with their help, apparently) can tell time just as well as humans can.
- e.g. trees bloom, change colors and lose leaves; flowers bloom as well, but they also open or close depending on the time of day, and some even follow the Sun by pointing at it)
October 25
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American (or British) literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
poetry:
- Here's a handout for taking notes on the Romantics, William Blake, and William Blake's poems.
- If you were absent, here's a video that discusses the Romantics, and here's another one about William Blake.
- We also talked about his Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
- Blake categorizes our modes of perception into two periods of our lives:
- childhood is a state of protected "innocence"
- "experience" is a state of being marked by the loss of childhood vitality, by fear and inhibition, by social and political corruption and by the manifold oppression of Church, State and the ruling classes.
- Blake categorizes our modes of perception into two periods of our lives:
- (if time) We also spent some time talking about the movie Red Dragon, in which William Blake's painting plays a major part as an inspiration for one of the characters.
- He even tries to eat the painting at one point.
- Yeah, he's insane...
- This movie is a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, which (according to its Wikipedia page) is "regularly cited by critics, film directors and audiences alike as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time."
- He even tries to eat the painting at one point.
October 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American (or British) literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
poetry:
- We talked about William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
- Blake categorizes our modes of perception into two periods of our lives:
- childhood is a state of protected "innocence"
- "experience" is a state of being marked by the loss of childhood vitality, by fear and inhibition, by social and political corruption and by the manifold oppression of Church, State and the ruling classes.
- Blake categorizes our modes of perception into two periods of our lives:
- If you were absent, here is a video talking through this poem.
- Here's Blake's painting for this poem.
- The wording is gentle sounding:
- addressed to a little lamb, but also the sounds, the soft L sounds, are gentle
- simple vocabulary, basic words without multiple or hidden meanings
- Even their lengths are simple: most are one syllable, a few have two syllables, none have three
- a "sing-song tone," and a simple, childish view of the world:
- Life is good, and everything is happy and safe and in harmony.
- The first stanza is a question (who made you, little lamb?)
- The second stanza is its answer (God [Jesus] made you.)
- And that's good enough for the child.
- Simple question, simple answer, done.
- It's as simple as the first question of the Catechism.
- And that's good enough for the child.
- The lamb's maker is Jesus, for he was called a lamb:
- "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29)
- "the Lamb who was slain" (Revelation 5:12)
- He was meek and mild.
- Jesus: "The meek shall inherit the earth," Matthew 5:5
- He became a little child:
- Christmas
- Then the speaker identifies himself as a child and says that he too is called by Jesus' name (as a Christian).
- And he blesses the lamb in God's name.
- The world is good.
- Everything is awesome! (through the eyes of a child)
- longer, more complex, more complex wording, so many questions marks (and ending with a question mark!)
October 27 (half day)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
Before our next poem, we had to talk about William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
- Blake categorizes our modes of perception into two periods of our lives:
- childhood is a state of protected "innocence"
- "experience" is a state of being marked by the loss of childhood vitality, by fear and inhibition, by social and political corruption and by the manifold oppression of Church, State and the ruling classes.
- Here is a video talking through this poem.
- "Why is it spelled that way?"
- Remember when Blake was writing. There were few (and even fewer good) dictionaries.
- Harsh sounding:
- addressed to a tiger, but also the sounds, the harsh T and G sounds, are completely different from the previous poem
- More advanced vocabulary, complex terms, terms of violence and struggle, pain and toil.
- Not a sing-song tone, and the view of the world is much more complex, even despairing.
- ALL stanzas are questions (15 question marks! wait... 15 question marks?!?)
- really the same one question: "Who made you, tiger?"
- NONE of the questions are answered!
- So why "fearful symmetry"?
- Symmetry is often defined as a factor or a part of beauty.
- Is a tiger beautiful?
- Most people would say so.
- Is it also fearful/scary, despite its beauty...?
- Every line of the poem (with the possible exception of line 9) has at least one reference that could allude to Satan as the Tyger:
- burning, night, immortal, fearful, distant deeps, burnt, fire, aspire, seize, fire, etc.
- It sounds like making the Tyger was a lot of difficult work:
- dangerous (who could do it, who would dare to do it?)
- hot (as in a forge)
- and heavy (twist sinews; hammer, chain, anvil)
- Many words would describe working as a blacksmith.
- Many things in the poem also remind us of Frankenstein, the idea that a person/monster was made from a bunch of parts.
- The entire fifth stanza is an allusion to Satan's rebellion in heaven and the war between the angels and demons.
- The last stanza is an echo of the first.
- because the question hasn't been answered yet
- The only change between the two is the could/dare switch.
- Who would DARE to make something like this?
- The effect is that we have come full circle, are back where we started, with no progress being made.
- Just in case you didn't think this poem was directly connected to "The Lamb," the fifth stanza asks
- "Did he who made the Lamb [note the capital L] make thee?"
- related idea:
- How could God -- who made everything good -- make Satan as well?
- Essentially, why is there evil in the world?
- If God is good, why would he allow evil to exist?
- How could God let this happen?
- We talked about the multiple layers of the poem, and it's about all three of these things at the same time:
- It is about an actual tiger.
- How could the same God who made lambs also make tigers?
- It is also about Satan.
- The 5th stanza doesn't make sense otherwise...
- It is also about evil in general.
- How could God (especially a good God) allow evil in the world?
- It is about an actual tiger.
- The world is confusing and dangerous, and there are much fewer (if any) answers than questions.
- Welcome to the adult world of experience...
October 30
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
- This is especially important for Poe, who believed that everything mentioned in a short story must contribute to the intended effect.
- I also talked a bit about things I know from studying his life and his writings, including how much of what we know about him (especially his death) came from the guy who was basically his worst enemy.
- Imagine having your worst enemy write your obituary...
- Two words that students should know before reading this story:
- Poe thought that every word in a short story should contribute to the overall effect -- there should be no fluff.
- examples early on in this story:
- The cat's name is Pluto.
- His wife had heard (even though she didn't believe it) that ancient people believed that all black cats were really witches.
- The narrator mentions that he will die tomorrow.
- Why he will die is left as a mystery until later...
- Notice that the narrator often doesn't expect the listener to believe him.
- Perhaps he is an unreliable narrator.
- It's worth looking through a list of examples because these are some of the most popular movies and books (e.g. Forrest Gump, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, and Joker).
- Perhaps he is an unreliable narrator.
- examples early on in this story:
- We also talked in general terms about an upcoming assignment in response to this story:
- Topics will include the following:
- signs that the narrator WANTED to be caught
- the personality/feelings/character of the narrator
- characteristics of cats that make a black cat the perfect animal for this story
- (not so much about the story) the narrator’s question: Why do people do evil when they know it's wrong?
- Topics will include the following:
- We also talk (since it's related to one of the possible response questions) about the psychology of the narrator, who wanted to taunt the detectives, either to gloat (privately) about his outsmarting them or because he secretly wants to get caught.
- This reminds me about the taunting letters left at crime scenes by the Zodiac Killer.
- This audio version is helpful, especially if you were absent.
- I read it out loud to the class (or we listened to the audio version), and we got onto the top of p.2.
- We'll finish reading it tomorrow in class.
October 31
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
- This is especially important for Poe, who believed that everything mentioned in a short story must contribute to the intended effect.
- If you need it, here's a link to an audio version.
- This year, I wasn't able to, so we just made sure to discuss these topics as a class:
- Examine the antepenultimate and the penultimate paragraphs. Do these paragraphs suggest that the narrator – perhaps suffering from a guilty conscience – WANTED to be arrested and charged with murder? Explain.
- Examine the narrator’s vocabulary. Discuss definitions for at least five words with which you were unfamiliar before. What does the narrator’s diction suggest about him? Explain.
- Discuss the narrator’s feelings throughout the story – especially how and why they change. Examine his feelings toward pets in general, the two black cats, and his wife.
- How does Edgar Allan Poe reveal the narrator’s personality in "The Black Cat"? Discuss at least five examples.
- (easiest, most basic) Discuss the characteristics of cats that make a black cat the perfect animal for this story. You should consider at least five distinct traits.
November 01
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.C
- Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
William Blake's "The Clod and the Pebble" (had class discuss for 5-10 minutes w/o teacher input):
- If you were absent, here is a video talking through this poem.
- Here is the artwork for this poem.
- We are presented with two views of love:
- one seems to be from Songs of Innocence
- the other from Songs of Experience
- which is probably why the poem is included in the Songs of Experience side
- very similar wording but opposite ideas for what the clod says and the pebble says
- The clod is soft, flexible, etc. and his view of love relates to that.
- He says that love should be selfless, always considering the one loved over the self.
- By that, one can create heaven amidst hell's despair.
- And we notice that this isn't said out of naivety.
- The clod has been trampled on by something extremely heavy, but it didn't break because of its flexibility.
- The pebble is "stone cold" and "rock hard," as well as tiny and petty, and his view of love relates to that.
- He says that love should be selfish, always seeking to seek the self, finding joy in the other's discomfort.
- The term schadenfreude comes to mind here.
- By that, one can create hell in the midst of heaven.
- He may be speaking out of naivety, as he is in the brook, where it would be much a nicer, cleaner situation with clean flowing water, as opposed to wherever cattle may trample you.
- He says that love should be selfish, always seeking to seek the self, finding joy in the other's discomfort.
- The speaker seems to agree with the clay: "sung" vs. "warbled."
- The connotation of "sung" is positive, and that of "warbled" is definitely negative.
- If the speaker agrees with the Clod of Clay, that would mean the words "metres meet" should be read sarcastically, or that they really are fitting words only from the pebble's perspective.
- If time, we also talked about why people (naturally) feel schadenfreude and whether that's a good thing or not.
November 02
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
After that, we talked for a few minutes about students' notes on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat":
- all the explanations the narrator tries to use to convince us (and himself?) that what happened was normal, natural, etc.
- He doesn't mention witchcraft or superstitions without dismissing them.
- But he mentions them so that we have them in mind to fill in the blanks when his explanations don't make sense (e.g. the impression of the cat with the noose around its neck on the only wall that survived the fire on the night after he killed the cat by hanging...)
- Romanticism
- intense feelings and the imagination...
- which can be negative...
- the intelligence of the narrator
- word choice (impressive vocabulary, actually) and also his plan to get away with the murder
- If you were absent, here is a video about this poem.
- Here is the artwork for this poem.
- This poem presents the speaker's treatment of anger with two different people - one a friend, the other a foe.
- The form of the poem fits the theme.
- The problem with a friend is barely mentioned since it went away after he talked it over with his friend.
- Apparently, the speaker forgave and forgot.
- Not so with his foe. He didn't talk it over with his foe, and it kept growing, as the poem shows.
- And he suggests that he was equally angry with them both as he used the exact same wording to describe both situations (lines 1 & 3)
- He clearly dwelled upon the problem with the foe, watering it with unpleasant things (tears, fears) around the clock.
- We noted the gardening language used, providing this tree exactly what trees need to thrive: water and sunlight.
- We talked about the effect the repetition of the word and, and, and, and, and has on us.
- And this was probably for many days, as he sunned it with smiles, hiding his true feelings from the foe.
- We know this went on for a long time because it takes a long time for trees to grow.
- cf. "A Poison Shrub" or "A Poison Flower."
- Garden of Eden imagery:
- Original sin, deception, death as the result.
- Is there a connection between the speaker and Satan, who tempts others to eat the forbidden fruit (with death as the result)?
- It's not clear why the foe would come in and eat the fruit...
- Meant to steal it from someone he considers a foe?
- Or was he deceived into believing they were friends?
- "Stole" could be the speaker's choice of wording because that's how he sees it.
- What matters more, though, is that the speaker is glad about his apparent (outstretched) death.
- Is it a good thing that the foe died?
- Or is it revealing how the speaker has become the kind of person who would think it's good that his foe died?
- Did the foe deserve this?
- It seems not since exact same wording in first stanza, just replaced friend with foe.
- The difference is how the speaker handled it.
- The term schadenfreude comes to mind here again...
- This could apply on a greater scale (e.g. national levels), but most likely this is personal: neighbors, spouses, etc.
November 03
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
William Blake's "Poison Tree":
- We finished our discussion from yesterday.
- See Nov. 02 for details.
- If you were absent, here's a video talking through this poem.
- Here is the painting for this poem.
- The form of this poem fits the function (meaning):
- It's about how short life can be, and it's a short poem with very short lines.
- Like metaphysical poets, Blake here draws comparisons between things that are completely dissimilar in order to get us to realize something profound.
- The speaker carelessly killed a fly and then realizes that his life is just as fragile as the fly's.
- It could be over just as quickly, and without any warning.
- Thought is life?
- "I think, therefore I am."
- But there are times where he isn't (we aren't?) thinking.
- "want of" as in "lack of"
- 3/4/4/4 syllable pattern until the penultimate stanza, which is where it gets more difficult to read and is also the part that is most profound.
- It makes us slow down a little and think about it just like the speaker is thinking it over.
- Despite the syntax, the last stanza ("Then am I / A happy fly") is not a question but a statement about how he is the same as the fly in this way.
- We notice connections between parts of the poem:
- The fly's summer's play is echoed by the man's dancing, drinking and singing later on.
- Then they both are (or could be) ended by some hand.
- In neither case is it God who killed anything.
- It's the speaker's thoughtless hand, and then it's "some blind hand."
- In the beginning and the end, he admits that things he does are thoughtless.
- Does this fit better in Songs of Innocence or Songs of Experience?
- The latter, because he is contemplating the fragility of his own existence.
- Plus, he says he's a man in the second stanza.
November 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Here's the reading schedule for The Grapes of Wrath.
We took a look at the basics about Isaac Asimov
- It's very impressive that he published works in 9 of the 10 classifications in the Dewey Decimal scale.
- This chart makes it even more impressive.
- He's considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers from his era.
- famous for devising the "three laws of robotics," which may come into play with Artificial Intelligence
- You should understand the basics about entropy before reading this story.
- also mentioned:
- We'll talk about the story more tomorrow, as reading it took the rest of the hour.
November 07
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- about 25 years later also wrote a short story called "The Last Answer"
- doesn't seem to be a sequel to "The Last Question"
- talked a bit more about the three laws of robotics
- related to AI today
- how so many stories involving technology touch on this concern (e.g. The Terminator when programming is corrupted...)
- If students were interested in the current story, we may talk more about the others in the "Big 3"
- Heinlein
- Clarke
- If there's enough interest, we also watched this one-minute clip of the A.I. in 2001: A Space Odyssey, a computer named Hal 9000.
- back to the short story "The Last Question":
- things we will consider today and tomorrow when we discuss this story:
- Note the cyclical nature of the story, both from one section to the next and the story as a whole ("restarting" at the end).
- other similarities between segments:
- relationships
- co-workers, family, other explorers, etc.
- curiosity and concern about what will come after us
- The energy will last much longer than our lives, but what about our descendants?
- the expansion and progress of humanity
- exploration, technological advancements that improve human life, etc.
- technology getting smaller and smaller while also getting much more efficient (cf. our computers and phones today)
- relationships
- Note the ending and whether or not Multivac is "God."
- It's very close to all-knowing and all-powerful at that point...
- This reminds me of a book I read a few years ago:
- Dan Brown's newest book, Origin
- It's also worth pointing out some current concerns:
- Chat GPT (as of December 2022
- things we will consider today and tomorrow when we discuss this story:
November 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Consider Elon Musk's efforts in these areas and how they relate to what we read:
- Neuralink (implantable brain-computer interface)
- discussion of why this may be attractive to some people
- patients with paralysis or nerve damage?
- elderly who donate their bodies to science for purpose of advancing our knowledge?
- discussion of why this may be attractive to some people
- SpaceX and the plan to colonize Mars
- Neuralink (implantable brain-computer interface)
- Where would "today" stand on a timeline (say, a line drawn on the board using a meter stick) if one end represented the beginning of time (he Creation/the Big Bang) and the other end represented the end of time (maximum entropy, to steal the phrase from this story)?
- If the age of the Universe is less than 14 billion years, then on a timeline that stretched from one to one hundred trillion years, we would still be near the very beginning of it.
- 14 billion = 14,000,000,000
- 100 trillion = 100,000,000,000,000
- 100 trillion divided by 14 billion = 7142.8571...
- So on that timeline, we'd have to divide it into over 7,000 equal sections, and we'd be at the first one.
- If the age of the Universe is less than 14 billion years, then on a timeline that stretched from one to one hundred trillion years, we would still be near the very beginning of it.
- the concept of an all-knowing, all-powerful God
- an all-knowing A.I.?
- the noticeable improvement of technology just within our own (short) lifetimes
- wondering how long ago it was that an individual could know all the science that humans knew at that time
- e.g. somewhat primitive science and technology: wheel, bow and arrow, refine metal, train animals, etc.
- before it got too complicated so that any one person was not able to "know it all"
- This makes us realize how much we rely on others as "specialists."
- We also discussed elements of the story from earlier, most of which are in my notes from earlier days (see Nov. 06-07 above).
- If time, we also briefly talked about a book that this reminds Mr. Bulgrien of:
- A Canticle for Leibowitz
- "[A]fter a devastating nuclear war, the book spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself."
- upcoming: an assignment based on this and another short story
November 09 (shortened class periods due to Comet Connections)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American (or British) literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- distributed the reading schedule
- Using an audiobook is perfectly fine.
- My advice is to listen while also reading along.
- And it's certainly acceptable to use a study guide (e.g. sparknotes) in addition to reading the book.
- My advice is to read a summary/analysis of a chapter or two and then to read that section of the book.
- It'll help you become a better reader when you look for those kinds of details as you're reading.
- Using an audiobook is perfectly fine.
- We read through the first two paragraphs in "About the Author" (through "traitor to his [middle] class") and the first three in "Half a Million Joads: The Dust Bowl Migration" in an introduction for The Grapes of Wrath.
