What is your definition of a tragedy? A tragic hero? Cite a work of literature that you have not studied in school that you think would qualify as a tragedy. Please elaborate on how it is a tragedy and which character you feel is the tragic hero of that work. (This can certainly be modern or contemporary literature...)
Yay! It's my second favorite unit of the semester!!! It's time for Julius Caesar. I cannot wait to read this with you. It is a play of high intrigue, betrayal, murder, and personal conflict. The characters are well-developed and the discussion is usually interesting. You will love it. (And if you don't, don't tell me.) :)
Finishing The Iliad this week, starting Julius Caesar (sort of). Busy week. Late getting this up. Sorry.
Odysseus: [voiceover] Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved? These are powerful first lines. The opening lines, opening scenes, in movies really set the tone for the movie. What reactions do you have to these lines, knowing the epic characteristics and the text of The Iliad as you do?
We took notes over the characteristics of an epic. What examples can you point out from The Iliad that fit the criterion?
Iliad Game Here is an Iliad Game on the Internet. It's pretty fun. Give it a try and post any comments you have about it.
The Inferno unit was an interesting one for us. I enjoyed reading your comments on the work and your opinions on it. I also enjoyed seminaring with 3rd period over it. This week, we are going to tackle another work that we are reading for exposure. Remember when I explained the difference in reading for exposure and doing a close reading? This is another classic that is pretty difficult. It is, however, a different kind of difficult than The Inferno.
If you wish, I would like to hear some of your memories of that day. I was teaching (my fourth week of my teaching career, in fact) an English II Honors class of 12 people. We were in a little closet of a room during 2nd period when Mr. Rockholt came on the intercom and announced that our country had been attacked. He told us that two planes had hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. He said that we don't have a lot of information at the time, but that we needed to remember the victims. I had first lunch, so at lunch we found out that a plane had hit the Pentagon as well. At some point someone heard that a fourth and fifth plane were inbound. (We later learned about the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.) There was just a lot of chaos and nerves. We did not have TV's at the time and I was a floating teacher so I didn't even have my own computer. My junior English class was fourth period and we went on and worked on our lesson, though no one's minds were on it, including mine. During 4th period (my planning period), I went to an empty room with my fellow teachers and watched the coverage. At that point, some stations were still showing the gruesome images of people jumping from the buildings. It was horrific to watch and there was some element of disbelief about it all. I remember waking up the next morning, how it took a minute for it to sink in that the world was a different place than it had been the previous morning. I was not a mom yet at that time, and I can imagine even now how much more terrifying the whole thing would have been if I had already had children. For some reason, nothing in this world is so scary when it is just you and your spouse. It's when little people depend on you that the fear reaches a whole new level. My daughters were born into a post-9/11 world. They don't remember what it was like to get to airports 30 minutes before your flight, to not have to take off your shoes when you go through security, and to live without the knowledge that our security is a precarious thing. September 11 changed a lot of things for the United States, but the freedom we all share remains the same and we should be forever grateful for that.
Finished with the Inferno, almost! Your presentations have been pretty good, overall. And hooray for FOUR DAY WEEKS!!!!
Even though we only watched three five minute excerpts, I am curious about your opinions about the movie compared to the book. Was seeing the visual image more horrific than reading it, or is your imagination more graphic than the movie-creators? Do some of you think you will plan to watch the entire movie?
We talked about this a little bit in class, but you have now read some pieces of The Inferno. What do you think about the power Dante had as a writer to create this fictional hell and place people in it from his contemporary culture? Do you think it was ethically correct for him to do this? Would you enjoy a chance to have this sort of power in writing? What are your thoughts on this text?
http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/utopia/index2.html For further reference on your cantos, check out this link from the university of Texas. This is not intended as a replacement for your reading, however.
INFERNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are moving right along! This is usually a really different, interesting work for sophomores. It's a little difficult, but people usually enjoy it.
