Where are you going, where is the theme?

Consider the elements of Southern Gothic Literature:
* Setting is eerie, remote, sometimes drafty old family estate;
* Atmosphere is mysterious, suspenseful;
* There is a ghostly legend, an unexplained occurrence, OR a horrible death or tragedy that took place;
* Omens, foreshadowing, dreams, that add to the mystery;
* Emotions run high, particularly terror, anxiety, anger, agitation, a feeling of doom, or obsessive love;
* Supernatural events (sometimes masqueraded as natural events -- including weather and natural disasters);

* Damsel in distress, women who are frightened, threatened or confused; women who are ailing, dying of a mysterious disease;
* Words (diction) that evoke gloom and doom, foreboding, forbidding, ghostly imagery;
* Romanic themes of that involve the death of a man or woman who are madly in love; obsessive love, excessive grief upon the loss of a loved one;
* Injustice.

How do Mockingbird and "Where are you going..." measure up as Gothic works?  Is one work more "gothic" than the other?  Explain your answer.  Due in class today.

Good or evil? It's complicated.

 

NATURE VS. NURTURE:  Ender's Game deals with characters  failing to live up to our standards of morality, civility, or generosity.  Does this novel truly reflect how people are, at their core?  Are men and women born with evil in their hearts, or is it shaped by the environment in which they are born and raised?  Due during the first 10 minutes of class.

FOR PERIOD F - Same poem, over a century later...

Read the poem, below.  Consider the theme, tone and message of the poem, and write your own UNIQUE poem using the ideas and attitudes demonstrated by Dickinson.  Do not simply paraphrase Dickinson's poem, but create your own special way of discussing this topic. Because I could not stop for Death
by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death –  He kindly stopped for me –  The Carriage held but just Ourselves –  And Immortality. We slowly drove – He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility –  We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess – in the Ring –  We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –  We passed the Setting Sun –  Or rather – He passed us –  The Dews drew quivering and chill –  For only Gossamer, my Gown –  My Tippet – only Tulle –  We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground –  The Roof was scarcely visible –  The Cornice – in the Ground –  Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses' Heads Were toward Eternity –

This poem, more than a century later.

Read and reflect on the poem below, determining the poet's message.  Now, in your own unique way, rewrite your own version of this poem, keeping its message intact.  You have 7 minutes.

THE BODY grows outside,—
The more convenient way,—
That if the spirit like to hide,
Its temple stands alway
Ajar, secure, inviting;	5
It never did betray
The soul that asked its shelter
In timid honesty.

Emily Dickinson 

(1830–86).  

POETRY - How to read a poem

Read the poem below and answer question one here on the blog.  Attempt to answer questions 2 through 16 on a sheet of paper.  Hand in on Monday.

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

By Dylan Thomas

  

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

1. Who is the speaker in this poem? What kind of person is he or she?

2. To whom is he/she speaking? In other words, describe the speaker's audience.

3. What is the situation and setting in time (era) and place?

4. What is the purpose of the poem?

5. State the poem's central idea or theme in a single sentence.

6. Indicate and explain (if you can) any allusions. Do the allusions share a common idea?

7. Describe the structure of the poem. What is its meter and form? (Scan it.)

8. How do the structure of the poem and its content relate?

9. What is the tone of the poem? How is it achieved?

10. Notice the poem's diction. Discuss any words that seem especially well chosen?

11. Are there any predominant images in the poem?

12. Note metaphors, similes, and personification, and discuss their effects.

13. Recognize and discuss examples of paradox, overstatement (hyperbole), and understatement (litotes).

14. Explain any symbols. Is the poem allegorical?

15. Explain the significance of any sound repetition (alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.).

16. Discuss whether or not you think the poem is successful.

Poetry during the Final Period




Poem by Dick Dayton

 

1. Explain the concept, as you understand it, in the textbook preface featured in today's clip from Dead Poet's Society. (http://youtu.be/tmayC2AdkNw).  What did the authors of the fictitious textbook ask students to do and why?

2.  If you had to finish the sentence beginning, "Poetry is..."  what would you write?

You have seven minutes.  The timer will be featured on the screen.

What is poetry?

What is poetry? Attempt to answer the question in one brief paragraph or verse that somehow reflects the very poetry you are attempting to define.

Now, reflect on the clip we viewed today, http://youtu.be/tmayC2AdkNw, from The Dead Poet's Society.   What is does the preface in the students' textbook attempt to teach high school students about "understanding poetry?"  What kind of advice would you give your peers and next year's freshmen about that topic?