- Also of note are the dates in the timeline:
- 1936: armed guards use tear gas against striking lettuce pickers (US citizens) in the "battle of Salinas."
- We'll see this sort of thing happen in the book...
- 1966: Cesar Chavez organizes striking California pickers to march on Sacramento
- Obviously, this occurred well after the book, but it's the same concern.
- Interestingly, similar to Steinbeck, Chavez was considered a communist.
- However, he was very much opposed to illegal immigration, as that tends to lower wages of "working-class" citizens.
- 1936: armed guards use tear gas against striking lettuce pickers (US citizens) in the "battle of Salinas."
- Also of note are the dates in the timeline:
- Look for the character Jim Casy to be a Christ figure.
- This doesn't mean he is perfect or sinless.
- Actually, he admits to doing some things that are morally questionable (at best).
- He may be through being a moral leader, but he recognizes that people in his time and situation need a leader to follow.
- This doesn't mean he is perfect or sinless.
November 10
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
William Blake's "The Little Black Boy": Students were divided into groups of three to read through the poem.
- Along with the basics, also look for the following:
- white & black
- How is the poet using these colors to mean different things?
- the mother
- What does she say, in your own words?
- Does the setting (do the settings) mean anything?
- What is going on with the Sun and shade (including clouds, which cause shade)?
- the father
- What's going on here?
- Does this poem belong in Songs of Innocence or Songs of Experience?
- white & black
- southern wild = Africa? Jungle?
- Blake is playing around with multiple meanings for black and white -- colors, good/evil, innocence/sin, understanding/ignorance.
- This boy is black (skinned) but his soul is white (innocent, pure).
- The English child is white (skinned), as white as an angel.
- But is he like an angel?
- The black boy is black as if bereaved of (suffering the loss of) light, but that doesn't mean he's stupid.
- wisdom vs. knowledge
- His loving mother taught him beneath a tree -- connection to nature, out of the Sun.
- He wasn't taught in a school, but he has learned what's more important than what's in books.
third stanza:
- God lives in the Sun?
- How are they similar? Heat (love?) Light (knowledge/understanding) Center (gravity, of central importance).
- Both are also comforting and give joy, as well as life.
- The poem doesn't mention night. There is no "night" around God just as there is not darkness around the Sun.
- Our purpose in life is to learn how to love.
- In Sun language, we soak up beams of love (from God/Sun). So, it's good to have a suntan... and a love tan?
- Our bodies and faces are clouds or shady groves that block the Sun (that get between us and the Sun, either to protect us from its intensity or to block us from seeing it clearly. Perhaps both.).
- using clouds as a metaphor for human bodies
- When we can stand to be in the Sun, when we have learned how to love, we will die
- Then we will hear God telling us to come out of our groves (bodies) and rejoice around his golden tent like lambs, which are often symbols of innocence (e.g. the Lamb of God).
- He says the same things his mother lovingly said to him to the English boy.
- He cares about the English boy as a parent to a child, and as a teacher to a student.
- This leads into the next stanza: When we are dead and in heaven...
- I'll shade him from the heat (God's love) until he can stand it -- because he's not used to it yet -- he's not "love tanned."
- The black boy will be able to bear it more because he has a better, more natural understanding of God's love.
- Plus he would have cultural differences that result from slavery and racism.
- He will treat the English boy like a parent treats his own child, stroking his hair. Silver hair of an angel?
- Then... I'll be like him (although I'm not like him now). Then... he will love me (although he doesn't love me now).
- tone/attitude of the speaker towards the English boy:
- loving, positive, parental
- forgiving?
- definitely not angry, vengeful, holding a grudge, etc.
- whether this belongs in Songs of Innocence or Songs of Experience
- Innocence
- The speaker is a child, plus he's hopeful and optimistic as a young child would be. He hasn't been jaded by experience, at least not yet.
November 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American (or British) literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- reminder to take basic notes on the book whenever we talk about it
- the "intercalary" chapters and how they relate to the nation as a whole during the Dust Bowl
- the practice of using intercalary chapters (note some other famous books as examples)
- We spent some time talking about some questions that usually pop up when reading The Grapes of Wrath.
- Here's a video that talks through a bunch of this stuff.
- handbill, jalopy, Okies, Route 66
- intercalary chapters
- Rosasharn?
- Her full name is Rose of Sharon.
- She's named after these types of flowers.
- We also spent some time looking up pictures about the Great Depression and related topics.
- also information about The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, soup kitchens, etc.
- review (if needed):
- Look for Jim Casy to be a Christ figure.
- This doesn't mean he is perfect or sinless.
- Actually, he admits to doing some things that are morally questionable (at best).
- He may be through being a moral leader, but he recognizes that people in his time and situation need a leader to follow.
- This doesn't mean he is perfect or sinless.
- Look for Jim Casy to be a Christ figure.
- reminder:
- Here's the reading schedule for The Grapes of Wrath.
- Using an audiobook is perfectly fine.
- My advice is to listen while also reading along.
- And it's certainly acceptable to use a study guide (e.g. sparknotes) in addition to reading the book.
- My advice is to read a summary/analysis of a chapter or two and then to read that section of the book.
- It'll help you become a better reader when you look for those kinds of details as you're reading.
November 14
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- "The Fly" (see Nov. 3):
- specifically whether or not the speaker seems to be blaming God for when "some blind hand / Shall brush my wing."
- We agree he is not blaming God here.
- emphasis on "some" as well as "blind," which implies there is no intent
- cf. with the "thoughtless hand" earlier in the poem, meaning not intentional
- We agree he is not blaming God here.
- specifically whether or not the speaker seems to be blaming God for when "some blind hand / Shall brush my wing."
- "The Little Black Boy" (see Nov. 10):
- specifically the speaker's (i.e. the little black boy's) attitude/tone toward the English boy in the final two stanzas
- Notice the use of "thus" twice, meaning "in that way" and then "in the same way."
- The black boy's attitude mimics his mother's attitude toward him earlier in the poem (stanzas 1-2).
- taught / teaching the English boy the same thing
- under a tree / shading the English boy
- parental treatment (on lap, kissing) / both will be children (on father's knee), but notice that the black boy will be standing and stroking the English boy's hair.
- "then" repeated
- implying "not now"
- tone/attitude of the speaker towards the English boy:
- loving, positive, parental
- forgiving?
- definitely not angry, vengeful, holding a grudge, etc.
- whether this belongs in Songs of Innocence or Songs of Experience
- Experience
- some historical context:
- This poem was written in 1789.
- Slavery was abolished in England (i.e. the British Empire but not the colonies) in 1807.
- In fact, the Wikipedia article for this poem points this out this context as well.
- A man named William Wilberforce was instrumental in that movement.
- There's a good movie about him called Amazing Grace (his friend John Newton, also instrumental in the abolitionist movement, wrote the famous song by that title).
- specifically the speaker's (i.e. the little black boy's) attitude/tone toward the English boy in the final two stanzas
- Our first quiz over The Grapes of Wrath (through p.114) will be this Thursday.
November 15
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American (or British) literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- We started out with a discussion of any questions about the novel.
- Actually, students had to come up with at least 5 questions about the book that we could talk about, such as the following:
- Why does the narrator call the bank a "monster"?
- Why would the farmers all be kicked off their land by the banks?
- What's up with the way Al Joad acts? What's going on in his mind?
- Actually, students had to come up with at least 5 questions about the book that we could talk about, such as the following:
- quiz next class over p.001-114.
November 16
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- QUIZ over p.001-114
- After the quiz, we discussed the basics from this section of the book.
- assignment: Take notes on The Grapes of Wrath whenever we discuss it in class.
November 17 (had a sub)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- It helps to see what "soldering" is at the start of this story.
- See more details, including when this is due, on Google Classroom.
November 20 (had a sub)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
after that, independent reading for the rest of the class period
November 21 (had a sub)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
after that, independent reading for the rest of the class period
November 27 (tw0-hour delay schedule due to weather and had a sub due to basketball game in Detroit)
Let's meet our next poet: John Keats.
- Here's a handout with his poems we plan on reading.
- We took a look at (and took notes on) his biographical information here.
- This is a sonnet, so we're going to look for
- a rhyme scheme
- a metrical pattern
- and (most importantly) a shift in thought
- The first two some times reveal the latter.
- Lines 1-4 use farming imagery.
- to explain how he feels about dying (young), before he "harvests" all that's in brain and stores it in "granaries" (i.e. stacks of books)
- Lines 5-8 use stars/constellations.
- to show his lofty inspirations, perhaps connected to great legends after which the constellations are often named
- Lines 9-the first half of 12 are addressed to another person, whom the speaker loves.
- and it seems will only be able to love for an hour (a short time indeed)
- He laments that he won't get to see her any more and that he will never enjoy having a one-sided love.
- either his unrequited love for her
- or her love for him which he won't be able to return
- Lines 12-14 are the turn, and they explain the three when's from lines 1, 5, 9.
- When he thinks about those things
- then he feels utterly and completely alone, saying:
- "on a shore [an image of solitude]
- Imagine someone alone on a beach.
- It would seem more isolated than someone alone in the forest, for example.
- Imagine someone alone on a beach.
- "Of the wide world I stand alone and think"
- He's on a shore that stretches across the world, as far as the eye can see.
- and alone, as far as the eye can see...
- He's on a shore that stretches across the world, as far as the eye can see.
- "Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink."
- sink, with an obvious sad or negative feeling as a result
- and Love and Fame
- two of the most important things for many of us, if not all of us
- sink to nothingness because they really won't matter to him once he's dead...
- "on a shore [an image of solitude]
- Our next quiz over The Grapes of Wrath (through p.230) is scheduled for this Wednesday.
- Here's the reading schedule for The Grapes of Wrath.
November 28
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- Students have until this Friday to catch up with any quizzes or assignments.
As long as there is interest (e.g. students are OK with a couple spoilers), we watched the Thug Notes for The Grapes of Wrath.
- Caution: It is a little bit salty, but I like it for a few reasons:
- It's funny without being too crass.
- It's proof that the book we're reading now is well known and culturally relevant enough for a comedy website to spoof its analysis as well.
- Plus it's also a decent analysis of the basics.
- By the way, we moved the quiz that was scheduled for tomorrow to this Thursday instead.
November 29 (2-hour-delay due to Comet Connections)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- Students had the entire class period to read in preparation for our next quiz over The Grapes of Wrath.
November 30
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
QUIZ: The Grapes of Wrath ch. 11-18 (p.115-230)
Discuss The Grapes of Wrath ch. 11-18 (p.115-230)
Assignment:
- Don’t forget to take notes on this stuff and whenever we talk about The Grapes of Wrath.
- And how Casy, Ma and Tom are emerging as leaders, even though Casy is a disgraced preacher, Ma is a woman, and Tom's not the oldest man in the family.
- especially the last few pages of ch. 18, up to p. 230
- Casy continually asked to pray (or to lead)
- Tom “growing up” (last page of chapter)
- Ma getting fierce due to her love during a time of strain
- This ties in to the previous topic as well.
- p.230: Two other characters even talk about how Tom is changing, "converting," and sounding like the preacher.
- Tom is revealing himself as Jim Casy's disciples, even if he wouldn't word it or even think about it that way.
- the bankers, big-business owners, etc. as "monsters" who don't care about the little guy at all
- the little guys as sympathetic characters who don't deserve what's happening to them, look out for each other, and treat each other like family
- We compared this to other times when people live by the Golden Rule and treat others as family.
- terrorist attack or mass shooting
- hurricane or other natural disaster
- There are still rules that apply, even though law enforcement is unfair to the Okies, and their societies have essentially collapsed.
- We compared this notion to other fictional times when people come together to survive despite the end of civilization as they knew it.
- The Last of Us
- Lord of the Flies
- The Walking Dead
- These communities that sprout up along the way have their own codes of conduct that involve dating/courting, murder, death/burial, sharing, etc.
- There’s more of this in the coming parts of the book, especially when the Joads are at the government camp.
- We compared this to other times when people live by the Golden Rule and treat others as family.
- the "virtuous poor"
- the Wilsons (esp. when they part ways, not taking the money)
- the family stopping by the diner
- the employee at the junkyard?
- the nameless families along the roads who (basically) invite the Joads to camp near them
- the other side of the equation
- the border guards and police
- the owner of the junkyard (even though he doesn’t appear in the book)
- calling people “Okies”
- warnings the Joads get from people leaving California…
(if time) other topics:
- the death of Granma
- Noah wandering off
- Connie and Rosasharn (do you feel sympathy for them?)
- Al (sympathy for him?)
- Are these "realistic" characters?
- Uncle John and his “sin” conversation with Casy
December 01
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
The Grapes of Wrath
- We continued our discussion from yesterday.
- See November 30 for details. I'll keep it all on that one day in order to have it all in one place.
December 04
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
First we spent some time finishing our discussion of yesterday's poem.
- See November 08 for details.
- This poem is about reading George Chapman's translation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, which is still for sale today.
- Homer is widely considered one of the greatest authors of all time.
- There is much we don't know about Homer.
- Even whether or not he actually composed these great epics.
- Notice the Wikipedia entry says he is "credited" as the author.
- Even whether or not he actually composed these great epics.
- There is much we don't know about Homer.
- What's important for our purposes here is that Keats experienced an emotional reaction from the poem, and he sought to describe that reaction in a sonnet.
- Homer is widely considered one of the greatest authors of all time.
- Before reading, we looked up a bunch of words that looked unfamiliar:
- This is a sonnet, so we examined
- the metrical pattern (iambic pentameter, 10 syllables per line)
- and the rhyme scheme (ABBA x 2, CD x 3)
- Based on the rhyme scheme, we figured there would be a shift at line 9.
- Then we noted where the end marks were ; .; : ; . and broke the poem down into those sections.
- I've traveled all over the place, and I've seen great things.
- At this point it's not clear if he means actual places or just literary settings.
- But "realms of gold" makes it sound like he's talking about places from the "Golden Age," so places written about in ancient literature.
- In short, it seems he's saying he has read a lot (specifically, a lot of mythology).
- Now it seems even more likely that he's talking about literature since he brings bards and (especially) Apollo into the picture.
- Bards don't worship Apollo anymore, so he's clearly talking about reading ancient mythology.
- He's heard a lot about this Homer guy, who has (covers) a wide landscape (Greece, Troy, and in between).
- This is quite a "wide expanse."
- But the speaker has never really "gotten" it... until now, now that he's read Chapman's translation of the epic(s)
- It's interesting that he says he heard Chapman speak out loud.
- Chapman died over 100 years before Keats was born, so why would he say this?
- We think he's comparing Chapman to Homer, an oral poet/bard.
- That and that the writing was so good, reading his book was like the author was talking directly to me.
- "Then":
- This is the turn, the shift in focus.
- Notice that the rhyme scheme indicates a shift here as well.
- This is good poetic technique.
- He felt like someone whose job or hobby it is to watch the skies (we pictured someone looking through a telescope) who finds a new planet.
- We considered the excitement that would accompany this discovery.
- A new world!
- "Or"
- This is the same as the previous "then." This is another way of explaining his shift in thought/perspective.
- He also compares the experience to that of Cortez (although he seems to have him confused with the conquistador Balboa) seeing the vastness of the Pacific Ocean from up on a mountain top in Panama (again, the Darien Gap).
- It'd be like a whole new world (well, ocean, although that does include much to explore) has been opened up to him.
- history of exploration
- why Panama Canal located there (why not in Mexico)
- etc.
December 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- See Dec. 04 for notes, which are all in one place to keep it simpler.
December 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- After answering any questions students had, the class was given the rest of the hour for independent reading.
- reminder that our quiz tomorrow is over p.230-330
December 07
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- QUIZ: The Grapes of Wrath (p.231-330)
- Discuss ch. 19-23 (p.231-330)
- Don’t forget to take notes on this stuff and whenever we talk about The Grapes of Wrath.
- We discussed the responses to the quiz as well as related topics, which depend on student questions/comments/interests, such as the following:
- We compared how a book so much about political views could be one of the bestselling books
- We often compare this to a couple authors who also wrote some of the most famous and bestselling books in the twentieth century:
- recent examples of ways that Jim Casy is a Christ figure
- Pay attention to how other characters treat him and how they react to events (e.g. Tom may be Casy's closest disciple).
- Some people are very afraid of unions and organizing into a union.
- They're worried about the unions leading to socialism/communism.
- compare with Cesar Chavez?
- They're worried about the unions leading to socialism/communism.
- how the government camp is Steinbeck's example of a "bottom-up" system that may be able to work (at least on a small scale)
- For what it's worth, Steinbeck is writing about a real camp:
- We'll get into more detail about this section of the book later, including the following:
- At least some Americans at the time (and therefore some characters in the book) would have agreed with President FDR about the need for a "Second Bill of Rights."
- Do Americans have a right to food?
- to a house?
- to a job?
- Do Americans have a right to food?
- At least some Americans at the time (and therefore some characters in the book) would have agreed with President FDR about the need for a "Second Bill of Rights."
- If time, I brought up this quote from this article about the film:
- "And in 1948 Joseph Stalin allowed the film to be shown in theaters in the U.S.S.R., believing that audiences would be enlightened by the misery of the proletariat in the so-called Golden State, the self-described America the Beautiful. Stalin was wrong too. Soviet moviegoers gazed enviously on the jalopy that took the Joads from Oklahoma to California. The message Russians took from The Grapes of Wrath: even the poorest capitalists have cars!"
- If time, that articles reminded me about an article about how the TV show Dallas has been credited with weakening communism as well.
- We compared how a book so much about political views could be one of the bestselling books
December 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
The Grapes of Wrath
- We spent a few minutes talking about John Steinbeck's concerns in this book:
- economic crisis
- the migrant workers
- promises of better life
- facing opposition upon arrival
- and comparing that to what's going on in the world and in our country now:
- economic crises (plural of crisis)
- mass migration in America and in Europe
- promises of better life?
