“Et in Arcadia Ego”
image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolas_Poussin_052.jpg “Even in Arcadia I (death) am there.” Here are highlights from the Broadway show — however, I think our own cast was pretty darn good!: Here …
20 Mar
The Tempest . . .
The Tempest . . .
A few youtube videos worth watching: Where the Wild Things Are, read aloud: Highlights from a very strange, but cool looking, production of The Tempest: Another cool high …
09 Mar
Frankenstein Part 3: This is the end . . .
Frankenstein Part 3: This is the end . . .
image from: http://bit.ly/lrlaLy Frankenstein – Chapters 19 – end Answer questions thoughtfully, with specific details and quotes from the text, being sure to include your own insight. 1. …
03 Mar
Frankenstein Part Two: Creature meets Creator
Frankenstein Part Two: Creature meets Creator
image found at: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/winners-showcase/3197d1180868478-june-2007-winner-storm-coming-up-austrian-alps-_igp4999.jpg Frankenstein – Chapters 10-18 Answer questions thoughtfully, with specific details and quotes from the text, as well as your own insight. The …
21 Feb
Frankenstein ~ Journal #1
Frankenstein ~ Journal #1
image from: http://bit.ly/jLhbIq Like Romantic novels (and as seen later in Heart of Darkness), Frankenstein is textually constructed as a “frame novel”; however, this book contains …
06 Feb
“I will find where truth is hid”
“I will find where truth is hid”
Examine the questions raised by the following topics. I have given you one quote to help you get started; the rest is up to …
30 Jan
Eggshell Speech!
Eggshell Speech!
image from: http://bit.ly/j84Ixx DUE FRIDAY! The soliloquy on 4.4.32-66 is affectionately known as “the eggshell speech.” Basically, at this point, Hamlet is watching Fortinbras take an …
27 Jan
New independent reading books!!!!
New independent reading books!!!!
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rVTc1459cNo/TVfisaXaPrI/AAAAAAAAHYs/pPVdOwXwLlw/s1600/the-reader.jpg So . . . what are you reading? What’s great about it? Please tell us about your book AND include one quote that …
24 Jan
The Mousetrap!!
The Mousetrap!!
image from: http://bit.ly/kmAMfa Read through Act 3, Scene 2. Then watch the following YouTube clips: First, watch this clip from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. …
11 Jan
Snow Day!
Snow Day!
image found at: http://news.haverford.edu/blogs/haverblog/files/2011/01/lovely-snow-021.jpg If there is a snow day on Thursday, please spend some time reviewing AP Free Response essays for Question 3 (these are …
30 Dec
Hamlet’s Ghost!!
Hamlet’s Ghost!!
image found at: http://classic.0catch.com/hamlet/ghost.jpg Hamlet‘s entire plot revolves around the need to avenge King Hamlet’s murder. In Amleth, this is a given: Amleth sees the …
09 Dec
Book Discussions
Book Discussions
Image found at: http://cdn.madamenoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Home_Photo_books.jpg We are reading a diverse assortment of books. Feel free to jump in to any discussion, even if you have not …
03 Dec
Sonny’s Blues
Sonny’s Blues
image found at: http://bligidyblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/eugene-smith-thelonius-monk.jpg The story: “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin Charlie Parker: Compulsion Billie Holiday: “Some Cold Rainy Day” “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes: The Old Ship of Zion: Thelonious …
28 Nov
King Lear: Video of entire play
King Lear: Video of entire play
image found at: http://www.dia.org/user_area/comping/77.58.jpg Watch here: http://video.pbs.org/video/1075274407/ King Lear
16 Nov
Dracula ~ Part 4: “Unclean! Unclean! Even the Almighty shuns my polluted flesh! I must bear this mark of shame upon my forehead until the Judgment Day”
Dracula ~ Part 4: “Unclean! Unclean! Even the Almighty shuns my polluted flesh! I must bear this mark of shame upon my forehead until the Judgment Day”
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/depts/happenings/dracula-reworked.jpg And now, the race against time. If Mina is to be saved, the (heretofore, not so smart) men need to destroy that last box …
16 Nov
Wuthering Heights ~ Part 4: “Last night, I was on the threshold of hell. To-day, I am within sight of my heaven. I have my eyes on it: hardly three feet to sever me!”