You have 9 minutes.

WHAT IS EVERLASTING LOVE?

Please reflect on and respond to the video clips in one complete paragraph.  What is revealed in the clips we just watched that connects to your concept of everlasting love?  What contradicts your beliefs?  What is the filmmaker trying to reveal?  Do you feel that these depictions are authentic?  You have less than 9 minutes.

LONG LASTING LOVE

Reflect on the clips taken from When Harry Met Sally.  How do the filmmakers portray these long-lasting relationships?  How do these interviews reflect the work you've done thus far in your exploration of romantic love?

Seeing the future in nature...

FRIAR LAURENCE
    The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
    Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
    And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
    From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels:
    Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye,
    The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,
    I must up-fill this osier cage of ours
    With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
    The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb;
    What is her burying grave that is her womb,
    And from her womb children of divers kind
    We sucking on her natural bosom find,
    Many for many virtues excellent,
    None but for some and yet all different.
    O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies
    In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:
    For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
    But to the earth some special good doth give,
    Nor aught so good but strain'd from that fair use
    Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse:
    Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;
    And vice sometimes by action dignified.
    Within the infant rind of this small flower
    Poison hath residence and medicine power:
    For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;
    Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.
    Two such opposed kings encamp them still
    In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;
    And where the worser is predominant,
    Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

  (Act II, sc. iii)                                                                             

In a complete paragraph, explain Friar Laurence's soliloquy.  How does his meditation on nature foreshadow possible future events in the play?  You have 10 minutes. 

Love at first sight

When Romeo first sees Juliet at the ball in Act I, sc. v, he is immediately taken with her.  He becomes a victim of love at first sight:   What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand Of yonder knight? ... O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear— Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows(50) As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.(55)
----- Cosmopolitan magazine reported that readers in Great Britain still believe in love at first sight, with only 28% declaring love at first sight as impossible. This statistic does come as a surprise however, especially when nine out of ten questioned said they’d never experienced it. A total of 41% of respondents believed it takes at least a few weeks to fall in love in contrast to 55% who believe it takes months rather then days. A random 4% however, think it’s a matter of years before you can feel those all important three words. (http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/love-sex/relationships/romantic-britains-still-believe-in-love-at-first-sight-2120#ixzz2MWTH3xW5) -----
Do you believe in love at first sight?  Write a TEXT paragraph that is aimed at persuading your peers to agree with your opinion on this matter.  Use Romeo's soliloquy above, or other parts of Act One, as well as your research and interviews as evidence.  Remember, acknowledging the opposition's argument and responding directly to it can help you strengthen your own persuasive argument. YOU HAVE 9 MINUTES.

Tour the Globe

After completing the required reading, post your comments here. 

Imagine you are a groundling entering The Globe for the first time.  Visit http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/about-us/virtual-tour/stage if possible to 'walk around' the structure.  Think about all of the events that are held in this arena and describe one moment, as if creating a dramatic monologue, that describes your experience.  DUE BY FRIDAY, 2/22.

TRUE LOVE

What have you learned thus far from your interviews with friends and family about true love?  Mrs. Demers may provide you with a great interview!

Bad Romance? Good Romance?

What characteristics define Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance'?  What characteristics do you thinkwould make a bad romance for someone like you?  Think about the depiction of a good romance in Up.  What charactertistics would make a good romance for someone like you?  By end of the day on Monday. 

SONNETS THAT SPEAK TO YOU.

READ THE SONNETS BELOW and follow the directions that follow:

#20
A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,
Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion:
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created;
Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
And by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.

#50
How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek, my weary travel's end,
Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,
'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!'
The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,
Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,
As if by some instinct the wretch did know
His rider lov'd not speed being made from thee.
The bloody spur cannot provoke him on,
That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,
Which heavily he answers with a groan,
More sharp to me than spurring to his side;
For that same groan doth put this in my mind,
My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.

#71
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it, for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;
But let your love even with my life decay;
Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
And mock you with me after I am gone.
#104
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I ey'd,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold,
Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned,
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah! yet doth beauty like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this thou age unbred:
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.

Select two of the sonnets above.  What universal theme is common to them?  Is this theme relevant to the modern world?  Be sure to explain, using examples from the sonnets as well as your personal experience and background knowledge.  DUE BY END OF CLASS JAN 28

Let me tell you about my book...

Describe the subject of your self-selected non-fiction book.  Why did you chose the book?  What have you read thus far that intrigues you? 