- facing opposition upon arrival?
- These situations are very complex:
- Can you see the migrant viewpoint?
- especially if things are terrible where they are from and they've been promised a better life
- Can you see the resident viewpoint?
- especially if their lives are being negatively impacted (e.g. can't get into hospital now, jobs taken by someone willing to be paid less)
- Can you see the migrant viewpoint?
- Analyzing the "intercalary" chapters and how they relate to the nation as a whole during the Dust Bowl:
- Five small groups will explain one chapter each (1,3,5,7,9) by finding ten phrases, quotes, sentences, or situations that illustrate the given chapter.
- explanation/rationale:
- Steinbeck uses these chapters to show that these situations are widespread throughout the country, or at least the Dust Bowl region.
- Then he uses the Joad family to give us more specifics, as well as characters we care about facing the same things.
- textual analysis
- When reading Pride and Prejudice, we spent some time analyzing passages from each section.
- This is the same thing, except we're handling it in a different way.
- The goal is the same:
- Many people think John Steinbeck's writing is particularly effective, and we should respect his skill.
- I believe we will when we analyze it like this.
- If you were absent today:
- Choose one of the "intercalary" chapters between 1-9 besides chapter 3 to do this for.
- Follow the directions above ("finding 10 phrases, quotes, sentences, situations, etc.).
- This does not need to be long. Really, it could be as short as ten short phrases that fit the chapter's theme.
- the exemption policy
- advice about exemptions
- how the grade is calculated using this formula:
- 1st quarter = 40%
- 2nd quarter = 40%
- exam = 20%
- My advice is to use a semester grade calculator to figure out what you need to get on your exams for each of your classes in order to get your desired grades.
- If you can easily get that score on an exam, take that exam.
- If you would struggle to get that score, then that's a good exam to exempt (if possible).
December 11
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
independent reading: 10 minutes
John Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci":
- If you were absent, here's a video talking through this poem.
- First we talked about the title:
- "the beautiful woman without pity"
- Then we spent some time analyzing a bunch of paintings that were inspired by and based on this poem, such as the following:
- I pointed out how there are two speakers in the poem: the first in stanzas 1-3, then another for the rest of the poem.
- The speaker is asking a knight what is wrong, why he is alone and so pale.
- He repeats his question (lines 4-5), the 2nd time with !, which suggests the knight didn't answer (maybe even didn't hear).
- The setting is dreary, most likely about this time of year, as the sedge is withered, no birds are singing (3-4), the squirrel has a full "granary"(7), and the harvest seems to have been recently completed (8).
- He repeats the notion that the knight is pale ("a lily on thy brow"), but now he adds that he looks sick with a fever
- "anguish moist and fever dew,
- And on they cheeks a fading rose [blush leaving cheeks]
- Fast withereth too" (9-12).
- There are some possible symbolic connections to lily, but it may just be about his face being white.
- (The symbolic meaning for lily has changed over the years: Middle Ages = spirituality; Ancient Greece = sexuality; Christianity = chastity.)
- We'll pick it up there tomorrow, but all notes for this poem will be here to keep it all in one spot.
- The new speaker, the sick knight in armor, answers the question.
- He says he saw a beautiful woman in the meadows, and it seems there was something magical about her since she's described as "a faery's child," and "her eyes were wild."
- It's also likely that she was dancing, as "her foot was light" (14-16).
- We also noticed how the paintings that had her hair very long (especially the one with her hair wrapped around the knight's neck!) were quite accurate to the description in the poem.
- The knight made some flower jewelry for her -- a garland, bracelets, and even a belt (the "fragrant zone").
- In return, she seems to love him, even making a "sweet moan" (17-20).
- He puts her up on his horse, and he looks at her and only her the rest of the day (21-22).
- During which time, she bent over (in his face, apparently) and sang a faery's song to him (23-24).
- "manna dew" (is that like Mountain Dew...?)
- That's interesting, because manna is what God fed the Israelites when they left Egypt (described in the book of Exodus).
- She says (and he says he's sure she says) "I love thee true," but it must not be in English if it's in a strange language.
- So how does he know?
- Body language?
- Tone of voice?
- Magic?
- Or is he guessing...?
- So how does he know?
- She takes him to her magical cave, and she's crying for some reason that isn't clear.
- He shuts her eyes with four kisses.
- We checked out symbolic meanings for the number four, but none really stood out.
- They were the four earthly elements, the four seasons, and mankind (four limbs).
- What matters more here is that he is trying to comfort her.
- We checked out symbolic meanings for the number four, but none really stood out.
- He kissed her eyes shut, but then he fell asleep.
- His dream was pretty sad, and it was the last dream he ever had, meaning
- he keeps having this dream
- he hasn't had a different dream since then
- or he hasn't been able to sleep at all since then.
- This happened "On the cold hill's side."
- What about her grotto?
- Did it disappear...?
- In his dream, he saw kings, princes, and warriors, all pale (and all male, apparently).
- Death-pale. That's not good...
- They warn him about the woman, crying "La Belle Dame sans Merci / Hath thee in thrall!"
- So it's too late?
- And they seem to be in the exact same situation.
- She has conquered all of these important and powerful men.
- Why is her name the only thing in French?
- Not sure. Perhaps to suggest a barrier, such as a language barrier or cultural separation between them.
- Apparently, this warning woke him up, so the kings, princes and warriors were in his dream, and he was still "On the cold hill's side."
- He woke up where he fell asleep under her spell, and he's still here.
- And he's still here now (how long has he been here?) waiting for her to return, even though it's getting late in the year.
- It's interesting that the first and last stanzas end the same way, even though they were spoken by different men.
- The repetition of line 4 in line 48 suggests that nothing has changed since the beginning of the poem.
- Even the arrival of this new person has not brought the knight any hope of escape.
- Whoever (or whatever) this woman is, she clearly has the knight under her spell.
- She may symbolize a woman, women in general, beauty, an addiction or obsession of some sort...
- My take on it is that she can be any of those things, but the author probably intended her as a representation of life itself, which John Keats knew was slipping away from him when he wrote the poem.
- See here (interpretation #3: terminal illness) for more details about that.
- Is he the beautiful woman's next victim...?
- We have no indication that he is sick, but he is another man (we surmise) out here where the other men were previously trapped.
December 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
independent reading: 15 minutes or so after finishing the poem
John Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci":
- We picked it up where we left off last class.
- See December 11 for details.
December 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Check out some images of Grecian urns:
- Notice the artistic skill necessary to write this poem:
- 5 stanzas, all 10 lines each
- all lines exactly 10 syllables long (with the possible exception of line 13, depending on how it is punctuated and pronounced, e.g. sensual as two or three syllables)
- The speaker is looking at the images on this urn while considering the closeness of his own death.
- He seems jealous that the images will never die, never change.
- He seems to be talking to the urn, saying it's married to quietness, a foster-child of silence and time, keeping the history of trees
- The urn expresses a tale better than poetry can, perhaps because it's a physical object and does not rely on language to communicate.
- A picture is worth a thousand words?
- Would it be worth even more on an urn since it's 3 dimensional and more permanent than a painting or a drawing?
- Keep the year of composition in mind for this poem:
- no photography or similar technology yet
- A picture is worth a thousand words?
- Then he asks about the locations, people, gods, and their activity on the urn.
- This stanza seems like a "first glance" at the poem, and he is left with quite a few (seven) questions.
- This has the feeling of the poet walking around or rotating the urn and seeing different parts, one at a time.
- A youth is playing pipes in this scene.
- While heard melodies (songs we can hear) are nice, these unheard ones are sweeter, presumably because they'll last forever.
- Similarly, the trees can never lose their leaves.
- It'll always be Spring!
- There's a lover about to kiss his beloved, and he will never get to kiss her.
- But at least her beauty, their love, and their bliss will never fade.
- The tree will always be in the prime of life, in Spring.
- Just as the piper's songs will always be new.
- And the lovers' love will always be warm, young.
- This scene is far above any human experience, which eventually leaves (with word play on tree's leaves?) a real heart with sadness, sickness, discomfort.
- Notice repetitions of the words concerning timelessness:
- never and nor ever (4x)
- for ever and for evermore (7x)
- This occurs throughout the poem, but mostly here in the center of the poem, after he's had a moment to think about what the urn is showing him.
- The speaker asks the priest in the scene who those with him are, where he's taking the cow, where they are coming from.
- Notice how positively the scene (which really could be quite gruesome) is written about:
- green altar, silken flanks, garlands, little town by river, peaceful citadel, pious morn
- Perhaps a hint of sadness at the end in the word desolate.
- However, it's used in the context of the city's emptiness due to the unity of the people in the community ritual.
- The speaker seems to have stepped back away from it to address the urn as a whole again (as in stanza 1).
- The exclamation points are a clue to the speaker's emotional state.
- They seem to have started in the middle (lines 20, 21, 25) and built up to this stanza (2x in line 41, then lines 44 and 45)
- This silent urn makes him consider things deeply, just as thinking about eternity does.
- The speaker and his entire generation will die from old age (or death at a young age, as awaited the poet)
- Yet this urn, which is a friend to men, will still be here.
- It will be in the midst of other woe than ours.
- not its own woe, but that of future humans, who have to deal with sadness
- unlike the urn
- Still, it provides us with a message:
- "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," which is "all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
- We speculated what the final lines could mean.
- the urn's message and the assurance that its message is all we actually know and all we need to know
- There has been a debate about what it means, even whether it's the best or the worst part of the entire poem.
- Gods chase.
Round vase.
What say?
What play?
Don't know.
Nice, though.
December 14
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- See December 13 for details since all notes for that poem are in one place to keep it together.
- reminder: Our last quiz over The Grapes of Wrath will be on Monday, December 18.
December 15
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- distribute Robinson Crusoe books
- brief introduction to Robinson Crusoe using the first ten or so of these slides.
- other famous variations of this story that prove the novel's influence:
- The Swiss Family Robinson
- What if it's a whole family that is stranded?
- book (1812)
- movie (1960)
- attraction at Disney parks (1962)
- Lord of the Flies (1954)
- What if it's a group of boys that are stranded?
- Hatchet (1986)
- What if it's just one boy that's stranded?
- Cast Away (2000)
- a modern version
- The Martian
- Lost in Space
- a family version in the future
- original TV series (1965-1968)
- reimagined series (2018-2021)
- Survivor (2000-??)
- a reality show as a contest
- The Swiss Family Robinson
- other famous variations of this story that prove the novel's influence:
After answering any questions, students had the vast majority of the hour to read The Grapes of Wrath.
- reminder: Our last quiz over The Grapes of Wrath will be on Monday, December 18.
December 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- QUIZ: The Grapes of Wrath (p.331-455)
- Don’t forget to take notes on our discussions whenever we talk about The Grapes of Wrath.
- Notes on the entire book will be an assignment due by the end of this week.
- John Steinbeck's religious views
- He seems to write about religious people negatively.
- even Jim Casy, to a certain extent, since he is something of a shamed pastor
- awkward prayers throughout the book
- such as a prayer mentioning the baby Jesus in a manger that reminds us of Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights
- He seems to write about religious people negatively.
- How did John Steinbeck fare/live during the Great Depression?
- How did John Steinbeck learn all of this in order to write about what people were going through?
- Steinbeck was a reporter, and he came across many news stories about the Depression and "the lives of the displaced migrants."
- What’s up with the deputies? Why are they trying to start riots in the government camp?
- Likely: business owners and/or California citizens (not Okies) said to sheriff, “I pay your salary; my taxes pay your salary.”
- Also because they consider organizing (e.g. unions) to be communist ("Red").
- And they're not entirely wrong.
- There is definitely a close relationship between unionization and communists, especially in the 1930s and '40s.
- In theory, unions are "bottom up," similar to the government camp.
- Let's back up to something from p.294-296:
- Why would Mr. Thomas (a landowner, farm owner) want to help out those who stay at the government camp by warning them about the plot to start a fight and then have deputies barge into the camp?
- Notice how he's different from the vilified land and business owners.
- He is up close to his employees, even working alongside them.
- In the book, bankers and landowners that mistreat others are usually far removed from them, not having to ever see them or talk to them.
- Notice how he's different from the vilified land and business owners.
- Also, is there something symbolic about having the name Mr. Thomas (similar to Tom, and also the name of one of Jesus' disciples)?
- Why would Mr. Thomas (a landowner, farm owner) want to help out those who stay at the government camp by warning them about the plot to start a fight and then have deputies barge into the camp?
- Not hurting the agitators at the dance, and then saying “They don’t know what they’re doin’.”
- That’s Jesus right there… Luke 23:34
- An interesting demonstration:
- 5,000 people in the streets with their guns (for their “turkey shoot”), and the message is they won’t be pushed around by the rubber company.
- Is this the reason for the 2nd Amendment?
- This part about destroying the crops and pigs when there are hungry people is very sad because people are starving.
- Is there an excuse for this?
- What would the landowners’ rationale be?
- Possibly to increase the price for these goods by decreasing the supply.
- Related: What is the value of an item or a service? (Whatever someone else is willing to [voluntarily] pay for it.)
- Is there an excuse for this?
- This section of the book is where the title comes from (p.349).
- You can tell there’s trouble brewing, pardon the pun.
- “[H]eavy for the vintage,” as if we’re making wine here. Wine takes a fairly long time to make, and it’s very potent…
- the concept of Jesus in the wine press
- Here is the song this phrase comes from.
- Most of you have probably heard this song.
- p.375: There are many signs at their next job that something isn’t right here:
- police escort to get to the work site, “our own people” picketing, the deputies don’t want to explain, etc.
- The store here is pretty clearly set up to make it so the workers are literally working for food and only food.
- And what do you make of this guy’s claim that “a fella got a right to eat”?
- (In case you missed it, we talked about FDR's "Second Bill of Rights" earlier [Dec. 03].)
- Ah, this is the problem business owners have with the government camps:
- Now the Joads expect warm water, as if that's a luxury.
- Picketers are described as Reds.
- The fear is that picketing will lead to unions, which will eventually lead to communism.
- Jim Casy! He’s been into the wilderness, echoing the experience of Jesus. Matthew 4:1
- And the author wants us to compare this guy to Jesus, so he even has Casy say Jesus' name a couple times so we don’t miss the comparison.
- “It’s need that makes all the trouble.” Is Jim Casy right?
- Jim Casy’s philosophy about a larger soul and being a part of a "collective soul" is interesting and worth talking about if we have time.
- The scam:
- This has been done before. 5 cents per basket of peaches… for now.
- It’ll be 2.5 cents later....
- This has been done before. 5 cents per basket of peaches… for now.
- So if Jim Casy is right about his prediction, that the payment will be cut 50%, he’s like Jesus, who made predictions that came true.
- Yes, Jim Casy’s predictions are based on recent trends, things that are easy to predict, but still, this is yet another similarity between him and Jesus.
- p.344: Casy: “You fellas don’ know what you’re doin’.” He says that twice, clearly sounding like Jesus. Luke 23:34
- And then he gets killed.
- This bit about Ma letting Pa hit her: Is that spousal abuse or just teasing?
- I think what we’re seeing here is Steinbeck’s views about women and how women can be leaders.
- Ma is stepping up when the men aren’t. When/if she doesn't need to be, she won't be.
- p.418-419: These may be the two most important pages in the book, at least as far as the author's message is concerned.
- Tom is quoting the Bible verses that Casy told him.
- Tom is Casy’s disciple.
- These are verses about people working together and strength in number.
- Tom is quoting the Bible verses that Casy told him.
- I think this is Steinbeck’s call to action through Tom Joad.
- He wants people all over the nation to create a system like there was in the government camp.
- A little lower, it sounds like he’s advocating taking property away from those who have a lot.
- This is close (if not precisely) what Marx wanted with communism: the abolition of private property.
- The way Steinbeck explains it (and the way it probably was), the smaller farmers had little control over prices and wages.
- Those kinds of things were set by an Association that controlled such things in order to benefit themselves and make it so the smaller farms couldn’t really compete against them.
- p.448: This baby is being sent down the river like Moses.
- He or she is being sent with a message, and perhaps it is the same message that Moses delivered later in his life (Let my people go!)
- Or perhaps the baby has a different message:
- Uncle John tells the baby to rot in the street, and maybe the people who see it will know something then. What?
- Perhaps just how badly the Okies are suffering.
- This is a very sad ending, especially with the death of the baby.
- I think it’s the author’s way of showing that everything ISN’T going to be OK after the Great Depression.
- There won’t be an ending like “And they all lived happily ever after,” or “And everything worked out in the end.”
- This has been so devastating that there will be no way to get back what they’ve lost.
- Still, it’s not completely without hope.
- There’s a way to survive.
- There’s a way to help others.
- Perhaps Steinbeck is trying to make the case for communism here.
- He’s at least trying to get us to step out of our way to help others in a new way:
- It may not be what we want, what we’re used to, or what we’re comfortable with, but (he seems to be saying) it can work if we do it.
- We also talked about how the politics in this book may be blatantly obvious.
- The government camp is so great!
- The business owners and bankers are (almost) all so evil!
- but we compared this to many other popular/famous authors of fiction deal directly or indirectly with political controversies or at least points of view:
- 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell
- surveillance, poverty and inequality, censorship, nationalism, etc.
- anti-totalitarianism, perhaps anti-communist (although it's worth pointing out that Orwell was a socialist)
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- note these themes as well as the section about property rights and individualism
- The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis
- note the author's goal
- War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
- especially this interpretation
- State of Fear by Michael Crichton (author of Jurassic Park):
- denial that climate change/global warming is a crisis
- This article explains how many thriller novels these days "reflect the partisan politics of our time."
- 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell
- There was some mixture of feedback, but most of the negative side amounted to not enough action.
- Other than that, some think the constant portrayal of the poor as "virtuous" is too over-the-top with little to no exceptions.
