November 7 ... Getting to Know Shakespeare

• As you enter, get yourself a copy of the Shakespeare biography on top of the laptop cart AND get a highlighter (color doesn't matter).  Make sure you put your name on your copy of the article and number the paragraphs.

• We'll look at a couple of paragraphs together - but eventually, as you read the article, you will highlight what you feel is the most important sentence (or sentences) within each paragraph (except paragraph 1 ... it's just one sentence ... read it and move forward).

November 2 ... Rime of the Ancient Mariner ... Essay Test Prompts

• Answer the following on your own paper ... OR you can type your responses and share them with me ... whichever works best for you.  Be sure to answer all parts of the prompt - but structure your writing as a single essay.  300-400 Words.  You will work on this in class today and on Monday.

• Part ONE - Guilt and the Poem
• The Mariner’s senseless killing of the albatross (which symbolizes innocence as well as man’s connection to nature - an important theme of the Romantic Period) sets off all the negative events/consequences withn the story. Even though he eventually is forgiven by nature for his sins (when he blesses the sea serpents), he is nonetheless doomed to forever walk the earth sharing his tale (which is the frame for the entire story). Why is this fate - and the fact that he must forever carry the guilt for his actions - a fate worse than death for him?

• Part TWO - Guilt and Your Own Perspective
• Generally speaking, it is right that even though he is forgiven for what he has done, he must still face the consequences? Explain. Do you feel that an apology - if accepted - should be enough to make up for doing something wrong? Explain. Is it important that people feel guilty when they wrong or harm someone or something else? Explain. Would we be better off if guilt didn’t exist? Explain. 

AGAIN ... answer both parts in a single essay response.  But be sure to hit it from both the literary and personal angles.

October 30 ... Analyzing Rime

• Yesterday we had the chance to read the poem "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" for general understanding - today you will use the reading questions to go back and re-read parts of the story to analyze literary and poetic elements of the poem.  Answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper ... and make a list of any questions YOU have about the poen (or note any of the reading questions you want to ask about or have further discussion on tomorrow).  Try to get through as many of #s 1-29 as you can today.
• The poem begins on P. 814 in the literature book.
• The questions are on top of the laptop cart.

October 29 ... Reading "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

• Today we will read (and listen to a reading of) "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" ... read/listen for understanding today.  We will work with it more in the next few days to analyze.
• Pages 814-834 in the Lit Book.
• Rime ... Read by Ian McKellen

October 26 ... The Romantic Era and Nature and Rime of the Ancient Mariner (RotAM)

The Romantic Era (roughly 1800-1850) ... artistic revival on the back end of the Age of Enlightenment during the 18th Century (1700s).  Literary, musical, and intellectual movement that focused on the human condition and on nature and on ideas of eternity ... and on a more visceral lifestyle than the largely industrial and commercial Enlightenment.  In a nutshell, after 100 years of deep though and analysis, art and literature turned back toward the emotional and Romantic ideals of what living (and all things associated with living ... including death) is.

The Romantic Era throughout Europe was largely influenced by the French Revolution - with the execution of Louis XVI kicking off the notion that a "new world" could exist.  The Romantic Period included, for the first time, writers and artists and social commentators who embraced the notion of revolution .. both against government and the church.  Governments were challenged.  The very basis of Christianity ... that there is a God ... was challenged.  It is very much an age of rebellion and change (and had a strong influence on the American Revolution).  Romantics were, largely, libertarians fighting back against the European monarchies and control by the wealthy.

• As we watch a portion of the YouTube video about the Romantic Era and the focus on Nature, make a list of 15 things you learned from it.  Focus on the concept - you do not have to write complete sentences ... bullet points are fine as long as they are clear and not overly vague.
• The Romantics - Nature (YouTube)

October 25 ... Finishing Vocab and Timeline

Sorry - got up to a dead car battery this morning.  If you have questions or issues with the assignment, email me at richard.davis@sfisd.org or I should be in the fieldhouse by 11:00.

Othewise, finish the assignment over the Rime of the Ancient Mariner vocab and timeline (be sure to find additional life events online for Coleridge to fill out your timeline more than the minimal stuff on the handout). See yeaterday’s Blog if you need a copy of the assignment.

October 24 ... Vocab and Author Notes for RIME

You should have received the handout for this in class, however if you lost it or didn’t get one, you can either print the assignment from here or complete it on your own paper ...