Once you post your comment, reply to a classmate's post by using the 'Reply' option at the end of the post, and suggest a monologue idea to them based on what they wrote.  Clearly, if you are one of the first to post, you will have to revisit the blog later allowing time for classmates to post.  You can reply to anyone who posts on this blog.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE SOME BOOK SELECTIONS THAT DO NOT MEET THE CRITERIA OF 'NON-FICTION.'  ANYONE WHO SELECTED SCIENCE FICTION OR "HISTORICAL FICTION" MUST SELECT ANOTHER BOOK ASAP!  See me with any questions you might have.

One post and one reply comment due January 11 at 8 a.m. 

Narcissus and The Swimmer

Author John Cheever originally planned “The Swimmer” as a novel that retold the Greek myth – or allegory -- of Narcissus.  In ancient Greek lore, Narcissus was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. He was the son of a river god named Cephissus and a nymph named Liriope.  He was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis (the goddess of revenge) saw this and attracted Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus died.  (In some versions of the story, he dies of a broken heart because he cannot leave his obsession.  In others, he wastes away by the river side.  In others he commits suicide when he realizes he can never have the object of his own desire.  Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with oneself.

Cheever abandoned his 150 pages of notes for the Narcissus novel adaptation because the task became too cumbersome.  Instead, he decided instead to write “The Swimmer,” a story that is considered an allegory, or at the least, a story with strong elements of allegory.

In just one paragraph (that reflects your understanding of the TEXT model), how you feel "The Swimmer" connects to allegory, and specifically, how Neddy relates to the story of Narcissus.  Don’t be afraid to take risks.  You have 10 MINUTES.

THE GOOD, GROTESQUE AND GOTHIC

These are some of the typical elements of Southern Gothic Literature - Please review them and reflect on our story.  How does Flannery O'Connor's 'The Life You Save May Be Your Own' relate to these elements?  YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.

1. Settings most often include large, drafty old houses that have "been in the family for years." Since castles in the American landscape were practically unheard of, early Gothic fiction writers began substituting the family estate for the traditional castle.

2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense that is enhanced by a plot which seeks to discover the secrets lying within the supernaturally charged environment.

3. A ghostly legend, an unexplainable occurrence, or a story about a horrible death or murder that took place at the family estate in question.

4. Omens, foreshadowing, and dreams usually play a large role in the mysterious air that is created within the story.

5.  Tales include highly charged emotional states like: terror, a feeling that one is on the brink of insanity, anger, agitation, an exaggerated feeling of some impending doom, and obsessive love.

6. Supernatural events: ghosts, doors that open themselves, unexplained sounds, etc. Okay, so Mockingbird isn’t exactly supernatural, but narrated through the eyes of a terrified six-year old, it might as well be. 

7.  Damsels in distress are frequent. Women who are frightened and confused, wandering around lost, or dying due to a slow and unexplainable ailment.

8. Words designed to evoke images of gloom and doom: dark, foreboding, forbidding, ghostly, etc.

9.  Romantic themes often involve the death of a man or woman in the throes of some great passion, the obsessive nature of a man or woman in love, or excessive grief one feels upon the loss of a loved one.

10. Injustice. Almost every character in Mockingbird is at least somewhat racist, including our lovable narrator from time to time.

11.  The grotesque. Atrocities.  Monsters.  Torturers.  Circus-like curiosities.  Characters that fit the mold can run the gamut.   Mrs. Dubose is a great example of a grotesque character; she’s a humorless old bigot with an unnecessarily possessive attitude toward her camellias.  Southern writer Carson McCullers used grotesque characters to illuminate universal truths about the human condition. She said, “Love, and especially love of a person who is incapable of returning or receiving it, is at the heart of my selection of grotesque figures to write about—people whose physical incapacity is a symbol of their spiritual incapacity to love or receive love— their spiritual isolation.”

12. One of the defining features of southern gothic is the cast of off-kilter characters, many of whom are "not right in the head." The genre is riddled with many broken bodies, and even more broken souls. When southern gothic authors examine the human condition, they see the potential to do harm. Morality is in question for many characters. A major theme for southern gothic writers hinges on innocence, and the innocent's place in the world—where they are often asked to act as redeemer. 

Considering Flannery O'Connor

After viewing the biography of Flannery O'Connor, America's "only Christian writer," please comment on how her life and beliefs are reflected in "The Life You Save May Be Your Own."  You have 10 minutes.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1915701265/