- On the affirmative side, feedback included the following:
- excellent skill as a writer
- This book won the Pulitzer Prize.
- interesting connections to politics of the day as well as religious teachings and the Bible
- chance for us to experience other situation(s) from different perspective(s)
- historical accuracy about the Dust Bowl, the Depression, etc.
- excellent skill as a writer
- Additionally, I pointed out that it could be said that the novel is occurring today.
- Consider what is often called the "migrant crisis" in the USA (e.g. in New York City) and also in other parts of the world, especially Europe.
- Why are all of these people leaving?
- same or similar reasons the Joads and other "Okies" left their homes?
- Why are they heading where they are?
- same or similar reasons? Were they given a modern equivalent to a "handbill" promising jobs, a better life, etc.?
- Why are all of these people leaving?
- We talked briefly about how this book allows us to see both sides of this issue:
- the plight of the migrants, many of whom, we're sure, are like the "virtuous poor" in the novel
- the residents who worry what will happen to them due to the sudden influx of people
- economy/jobs
- resources/schools/hospitals/housing
- crime/assaults
- Consider what is often called the "migrant crisis" in the USA (e.g. in New York City) and also in other parts of the world, especially Europe.
December 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American (or British) literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- We finished out discussion of the novel today.
- See Dec. 18 for details, which are all kept in one place to keep it simpler.
December 20-22
EXAMS
SECOND SEMESTER
Throughout the semester, I'll be reading (usually 1-2 paragraphs per day) from the book Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds, by Richard J. Light.
january 08
January 09
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
January 10
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
January 11
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
reminder: any day we're reading a poem by e. e. cummings, the plans will be in all lowercase whether he would want it that way or not :)
January 12 (half day due to weather forecast)
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
notes from the poem:
January 15 (no school: MLK, Jr. Day)
January 16 (no school: snow day)
January 17 (no school: snow day)
January 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
January 22
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
January 23 (no school)
January 24 (2-hour delay)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
January 25
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
January 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
Robinson Crusoe:
January 29
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
January 30
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.10, penultimate full paragraph
January 31
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
e.e.cummings' poem "next to of course god america i":
Throughout the semester, I'll be reading (usually 1-2 paragraphs per day) from the book Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds, by Richard J. Light.
- This book is full of good advice that I wish I had heard prior to my first day at college.
january 08
- notes related to e.e. cummings will be in lower case, whether he would want it that way or not :)
- cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- we checked out a poem by e. e. cummings:
- here's the poem: "r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r"
- here's the handout (intentionally kept separate from the handout below)
- if you were absent, check out this video here.
- we noticed how the form fits the function of the poem.
- the poet is able to make meaning using a chaotic, irregular form.
- much like following a grasshopper around
- next poetry movement: Modernism
- We flipped through a decent amount at that site to see how complex Modernism is and also how it ties into multiple branches of art:
- fiction, poetry, drama, painting, sculpting, architecture, etc.
- also talked about the Guggenheim Museum
- including my experience there, especially with this exhibit, which allows viewers to take a piece of it
- We flipped through a decent amount at that site to see how complex Modernism is and also how it ties into multiple branches of art:
- Robinson Crusoe (reading schedule)
- Starting today would mean averaging 7 pages per day (including weekends) before the first quiz.
January 09
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- modernism
- next poetry movement: Modernism (discussed this site yesterday)
- we discussed the slides about modernism (roughly slide 33 and following).
- then we took notes on e. e. cummings.
- handout: poetry packet for e.e. cummings
January 10
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (include shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- We spent time answering/discussing any questions concerning Robinson Crusoe.
- two quizzes (first half, second half)
- it's nice to have someone (else) read this out loud in order to hear the flow (and interruptions) of the poem.
- nine is probably not the title of the poem -- it was the ninth poem in the collection
- perhaps coincidentally, there were nine interruptions by the clock in the poem, although there were others from the kisses
- the interruptions of the clock and the kisses make parts difficult to read.
- notice how the poem can be read clearly and more easily by taking out the tics and tocs and extra kisses.
- notice how there are no rude interruptions during the section about Spring.
- there aren't any punctuation marks of any kind there
- although there rarely are any in cummings's poetry, anyways...
- there aren't any punctuation marks of any kind there
- but Spring is left to flow on its own, naturally, at its own pace.
- and keep in mind how Spring is often considered to be when romances start
- perhaps this is backed up by science (interesting, perhaps gross, article here)
- Without more context (e.g. the poet's other writings or else many poems about the same subject), it's difficult to know whether this is of major importance to the author or if it's just something that occurred to him and he wrote a poem about it at the time.
- we talked about some of the following or similar questions:
- when did you wake up this morning?
- what time will you eat today?
- we reflected for a bit just how much of our day is dictated by "what time it is" rather than "what comes naturally"
- so what about the kissing at the end?
- the speaker seems to be disregarding the clock (at least as much as he can - it still creeps in 3x in the final stanza)
- and perhaps that (partial) disregard of the clock leads to more pleasant (more natural) experience with love
- still some interruptions, but mostly by kissing and not by the clock
January 11
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- introduction explaining how much research went into the book
- 10+ years, well over 100 colleges and universities, etc.
reminder: any day we're reading a poem by e. e. cummings, the plans will be in all lowercase whether he would want it that way or not :)
- and remember to take notes on this poem directly on the handout.
- If you were absent, watch this video to introduce this poem and talk about a few things to look for when you read it.
- check out the very first words to virgil's aeneid for comparison
- "I sing of warfare and a man at war"
- the point:
- the introduction of "olaf" echoes the epic style.
- but instead of a hero warrior, this is a new hero, in this case a pacifist hero.
- epic heroes embody the values of their culture
- e.g. Aeneas and his devotion to Rome (his sense of duty)
- cummings is trying to popularize new values, such as the value of objecting to war.
- we should understand what a conscientious objector is (including the movie hacksaw ridge as an example).
- here's a trailer for that movie.
- it's a great movie - you should definitely watch it if you haven't seen it yet.
- notice the rhyme scheme that means some wording is out of order, and unscramble the words to help you make sense of it
- olaf's commanding officer is a colonel who graduated from West Point (trig can mean "stylish" or "precise")
- the colonel tries to talk olaf into fighting
- but when he still resists, the officer allows the noncoms to "persuade" him with violence
- apparently by giving him a swirly (icy waters, which others stroke with brushes, muddy toiletbowl)
- while others beat him with blunt instruments.
- we note the sarcasm in the bullies' "kindred intellects."
- there's nothing "intellectual" going on here.
- this is the brute force of a group of bullies.
- but, true to the spirit of real pacifism, olaf does not fight back.
- he doesn't even get angry!
- the colonel (silver bird) left, ostensibly to go shave.
- but that's probably just an excuse to be out of the way when the real (even worse) torture starts.
- probably so the colonel can have plausible deniability.
- people yell so much they lose their voices.
- and they kick olaf so much they wreck their boots.
- they also "skillfully applied" red-hot bayonets to his rectum, at least branding him with them, possibly sodomizing him with them.
- still, olaf won't give in, and he won't swallow their "sh**"
- which we take to mean their love of war, their mentality, etc.
- the president himself even gets involved, and he has olaf thrown in a dungeon
- which brings medieval torture to mind, if it wasn't there already
- and olaf dies there
- the speaker hopes to see Christ and olaf, seeming to equate the two.
- if not that, then he at least wants us to note the similarities between them:
- innocent
- beaten by others he was trying (or would have tried) to help
- never fought back
- ended up being killed
- (at least seemed to) forgive his assailants
- even as they were killing him
- if not that, then he at least wants us to note the similarities between them:
- the speaker reiterates at the end that it was not cowardice but his bravery that made olaf reject war.
- more blond than you?
- our take on this involves olaf's pacifism not sprouting from non-american ideals
- an inaccurate example, but what the author may have in mind, is something like this:
- "olaf is a red-blooded, blond-haired american, just like the rest of us."
- more blond than you?
- here's an interesting article about an author who was inspired by reading this poem
January 12 (half day due to weather forecast)
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
- get ready to take notes on this poem, like we always do
- read the poem "here is little effie's head" (with a partner, if at school)
- discuss and jot down the things you notice in the poem (metrical pattern, rhyme, loaded words, symbolic meaning, etc.)
- tip: try to insert quotation marks to indicate where different people are speaking in order to make it easier to unpack.
- If you were absent, watch this video.
notes from the poem:
- the name Effie
- Is that short for something?
- Effort?
- If so, that's perfect! Not full effort, which is largely what the poem is about.
- also sounds like Iffy
- Is that short for something?
- gingerbread for brains
- not very flattering
- we can make things (even people) out of gingerbread, but it's not very strong or substantial, or really that attractive either.
- these crumbs (what a great word for what's in her head) are small, worthless, remainders
- compare "crumbs" with other possible words:
- fragments, pieces, parts
- "crumbs" is so perfect here.
- compare "crumbs" with other possible words:
- the six crumbs are about potential and obligation, which Effie must have not lived up to:
- they never say what they did, specifically.
- they say what they didn't do (nothing wrong) or what they were in general terms (we were good)
- some more great wording:
- "crumbs chuckled":
- one reason for chuckling is out of nervousness, which seems to apply here.
- compare with other potential words: laughed, giggled, snickered, guffawed.
- one reason for chuckling is out of nervousness, which seems to apply here.
- "don't punish us for we were good":
- they seem defensive, even first thing.
- "with some shame / whispered":
- probably the most ashamed because it's the word must, which denotes an obligation to do something.
- it must not have done it if it's ashamed to bring it up...
- probably the most ashamed because it's the word must, which denotes an obligation to do something.
- "(want a match or can you see?)":
- her head must be large enough (for a brain), meaning there's room for more than just crumbs, yet it's dark enough (because it's empty) to require a match to look around.
- "subjunctive crumbs":
- subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality such as wishes or unlikely scenarios
- indicative mood: "When I was young, I used to..." (I actually was young, so that's reality.)
- subjunctive mood: "I wouldn't do that if I were you" (not "was you" because I'm not you and never will be)
- see here for some more explanation and examples
- subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality such as wishes or unlikely scenarios
- "mutilated thumbs":
- even without being mutilated, if someone had all thumbs, it'd be almost impossible to get anything done.
- "the innumerable capering damned":
- just how many people are like this, like Effie? are they damned for the same reason?
- "crumbs chuckled":
- why is God there in the first place?
- her soul never came out of her body, so he's there looking for it
- perhaps in a morgue, as it mentions pulling up a sheet at the end
- did she have no soul at all?
- And if not, why not (when others apparently did, since God was there expecting to find one)?
- This is the judgement of Effie.
- It's not clear what happens to Effie.
- definitely not Heaven
- doesn't mention Hell either
- nothing?
- There is no Effie there to judge (since Effie didn't even do anything)?
- It's not clear what happens to Effie.
- her soul never came out of her body, so he's there looking for it
- and notice the last two lines repeat the first two lines
- what is the effect of that?
- no progress, no growth / going in circles, getting nowhere
- what is the effect of that?
January 15 (no school: MLK, Jr. Day)
January 16 (no school: snow day)
January 17 (no school: snow day)
January 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
- Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.8, 2nd full paragraph
- the importance of learning outside the classroom
- Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.8, 3rd full paragraph:
- more quizzes, more small assignments, and more feedback for revision > fewer assessments
- We talked briefly about Mr. Bulgrien's experiences with different class (grading) formats in college:
- many assignments (quizzes, etc.)
- three essays, a mid-term, and a final exam
- just a mid-term and a final exam
- just a final exam
- just an essay (one essay for the entire semester, no tests at all)
- the reading schedule
- some useful links
- slides, audio, online text
- We didn't look at anything about the story "The Test" until after we read it.
- I read the first page, and I pointed out how the author tells us important details as we go, starting right away.
- "second driving test" = failed her first one
- "better if a white person shows up with you" = Mrs. Ericson is white; Marian isn't.
- "the girl's set profile" = Marian is sure about race being a factor.
- "Anybody would slide on a steep hill on a wet day like that." = seems to be why Marian failed the first time
- "four mistakes to flunk you" = more than just slipping on the hill
- "I don't remember doing all the things the inspector marked down" = some disagreement about why she failed, but Marian has no control in the matter.
- After that, students read the rest of the story (which we'll do in class tomorrow).
- What we'll discuss is here just to keep everything connected to this story in one place:
- We will talk about what kind of emotional reactions they experienced while reading and what about the wording and the scenario made us react those ways.
- Students typically report feeling frustrated, irritated, angry, let down, disappointed, etc., by the inspector's treatment of Marian.
- We discuss in detail how the author makes us feel that this time will be different and then how things suddenly and surprisingly get bad/offensive and continue to get worse as the story progresses.
- How does the author affect how we feel about each character?
- Marian
- Among other things, notice her age.
- Plus, she has a college degree.
- a.) What do these details make us think/feel about her?
- b.) Why do you think she may be a housekeeper/nanny when she has a college degree?
- the instructor
- including the switch between instructors in paragraph 16
- Mrs. Ericson
- Marian
- How does the author affect how we feel about each character?
- also in the story:
- We will talk about what kind of emotional reactions they experienced while reading and what about the wording and the scenario made us react those ways.
- What we'll discuss is here just to keep everything connected to this story in one place:
January 22
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- After that, discuss any questions involving Robinson Crusoe.
- Don't forget that we moved our first quiz from this Wednesday to Thursday this week.
- Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.8, 4th full paragraph and the first full paragraph on p.9.
- collaborating on homework is more often expected (even required) in college these days
- Mr. B. pointed out how collaboration and study groups are not the same as just getting answers from others.
- We spent some time talking about the AP test and how to get some extra practice online using Bluebook.
- This requires your College Board login credentials.
- I read the first four paragraphs of this article with students, and then they had time to read the rest.
- (Here's the original source, if you want it.)
- After reading it, we discussed it as much as there was interest:
- personal reactions, other teachers or professors in our experience, etc.
- assignment: write a reflection to this article on the back (try to fill it up, or at least get close) that shows you thought about it yourself.
- agree with author?
- disagree with author?
- different reaction altogether?
- your own experiences?
- This is due anytime this week.
January 23 (no school)
January 24 (2-hour delay)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- Then students had the majority of the class period to read independently.
- reminder: quiz over Robinson Crusoe p.001-112 tomorrow
- tips:
- quiz questions will have to do with
- how Robinson Crusoe treats other people (prior to arrival on the island) or
- how he is able to do so much on his own due to the supplies, landscape, weather, etc.
- and responses will need to include specific details
- e.g. not just "He was mean to Xury and sold him into slavery."
- need some specific details there
- quiz questions will have to do with
- tips:
January 25
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- QUIZ: first half of Robinson Crusoe
- After that, we discussed the quiz responses.
January 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Robinson Crusoe:
- First we had an opportunity to answer any questions about the book.
- Examples:
- What does his island look like?
- Why doesn't he explore the entire island? He certainly has the time...
- What's so hard about getting a good tree for a canoe?
- Large (enough) trees don't grow close to the shore.
- Large trees need more solid ground, and trees near the shore are more vulnerable to storm winds as well.
- Large (enough) trees don't grow close to the shore.
- Examples:
- Then we talked about the main ideas, such as the following:
- How this book can be read in at least three ways:
- 1.) adventure story
- 2.) criticism of British society at the time (more about this in the second half)
- slave-holding, imperialist, greedy, etc.
- Consider how wealthy companies like the East India Company were.
- and what that did to their culture in the long term...
- Consider how wealthy companies like the East India Company were.
- Life in the "middle station" of life would be better for us.
- slave-holding, imperialist, greedy, etc.
- 3.) Christian allegory/model
- either on a large scale (the entire Bible) or a personal level (life of a Christian)
- Robinson Crusoe himself alludes to the similarities between his life and stories in the Bible:
- the parable of the Prodigal Son
- Jonah
- the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, aka Dives and Lazarus (Dives meaning "the rich man")
- Robinson Crusoe himself alludes to the similarities between his life and stories in the Bible:
- either on a large scale (the entire Bible) or a personal level (life of a Christian)
- how so many events in his life could be interpreted as miracles:
- survived shipwreck, for obvious example
- on an island safe from large animals or hostile people
- but enough food nearby to have a balanced diet
- ship remained close and accessible long enough to get pretty much everything off of it...
- "planting" the spoiled corn (that rats had gotten into)
- plants that take root = fences for protection
- not being swept out to sea when caught in the current in his canoe
- his sickness
- away from medicine (except rum/tobacco)
- his vision? God's message?
- What about our lives?
- I think the book invites us to ask, "Are there events in my life like these that might be miracles?"
- the value of money compared to the value of items/tools
- the amount of work it takes for one person to make something simple from scratch (really from scratch)
- How this book can be read in at least three ways:
January 29
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- reminder: next quiz is Thursday, February 8, over the second half of Robinson Crusoe.
- class size (smaller is better); better yet, mentorship/internship (close to one-on-with with professor)
- After that paragraph, classes often talk some about their knowledge of class sizes.
- either their own experience in dual-enrollment or else that of a sibling or friend who graduated recently
- Students sometimes ask me questions about my experiences in college, so we will talk about that, if they care to.
- assignment: take notes on this article as we read through it.
- We spent just a couple minutes looking at some locations mentioned in the article:
- Guinea, which is mentioned in Robinson Crusoe, so we know where he is in the world
- Madeira, Morocco, Senegal
- what a privateer was
- This is the island where he was actually stranded.
- One of these two islands around here has since been renamed (at least nicknamed) Robinson Crusoe Island.
- Still, fewer than 1,000 people live there today.
- the many similarities between the accounts
- the strength of Sellkirk's religious beliefs when he was stranded
- forced to live without his vices - made him a better man
- most importantly: how the money he had after his ordeal made him less happy than when he was alone on the island but had all his necessities.
