TODAY IN CLASS
We got a gentle start on Hamlet by means of a series of questions that suggested the outlines of how much Hamlet had to deal with, and how many young people might feel when confronted with such a series of personal blows.
Tomorrow: You'll be getting your Hamlet text from the bookroom--you are required to have your school ID with you!
FOR TOMORROW
Read the Shakespearean background material in the Prentice Hall text: pages 290-297.
(The textbook contains Macbeth, of course, but all of the sections you need to read are relevant regardless of which actual play we study.)
Bring your regular textbook tomorrow, and then you won't need to bring it for the next 2-3 weeks.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sonnet Assessment Today
And there are various sports activities tonight--some of you will be participating, and others supporting. And you've already done good work and stretched your English brain cells. So no homework.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Sonnet Assessment on Thursday
This will not be an all-round poetry test, and it won't cover the historical material. Know basic facts about sonnets: 14 lines, iambic pentameter (and what that means, and how to notate it), and the different rhyme schemes possible. Know octave/sestet; quatrains; (closing) couplet. Be able to recognize Spenserian; know the terms Petrarchan (Italian) and Shakespearean (English) and what structure they describe.
BUT--mostly, this is a "skills" test. You will be asked to do certain things/answer questions about a sonnet you haven't studied, and for another sonnet, you will need to write out a paraphrase. Finally, you'll be asked to compare one of those sonnets in certain ways with another one that we DID do in class (text will be provided).
BUT--mostly, this is a "skills" test. You will be asked to do certain things/answer questions about a sonnet you haven't studied, and for another sonnet, you will need to write out a paraphrase. Finally, you'll be asked to compare one of those sonnets in certain ways with another one that we DID do in class (text will be provided).
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day
TODAY IN CLASS
Further poetry practice: an early 17th C. (1601) poem by John Donne, "The Flea" (hand-out)
Annotation practice and class discussion
Also Shakepeare's Sonnet 116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments. . ."
(in the text p. )
FOR TOMORROW
No homework.
Further poetry practice: an early 17th C. (1601) poem by John Donne, "The Flea" (hand-out)
Annotation practice and class discussion
Also Shakepeare's Sonnet 116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments. . ."
(in the text p. )
FOR TOMORROW
No homework.
Friday, February 11, 2011
TODAY IN CLASS
Paraphrasing poetry: more practice on this skill, using a Shakespearean sonnet. We'll of course be talking about this sonnet more fully next week.
Homework collected: bullet point argument ("Passionate Shepherd") and counter-argument ("Nymph's Reply). We looked at sample papers and discussed both the nature of the arguments and the pastoral features of these poems. We also talked a bit about the lives of the two poets in 2nd--didn't quite get there in 4th.
LOOKING AHEAD: Poetry Test on Thursday.
Paraphrasing poetry: more practice on this skill, using a Shakespearean sonnet. We'll of course be talking about this sonnet more fully next week.
Homework collected: bullet point argument ("Passionate Shepherd") and counter-argument ("Nymph's Reply). We looked at sample papers and discussed both the nature of the arguments and the pastoral features of these poems. We also talked a bit about the lives of the two poets in 2nd--didn't quite get there in 4th.
LOOKING AHEAD: Poetry Test on Thursday.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
TODAY IN CLASS
Sonnet structure: 14 lines, iambic pentameter, varied rhyme schemes. Then we went over the details of Spenserian, Petrarchan (Italian), and Shakespearean (English) sonnets. These details will be on a hand-out that you will receive shortly.
Shakespeare's anti-Valentine sonnet: Sonnet 130 (p. 256). No, it's not really against Valentine's Day, but it DOES mock the typical stance of praise found in the sonnet sequences; the poet typically idealizes his beloved by elevating the descriptions of her physical beauty, actions, and character--often comparing her directly to a goddess or to an utterly impossible standard of feminine perfection. Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 provides a more realistic view of a flesh-and-blood woman; the speaker loves her for what she IS, not for false comparisons to what she is NOT.
FOR TOMORROW
Sonnet structure: 14 lines, iambic pentameter, varied rhyme schemes. Then we went over the details of Spenserian, Petrarchan (Italian), and Shakespearean (English) sonnets. These details will be on a hand-out that you will receive shortly.
Shakespeare's anti-Valentine sonnet: Sonnet 130 (p. 256). No, it's not really against Valentine's Day, but it DOES mock the typical stance of praise found in the sonnet sequences; the poet typically idealizes his beloved by elevating the descriptions of her physical beauty, actions, and character--often comparing her directly to a goddess or to an utterly impossible standard of feminine perfection. Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 provides a more realistic view of a flesh-and-blood woman; the speaker loves her for what she IS, not for false comparisons to what she is NOT.
FOR TOMORROW
- Study p. 244: the definition of pastoral poetry and the short biographies of Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh
- Read both poems on p. 245. Summarize the persuasive arguments stated by the "Passionate Shepherd"--use clear bullet points, not paragraph form.
- Then provide the response that the "Nymph" makes to each of the Shepherd's arguments; do this in bullet points as well.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wednesday
TODAY IN CLASS
"Sonnet 31" paraphrases stamped, shared in small groups, and collected. We will finish up with those tomorrow and move on to classifying sonnet types and reading more examples.
One further note about a paraphrase to add to the information in yesterday's post: keep the same point of view as the original poem. If the poem says "I" or "you" (or thou, in this case), KEEP the same perspective. In a summary, on the other hand, you would write "The speaker says/feels/believes/questions, etc." or the speaker addressas "the Moon," asking if . . .(whatever).
NO HOMEWORK for tomorrow . . .
"Sonnet 31" paraphrases stamped, shared in small groups, and collected. We will finish up with those tomorrow and move on to classifying sonnet types and reading more examples.
