Eng. 9 Review - Jan. 20

Review: Short Stories - Elements (conflict, setting & atmosphere, plot, theme, character, point of view, irony, symbolism) - literary devices associated with short stories

Review: Poetic Devices

STUDY AND KNOW YOUR WRITING IMPROVEMENTS SHEET

Review all grammar (editing sheet and class feedback!)

WRITING - make sure you have at least ONE good vocabulary word, try to mine your life for interesting details (what makes you unique?), pay attention to tone. Humour is good. (Self deprecating humour.)

Eng. 12 - Jan. 19

Finish your question and quotes, and literary devices for your two top poems!

Lit 12 - Jan. 18

Prepare "The Second Coming"  (QQ, author notes, text questions, literary devices)

Eng. 12/Lit 12 - Jan. 15

Make sure you write a good mini-essay for "Digging."

Do your question and quote.


Block 3 - bring your blue DPA forms

Eng. 9n - Jan. 11

Complete all Act IV and V questions

Vocab Test: Friday, Jan. 15
Project: Monday, Jan. 18

AMSND Test: TBA

Eng. 12/Lit 12 - Jan. 11

Prepare your polished essays for Wed. Jan. 13

Also, make sure your "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" mini essays are completed for Wednesday's class.

Writing 12 - Jan. 8

Don't forget to bring your children's book supplies for Monday.

Lit12 / Eng.12 Jan. 8

In case you missed today's class, the topic for exam prep is "It is important to learn from the past."  Remember you need all three essays for Tuesday's class.  Give yourself 40 minutes to complete this.

Eng. 9 - Jan. 8

Review your roles for AMSND - we will be finishing acting the play on Monday.

Project Due: Mon. Jan. 18
Vocab Test: Fri. Jan. 15

Lit 12/ Eng. 12 - Jan. 7

For three days we will be writing on topics for a NARRATIVE ESSAY.  On Tuesday, you must have ALL THREE essays available for PEER EDITING.

Your POLISHED and fabulous computer written essay is due: Wed. Jan. 13.

First topic:  Simple Gifts are the Best

Lit. 12 - Book Gifts - Jan. 6

*If your book gift is not here, it's because you didn't sign the sheet.
** Return your Pride and Prejudice books, they are not gifts.

 

 

 

Books Given by Lit Kids to Lit Kids (Christmas 2015)

 

John Green: The Fault in Our Stars

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden

Maria Semple: Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany

M.T. Anderson: Feed

J.D. Salinger: Catcher in the Rye

Richard Adams: Watership Down

Karl Ove Knausgaard: Dancing in the Dark

Sharon M. Draper: Out of my Mind

Nancy Farmer: The House of the Scorpion

Kenneth Oppel: Airborn

David Mitchell:  Cloud Atlas

Ned Vizzini:  It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Eng. 9 - Jan. 6

Complete all of ACT III questions (in package) for Thurs. Jan. 7

Final Vocab: Fri. Jan. 8

Vocab Test: Fri. Jan. 15

AMSND PROJECT: Mon. Jan. 18

Ham Notes - Jan. 5

Reality vs. Illusion

 

-"antic disposition" - is Hamlet being insane?  When? Goes throughout the play

• Queen at first makes a comment about Hamlet being depressed (as he would be)
• What's the turning point between Ham's madness?
• Masks - "all the world's a stage" idea
• Claudius - people may think he's a good king - but look at his soliloquy
• Polonius loves spying - what do other people see?

* device by author (like One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest) illusion/madness exposes reality

• Ham gets to say what he wants
• FORTINBRAS has a powerful army, Claudius is eloquent, Ham has power through understanding people

• Each character is inauthentic towards Ham (R&G spying on Ham - sending him to get killed)

• When is reality apparent?  Death (look to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead)
• Ophelia took everything literally at first (she corrects Ham for saying he's been dead 2 hours) - later is overcome by illusion

 

Ghost - interesting - other people see him

-similar to witches in Macbeth - (compare to second appearance of the witches to Macbeth where Macbeth orchestrates it)

• Gertrude doesn't see the ghost - why?
• Ghost doesn't appear to Claudius, Gertrude or Polonius (people who don't care and aren't mourning him)

 

-when Claudius is confessing (not repenting) - illusion that he's absolved of his sin - what he's actually doing vs. what he's really doing

-Claudius lets Gertrude die at the end (cares about his image/power) more than wife

"May Ione be pardon'd but retain the offence?" (III ii 57)

 

Play within the play within the play within the play - more if you can't R&G are Dead - theatricality

-Ham takes what actually happened and plays Claudius

-"the lady doth protest too much" - good play btwn. Reality and illusion

"is there no offence in it?" - III ii

 

-R&G cannot be faithful to both Claudius and Hamlet

 

-is the ghost from the devil?