- We looked up how much money that 800 pounds would be worth today using a British Pounds inflation calculator and an exchange-rate calculator to determine that it was over $230,000.
January 30
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.10, penultimate full paragraph
- working with others, faculty and other students, on meaningful academic pursuits
- This is hugely important, and many students who feel disconnected/isolated at college can trace it to not making an effort to join up with other students in some type of collective pursuit.
- including this video and explanation about the slave trade across the Atlantic
- related since Robinson Crusoe was getting involved in the slave trade
- It's disturbing how many people this involved and for how long.
- Many people today are unaware of the extent of the problem as well as how slaves coming to North America was a small fraction of those sent to slavery (and death) in the Caribbean and South America.
January 31
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- working with others (not just socializing) is key, with students and with faculty
- the importance of good writing - especially getting specific feedback
- I also explained that a good way to think about writing is that it is simply "explaining your thinking."
- I would encourage someone who might say "I can explain in a conversation; I just have trouble putting my words on paper," to use a dictation program or app so that he or she can just explain it like it's a conversation.
- I also explained that a good way to think about writing is that it is simply "explaining your thinking."
- p.11
- foreign-language classes -- very positive experiences for students and alumni
e.e.cummings' poem "next to of course god america i":
- first, i told the class it's a jumble of things they've heard before.
- we had the author read this one out loud for us using this youtube link.
- the speaker has jumbled bits and pieces of familiar political songs and speeches in a way that doesn't make sense
- perhaps most notably, the two fragments of songs in the first four lines
- this may shock you, but there's a definite rhyme scheme
- actually, it's a sonnet
- trying to make an order out of it, but it's still nonsense, scrambled
- the speaker (most likely a politician?) is not supposed to make sense
- he's just repeating the words he's "supposed" to use to show his patriotism
- notice that he seems to be glorifying warfare, but we get the sense that he's always talking about others and not his own experiences
- it's an example of this guy talking the talk but not walking the walk
- it's easy for him to say things about bravery under fire and dying for a cause ("heroic happy dead") when he doesn't actually have to do it himself
- other single words and phrases that stand out as "stereotypically political" or "canned" words that a politician is supposed to say include the following:
- pilgrims
- every language
- glorious
- beauty / beautiful
- heroic happy dead
- like lions
- liberty
- the narrator of the poem (who says the last line) has also inverted normal word order
- "drinking quickly a glass of water," as opposed to "quickly drinking a glass of water
- it's possible this is done just to maintain the rhyme, but it could also be that the narrator has been affected by the speaker's speech.
- and what he says about the speaker drinking water implies that the speaker is not drunk, which obviously would affect his speech
- this is the way he "means" to speak, his words a chaos of political jargon
- here are some more explanations of the separate parts of the poem if you want more.
February 01
learning target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- personal study techniques, e.g. small groups, time logging
- I handed out a version of a time log and commented on how previous students have gone on to college and found that this helps a great deal.
- additional handout: dorm move-in/shopping checklist
- my advice: put these in a box set aside for college, moving out, etc.
- I handed out a version of a time log and commented on how previous students have gone on to college and found that this helps a great deal.
e. e. cummings: "anyone lived in a pretty how town":
- If you were absent, watch this video first.
- And then watch this one second.
- "anyone" and "no one" seem to be individual people (e.g. Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith).
- but their names also work on another level, meaning that -- literally -- no one loved anyone in this town.
- pay attention to the way the people act in this town (besides anyone and no one). what's pretty about this town?
- how is this town pretty?
- this title reminds me of people asking "funny how" when told something is funny, since there are different types of funny.
- it doesn't answer; it asks us -- it doesn't seem pretty at all.
- how is this town pretty?
- plural words (everyone, men, women, children, someones, etc.) are used for other people of the town.
- and they are never written about in a good way.
- "anyone" and "no one" seem to live their own way, pursuing their own happiness.
- both positives and negatives (line 4: "he sang his didn't he danced his did")
- "no one" has things in common with her husband, "anyone":
- she laughed his joy (both of them are happy)
- she cried his grief (both are sad)
- the rest of the townspeople are always negative
- "sowed their isn't and reaped their same"
- "said their nevers,"
- and even sleeping -- as opposed to living -- their dream
- and children learn from the adults that "no one loved [anyone] more by more."
- even though "someones married everyones," they didn't have things in common:
- they "laughed their cryings" instead of joy, as with anyone/no one.
- when people in this town grow up, they forget to remember things
- we took that to mean they forgot how to trust, accept, love, etc. like children seem to do naturally, at least more often than adults.
- no one cared when anyone died:
- again, note the double meaning as 1.) character names and 2.) literal meanings.
- "women and men... went their came"?
- quite a few of these things in the last stanza are in backwards order from the way they're normally said:
- men and women (although we typically say "ladies and gentlemen")
- ding dong
- came and went
- possibly even sowing and reaping
- if talked about in this manner, i think most people would say sowing and reaping, the order in which they one does them.
- for comparison, there is the saying "you reap what you sow"
- these backwards constructions lead the reader to notice what else is backwards in this town
- the way people treat others
- the way they forget things as they grow older
- the way they laughed their cryings
- the way they slept their dreams (instead of trying to live them)
- quite a few of these things in the last stanza are in backwards order from the way they're normally said:
- we also note the revolving seasons and days (or weather), and how it has the effect of showing that time is passing.
- notice that the seasons are never out of order, the way human behavior is.
- sun moon stars rain
- seems to be a short span of time (a day, perhaps)
- spring summer autumn winter
- seems to be at least a year, but the way it shifts each time gives us the impression that it's more than just one year passing.
February 02 (half day: Comet Connections and SnowFest assembly)
February 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
- True self-esteem comes from actually mastering something (and something difficult, especially), not from just "pep talks."
- additional handout: dorm move-in/shopping checklist
- my advice: put these in a box set aside for college, moving out, etc.
- reminder: quiz over second half of Robinson Crusoe this Thursday
- 1-2 minutes to read, re-read
- 1-2 more minutes to write your thoughts (with some hints "if you're stuck" spaced throughout)
- we talked about the following:
- the form of the poem and how it matches the meaning
- the individual words
- the word groups
- the shape of the poem
- the direction of the poem
- the division of the words
- even one-syllable words are broken up, separated
- the images and feelings associated with the poem
- no one reported having a pleasant or positive feeling about the poem.
- we don't know if this is the first or the last leaf or one in the middle.
- what matters is that it is alone.
- and we don't know where it goes, exactly.
- we just know that it is alone.
- it is impressive how the author has said and suggested so much while actually saying so little.
- textual analysis #1 (p.001-112):
- p.013: slavery
- not so dreadful? not that bad as a slave?
- "prophetic"
- Whether his father ever realizes it or not, Robinson calls his father's speech "prophetic."
- A prophet is someone who speaks for God.
- not just making predictions about the future
- also just telling people what God wants them to hear (e.g. warning)
- further on this topic:
- Heaven / redemption
- "this was but a taste of the misery..."
- foreshadowing suffering to come
- p.041: money
- "drug": an interesting metaphor for money
- in common between them: addictive, harmful, "expensive," etc.
- put the part about one knife into an equation:
- one knife = a heap of gold
- might as well not even take the effort to pick it up
- second thoughts: takes it anyway :)
- because it's a drug and he's still addicted to it? perhaps
- "drug": an interesting metaphor for money
- p.063-064: dreaming
- ague = fever
- "outside of my wall" = exposed
- threatening:
- storm, black cloud; earthquake, earth trembled; bright flame of fire, flashes of fire; a long spear or weapon... to kill me
- a man:
- an angel? a demon or the Devil?
- p.013: slavery
- That's as far as we got today. We'll finish it tomorrow.
February 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.23-24, 26
- the challenge and the importance of time management
- back to textual analysis #1 (p.001-112):
- p.063-064: dreaming
- voice:
- "All I can say I understood was this": makes it seem like there was (much) more that he couldn't even understand.
- second paragraph:
- It had a long-lasting effect on him, even though it was a dream.
- So...
- Was it God that spoke to him to warn him in this dream?
- Or was it a vision/hallucination from the fever/dehydration?
- We don't ever find out, and Robinson Crusoe never says...
- voice:
- p.082: change of mindset
- more happy than life before the island
- not both happy, but happier now than was before
- Before... But now...
- simple, basic way to describe a change
- "prisoner, locked up with the eternal bars and bolts of the ocean"
- interesting metaphor, calling the ocean "bars and bolts"
- It is effectively a prison just as much as a jail cell.
- interesting metaphor, calling the ocean "bars and bolts"
- so much better now that he actually thanks God for bringing him to the island (not just for saving his life)
- We pointed out the negative terms in the paragraph starting with "Before":
- anguish, heard would die, deserts, prisoner, locked up, without redemption, sigh, look upon the ground (i.e. down), tears, grief, etc.
- Then the positive terms in the paragraph that begins with "But now":
- comforts, never leave (i.e. always remain), nor forsake (i.e. never abandon), blessing of God, etc.
- He's happy God brought him here specifically (not just happy to be alive).
- more happy than life before the island
- p.094-095: contentment
- lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye, pride of life, nothing to covet:
- These are some of the deadly sins, and they involve not being content.
- I was lord / king, emperor / no rivals, no competitor:
- He is in control.
- enough repeated at least 4x:
- a great way to reinforce the feeling of contentment
- looking "upon the bright side"
- This saying is now a cliche, but when written over 300 years ago, probably not then.
- "our discontents... spring from the want [lack of] of thankfulness for what we [already] have."
- lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye, pride of life, nothing to covet:
- p.063-064: dreaming
February 07
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- surprisingly, involvement in clubs/activities and having a job do not hurt grades,
- but they do make students happier and feel more satisfaction with college life
- similarly (and again surprisingly), having a job does not hurt grades, even if the work schedule is not flexible
- Then students had the majority of the class period to read independently.
- reminder: quiz over Robinson Crusoe p.112-225 tomorrow
February 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- QUIZ: second half of Robinson Crusoe
- After that, we discussed the quiz responses.
February 09
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Students who volunteer have slightly higher grades than those who don't.
- Athletes have lower grades but feel happier than other students.
- This sometimes gets us talking about college, and students may ask questions about my experiences in college (jobs, social life, etc.)
- discussed the book and related topics:
- moral relativism
- Are the cannibals near Crusoe's island morally wrong for cannibalism?
- Is cannibalism always wrong?
- Can something be morally wrong (not the same thing as illegal) at times but acceptable at other times?
- other positions concerning morality:
- moral nihilism
- moral absolutism
- moral universalism (not exactly the same thing as absolutism)
- Are the cannibals near Crusoe's island morally wrong for cannibalism?
- moral relativism
February 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- textual analysis #2 (p.112-225):
- p.112: seeing a footprint:
- fight or flight (or freeze, as in this case)
- cf. his metaphor at the end:
- hare, fox (afraid to get eaten, just like Robinson...)
- cf. his metaphor at the end:
- significant words in this section:
- my fortification, my castle
- words and thoughts that indicate fear, paranoia
- why just one?
- First, is that even possible?
- Second, since that seems improbable, why would the author write about it this way?
- why a naked footprint?
- fight or flight (or freeze, as in this case)
- p.142: plague of mankind?:
- plague = dangerous, deadly, spreading disease
- in this case: not being satisfied/content
- "my primitive condition"
- early developmental stage
- "my original sin"
- connection to Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden
- Robinson's father had one rule...
- words that denote time, patience:
- gradually, by this time, remained,
- "hazard" = risk
- a get-rich-quick scheme
- p.149: first interaction with Friday:
- Friday's fight, flight, or freeze reaction
- smiled at him
- independent of language/culture
- Friday's signs of deference/respect/asking for mercy
- "in token of"?
- If taken alone, it seems this is an assumption on Rob's part.
- "in token of"?
- pleasant to hear Friday's voice
- perhaps because of good voice, nice-sounding words
- at least mostly since hadn't heard another human for 25+ years...
- Friday acting similar to an animal
- Similarly, Robinson has to communicate with him similar to how he would with an animal.
- tone of voice, welcoming (non-threatening) motions/signs
- Similarly, Robinson has to communicate with him similar to how he would with an animal.
- p.150: first description of Friday:
- lots of positives, especially in first paragraph
- Is it racist or racially biased to compare him to a European?
- Or is he just putting it in terms he understands? that the readers would understand?
- Remember how this would have been not only pre-Internet but also pre-photography.
- Perhaps most of DeFoe's audience would never have seen non-Europeans.
- Or is he just putting it in terms he understands? that the readers would understand?
- seems to have negative things to say (at least in comparison to Friday) about Brazilians, Virginians (by which me most likely means Native Americans) and other races
- more signs of Friday's desired servitude
- Repeatedly putting Rob's foot on his head and the many other signs of control over Friday let us see that Rob was not just assuming what Friday meant by putting the foot on his head.
- It seems Friday very much wants to be Rob's slave.
- Most likely this is a cultural practice of his
- compare with the concept of fealty
- also compare with Chewbacca in Star Wars
- Most likely this is a cultural practice of his
- not equals?
- "his name should be Friday" instead of asking what his name is
- "taught him to say Master" - not calling him Robinson or Rob
- Does Friday even know Rob's name at this point...?
- equals?
- On the other hand, what about eating with Friday here? Eating the same things and eat with him?
- Isn't this communion in the non-religious sense?
- Do we do these things with non-equals?
- p.209-210: now wealthy:
- "estate" often used to indicate significant property or wealth
- words related to (increase in) concern:
- more care upon my head, great charge upon me, meddle with it
- words related to hiding things, trust/distrust:
- secure it, hide my money, without lock or key, knew not where to put it or whom to trust with it
- "where I wanted nothing but what I had, and had nothing but what I wanted"
- poetic form to write about one of the main points of the entire book
- The middle station of life is better than either the high or the low.
- I didn't want things I didn't have (had enough, not greedy).
- I didn't have extra things I didn't need (don't have to take care of extra things).
- poetic form to write about one of the main points of the entire book
- p.112: seeing a footprint:
February 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- the impact of art classes on students' career choices and other future decisions
- textual analysis #2 (p.112-225):
- finish anything we didn't discuss yesterday
- Then we started discussing the book as a whole:
- meant to convince people that the middle station in life is the best
- discusses race and race relations in a complex manner, but consider how readers of the book would be English/Europeans, most of whom would not have seen people from other continents
- see p.150 in Feb. 12 for more detail
- briefly talked about moral relativism again
- see Feb. 09 for more detail
- briefly talked about whether or not Robinson Crusoe is racist or a slave master
- consider how Friday shows that he wants to be a servant
- p.166: Tells R.C. to kill him rather than send him back home.
- justification for violence (p.125)
- Is Robinson Crusoe justified in attacking cannibals who have not yet harmed him (and who don't even know he's there)?
- cf. just war theory
- cf. American involvement in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Afghanistan after 9/11, Iraq after 9/11...
- Is Robinson Crusoe justified in attacking cannibals who have not yet harmed him (and who don't even know he's there)?
February 14
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- classes in arts leading to self-knowledge (strengths, weaknesses, interests, etc.)
- We finished talking about the novel and related topics:
- using these slides as a jumping-off point as needed
- First, we considered how long any of us have actually ever been alone.
- with or without a pet
- but without using a phone or social media to connect to others
- not very long...
- So we considered how much truly being alone would affect us, especially if it's for an extended amount of time.
- It's hard to imagine, but this novel helps.
- We talked for a bit about how this book relates to the American classic Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
- Except he left society by choice in order to simplify his life.
- We reflected on the conflict between moralities in this book (e.g. to eat people or not to eat people) by discussing where morality comes from:
- religion
- But what if our religions disagree, or what if someone has no religion?
- cf. Friday's religion, where a shaman or priest is the only authority on the matter.
- society
- Again, but what if we disagree?
- reason/science
- And again.
- Still, most of us acknowledge that we have gained a lot from having a religious background that is specifically Christian:
- opposed to slavery (at least now)
- concepts of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, individual rights, etc.
- religion
- p.209L What he means when he mentions how the end of Job was better than the beginning.
- and how that compares to his situation
- Friday and the bear, if needed
- how Robinson still wants to travel at the end of the book
- Perhaps it's in his blood.
- And he may not be afraid anymore. What's the worst that could happen?
- Especially if he was happier on the island...
- We ended by reiterating how this novel is at least three things, all at the same time:
- 3.) Christian allegory/model
- 2.) life advice about how life would be better for us "in the middle station"
- We compared this to the life of the Amish, especially since they have a choice at age 18.
- 1.) adventure story
- We will start with his poetry tomorrow.
February 15
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6
- Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
- In class, we will read these two sonnets (both named "Ozymandias") on this handout so students wouldn't know who wrote which one.
- It'll help to know just the basics about who this Ozymandias person was.
- It seems these two poems were written as part of a friendly competition between friends - two sonnets about the same subject.
- This way we can vote for the one we like more without being influenced by Shelley's fame or reputation.
- rhyme scheme
- a little irregular: not ABBA ABBA but ABBABABA
- metrical pattern
- a sonnet, so should be 10 syllables per line
- a statue left over from ancient Egypt
- That's all that remains, a statue and apparently enough of an inscription or carving explaining what the statue used to depict.
- Everything else is gone completely.
- used to be a huge statue (if even the leg is gigantic)
- used to be an impressive city
- used to be a "monument" to his achievements ("the wonders of my hand")
- Why call it a "forgotten Babylon" if this is in Egypt?
- Our take on it is that it's so long forgotten that even the speaker is getting these once great but now non-existent empires confused.
- line 8, first words
- We wonder = us today (at the time of his writing but also now)
- line 8, rest of line and following through end of poem
- This is about the (distant?) future and what could (will?) happen to our empire.
- We noted that this poem is direct about the future (which is still in our future today) because it mentions London in an imagined future, when there is almost nothing left of it.
- We may think we are great and powerful, but what will happen to our work after we're gone?