Name:
Period:

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” 

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Vocabulary – Briefly define the following vocabulary words using the literature book, dictionary, or laptop.  The narrative poem begins on p. 814 in the literature book.  You will definitely have to Google #10.

1. Mariner
2. Albatross
3. Seraph
4. Kirk
5. Hermit
6. Skiff
7. Swound
8. Penance
9. Smote
10. Spectre-bark


Using a laptop, research the life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Some of this information can be found on pp. 812, 813 in your literature book. Record your findings on a timeline you create below.

-Birth
-Early years (before orphanage)
-Life in the orphanage
-Opium addiction
-College/Army years
-Married life/children
-Friends
-Life as a poet/greatest accomplishments
-Death

October 23 . . Finishing the Theme Journal

As we move forward to our next Unit of study and to reading the poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” you will take time today to finish your journal about how you relate and perceive themes that relate to the poem (and it’s all about you .. so you don’t have to have READ the poem to do this). Choose one or two of the topics below to journal about. 300-400 words. Quiz grade. Due today.

1. PRIDE ... How can pride be both a good thing and a bad thing?  Have you ever experienced or witnessed where pride caused something bad to happen?  Does life sometimes humble those who may be too prideful?

2. SUFFERING ... Why is it necessary to have consequences sometimes for our actions? What is the point of consequences?  Does suffering through these consequences make us better people? 

3. ISOLATION ... Think about a time when you were alone for a long period of time ... how did it affect you?  How do our minds work differently when we are isolated from other people as opposed to when we are surrounded by friends and family?  What effects does isolation have on relationships? 

4. TRANSFORMATION ... Discuss a time when you (or someone you know) became a different kind of person because of life changing events.  Are these kinds of transformations always positive? Always negative? Is it possible to live an entire life and NOT be transformed in some way by what we go through? 

4 options. You can write about 1 or 2. 300-400 words total/combined. Quiz grade. 

October 22 .... Theme Journal

As we move forward to our next Unit of study and to reading the poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” you will take time today to journal about how you relate and perceive themes that relate to the poem (and it’s all about you .. so you don’t have to have READ the poem to do this). Choose one or two of the topics below to journal about. 300-400 words. Quiz grade. Due today.

1. PRIDE ... How can pride be both a good thing and a bad thing?  Have you ever experienced or witnessed where pride caused something bad to happen?  Does life sometimes humble those who may be too prideful?

2. SUFFERING ... Why is it necessary to have consequences sometimes for our actions? What is the point of consequences?  Does suffering through these consequences make us better people? 

3. ISOLATION ... Think about a time when you were alone for a long period of time ... how did it affect you?  How do our minds work differently when we are isolated from other people as opposed to when we are surrounded by friends and family?  What effects does isolation have on relationships? 

4. TRANSFORMATION ... Discuss a time when you (or someone you know) became a different kind of person because of life changing events.  Are these kinds of transformations always positive? Always negative? Is it possible to live an entire life and NOT be transformed in some way by what we go through? 

4 options. You can write about 1 or 2. 300-400 words total/combined. Quiz grade. 

Friday, October 12 .... 9 Week Exam Review Notes & Continuing Gawain

• Continue reading the Arthurian Romance (meaning it's from the time of King Arthur - thus, Arthurian - and it's about knights and chivalry - thus, Romance): Gawain and the Green Knight
• Work on the Study Questions as you read.
• It begins on Page 230 .. there is some background information on Page 228 you will need for the questions.
• Quiz Tuesday - it will be open note/Reading Questions

• Literary Concepts to Review/Know:
• Hyperbole - exaggeration (or over exaggeration) for the purpose of effect
• Simile - Comparison of two unlike things using LIKE or AS
• Metaphor - Comparison of two unlike things ... but one is spoken of as if it IS something else ... tends to have deeper, more prolonged meaning than a simile
• Personification - when something inanimate is spoken of in terms of human qualities
• Summary - Condensing the most important plot points of a reading ... 
• SOMEBODY WANTED, BUT ... SO 
• SOMEBODY (the main character) WANTED (what that desire or what motivates them) BUT (the conflict) SO (the resolution)
• IE ... Cinderella wants to go to the ball but her wicked stepmother and stepsisters do everything they can do to stop her ... so her fairy Godmother appears and makes it possible, she meets Prince Charming, and (eventually) they live happily ever after.
• Vocabulary Terms to Review/Know (dictionaries will be allowed):
• DOTED
• USURPED
• REIGNED
• FORLORN
• BANISHED
• TRIUMPHANT
• DEPOSED