 

• *ghost in Elizabethan times would come from the trap door, which would represent Hell

 

-"Denmark's a prison, for there's nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so"

 

Perspective

 

• Ham doesn't reveal how much he loved Ophelia until after she dies "forty thousand brothers could not have loved her as much" (V i)

• *if we interpret why he's so mad at Ophelia, it's easy to see he's hurt from being spurned

 

 

Vengeance vs. Loyalty

 

• Is Ham loyal to his father?   He set up the play to see if he could trust him

• But Ham being "true to himself" - loyal to random apparition to kill a person- who just happens to be the king (next to God) of his country

• Whom is Gertrude loyal to?
• Gertrude "but not by him"  - keep power?  Loyal to herself
• As soon as Ham leaves - Laertes (IV v) - she defends Claudius - just before that she tells Claudius that Ham is "as mad as the sea and wind" supporting Ham's "antic disposition"
• Ham won't give Gertrude any power (she'll become the queen mum)

 

Remember to reveal what Shakespeare reveals about human nature generally - how do these topics relate to our world?  To whom are we loyal?  What does it mean to us?  How far will we go?

 

Claudius - let's Gertrude drink poison wine

-how much does he care about Polonius?

-symbiotic relationship - Gertrude and Claudius benefit from their relationship

 

-can think about other loyalties: religion; Laertes, Ophelia and Polonius; FORTINBRAS

 

• Laertes is loyal to his father and his sister

 

Ophelia - split loyalties - wants to listen to her father and brother; but also loyal to her boyfriend

-Polonius sees her as an innocent daughter; Ham sees her as a lover

Othello has a line about every daughter having to leave her father: "And so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father" (I iii 187)

 

-picking the wrong side - Gertrude w Claudius = poison wine

-Ophelia picks Polonius = crazy & dead

-Ham picks ghost = dead

 

-"to thine own self be true" (Polonius I iii)

 

-Horatio does not have split loyalties

-Laertes is manipulated by Claudius

-loyalty can be good, but in this play causes a lot of damage

 

-Gertrude is loyal to her family? Doesn't really need to marry Claudius  - she was already the queen (could have been manipulated by Claudius)

-Deuteronomy

 

Action vs. Inaction

• Also known as paralysis

 

Hamlet - stabs Polonius very soon after not killing Claudius - suddenly springs into action - as soon as he kills Polonius he orders R&G's deaths

 

Look at Hamlet's soliloquies

how much does religion inspire or limit Ham?

-rationalization? Justification?

-could relate to "Just Lather That's All" - is Ham a hero or a coward

-anti-hero

 

• FORTINBRAS - taking Poland's "straw" and killing 20,000 men whereas Ham can't kill one person even though that person kills his father
• Ham tries to find out the truth first
• Ham seems pretty smart - but overthinks things ("nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so"/"conscience doth make cowards of us all") III i
• FORTINBRAS and Laertes represent their time; Hamlet is a modern hero

 

Morality - prevents Ham from acting

 

What prevents Ham from acting?

 

• Is it better to be cold hearted and just kill people?  (like FORTINBRAS)

• Compare Macbeth to Hamlet - Mac acts without conscience -after killing the king (remember when he kills Macduff's whole household?)

• Taking risks - Claudius took a risk - but this also could cause worse things to happen

• Is Ham being cautious or being stupid?

• Should he have killed Claudius "full of bread"

• When should he have killed Claudius?  What's the timeline?
• How much Hamlet obsesses (like a teenager)
• But it is murder

 

-ghost's role?  In III iv - like his conscience

• Ham acts around women "frailty, thy name is women" -betrayed - also feels like he has something to prove
• Women can't act - drowns (almost seems like the opposite of action - it's said that water kills you - defense against suicide) - passive

• Using women (raped Ophelia?)
• (Lady Macbeth dies - "of her own hands" Romeo's mother dies of grief)

 

 

 

 

Othello Notes - Jan. 5

Iago's soliloquies: I iii 385-406

 

II i  290-316

II iii 45-57

II iii 331-357

II iii 376-382

III iii 320-328

 

Othello's soliloquies: III iii 257-277

 

V ii 1-22

 

Monologues

 

Iago: I i 6-33; I i 41-66; I iii 320-363; II I 221 - 251

 

Emilia: IV iii 83-102

 

Othello: I iii 127-170

 

 

Jealousy

 

• Iago, Othello, Emilia, Roderigo, Bianca

 

Why is Iago jealous? Othello shouldn't achieve - he is black, also a war hero, also promoted Cassio over him.

-Iago "between my sheets he has done my office" - Iago doesn't really even know if Othello did this

-he says "we have reason" to control our jealousy - but he uses reason to express his jealousy

-"a competent person is not jealous" - outside source (look it up)

What is jealousy?

One of the seven deadly sins is envy

-outside quote - love doesn't usually come without jealousy, but it takes away from love

 

Who is more jealous, Iago or Othello?