- It's important to consider how wealthy, powerful, and influential the British Empire was at the time.
- What would this poem's author say about the USA today...?
- We checked out some pictures of this statue, which it seems was originally almost 60 feet tall! image 1, image 2, image 3
- This is a sonnet.
- We looked for the shift, which isn't always easy to nail down.
- The rhyme scheme is probably a clue: ABABA CDC EDE FEF.
- The most likely spots are after line 8 or after line 11.
- Most of us thought it was 8 because of the shift in focus from the crumbled statue to the inscription on the pedestal.
- We looked for the shift, which isn't always easy to nail down.
- The sculptor had great skill in capturing the likeness of the pharaoh because we can still see his attitude:
- frown, wrinkled lip, sneer, and the cold command which reveal his passions
- the inscription:
- He is a king over other kings.
- He is mightier than mighty people.
- It's an ironic statement on this inscription now that the statue has crumbled (half sunk, shattered).
- Now, there's not really any evidence of this guy's greatness that has survived the ages.
- nothing beside remains, decay, wreck, bare, level sands
- Now, there's not really any evidence of this guy's greatness that has survived the ages.
- Now, why might someone write about this for an English audience in the early 1800s?
- Perhaps the speaker was warning them about how "Pride goes before a fall" or "The mighty have fallen."
- Consider how great the British Empire was at that time.
- "The sun never sets on the British Empire" because it stretched across the entire globe.
- Now consider how it has since collapsed.
- even to the point where Scotland voted very recently on whether to secede from the United Kingdom, and it was a close vote...
- And they'll vote on it again this year...
- After discussing both poems, the class voted on which of these poems we think is better:
- The first poem won by a lot.
- The interesting thing to me is that the first poem was written by Horace Smith, and the second one (the loser in our competition) was written by the much more famous Percy Bysshe Shelley...
- Here's some more information about their "competition."
- Ozymandias is also the name of a comic-book character
- and an episode of Breaking Bad...
- Better yet, we can have Bryan Cranston read today's poem for us.
- It's from a commercial for the TV show Breaking Bad.
- Apparently, the episode called "Ozymandias" is considered one of the greatest episodes of any TV show of all time.
- This discovery is similar, as the Mayan civilization got wiped out, despite how great and powerful they were in their prime.
- an interesting comment from a reader: "Someday Manhattan will be rediscovered the same way."
February 16 - no school (Presidents' Day weekend)
February 19 - no school (Presidents' Day weekend)
February 20
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6
- Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
- symptoms of trouble (needing help):
- 1.) feeling isolated and continuing the same things by studying independently (or giving up entirely)
- Students have been encouraged to read something else between now and the AP test.
- (This often takes two days, but all notes for this poem are here to keep it all in one place.)
- Reminder: We saw on his Wikipedia page that Shelley was a controversial figure for his social and political views.
- This poem is definitely about those.
- It's at least borderline revolutionary.
- Does this compare to "Beasts of England," the song the animals in Animal Farm?
- This poem is definitely about those.
- Lots of questions in the first half, then it shifts into statements (with the exception of line 27) for the second half.
- Lots of references to hard physical labor, the type of which the average person would do:
- plough, weave, sow, forge, etc.
- This poem is talking to people who do these things and telling them that the fruits of their labor (fruits both literally and metaphorically) are being stolen from them by lords, tyrants, drones, imposter(s), the idle.
- Those who steal are also written about as vampires, as they "drink your blood" (line 8), sucking the life out of these people.
- Stanzas 5-6 play off each other
- the first saying what is happening
- and the second saying that what the Men of England are doing is good
- but they should be doing it for themselves rather than others.
- The tone shifts again for the last two stanzas.
- It seems to take an almost sarcastic approach, employing reverse psychology and verbal irony (cf. "Old Ironsides" by O. W. Holmes).
- Here it sounds like the speaker has given up on his audience as he tells them to get back in their low, cold, dank places (cellars, holes, cells) and to be OK with the chains that they themselves made being used to restrain them.
- Likewise, they should use their work implements to dig their own graves and make their own burial clothes, because England is going to be their tomb.
- In other words, they are allowing themselves to be worked to death for the benefit of others
- they might as well dig their graves, lie down in them and die...
- Whom, exactly, is he speaking to?
- All men of England, or just some?
- Notice that he includes a variety of laborers:
- farmers (plough, sow seeds), taylors (weave, robes, clothe), and blacksmiths (forge weapons, forge arms)
- Note the negative terminology for the people who take from the "men of England" the poet is addressing:
- lords (who lay ye low), tyrants, ungrateful drones, and even those who drink your blood
- We call those last ones vampires.
- They suck the blood (i.e. the life) out of their victims.
- Is that what the rich and powerful of England were doing to their laborers at the time?
- lords (who lay ye low), tyrants, ungrateful drones, and even those who drink your blood
- Are these questions (stanzas 1-5 and line 27) rhetorical questions, or is he expecting answers?
- "Drones" (line 7, 11) plays off the "Bees of England" (line 9), which itself plays off "Men of England" (line 1).
- What do drone bees do?
- Who are the drones in this context?
- Who are the other bees mentioned, then?
- And what is a secondary meaning of the word drones besides bees?
- What's at play in line 10 when he says weapon, chain, scourge?
- What are these things used for?
- Are they for different things, or is there something that unites them?
- e.g. slavery (controlling slaves)
- Why might Shelley use the words wherefore (which means "why," not "where") and ye in this poem when they were already old-fashioned words by his time?
- Is he trying to sound old-fashioned for some reason?
- to sound like Shakespeare for some reason?
- inspiring?
- Is he trying to sound old-fashioned for some reason?
- Notes the majority of the questions are in the first half of the poem.
- The second half has only one question mark.
- It's also interesting that all (at least most) of the lines in the first half have seven syllables.
- Nearly all of the lines in the second half have eight syllables.
- Significance?
- Perhaps he's building on something?
- Or if we follow his advice, there will be growth, improvement?
- It seems like a conscious choice by a professional poet.
- If so, it's an example of the format of the poem fitting the function of the poem (i.e. the meaning).
- What is the tone of lines 21-24?
- Inspirational? Defiant? Defeated?
- What is the overall tone of the poem?
- Inspirational? Defiant? Defeated?
- It says this is a song.
- Actually, some groups (e.g. the English labor movement) have set it to music.
- Is there something about it that could be used as a hymn or rallying cry?
- Do you think Shelley is calling for a violent rebellion, or does he want something less confrontational?
February 21
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6
- Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
- Students have been encouraged to read something else between now and the AP test.
- the importance of getting help when needed
- We finished talking about this poem.
- See Feb. 20 for full details.
February 22
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- management of time.
- Students had the option to read or else to look through some sample poetry written by students to get a sense of what kinds of poetry may be expected for a poetry contest put on by Jackson District Library.
- In popular culture:
- Wordsworth is mentioned in a Taylor Swift song.
- Some years, after seeing where he was born, we spend a few minutes looking at places with odd names.
- He has an emotional reaction when he sees a rainbow.
- His heart "leaps up."
- We take that as a positive, for sure.
- Compare with my heart sank.
- His heart "leaps up."
- The rainbow is something beautiful and awe inspiring, wonder-full :)
- I think it still is for many of us today.
- I often see pictures of rainbows on people's social media.
- Many of us associate rainbows with the idea of gold at the other end.
- Even then, there's a positive or lucky feeling about them.
- Think about what the first rainbow ever meant, according to the book of Genesis:
- After Noah's Flood, it was God's covenant never to flood the Earth again.
- So it was a promise of safety. From God, no less.
- Are there other religious connections?
- The last line mentions piety, and it's possible that the three So's suggest the Trinity.
- Suggesting the Trinity is possible, but this next part is rock solid:
- So was...
- So is...
- So be it when I shall...
- past, present, and future
- If his heart is ever unable to leap up at the sight of something so beautiful, then life isn't worth living anymore.
- And notice that this is the shortest line in the poem.
- The format of the poem fits its meaning.
- If he ever gets so that he doesn't react this way, his life should be cut short.
- "The Child is father of the Man."
- This is a famous line.
- irony: it seems backwards:
- Men are fathers of children.
- So shouldn't it be "The man is father of the child"?
- But it's true as he wrote it:
- The person you are as a child "gives birth" to the adult you.
- You're not the same person, exactly, but you are closely related (like a father to a son).
- He wants his days to be connected by "natural piety."
- There can be multiple meanings here:
- First, piety means religious, especially properly religious.
- This could mean treating nature as something holy.
- It could also mean it's a piety that's natural for him, a part of him (it comes naturally).
- There can be multiple meanings here:
February 23
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.37-38
- critical thinking (not just learning answers).
- a useful picture
- After having a student volunteer read the poem, students had 3-5 minutes to read it again with the instructions to look for a few things in particular:
- positive or negative wording, feelings, associations
- personification
- verb tense (e.g. past, present, future)
- the direction(s) the speaker is looking
- stanza 1:
- looking down (and feeling down?)
- Lonely (a negative term).
- Day time.
- Personification of flowers: crowd, host (welcoming), dancing.
- This is a vast separation between a cloud (the speaker) and the vales and hills (whoever he feels separated from).
- looking down (and feeling down?)
- stanza 2:
- looking up at the stars
- Night time.
- Comparison to stars means these flowers are a heavenly host (like angels?)
- More personification: tossing their heads (which suggests laughter, joy) and dance.
- looking up at the stars
- stanza 3:
- looking around, out
- Waves are also personified (danced). He didn't realize it right away, but later he realized he can think of the flowers this way.
- Personification (of flowers): glee, company.
- looking around, out
- stanza 4:
- looking inside (himself, his mind)
- solitude (a positive term, as opposed to loneliness)
- "bliss of solitude," perhaps even suggesting his solitude is intentional
- He can choose to dance with the daffodils just by using the memory of this experience.
- looking inside (himself, his mind)
- the poem as a whole:
- Wordsworth's connection to Nature is obvious.
- Transcendence (a "shazam!" moment of realization) from the mundane/physical world (looking at flowers) to having a spiritual realization.
- Dance is in every stanza (dancing, dance, danced, dances).
- The orderly metrical pattern and rhyme scheme make it something one could dance to...
- Also, Wordsworth and the other Romantic writers believed poetry should be for the common man.
- This poem is about an experience that anybody could have.
- seeing or thinking about flowers, stars, waves
- And it's written in a way that anybody could understand and relate to.
- feeling lonely, converting that into feeling connected to other things, other people
- This poem is about an experience that anybody could have.
February 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account.
- critical thinking
- Some students who struggle with this think they're doing the same things their peers are because they can't see anything obviously different.
- Today's section had a quote from a student about how she figured it out.
- Here are some additional links if you want to see them for yourself:
- We took notes on our author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- a link to his most famous poem: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
- We checked out the metaphor of an albatross (around one's neck)
- And we looked at how big an albatross is compared to a man.
- It's worth checking out the poem's wikipedia page.
- Perhaps most importantly: Coleridge considered being a minister.
- Also, he believed that mankind needs to have a proper relationship with Nature in order to live properly and in order to have a proper relationship with God.
- Must do: check out "The Ancient Mariner" in popular culture.
- This poem has had significant influences on many other writers and even modern music and movies.
- Can this entire story be read as a metaphor for Christianity?
- Compare it to a Christian's experience of sin, redemption through Grace, and penance?
- There are 7 parts. What is significant about the number 7?
- The poem is cyclical, both with the setting (mentioning the wedding) and also with the mariner's trip and return in the narrative.
- Coleridge was led by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.
- He believed that true religious experience is one that is felt through faith, not one that is a matter of reason or understanding.
- If you were absent, here's a video reading through and discussing Part 1.
- We took note of the rhyme scheme, including internal rhyme.
- One out of three wedding guests is stopped by this old sailor before the guest can get to the wedding.
- We talked about how we know the ship is sailing to the south (based on the position of the Sun) and how they must have sailed to the Antarctic.
- The wedding is starting (perhaps the song "Here Comes the Bride"), but the old man won't let the guest go before hearing the story...
- ice bergs, danger; but then an albatross flew up, bringing good luck?
- We looked up where albatrosses live.
- They fed the albatross, and it became a sort of pet of the sailors.
- Until the speaker shot and killed it!
- Why would he do that?
- He didn't even know why he did it.
- Compare it to this brief clip of a basketball player clothes lining an opponent.
- This is similar to what happens in this poem:
- Without thinking about it, a man did something that he probably wouldn't do if he had time to think about it.
- Why would he do it when others may never do that?
- Have you ever done something stupid (reaction, reflex, without thinking) and you couldn't explain why?
- That's actually a somewhat legitimate reason, because there are some things that we do without thinking about it.
- They have a lot to do with what type of person you are.
- What are your instinctive reactions?
- This is related to the notion of Coleridge's philosophy of religion, that is it something felt but not understood
- He didn't even know why he did it.
February 27
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account.
continuing "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner":
Part 2:
- We talked about how we know they're heading north now.
- The other sailors believe this was a bad thing, to kill the bird.
- But then they change their minds when they think the bird also brought fog/mist, which are very dangerous for sailors.
- People can be fickle...
- The breeze stopped completely.
- The Sun is red at noon ("Red Sun at morning, sailors take warning..."), and there's no drinking water.
- These are some of the most famous lines in English poetry:
- "Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."
- He sees some strange, slimy sea creatures and wonders if he's hallucinating...
- probably as a result of dehydration
- The men are pretty sure they are being cursed by something that followed them from the Antarctic:
- the bird's spirit?
- Mother Nature's wrath?
- a demon?
- So they hang the huge bird around the speaker's neck.
- This is where the common metaphor comes from.
- Something comes up close to the ship.
- It's another ship!
- But some bad associations (connotations):
- the masts block the Sun like bars in a dungeon (stanza 8), and they look like ribs of a skeleton (stanza 10).
- There's only a woman and Death (the Grim Reaper) on the ship, and they are apparently playing dice, gambling for the souls of the crew.
- Cool simile: "Fear at my heart, as at a cup, / My life-blood seemed to sip!"
- Everyone else (200 men!) on the ship dies!
- They all look at the Mariner and curse him as they die.
- With every death, he hears the sound of a crossbow shot, reminding him of his guilt!
- Notice that every part of the poem (at least so far) ends mentioning or alluding to the death of the albatross.
February 28
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds: p.39-40:
- "getting the requirements out of the way"
- why some students struggle with the usual plan for this
Part 4:
- The wedding guest was worried he's talking to a ghost, but the Mariner assures him he's still alive.
- Again, he says he saw thousands of slimy things in the sea (which he first saw in part 2).
- It sounds like he's being negative here (slimy things, rotting sea).
- He tried to pray, but he couldn't... He tried to die, but he couldn't.
- He went on like this for a week!
- By the way, this trying to pray and failing is similar in the ways that matter to Claudius in Hamlet.
- They both can't pray because they're not right with God, they're in the wrong mindset or relationship with God.
- In this case, the ancient mariner is not right with Nature.
- He was the type of person who would shoot an albatross for no reason, without thinking about it.
- Then he uses some much more positive words to describe the sea snakes.
- They are glossy, velvet, golden -- as opposed to slimy (above)
- We're watching a religious conversion here.
- He now sees the ocean snakes (which he called slimy or gross before) as beautiful, using positive words like
- "shining white"
- "elfish light"
- "rich attire"
- "glossy green"
- "velvet black"
- "golden fire"
- He now sees the ocean snakes (which he called slimy or gross before) as beautiful, using positive words like
- He loves these things, and he blesses them unaware. (He repeats this so we can't miss it.)
- He was unaware of why he killed the albatross -- something beautiful and good -- earlier.
- And now he has completely changed his perspective on Nature.
- And all of a sudden, he can pray again! (because of his religious conversion, which is connected to nature)
- And all of a sudden, the very heavy albatross falls off his neck on its own.
- The "weight has been lifted," literally.
- The speaker's change brings about changes in nature:
- The rain returns (big time).
- There's just one rain cloud (which suggests it is one sent specifically for him).
- He's getting rained on like a river is pouring on him.
- He's being purified, baptized, cleansed.
- The wind comes back.
- But he never feels it... like it's a spiritual wind instead of a physical one...
- The rain returns (big time).
- The crew's bodies (including his nephew's) rise again and man the ship, although it wasn't their souls that returned.
- There were good spirits ("spirits blest") that came and took control of the bodies to help the Ancient Mariner return to England.
- Why mention his nephew?
- My guess is that he'd definitely recognize him (personal connection) and be likely to speak to him if it's really him.
- But it isn't really him...
- My guess is that he'd definitely recognize him (personal connection) and be likely to speak to him if it's really him.
February 29
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7
- Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
back to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner":
Part 5:
- (see Feb. 28 for the first part of Part 5)
- The wind comes back. But he never feels it... like it's a spirit wind...
- He's not feeling any wind, though, perhaps because there's something moving the ship from beneath.
- That same spirit that was under the ship after he shot the albatross is back...
- He's not feeling any wind, though, perhaps because there's something moving the ship from beneath.
- The ship basically rocks back and forth for a while and then shoots forward so quickly it makes the mariner pass out (stanza 21-22).
- This reminds me of some toy cars that work that way...
- While he's unconscious, he hears two voices talking about him.
- One (the spirit that's moving the ship, apparently) asks if he is the man who killed the albatross.
- The other voice, a softer voice, responds that he has done his penance.
- and he will continue to do more penance.
- This is similar to the idea of purgatory.
- Perhaps talking to strangers (including this wedding guest) is part of his penance...
- Who are these two voices he hears while he's passed out and the ship is traveling at warp speed?
- Possibilities include
- the sailors' souls
- birds
- or even angels (which seems most likely to me)
- We don't know much about them, except that
- they can fly
- one calls the other "brother"
- they need to fly higher
- and they will be late if they don't hurry.
- Possibilities include
- The speaker wakes up and sees the bodies standing there, looking at him.