Wuthering Heights ~ Part 4: “Last night, I was on the threshold of hell. To-day, I am within sight of my heaven. I have my eyes on it: hardly three feet to sever me!”
image found at: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/057/0/8/derelict_church_2_by_oldtoppy-d3afuue.jpg What do you think? Is there a theme to this book? Is there a moral? Is this a love …
16 Nov
Jane Eyre ~ Part 4: “It was my time to assume ascendancy. My powers were in play and in force…”
Jane Eyre ~ Part 4: “It was my time to assume ascendancy. My powers were in play and in force…”
image found at: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zwGAlNKq7OM/TbSDD3yJRJI/AAAAAAAADvQ/Zd3hVZDsdbg/s1600/002.JPG I am not fond of this section. There are too many coincidences (the first cottage she finds just happens to belong …
09 Nov
Dracula ~ Part 3:
Dracula ~ Part 3:
image found at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Eclectic_shorthand_by_cross.png/200px-Eclectic_shorthand_by_cross.png Poor Lucy is dead (no, not just “dead” — she is REALLY dead!), and the merry band of friends is now determined …
09 Nov
Slaughterhouse-Five ~ Part 3: “All these years,” he said, . . .
Slaughterhouse-Five ~ Part 3: “All these years,” he said, . . .
image found at: http://www.anothermother.org/wp-content/themes/AnotherMother/images/masthead_poster.gif “I’ve been opening the window and making love to the world” (169). I finished the book last night!!!!! It ends, not with a bang, …
09 Nov
Wuthering Heights ~ Part 3: “Be with me always–take any form–drive me mad!
Wuthering Heights ~ Part 3: “Be with me always–take any form–drive me mad!
image found at: http://www.ancientstones.org.uk/images/Hurlers_250.jpg only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!” (163). Poor Catherine. Poor Heathcliff. Poor baby. …
09 Nov
Jane Eyre ~ Part 3: “I faced the wreck of the chestnut tree; it stood black and riven: . ..
Jane Eyre ~ Part 3: “I faced the wreck of the chestnut tree; it stood black and riven: . ..
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/cb069674-7cb3-417e-8b17-7378d253f767.jpg the trunk, split down the center, gaped ghastly” (259). This is the best section of the book!!! The madwoman in the attic, the wedding disaster, …
01 Nov
Dracula ~ Part 2: “The bride-maidens rejoice the eyes that wait the coming of the bride . . .
Dracula ~ Part 2: “The bride-maidens rejoice the eyes that wait the coming of the bride . . .
but when the bride draweth night, then the maidens shine not to the eyes that are filled” (97). image found at: http://www.boingboing.net/images/_images_2006_02_27_arts_Riding450.jpg No — I don’t know …
01 Nov
Slaughterhouse-Five ~ Part 2: “Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment.
Slaughterhouse-Five ~ Part 2: “Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment.
There is no why” (77). image found at: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/9/6/1252252017294/Second-world-war-German-g-001.jpg I am haunted by the description of the WW II movie going backwards in time, so that “everything …
01 Nov
Wuthering Heights ~ Part 2: “Yes, Heathcliff,” he replied . . .
Wuthering Heights ~ Part 2: “Yes, Heathcliff,” he replied . . .
glancing from me up to the windows, which relflected a score of glittering moons, but showed no lights from within” (94). image from: http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/ximages/humanfigures/byronic/wuther%5B1%5D.jpg Ah, Heathcliff. What …
01 Nov
Jane Eyre ~ Part 2: “Sinking below the bird and mast . . .
Jane Eyre ~ Part 2: “Sinking below the bird and mast . . .
a drowned corpse glanced through the green water; a fair arm was the only limb clearly visible, whence the bracelet had been washed or torn” …
23 Oct
Dracula: (Mem., I must ask the Count about these superstitions.)
Dracula: (Mem., I must ask the Count about these superstitions.)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3398875493_19027d31d5.jpg This novel emerged from the author’s mind during the same time period as Mary Shelley created Frankenstein. You need to question what worldly affairs would …
23 Oct
Slaughterhouse Five:
Slaughterhouse Five:
image found at: http://bit.ly/qr3e3r This is a very strange book that plays with narration, with time, with reality, with form, with philosophy. When is the author …
23 Oct
Wuthering Heights: Alas, for the effects of bad tea and bad temper!