• Iago's jealousy is caused by himself

• Othello's jealousy is caused by Iago

• Iago classifies Othello as "the Moor"
• Iago has a position, a wife, is well off - why so jealous?

• Iago tries to bring Othello down to bring himself up

 

What is this play saying about jealousy?

• Show the result of jealousy - important and powerful - no one got what they wanted (except innocent Cassio)
• "the jealous are troublesome to others but a torment to oneself" -William Penn
• Play started because of Iago's jealousy (inciting incident)

 

 

-jealousy ties into greed (Iago could have been fine about what he has in life)

-extreme case - result of being jealous

-Iago's feeling of jealousy is more artificial

 

Why does Iago seem to convince himself that Othello is worse than he is?

 

• Iago plants seeds of jealousy into Othello

• Othello's jealousy is out of care for someone else

• III iv 156-160 "But jealous souls will not be answered so…"

 

Jealousy is, by nature, unreasonable

 

-A"green-eyed monster"

-Emilia - jealousy multiples by feeding on itself

-difference between envy and jealousy?

-envious is upset about something one doesn't have - not taken away from

 

Envy = longing for others' fortune

Jealousy = resentful of rivalry

 

What causes jealousy?

-for Othello it's the lack of self esteem: "vale of years"

-years of endemic racism

 

What does Othello reveal about the nature of jealousy?

 

-"jealousy is a cancer"

-if people have self confidence, they are not jealous

"rude of speech" - Othello

• Othello started to believe what others thought of him
• Iago also not self confidence - couldn't find happiness from within - had to find it from someone else's pain
• St. Augustus: "he that is jealous is not in love"
• "love isn't jealous"

• Iago manipulates everyone into trusting him

• Iago wants to feed his jealousy -
• Wants to reassure himself what he's doing is right - so convinces himself (Othello sleeping with his wife)

• "virtue, a fig!"
• Iago spends his whole life destroying Othello's life - should be worthwhile - enough hate = worthwhile

 

Hero vs. Villain

 

• Hero - Othello is a war hero

• Tragic hero
• Senators think he's a hero
• Saves Cyprus
• Desdemona sees  him as a hero

 

-let the jealousy and rage blind his heroism - turned to villainy

-Cassio ends up the victor/hero -kind, good, true

 

-could contrast to other characters

 

-from other characters' points of view - Iago seemed like a hero

-Othello is the protagonist

-slapped Desdemona, calls her a whore, kills his own wife

-Othello had potential to become a hero - let himself be manipulated, let his jealousy control him - doesn't go talk to Cassio or his wife

-if Othello truly loved Desdemona… "I loved her that she did pity them" (I iii 167)** - would not have been manipulated by jealousy

-tragic to kill the one you love and then realize it's for no reason

-emotions can be "planted" for good or for bad (Iago is successful at planting Othello's garden full of weeds)

-egos are important in this play  - pride

 

What part does pride play within these topics?

 

**does loving someone because they love you make for a good, sound marriage?

 

-calls himself the devil

-Othello created his own actions

 

-does Othello's realization of his actions help make up for some of his downfalls?

-Othello has noble qualities

 

V ii 342  "One that loved not wisely, but too well" - Judah reference - realizes the betrayal

-Othello trusts Iago more than his own wife

 

Revenge

 

Definition - to inflict punishment for retaliation to satisfy oneself

• Iago's plot against Othello - Iago need revenge because of the promotion Othello gave Cassio

• Brabantio craved revenge because he loses his daughter to a black man
• Ties into jealousy theme

• Othello needs revenge because he thinks Desdemona cheated on him

• Iago involves Emilia in his revenge plot, also Roderigo (and Cassio and Brabantio)

• Wanted revenge for Cassio's promotion "ensnare a great a fly as Cassio"
• Douglas Portend (?)"while seeking revenge: did two graves, one for yourself"
• Revenge doesn't necessarily work out for the avenger
• Tragic hero - Othello then kills himself
• Iago admits (II i 313) "I love her too, not out of lust" - how he feels about Desdemona
• Iago puts Othello in such a bad position -

 

How does Iago go about seeking revenge?  Could look at Iago's soliloquies.

 

-Othello can't stand that Desdemona destroys his reputation - wants revenge for that

-"Yet she must die else she betray more men" (Vii) - to gain back his confidence - must do something aggressive

-people who have been in war - anger management concerns?

-Desdemona doesn’t know why this happened - would this have been prevented if he had only talked to her

-"an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind"

-pride

-machismo

-emotions can blind morals (the opposite of what Iago says)

• Betrayal and jealousy lead into revenge

• Word of mouth causes the betrayals - no real proof

• How can one remain true to oneself when people are actively trying to cause one harm?

• IV i 184-185

 

 

 

Lit 12 - Jan. 4

Fishbowl: Tues. Jan. 5
In-Class Essay: Wed. Jan. 6