- He still felt -- and probably still feels -- guilty ("The pang, the curse, with which they died, Had never passed away").
- He feels a wind blowing, but it's not making waves or affecting the water.
- It feels like a welcoming wind.
- And the ship moves swiftly, but it's not the breeze that's moving it ("On me alone it blew").
- It's worth noting that the Greek word pneuma meant breath, spirit/soul and also wind.
- Someone educated in the priesthood, like Coleridge was, would be well aware of this overlap.
- It takes him back to where he started, and the word kirk stands out as a noticeable word from part 1.
- He has come "full circle," but unlike most poems we've read that include this, he has made progress; he has changed.
- The bodies are still on the deck, but now they have angels ("A man all light, a seraph-man, On every corse there stood") that are glowing red standing over each one.
- These serve as a beacon -- kind of a reverse light house -- that allows people on shore to see the ship even though it's nighttime.
- Previously he said the moon was out.
- These serve as a beacon -- kind of a reverse light house -- that allows people on shore to see the ship even though it's nighttime.
- The angels wave to him as they leave, and a boat comes up with three people in it.
- First, one of them is a pilot.
- More importantly, there are three of them. Why three?
- Could this be significant as a lucky number?
- Or perhaps even representative of the Holy Trinity?
- especially if one of these is a father, and another is a son...?
- And the third is a spirit...ual man, a hermit
- Being a hermit doesn't mean he avoids all society.
- He just lives in the woods, by himself.
- I think this is important since it indicates he is as connected to Nature as he can possibly be.
- Apparently, they saw the lights from shore and came to investigate.
- The speaker hopes the holy hermit will "shrieve my soul, he'll wash away The Albatross's blood."
- Clearly, this is forgiveness for his sins.
- Remember something we talked about at the start of this:
- Can this entire story be read as a metaphor for Christianity?
- Compare it to a Christian's experience of sin, redemption through Grace, and penance?
March 01
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7
March 04
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
March 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
March 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
March 07
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
March 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
March 11 (no school - teacher PD day)
March 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
March 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
March 14
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
March 15 (2-hour delay due to Comet Connections)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
March 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
March 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
March 20
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
March 21 (half day)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
March 01
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7
- Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
- Remember to take notes on each part of this poem.
- These notes will be due after we're done with the poem, which will be today.
- And here are some notes to consider as well:
- This hermit is holy and closely connected to nature (he prays all day, and he kneels on moss when he does so).
- The three in the boat are confused by how this ship even made it here.
- The sails and the ship are in horrible shape, not fit for sailing.
- So how did it get here? A miracle?
- The sails and the ship are in horrible shape, not fit for sailing.
- The ship sinks just as the little boat comes up, and the speaker is pulled into the boat.
- This reminds me of the end of "The Pit and the Pendulum."
- or Toy Story 2!
- This is a deus ex machina plot device.
- This reminds me of the end of "The Pit and the Pendulum."
- The three in the boat think he's dead until he moves his lips and starts rowing the boat.
- I wonder what he looked like if they thought that...
- He wasn't swimming. He was floating as if dead.
- Did he really die? Has he been brought back to life?
- Did he at least die symbolically?
- Now he has a new life.
- He told this story to the hermit, and feels "free" after confessing it.
- Every once in a while, he has agony until he tells the story again.
- He just "knows" who needs to hear his story, e.g. the wedding guest.
- Apparently he has a gut feeling or something that tells him who needs to hear from him.
- The wedding is now over.
- And why does it happen at a wedding?
- Why not just have the speaker address the reader directly?
- Perhaps it is because of what weddings represent:
- A new beginning.
- A joining of two separate entities (in this case, mankind and Nature?) into an intimately connected relationship that will last until one of them dies.
- Perhaps it is because of what weddings represent:
- Why not just have the speaker address the reader directly?
- The wedding guest missed the entire thing, but the mariner leaves him with some parting words:
- "He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."
- "He prayeth well, who loveth well
- Man's relationship to nature is of utmost importance, and it affects his relationship to God.
- Do you want to pray? Good.
- Do you want to pray better (or best)? Even better.
- In that case, love all things.
- Doing that is the best type of prayer.
- It matters how we define prayer.
- If it's communication with God (or gods, etc.), then is what he's saying the best type of "prayer"?
- The wedding guest is sadder (why?) and wiser (why?) for having heard this.
- Is he better off? (Why or why not?)
- If there's time, we may talk about the statement that "Ignorance is bliss" and whether that's true or not.
- note: "bliss" does not mean "safe" or "better off."
- And notice that the guest slept on it before he "rose the morrow morn" sadder and wiser.
- This sleep could be a metaphorical death and resurrection, the "birth" of a new man, thanks to the mariner's story.
- I think this poem is way more interesting when we consider how it is a metaphor for Christian beliefs of sin and redemption.
- If that's true, who are the other people (e.g. the hermit, the wedding guest)?
March 04
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
- 10 minutes
- This part is particularly important.
- as well as the future assignment...
- Soon we will read a story that can be compared to this one.
- You'll be asked to write a response comparing the two stories.
- In order to save time and effort later, take notes while reading this one about the following things:
- the ways the author makes the reader feel sympathy or feel little or no sympathy for the characters
- the ways the author writes about scientific details
- the ways the author writes about life and death
- the attitudes, intentions, and inner thoughts of the characters
- the way the characters change throughout the story
- the perspective of the narrators (1st person, 3rd person limited, 3rd person unlimited, etc.)
- things the reader is never told about
- predictions you had when first reading the story – and why you had those predictions
- the way you feel about the story’s ending
March 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
- Nearly all students who struggle always study alone.
- Soon we will read a story that can be compared to this one.
- You'll be asked to write a response comparing the two stories.
- Remember to look for (and take notes on) the author's methods and effects (see March 04 for more details).
March 06
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
- Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
- had option to read independent book or to read (reread) "The Cold Equations" prior to our disussion
- debunking myths about science classes #1:
- new students are interested in sciences - and female students are as well
- debunking myths about science classes #2:
- students prefer professors who focus on research
- especially how the author generates feelings of empathy/sympathy within us for the characters and what they face:
- name of character (for the girl as well as the pilot, also the girl's brother)
- female, young, pretty, smart, family-oriented, not rich, "mama & daddy" makes her seem childish/young
- confused and scared
- only breaking rule for something good/understandable
- We also examined ways that Barton (the pilot) showed his concern:
- out of his way to try to help, even though knows won't work
- attempts to give privacy (paragraph 112)
- lies to her about the temperature (paragraph 175)
- how pilot feels old at end of story (paragraph 229)
- and how science is unforgiving:
- "those who go first usually make mistakes only once," meaning they are fatal mistakes (paragraph 125)
- paragraph 134: chemical reactions, "h amount of fuel," etc.
- the way she'll die (paragraph 196)
- ways the author builds tension:
- very first line of story
- prepare for confrontation (prior to finding out it's a girl)
- delay connection with brother
- Check out just the basics of Jack London's biography.
- Prior to reading the story, consider the following:
- instinct vs. upbringing
- If we have time, consider how much humans rely (or don't) on instinctive behavior, but also how our instinct is to fit in with our surroundings.
- Some years, we look up some interesting stories about children raised by animals for comparison.
- Prior to reading the story, consider the following:
March 07
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
- debunking myths about science classes #3:
- The vast majority of students do feel prepared to take math and science classes at the college level.
- debunking myths about science classes #4:
- Many students (39%) who major in the humanities regret not taking more science classes.
- Along the way, we considered some or all of the following:
- instinct vs. intellect (knowledge about how cold it is vs. fear about how cold it is)
- The man's pride (part of his intellect) could be his undoing.
- He's not afraid enough of the risks he is taking.
- This story's style is realism/naturalism.
- detachment from events, similar to a reporter just giving the facts -- no opinions or feelings about them
- how the man treats the dog
- why he even has the dog with him in the first place...
- perspective: how we see things through the eyes of the dog in a few places in the story
- If time, consider what we know about
- human instinct (babies crying when hungry or uncomfortable)
- animal instinct, mostly with our pets' behavior (barking, howling, swimming, grooming, following others, etc., etc.)
- If time, consider what we know about
- We got through paragraph 20+ today (depending on reading speed).
- We'll finish it tomorrow.
March 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
- Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
- debunking myths about science classes #5:
- Work load in science classes is the same as (languages) or barely more (humanities, social sciences) than other classes.
- debunking myths about science classes #6:
- grade competition in sciences (which, we speculated, is due to curving grades, and being "first in my class at med school")
- In order to save time and effort later, take notes while reading this one about the following things:
- the ways the author writes about scientific details
- the ways the author writes about life and death
- the attitudes, intentions, and inner thoughts of the characters
- the way the characters change throughout the story
- the perspective of the narrators (1st person, 3rd person limited, 3rd person unlimited, etc.)
- things the reader is never told about
- predictions you had when first reading the story
- and why you had those predictions
- the way you feel about the story’s ending
- the ways the author makes the reader feel sympathy (or no sympathy) for the characters
- Do you feel any sympathy for the man?
- If students say no, I ask what his "crime" is.
- arrogance? pride? carelessness?
- e.g. paragraph 21
- Do those deserve the death penalty?
- arrogance? pride? carelessness?
- Still, we typically feel much less sympathy for him compared to the girl in the other story, "The Cold Equations."
- It certainly doesn't help that he tried to kill the dog.
- Even though most of us agree that we'd do the same if we were in his position!
- It certainly doesn't help that he tried to kill the dog.
- Additionally, it's not that he committed a crime and is being punished by the justice system.
- He was careless, and there are serious risks involved depending on when and where one is careless.
- cf. reckless driving, playing with a loaded gun, drug use, and any number of other examples
- He was careless, and there are serious risks involved depending on when and where one is careless.
- If students say no, I ask what his "crime" is.
- scientific details
- instinct vs. intellect
- e.g. instinct at play in paragraph 31, as well as other parts of the story through the dog's perspective
- At least in survival situations like this story, instincts prove to be superior, as the dog survives.
- compare what will happen to his body (e.g. paragraph 36) to what the girl in the other story imagines what will happen to hers.
- Interestingly, there are similar "out-of-body" experiences that deal with the reality of their situations (what actually will happen, what it will look like) as they come to terms with their own deaths.
- instinct vs. intellect
March 11 (no school - teacher PD day)
March 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- foreign languages in college:
- Without exception, these are rated as the most demanding but also the most loved classes.
- see Google Classroom for details
- should have a draft ready for peer-editing by Thursday
March 13
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- foreign languages in college:
- reiterating how these are the most the most loved classes, but also explaining that so few students got good advice about language classes
- Often a student in class will share a story about an older sibling or friend who ended up loving the study of a foreign language.
- see Google Classroom for details
- should have a draft ready for peer-editing by Thursday (tomorrow)
March 14
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- foreign languages in college:
- alumni advice: 94% say take more language classes; only 6% say take as little as possible.
- the reasons why feelings are so positive and strong when it comes to foreign languages
- See Google Classroom for details.
- Turn in the original essay with the peer-editing suggestions still on it (i.e. don't accept the suggested changes).
March 15 (2-hour delay due to Comet Connections)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- See Google Classroom for details.
- Turn in the original essay with the peer-editing suggestions still on it (i.e. don't accept the suggested changes).
March 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- academic advising
- this is the #1 concern of faculty and students
- Mr. B's advice is to do your part:
- Get to know the adviser (so you are comfortable with him/her)
- and let him/her get to know you
- meet fairly often, and come prepared with questions or goals, etc.
- Mr. B's advice is to do your part:
- this is the #1 concern of faculty and students
- What does the title remind you of, if anything?
- trial by jury, the right to have "a trial by your peers"
- written in 1917... What do we know?
- WWI, almost 100 years ago, before women could vote
- Look for the way women are treated, the way they relate to each other and the way they relate to men.
- Will these women be wives, or will they be (independent) women? What is the difference?
- The class had time to read the short story for the rest of the hour., and most got about halfway or less.
- If you were absent, watch this video that includes some interesting information about the author as well as my reading of part of the first page in order to set the stage and point out some things that you should look for in the story.
- A good metric to determine if you're taking enough is to write something on each page.
March 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- academic advising
- this is the #1 concern of faculty and students
- Your "job" during your first semester is to get to know at least one faculty member quite well, and have that person get to know you quite well.
- If done with that, students have time to
- read independently or
- work on their final draft of their response to "The Cold Equations" and "To Build a Fire" (due this week).
March 20
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
- academic advising
- this is the #1 concern of faculty and students
- After 8 semesters, you may know more, but you should know at least four (bare minimum two, if you go to a large university) faculty members well enough that they would feel comfortable as references, writing letters of recommendations, etc.
- The vast majority of his advisees say this was the best advice they got when starting college.
- (reminder: It's an assignment to take notes on this story.)
- how the men see things vs. how the women do
- how the men treat the women (low-key rude, even if "good natured")
- many examples of sympathy/empathy the women feel for Mrs. Wright
- e.g. comparisons of messy kitchens (cf. first paragraph with arrival at Wright household)
- paragraph 071: bonus points for using the words "sympathetic understanding"
- I think it's important that this talk of sympathy is early on because they are more empathetic later.
- paragraph 253: comparing her own circumstances to those of Mrs. Wright's
- paragraph 261: "We all go through the same things. It's all just a different kind of same thing."
- paragraph 288: Minnie Foster/Wright is not there, but she had been there with them for an hour?
- how the women notice the little things (which end up being significant) the men ignore
- paragraph 077: a great example when Mr. Hale says, "women are used to worrying over trifles."
- bonus points for using the title of her play in this short-story version!
- paragraph 103: "But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?"
- paragraph 077: a great example when Mr. Hale says, "women are used to worrying over trifles."
- how the women aren't just walking in Mrs. Wright's shoes,
- more like walking around in her house, her day-to-day life: kitchen, cupboards, rocking chair, etc.
- multiple instances of the women seeing "eye to eye" or their eyes meeting
- issues of identity
- notice the multiple methods of identifying characters
- perhaps the best example:
- Minnie Foster / Minnie Wright / the woman who was Minnie Foster
- others:
- paragraph 101: "Mrs. Peters is one of us."
- the discussion about being "married to the law" (paragraph 288)
- the sheriff's wife (also paragraph 288)
- perhaps the best example:
- notice the multiple methods of identifying characters
- comparing the bird to Minnie Foster
- paragraph 207 especially
- and how Mr. Wright effectively killed both of them (Minnie Foster, meaning the way she used to be)
- moral dilemma faced by the women
- "The law is the law" vs. empathy/sympathy for Mrs. Wright
- hiding the evidence and lying about it (the cat got it)
- guilt
- paragraph 250: "We don't know who killed him."
- but we do, though...
- the question is that of motive, often needed (or at least very useful) in proving guilt:
- We compared what happened in this story to the board game Clue.
- They know the location, the murder weapon and the murderer...
- but they (the men) don't have evidence of mens rea, which is not part of the game, but which is an important part of proving guilt for committing a crime.
- not exactly the same thing as motive, although they are related
- Legally speaking, there are four types of mens rea.
- They know the location, the murder weapon and the murderer...
- We compared what happened in this story to the board game Clue.
- The men are not worried that the women might try to help the suspect.
- paragraphs 275-277
- But the women are to the point of considering actively preventing a thorough investigation.
- Not just keeping quiet, but taking the evidence away from the men (paragraph 278).
- And they end up not taking it, but hiding it and saying nothing.
- Are these women accomplices?
- That seems a bit harsh, but they certainly are not completely honest, either.
- Are these women accomplices?
- paragraph 250: "We don't know who killed him."
- We also put ourselves on a "jury of her peers" and voted whether we would likely vote to convict Minnie Wright of murder
- or if we would vote to acquit her based on her state of mind when she did it (and the many years leading up to when she did it).
- This year, we had a hung jury with more students voting to acquit than to convict.
- I pointed out how "not guilty" is not the same things as "innocent."
- or if we would vote to acquit her based on her state of mind when she did it (and the many years leading up to when she did it).
- Students who are done had the option to read independently for the remainder of the class period.
March 21 (half day)
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- look up the basics about Ernest Hemingway's background (major works, experiences as ambulance worker during WWI, etc.)
- directions:
- Read the story on your own, taking notes or highlighting if you want to.
- Then put it out of sight.
- We're going to try to answer some questions about it without having it in front of us.
- You can answer the questions on your own or in a group with one or two others.
- other than the questions on the back of the handout, we will talk about
- the reality of the story
- how we know some people who have had everything taken from them and so were left with "nowhere to go"
- how we know the old man is completely lost
- repeats himself like a broken record, no family, old, traveled far (for an old man)
- focusing in that for a bit more:
- Many people define themselves and find their identity in these ways:
- profession
- family (which could include animals, especially ones that depend on you)
- This "depend on you" concept is a major part of how many people find meaning in their lives.
- location
- politics/beliefs
- This man now has none of those things.
- Many people define themselves and find their identity in these ways:
- how the old man, as a civilian, had nothing to do with
- starting the war, fighting the war, or ending the war
- he's an innocent bystander, yet -- although it wasn't much -- everything he had has been taken from him, and he will never get it back.
- the symbolic meaning of
- the man's stopping on the bridge:
- Bridges are solely for crossing a divide to get somewhere else, and this man cannot do that, so he literally stops at the bridge rather than moving on.
- the animals
- Most likely they symbolize people with energy who can fend for themselves (the cat) or relatives elsewhere, and so have a place to go (the birds).
- The goats, however, are the ones he worries about, and they are the most like him.
- the man's stopping on the bridge:
- the reality of the story
spring break
April 01
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
If you were absent, watch this video introduction to Hamlet.