Wuthering Heights: Alas, for the effects of bad tea and bad temper!
image found at: http://bit.ly/qjOl5z This novel, like many others written at the time, is a type of “frame” novel, in which the story is told by …
23 Oct
Jane Eyre: “You are a strange child, Miss Jane . . . a little, roving, solitary thing”
Jane Eyre: “You are a strange child, Miss Jane . . . a little, roving, solitary thing”
image from: http://bit.ly/oodM8J This novel is often considered the first major feminist novel. Why might that be? As you read, keep in mind that Jane, the …
05 Oct
Into the Heart of Darkness . . .
Into the Heart of Darkness . . .
For the next week or so, you will be traveling into the heart of Africa with the buddha-like seaman, Marlow, who is attempting to recount …
27 Sep
Cold Mountain # 3: Even my best intentions come to naught, and hope itself is but an obstacle.
Cold Mountain # 3: Even my best intentions come to naught, and hope itself is but an obstacle.
http://blueridgeblog.blogs.com/blue_ridge_blog/images/crows_snow.jpg BEFORE YOU READ: Go to this website and read some of the Civil War love letters displayed there: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/cwlove/ What do you notice about …
27 Sep
As I Lay Dying # 3: “I reckon there aint nothing else to do.”
As I Lay Dying # 3: “I reckon there aint nothing else to do.”
BEFORE YOU READ: Go here: http://www.openculture.com/2010/04/william_faulkner_reads_from_as_i_lay_dying.html and listen to Faulkner reading from the book. Listen to the cadence of his voice, his accent, …
27 Sep
Song of Solomon # 3: What good is a man’s life if he can’t even choose what to die for?
Song of Solomon # 3: What good is a man’s life if he can’t even choose what to die for?
BEFORE YOU READ: Look up the story of the Flying Africans here: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2895. Then go to this website,http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/slavery-photographs.htm and find one photo …
24 Sep
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
http://bit.ly/dpjekW 1935: Levi’s commercial:
20 Sep
Cold Mountain #2: “What lay before him was indeed a horrid thing, and yet Inman feared that the minds of all men share the same nature with little true variance.”
Cold Mountain #2: “What lay before him was indeed a horrid thing, and yet Inman feared that the minds of all men share the same nature with little true variance.”
http://americancivilwar.com/pictures/confederate-dead-fredericksburg.gif BEFORE YOU READ: Write a journal entry about war. Why do wars exist? Are they glorious and tragic and heroic” (180) or “brutal and …
20 Sep
Song of Solomon #2: “Far down the road, a long way from Milkman and Guitar, the peacock spread its tail.”
Song of Solomon #2: “Far down the road, a long way from Milkman and Guitar, the peacock spread its tail.”
image from: http://bit.ly/mteIQe BEFORE YOU READ: In your journal, describe an autumn day, including all the senses. In these final pages before Milkman leaves home in order …
20 Sep
As I Lay Dying #2: “I made it on the bevel” . . . “It wasn’t on a balance.”
As I Lay Dying #2: “I made it on the bevel” . . . “It wasn’t on a balance.”
image from: http://bit.ly/lt8dQJ BEFORE YOU READ: In your journal, describe a rushing, flooding river. Include all the senses. Cash’s words bookend this section of the book. …
13 Sep
Cold Mountain: “He had seen the metal face of the age . . . “
Cold Mountain: “He had seen the metal face of the age . . . “
http://bit.ly/n0XL9S BEFORE YOU READ: The book opens with Inman gazing out a window, “wait for the world to begin shaping up outside. The window was …
13 Sep
Song of Solomon: “What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?”
Song of Solomon: “What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?”
image from: http://bit.ly/iZe4U6 Chapters 1-3 BEFORE YOU READ: In your journal, take a few minutes to think about names. Where did your name(s) come from? …
13 Sep
As I Lay Dying~ “How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.”
As I Lay Dying~ “How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.”
image from: http://bit.ly/lQkG1M Part 1: Through page 81 BEFORE YOU BEGIN: In your journal, write a description of listening to rain on the roof. Then write …
03 Sep
Waiting for . . . . . .
Waiting for . . . . . .
Photo by Zach Krall — all rights reserved Here are some links that may (or may not) shed light on this very strange play: NYTimes Review: April …
03 Sep
Welcome!
Welcome!
image from: http://bit.ly/liW6SL “I take the word and move through it, as if it were only a human form, its lines delight me and I sail in each resonance of …