One further note about a paraphrase to add to the information in yesterday's post: keep the same point of view as the original poem. If the poem says "I" or "you" (or thou, in this case), KEEP the same perspective. In a summary, on the other hand, you would write "The speaker says/feels/believes/questions, etc." or the speaker addressas "the Moon," asking if . . .(whatever).
NO HOMEWORK for tomorrow . . .
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
A Genuinely Useful Post
TODAY IN CLASS--long but important. Yes, there's homework given at the end.
We went over Shakespeare's Sonnet XII ("When I do count the clock that tells the time . . ." in detail, and set up both the Shakespearean rhyme scheme and the basics of its structure. We looked at the poem line by line, noting how the content fit into the quatrains and the closing couplet.
We talked a little bit about Sonnet 75 by Edmund Spenser (p. 238), noting that this poem also deals with the effects of time. But instead of suggesting that the way to "defy" time was to have children who will live on after the older generation has died, the speaker tells his beloved that her name (and their love) will be preserved in the poetry he writes.
We got started on a paraphrase, but only got a few lines into it. A paraphrase is a detailed "translation" that puts a poem, particularly one in archaic language or filled with dense imagery, into clearer, more direct terms. It is NOT a "slang" version or shortened form that leaves material out. Nor is it an "interpretation"; your job is to lay out what the poem SAYS, not to look for multiple levels of meaning. You can present it in line form or paragraph form, but don't try to paraphrase strictly on a line-by-line basis; because of word order, you'll probably need to look ahead. Since we didn't finish the paraphrase together in class, I've finished it here. Obviously there are different ways to word the paraphrase, but this should give you the idea:
We went over Shakespeare's Sonnet XII ("When I do count the clock that tells the time . . ." in detail, and set up both the Shakespearean rhyme scheme and the basics of its structure. We looked at the poem line by line, noting how the content fit into the quatrains and the closing couplet.
We talked a little bit about Sonnet 75 by Edmund Spenser (p. 238), noting that this poem also deals with the effects of time. But instead of suggesting that the way to "defy" time was to have children who will live on after the older generation has died, the speaker tells his beloved that her name (and their love) will be preserved in the poetry he writes.
We got started on a paraphrase, but only got a few lines into it. A paraphrase is a detailed "translation" that puts a poem, particularly one in archaic language or filled with dense imagery, into clearer, more direct terms. It is NOT a "slang" version or shortened form that leaves material out. Nor is it an "interpretation"; your job is to lay out what the poem SAYS, not to look for multiple levels of meaning. You can present it in line form or paragraph form, but don't try to paraphrase strictly on a line-by-line basis; because of word order, you'll probably need to look ahead. Since we didn't finish the paraphrase together in class, I've finished it here. Obviously there are different ways to word the paraphrase, but this should give you the idea:
PARAPHRASE: Edmund Spenser’s Sonnet 75
One day I wrote her name in the sand at the beach,
But the waves came in and washed it away:
I wrote it out a second time,
But the tide came in again and ruined my efforts.
“Vain man,” she said, “who in futility attempts
To immortalize (preserve forever) a mortal being,
For I myself will die and decay, and my identity will vanish
Just like my name was erased from the sand.
“No, that’s not true,” I said, “let more ordinary beings die
(and become dust), but you will live by what people remember and know about you:
My poetry will spell out your rare virtues for all eternity,
And write your glorious name in heaven.
So after death conquers all the rest of the world,
Our love will still live and renew our life by the memory of it.
HOMEWORK
Now you try your hand at paraphrasing the next one in the book: Sonnet 31 by Sir Philip Sidney (p. 239).
Write out your paraphrase neatly in ink, or else type it. Due at the beginning of class on Wednesday.
Monday, February 7, 2011
TODAY IN CLASS
We considered the implications of the interlocking rhyme scheme of "Stopping by Woods. . . ." and discussed various interpretations of the poem.
We began the discussion of meter using the sonnet "When I do count the clock that tells the time. . . " Those worksheets were collected, so if you were absent today, please mark ABSENT and turn in at the start of class on Tuesday.
Much more content-based discussion of that sonnet tomorrow, and then we'll move on USING YOUR BOOK. Really. So please bring it.
We considered the implications of the interlocking rhyme scheme of "Stopping by Woods. . . ." and discussed various interpretations of the poem.
We began the discussion of meter using the sonnet "When I do count the clock that tells the time. . . " Those worksheets were collected, so if you were absent today, please mark ABSENT and turn in at the start of class on Tuesday.
Much more content-based discussion of that sonnet tomorrow, and then we'll move on USING YOUR BOOK. Really. So please bring it.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Poetry . . .
It may seem as though we are not doing much--I can't believe there's no homework for the third night in a row. Do NOT get spoiled.
However, we are actually having a good time with the poetry. To 2nd period--you will get a hand-out tomorrow that will actually have all three of the poems we've worked with so far, but HANG ON to the version with the "boxes" that you did at the end of class today. You'll be using it on Friday. And 4th, you got the hand-out, and obviously you also need to keep it.
Tomorrow's class period will rely on that, plus some other things.
However, we are actually having a good time with the poetry. To 2nd period--you will get a hand-out tomorrow that will actually have all three of the poems we've worked with so far, but HANG ON to the version with the "boxes" that you did at the end of class today. You'll be using it on Friday. And 4th, you got the hand-out, and obviously you also need to keep it.
Tomorrow's class period will rely on that, plus some other things.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Ballad Assessment Today
If you missed it, you could come in tomorrow morning no later than 9 a.m. or stay after school on Thursday (I'll be in the writing lab). It takes about 40-45 minutes.
No homework for tomorrow. DO be sure and bring your book, however.
No homework for tomorrow. DO be sure and bring your book, however.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)