April 02
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
We read/watched Act 1, Scene 2 up to Hamlet's first soliloquy (left off at 00:19:05)
April 03
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
April 04
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
We read/watched Act 1, scene 5, so we finished Act 1 (which stops at 00:51:10)
April 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
April 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
read/watch Act 2, scene 2 (stopped at 01:17:56)
April 09
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
April 10
no class due to SAT testing
April 11 (had a sub due to ACT WorkKeys testing)
AP practice test
April 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
April 15
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 3, Scene 1.
April 16
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
We read/watched to Act III, scene 2 (stopped at 02:04:00)
April 17
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
April 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
QUIZ: Hamlet Act 3
April 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
Hamlet: Preview Act 4, scenes 4-5 using these Slides.
Watch/read Hamlet in class (stopped second disc at 00:28:52):
April 22
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
April 23
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
April 24
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
Hamlet: Preview the rest of the play using these slides. Watch Hamlet in class (finished):
April 25
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
April 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
upcoming:
April 01
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text (themes of Hamlet: trust, political vs. personal, revenge vs. justice, suicide.
- academic advising
- an example of how students can get far more out of these sessions when they don't go in just to get a signature.
If you were absent, watch this video introduction to Hamlet.
- We talked quite a bit about the importance of Hamlet as inspiration for other stories (e.g. The Lion King, for perhaps the best-known example) as well as the most-written-about work of literature. Among many others, most notably the following:
- (if time) Freud's interpretation (Oedipus Complex)
- somewhat important since there are multiple interpretations of Hamlet that are slanted this way
- Mel Gibson's version comes to mind.
- (if time) How the play relates to Machiavellianism.
- These ideas are not directly stated in the play, but they are clearly at work.
- (if time) Freud's interpretation (Oedipus Complex)
- trust issues and hidden motivations
- especially this: How can the prince trust others when helping him or hurting him may be done for ulterior motives?
- the standards we hold ourselves to vs. the standards we hold other to
- Sometimes we hold ourselves "to a higher standard"; sometimes we allow ourselves wiggle room that we wouldn't afford others.
- revenge vs. justice
- We have ways of making sure someone who wants revenge isn't involved in seeking justice:
- trial by jury
- recusal
- We have ways of making sure someone who wants revenge isn't involved in seeking justice:
- the topic of suicide
- why some might be motivated
- what happens to the "soul" when people die?
- why theories are often (at least slightly) different from reality
- compare calculations in physics, chemistry, or weather forecasts with reality
- I highly recommend referring to this modern-English translation of Hamlet.
- It's also fine to use Sparknotes, Cliff Notes, Lit. Charts, Quizlets, etc.
- We spent a few minutes scrolling through it looking for things we've seen or have heard of.
- A partial list of the most notable ones: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Strange Brew, Veggie Tales, Pinky and the Brain, Frasier, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Monty Python, The Simpsons, South Park, Sons of Anarchy, Doctor Who, Calvin and Hobbes, Mass Effect, Warcraft, Borderlands 2.
April 02
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- We spent time on Hamlet's first two lines, "A little more than kin, and less than kind" and "Not so, my Lord; I am too much i' the sun," and their multiple meanings.
- time logs:
- (It takes maturity to do this, but it is a great way to improve yourself.)
- It's a great idea to keep track of your time to see how you spend your time. A decent sample (1-2 weeks) will give you a lot to consider.
- If we haven't already distributed these, here is a time-log sheet you could use.
- My advice it to put a couple of these sheets in a bin or box you have for things you're taking to college.
- This is something that could be extremely helpful your first semester of college -- to see how you are actually spending your time (it's a good idea to think of it like spending money).
We read/watched Act 1, Scene 2 up to Hamlet's first soliloquy (left off at 00:19:05)
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- King Claudius and his relationship to Prince Hamlet
- Remember, they hate each other (at least Hamlet hates Claudius), but they can't seem that way in front of others.
- This reminds us of Machiavellian politics:
- public perception vs. private reality
- Queen Gertrude's marriage and how it's legally incest
- and why that would bother Hamlet (personally and patriotically)
- It would bother you, wouldn't it, if one of your parents married an in-law?
- Hamlet's first lines
- kin / kind
- too much in the sun (wordplay on "son")
- Hamlet's trust issues and his suicidal thoughts
- (talked about but didn't watch) Hamlet's first soliloquy:
- death wish (even suicidal)
- depression over dad's death
- and mom's wedding
- comparisons between his father and his uncle
- upset at how much his mom has changed (used to love King Hamlet)
- He considers it incest.
- He can't speak because he's not sure who's working with Claudius.
April 03
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- read/watched Act 1, scenes 3-4 (stopped at 00:38:00).
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- started by reading over Hamlet's first soliloquy on this handout and discussing it, then watching it performed
- Laertes' advice for his sister:
- Hamlet doesn't really love you, and he can't marry you since he's a prince.
- So stay in Virginia, to put it somewhat politely...
- Ophelia's response:
- practice what you preach (i.e. you be good, too)
- Polonius' advice for his son is basically all cliché advice.
- That doesn't mean it's bad. It's just "the usual" advice.
- Polonius' reaction to finding out Ophelia is dating Hamlet:
- Are you young, dumb and broke? Don't be naïve; he doesn't care about you!
- his order for his daughter: avoid Hamlet
- question: Whose side is she going to be on if her (ex-)boyfriend is against her dad?
- The quiz over Act 1 will be Friday, April 5.
April 04
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- time logs
- These could be just what you need to talk with your advisor:
- a reason to have a meeting
- a great way for the professor to get to know you personally
- a great way to get targeted advice
- These could be just what you need to talk with your advisor:
We read/watched Act 1, scene 5, so we finished Act 1 (which stops at 00:51:10)
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Hamlet's conversation with his father's ghost:
- Claudius killed him!
- Get revenge!
- But don't do anything to the queen (Hamlet's mom).
- Claudius killed him!
- how Hamlet wants to get revenge (as opposed to merely justice) because his father is suffering in Purgatory
- Hamlet says he will get revenge swiftly, so why doesn't he?
- We'll talk about this more when we discuss Act 3...
- good idea to read through Act 1 in modern-English translation to prepare
- Just Act 1 is plenty for this quiz.
- should be able to figure out who said which lines when it comes to famous/important quotes
- You can probably find some Quizlets that will help.
April 05
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- QUIZ: Hamlet Act 1
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- finding the truth by lying (using examples from Polonius' plan to have Reynaldo spy on his son)
- Claudius and Gertrude planning to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet.
- use their friendship with Hamlet to their advantage
- It's important to note that R & G (and probably also the queen) want to help Hamlet, but Claudius is doing this to keep an eye on Hamlet for his own purposes.
- Claudius and Gertrude planning to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet.
- Hamlet acting insane with Ophelia
- Remember at the end of Act I that Hamlet said he would act insane.
- It just happens to coincide with Ophelia breaking up with him.
- So now it looks like he's insane ("mad") because she broke up with him.
- It's important to note that Hamlet seems really good at acting insane, so much so that other characters (e.g. Ophelia, Polonius, Gertrude) believe him to be insane.
- Still, he acts completely rationally when he wants to, such as when he's with people he can trust (e.g. Horatio).
- Interestingly, some people debate whether he is acting insane or whether he actually does go insane.
- This helps illustrate how there are so many conversations about this play.
April 08
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.
- the importance of out-of-class groups that provide social and personal support
- These non-academic groups have an impact on students' academics because they provide a balance and support.
- We also talked briefly about character motivations:
- Hamlet
- revenge / be careful (trust; act insane) / loves Ophelia
- Claudius
- power? / loves Gertrude? / Hamlet a threat
- won't let him leave Denmark
- power? / loves Gertrude? / Hamlet a threat
- Gertrude
- loves Claudius? / wants to stay in power as queen (would be replaced by other if Hamlet is king?)
- seems to care about Hamlet
- Polonius
- now important due to Claudius / what if Hamlet were king...?
- Ophelia
- seems to really love Hamlet
- Horatio
- definitely wants to help Hamlet / can be trusted
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
- Hamlet's friends / seem to want to help him
- king and queen are asked (ordered?) them to help / also a promise of reward
- Hamlet
read/watch Act 2, scene 2 (stopped at 01:17:56)
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 2, Scene 2 (part 2).
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Hamlet's poem to Ophelia:
- Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love. - i.e. Doubt things you know and that have to be true because my love is even more true.
- Doubt thou the stars are fire,
- Hamlet acting insane with Polonius - double meanings
- insulting Polonius by "reading" rude comments about old men
- when he's really just saying what he thinks of Polonius to his face
- fishmonger = pimp (check out the last sentence here)
- insulting Polonius by "reading" rude comments about old men
- more of Hamlet's testing people
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern:
- preliminary test: Denmark is a prison?
- second chance: Why are you here? Just admit that the king and queen sent you here.
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern:
- child actors replacing professional actors
- compared with Claudius replacing King Hamlet
April 09
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- finish reading/watching Act 2 (stopped at 01:30:25)
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- the arrival of the players (actors)
- Hamlet wants to hear some lines, in part to see how well they act, perhaps.
- But more importantly, he wants to hear about a son (Pyrrhus) getting revenge for the death of his father (Achilles) by killing the enemy king (Priam, King of Troy).
- He also wants to hear the lines about the queen (Hecuba) sad about the death of her husband.
- He wishes his reality was like the fiction = that his mother was as sad about the death of his father.
- He's impressed by the emotion shown by the actor over the death of a fictional king.
- makes him feel like he's not emotional enough over his own father's death
- more about finding the truth by lying
- Hamlet's plan ("the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king").
- Normally, the quiz over Act 2 would be tomorrow, but due to SAT & WorkKeys testing, it'll be Friday.
April 10
no class due to SAT testing
April 11 (had a sub due to ACT WorkKeys testing)
AP practice test
- one poem, one prose
April 12
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- quiz over Act 2
- If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 3, Scene 1.
- Preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it.
- Hamlet's third soliloquy.
- This is some of the most famous writing in all of history.
- Here's some extra explanation if needed.
- Hamlet's third soliloquy.
April 15
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 3, Scene 1.
- Then finish read/watch Act 3, scene 1 (stopped at __:__:__ or so)
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Hamlet's conversation with Ophelia:
- And then really mad when he tests her and she fails the test (lies about where her father is)
- happy to see her, then mad when she "breaks up with him"
- why Hamlet doesn't want any more people to be born
- his advice to Ophelia about going to a nunnery (which was slang for a whore house)
- Hamlet's threats to kill Claudius
- Everyone who's married can live, except for one person...
- Hamlet's advice for actors
- Hamlet's opinion of great art:
- profound: It acts like a mirror and lets us see ourselves more clearly.
- Hamlet's response to Horatio:
- I don't need to suck up to you.
- profound: pay attention to how people treat those who cannot benefit them.
April 16
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
We read/watched to Act III, scene 2 (stopped at 02:04:00)
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 3, Scene 2.
- Hamlet's word play and innuendo
- the play within a play
- how Hamlet tests the ghost by watching Claudius's reaction
- Claudius's plan to send Hamlet to England
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trying to "play" Hamlet, but they can't even play a simple musical instrument, a recorder.
- Claudius's prayer (or lack thereof...)
- Hamlet's delay?
- Some people call it "procrastination."
- Many people believe Hamlet's "fatal flaw" is that he just doesn't want to kill Claudius, and so he delays / procrastinates.
- But it is explained. Hamlet explains it himself.
- Hamlet's father is suffering in Purgatory.
- Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer in the afterlife as well.
- But it is explained. Hamlet explains it himself.
- If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 3, Scene 3.
April 17
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- We finished reading/watching Act 3 (stopped at 02:24:30).
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Claudius's prayer (or lack thereof...)
- Hamlet's delay? Some people call it "procrastination."
- Many people believe Hamlet's "fatal flaw" is that he just doesn't want to kill Claudius, and so he delays / procrastinates.
- Examples:
- T.S. Eliot's essay "Hamlet and His Problems" mentions how "the delay in revenge is unexplained on grounds of necessity or expediency."
- Here's another example, as if it's a mystery why he didn't kill Claudius.
- But it is explained. Hamlet explains it himself.
- Hamlet's father is suffering in Purgatory.
- Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer in the afterlife as well.
- If time, we'll talk about whether or not Hamlet procrastinates -- which some people don't even debate, they just assume that he does procrastinate and then debate why.
- "Because he's not a murderer," or "Hamlet is a thinker, not a violent person," for instance, which is total bull crap.
- He just murdered Polonius!
- Here's another example from SparkNotes that says killing Polonius was done blindly, killing an "anonymous 'enemy.' "
- It's very clear that Hamlet thought he was killing Claudius, based on what he said immediately after.
- Hamlet's conversation with his mother:
- Mom, you should feel bad about how you remarried a scumbag so soon after my dad died.
- Then the ghost comes back in.
- Gertrude can't see it, so is it real?
- Was it ever real?
- Keep in mind that others saw it earlier.
- They also heard it talk ("Swear!").
- Gertrude can't see it, so is it real?
- Keep my secret that I'm not insane, Mom. I want Claudius to think I'm crazy still.
- I have a plan.
- I know I'm being sent to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who have a sealed letter...
- It's great when two crafts meet.
- "crafts" meaning plans? or ships? (or both?)
April 18
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
QUIZ: Hamlet Act 3
- Taking the quiz and discussing the answers took a bit, but we got up to the intermission between DVDs.
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Claudius's plan to get rid of Hamlet
- Hamlet's word play and riddles
- how all these soldiers from Norway will fight over land in Poland
- The territory is so small, they can't even have the battle on the land in question.
- Nor will they have enough room to bury the dead from the battle there.
- Hamlet is going to compare their reason for fighting to his own for killing Claudius.
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 1
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 2
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 3
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 4
April 19
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Hamlet: Preview Act 4, scenes 4-5 using these Slides.
Watch/read Hamlet in class (stopped second disc at 00:28:52):
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Ophelia may be insane, but her singing is revealing.
- Her songs are about
- a.) the loss of someone recently buried (her dad)
- b.) a man cheating on or leaving his girlfriend after they've slept together
- The man had promised to marry her, but now he doesn't feel like he needs to after getting the milk for free.
- Her songs are about
- Laertes shows up to get justice/revenge for his father's death.
- Ophelia comes in and really breaks Laertes' heart because of her insanity.
- Laertes says if she were still normal and asked him to get revenge, it wouldn't be as persuasive as this.
- Hamlet is on his way back to Denmark.
- Laertes wants to get revenge for the death of his father.
- The plan to kill Hamlet and the backup plan.
- plan A: sword fight with sharp and poisoned sword
- plan B: poisoned drink
- The plan to kill Hamlet and the backup plan.
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 4
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 5
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 6
- preview and explanation of Act 4, Scene 7
April 22
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- reminder: QUIZ over Hamlet Act 4 tomorrow
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- Ophelia's death:
- suicide? accident? gray area?
- the wordplay of the gravediggers
- their jokes
- also the se defendendo section:
- arguing whether it was suicide or not
- and how that was basically an exact transcription of an actual court case, the records of which Shakespeare would not have had access to, as an actor/playwright
- but Edward de Vere did have access to them...
- how we all come to the same end:
- Even if we were as powerful in life
- examples: Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar
- our bodies (after decomposing) could be used to stop up a barrel or a hole in a wall.
- Even if we were as powerful in life
- why Laertes is upset about the lack of funeral ceremony
- how both Laertes and Hamlet try to prove their love to Ophelia by offering to be buried with her
April 23
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
- QUIZ: Hamlet Act 4
- preview of each scene in Hamlet prior to watching it
- handout for analysis of important lines and soliloquies
- If you were absent, watch this preview and explanation of Act 5, Scene 2.
- discussed Hamlet's speech about Yorick
- how Hamlet read the letter that instructed the King of England to kill Hamlet
- and how he replaced it with one that said the same about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
- We talked about whether or not they deserve such a fate.
- Hamlet seems to think they do.
- He says they "made love" to their employment.
- and how he replaced it with one that said the same about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
- Oscric's overly formal actions (his hat) and words
- how Hamlet outdoes him to make fun of him
- how there are odds (a handicap, a spread) on the fencing match to make it more fair
- Hamlet believes he will win at the odds, although he may not defeat Laertes outright.
- how Hamlet's situation is mirrored in that of Laertes and Fortinbras
- reminder:
- Claudius and Laertes' plan to kill Hamlet:
- plan A: sharp sword, poisoned
- plan B: poisoned drink
- Claudius and Laertes' plan to kill Hamlet:
- We'll kill Hamlet (and almost everybody else) next class.
- quiz over Act 5 on Thursday
- test over entire play on Friday
April 24
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Hamlet: Preview the rest of the play using these slides. Watch Hamlet in class (finished):
- reminder:
- Claudius and Laertes' plan to kill Hamlet:
- plan A: sharp sword, poisoned
- plan B: poisoned drink
- Claudius and Laertes' plan to kill Hamlet:
- the line "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead"
- This is the title of a play that Mr. Bulgrien recommends.
- Other experts also recommend it as #22 on the list of the 50 best plays of all time (Hamlet is #1, just sayin').
- how Hamlet's situation is mirrored in that of Laertes (some differences)
- how Hamlet's situation is mirrored in that of Fortinbras (some differences)
- how Hamlet and Laertes forgive each other
- how Hamlet kills Claudius with the methods that were to be used against him (sword and wine)
- how and why Fortinbras becomes king at the end of the play
April 25
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- QUIZ: Hamlet Act 5
- classes organized around some sort of controversy to foster a debate between student groups.
- Students are quite likely to have classes set up this way, especially smaller classes.
- advice:
- Look up famous quotes.
- Understand them and know who said them.
- Understand how Hamlet's situation is mirrored in that of Laertes (some differences).
- Understand how Hamlet's situation is mirrored in that of Fortinbras (some differences).
- Understand how Hamlet and Laertes forgive each other.
- Understand how everyone dies and when.
- Understand how and why Fortinbras becomes king at the end of the play.
- Look up famous quotes.
April 26
Learning Target: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- TEST: Hamlet
upcoming: