Ms. Rosey’s Guidebook for Success in Dual Enrollment English II (Also Known As ENC 1102): Spring 2018 Version Warning: Reading of this guidebook (and completion of all activities herein) will definitely increase student’s intelligence. Use with extreme caution.
Table of Contents Syllabus for ENC 1102 p. 3 Discussion Board Topics/Due Dates p. 14 What Samuel Johnson Really Did p. 15 Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary (Sample Satirical Definitions) p. 21 Old School Topics of Discussion p. 23
1 Discussion and Writing Activities for Old School p. 24 Old School Group Review Activity p. 41 Old School Comparison/Contrast Essay p. 42 Comparison/Contrast Brainstorming Chart p. 43 “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift p. 44 Instructions for essay on “A Modest Proposal” p. 50 Chapter 41 Writing About Literature Activity p. 53 Instructions for Short Story Analysis Essay p. 54 Poetry Unit Activities (including information on Short Essay #4, Song Presentation, and Poetry Alive!) p. 55 Romantic Age Poems p. 61 “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Match the Illustration with Its Passage Game p. 87 Read like a Rock Star Assignments p. 100 Read like a Rock Star British Book Selections p. 103 Instructions for Literary Analysis Research Paper p. 109 Rubric for Literary Analysis Powerpoint Presentation p. 111 Brainstorming Activity on Literary Analysis Research Paper p. 112 “That’s All” by Harold Pinter p. 115 Instructions for essay on The Importance of Being Earnest p. 118 A Study of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark in Film p. 129 Hamlet Argument Essay p. 133 Twitter Hashtag/Tweet Summary of Hamlet p. 134 Shakespeare Insult Kit p. 136 Speech on Shakespearean Quote p. 137 Spoiler Alert: Notes on Hamlet p. 139
SOUTH FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COURSE SYLLABUS
Spring 2018
2 ENC 1102—Freshman English II—3 credit hours*
*This credit is what you would receive at SFSC, not the credit accorded at SHS.
Instructor: Cheryl A. Rosenbaum Phone: 471-5500 ext. 277 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://highmail.highlands.k12.fl.us/~rosenbac/
Welcome to ENC 1102! In this course the focus will shift from nonfiction to literature; we will also continue to improve our writing for the world beyond college.
Catalog Description: This class is designed to develop your ability to read literature critically and to improve your ability to write effectively. Emphasis is on style; exposure to various literary genres; and planning, writing, and documenting short research papers and critical essays. Gordon Rule: requires college level writing in multiple assignments. (TR)
Prerequisites: Successful completion of ENC 1101 or a passing score of a 3 or higher on the exam for Advanced Placement English Language and Composition.
Course Materials: Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Gioia. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 12th ed. New York: Longman, 2013. Print. Kirszner, Laurie, and Stephen Mandell. The Wadsworth Handbook. 10th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2014. Print. (Note: Available to you if you did not take ENC 1101 with me.)
Instructional Methods: Lecture; small group discussion and oral report; large group discussion; online research; library research;Turnitin.com.
Course Resources: You may find the URLs listed here useful for this course. Their relevance and utility will be discussed during the introduction/orientation session. Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com) to help proof your papers for use of sources BEFORE you hand them in to the instructor. Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) to brush up on grammar, punctuation, and MLA documentation format and style. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum Project. (Longview Community College, Missouri). (http://mcckc.edu/longview/ctac/) for further explanation on logical fallacies. Mission Critical: The Critical Thinking Home Page. (San Jose State University). (http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/graphics/main.html) for further explanation on logical fallacies. Class Attendance and Tardies:
3 Dual Enrollment students are expected to abide by their district’s Code of Conduct.
Course Requirements: Students will complete a variety of practice writing both in and out of class to meet the Gordon Rule requirement: paragraphs, free writing, discussion board responses, and rough drafts. In addition, students will submit at least four 500-word essays for formal grading by the instructor per semester. A 1,200-1,500 word research paper will also be required of all students as the accountability part of the research component of this course per semester. Final drafts of essays must meet all MLA writing guidelines both for format and documentation, as applicable to the essay type.
DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS
DISCUSSION BOARDS:
Each discussion board response must be a minimum of 250-350 words, and it will be submitted to D2L. You will also respond to one other person’s post. No sources or bibliography will be required; however, you may at times find it helpful to do some research to acquaint you better with your topic. If such is the case, remember to use proper documentation whenever you paraphrase, summarize, or directly quote outside sources. See your handout on Discussion Boards for more specific information.
ESSAYS:
In addition to discussion boards, we will also write four short essays of at least 500-750 words. You will need to write a rough draft, complete peer editing, and write a final draft for each of the short essays.
TESTS/EXAMS:
The midterm and tests in this class will be a combination of objective/subjective items and may include: multiple choice, T & F, completion, short answer, and essay. More specific information will be given closer to the exam date. You should be aware that your final exam with your responses will be submitted to the dean at SFSC to ensure the validity of this dual enrollment class.
RESEARCH PAPERS:
A research paper must be a minimum of 1,200 word, typed, double-spaced, using MLA format. We will complete a research paper, in addition to other essays, each semester. Topics will be selected by the students but must be approved by the instructor. It is strongly encouraged that the student selects a topic in which he or she is interested. The paper will include a minimum of seven (7) sources and a bibliography page. Because this paper will require much structural and grammatical revision, it is imperative that the student complete the rough draft of this project in a timely manner.
RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATIONS:
Upon completion of the research paper, students will work collaboratively to present an abstract of their research papers. To this end, students are encouraged to use a variety of
4 media, such as Power Point, web pages, and other visual aids. Students must participate in this activity to receive full credit for the research paper.
IN-CLASS WRITING:
These in-class exercises will be graded largely upon the student’s understanding of the concept being emphasized at the time.
COURSE EXPECTATIONS:
1. You will be expected to be WELL PREPARED FOR AND TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE in class sessions. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, ASK! It is preferable that you speak up and are wrong than for you not to speak at all. You will need to have all reading and work done at the assigned time or else. Since so much of what we learn in here will be through group discussion, peer editing, and other such cooperative learning activities, this is the year to come out of your shell!
2. Late work is not accepted.*
3. Make-up work is your responsibility. When you return from an EXCUSED absence look over my agendas for the days you missed. Then speak to me about making up the work. If you do not speak to me, I will simply assume you want a 0 for the assignment we did the day you were absent. I will not remind you if you need to make-up a test or quiz. You need to get your make-up work into me in a reasonable amount of time. For example, if you were absent on Monday, get your make-up assignment on Tuesday, and turn it in on Wednesday.
4. If a student knows ahead of time that he or she will be absent on a day when an assignment is due (for example, a pre-arranged absence or field trip), it is the student’s responsibility to turn in the assignment prior to the due date, or send the assignment to the teacher with another student or a parent. Any work may be taken to the school’s office and put in the teacher’s mailbox.
If a student misses class the day an assignment is due but is on campus at any time during that day (for example, missing part of the day due to a half-day field trip), the student is responsible for bringing the assignment to the teacher or getting it to the teacher. Failure to do so will result in a grade of 0.
*WHOOPS PASS PROCEDURES
Each nine weeks, I allow you to turn in one assignment late within 24 hours without penalty, which you will then submit to www.turnitin.com. You should submit it under the Heading “Whoops Pass for 3rd Nine Weeks” or “Whoops Pass for 4th 9 Weeks,” depending on when you are using it. If you do not use it, you will receive 10 points extra credit at the end of the nine weeks.
Remind101 SIGN-UP PROCEDURES
Another method to ensure you remember all major due dates I have incorporated is the use of Remind101, which is a tool that allows me to send you a text message to your phone to
5 remind you of major due dates. (But please keep in mind when you sign up I will not actually know your phone number NOR—more importantly—will you know mine. It is a computer program that allows me to send you a message.) You can sign-up for this by doing the following: . Send a text message to 81010 with the message: @04476 . Once you do this, you will be prompted to give your name . Once you send back the second message, you are registered with the class
GRADING:
All grades are done on a point system. In-class assignments and some homework assignments are given a check plus (10 points), a check (8 points), check minus (5 points), or 0; if it is to be worth more I will warn you ahead of time. Your discussion board assignment is worth 50 points. Group activities are usually worth 25 points. Quizzes are worth 50 points (KEEP IN MIND THAT POP QUIZZES ARE ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY). A work habits grade is worth 100 points per nine weeks. Tests are worth 100 points or more. Notebooks are worth 25 points each time they are collected. In-class essays and short essays are worth 75 points. Longer essays and research papers will be worth 150-200 points.
NOTEBOOKS:
You are required to have a notebook that you bring to class every day. Blank paper must be kept in the notebook for journal entries, lecture notes, vocabulary and writing assignments. All other class handouts must be kept in the notebook. I will collect these notebooks at the end of each nine weeks. You will need a one-inch three ring binder. The notebook will be collected as followed:
Notebook for 3rd Nine Weeks- due March 9 Notebook for 4th Nine Weeks- due May 12
Requirements for the Notebook: 1. Notebook must be a folder with three brackets. 2. The notebook must contain notebook paper divided by tabs into these sections: A) HANDOUTS- Your guidebook should be in your handout section. B) ASSIGNMENTS--includes homework, vocabulary, in-class work, and essays. 3. The front of the notebook must be clearly marked in the upper right hand corner with the following: A) Name B) Subject C) Period
FORMATTING OF PAPERS (including in-class writings, assignments, formal essays, and journals)
All papers turned in must have the following in the upper left hand corner of the paper: A) Your Name*
6 B) Ms. Rosenbaum C) Class Name- Period D) Date Due
All papers must have a title for the assignment centered on the page. The title should not be underlined, in bold, or in italics. You should have a creative, appropriate, and specific title for each assignment.
Any typed assignment for this class should be done in Times New Roman 12 point font, be double spaced, have one inch margins around the entire page, and have a heading in the upper right hand corner with your last name and page number of the assignment.
All formal essays, journals, and many other assignments will be turned into www.turnitin.com. You will do peer editing of essays using turnitin. The discussion board feature of turnitin will also be used for certain situations. Finally, all papers will be graded directly on turnitin using its GradeMark feature. Unless I tell you otherwise, you will not need to print off a copy of any assignment turned in to turnitin. I will warn you ahead of time what assignments should be turned into www.turnitin.com.
You need to sign-up for the class by going to www.turnitin.com and entering the following:
Class id: 14810883 Password: awesome
*Note: Since you are allowed to be anonymous as you peer edit a classmate’s essay on turnitin, I will allow you to make up a pseudonym when you submit a draft of an essay that will be peer edited on www.turnitin.com. I will warn you ahead of time if what you submit will be peer edited.
RULES:
1. Follow directions first time given. 2. Be prepared: in seat, on time, with materials. 3. Show respect for the rights, property, and feelings of others. 4. Stay on task. 5. Speak only at appropriate times.
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES 1st time—Warning 2nd time--One detention 3rd time--Two detentions and parental contact 4th time--Referral to office Severe Clause--Immediate Referral to office REWARDS Verbal praise Written praise Stickers
GRADING SCALE 90-100=A 80-89= B 70-79= C 60-69= D
7 0-59= F
ASSISTANCE
If at any time you need help, please feel free to make an appointment to speak with me or e-mail me.
Academic Ethics Policy: The faculty of SFCC is committed to a policy of honesty in academic affairs. Conduct for which you may be subject to administrative and/or disciplinary penalties, up to and including suspension or expulsion, includes: 1. Dishonesty consisting of cheating of any kind with respect to examinations, course assignments, or illegal possession of examination papers. If you help another to cheat, you will be subject to the same penalties as the student assisted. 2. Plagiarism consisting of the deliberate use and appropriation of another’s work without indentifying the source and the passing off such work as your own. If you fail to give full credit for ideas or materials taken from another, you have plagiarized.
Consequences of cheating or plagiarism: The instructor may take academic action consistent with college policy that may range from loss of credit for a specific assignment, examination, or project to removal from the course with a grade of “F.” Your instructor and you should seek to resolve the matter to your mutual satisfaction. Failing this, your instructor or you may request action from the appropriate chair, dean/director, and the Vice President for Educational and Student Services (see Grade Appeals in College Catalog) who adjudicates on the basis of college policy. Also be aware that Research papers from other courses will not be accepted in this course.
D2L (Desire to Learn): SFCC uses D2L as its course management software. Each class has a page on D2L. A grade book will be maintained for your class on D2L. It is easy to contact the instructor and fellow students through D2L. If you are not already aware of and comfortable with all of the features of D2L or if you do not have a login name and password, please log on to www.southflorida.edu and click on the Panther Den link. Then choose the “New user” link. This page will connect you to the self-guided tutorials. At the end of the tutorials, you will be directed to call the eLearning Help Desk and receive your login information. Be aware that D2L stores access records, quiz scores, e-mail postings, discussion postings, and chat room conversations. It is very important to log off D2L when you are finished; if you don’t, a person using the computer after you will have access to you course materials, your e-mail account, and your confidential record. Protect your password. (Please keep in mind that in a dual enrollment class grades will be available on Pinnacle, plus information on classroom assignments and due dates is accessible on your teacher’s website.)
Students with Disabilities: In keeping with the College’s open door philosophy and in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, SFCC provides reasonable accommodations to educational and training opportunities for otherwise qualified individuals with documented disabilities. It is the responsibility of the student or prospective student to self-identify with the Disabilities Specialist and provide appropriate documentation. Individuals who chose not to self-identify may be ineligible for services and/or accommodations. Services include but are not limited to: admission and registration assistance, orientation, note taking, tutoring, test accommodations, readers, audio books,
8 course substitutions and assistive technology. For more information, contact the Disabilities Specialist through: the Web site, www.southflorida.edu; e-mail at [email protected]; voice/TDD (863)453-661 ext. 7331; or in person at the Catherine P. Cornelius Student Services Complex, Suite B152, Highlands Campus.
College-Wide Outcomes: This course supports the following College-wide Student Learning Outcomes (SLO-CoWs): 1. Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate (read, write, speak, and listen) effectively. 2. Students will demonstrate the ability to reflect, analyze, synthesize and apply knowledge. 3. Students will demonstrate the ability to find, evaluate, organize, and use information. 4. Prepare students to participate actively as informed and responsible citizens in social, cultural, global and environmental matters.
Course Specific Outcomes: The students will be able to accomplish the following: 1. Think and read critically through analysis, evaluation, and persuasion; 2. Write critical analyses, evaluations, and arguments; 3. Do close readings of short stories, poetry, plays, and literary criticism; 4. Use and demonstrate knowledge of literary terms and how they relate to the nature of fiction, poetry, and drama; 5. Examine, discuss, and write about social issues reflected in literary works; 6. Examine, discuss, and write about gender perspectives reflected in literary works; 7. Examine, discuss, and write about ethnicity reflected in literary works; 8. Demonstrate critical and expressive thinking/writing in a structured journal; 9. Demonstrate research skills through written exercises and library research; 10. Demonstrate analytical, persuasive and research documentation skills through an analytical/persuasive research paper; 11. Participate in small-group discussion, oral reports, literary work analyses, student essay evaluation, and outside readings on gender, ethnicity, and social issues; 12. Demonstrate objective and critical knowledge on quizzes and examinations: 13. Relate class materials and activities to other courses and the everyday world through discussion, audio-visual media, and printed media.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Week One(Jan 9-12): -Take a quiz on Old School (first day of class)
9 -Work on Short Essay #1 on Old School: Comparison/Contrast Fiction Analysis, which will be due to www.turnitin.com by ______-Complete cooperative learning activities on Old School -Read Chpt. 42 “Writing about Literature” (p. 1769-1790) and complete “Writing about Literature” Handout on p. 49 of Guidebook -Read Chpt. 43 “Writing about a Story” (p. 1791-1815) and complete Cornell Notes Outline on “Writing about a Story” -Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary- Do group assignment where you come up with your own dictionary definitions
Week Two (Jan 16-19): -Work on and share Old School Group Activity -Complete Hashtag Activity on Old School -Complete peer editing and final draft of Old School essay
Week Three (Jan 22-26): -Test on Old School -Continue unit on The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century: 1660–1800 A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift -Watch satirical video from The Onion and Stephen Colbert -Bring Literature by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia to class as instructed by your professor (Occasionally you will need to bring this book to class more often when we read longer works; you will be warned ahead of time when to bring this book.)
Week Four (Jan 29-Feb 3): -Write Short Essay #2: Fiction analysis/satiric essay in a style similar to A Modest Proposal -Begin reading selections from Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Fiction Selections from Chapters 1-10/Discussion/Assignment - Discussion Board Topic #1: Friday, February 2, at 11:59 pm- Read a short story that will not be covered this semester, and write a critique of it.
Week Five (Feb 5-9): -Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Fiction Selections from Chapters 1- 10/Discussion/Assignment -“A Clean Well-Lighted Place” (p. 168) by Ernest Hemingway -“A Rose for Emily” (p. 30) by William Faulkner- Write a story with your own creepy ending and share with two classmates -“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” (p. 381) -Write your own illustrated fable in a group
Week Six (Feb 12-15): -Write a circle story on Valentine’s Day that begins with the line, “It was starting out as the most amazing Valentine’s Day ever. I couldn’t believe it when…”; share your favorite story with the class; Complete humorous “Anti-Valentine’s Day” activities -Assign Read like a Rock Star British Literature book (you will choose a book from the list in your Guidebook on p. ____); we will do Read like a Rock Star from ______school wide, but we will adjust these dates for us in order to complete our British Literature book by the time we need to start your literary analysis research paper on it. -Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Poetry Selections from Chapters 11-14/ Discussion/Assignment
10 -“A Good Man is Hard to Find” (p. 403)-Read critics’ analyses of it; write three quotes from story and two from critics, plus a paragraph of how you would analyze it. -Read “The Yellow Wallpaper” (p. 468)-Pick out quotes to analyze and create your own yellow wallpaper in a group. -Pick ONE story from Chapter 13: Stories for Further Reading—You will need to write a summary of it; pick out five favorite quotes on it; draw a picture of the most significant image of it; share your findings with a group that HAS NOT read your story
Week Seven (Feb 19-23): -Write Short Essay #3: Short Story Analysis of one of the stories from Literature -Test on Short Stories/Restoration Unit (NOTE: All tests will cover materials from both the British literature covered and the selections from Literature by Kennedy and Gioia) -Complete peer editing of short story analysis essay
Week Eight (Feb 26-Mar 2): -Finish final draft of Short Story Analysis Essay -Discussion Board Topic #2: Friday, March 2, at 11:59 pm- Read a poem that will not be covered this semester, and write a critique of it. -Begin Poetry Unit, by reading: -“Those Winter Sundays” (p. 644)- Write a poem about a childhood memory involving a relative -“Ask Me” (p. 652) -“Theme for English B” (p. 969)- Write a poem giving advice to someone with lessons from your life -“White Lies” (p. 661) -“Dulce et Decorum Est” (p. 674) -“Dog Haiku” (p.663)-Write a haiku -“The Unknown Citizen” (p. 669)--Write a poem in tribute to something in technology that is no longer significant (ex. Rotary phone, typewriter) in a tone similar to “The Unknown Citizen” -“Grass” (p. 686) -“Jabberwocky” (p. 697)-Write a poem filled with nonsense words -Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Poetry Selections from Chapters 19-22/ Discussion/Assignment -“Richard Cory” (p. 754) -“Ballad of Birmingham” (p. 758) -“The Times They Are a-Changin” (p. 764) -“next to of course america I” (p. 705)- Write a poem with no capitalization or punctuation
Week Nine (Mar 5-9) -Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Poetry Selections from Chapters 23-25/ Discussion/Assignment -“Metaphors” (p. 737) -“Turtle” (p. 746) -“The Fish” (p. 754), - “The Hippopotamus” (p. 820), -“We Real Cool” (p. 833), -“Do not go gentle into that good night” (p. 864), - “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” (p. 878),
11 -“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Tortilla”—after this, write a poem on “13 Ways of…” that is humorous or serious
-Share key poems from The Romantic Period: 1798–1832 -Poetry of William Blake- Write a poem on an injustice or emotion. -Poetry of George Gordon, Lord Byron- Write a poem about someone’s (who is known to you personally) inner or outer beauty. -Notebook is due March 10; favorite journal is due to discussion board of www.turnitin.com on March 10
Fourth Nine Weeks Focus:
Week One (Mar 19-23): -Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Poetry Selections from Chapters 26-29/ Discussion/Assignment -“Swan and Shadow” (p. 883), “Concrete Cat” (p. 885), “First Love: A Quiz” (p. 918), “Cinderella” (p. 919)—write a poem that is a concrete poem or in the form of a quiz -“America” (p. 892) -“Learning to love America” (p. 900) Write your own poem about America -Continue key poems from the Romantic Age: -Read “To a Mouse” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in Guidebook and watch video on Mariner (and you will need to read the rest on your own); Play Match the Passage with Its Illustration Game after reading Rime -Assign and present Poetry Alive! -Discussion Board Topic #3: Friday, March 23, at 11:59 pm- Paper proposal/initial analysis of Research Paper Topic.
Week Two (Mar 26-29): -Go over Chapter 44 on p. 1816-1837; look over poems in Literature to see what would be good to write a poem analysis on; you may also choose poems from your Guidebook -Assign and write Short Essay #4: Poem Analysis of poem/s in Elements of Literature or from Kennedy and Gioia’s Literature, which will be completed in-class -Work on projects/assignments and complete quiz for Read like a Rock Star book -Assign Literary Analysis Research Paper and pass out brainstorming chart on it; do research -Complete paper proposal on literary analysis paper
Week Three (Apr 2-6): -Play Poetry Review Jeopardy -Complete test on Poetry Unit -Skim Chapter 44: Writing about a Play (as your final exam essay will be on one of the major plays we read); write 10 Tips to Remember when Writing about A Play -Read “That’s All”; you should write a brief dialogue between two people discussing a third person; try to shape all three characters through what is said and unsaid; use the line “That’s all” in your dialogue somewhere -Work on Works Cited and Brainstorming for Literary Analysis Research Paper
Week Four (Apr 9-12):
12 -Finish working on Works Cited and Brainstorming -Work on rough draft of literary analysis research paper - Read and discuss and do activity on The Sound of a Voice- Pay attention as we read to the symbolism of sound, flowers and the themes of isolation and fear of falling in love
Week Five (April 16-20): -Literature by Kennedy and Gioia Selection- Begin William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by watching three different film versions of it; discussion of play -Complete peer editing and conference with teacher on rough draft of literary analysis research paper - Discussion Board Topic #4: Friday, April 20, at 11:59 pm- Pick a short passage from your British novel to analyze and critique; be sure to include the quote you picked out at the beginning of your critique.
Week Six (April 30-May 4): -Assign Then and Now Powerpoint (a picture of you “then” as a young child; a picture of you now detailing your plans for college and after) -Finish Hamlet, Prince of Denmark activities -Work on final draft and Powerpoint Presentation for Literary Analysis- final draft due at end of week -Discussion Board Topic #5: Friday, May 4, at 11:59 pm- Describe your plan for success for next year in college; be specific by stating your major, classes you will be taking per semester for your first year, and any worries you have.
Week Seven (May 7-11): -Read The Importance of Being Earnest; discuss; do activities on it -Notebook is due May 12; favorite journal is due to www.turnitin.com discussion board on May 12
Week Eight (May 14-18): -Finish The Importance of Being Earnest; discuss; do activities on it -Present powerpoints of literary analysis research paper -Then and Now Powerpoint is Shared -Take open book test on The Importance of Being Earnest -Assign and finish Short Essay #5: Drama Analysis of The Importance of Being Earnest or Hamlet
NOTE: THIS OUTLINE DOES NOT REFLECT THE ADDITIONAL READINGS, ESSAYS, TESTS, OR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS THAT MIGHT BE ADDED DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR.
DISCLAIMER: Course policies, procedures, and schedule may be changed at any time at the discretion of the instructor.
DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENT:
13 Directions: You will need to periodically respond to a Discussion Board Topic (chosen by your teacher) and submit it directly to D2L. For each topic you will need to write between 250-350 words. You must make sure you submit your Discussion Board, as this is a requirement to ensure you meet the Gordon Rule requirement for this class. I will read these Discussion Board responses directly off of D2L.
These Discussion Boards will be a way for you to creatively express yourself and practice writing fluency. It should be an enjoyable and helpful experience. Each Discussion Board response is worth 40 points. You will also need to respond to a student’s writing in at least five sentences, and this will be worth 10 points. You should respond to someone who has not yet been responded to by another student.
The individual Discussion Board topics and responses to a student’s Discussion Board topic will be due as followed:
Topic #1: Friday, February 2, at 11:59 pm- Read a short story that will not be covered this semester, and write a critique of it.
Topic #2: Friday, March 2, at 11:59 pm- Read a poem that will not be covered this semester, and write a critique of it.
Topic #3: Friday, March 23, at 11:59 pm- Paper proposal/initial analysis of Research Paper Topic.
Topic #4: Friday, April 20, at 11:59 pm- Pick a short passage from your British novel to analyze and critique; be sure to include the quote you picked out at the beginning of your critique.
Topic #5: Friday, May 4, at 11:59 pm- Describe your plan for success for next year in college; be specific by stating your major, classes you will be taking per semester for your first year, and any worries you have.
More details on these topics will be given as the due date approaches for each Discussion Board.
14 What Samuel Johnson Really Did By Michael Adams Samuel Johnson, poet, satirist, critic, lexicographer, and dyed-in-the-wool conservative was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, on September 18, 1709. We are quickly approaching the tercentenary of Johnson’s birth; scholars worldwide have been celebrating throughout the year. If someone’s birthday is worth celebrating three hundred years after the fact, inevitably partygoers will spread their praise pretty thick, as praise for Johnson has been spread since James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson was published in 1791. As a result, legend has sometimes obscured the truth. Among other aspects of his career, Johnson’s contributions to English lexicography are often misunderstood. It serves both Johnson’s legacy and the history of lexicography to revalue his influence on the modern dictionary. Though he disparaged Johnson’s style, as well as his literary and political judgment, Thomas Babington Macaulay, in the Edinburgh Review in 1831, admitted that, due to Boswell, Johnson would be “more intimately known to posterity than other men are known to their contemporaries.” We tend to presume on that acquaintance. Johnson scholar Jack Lynch anticipated the tercentenary spirit by asserting (in the title of his recent selection) that Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is the “work that defined the English language.” The English language was doing pretty well before Johnson got involved; nevertheless, he has been taken for the Jupiter of lexicography since before his dictionary appeared in print in 1755. For all the mythology, you’d think English vocabulary had sprung fully formed and irreproachable from his prominent, Augustan forehead. Johnson may well be the most celebrated lexicographer of English, yet many claims about his lexicography are exaggerated. Conventional wisdom holds that Johnson single-handedly conceived and produced A Dictionary of the English Language. Though he gave up several years of full-time work to the Dictionary, Johnson wasn’t the first professional lexicographer: John Kersey, author of A New English Dictionary, published in 1702, probably owns that distinction. And Johnson did not write his dictionary alone: He had half a dozen assistants, and the history of lexicography tells us that assistants influence dictionary-making more than either eighteenth- century social hierarchies or the Great Author theory behind Johnson’s reputation admits. Nor was Johnson’s the first dictionary to employ literary quotations to illustrate meaning or usage. Putting aside major early modern dictionaries produced in France, Italy, and Portugal, John Florio’s Italian-English dictionary, A Worlde of Wordes was, in 1598, the first at least partially English dictionary to use quotations, and by no means the last preceding Johnson. Johnson is also often credited with introducing sense divisions into dictionary entries, but
15 Benjamin Martin had used them in Lingua Britannica Reformata, published in 1749. Martin may have got the idea from Johnson’s Plan of a Dictionary in 1747, for Johnson proposed to “sort the several senses of each word, and to exhibit first its natural and primitive significance,” followed by “its consequential meaning,” and then “the remoter or metaphorical signification.” Whoever came up with it, no one doubts, in retrospect, that it was a good plan. Johnson is admired for his witty definitions. No horticultural definition of oats for Johnson, but rather the infamous “a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” Alas, for the mythographers, Johnson was not even the first English lexicographer to write a memorable definition. Everyone knows that Johnson defined lexicographer as ‘harmless drudge’; or, at least, they know that someone did. Well over a century earlier, in 1611, however, Randle Cotgrave, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues gave us “Brunette, brunet, brownish, somewhat browne . . . a nut-brown girle,” a literary allusion (the nut-brown girl is a figure of late medieval balladry) appropriate to a culture less cosmopolitan than Johnson’s. Granted, the harmless drudge is currently a more familiar figure than the nut-brown girl, especially in America. And, importantly, though Cotgrave borrowed a culturally resonant figure to serve his purpose, Johnson invented his: Among early English lexicographers, Johnson was the first to write memorably by design; he was the first to assert the cultural authority of dictionary definitions. Famously, Johnson established the conservative prescriptive goal of some (by no means all) modern lexicography. As he wrote in the Plan, he proposed to write “a dictionary by which the pronunciation of our language may be fixed, and its attainment facilitated; by which its purity may be preserved, its use ascertained, and its duration lengthened.” Apprised of pure English by his Dictionary, Johnson’s readers should accept the standard of clear meaning and good usage revealed there. “Our language will be laid down,” he wrote elsewhere in the Plan, “distinct in its minutest subdivisions, and resolved into its elemental principles. And who upon this survey can forbear to wish, that these fundamental atoms of our speech might obtain the firmness and immutability of the primogenial and constituent particles of matter, that they might retain their substance while they alter their appearance, and be varied and compounded, yet not destroyed?” As Macaulay quipped, “When he wrote for publication, he did his sentences out of English into Johnsonese.” Johnson’s conservative attitude toward English and the dictionary’s role in preserving and protecting the language has attracted many adherents. Johnson was by no means the first English prescriptivist: In 1586, William Bullokar, in Bullokars Bref Grammar for English, suggested that “A dictionary and grammar may stay our speech in a perfect use for euer.” Johnson was, however, the first to write a dictionary explicitly to accomplish prescriptive goals. Once again, Benjamin Martin anticipated Johnson in his 1749 volume Lingua Britannica Reformata, in this case, disapprovingly: “The pretence of fixing a standard to the purity and perfection of any language,” he wrote, “is utterly vain and impertinent.” In the Plan, then, Johnson started an argument about the role of dictionaries in establishing and regulating English usage, one that persists in various, sometimes diametrically opposed, public expectations for what dictionaries should be. If Johnson’s Dictionary wasn’t the first at most things, why is it so often taken as the original modern dictionary? As Sidney Landau puts it in Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, “Johnson’s Dictionary is not distinguished by its innovations . . . but by the skillful and original execution” of techniques already established, albeit provisionally, in early
16 modern English lexicography. “What Johnson did, he did supremely well,” Landau concludes. And that’s true, partly due to Johnson’s insight and skill: He more aptly identified quotations; wrote reasonably accurate, often elegant, if sometimes controversial, definitions; he was even good at guessing etymologies, though he worked without the benefit of the new philology of Rasmus Rask, Franz Bopp, and the Grimms. Johnson was also notably ambitious, however: his was an Olympian lexicography. Many (though not all) dictionaries of the seventeenth century, from Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabeticall, published in 1604 and generally considered the first dictionary of English, and Henry Cockeram’s 1623 The English Dictionarie; or, An Interpreter of Hard English Words forward, were schoolbooks compiled by provincial schoolmasters and tutors. Reading was hard and, for many, new, and children in parochial schools needed dictionaries as pedagogical support —dictionaries were means, not ends. Johnson’s was the first English dictionary that clearly aspired to literary distinction, certainly something beyond the schoolroom. Unlike its predecessors, Johnson’s Dictionary was written on a grand scale, attempting to perfect the dictionary as a type of book and to change the terms on which dictionaries were valued by London’s literati. Word by word, the Dictionary was interesting and memorable. Boswell records that Oliver Goldsmith, author of The Vicar of Wakefield, once remarked to Johnson, “If you were to make a fable about little fishes, doctor, they would talk like whales.” Similarly, and in contrast to earlier lexicography, Johnson’s dictionary entries—little critical essays about lexical form, meaning, and usage—talk in voices big enough to carry across the centuries. Unlike earlier dictionaries, too, Johnson’s Dictionary was urbane. Johnson assumed levels and types of literacy that seventeenth-century lexicographers could not safely assume, and the purpose, structure, and style of his Dictionary suit the age and place, London, in which it was written, published, and, for the most part, read. Thomas Babington Macaulay accused Johnson of believing, “in defiance of the strongest and clearest evidence, that the human mind can be cultivated by books alone.” Johnson inserted dictionaries into literary culture: He convinced readers that perfect cultivation of the human mind required a dictionary, preferably his Dictionary, not merely as a work of reference, but as a book worth reading for its own sake. Johnson’s great contribution to the history of English lexicography was to conceive the dictionary, not as a schoolroom prop, but as a type of literary work. Johnson wrote only one dictionary, but in that one he initiated several dictionary genres. Definitions like those for oats, lexicographer, and excise (“a hateful tax levied upon commodities and adjudged not by the common judges of property but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid”) were a form of cultural criticism. Of course, most modern dictionaries favor objective definitions written in a dispassionate voice, but Johnson established the oblique traditions of facetious and political lexicography, setting the example for Ambrose Bierce, a century and a half later, in The Devil’s Dictionary and the editors of McSweeney’s, two and a half centuries later, in The Future Dictionary of America, among others. Though Johnson was not the first to employ literary quotations to illustrate usage and meaning, he was the first English lexicographer to conceive entries as necessarily incorporating quotations, the first to concentrate on quotations as an aspect of dictionary structure. His refined use of quotations proposed yet another genre, “the quotations dictionary.” The quotations prompted Irish poet John Todhunter, in The Cornhill Magazine, to insist in 1898, “There is much good reading in a dictionary.” For some, “the pages of old Johnson, so redolent of ‘the Sage’s’ own burly personality” are attractive especially because of the quotations; though
17 no quotation claims the reader’s attention for very long, it can claim it intensely: “Here is digression! But what of that? One of the charms of reading a dictionary, indeed its most fascinating charm, is that it inevitably leads to that volatile discourse of reason which induces healthy respiration in the mind.” In a 1916 issue of The Athenæum, we learn that “when Browning decided to adopt literature as a profession, he qualified himself for it by studying Johnson’s dictionary from one end to the other. He had in the course of his perusal, we do not doubt, amusement as well as instruction, and any dictionary is good reading to a man like Browning, dowered with the eager and lively mind which sees notable things everywhere.” The quotations dictionary, as realized in Johnson’s Dictionary and later in the Oxford English Dictionary, is by its very purpose and structure a readable dictionary. (In fact, the account of Browning just quoted appears in a review of the OED, drawing the two dictionaries into the same literary genealogy.) Looked at one way, these dictionaries are thematic anthologies, in which the “themes” are the words and meanings the quotations are supposed to illustrate. Of course, one can peruse the quotations on a printed page without much concern for the rest of the dictionary apparatus. Most readers, however, move back and forth between editorial commentary (definitions, etymologies, recommendations about usage) and the quotations. This is the ultimately satisfying quality of the quotations dictionary. It isn’t merely a reference for looking up words: It invites the reader’s intervention and judgment; it prompts a conversation the content and quality of which depends as much on the reader’s experience, knowledge, and imagination as the lexicographer’s. The OED was first published (somewhat irregularly) in parts, and those interested in the English language subscribed, as though it were a periodical. As the Saturday Review admitted in 1887, “A dictionary is a book of reference, and under the word book we are told in this volume that a book of reference means ‘a book referred to for information rather than read continuously.’ We doubt not that we shall often refer to the Philological Society’s Dictionary for information, but at present we must except to the definition, having several times taken up this Part with the good intention of making classified and other notes, and reporting thereon in an orderly manner, and after five or ten minutes wholly surrendered to the temptation of reading it continuously.” As a readable dictionary, the OED owed much to Johnson’s example and Johnsonian canons of lexicography. The OED, which attempts to describe the language as speakers use it rather than to prescribe how they should use it, has not satisfied those who adhere to the conservative linguistic principles espoused by Johnson, those who believe in the possibility of “pure” English, those distressed by language change and inconsistent usage. An anonymous reviewer of the first part of OED (A–ANT) in the Nation, in 1884, announced that “the fault we should find with it is that there has been neglect, comparatively speaking, of authors of the highest class, and too much prominence given to those of an inferior grade” and argued that “the illustrative quotations are, for men engaged in the profession of writing, perhaps the most important part of any lexicon. It is always desirable to ascertain the usage of an age; but it is the usage of its best authors we wish, and not of its poor or poorest ones. To record that best usage is a main duty of any dictionary.” Here, the reviewer reiterates Johnson’s prescriptivism and the value Johnson ascribed to quotations dictionaries in pursuit of standards of meaning and usage. I was tempted to write that the reviewer merely reiterates Johnson, but there isn’t anything mere about it: Johnson’s language attitudes have been profoundly influential. Many have seen, still see, language change as something to be regretted if not reversed, and they believe that
18 dictionaries should play a role in resisting variation and change. Just as many have rejected Johnson’s attitudes, if not his regret, at least his sense that dictionaries should be instruments of social control. As noted above, Benjamin Martin disagreed, and so did Noah Webster. Considering proposals to establish an American language academy on the French or Italian model, Webster wrote in 1817 in A Letter to the Honorable John Pickering that “analogy, custom and habit form a better rule to guide men in the use of words than any tribunal of men,” and the dictionary’s role was thus limited to informing speakers, rather than extended to regulating usage. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century English lexicography developed partly as a consequence of the argument between those who thought dictionaries should prescribe usage and those who thought they should describe it instead. The OED and its American counterpart, William Dwight Whitney’s Century Dictionary, stood for description. Joseph Worcester, whose dictionaries engaged Merriam-Webster in what is often called “the War of the Dictionaries” (1834–1860) inclined toward Johnson’s position, though he took time to discuss problems of usage in some detail when the Merriam-Webster dictionaries did not. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, published in 1961, ignited a firestorm of criticism because many thought (incorrectly, by the way) that it was more “permissive” than the 1934 Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, with its panel of usage experts and Worcesterian usage notes attached to entries for problematic words, was instituted as a response to Webster’s Third. As its editor, William Morris, announced in the front matter to the first edition in 1969, the dictionary would “faithfully record our language,” but “would add the essential dimension of guidance, that sensible guidance towards grace and precision which intelligent people seek in a dictionary.” Merriam-Webster dictionaries, American Heritage dictionaries, Random House dictionaries, Webster’s New World dictionaries, and Encarta dictionaries all compete (or have competed) with one another partly on the basis of how they represent usage and how they guide it, how they stand for change or against it, how they balance the status of standard American English and other varieties, in other words, how they fit into paradigms Johnson established in 1755. The argument Johnson started over the dictionary’s public role, though divisive, is not merely divisive, not merely an aspect of the culture wars, but potentially beneficial. Dictionaries position themselves in the debate: Their responses are complex, not knee-jerk expressions of one polar position or the other. For some, disagreement among dictionaries is confusing or, given a certain strain of conservatism, offensive; for others, the disagreements inform a thoughtful perspective on language and its social uses. Johnson was the first language maven, the first to take a leading public role in language criticism. To borrow a rhetorical maneuver from Lynch, he defined the dictionary’s role and value—he made the dictionary matter. That was not a foregone conclusion in the eighteenth century, nor is it today: It will be interesting to see how the dictionary progresses in the Digital Age. In his 1755 review of Johnson’s Dictionary, in the Edinburgh Review, Adam Smith suggested that “its merit must be determined by the frequent resort that is had to it. This is the most unerring test of its value; criticisms may be false, private judgments ill-founded; but if a work of this nature be much in use, it has received the sanction of public approbation.” Readers still resort to Johnson’s Dictionary—you can do so from any personal computer if you invest in the recent Octavo DVD-ROM facsimile edition. But Johnson’s dictionary is most significant for the
19 way it stimulated lexicography, raised the status and interest of the dictionary as a literary and cultural artifact, and generated new genres of dictionary. Thomas Carlyle suggested of Johnson, in Fraser’s Magazine in 1832, that he was “the synopsis and epitome” of his age. The Dictionary may effectively be the synopsis and epitome of Johnson’s genius.
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Sample Definitions from Johnson’s Dictionary Source: The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page
Definitions on this page are drawn from the first edition (1755) of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language. This is not a representative sampling, just a small selection of some of the more amusing entries. Note that I am not providing all the definitions Johnson might have supplied, nor the supporting quotations and part of speech. The list below might lead you to think that Johnson's Dictionary is some bizzarro collection of witticisms and oddities, but nothing could be further from the truth: on the whole, it is a very sensible book, and it stood as the standard for over a hundred years. ______Cough: A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity. Distiller: One who makes and sells pernicious and inflammatory spirits. Dull: Not exhilaterating (sic); not delightful; as, to make dictionaries is dull work. Excise: A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid. Far-fetch: A deep stratagem. A ludicrous word.
20 Jobbernowl: Loggerhead; blockhead. Kickshaw: A dish so changed by the cookery that it can scarcely be known. Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. Network: Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections. (See how he defined 'reticulated,' below.) Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland appears to support the people. Pastern: The knee of a horse. (This is wrong. When Johnson was once asked how he came to make such a mistake, Boswell tells us he replied, "Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.") Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery. Pension: An allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country. Politician: 1. One versed in the arts of government; one skilled in politicks. 2. A man of artifice; one of deep contrivance. Reticulated: Made of network; formed with interstitial vacuities. Tory: One who adheres to the ancient constitution of the state, and the apostolical hierarchy of the church of England, opposed to a Whig. Whig: The name of a faction. To worm: To deprive a dog of something, nobody knows what, under his tongue, which is said to prevent him, nobody knows why, from running mad.
Assignment: Think of words that are commonly used today by teenagers (that are also classroom appropriate). Come up with ___ words and definitions by ___ in your group.
Old School by Tobias Woolf Topics of Discussion
21 (Source: National Endowment of the Arts “Big Read” Program on Old School)
Reader's Guide – Introduction It is November 1960, and the unnamed narrator of Tobias Wolff's Old School (2003) is in his final year at an elite Eastern prep school. Proud of his independence but trying to fit in and advance himself, he conceals the fact that his ancestry is partly Jewish. Eventually, he—and we —discover that almost everyone on campus has some closely guarded secrets. Every year, the school invites three famous writers to visit and give a public talk. In anticipation of these visits, senior students submit their own poems or stories to a competition, and the author of the winning submission is granted a private interview with the writer. One of the novel's most intriguing elements is the presentation of these writers—Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest Hemingway—and its shrewd, penetrating assessment of their works and personalities. The lives of the narrator and his friends revolve around these visits, and the competitions produce pressures and strains in their relationships, raising issues of honesty and self-deception. In his zeal to win an audience with his idol, Hemingway, the narrator will plagiarize someone else's work, an action with profound consequences—and not for him alone. In the end, we find out what he has made of his life many years later, and what has happened in the lives of some classmates and teachers. A surprising final chapter enriches our understanding of the novel's deepest meanings. Another of Old School's many pleasures is the way it conveys the significance of literature to our lives, raising fundamental questions of who we are and how we live. As one of the English teachers says, "One could not live in a world without stories… Without stories one would hardly know what world one was in." The unsparing but sympathetic insight of Tobias Wolff's acclaimed short stories, the emotional honesty and directness of his classic memoir This Boy's Life (1989), and the precise, elegant craftsmanship that characterizes both his fiction and nonfiction—all these qualities come together to make Old School one of Wolff's most satisfying books. "One of the things that draws writers to writing is that they can get things right that they got wrong in real life by writing about them." —Tobias Wolff in an interview with Dan Stone ______
Major Characters in the Novel
The Narrator An outsider in the cloistered East Coast world of the prep school he attends, Old School's unnamed narrator wants desperately to belong. His literary ambitions will bring him the distinction he craves, but in a very different way from what he had imagined. Bill White Bill is the narrator's roommate. Along with their passion for writing, the two boys share the
22 unspoken secret of their Jewish heritage. Bill has another secret, one that haunts him more and more throughout the novel. Jeff Purcell Another classmate and friend of the narrator's, he has a privileged, upper-class background. Proud, stubborn, and frequently contemptuous of everything and everyone, he nonetheless has a fundamental core of decency and generosity of spirit. Robert Ramsey One of the English teachers, Mr. Ramsey is disliked by many of his students. However, by the end of the novel the narrator sees him as compassionate and wise. Susan Friedman Susan is the author of the story that the narrator plagiarizes. When he finally meets her, he finds her to be "an extraordinary person," and she shows him a very different perspective on some of the things most important to him. Dean Makepeace A "regal but benign" figure to the narrator, the Dean seems remote and assured. But his personal crisis of integrity underscores some of the novel's deepest themes. Three of the most famous American writers of the twentieth century appear, directly or indirectly, as characters in Old School: Though born in San Francisco, Robert Frost (1874–1963) is forever associated with New England, the setting for most of his life and work. Quietly dazzling in their technical perfection, his enormously popular poems, such as "Mending Wall" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," subtly explore the depths of nature and humanity. Russian-born Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was the controversial author of a number of philosophical works and two bestselling novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). Her writings expound her philosophy of Objectivism, which emphasizes rationality and self-interest. It also rejects religion, altruism, and all forms of social collectivism. Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was arguably the most influential American novelist and short-story writer of the twentieth century. Renowned for their unique style, such masterpieces as A Farewell to Arms (1929) and The Old Man and the Sea (1952) brilliantly evoke the physical world and the experience of the senses and stress themes of courage, stoicism, and the need to be true to oneself. "Our school was proud of its hierarchy of character and deeds. It believed that this system was superior to the one at work outside, and that it would wean us from habits of undue pride and deference. It was a good dream and we tried to live it out, even while knowing that we were actors in a play, and that outside the theater was a world we would have to reckon with when the curtain closed and the doors were flung open." —from Old School ______Plagiarism The narrator of Old School is found to have won the interview with Ernest Hemingway by submitting someone else's short story as his own work. This act of plagiarism is met with dismay and anger by the school's administration and sets in motion a chain of events that has a
23 significant effect on the lives of more than one character. To understand the full importance of this situation in the novel, one must have a clear awareness of what plagiarism is and why it is such a serious matter. Anyone can recognize the flagrant dishonesty involved in passing off as one's own work something in fact written by someone else. Most of us realize that a piece of writing—whether imaginative or intellectual—is a form of property, and that its owner/creator is entitled to whatever credit and profits his or her efforts and talents might generate. Yet it is all too easy, when copying snippets of someone else's ideas and even someone else's very words, to succumb—as the narrator of Old School does—to the notion that we have somehow made them our own, that mere appropriation is a form of authorship. Modern technology has made this even easier. Instantaneous access to the infinite amount of material available on the Internet creates the impression that ideas and words are all just there for the taking, especially when all one needs to do is highlight, copy, and paste. But theft is still theft and fraud is still fraud, no matter the scale. Anyone who uses another's thoughts without proper attribution to the source has stolen that person's intellectual property. Even when proper attribution has been given, using the actual wording of the source material without identifying it as direct quotation is perpetrating a fraud. Teachers are also upset when their students appropriate the work of others because such an act makes a disturbing statement about the offender's values. If those who would never dream of stealing another's belongings have no compunction about taking someone else's written work, they are saying—whether they realize it or not—that they have less respect for ideas and how they are expressed than for material possessions. "Make no mistake, he said: a true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life." —Tobias Wolff from Old School Photos of the author and school:
Tobias Wolff (Photo by Jennifer Hale)
24 Tobias Wolff, age 17, guesses ages and weights while working in the carnival section of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. (Courtesy of Tobias Wolff)
The Hill School grounds (Courtesy of The Hill School) ______Reader's Guide - About the Author Tobias Wolff (b. 1945) Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff was born on June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama. His father, Arthur, was an aeronautical engineer but also a pathological liar and supreme con artist, as detailed in the 1979 memoir The Duke of Deception, by Tobias's older brother, Geoffrey. As a result of one of these many deceptions, Tobias, who was raised and remains a Catholic, did not discover until adulthood that his father was Jewish. His mother, Rosemary Loftus Wolff, a waitress and secretary, was a woman of spirit, resilience, and great intelligence, who met the many reverses in her life with humor and determination. Wolff's parents separated when he was very young. He was raised by his mother in Florida, Utah, and Washington state. Eager to escape rural Washington and life with his mother's second husband (experiences vividly recounted in his memoir This Boy's Life), he won a scholarship to the Hill School, a prestigious academy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He loved the school but struggled because of his poor academic background. Ultimately, he was expelled because of failing grades in math.
25 In 1964, Wolff joined the U.S. Army. He spent a year learning Vietnamese, and then served in Vietnam as a paratrooper. Out of these experiences came his second memoir, In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War (1994). After his discharge in 1968, he enrolled in Hertford College of Oxford University, where he earned a degree in English in 1972. In 1975, he earned a master's degree in English from Stanford University, where he was also awarded a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing. Wolff taught at Syracuse University in New York from 1980 to 1997. The novelist Richard Ford and the short-story writer Raymond Carver were among his friends and colleagues. Since 1997, Wolff has taught English and creative writing at Stanford University, where he holds the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Among his honors are the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Rea Award for the Short Story, and three O. Henry Awards. Tobias Wolff married Catherine Spohn, a social worker, in 1975. They have two sons and a daughter. Wolff lives with his family in northern California. "There is a need in us for exactly what literature can give, which is a sense of who we are, beyond what data can tell us, beyond what simple information can tell us; a sense of the workings of what we used to call the soul." —Tobias Wolff from Stanford Today interview An Interview with Tobias Wolff On January 5, 2008, Dana Gioia, former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, interviewed Tobias Wolff at his office at Stanford University. Excerpts from their conversation follow. Dana Gioia: Would you characterize Old School as an autobiographical novel in any sense? Tobias Wolff: The events of the novel are themselves, to some extent, autobiographical, in that as a boy of that age I was in such a school. The school that I went to was like this one, a very literary place. Edmund Wilson had gone there, and I heard Robert Frost there. There was a great sense of excitement, always, around the visits of these writers, around the literary magazine, about trying to get stories published or even to get on the editorial board. In some schools, of course, it would be the football team, and football was no small thing at this school either. So my somewhat vague ambition of being a writer really became solidified there. The actual events of my time there would not have lent themselves to a memoir. I was certainly aware in bringing this forward in this voice, in this situation, that a lot of readers familiar with either or both of my memoirs would make assumptions about this being, in fact, a memoir disguised as a novel. And I really didn't mind that. DG: As a fiction writer you've been most associated with the short story. What for you, imaginatively or creatively, are the differences between writing a short story and writing a novel? TW: When you write a short story you at least have some confidence you're going to be able to finish it! From the time I first put words to page on this book and the time Old School actually was published, it was five-and-a-half years. Aesthetically I can't say that I find the experience that much different—the kind of pressure you put on yourself to get the right voice, to write the sentence perfectly, to rewrite, to rewrite, to rewrite—all that is similar. Really, in each case it's mainly going to the desk every day. I often am quite mystified about what I'm going do when I
26 sit down. And the work teaches me how to write it as I go. My first drafts would really make you wonder, if you saw them, why I ever chose this line of work. Revision is crucial to my work. DG: One of the strokes of genius in Old School is that at the very end, just when you think the story's over, it continues with a twist in another voice. Did you have this coda in mind when you began the book? TW: No, but it was important, I think, because although the narrator talks about writing, we never really see him writing anything, and we don't get any of his stories. He's always talking about telling other people's stories and telling us what this friend wrote and what that friend wrote, but where's his story? Finally he tells a story. He is, after all, a writer. DG: Do you have any thoughts on the human purposes of fiction? TW: Fiction gives us a place to stand outside ourselves and see our lives somehow being carried on, to see the form that our lives take in some apprehensible way. Most of the time, experience washes over us moment by moment, in a way that makes it difficult to discern the form in lives––the consequences that choices have that will only appear years later, in many cases. Fiction shows us those things in a kind of apprehensible form and something we can comprehend, and see, and actually feel. We kind of see our lives almost acted out in front of us in miniature. And that's both exciting and also often very chastening, I think. "The fact that a writer needed solitude didn't mean he was cut off or selfish. A writer was like a monk in his cell praying for the world … "- from Old School ______Reader's Guide - Historical Context The Life and Times of Tobias Wolff 1940s Robert Frost wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry and Ayn Rand publishes The Fountainhead, 1943. Tobias Wolff is born on June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama. World War II ends, August 1945. Viet Minh (the Vietnamese liberation movement) declares independence from France in 1945; French military forces resist the revolt in 1946, beginning an eight-year conflict. 1950s Wolff, his mother, and his stepfather live in Washington State. Ernest Hemingway wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1954. The French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; Vietnam is partitioned into North and South Vietnam. 1960s John F. Kennedy elected U.S. President in 1960; assassinated on November 22, 1963. Ernest Hemingway dies, 1961. Robert Frost dies, 1963. 1970s The last U.S. combat troops withdraw from Vietnam, 1973. Wolff earns a master's degree, marries, and publishes his first book, all in 1975. Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese, 1975. 1980s Wolff teaches at Syracuse University; he publishes a novella, two collections of stories, and his memoir This Boy's Life.
27 Ground is broken for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, 1982. Ayn Rand dies, 1982. 1990s Wolff begins teaching at Stanford; publishes his Vietnam memoir and his third volume of short stories. The film version of This Boy's Life, starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ellen Barkin, is released in 1993. The U.S. restores diplomatic ties with Vietnam, 1995. 2000s April 5, 2005, marks the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Wolff publishes Old School (2003) and Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories (2008). Reader's Guide - Other Works/Adaptations Wolff and His Other Works Perhaps because of the prominence of Tobias Wolff's memoirs and short stories, when Old School appeared in 2003, many assumed that it was his first extended work of fiction. In fact, it was his third. Wolff's first novel, and first book, was a Vietnam story, published in 1975, called Ugly Rumours. As the spelling would suggest, it appeared in England (and only in England). While he has not made a concerted effort to erase all traces of its existence, Wolff does not include it in listings of his published works. His second book-length work of fiction was the novella The Barracks Thief (1984), which won the highly regarded PEN/Faulkner Award. It deals with the intense and ultimately explosive relationships among servicemen in the shadow of war, specifically three soldiers guarding an ammunition dump at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as they wait to be sent to Vietnam. The work for which Wolff is best known is his first memoir, This Boy's Life (1989). Glowing reviews in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere praised the beauty and clarity of its style, along with its unforgettable description of character and incident. While less well known, In Pharaoh's Army (1994), Wolff's account of his experiences in Vietnam, is, like the earlier work, esteemed for its memorable scenes and for the author's determination to describe his personality and actions with scrupulous honesty. For many readers, the core of Wolff's achievement is his short stories, which have been collected so far in four volumes—In the Garden of the North American Martyrs (1981), Back in the World (1985), The Night in Question (1996), and Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories (2008). In story after story, Wolff presents his characters and their relationships—with spouses, children, siblings, and strangers—with a scrutiny that is always unflinching and uncompromising, but never uncompassionate. "The Rich Brother" presents a pair of adult brothers united in animosity, but also by basic qualities that create a much stronger bond. "In the Garden of the North American Martyrs," which examines a self-effacing woman whose hopes have been falsely raised through the insensitivity of others, makes a surprising bid for justice. Beautifully written without gaudiness or self-indulgence, deeply moving without a trace of sentimentality, Tobias Wolff's work seems poised to hold a permanent place in American literature. "From this height it was possible to see into the dream that produced the school, not mere English-envy but the yearning for a chivalric world apart from the din of scandal and cheap
28 dispute, the hustles and schemes of modernity itself. As I recognized this dream I also sensed its futility, but so what? I loved my school no less for being gallantly unequal to our appetites— more, if anything." —from Old School If you'd like to read other novels about the campus experience, you might enjoy: Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (1944) John Knowles's A Separate Peace (1959) Richard Yates's A Good School (1978) Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep (2005) Also worth looking into are Robert Anderson's play Tea and Sympathy (1953) and John McPhee's brief biography The Headmaster: Frank L. Boyden of Deerfield (1966). If you'd like to read books admired by Tobias Wolff, you might enjoy: Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time (1925) William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow (1979) ______
The Importance of Frost, Rand, and Hemingway
Much of the plot of Old School revolves around the scheduled visits of Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest Hemingway, and the fierce competition among the students to win personal interviews with these authors. It may seem hard to believe nowadays, but there was a time not so long ago when the general public was familiar with the faces and even the personal lives of certain serious writers. Three of the most famous and recognizable writers of the time were the three selected by Tobias Wolff for inclusion in his novel. Robert Frost is, without any question, the best known and most popular American poet of the twentieth century. Virtually everyone knows not only his name but even the titles of some of his poems: “Mending Wall,” “Birches,” “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Phrases from some of these works, such as “Good fences make good neighbors” and “Miles to go before I sleep,” have entered the language and are cited by people who have no idea that they’re quoting Frost. For a poet to achieve such popularity is rare enough; what is truly astounding is that Frost is also regarded by a great many critics and poets as the best and most important American poet of his time. The traditional structures of his poems and their often charming descriptions of nature appeal to a broad audience, but discerning readers also respond to his complex and often tragic presentation of human beings struggling to cope with a harsh and often terrifying world. Ayn Rand’s major novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and especially Atlas Shrugged (1957), have achieved a surprising popularity when one considers their length and demanding content. In each of these books, a strong protagonist unswervingly pursues his own vision without regard for the views of others or the compromises demanded of him by any individual or group. The hero of The Fountainhead, for instance, is an architect who chooses to blow up his own building rather than accept any modifications in its design. Rand’s novels are especially appealing to young people, who are often inspired by what they see as her idealism and call to personal greatness. She is not held in high regard, however, by other writers and thinkers who generally find her presentation of human nature unrealistic and her philosophical views rigid and insensitive.
29 Ernest Hemingway was the dominant literary figure in America fifty years ago. Many admired him not only for his sharply observed and exciting novels and short stories, but also for his widely publicized life of deep-sea fishing, big-game hunting, and other manly pursuits. He is no longer the imposing figure he was then; much of his later writing is seriously flawed, and the macho lifestyle is now seen as the bravado of a desperately ill man. But his first two novels, The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929), and many of his finest short stories are permanent contributions to the highest shelf of American literature. As Wolff acutely observes, much of Hemingway’s importance lies in the brilliance of his craftsmanship—especially his ability to evoke emotional states and the natural world—and his emphasis on courage and stoicism in the face of all the forces in the world that rise up to destroy the human spirit.
Prep Schools: Fact and Fiction
Prep schools have been the setting for a number of very popular books and movies, including A Separate Peace (1972) and Dead Poets Society (1989). From overexposure to such works, one might form the impression that these schools are filled up with rich boys—some of them oversensitive and the rest insufferably arrogant—who react to the pressures put on them by their crass, domineering fathers by indulging in cutthroat competition, frequent fistfights, and an alarming appetite for self-destruction. Even beyond such crude stereotyping phrases such as “prep-school background” or “prep-school mentality” commonly suggest wealth, privilege, social prominence and connections, and an inability to relate to—or even fully grasp the reality of—anyone who does not share those qualities. Needless to say, the reality is somewhat more complex. Most of these books and movies are set in boarding schools, where the students live on campus in dormitories, just as many college students do. In fact, however, the great majority of prep schools in the United States are day schools, just like public high schools. Public schools are operated and maintained by local governments, usually cities and towns. Most of the time, they are funded by taxes on the homeowners that live within the school district. Public schools are free, and all students who live within the district are eligible to attend them. Private schools —and all prep schools are private— charge (sometimes very high) tuition and tend to be extremely selective in their admission procedures. The word “prep” itself is, of course, short for “preparatory.” For many students in public-school systems, high school is the final stage of their formal education. A prep school is intended not as the end of the process but as a middle step. What it seeks to prepare its students for is, in the short view, further study at a college or university. In the long view, it tries to prepare its students for careers, often in public service, and to prepare them for adult life itself. Thus, great stress is placed on academics, usually a traditional course of studies including history, literature, philosophy, and languages. There is also often an emphasis on athletics, and in some schools on religious practice, especially for purposes of character-building. Many prep-school students are from wealthy and/or socially prominent families, whose members have attended the same school for generations, and who support their school with large financial contributions. But most prep schools, motivated by a sense of mission and obligation to society, have generous scholarship programs and make strong recruiting efforts. And these schools feel that they have failed in their mission if their graduates go out into the world with feelings of superiority and entitlement. What they strive for instead is to give their students a sense of purpose and responsibility, to inspire them with the awareness that those who
30 are given the gifts of talent, wealth, and influence have an obligation to use those gifts in the service of others. As the headmaster in the novel says, “Schools like ours are vulnerable to criticism …There is some truth in these criticisms. Too much truth. But we are trying to do something here. We are trying to become something.”
The Narrator’s Coming of Age
Among its other qualities, Old School fits into the tradition of the Bildungsroman, or coming-of- age novel, a work in which the protagonist goes through a process of maturing from adolescence to adulthood. Two classic examples of the Bildungsroman are the Charles Dickens novels David Copperfield (1850) and Great Expectations (1861). In our own time, one might even say that the Harry Potter books, taken together, fit into the category. At least since the time of Sophocles and Oedipus the King, down through Shakespeare’s King Lear and many, many other works, much of the great literature of the Western world has been founded on a core set of assumptions: that those who foolishly believe themselves superior beings will sooner or later be forced to confront their own flaws and mistakes, and that from this recognition of our own limitations may come humility and a greater compassion for the weakness and imperfection of other people. Writers, critics, and teachers have always maintained that reading great literature and learning this lesson will help to make us more compassionate toward and tolerant of others. One of the many remarkable qualities of Old School is that it shows us that very thing—a young man becoming more understanding and accepting of others not only through personal encounters, but also through his encounters with works of literature. From the very beginning, ignorance and misperception characterize the narrator in his dealings with other people, whether in the unintentional pain that he causes the janitor, Gershon, or his later misunderstanding (and subsequent discovery) of the reason for Bill White’s sadness and withdrawal. The clear lesson of the Bill White episode is that we never really know what’s going on with other people, and therefore we shouldn’t be quick to judge. Perhaps the book’s most effective and moving example of how the narrator’s ignorance and misunderstanding give way to deeper and more compassionate insight comes in connection with his grandfather and his grandfather’s wife. When they visit him in the hospital, he is vaguely ashamedand dismissive of them. When he looks at them in the light of his reading of The Fountainhead, he is openly contemptuous of them. But when his personal exposure to Ayn Rand shows him the narrowness and heartlessness of her views, he comes to recognize their decency and their love for him. Through this experience, as well as through his reading of Hemingway, he comes to embrace woundedness and imperfection as the reality of the human condition. This lesson—the precariousness of human nature, the hidden sorrows in everyone’s life —is one that he keeps learning over and over. It is not until many years later, for example, that he discovers that Mr. Ramsey’s editing of the Hemingway interview for the school paper was motivated not by disrespect, but rather a desire to protect Hemingway from himself. As the narrator tells us late in the novel, “The appetite for decisive endings, even the belief that they’re possible, makes me uneasy in life as in writing” (p. 169). Clearly, at least part of the reason for his uneasiness is his knowledge that we never achieve perfection, that our own
31 pride and arrogance must be constantly resisted, and that the lesson of love and forgiveness must be learned again and again for as long as we live.
DISCUSSION AND WRITING ACTIVITIES FOR OLD SCHOOL
Directions: On the next few pages are ten FOCUSES to examine on issues in regards to the novel. Some of these focuses will be worked on in a group, some will be individual, and some will be as a class. Do not do the work with these focuses until you are sure what your teacher would like you to do.
FOCUS ONE: Biography
Examining an author’s life can inform and expand the reader’s understanding of a novel. Biographical criticism is the practice of analyzing a literary work through the lens of an author’s experience. In this lesson, explore the author’s life to understand the novel more fully. Before winning a scholarship to a prestigious Eastern prep school, Tobias Wolff grew up in an isolated, working-class community in the Pacific Northwest. Thus, like the narrator of Old School, he felt himself to be something of an outsider among many classmates from backgrounds of great wealth and privilege. Like the narrator, he was forced to leave before graduation (in Wolff’s case for academic reasons, not an issue of plagiarism). Also like the narrator, Wolff later enlisted in the Army and was sent to Vietnam, and ultimately he went on to become a well- known and successful writer.
Discussion Activities -Listen to The Big Read Audio Guide. Take notes as you listen. You will then present the three most important points learned from the Audio Guide.
-Look over the following essays from the Reader’s Guide: “Introduction to the Novel.” “Tobias Wolff (b. 1945),” and “Wolff and His Other Works.” Divide the class into groups. Each group will present a summary of the main points in its assigned essay.
Writing Exercise Read the first three paragraphs of the novel (pp. 3–4). Students write a similar description of their own school, touching on some of the same points that Wolff emphasizes: the economic and social backgrounds of the students, the school’s expectations of them, and the relative emphasis placed on areas such as academics, sports, and creativity. ______FOCUS 2: Culture and History
Cultural and historical contexts give birth to the dilemmas and themes at the center of the novel. Studying these contexts and appreciating intricate details of the time and place help
32 readers understand the motivations of the characters. The greater part of the novel takes place between the autumn of 1960 and the spring of the following year. John F. Kennedy has just been elected president of the United States, and for many young people it is a time of great hope and promise. Of course, we read the novel—as Wolff wrote it—with the awareness that this climate will soon be shattered by Kennedy’s assassination, the Vietnam War, and violent social upheaval in the United States. In 1954 Ernest Hemingway, one of America’s most popular authors, received the Nobel Prize for Literature “for his mastery of the art of narrative … and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.” Robert Frost was the most celebrated living poet in the United States. During his lifetime, he received four Pulitzer prizes for poetry. With each new book his fame and honors increased. Russian-born writer and philosopher Ayn Rand formulated objectivism, a philosophy in which she considered “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” Rand presented this philosophy in her widely acclaimed novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
Discussion Activities -How would you characterize the social, cultural, and political atmosphere of contemporary America? How do the writers portrayed at the beginning of the novel relate to our main character? What does the boys’ excitement over their upcoming visits tell us about the motivations of these young men? -Read Handout Two: Prep Schools: Fact and Fiction. Read “On Fire” and “Frost” (pp. 29–60). The exchange between Robert Frost and Mr. Ramsey (pp. 50–53) engages some of the main themes that the novel has raised thus far. Consider the ways the narrator relates the events. Is he a reliable narrator?
Writing Exercise The whole episode involving Gershon highlights certain inner conflicts in the narrator’s character. Write a brief explication on this theme. Have you ever found yourself torn by conflicting loyalties or aspirations? How, if at all, do you resolve these issues?
FOCUS 3: Narrative and Point of View
The narrator tells the story with a specific perspective informed by his or her beliefs and experiences. Narrators can be major or minor characters, or exist outside the story altogether. The narrator weaves her or his point of view, including ignorance and bias, into telling the tale. A first-person narrator participates in the events of the novel, using “I.” A distanced narrator, often not a character, is removed from the action of the story and uses the third person (he, she, and they). The distanced narrator may be omniscient, able to read the minds of all the characters, or limited, describing only certain characters’ thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, the type of narrator determines the point of view from which the story is told. With the possible exception of the last chapter (a point that will be addressed later), Old School is told entirely in the first person by its unnamed central character. We are limited to his knowledge of facts,
33 his awareness of events, and his insights into himself and others. This awareness and these insights undergo some significant changes with maturity, consistent with the novel’s emphasis on human imperfection and learning through painful experience.
Discussion Activities Based on the chapters read thus far, what sort of person does the narrator seem to be? Is he likable? Is he admirable? Do his assumptions about himself and about other people seem to ring true? Writing Exercise Choose one of the other characters—besides the narrator--and, based on their interactions in the novel thus far, write a description of the narrator in the voice of and from the point of view of that character.
FOCUS FOUR: Characters
The central character in a work of literature is called the protagonist. The protagonist usually initiates the main action of the story and often overcomes a flaw, such as weakness or ignorance, to achieve a new understanding by the work’s end. A protagonist who acts with great honor or courage may be called a hero. An antihero is a protagonist lacking these qualities. Instead of being dignified, brave, idealistic, or purposeful, the antihero may be cowardly, self-interested, or weak. The protagonist’s journey is enriched by encounters with characters who hold differing beliefs. One such character type, a foil, has traits that contrast with the protagonist’s and highlight important features of the main character’s personality. The most important foil, the antagonist, opposes the protagonist, barring or complicating his or her success. The narrator of Old School is himself clearly a work in progress over the course of the novel. The scorn and contempt he feels for almost everyone else after reading The Fountainhead (1943) is a clear indication of his immaturity, and his reaction to Ayn Rand herself and his consequent disavowal of her views lead him to a new depth of sensitivity and insight.
Discussion Activities Discuss the way the narrator describes Ayn Rand. How does he feel about her before he meets her? Does his viewpoint change after meeting her? Is he fair? What instances of “weakness or ignorance” has the narrator displayed up to this point? What capacity has he shown to learn from his experiences and grow in understanding and depth of character?
Writing Exercise Choose George Kellogg, Bill White, or Jeff Purcell and write a short essay on how this character serves as a foil to the protagonist.
FOCUS FIVE: Figurative Language
Writers use figurative language such as imagery, similes, and metaphors to help the reader visualize and experience events and emotions in a story. Imagery—a word or phrase that refers to sensory experience (sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste)—helps create a physical experience
34 for the reader and adds immediacy to literary language. Some figurative language asks us to stretch our imaginations, finding the likeness in seemingly unrelated things. Simile is a comparison of two things that initially seem quite different but are shown to have a significant resemblance. Similes employ connective words, usually “like,” “as,” “than,” or a verb such as “resembles.” A metaphor is a statement that one thing is something else that, in a literal sense, it is not. By asserting that a thing is something else, a metaphor creates a close association that underscores an important similarity between these two things. Wolff draws from ancient and medieval references to (ironically) imbue the young, unformed lives of the main characters with profundity. For example: the English masters as a “chivalric order” (p. 5), Jeff Purcell as “the Herod of our editorial sessions” (p. 13), the masters treating the students’ spring exuberance “like the grousing of impotent peasants outside the castle walls” (p. 104), the Farewell Assemblies “Neronic in their carnality” (p. 112), and the title of the school literary magazine, the Troubadour.
Discussion Activities Find at least three instances of figurative language. Present to the class why they are figurative and how the words and phrases help shed light on the story. Discuss as a class the ways figurative language serves to illuminate larger thematic issues.
Writing Exercise Read aloud the passage about the editorial meeting (pp. 119–121). Write a brief essay discussing how the key points are conveyed through figurative language.
FOCUS SIX: Symbols
Symbols are persons, places, or things in a narrative that have significance beyond a literal understanding. The craft of storytelling depends on symbols to present ideas and point toward new meanings. Most frequently, a specific object will be used to refer to (or symbolize) a more abstract concept. The repeated appearance of an object suggests a non-literal, or figurative, meaning attached to the object. Symbols are often found in the book’s title, at the beginning and end of the story, within a profound action, or in the name or personality of a character. The life of a novel is perpetuated by generations of readers interpreting and reinterpreting the main symbols. By identifying and understanding symbols, readers can reveal new interpretations of the novel. One of the more remarkable aspects of Old School is the degree to which literature itself, especially fiction, is woven into the lives of the characters and the larger themes of the book. Mr. Ramsey is eloquent on this point in the passage on pages 131–132. Works of fiction can take on symbolic value. This is obviously the case with Jeff Purcell’s first-edition copy of In Our Time. More subtly, the kinds of stories that one writes become symbols that reflect the kind of person their author is.
Discussion Activities To illustrate the above point, reread the narrator’s comments on Hemingway and his stories (pp. 96–97) and his contrasting comments on himself and his own stories (pp. 108–110). With these
35 passages as context, lead the class into a discussion of the narrator’s discovery—and plagiarism — of “Summer Dance” and the complexities of his relationship to that story.
Writing Exercise Write on the following theme: What is your favorite work of literature, movie, or piece of music? Why does it appeal to you? Discuss any symbols that occur in that particular work of art. If no symbols are present, explain why symbols are not needed.
FOCUS SEVEN: Character Development
Novels trace the development of characters who encounter a series of challenges. Most characters contain a complex balance of virtues and vices. Internal and external forces require characters to question themselves, overcome fears, or reconsider dreams. The protagonist may undergo profound change. A close study of character development maps, in each character, the evolution of motivation, personality, and belief. The tension between a character’s strengths and weaknesses keeps the reader guessing about what might happen next and the protagonist’s eventual success or failure. As an adult, the narrator has exchanged his youthful brashness and assertiveness for a more measured and reflective view of life, but in large part his transition into adulthood is one of continuity rather than change. The most significant phases of his development took place during his last year of prep school. His encounter with Susan Friedman shows that as a young man he is still awkward and tentative with women. His characterization of her dismissal of writing as an “impiety” (p. 163) shows him to be as committed as ever to his literary ideals. Of the entire group of young men who were mad about literature, he is the only one who has gone on to be a writer. But even much later in life, he remains insecure about his worth as a writer (p. 171), even as he demonstrates a prickly pride.
Discussion Activities -“Finally, one does want to be known,” Mr. Ramsey says about Dean Makepeace (p. 172). How does this comment apply to the narrator, especially in relation to his guardedness about his Jewish heritage and his theft of “Summer Dance”? -Read Handout Three: The Narrator’s Coming of Age. Read the novel’s conclusion, “Master” (pp. 179–195). In what ways does Makepeace’s story parallel that of the narrator? In what ways do the stories differ?
Writing Exercise When the narrator steals the story, do you think he has an unconscious desire to be expelled from school and/or exposed as a fraud? Write a short essay on whether or not his expulsion can be considered a good thing.
FOCUS EIGHT: The Plot Unfolds
The author crafts a plot structure to create expectations, increase suspense, and develop characters. The pacing of events can make a novel either predictable or riveting. Foreshadowing and flashbacks allow the author to defy the constraints of time. Sometimes an author can confound a simple plot by telling stories within stories. In a conventional work of fiction, the
36 peak of the story’s conflict—the climax—is followed by the resolution, or denouement, in which the effects of that climactic action are presented. The last chapter of Old School is, in its own way, a genuine surprise ending, with its sudden shift of focus and point of view. To begin with, we might ask who is telling Arch Makepeace’s story. The answer that suggests itself is that the narrator of the novel is simply passing along what Mr. Ramsey had told him in Seattle. But reread the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 173: “He kept it short, but … I was somehow given to know more than was actually said. The spaces he left empty began filling up even as he spoke.” In a sense, then, we may regard the last chapter as the narrator’s imaginative reconstruction of the dean’s life and character—a full-fledged example of literary art. Like the narrator, Arch Makepeace has carried a burden of concealment, chafing at the idea that others’ good opinion of him is founded, at least in part, on misunderstanding. (Recall his reaction on reading “Summer Dance”: “He … was most affected, and in fact discomfited, by its unblinking inventory of self-seeking and duplicity. It was hard to tell the truth like that” [p. 186].) In the end, his punishment, his “sentence,” is much briefer and less severe than that of the narrator.
Discussion Activities -Wolff writes: “The boy closest to them smiles into his punch glass. He can hear them; he has slipped into their camp and can hear the secret music of these sure and finished men, our masters” (p. 175). Are the masters “sure and finished men”? How does this relate to the last section of the novel, “Master”? Finally, how might this draw out a larger theme of the novel? -What one theme is the most important issue in the novel? Explain.
Writing Exercise Write a short essay on a turning point in the novel. Where does the plot begin to change? Choose a turning point and explain why the novel revolves around this point.
FOCUS NINE: Themes of the Novel
Themes are the central, recurring subjects of a novel. As characters grapple with circumstances such as racism, class, or unrequited love, profound questions will arise in the reader’s mind about human life, social pressures, and societal expectations. Classic themes include intellectual freedom versus censorship, the relationship between one’s personal moral code and larger political justice, and spiritual faith versus rational considerations. A novel often reconsiders these age-old debates by presenting them in new contexts or from new points of view.
Discussion Activities and Writing Exercise Use the following questions to stimulate discussion or provide writing exercises in order to interpret the novel in specific ways. Using historical references to support ideas, explore the statements Old School makes about the following themes:
The Importance of Literature From the discussion of William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” in the opening chapter through the previously cited exploration of Hemingway’s short fiction and Mr. Ramsey’s observations on the need for stories, the novel makes a sustained, passionate defense of the significance of fiction to our lives. What claims are
37 made for fiction beyond mere distraction or amusement? Honesty and Deception Poised right on the brink, I still held back, perhaps sensing that the moment it started, once I allowed myself the comfort of his interest, I wouldn’t be able to stop; that the relief of confessing this paralysis might betray me into other confessions. In some murky way I recognized my own impatience to tear off the mask, and it spooked me. (p. 118) Why does the narrator hide the truth about himself? Why does he want to confess? Which of these impulses does the novel affirm? Tolerance and Acceptance For years Arch had traced this vision of the evil done through intolerance of the flawed and ambiguous, but he had not taken the lesson to heart. He had given up the good in his life because a fault ran through it. He was no better than Aylmer, murdering his beautiful wife to rid her of a birthmark. (p. 193) What is the lesson here, and why does it need to be taken to heart? Reader's Guide - Discussion Questions 1. The dedication of Old School reveals something of how Wolff might feel about his own education. If you wrote a book, would you dedicate it the same way? 2. What does the epigraph of Old School, a passage from a Mark Strand poem, mean? How does it relate to the novel's thematic concerns? 3. Why do you think Wolff left the narrator and even the school unnamed? 4. In Chapter One, the narrator maintains that his school disregarded issues of wealth and social background and judged its students entirely by their actions. Does this turn out to be true? How does his school compare to your own? 5. Early in the novel, the narrator says that his aspirations as a writer "were mystical. I wanted to receive the laying on of hands that had written living stories and poems, hands that had touched the hands of other writers. I wanted to be anointed." What does he mean by this? 6. Which of his classmates does the narrator feel closest to, and why? 7. How do the narrator's changing attitudes toward his grandfather demonstrate his process of maturing? 8. Discuss the portrayals of Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest Hemingway. How does each influence the narrator? 9. Why might Chapter Six be titled "The Forked Tongue"? What are the larger implications of its very last sentence? 10. Why does Mr. Ramsey show such disdain for the use of the word "honor"? Do you agree with his attitude? 11. Over the course of the novel, the narrator writes two letters to girls. The circumstances differ, but he has the same reaction after sending each letter. What does this pattern of behavior reveal about his personality?
38 12. Why is the narrator shocked by Susan Friedman's attitude toward her own story, and toward writing in general? How valid is his unspoken response to her comments? 13. Why does the narrator feel such love and loyalty for his school, despite his final punishment? 14. The last sentence of the book is from the New Testament parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). How might these be "surely the most beautiful words ever written or said"? Source of this Reader’s Guide from Old School can be found at: http://www.neabigread.org/books/oldschool/readers02.php
Group Review Activity:
Each group will be assigned two to three chapters to cover. You should then do the following: -Summarize ALL of your chapters in at least fifteen sentences -Have three quotes from each chapter that you feel are significant. Explain their significance in at least one sentence. -List at least five occurrences in your chapters that shocked/amazed/ humored you in terms of its prophetic nature or in regards to its subject. -Answer the FOCUS that pertain to the chapters you have been assigned. -Write an at least ten sentence review of the book.
We will work on this in-class on______.
You will then turn in YOUR ASSIGNMENT FROM YOUR GROUP to www.turnitin.com by ______at 11:59 pm.
You will present it to the class on ______.
After you give your presentations, I will turn ALL of them into one document that you will be able to download from my website. You will then be able to use this to study for your test.
39 Comparison/Contrast Essay on Old School
Your essay should be 500-750 words. It must include at least three quotes from the novel with a parenthetical citation crediting the source at the end of the sentence. You also need to include at least one quote from a literary criticism. You may only use a literary criticism that is found through accessing a Database at Panther Central. It is not necessary to do additional research in the writing of this paper, but if you do choose to include other literary criticisms you should credit these sources as well. (Of course, since you will be using a minimum of two sources you must include a Works Cited page.) Please keep in mind that SparkNotes, Cliffs Notes, the summary on Wikipedia, and the like are not considered literary criticism. Please format your paper using MLA 8.
More Hints for this Essay:
-Make sure you mention the book title and author at the beginning of the essay -Start with an interesting first line -Give brief background into the novel in the opening paragraph -Remember to discuss LITERATURE USING THE PRESENT TENSE -Your last sentence of your first paragraph will be your thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be specific and concise. It should NOT contain the words compare, contrast, different, similar (or anything else like that). -In your body paragraphs, make sure every body paragraph contains a quote. -Make sure you use copious details to explain what you are comparing and contrasting -Make sure you follow the guidelines in your Readings for Writers book for writing a comparison/contrast essay -In your conclusion be sure to sum up your paper without restating the thesis. -End your paper with an exciting clincher statement
The following are your due dates for this paper:
You need to show me your literary criticism in class on ______. It is worth 10 points. Your rough draft is due to www.turnitin.com by ______at 11:59 pm. It is worth 10 points. Your peer editing will be done in class on ______; it is due to www.turnitin.com by ______at 11:59 pm. It is worth 10 points. Your final draft will be due ______by 11:59 pm to www.turnitin.com. It is worth 75 points. You will need to highlight in yellow that you changed at least 15% of what you wrote in the final draft.
40 41 42 A MODEST PROPOSAL For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick. by Dr. Jonathan Swift 1729
Source: The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes. I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful members of the common- wealth, would deserve so well of the publick, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation. But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the children of professed beggars: it is of a much greater extent, and shall take in the whole number of infants at a certain age, who are born of parents in effect as little able to support them, as those who demand our charity in the streets. As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years, upon this important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of our projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in their computation. It is true, a child just dropt from its dam, may be supported by her milk, for a solar year, with little other nourishment: at most not above the value of two shillings, which the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a manner, as, instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on the contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the cloathing of many thousands.
43 There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expence than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breast. The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couple, who are able to maintain their own children, (although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom) but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand, for those women who miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. There only remain an hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born. The question therefore is, How this number shall be reared, and provided for? which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we neither build houses, (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land: they can very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing till they arrive at six years old; except where they are of towardly parts, although I confess they learn the rudiments much earlier; during which time they can however be properly looked upon only as probationers: As I have been informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to me, that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in that art. I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years old, is no saleable commodity, and even when they come to this age, they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half a crown at most, on the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or kingdom, the charge of nutriments and rags having been at least four times that value. I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection. I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or a ragoust. I do therefore humbly offer it to publick consideration, that of the hundred and twenty thousand children, already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one fourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle, or swine, and my reason is, that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages, therefore, one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune, through the kingdom, always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump, and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter. I have reckoned upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, encreaseth to 28 pounds.
44 I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children. Infant's flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish being a prolifick dyet, there are more children born in Roman Catholick countries about nine months after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of Popish infants, is at least three to one in this kingdom, and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us. I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar's child (in which list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat, when he hath only some particular friend, or his own family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants, the mother will have eight shillings neat profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child. Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flea the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen. As to our City of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose, in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs. A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer a refinement upon my scheme. He said, that many gentlemen of this kingdom, having of late destroyed their deer, he conceived that the want of venison might be well supply'd by the bodies of young lads and maidens, not exceeding fourteen years of age, nor under twelve; so great a number of both sexes in every country being now ready to starve for want of work and service: And these to be disposed of by their parents if alive, or otherwise by their nearest relations. But with due deference to so excellent a friend, and so deserving a patriot, I cannot be altogether in his sentiments; for as to the males, my American acquaintance assured me from frequent experience, that their flesh was generally tough and lean, like that of our school-boys, by continual exercise, and their taste disagreeable, and to fatten them would not answer the charge. Then as to the females, it would, I think, with humble submission, be a loss to the publick, because they soon would become breeders themselves: And besides, it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure such a practice, (although indeed very unjustly) as a little bordering upon cruelty, which, I confess, hath always been with me the strongest objection against any project, how well soever intended. But in order to justify my friend, he confessed, that this expedient was put into his head by the famous Salmanaazor, a native of the island Formosa, who came from thence to London, above twenty years ago, and in conversation told my friend, that in his country, when any young person happened to be put to death, the executioner sold the carcass to persons of quality, as a prime dainty; and that, in his time, the body of a plump girl of fifteen, who was crucified for an attempt to poison the Emperor, was sold to his imperial majesty's prime minister of state, and other great mandarins of the court in joints from the gibbet, at four hundred crowns. Neither indeed can I deny, that if the same use were made of several plump young girls in this town, who without one
45 single groat to their fortunes, cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at a play-house and assemblies in foreign fineries which they never will pay for; the kingdom would not be the worse. Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed; and I have been desired to employ my thoughts what course may be taken, to ease the nation of so grievous an incumbrance. But I am not in the least pain upon that matter, because it is very well known, that they are every day dying, and rotting, by cold and famine, and filth, and vermin, as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the young labourers, they are now in almost as hopeful a condition. They cannot get work, and consequently pine away from want of nourishment, to a degree, that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labour, they have not strength to perform it, and thus the country and themselves are happily delivered from the evils to come. I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return to my subject. I think the advantages by the proposal which I have made are obvious and many, as well as of the highest importance. For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we are yearly over-run, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country, than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate. Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which by law may be made liable to a distress, and help to pay their landlord's rent, their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a thing unknown. Thirdly, Whereas the maintainance of an hundred thousand children, from two years old, and upwards, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings a piece per annum, the nation's stock will be thereby encreased fifty thousand pounds per annum, besides the profit of a new dish, introduced to the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom, who have any refinement in taste. And the money will circulate among our selves, the goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture. Fourthly, The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year. Fifthly, This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns, where the vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for dressing it to perfection; and consequently have their houses frequented by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their knowledge in good eating; and a skilful cook, who understands how to oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please. Sixthly, This would be a great inducement to marriage, which all wise nations have either encouraged by rewards, or enforced by laws and penalties. It would encrease the care and tenderness of mothers towards their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor babes, provided in some sort by the publick, to their annual profit instead of expence. We should soon see an honest emulation among the married women, which of them could bring the fattest child to the market. Men would become as fond of their wives, during the time of their pregnancy, as they are now of their mares in foal, their cows in calf, or sow when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them (as is too frequent a practice) for fear of a miscarriage.
46 Many other advantages might be enumerated. For instance, the addition of some thousand carcasses in our exportation of barrel'd beef: the propagation of swine's flesh, and improvement in the art of making good bacon, so much wanted among us by the great destruction of pigs, too frequent at our tables; which are no way comparable in taste or magnificence to a well grown, fat yearly child, which roasted whole will make a considerable figure at a Lord Mayor's feast, or any other publick entertainment. But this, and many others, I omit, being studious of brevity. Supposing that one thousand families in this city, would be constant customers for infants flesh, besides others who might have it at merry meetings, particularly at weddings and christenings, I compute that Dublin would take off annually about twenty thousand carcasses; and the rest of the kingdom (where probably they will be sold somewhat cheaper) the remaining eighty thousand. I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and 'twas indeed one principal design in offering it to the world. I desire the reader will observe, that I calculate my remedy for this one individual Kingdom of Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be upon Earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: Of taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound: Of using neither cloaths, nor houshold furniture, except what is of our own growth and manufacture: Of utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury: Of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming in our women: Of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence and temperance: Of learning to love our country, wherein we differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo: Of quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like the Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their city was taken: Of being a little cautious not to sell our country and consciences for nothing: Of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants. Lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our shop-keepers, who, if a resolution could now be taken to buy only our native goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could ever yet be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and earnestly invited to it. Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, 'till he hath at least some glympse of hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice. But, as to my self, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal, which, as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expence and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, and flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it. After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion, as to reject any offer, proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual. But before something of that kind shall be advanced in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points. First, As things now stand, how they will be able to find food and raiment for a hundred thousand useless mouths and backs. And secondly, There being a round million of creatures in humane figure throughout this kingdom, whose whole subsistence put into a common stock, would leave them in debt two
47 million of pounds sterling, adding those who are beggars by profession, to the bulk of farmers, cottagers and labourers, with their wives and children, who are beggars in effect; I desire those politicians who dislike my overture, and may perhaps be so bold to attempt an answer, that they will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided such a perpetual scene of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the want of common sustenance, with neither house nor cloaths to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of intailing the like, or greater miseries, upon their breed for ever. I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children, by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child-bearing.
DE English Rosenbaum
A Modest Proposal Satirical Essay- worth 50 points
You will have the class period to write your own modest proposal. You should do the following in your essay:
Write a satire in which you attempt to solve one of today’s problems. Include an introduction that explains the problem State your proposal after your introduction Give a number of reasons why your proposal would work (Swift used 6, so you should use at least 3) Be able to explain what you would really like to happen by underlining it (Swift used italics to show) Explain in your conclusion that this would not benefit you personally and why Be sure to also use pathos, ethos, and logos to prove your point You should put your final draft on www.turnitin.com by ______
48 A Modest Proposal Satire
4 - Above Standar 3 - Meets Standar 2 - Approaching Standar 1 - Below Standar CATEGORY ds ds ds ds Attention The introductory The introductory The author has an The introductory Grabber paragraph has a paragraph has a interesting introductory paragraph is not strong hook or hook or attention paragraph but the interesting AND is attention grabber grabber, but it is connection to the topic is not relevant to the that is appropriate weak, rambling or not clear. topic. for the audience. inappropriate for This could be a the audience. strong statement, a relevant quotation, statistic, or question addressed to the reader. Position The position The position A position statement is There is no Statement of statement provides statement provides present, but does not position statement. Proposal a clear, strong a clear statement make the author's position statement of the of the author's clear. author's position position on the on the topic. topic.
Support, Includes 3 or more Includes 3 or more Includes 2 pieces of Includes 1 or Reaons for pieces of evidence pieces of evidence evidence (facts, statistics, fewer pieces of Position (facts, statistics, (facts, statistics, examples, real-life evidence (facts, examples, real-life examples, real-life experiences) that support statistics, experiences) that experiences) that the position statement. examples, real-life support the support the experiences). position statement. position statement. The writer anticipates the reader's concerns, biases or arguments and has provided at least 1 counter-argument.
49 Audience Demonstrates a Demonstrates a Demonstrates some It is not clear who clear general understanding of the the author is understanding of understanding of potential reader and uses writing for. the potential reader the potential arguments appropriate for and uses reader and uses that audience. appropriate vocabulary and vocabulary and arguments arguments. appropriate for Anticipates that audience. reader's questions and provides thorough answers appropriate for that audience. Real Student underlines Student underlines Student underlines and Student does not Explanation and gives several and gives a few gives only one or two underline or gives of What is reasons for what reasons for what reasons for what should no reasons for Wanted should really occur should really really occur instead of what should really instead of satirical occur instead of satirical proposal occur instead of proposal. satirical proposal. satirical proposal
Use of Student does an Student does a Student does a good job Student does not Pathos, excellent job of good job of using of using logos, pathos, use adequately or Ethos, using logos, logos, pathos, ethos, and satirical does not correctly Logos, pathos, ethos, and ethos, and satirical techniques. use logos, pathos, Satirical satirical techniques. ethos, and/or Techniques techniques. satirical techniques.
Grammar & Author makes no Author makes 1-2 Author makes 3-4 errors Author makes Spelling errors in grammar errors in grammar in grammar or spelling more than 4 errors or spelling that or spelling that that distract the reader in grammar or distract the reader distract the reader from the content. spelling that from the content. from the content. distract the reader from the content.
Closing The conclusion is The conclusion is The author's position is There is no paragraph strong and leaves recognizable. The restated within the closing conclusion - the the reader solidly author's position is paragraph, but not near paper just ends. understanding the restated within the the beginning. writer's position. first two sentences Effective of the closing restatement of the paragraph. position statement begins the closing paragraph.
Grade:
50 Name ______Period ______
Chapter 41: Writing About Literature
1. Which of the “Read Actively” tips do you need to do in order to become a better writer? Explain. Which ones do you already do? Explain.
2. Which of the “Plan Your Essay” tips do you currently struggle with? Why do you think this is so?
3. Which of the “Prewriting: Discover Your Ideas” tips do you use? Explain why this method works for you.
4. Which of the “Develop A Literary Argument” tips do you use? Which do you not? Explain your answer for each.
5. Which of the “Write a Rough Draft” tips is most useful to you? Why?
51 6. What two or three tips under “Revise Your Draft,” “Final Advice on Rewriting,” “Document Sources to Avoid Plagiarism,” “The Form of Your Finished Paper” and “Spell-check and Grammar-check Programs” is helpful to you? Why?
Instructions for Short Essay #3: Short Story Analysis of one of the stories in Literature
Directions:
Choose from one of the following topics:
A. Write an analysis of a short story, focusing on a single element, such as point of view, theme, symbolism, character, or the author’s voice (tone, style, irony). B. Write a thorough explication of a short passage (preferably not more than four sentences) in a story you liked. Pick a crucial moment in the plot, or a passage, that reveals the story’s theme. C. Write an analysis of a story in which the protagonist experiences an epiphany or revelation of some sort. Describe the nature of this change of heart. What are the repercussions in the character’s life? D. Drawing on your own experience, make the case that a character in any short story behaves (or does not behave) as people do in real life. (Due to the nature of this essay, it is appropriate to use 1st person point of view.) E. Imagine a reluctant reader, one who would rather play video games than crack a book. Which story in this book would you recommend to him or her? Write an essay to that imagined reader, describing the story’s merits.
Write 500-750 words on the topic.
Include at least two quotes from the story and one quote from a literary analysis on your short
story (found using Panther Central) in your essay.
Include a Works Cited page
Your rough draft is due ______to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm.
52 Your peer editing is due ______to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm; we will have in class
time on ______to work on this.
Your final draft is due ______to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm; we will have in class
time on ______to work on this.
Poetry Unit Activities (aka The Best Six Weeks of Our Lives!)
Note: If the page numbers of your book at home do not match up with those listed by chapter below, here are the corresponding page numbers listed for each poem for your convenience:
Poem Title found in Literature: 12th Edition 11th Edition
“Those Winter Sundays” p. 677 p. 635 “Ask Me” - p. 685 p. 643 “Doo Wop” p. 825 p. 649 “White Lies” p. 693 p. 651 “Dulce et Decorum Est” p. 709 p. 667 “Silence” p. 718 p. 676 “Grass” p. 723 p. 681 “Dog Haiku” p. 696 p. 681 “Jabberwocky” p. 734 p. 693 “next to of course god america i” p. 744 p. 703 “Metaphors” p. 775 p. 735 “Turtle” p. 786 p. 745 “Richard Cory” p. 795 p. 754 “Ballad of Birmingham” p. 800 p. 759 “The Times They Are a-Changin” p. 804 p. 764 “Recital” p. 814 p. 774 “The Hippopotamus” p. 820 p. 780 “We Real Cool” p. 833 p. 793 “Do not go gentle into that good night” p. 864 p. 824 “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” p. 878 p. 838 “Swan and Shadow” p.883 p. 843 “Concrete Cat” p. 885 p. 845 “First Love: A Quiz” p. 918 p. 847 “America” p. 933 p. 892 “Learning to love America” p. 1108 p. 900 “Cinderella” p. 919 p. 878
Chapter 13: Reading a Poem
53 Those Winter Sundays (p. 677) Write a poem about a childhood memory involving a relative Ask Me (p. 685)
Chapter 14: Listening to a Voice
Doo Wop (p. 825) Write a serious or comic poem which contains no more than two words per line White Lies (p. 693) Dulce et Decorum Est (p. 709)
Chapter 15: Words
Silence (p. 718) Write a poem that is told largely in quotations. Grass (p. 723) Dog Haiku (p. 696) Write a haiku (a three line poem with five, seven, and five syllable lines) Jabberwocky (p. 734) Write a poem filled with nonsense words
Poetry of the Romantic Period in Guidebook
Poetry of William Blake A Poison Tree The Lamb The Tyger The Chimney Sweeper Poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Poetry of George Gordon, Lord Byron She Walks in Beauty Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley Ozymandias Poetry of Robert Burns To a Mouse
Chapter 16: Saying and Suggesting
next to of course god america i (p. 744) Write a poem with no capitalization and punctuation Chapter 17: Imagery
The Fish (p. 754)
54 Chapter 18: Figures of Speech
Metaphors (p. 775) Turtle (p. 786)
Chapter 19: Song
Richard Cory (p. 795) Ballad of Birmingham (p. 800) The Times They Are a-Changin (p. 804)
Chapter 20: Sound
Recital (p. 814) The Hippopotamus (p. 820)
Chapter 21: Rhythm
We Real Cool (p. 833)
Chapter 22: Closed Form
Do not go gentle into that good night (p. 864)
Chapter 23: Open Form
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (p. 878) Write a poem that is Thirteen Ways of Looking at a… Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Tortilla (p. 958) Swan and Shadow p. 883 Concrete Cat p. 885 Write a concrete poem First Love: A Quiz p. 918 Write a poem in the form of a quiz
Chapter 25: Myth and Narrative
Cinderella (p. 919)-Write a poem about a fairy tale character
Chapter 26: Poetry and Personal Identity
America (p. 892) Learning to love America (p. 900) Write your own poem about America
______
55 Note: If time allows, we will also cover the poems on this page in class.
Poetry of the Victorian Period in Elements of Literature textbook
Poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson My Last Duchess by Robert Browning Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman
Chapter 28: Poetry in Spanish: Literature of Latin America
Every Tree in Its Shadow (p. 929)
Chapter 29: Recognizing Excellence
One Art (p. 941) O Captain! My Captain! (p. 945)
Chapter 30: What is Poetry?
Missed Time (p. 956)
Chapter 31: Two Critical Casebooks: Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes
Mother to Son (p. 975)Write your own poem in the form of advice
Chapter 32: Critical Casebook: T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (p. 995)
Chapter 33: Poems for Further Reading
Ethics (p. 1072)
56 Poetry Alive!- worth ______points
To introduce Poetry Alive, we are going to watching a video of Al Letson performing his poem “The Ball, the Rim, and Him.” Pay particular attention to how Mr. Letson uses gestures and movement to bring the poem “alive” for his audience.
After this, you should choose one of the following poems from the pages your teacher tells you for your group or solo Poetry Alive! Performance poem. When you know what poem you will be performing, please let your teacher know, since I do not want more than one group performing the same poem. I will then give your group the rest of the poem. Think carefully before you choose, however, as I will not let you change it once you have picked it.
You will have part of the period to practice your performance and create props/background pieces, if necessary. Keep in mind you do not have to memorize the poem, but it should be familiar enough to you that you can partially conceal the fact you are looking over the words as you bring it alive for the class.
The second half of class you will perform your poem.
Song Presentations- worth 25 points
Just like this song represented the 1960s, you will present a song to the class that symbolizes our modern times. The song must have been written in the past two years. You may work by yourself or in a group of up to four people. You must show me the lyrics of your song to be approved before you begin working on the assignment, and only one group per class may choose a certain song. Once the song is chosen, you need to make your presentation, in which you will:
1. Play the video (lyric version, preferably) to your song using www.cleanvideosearch.com 2. Ask the class five open ended questions about your song 3. Give the class a minimum of five sentence explanation of how this song relates to modern times
57 You should turn in a link to the video, your five open ended questions, and your five sentence explanation to www.turnitin.com by ______; every member of your group needs to do this.
Short Essay #4: Poem Analysis (750-1000 words)- worth 100 points
This will be written in-class without any literary criticisms to support what you are saying; I want to know what you think! You should read Chapter 44: Writing about a Poem (p. 1816-1837) in order to see how to set up a poem analysis. You may choose any poem in Literature or in your Elements of Literature book to write on (except for Robert Frost’s Design or Abbie Hustan Evans Wing-Spread) You should use quotes from the poem (at least five) to prove your thesis. You should include a Works Cited page crediting the poem you referred to in your paper. The Works Cited entry should be done as thus: Last name of poet, First name. “Poem Title.” Title of Book. Ed. of Book. ___th ed. Place Published: Publisher, Year Published. Print. Choose from one of the following topics: o Write an analysis of a poem from the chapters in Literature or the Romantic Age, focusing on how a single key element (such as tone, rhyme and meter, imagery, irony, theme, or extended metaphor) shapes its meaning. o Write a comparison-contrast essay on any two or more poems by a single poet. Look for two poems that share a characteristic thematic concern. o Write an analysis of a certain theme (or other element) that you find in the work of two or more poets. It is probably that in your conclusion you will want to set the poets’ work side by side, comparing or contrasting them, and perhaps making some evaluation. o Perform a line-by-line explication of a poem of your choice. Imagine that your audience is unfamiliar with the poem and needs your assistance in interpreting it. o Read three poems by a poet featured in this book. You will need to communicate to your reader a sense of the work’s style and thematic preoccupations. Finally, make a value judgment about the work’s quality.
58 Romantic Age Poems “A Poison Tree” from Songs of Experience by William Blake I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole, When the night had veild the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Note: William Blake also illustrated all of his poems. The illustrations with his poem are on the page following each poem.
59 60 “The Lamb” from Songs of Innocence by William Blake Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice! Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee
Little Lamb I'll tell thee, Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name. Little Lamb God bless thee. Little Lamb God bless thee.
61 “The Tyger” from Songs of Experience by William Blake
62 Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
63 64 “The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence by William Blake When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said, "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
And so he was quiet, & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack, Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;
And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run, And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.
Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
65 “She Walks in Beauty” by George Gordon, Lord Byron She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
66 Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!
“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
67 “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns --On Turning up in Her Nest with the Plough, November, 1785 Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie, O, what a panic’s in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi’ bickerin brattle! I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee Wi’ murd’ring pattle!
I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion Has broken Nature’s social union, An’ justifies that ill opinion, Which makes thee startle, At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An’ fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! A daimen-icker in a thrave ’S a sma’ request: I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave, An’ never miss ’t!
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin! It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin! An’ naething, now, to big a new ane, O’ foggage green! An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin, Baith snell an’ keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste, An’ weary Winter comin fast, An’ cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell, Till crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro’ thy cell.
That wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble
68 Has cost thee monie a weary nibble! Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble, An’ cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me! The present only toucheth thee: But Och! I backward cast my e’e, On prospects drear! An’ forward tho’ I canna see, I guess an’ fear! “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Note: To read this poem with its illustrations and italicized summary, please visit: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/coleridge/samuel_taylor/rime/ Argument
How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country. PART I It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. 'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: May'st hear the merry din.'
He holds him with his skinny hand, 'There was a ship,' quoth he. 'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!' Eftsoons his hand dropt he.
He holds him with his glittering eye— The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: The Mariner hath his will.
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner.
69 'The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top.
The Sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea.
Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon—' The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, For he heard the loud bassoon.
The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she; Nodding their heads before her goes The merry minstrelsy.
The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, Yet he cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner.
And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he Was tyrannous and strong: He struck with his o'ertaking wings, And chased us south along.
With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe, And forward bends his head, The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And southward aye we fled.
And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald.
And through the drifts the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen: Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken— The ice was all between.
The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound!
At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul,
70 We hailed it in God's name.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit; The helmsman steered us through!
And a good south wind sprung up behind; The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariner's hollo!
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perched for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, Glimmered the white Moon-shine.'
'God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look'st thou so?'—With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS.
PART II The Sun now rose upon the right: Out of the sea came he, Still hid in mist, and on the left Went down into the sea.
And the good south wind still blew behind, But no sweet bird did follow, Nor any day for food or play Came to the mariner's hollo!
And I had done a hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird That made the breeze to blow. Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay, That made the breeze to blow!
Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious Sun uprist: Then all averred, I had killed the bird That brought the fog and mist. 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea!
71 All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody Sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.
The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea.
About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils, Burnt green, and blue and white.
And some in dreams assurèd were Of the Spirit that plagued us so; Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow.
And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot.
Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung.
PART III There passed a weary time. Each throat Was parched, and glazed each eye. A weary time! a weary time! How glazed each weary eye,
When looking westward, I beheld A something in the sky.
At first it seemed a little speck, And then it seemed a mist; It moved and moved, and took at last A certain shape, I wist.
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
72 And still it neared and neared: As if it dodged a water-sprite, It plunged and tacked and veered.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, We could nor laugh nor wail; Through utter drought all dumb we stood! I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! a sail!
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, Agape they heard me call: Gramercy! they for joy did grin, And all at once their breath drew in. As they were drinking all.
See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more! Hither to work us weal; Without a breeze, without a tide, She steadies with upright keel!
The western wave was all a-flame. The day was well nigh done! Almost upon the western wave Rested the broad bright Sun; When that strange shape drove suddenly Betwixt us and the Sun.
And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, (Heaven's Mother send us grace!) As if through a dungeon-grate he peered With broad and burning face.
Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud) How fast she nears and nears! Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, Like restless gossameres?
Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate? And is that Woman all her crew? Is that a DEATH? and are there two? Is DEATH that woman's mate?
Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold.
The naked hulk alongside came, And the twain were casting dice; 'The game is done! I've won! I've won!' Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out;
73 At one stride comes the dark; With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea, Off shot the spectre-bark.
We listened and looked sideways up! Fear at my heart, as at a cup, My life-blood seemed to sip! The stars were dim, and thick the night, The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white; From the sails the dew did drip— Till clomb above the eastern bar The hornèd Moon, with one bright star Within the nether tip.
One after one, by the star-dogged Moon, Too quick for groan or sigh, Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, And cursed me with his eye.
Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one.
The souls did from their bodies fly,— They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed me by, Like the whizz of my cross-bow!
PART IV 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribbed sea-sand.
I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand, so brown.'— Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest! This body dropt not down.
Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.
The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.
I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay.
I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
74 But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust.
I closed my lids, and kept them close, And the balls like pulses beat; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky Lay dead like a load on my weary eye, And the dead were at my feet.
The cold sweat melted from their limbs, Nor rot nor reek did they: The look with which they looked on me Had never passed away.
An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But oh! more horrible than that Is the curse in a dead man's eye! Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, And yet I could not die.
The moving Moon went up the sky, And no where did abide: Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside—
Her beams bemocked the sultry main, Like April hoar-frost spread; But where the ship's huge shadow lay, The charmèd water burnt alway A still and awful red.
Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes.
Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track Was a flash of golden fire.
O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware.
The self-same moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea.
75 PART V Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing, Beloved from pole to pole! To Mary Queen the praise be given! She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven, That slid into my soul.
The silly buckets on the deck, That had so long remained, I dreamt that they were filled with dew; And when I awoke, it rained.
My lips were wet, my throat was cold, My garments all were dank; Sure I had drunken in my dreams, And still my body drank.
I moved, and could not feel my limbs: I was so light—almost I thought that I had died in sleep, And was a blessed ghost.
And soon I heard a roaring wind: It did not come anear; But with its sound it shook the sails, That were so thin and sere.
The upper air burst into life! And a hundred fire-flags sheen, To and fro they were hurried about! And to and fro, and in and out, The wan stars danced between.
And the coming wind did roar more loud, And the sails did sigh like sedge, And the rain poured down from one black cloud; The Moon was at its edge.
The thick black cloud was cleft, and still The Moon was at its side: Like waters shot from some high crag, The lightning fell with never a jag, A river steep and wide.
The loud wind never reached the ship, Yet now the ship moved on! Beneath the lightning and the Moon The dead men gave a groan.
They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose, Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; It had been strange, even in a dream, To have seen those dead men rise.
The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;
76 Yet never a breeze up-blew; The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, Where they were wont to do; They raised their limbs like lifeless tools— We were a ghastly crew.
The body of my brother's son Stood by me, knee to knee: The body and I pulled at one rope, But he said nought to me.
'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!' Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest! 'Twas not those souls that fled in pain, Which to their corses came again, But a troop of spirits blest:
For when it dawned—they dropped their arms, And clustered round the mast; Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And from their bodies passed.
Around, around, flew each sweet sound, Then darted to the Sun; Slowly the sounds came back again, Now mixed, now one by one.
Sometimes a-dropping from the sky I heard the sky-lark sing; Sometimes all little birds that are, How they seemed to fill the sea and air With their sweet jargoning!
And now 'twas like all instruments, Now like a lonely flute; And now it is an angel's song, That makes the heavens be mute.
It ceased; yet still the sails made on A pleasant noise till noon, A noise like of a hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night Singeth a quiet tune.
Till noon we quietly sailed on, Yet never a breeze did breathe: Slowly and smoothly went the ship, Moved onward from beneath.
Under the keel nine fathom deep, From the land of mist and snow, The spirit slid: and it was he That made the ship to go. The sails at noon left off their tune, And the ship stood still also.
77 The Sun, right up above the mast, Had fixed her to the ocean: But in a minute she 'gan stir, With a short uneasy motion— Backwards and forwards half her length With a short uneasy motion.
Then like a pawing horse let go, She made a sudden bound: It flung the blood into my head, And I fell down in a swound.
How long in that same fit I lay, I have not to declare; But ere my living life returned, I heard and in my soul discerned Two voices in the air.
'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man? By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross.
The spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow.'
The other was a softer voice, As soft as honey-dew: Quoth he, 'The man hath penance done, And penance more will do.'
PART VI
First Voice 'But tell me, tell me! speak again, Thy soft response renewing— What makes that ship drive on so fast? What is the ocean doing?'
Second Voice Still as a slave before his lord, The ocean hath no blast; His great bright eye most silently Up to the Moon is cast—
If he may know which way to go; For she guides him smooth or grim. See, brother, see! how graciously She looketh down on him.'
First Voice 'But why drives on that ship so fast, Without or wave or wind?'
78 Second Voice 'The air is cut away before, And closes from behind.
Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high! Or we shall be belated: For slow and slow that ship will go, When the Mariner's trance is abated.'
I woke, and we were sailing on As in a gentle weather: 'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high; The dead men stood together.
All stood together on the deck, For a charnel-dungeon fitter: All fixed on me their stony eyes, That in the Moon did glitter.
The pang, the curse, with which they died, Had never passed away: I could not draw my eyes from theirs, Nor turn them up to pray.
And now this spell was snapt: once more I viewed the ocean green, And looked far forth, yet little saw Of what had else been seen—
Like one, that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows, a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread.
But soon there breathed a wind on me, Nor sound nor motion made: Its path was not upon the sea, In ripple or in shade.
It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek Like a meadow-gale of spring— It mingled strangely with my fears, Yet it felt like a welcoming.
Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship, Yet she sailed softly too: Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze— On me alone it blew.
Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed The light-house top I see? Is this the hill? is this the kirk? Is this mine own countree?
79 We drifted o'er the harbour-bar, And I with sobs did pray— O let me be awake, my God! Or let me sleep alway.
The harbour-bay was clear as glass, So smoothly it was strewn! And on the bay the moonlight lay, And the shadow of the Moon.
The rock shone bright, the kirk no less, That stands above the rock: The moonlight steeped in silentness The steady weathercock.
And the bay was white with silent light, Till rising from the same, Full many shapes, that shadows were, In crimson colours came.
A little distance from the prow Those crimson shadows were: I turned my eyes upon the deck— Oh, Christ! what saw I there!
Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat, And, by the holy rood! A man all light, a seraph-man, On every corse there stood.
This seraph-band, each waved his hand: It was a heavenly sight! They stood as signals to the land, Each one a lovely light;
This seraph-band, each waved his hand, No voice did they impart— No voice; but oh! the silence sank Like music on my heart.
But soon I heard the dash of oars, I heard the Pilot's cheer; My head was turned perforce away And I saw a boat appear.
The Pilot and the Pilot's boy, I heard them coming fast: Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy The dead men could not blast.
I saw a third—I heard his voice: It is the Hermit good! He singeth loud his godly hymns That he makes in the wood. He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
80 The Albatross's blood.
PART VII This Hermit good lives in that wood Which slopes down to the sea. How loudly his sweet voice he rears! He loves to talk with marineres That come from a far countree.
He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve— He hath a cushion plump: It is the moss that wholly hides The rotted old oak-stump.
The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk, 'Why, this is strange, I trow! Where are those lights so many and fair, That signal made but now?'
'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said— 'And they answered not our cheer! The planks looked warped! and see those sails, How thin they are and sere! I never saw aught like to them, Unless perchance it were
Brown skeletons of leaves that lag My forest-brook along; When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow, And the owlet whoops to the wolf below, That eats the she-wolf's young.'
'Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look— (The Pilot made reply) I am a-feared'—'Push on, push on!' Said the Hermit cheerily.
The boat came closer to the ship, But I nor spake nor stirred; The boat came close beneath the ship, And straight a sound was heard.
Under the water it rumbled on, Still louder and more dread: It reached the ship, it split the bay; The ship went down like lead.
Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound, Which sky and ocean smote, Like one that hath been seven days drowned My body lay afloat; But swift as dreams, myself I found Within the Pilot's boat.
Upon the whirl, where sank the ship, The boat spun round and round;
81 And all was still, save that the hill Was telling of the sound.
I moved my lips—the Pilot shrieked And fell down in a fit; The holy Hermit raised his eyes, And prayed where he did sit.
I took the oars: the Pilot's boy, Who now doth crazy go, Laughed loud and long, and all the while His eyes went to and fro. 'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see, The Devil knows how to row.'
And now, all in my own countree, I stood on the firm land! The Hermit stepped forth from the boat, And scarcely he could stand.
'O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!' The Hermit crossed his brow. 'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say— What manner of man art thou?'
Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woful agony, Which forced me to begin my tale; And then it left me free.
Since then, at an uncertain hour, That agony returns: And till my ghastly tale is told, This heart within me burns.
I pass, like night, from land to land; I have strange power of speech; That moment that his face I see, I know the man that must hear me: To him my tale I teach.
What loud uproar bursts from that door! The wedding-guests are there: But in the garden-bower the bride And bride-maids singing are: And hark the little vesper bell, Which biddeth me to prayer!
O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been Alone on a wide wide sea: So lonely 'twas, that God himself Scarce seemèd there to be.
O sweeter than the marriage-feast, 'Tis sweeter far to me,
82 To walk together to the kirk With a goodly company!—
To walk together to the kirk, And all together pray, While each to his great Father bends, Old men, and babes, and loving friends And youths and maidens gay!
Farewell, farewell! but this I tell To thee, thou Wedding-Guest! He prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.
The Mariner, whose eye is bright, Whose beard with age is hoar, Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest Turned from the bridegroom's door.
He went like one that hath been stunned, And is of sense forlorn: A sadder and a wiser man, He rose the morrow morn.
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Match the Illustration with Its Passage Game
83 Note: The following pictures are the original illustrations Gustave Dore completed to go with Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” They are not in the order they originally appeared. After reading the poem, cut out these pictures and put them in the correct order in the poem by taping the picture to the right of the text. (If you cannot see the pictures clearly, look at the Guidebook using your laptop or your phone.)
1 Nine fathom deep he had followed us
2 The shadow of the moon
84 3 The mariner is gone
4 The death-fires danced at night
5 I watched the water-snakes
85 6 Without wave or wind
7 It was wondrous cold
8 The moving moon went up to the sky
86 9 Strange power of speech
10 The rain poured down from one black cloud
11 The ice was all around
87 12 I know the man that must hear me
13 In crimson colors came
14 They all uprose
88 15 The albatross
16 The sails made on a pleasant noise
17 A heavenly sight
89 18 The ship fled the storm
19 Two voices in the air
20 Red as a rose is the bride
90 21 I had done a hellish thing
22 The game is done!
23 So lonely
91 24 The wedding guest
25 I fell down in a swound
26 Each cursed me with eye
92 27 The skiff-boat nears
28 I shot the albatross!
29 The death ship nears
93 30 The pilot
31The wedding guests
32 Water, water, everywhere
94 33 Oh shrieve me, holy man
34 No saint took pity
35 And yet I could not die
95 36 Wherefore stopp’st thou me?
37 The whirl
38 I looked upon the rotting sea
Read like a Rock Star 4th 9 Weeks Assignment
96 What to Read --Choose a book from the list on the following pages, remembering that you will complete your literary analysis research paper the second nine weeks on this book. The following is a list of assignments you will complete when you are done reading your book. For some of the following, you will have a choice. For others, there will be no choice but to complete every part of the assignment. We may have additional assignments on the book as I see fit.
Quiz- on ______
You will be asked some long-response questions related to your book to ensure you read and understood it. You will essentially be proving to me you actually read the book. About two weeks before the quiz, I will ask you what your book is so I can gear a specific quiz toward your book. Your quiz will be worth 50 points.
Book Talk- on ______
For this assignment, we will set up the room into “tables” so we look like a sophisticated book club. You will have topics on cards at each table in which you will have to discuss something about your book. You will also bring a food dish or drink (that you have made or bought that serves eight to ten people) that was either mentioned in or inspired culturally by your book. I will have a sign-up sheet so we have a balance of food and drinks on that day in your class. Your food dish will be worth 25 points. Your sophisticated discussion comments that I will go around the classroom and monitor will also be worth 25 points.
Reading Log Assignment--You will need to complete four reading logs during Read like a Rock Star. Your reading logs will be turned in to www.turnitin.com. The following are your due dates: Reading Log #1- ______by 11:59 pm Reading Log #2- ______by 11:59 pm Reading Log #3- ______by 11:59 pm Reading Log #4- ______by 11: 59 pm This is what you need to do for each reading log:
97 1. Write your book title (italicized) and author’s name centered on the page 2. Write the page numbers you read this week directly below it. (Ex—I read p. 14-58.) 3. Write an at least five sentence summary of the pages you read. (Keep in mind that you should be reading about twenty minutes a day.) 4. Answer five of the following per log with an at least three sentence response for each. Your options are: a. Three things I learned are… b. A really good description is… c. The best part of this section was...because… d. I want to know more about… e. I can relate to (name a character) because… f. The setting is important because… g. This reminds me of… h. I predict______will happen… i. These pages were boring because… j. The theme in this story is… k. (Name a character) surprised me when… l. (Name a literary device) was used in the line… m. These pages were interesting because… n. The conflict in this section is… You are allowed to use some of the same questions on your log, but obviously your answers may not be the same. Your log will be worth 20 points each week.
Project Assignment
Choose one of the following projects to complete by the time class starts on ______. IF YOU HAD ME FIRST SEMESTER, PLEASE CHOOSE A DIFFERENT PROJECT TO COMPLETE ON THIS BOOK THAN THE PROJECT YOU COMPLETED IN THE FALL. (Yes, I am aware that you read a different book this time; I still would like you to choose a different project to complete.) Your choices are: Design an advertising campaign to promote the sale of the book you read. Include each of the following: a poster, a magazine or newspaper ad, a bumper sticker, a button, and a 30 second television commercial. (Note: This must be original. Do not violate copyright law in the making of your advertising campaign.) Create a comic-book summary of the book you read complete with bubble-style conversations and illustrations. This needs to be a minimum of fifteen pages. Write at least ten diary entries for a diary kept by one of the characters in your book. This should be a minimum of 500 words. You may choose to handwrite or type this. You may want to
98 follow the style of the times. (For example, if you are reading Pride and Prejudice you have a diary of the time period and write in cursive.) Create a time capsule of significant items representing the events of the book or their lives in general. Make a list of the at least fifteen items included, explaining why each was chosen. (If this turns out to be financially impossible, you may make models of items to go into the capsule. I do not want you to buy an actual ipod, for example, to go into your time capsule.) Write a 500-750 word proposal explaining why your book should be studied in a course at school. It could be in an English class, or it could be offered in another subject—such as social studies, science, or art. To make a strong case, your proposal should show you understand the scope and goals of the class and should explain how including the book would enrich this particular class. You will initially need to present your proposal to the class, then you will (after the class’ suggestions) submit your proposal to an administrator. On a poster board, use words, pictures, paint, markers, and whatever else you deem artistically and creatively necessary to make a collage on your book. The collage should illustrate the plot or characters. You will want to include at least twenty phrases or quotes from the book; include at least twenty pictures. Include a written explanation of the images/quotes on the bottom corner of the collage. Be sure to include the page numbers and a citation after the quote. Compile a scrapbook on your book. The scrapbook should illustrate one of the characters, including items mentioned in the book as well as items you think that character would collect. Include at least twenty pictures or items, plus at least 250 words explaining the items. This is worth 75 points. How you do on all of these assignments combined will determine if you receive a literacy card the next nine weeks.
Read like a Rock Star Independent Read: Student Choice of Books by British Authors
Directions: Choose one of the following books to read for our school-wide independent read starting on ______and due on ______. You should:
. Choose a book that will interest you, since you will write your literary analysis research paper on this book. . Be prepared to also complete individual assignments/quiz/projects based on your book; the quiz on your book will be on ______. . Be aware that you will write your literary analysis research paper on this book. . Check to make sure there is a plentiful amount of literary criticism on your book before you begin to read it--since otherwise you will not be able to write a decent literary analysis research paper—by visiting: http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/sebr13597 (password: sebr_log) or http://www.ipl.org/ . Ask me if SHS has a copy of the book you can borrow before you choose to buy it. If you choose to buy your own, you might want to check out Amazon Marketplace, where I have purchased books for a penny (excluding shipping and handling). . Take notes as you read so you will remember the important aspects of the book. . Consider what you will write your literary analysis on. Some aspects to consider analyzing are: 1. the main character 2. the minor characters 3. the setting 4. the themes
99 5. the author’s point of view/style/what influenced the author to write the novel . The following are suggested choices which will have copious amounts of literary criticism, which will make it easier to write the paper on your book (NOTE: If you would like to read an alternative British literature book to do your RLARS assignments and literary analysis research paper that you believe is of the same quality as the books listed here, please consult with your teacher so she can give you permission to read an alternative book): Austen, Jane, Emma, A classic novel about a self-assured young lady whose capricious behavior is dictated by romantic fancy. Emma, a clever and self-satisfied young lady, is the daughter and mistress of the house. Her former governess and companion, Miss Anne Taylor, beloved of both father and daughter, has just left them to marry a neighbor.
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, The romantic clash of two opinionated young people provides the theme. Vivacious Elizabeth Bennet is fascinated and repelled by the arrogant Mr. Darcy, whose condescending airs and acrid tongue have alienated her entire family. Their spirited courtship is conducted against a background of ballroom flirtations and drawing- room intrigues. Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility, When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave the bulk of his estate to the son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in straitened circumstances. They are taken in by a kindly cousin, but their lack of fortune affects the marriageability of both practical Elinor and romantic Marianne. Through the hardships and heartbreak, true love and a happy ending will find their way for both the sister who is all sense and the one who is all sensibility. Beckett, Samuel, Waiting for Godot, The story line evolves around two seemingly homeless men waiting for someone--or something--named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree on a barren stretch of road. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a somber summation of mankind's search for meaning. Bronte, Charlotte, Jane Eyre, This is a stormy, intense, introspective novel of the mid 19th century which probes the psychology of passion. The heroine is a governess, an orphan, penniless and plain but full of courage and spirit. The hero is a brooding, melancholy figure, a stranger given to rough outbursts of temper. Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, A savage, tormented classic love story set in the English moors. The central character is Heathcliff, an orphan, picked up in the streets of Liverpool and brought home by Mr. Earnshaw and raised as one of his own children. Bullied and humiliated after Earnshaw's death by his son, Heathcliff falls passionately in love with Catherine.
Burgess, Anthony, A Clockwork Orange, Story of gang violence and social retribution, set in some iron-gray superstate of the future. This is the first-person account of a juvenile delinquent who undergoes state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation for aberrant behavior.
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, In this searing tale, Seaman Marlow recounts his journey to the dark heart of the Belgian Congo in search of the elusive Mr. Kurtz. Far from civilization as he knows it, he comes to reassess not only his own values, but also those of nature and society. For in this heart of darkness, it is the fearsome face of human savagery that becomes most visible.
Defoe, Daniel, Moll Flanders, What happens to a woman forced to make her own way through life in 17th century England? This story retells Moll's life from her birth in Newgate Prison to her final prosperous respectability--gained through a life where all human relationships could be measured in value by gold.
100 Dickens, Charles, A Tale of Two Cities, The classic novel about the French Revolution and its effect upon the lives of several individuals, one French and the other English.
Dickens, Charles, David Copperfield, David Copperfield is the story of a young man’s adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature’s great comic creations. In David Copperfield—the novel he described as his "favorite child"— Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.
Dickens, Charles, Great Expectations, In what may be Dickens’s best novel, humble, orphaned Pip is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to dream of becoming a gentleman—and one day, under sudden and enigmatic circumstances, he finds himself in possession of “great expectations.” In this gripping tale of crime and guilt, revenge and reward, the compelling characters include Magwitch, the fearful and fearsome convict; Estella, whose beauty is excelled only by her haughtiness; and the embittered Miss Havisham, an eccentric jilted bride.
Dickens, Charles, Hard Times, Classic novel which depicts the callous nature of Victorian education, the ills of industrial society. Thomas Gradgrind, a fanatic, has raised his children, Tom and Louisa, in an atmosphere of the grimmest practicality. Louisa marries the banker Josiah Bounderby partly to protect her brother who is his employee and partly because her education has caused her to be unconcerned about her future. Tom, shallow and unscrupulous, robs Bounderby's bank and tries to frame someone else. Find out what happens when Louisa falls for another man, when Tom's guilt is discovered, and when their father realizes how his principles have affected his children's lives.
Eliot, George, Silas Marner, The story's main character is a friendless weaver who cares only for his cache of gold. He is ultimately redeemed through his love for Eppie, an abandoned golden- haired baby girl, whom he discovers shortly after he is robbed and raises as his own child. Eliot, George, Middlemarch, Middlemarch is often argued to be the best novel ever written in English. Through several interrelated plots, Eliot creates a deep and realistic portrait of a provincial English community. Fielding, Henry, Tom Jones, One of the great comic novels in the English language, Tom Jones was an instant success when it was published in 1749. Tom is discovered one evening by the benevolent Squire Allworthy and his sister Bridget and brought up as her son in their household until it is time for him to set out in search of both his fortune and his true identity.
Forster, E.M., Howard's End, A chance acquaintance brings together the prosperous bourgeois Wilcox family and the clever, cultured, and idealistic Schlegel sisters. As clear-eyed Margaret develops a friendship with Mrs. Wilcox, the impetuous Helen brings into their midst a young bank clerk named Leonard Bast, who lives at the edge of poverty and ruin. When Mrs. Wilcox dies, her family discovers that she wants to leave her country home, Howards End, to Margaret. Thus Forster sets in motion a chain of events that will entangle three different families and brilliantly portrays their aspirations for personal and social harmony.
Forster, E.M., A Room with a View, When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and
101 son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?
Forster, E.M., A Passage to India, Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, A Passage to India tells of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century. In exquisite prose, Forster reveals the menace that lurks just beneath the surface of ordinary life, as a common misunderstanding erupts into a devastating affair.
Fowles, John, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The plot centers on Charles Smithson, an amateur Victorian paleontologist. He is engaged to Ernestina Freeman, a conventional, wealthy woman, but he breaks off the engagement after a series of secret meetings with the beautiful, mysterious Sarah Woodruff, a social outcast known as the forsaken lover of a French lieutenant.
Galsworthy, John, Forsyte Saga, The three novels which make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family between 1886 and 1920. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women. This is the only critical edition of the work available, with Notes that explain contemporary artistic and literary allusions and define the slang of the time.
Hardy, Thomas, Mayor of Casterbridge, The novel is set in southwest England, in the Wessex area, shortly before 1830. It tells the story of Michael Henchard, an itinerant laborer who, in a moment of drunken despair, sells his wife at auction. After Henchard has become prosperous, his act of inhumanity comes back to haunt him, and finally to destroy him. This is the record of an anguished soul, as it struggles hopelessly against a relentless, fatal retribution, makes one of the great novels of the English language.
Hardy, Thomas, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, In Tess, victimized by lust, poverty, and hypocrisy, Thomas Hardy created no standard Victorian heroine, but a women whose intense vitality flares unforgettably against the bleak background of a dying rural society. Shaped by an acute sense of social injustice and by a vision of human fate cosmic in scope, her story is a singular blending of harsh realism and indelibly poignant beauty. The novel shocked its Victorian audiences with its honesty; it remains a triumph of literary art and a timeless commentary on the human condition.
Huxley, Aldous, Brave New World, "Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. Huxley foreshadowed many of the practices and gadgets we take for granted today--let's hope the sterility and absence of individuality he predicted aren't yet to come. Ishiguro, Kazuo, Remains of the Day, Greeted with high praise in England, this winner of the Booker Prize, Ishiguro's third novel (after An Artist of the Floating World ) is a tour de force-- both a compelling psychological study and a portrait of a vanished social order. Stevens, an elderly butler who has spent 30 years in the service of Lord Darlington, ruminates on the past and inadvertently slackens his rigid grip on his emotions to confront the central issues of his life. Glacially reserved, snobbish and humorless, Stevens has devoted his life to his concept of duty and responsibility, hoping to reach the pinnacle of his profession through totally selfless dedication and a ruthless suppression of sentiment. Having made a virtue of stoic dignity, he is proud of his impassive response to his father's death and his "correct" behavior with the spunky former
102 housekeeper, Miss Kenton. Ishiguro builds Stevens's character with precisely controlled details, creating irony as the butler unwittingly reveals his pathetic self-deception. In the poignant denouement, Stevens belatedly realizes that he has wasted his life in blind service to a foolish man and that he has never discovered "the key to human warmth." Joyce, James, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Here is one of the masterpieces of modern fiction. This semi-autobiographical Irish novel focuses on Stephen Dedalus, a sensitive and creative young man who rebels against his family, his education, and his country by committing himself to the artistic life.
Lawrence, D.H., Sons and Lovers, The novel revolves around Paul Morel, a sensitive young artist whose love for his mother, Gertrude, overshadows his romances with two women. Unable to watch his mother die slowly of cancer, Paul kills her with morphine.
Maugham, William Somerset, Of Human Bondage, The author wrote this novel to free himself from the demons that haunted him from his heart wrenching childhood and difficult young adulthood; it is ranked among the greatest works of British literature. This is a moving story of Philip Carey, a hero full of fears and feelings.
More, Sir Thomas, Utopia, Did you know that the word "utopia" first appeared in Sir Thomas More's book? More describes a pagan and communist city-state which is governed by reason. The order and dignity of such a place was intended to contrast with the unreasonable state of the Europe of his time. More saw Europe divided by self-interest and greed for power and riches.
Orwell, George, 1984, In 1948 a book burst in on the reading public which forecast a world so nightmarish, so devoid of promise, that it seemed the work of a Mephistophelian mind. The year 1948 was to all appearances an odd time for dire prediction: America had just helped save the world from tyranny in a world war thought to be definitive; Americans were about to elect a Midwestern common man to the presidency; the new-sprung United Nations was supposed to become a forum of benevolent multiplicity. This astonishing novel was set in a year so distant that it seemed incomprehensible; but the year 1984 has passed and it is time to read or reread Orwell's predictions about the future.
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wide Sargasso Sea is the story of Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress who grew up in the West Indies on a decaying plantation. When she comes of age she is married off to an Englishman, and he takes her away from the only place she has known--a house with a garden where "the paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched." The novel is Rhys's answer to Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë's book had long haunted her, mostly for the story it did not tell--that of the madwoman in the attic, Rochester's terrible secret. Antoinette is Rhys's imagining of that locked- up woman, who in the end burns up the house and herself. Wide Sargasso Sea follows her voyage into the dark, both from her point of view and Rochester's. It is a voyage charged with soul- destroying lust. "I watched her die many times," observes the new husband. "In my way, not in hers. In sunlight, in shadow, by moonlight, by candlelight. In the long afternoons when the house was empty." Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is a combination of gothic romance and science fiction, the book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science who creates an artificial man from pieces of corpses and brings his creature to life. Rejected and reviled for his hideous appearance, the creature learns the ways of humans, but he cannot find companionship. Increasingly brutal, the monster
103 haunts Frankenstein and insists that he create a female companion. Frankenstein almost complies but in the end cannot perform the deed. The monster eventually brings about the scientists destruction. And then the name Frankenstein becomes popularly attached to the creature itself.
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, The vampire novel that started it all. Bram Stoker's Dracula probes deeply into human identity, sanity, and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries about his client. Soon afterward, disturbing incidents unfold in England-an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby, strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck, and a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his "Master"-culminating in a battle of wits between the sinister Count and a determined group of adversaries.
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver's Travels describes the four fantastic voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a kindly ship's surgeon. Swift portrays him as an observer, a reporter, and a victim of circumstance. His travels take him to Lilliput where he is a giant observing tiny people. In Brobdingnag, the tables are reversed and he is the tiny person in a land of giants where he is exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. The flying island of Laputa is the scene of his next voyage. The people plan and plot as their country lies in ruins. It is a world of illusion and distorted values. The fourth and final voyage takes him to the home of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses who rule the land. He also encounters Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who resemble humans. Thackeray, William Makepeace, Vanity Fair, The English classic about a social climber in Victorian London. The author said while writing this novel, "What I want to make is a set of people living without God in the world, greedy, pompous men, perfectly self-satisfied for the most part, and at ease about their superior virtue." The two boarding school friends, Amelia and Becky are contrasted. Becky is clever, scheming and determined to get on in the world and sets her sights on winning over Amelia's rich, stupid brother. Amelia is loved by two men. Find out what happens in the lives of these two women. Wilde, Oscar, Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord Henry Wotton is a spectator in life and he does his best to influence Dorian in that direction. Dorian becomes corrupt and self-indulgent. But in answer to his prayer, he escapes unscarred from his escapades. The portrait of this man powerfully establishes evil as a reality in the novel.
Woolf, Virginia, Mrs. Dalloway, This brilliant novel explores the hidden springs of thought and action in one day of a woman’s life. Direct and vivid in her account of the details of Clarissa Dalloway’s preparations for a party she is to give that evening, Woolf ultimately managed to reveal much more. For it is the feeling behind these daily events that gives Mrs. Dalloway its texture and richness and makes it so memorable.
Woolf, Virginia, A Room of One's Own, In one of the most entertaining and brilliant essays ever written on the importance of freedom for women, Woolf brings her literary imagination and defiant wit to bear on the relationship between gender, money, and the creation of works of genius.
(Source: This list is from the book Outstanding Books for the College Bound. The descriptions for these books were found at: http://www.ouhsd.k12.ca.us/lmc/ohs/read/Engl4.htm ).
104 Literary Analysis Research Paper on British Literature Book
Upcoming Due Dates: Paper Proposal is due ______-We will work on this ______-You need to write sentences on what you will be analyzing. -Your last sentence is your thesis statement. -Remember you should consider analyzing something like: the main character the minor characters the setting the themes the author’s point of view/style the author’s influences in writing this novel -Turn this into the discussion board of www.turnitin.com Brainstorming is due ______(25 points) -Use the brainstorming template provided on the next few pages to do the formal brainstorming. If you do this with fidelity, it will totally make working on the rough draft super-easy! We will work on this in-class on ______. Works Cited is due ______(25 points) -Remember to use Panther Central to find your sources! Rough Draft of Research Paper is due ______(50 points) -We will work on this ______-It needs to be 1200-1500 words. -You do not need an outline or a title page. -You need citations from FIVE literary criticisms (use each criticism at least one time) on your book and FIVE QUOTES from the book itself (at least TEN quotes). -Remember I will not put comments on your rough draft; I will briefly conference with you the day you do peer editing; if you need additional help please make arrangements to see me.
105 Peer Editing of Research paper is due ______(15 points) -We will work on this in class on ______ Final Draft of Research Paper is due ______(200 points) -We will work on this ______-It needs to be 1200-1500 words. -You do not need an outline or a title page. -You need citations from FIVE literary criticisms (use each criticism at least one time) on your book and FIVE QUOTES from the book itself (at least TEN quotes). -You must have made copious corrections from your rough draft so I can see your improvements.
Powerpoint Presentation of Research Paper is presented ______(worth 20% of final grade, as it counts as your exam) o We will work on this ______. You should: Create a powerpoint of at least twelve slides (and your title slide and Works Cited slides are not part of the twelve) Include a brief summary of your book Include your thesis statement to your research paper. Include quotes from the book and critics which you used to prove your thesis. Include at least TEN pictures/illustrations/gifs that relate to your book Include a Works Cited slide, remembering to credit the pictures you used as well Make the powerpoint interesting so people would want to read this book Make sure your presentation takes between three to four minutes to present.
The signature below is my word and my pledge to do my absolute best on my research paper this nine weeks.
______Name Date
106 Checklist for Research Paper Presentation
Name______
1. Presentation was between three-four minutes ______Yes ______No
2. Instead of each slide being read word for word, additional information was mentioned or paraphrasing of slide was used ______Yes ______No
3. Eye contact was used ______Yes ______No
4. Presenter spoke at a reasonable pace (neither too loud or too soft; neither too fast or too slow) ______Yes ______No
5. At least 12 content slides were in the presentation______Yes ______No
6. At least 10 visuals (photos/graphs/pics/cartoons) were in the presentation and cited properly ______Yes ______No
7. A title slide and Works Cited slide were in the presentation ______Yes ______No
8. Presentation covered main points thoroughly yet succinctly______Yes ______No
9. Presentation was turned in to www.turnitin.com ______Yes ______No
10. Presentation was printed off and turned in to teacher ______Yes ______No
107 Overall Score: ______/100
Comments:
Name ______Brainstorming for Literary Analysis Research Paper Directions: Complete the following brainstorming activity on your literary analysis research paper. You will notice that your teacher has listed MORE quotes on these pages than will be required for your rough and final drafts; this is due to the fact she knows you are capable of more than just the minimum requirements. You will also have a variety of quotes to choose from when you go to write your paper. (Per usual, you are welcome!) 1. Title of Literary Criticism #1:
Author/s of Literary Criticism #1:
Summary of Literary Criticism #1:
Quote from Literary Criticism #1 with proper citation at end of sentence:
Additional Quote from Literary Criticism #1 with proper citation at end of sentence:
2. Title of Literary Criticism #2:
Author/s of Literary Criticism #2:
Summary of Literary Criticism #2:
108 Quote from Literary Criticism #1 with proper citation at end of sentence:
Additional Quote from Literary Criticism #1 with proper citation at end of sentence:
3. Title of Literary Criticism #3:
Author/s of Literary Criticism #3:
Summary of Literary Criticism #3:
Quote from Literary Criticism #3 with proper citation at end of sentence:
Additional Quote from Literary Criticism #3 with proper citation at end of sentence:
4. Title of Literary Criticism #4:
Author/s of Literary Criticism #4:
Summary of Literary Criticism #4:
Quote from Literary Criticism #4 with proper citation at end of sentence:
Additional Quote from Literary Criticism #4 with proper citation at end of sentence:
5. Title of Literary Criticism #5:
Author/s of Literary Criticism #5:
Summary of Literary Criticism #5:
Quote from Literary Criticism #5 with proper citation at end of sentence:
109 Additional Quote from Literary Criticism #5 with proper citation at end of sentence:
6. Title of Read like a Rock Star Book:
Author of Book:
Quote #1 from Book with proper citation at end of sentence:
Quote #2 from Book with proper citation at end of sentence:
Quote #3 from Book with proper citation at end of sentence:
Quote #4 from Book with proper citation at end of sentence:
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110 Tentative Thesis Statement for Literary Analysis Research Paper:
THAT’S ALL by Harold Pinter
MRS A.: I always put the kettle on about that time.
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: Then she comes round.
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: Only on Thursdays.
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: On Wednesdays I used to put it on. When she used to come round. Then she changed it to Thursdays.
MRS B.: Oh yes.
MRS A.: After she moved. When she used to live round the corner, then she always came in on
Wednesdays, but then when she moved she used to come down to the butcher’s on
Thursdays. She couldn’t find a butcher up there.
MRS B.: No.
MRS A.: Anyway, she decided she’d stick to her own butcher. Well, I thought, if she can’t find a
111 butcher, that’s the best thing.
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: So she started to come down on Thursdays. I didn’t know she was coming down on
Thursdays until one day I met her in the butcher.
MRS B.: Oh yes.
MRS A.: It wasn’t my day for the butcher, I don’t go to the butcher on Thursdays.
MRS B.: No, I know. (Pause.)
MRS A.: I go on Friday.
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: That’s where I see you.
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: You’re always in there on Fridays.
MRS B.: Oh yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: But I happened to go in for a bit of meat, it turned out to be a Thursday. I wasn’t going in for my usual weekly on Friday. I just slipped in, the day before.
MRS B.: Yes.
MRS A.: That was the first time I found out she couldn’t find a butcher up there, so she decided to come back here, once a week, to her own butcher.
MRS B.: Yes.
MRS A.: She came on Thursday so she’d be able to get meat for the weekend. Lasted her till
Monday, then from Monday to Thursday they’d have fish. She can always buy cold meat, if they want a change.
MRS B.: Oh yes. (Pause.)
112 MRS A.: So I told her to come in when she came down after she’d been to the butcher’s and I’d put a kettle on. So she did. (Pause.)
MRS B.: Yes. (Pause.)
MRS A.: It was funny because she always used to come in Wednesdays. (Pause.) Still, it made a break. (Long pause.)
MRS B.: She doesn’t come in no more, does she? (Pause.)
MRS A.: She comes in. She doesn’t come in so much, but she comes in. (Pause.)
MRS B.: I thought she didn’t come in. (Pause.)
MRS A.: She comes in. (Pause.) She just doesn’t come in so much. That’s all.
Assignment: Write a brief dialogue between two people discussing a third person; try to shape all three characters through what is said and unsaid; use the line “That’s all” in your dialogue somewhere
113 Essay on The Importance of Being Earnest (worth 50 points)
Directions: Choose one of the following topics for your in-class essay. Remember you need to include at least two quotes from the play, plus at least one quote from the critics on the following pages, in your essay. Remember to include a citation after your quote.
1. Wilde suggests that his Victorian contemporaries should treat trivial matters with greater respect and pay less attention to what society then regarded as serious. Discuss how Wilde expresses this philosophy and comment on the effectiveness with which he has communicated his “message” with reference to ONE of the following in the play: death, politics, money, property, food, or marriage.
2. How does Wilde portray food as both a weapon and a means of demonstrating one's power? Discuss three examples from the play to demonstrate how Wilde uses food.
3. Are the characters in this play realistic or unrealistic? Compare and contrast two major characters, analyzing their “realistic” and “unrealistic” natures.
4. A critic once described that one of the keys to Oscar Wilde’s comic technique in this play is the way he “pokes fun at conventional Victorian seriousness by fitting solemn moral language to frivolous and ridiculous action.” Write an essay in which you locate and examine several moments in the play when this technique can be seen to operate. Can you find any moments when this technique seems to be reversed—when frivolous and ridiculous language is fitted to solemn moral action?
5. Why is Oscar Wilde’s play funny? Analyze Wilde’s humor using examples from the play. Criticism Arnold Schmidt Schmidt holds a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and specializes in literature and drama. In this essay, he examines Wilde’s play in the context of Victorian concepts of “earnestness.” To modern theatre audiences, the title of Oscar Wilde’s most popular play, The Importance of Being Earnest, seems a clever play on words. After all, the plot hinges on the telling of little — and not so little — white lies, while the title suggests that honesty (earnestness) will be the rule of the day. The title also implies a connection between the name and the concept, between a person named Earnest and that person being earnest. The narrative action does not bear out this assumption but rather its opposite. Audiences who saw the play when it opened in London in 1895 would have brought to it more complex associations with “earnestness,” a word which historians, sociologists, and literary critics alike see as, at least in part, typifying the Victorian mindset. The word “earnest” has three related meanings: to be eager or zealous; to be sincere, serious, and determined; and to be important, not trivial. During Queen Victoria’s more than half-century reign, tremendous economic, social, and
114 political changes rocked Great Britain. These were caused by earnest actions and their consequences required, indeed demanded, earnest responses. The Agricultural Revolution dislocated rural populations, forcing people to leave the countryside for cities. There, those people became workers in the factories created by the Industrial Revolution. While, over the long term, the British nation as a whole benefited from these changes, individuals often suffered greatly. Even the wealthy were not immune to the changing economy’s negative impact on land values. In The Importance of Being Earnest, this becomes clear when Lady Bracknell inquires into the finances of Jack Worthing, Gwendolen’s choice for a husband. When Jack indicates that he has suitable income, she is pleased it comes from stock rather than land, for the declining value of “land. . . gives one position, and prevents one from keeping it up.” By the mid-nineteenth century, discussions concerning issues of economic disparity came to be known as the “two Englands” debate. People considered what would happen to Britain if economic trends continued to enrich the few while the majority of the population worked long hours in dangerous factories, underpaid and living in squalor. Writers and intellectuals as well as evangelicals and politicians earnestly engaged in this debate. Poets and novelists such as Elizabeth Barrett, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Gaskell, created literary works which portrayed the lives of the underprivileged. Writings such as these ultimately contributed to changing public attitudes — and more importantly — public policy toward practices like child labor and public executions. Reforms in hospitals and orphanages, prisons and workhouses, schools and factories can all be traced to debates initiated or fueled by writers. The earnestness of all these reformers — artistic, intellectual, religious, and political — improved the quality of the life in Victorian Britain. Earnestness did not characterize only those who addressed social evils, however, but also those whose activities created social problems in the first place. The farmers, investors, and manufacturers whose actions dislocated rural populations and resulted in the squalor of factory towns like Manchester, were also “earnest” about their actions. They believed they were improving the quality of peoples’ lives and, in some ways, they were. Overall, the country produced more abundant, cheaper food and better quality, affordable mass produced goods like clothing. Indeed, historian Asa Briggs termed the middle of the nineteenth century “The Age of Improvement” (a phrase he employed as the title of his book on the subject), because of the rising living conditions but also because of the concern to improve the quality of life, to ensure that each generation lived better than the last. Like British farmers and industrialists, British colonial administrators also justified the nation’s imperial ambitions because they “improved” the lives of “uncivilized” peoples, giving them Christianity, British cultural values, and higher living standards. This attitude came to be know as, in author Rudyard Kipling’s words, “the white man’s burden.” Many of those enriching themselves in this way would acknowledge that their actions caused suffering as well as benefits. They justified their actions based on the utilitarianism of thinkers like John Stewart Mill. Utilitarians determine the rightness of an action by asking if certain actions produce the most good for the most people. If people in general benefited, the suffering of a few specific people could be tolerated as the price paid for progress. While this approach may seem callous and self-serving, these thinkers and tycoons were also “earnest” in their actions. Yet the characters in Wilde’s play are not earnest in this sense. Their actions satirize popular notions of the idle rich but also poke fun at Utilitarianism as well. When Jack admits to Lady Bracknell that he smokes, she replies that “a man should have an occupation.” Later, Algernon admits that he doesn’t “mind hard work where there is no definite object of any kind.” Jack and Algernon have no real occupations or professions; their purposelessness critiques the “earnest” nature of Utilitarian activities. Now we can see that Wilde’s use of “earnestness” is more complex than it may first appear to modern audiences. Indeed, his play offers rather biting, if understated, criticism of the institutions and values that had, by the end of the nineteenth century, made Britain the world’s greatest colonial power. Ironically, it is exactly the earnestness exhibited by Britain’s exploitative class, industrial, and colonial systems that enables the life of leisure enjoyed by the play’s main characters. When asked about his politics, Jack replies, “Well, I am afraid I really have none,” though the Liberal Unionist party with which he identifies supports the continued colonial status of Ireland. Britain’s colonial system comes up again when Algernon jokes about sending Jack to Australia, emigration then being a common way to prevent excess population from causing unemployment and lower wages. Investment in stocks — the source of Jack’s wealth — provided economic support for Britain’s expanding economy, and by the
115 play’s end, we learn that his father served as a general in colonial India, a common road to personal enrichment during the Victorian age. The rich are not the only targets of Wilde’s wit, for the playwright satirizes earnestness and reformers of all kinds, in morality, education, women’s rights, and marriage. Reformers religious and secular alike expended much energy on improving the morals of the working classes, particularly in regard to family life, procreation, and child-rearing. In this regard reformers often emphasized the importance of the positive example to be set by upper class behavior. The servant Lane tells Algernon he had “only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.” Algernon turns the reformers’ ideas on their heads, observing “Lane’s views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them.” The comedy comes by satirizing the serious ideas of earnest critics of the class system (particularly communist thinkers such as Karl Marx), who wondered exactly what the purpose of the wealthy might be. Finally, Miss Prism’s conversation about christening the poor reveals an underlying anxiety about the sexuality and population growth of the working classes. Earnest reformers engaged in the public debate about education, which expected to “improve” the middle and working classes and enhance the “culture,” as Matthew Arnold wrote, of the country in general. One forum for popular education, begun during the eighteenth century, was public lectures, and Wilde satirizes the earnest, if misdirected, efforts of educational societies whose talks have titles like “Society for the Prevention of Discontent among the Upper Orders” and a “Lecture by the University Extension Scheme on the Influence of a Permanent Income on Thought.” Wilde also satirizes the ineffectiveness of the education for the privileged in the scenes between Miss Prism and her reluctant student Cecily. More generally, though, Lady Bracknell proclaims: “The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes and probably lead to acts of violence.” Lady Bracknell links education of the poor with social unrest, fearing that the educated masses might forget their place and reject hierarchical class structure. The independence and audacity of Wilde’s female characters reflects the changing status of Victorian women, part of a public debate known as “The Women Question.” It was only with the passage of a series of Married Women’s Property Acts (1870-1908) that women could hold property in their own names. The opinions of Queen Victoria herself, who opposed women’s suffrage but advocated women’s education, including college, exemplified the ambiguous situation of women in England during this period. Cecily and Gwendolen discuss changing gender roles in their conversation about male domesticity, indicating their belief that “home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man.” Marriage, however, remained most women’s primary goal and occupation. Arranged marriages had been on the decline since the late-eighteenth century but were not unknown among the Victorian era’s upper classes. This may have made economic sense, but it did not always create domestic harmony. Consider Algernon’s lament about the low quality of champagne in the homes of married men and his belief in the necessity of adultery, “for in marriage, three is company and two is none.” Both comments highlight the lack of companionship resulting from marriage without compatibility and love, suggesting that the Victorian husband requires alcohol and a mistress to be happy. Wilde describes the situation for married women in equally depressing terms. When Lady Bracknell tells of her visit with the recently widowed Lady Harbury, Algernon remarks that he’s heard that “her hair has turned quite gold from grief.” The audience anticipates the cliched response, that her hair turned gray or white from sorrow, but Wilde turns the phrase around. Why might her hair have turned gold instead? Like many Victorian women, Lady Harbury seems to have been trapped in a loveless marriage, the kind Lady Bracknell proposes to arrange for Gwendolen. Now that Lady Harbury’s husband is dead, she is finally free to become who and do what she wants. She feels younger, more attractive and changes her hair color. While the joke requires that we associate aging and grief, Wilde turns that around, associating widowhood instead with gold hair and joy. Algernon’s statement could also be an indication of the new wealth and independence Lady Harbury gained in inheriting her husband’s money. The simple turn of a phrase communicates a complex reality, in this case, about economic, social, and sexual politics. The status of the nineteenth century’s educated women remained grim, however, with few occupational outlets other than teaching. Miss Prism, Cecily’s governess, combines two common female occupations, teaching and novel writing, another activity at which women flourished (and for which they were criticized). Prism’s confusion between
116 a baby and a manuscript pokes fun at changing ideas about parenthood and child-rearing. The misplaced baby symbolizes what critics saw as a confusion of gender roles, when women entered the traditionally masculine world of the mind. The plight of orphaned baby Jack illustrates the destabilization of family ties, which in his case are sequentially lost, invented, changed, and discovered. As Lady Bracknell says, “we live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces,” a position echoed by her daughter’s comment that “in matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” To many, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest may seem a work of “surface” and “style,” but further examination shows it to have depth and substance as well as humor. Source: Arnold Schmidt, for Drama for Students, Gale, 1998. Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest
Clifton Snider English Department, Emeritus California State University, Long Beach
Synchronicity and the Trickster in The Importance of Being Earnest
The idea that Wilde wrote to subvert received ideas--the zeitgeist or spirit of the age--is not new. Jack Zipes asserts, for example, Wilde's "purpose" in writing his fairy tales was "subversion": "He clearly wanted to subvert the messages conveyed by [Hans] Andersen's tales, but more important his poetical style recalled the rhythms and language of the Bible in order to counter the stringent Christian code" (114). In Wilde's masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, Christianity is certainly one of the prevailing ideas Wilde subverts, but I contend that the entire play is a subversion of prevailing scientific ideas about how the universe works, the Newtonian notion that the universe is governed by immutable laws of cause and effect. As Allan Combs and Mark Holland maintain, "the mechanistic mythos of the Newtonian cosmos . . . presents itself in awesome and austere beauty, but at the same time robs us of a sense of wonder about the small events of everyday life. Improbable coincidences are diminished to the trivial" (xxix). Perhaps Wilde had something like this idea in mind when he subtitled his play, "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People." In any event, the subtitle, like the play itself, is an elegant joke. Wilde, of course, was not the first Victorian writer to make havoc with a rigid world view. Before him, and certainly influencing him, came Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and W. S. Gilbert. As the editors of The Oxford Anthology of English Literature put it, the world of Earnest is "the world of nonsense" (Trilling and Bloom 1130). And, as I have shown in my study of the work of Lear, the world of nonsense is the world of the Trickster archetype (Snider, "Victorian Trickster"). Furthermore, "Of all mythological characters," as Combs and Holland write, "it is the Trickster who is most associated with chance and synchronicity. . ." (xxxix). Synchronicity, a word coined by C. G. Jung, refers to "meaningful coincidence[s]" that have an "acausal connection," yet are "numinous" (Jung, "Synchronicity" 426; emphasis Jung's). One method of making sense of the nonsense of Wilde's great play is to examine the subversive ways Wilde uses, consciously or not, synchronicity and the Trickster to create a pleasing psychic wholeness at the play's conclusion.
The Importance of Being Earnest is most obviously a comic critique of late Victorian values. Some sixty years ago, Eric Bentley wrote that the play "is about earnestness, that is, Victorian solemnity, that kind of false seriousness which means priggishness, hypocrisy, and lack of irony" (111; emphasis Bentley's).1 As a work of art, Wilde's last play has been recognized from its first performance on 14 February 1895 as a masterpiece of comedy,2 one of the supreme examples in English of the genre, and consequently it has been interpreted from a variety of critical points of view. Although Richard Aldington, writing about the same time as Bentley, claimed the play "is a comedy-farce without a moral, and it is a masterpiece" (40), Katherine Worth does see a moral in her Freudian/existential/New Critical analysis. In Earnest, she writes, "the pleasure principle at last enjoys complete triumph" (153; this triumph is an aspect of the Trickster archetype). Worth continues: "As well as being an
117 existential farce, The Importance of Being Earnest is . . . [Wilde's] supreme demolition of late nineteenth-century social and moral attitudes, the triumphal conclusion to his career as revolutionary moralist" (155). Various deconstructionists and Lacanians have dismantled the play, and perhaps the foremost queer critic, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, tackles the play in a piece called, "Tales of the Avunculate: Queer Tutelage in The Importance of Being Earnest." After covering the deconstructionist and Lacanian territory as explored by Christopher Craft, Joel Fineman, and Jonathan Dollimore, Sedgwick, in one of her more lucid pronouncements, declares: As we have seen, the indispensable--but, I am arguing insufficient-- deconstructive reading of Earnest always seems, like the play's hero, to have its origin in a terminus. It doesn't pass Go; it doesn't collect $200; it heads straight for the end-of-the-third-act anagnorisis (recognition or de- forgetting) of the Name of the Father. (195) Instead of the Name of the Father, Sedgwick would have us consider the aunts and uncles (the "avunculate" of her title). Leaving aside the fact that her discussion of the "family" as an issue in current politics (and in Wilde's play) is already dated (same-sex marriage is on the political menu now), Sedgwick's article, while providing certainly a legitimate approach to the play, alas vacillates between diction that is clear and semi-colloquial (such as the allusion to Monopoly above) and hyper-academic diction that violates the spirit of Wilde's comedy (besides "anagnorisis," for which she feels she must provide a definition, consider "avunculosuppressive" (199) or "Uncle is very different [from "Aunt"], not a persona or type but a relation, relying on a pederastic/pedagogical model of male filiation to which also . . . the modern rationalized inversion and 'homo-' models answer only incompletely and very distortingly" (197; emphasis Sedgwick's). Personally, until I noticed the predominance of the Trickster in The Importance of Being Earnest, I found myself agreeing with Peter Raby: "The play's success and originality do not make it easier to discuss" (120). The comic social satire is obvious; so are the many examples of Wilde's masterful use of language, from paradox and parallelism to litotes and understatement. As for the homosexual subtext, it is not immediately easy to uncover any more than a traditional Jungian discussion of archetypes is easy. Yes, we have the Great Mother archetype, embodied by Lady Bracknell, but to uncover Jung's concept of Individuation is more difficult. However, I believe I have found a way (not the way) to unravel the nonsense of the play, at least so that the nonsense itself is meaningful. One of the problems of an archetypal interpretation of Earnest which is at the same time informed by contemporary queer criticism is that the play is so much of its time and place (if you consider time to include the previous hundred or more years and the following more than a hundred years). I tend to agree with Camille Paglia: "Lord Henry [of The Picture of Dorian Gray], with the four young lovers of The Importance of Being Earnest, belongs to a category of sexual personae that I call the androgyne of manners, one of the most western of types" (531). Lady Bracknell is also "an androgyne, a 'Gorgon' with (in the original script) a 'masculine mind'" (535). A western type is not in itself an archetype; an androgyne is. Androgyny ought to imply psychic wholeness, what Jung calls the Self, yet despite the allusion to a character from Greek myth, among these specific characters we have at best shallow images of traditional archetypes, a wholeness only latent until the play concludes. They are indeed universal beneath the surface, but a more insightful method of viewing them is to explore how the Jungian concept of synchronicity and the archetypal Trickster work in the play to bring about a kind of wholeness at the play's end.
"Synchronicity," Jung says, "tells us something about the nature of . . . the psychoid factor, i.e., the unconscious archetype (not its conscious representation!)" (Letter to Michael Fordham 508; emphasis Jung's). Moreover, as Combs and Holland note, "Synchronicity itself implies wholeness and, therefore, meaningful relationships between causally unconnected events" (xxxi). As well, Jungian therapist and author Robert H. Hopcke maintains that synchronistic "events" have four aspects: First, such events are acausally connected, rather than connected through a chain of cause and effect that an individual can discern as intentional and deliberate on her or his own part. Second, such events always occur with an accompaniment of deep emotional experience . . . Third, the content of the synchronistic experience, what the event actually is, is always symbolic in nature, and almost always, I have found, related specifically to the fourth aspect of the synchronistic event, namely, that such coincidences occur at points of important transitions in our life. A synchronistic event very often becomes a turning point in the stories of our lives. (23; emphasis Hopcke's)
118 Jung's comment, cited above, that synchronistic events are "numinous" is what Hopcke means by "deep emotional experience."3 Archetypes (universal ideas, themes, patterns, characters, etc., that reside in and whose images stem from the collective unconscious), Jung maintained, are "the sources of synchronicity" (Combs and Holland 57). The archetype most closely related to synchronicity is the Trickster, and the Trickster Combs and Holland see as the best example of this relationship is Hermes.4 Among many other attributes, Hermes "symbolizes the penetration of boundaries--boundaries between villages, boundaries between people, boundaries between consciousness and unconsciousness" (61-62). These boundaries are analogous to the transitions Hopcke refers to, and they are keys to the appearances of the Trickster in Wilde's Earnest. Two important boundaries in the play are those between Algernon and Cecily and Jack/Ernest and Gwendolen. One of the most amusing scenes in the play is that in which Cecily reveals to Algernon, just after they've met, that they have been engaged "for the last three months" (Wilde 395). One might say that the Trickster, Hermes, "who personifies the imagination" (Combs and Holland 88), has been the catalyst for the synchronistic event taking place here: the actual appearance of the man Cecily has imagined as her fiancé and who, subsequently, becomes in fact her fiancé. In a less dramatic fashion, Gwendolen too has imagined before meeting him her engagement to Jack, who she believes is really named Ernest. She tells him: "The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you" (Wilde 362). Although logic suggests that the meetings of the two couples are not accidental (and therefore not synchronistic), their mutual attraction is both intentional and acausal, one of the play's paradoxes. In a Newtonian cosmos, one can not force love. In a Looking-Glass world, love flowers for the most superficial reasons even before the lovers meet. We have here a pair of, to use Jung's words about synchronicity in another context, "parallel events," which are "utter nonsense . . . looked at from the causal point of view" (C. G. Jung Speaking 314). The world Wilde has created is a world of nonsense. Synchronicity gives meaning to the nonsense of these crazy, child-like characters to whom love and marriage depend on the name of the men and the physical attributes of the women. Their comical meetings and engagements are as numinous they can be in their Looking-Glass world. The most obvious cluster of synchronistic events comes in the final act with the appearances of Miss Prism (the dark side of the Great Mother archetype, for unlike Lady Bracknell she has not only committed a serious crime but also moralizes in a way foreign to the aristocratic Aunt Augusta), Lady Bracknell, and the famous handbag. That Miss Prism, of all people, should be the tutor of Cecily, ward of the grown-up baby Prism had abandoned, is in itself a synchronistic event. The discovery of her identity and of the handbag that solves the mystery of Jack/Ernest's identity coming at the same time is, of course, a brilliant theatrical device. Lady Bracknell tells Dr. Chasuble, "in families of high social position [such] strange coincidences are not supposed to occur" (428). But of course they do occur, and collectively they make a splendid example of synchronicity. Together, these events symbolize the wholeness of Jack/Ernest's life story (as well as the life stories of the other lovers, including those of Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble). Coupled with the confirmation of his real given name, these events confirm and give meaning to his personal myth.
The trickster myths of native North America, as recounted by Paul Radin, fit Wilde's play as much as the myth of Hermes does (in fact, being an archetypal trickster, Hermes is not unlike native North American tricksters himself): The overwhelming majority of all so-called trickster myths in North America . . . have a hero who is always wandering, who is always hungry, who is not guided by normal conceptions of good or evil, who is either playing tricks on people or having them played on him and who is highly sexed. Almost everywhere he has some divine traits. (155) Both Algernon and Jack use their fictitious friend or brother, Bunbury and Ernest, to wander from the city to the country and vice versa. Algernon, for instance, declares he has "Bunburyed all over Shropshire on two separate occasions" (355). And, of course, he, among the several tricksters in the play, is the one with the unquenchable appetite. None of the major characters is governed by conventional morality. Indeed, part of the humor--the play, as it were--of Earnest is the inversion of conventional morality. "Divorces are made in Heaven," says Algy (350). Both he and Jack are ready to be christened, not on grounds of faith but on their perceived need to change their names to Ernest. One of the chief reasons Cecily is enamored with Algernon/Ernest is that she thinks he is leading an evil life: "I hope you have not been leading a double life," she says to him, "pretending to be wicked and being really good all
119 the time. That would be hypocrisy" (382). And Lady Bracknell, who views christening as a "luxury" (431), also views Cecily as a suitable bride for Algernon only after she learns how much money Cecily has. As for the sexual aspect of the trickster, this is a vital subtext of the play. More so than he does in The Picture of Dorian Gray or Salomé, Wilde keeps sex implicit in Earnest. His characters are too child-like for readers or audiences to imagine them actually having sex. And it should be said that the child-like playfulness of the Trickster is part of the action, appealing to the reader/viewer's inner child. Such play, Jung found, is necessary for wholeness and psychic healing (see Rosen 128-132). For queer critics the most obvious example of the embedded sexuality is Bunbury, a play on various dimensions of homosexuality in Britain, including sodomy, male bordellos, and Wilde's own sexual practices (see Craft 28 and Fineman 89). Craft asserts that serious Bunburyism releases a polytropic sexuality so mobile, so evanescent in speed and turn, that it traverses, Ariel-like, a fugitive path through oral, genital, and anal ports until it expends itself in and as the displacements of language. It was Wilde's extraordinary gift to return this vertigo of substitution and repetition to his audience. (29) If Craft's assertions seem too broad, one should recall the unrestrained sexuality of the Trickster, whose "unbridled sexuality" is one of his chief traits (Radin 167). Remember that one of Hermes's functions is that of boundary marker, and "boundary marking," according to Jungian analyst Eugene Monick, "is itself a phallic expression" (78), to which the ancient Grecian herms attest.5 Bunburyism allows Algy to cross boundaries and thus free himself to pursue his pleasures, just as Jack's invention of a brother does for him. Bunburyism is, then, tricking par excellence.
By necessity Wilde had to dress his characters up as heterosexuals; hence a great deal of the sexual comedy at least seems heterosexual. Surely the humor of Gwendolen's comment to Jack about her being "quite perfect" depends on its sexual connotations: JACK: You're quite perfect, Miss Fairfax.
GWENDOLEN: Oh! I hope I am not that. It would leave no room for developments, and I intend to develop in many directions. (Wilde 358; emphasis Wilde's) During her mock tea table battle with Cecily, Gwendolen declares: "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train" (403). Of this passage, Paglia writes: "The life recorded by her diary is, says Gwendolen, 'sensational,' a source of public scandal and eroticized fascination. To find one's life sensational is to be aroused by oneself" (540). Again the Trickster is at play, for few if any in Wilde's initial audience would have recognized the erotic humor here. Lady Bracknell, whose knowledge of the world befits her role as matriarch of the play, responds to Jack's revelation of the place the handbag in which he was found was located thus: As for the particular locality in which the hand-bag was found, a cloak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion--has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now. . . . (Wilde 368) Clearly for "social" we can read "sexual" here and, more specifically, "heterosexual," albeit homosexual indiscretions are surely hinted at as well. Miss Prism, perhaps the chief moralizer and hypocrite of the play, ironically responds "bitterly" to Jack's admission that his brother Ernest was unmarried: "People who live entirely for pleasure usually are" (387). The bitterness of her reply is no doubt due to the fact that she, an unmarried woman, has been not able to live for pleasure. That the pleasure is at least in part of a sexual nature we can take for granted. The Importance of Being Earnest has been performed by all-male casts, a kind of conscious "trick" on the audience, who would be well aware of the casting. Paglia declares: "The play's hieratic purity could best be appreciated if all the women's roles were taken by female impersonators" (535). I maintain another purpose would be served, and that is to reinforce the shape-changing aspect of the Trickster. Will Roscoe discusses this aspect of the Scandinavian trickster, Loki, who, among other shapes, changes himself into a woman in several stories (184). While having female impersonators play the women's roles would reinforce Paglia's thesis about the androgynous nature of the characters, it would also bring to the surface the homosexual subtext of the play and the corresponding Trickster role. In fact, dual identity is a Trickster theme throughout the play, with Jack/Ernest, Algernon/Bunbury,
120 and even with Gribsby/Parker in the excised "Gribsby Episode" (Wilde 440). The idea is played with in Act I when Jack and Algernon argue about the identity of Cecily. One more aspect of the Trickster needs to be mentioned: his "divine" aspect (Radin 155). The "divine" nature of The Importance of Being Earnest derives from its numinous quality, the satisfaction the characters, along with the reader/audience, receive when, at the play's conclusion, three couples are united. If they are, in Lady Bracknell's words, "displaying signs of triviality," the signs are psychologically meaningful. For the moment at least, each couple forms a psychic whole, a fulfillment of their personal myths, wrought by synchronicity and the Trickster archetype. Indeed, the entire play can be viewed as a performance of the Trickster, the masterwork of the last great Victorian Trickster himself.
Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory in The Importance of Being Earnest
Sometimes, there’s more to Lit than meets the eye.
From http://www.shmoop.com/importance-of-being-earnest/symbolism-imagery.html (for your citation, go by the first two words of the title) Ernest and Bunbury The two imaginary people created by Jack and Algernon might symbolize the empty promises or deceit of the Victorian era. Not only is the character Ernest anything but earnest for the majority of the play, but he also doesn’t even really exist. This makes Jack’s creation of him doubly deceitful. Bunbury sounds as ridiculous and fictional as he actually is. Both of them allow Jack and Algernon to live a lie – seeming to uphold the highest moral standards, while really misbehaving without suffering any consequences. Jack takes it a bit farther since he actually impersonates his so-called good-for-nothing brother.
Even when Jack and Algernon are caught in their lies, they never suffer any real punishment. That they can both kill off their imaginary alter egos or friends without much to-do, shows Victorian society’s real values. The Victorian era did not value honesty, responsibility, or compassion for the under-privileged (neither Lady Bracknell or Algernon exhibit much pity for Bunbury when he "dies"), but only style, money, and aristocracy. It is appropriate that the nonexistent characters of Ernest and Bunbury show how shallow are the Victorians’ real concerns. The handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station, the Brighton line The circumstances of Jack’s abandonment symbolize both his ambiguous social status during the play, and the possibility of his upward social mobility. Interestingly, the scene has both aristocratic and common elements in it. The handbag that baby Jack was placed in is – as Miss Prism describes it – completely ordinary. Like any other well-used purse, it is worn from overuse:
MISS PRISM Yes, here is the injury it received through the upsetting of a Gower Street omnibus in younger and happier days. Here is the stain on the lining caused by the explosion of a temperance beverage, an incident that occurred in Leamington. And here, on the lock, are my initials. (III.145)
Thus, this commonplace container contains a baby of uncommon origin. Continuing this theme of disguise, it is no coincidence that this ordinary-handbag-containing-a-baby is discovered in a cloakroom – a place where outer garments like cloaks, coats, wraps, and scarves may be hung. These pieces of apparel can all be worn to conceal one’s true form, face, or identity. In the murderer-in-a-trench-coat kind of way.
Let’s move onto Victoria Station. According to www.networkrail.co.uk, there were two train stations at the same site in Wilde’s day – leading to two different sites. The western trail, including the Brighton line, led to the wealthier parts of London while the eastern road led to places like Chatham and Dover, which were more impoverished. The fact that baby Jack is at the intersection of these two lines literally puts him in an identity crisis. Does he come from a poor common family or a rich aristocratic one? Lady Bracknell tends to look on the negative side and judge him as common until proven noble.
But there is another, more positive way to interpret his discovery at Victoria Station. Trains are all about moving
121 people to the places where they need to be. If we take Jack’s presence at Victoria Station to be a comment on his social life, it might suggest that he will have great social mobility – have success in climbing up the social ladder to a prestigious position. This is foreshadowed by the fact that he’s found specifically on the Brighton line, the road that leads to the richer parts of town. And indeed the story of Earnest is about Jack’s social advancement. In fact, he’s revealed at the end to be a true member of the aristocracy – part of the Moncrieff family – which makes him a worthy husband for another aristocrat, Gwendolen.
So the scene of Jack’s orphaning contains aspects – like the ordinary handbag and the cloakroom – that make him seem common, but also hints of aristocracy – like the Brighton line – which reveal his true social identity. Diaries and Miss Prism’s Three-Volume Novel You might wonder what the heck do Cecily’s and Gwendolen’s diaries have in common with Miss Prism’s three- volume novel – other than the writing part. Well, the writing part is actually important. Think about what you do when you write. It’s always a very personal activity, because the way you string the words together is completely your creation. It’s your thoughts that are put down onto paper. Your writing is an expression of yourself. So it’s no surprise that some people want to keep their personal thoughts private. Hence, you have a diary. Many people’s thoughts and desires are irrational; instead they’re very idealistic.
This is the point in The Importance of Being Earnest. Almost any type of book or writing, with the sole exception of Jack’s Army Lists, reveals someone’s wishes or dreams. Cecily’s diary meticulously documents her desire for a lover and future husband named Ernest. It even includes imaginary love letters. Gwendolen’s diary does the same, minus the letters. Lady Bracknell’s notebook keeps tabs on men who have the potential to become worthy suitors for Gwendolen’s hand. Most of the content in these pieces of writing is unrealistic at best or fantastic (in the fairy-tale sense) at worst. But these thoughts are kept private.
Miss Prism’s three-volume novel, on the other hand, reveals what happens when one tries to impose an impossibly idealized world onto gritty reality. Miss Prism probably wrote her novel in her younger days, when she was dazzled by other romantic and sentimental stories published in the same "triple decker" genre. Thus, her writing could have been a sort of diary, a projection of a perfect inner world – her deepest desire – put into words. But everything fell apart when she tried to publish it – pushing it into the public sphere. It caused her to forget her real responsibility – baby Ernest – while she was daydreaming about future success. She lost her job over it and was pursued by Scotland Yard. Her actions made her a criminal. And Lady Bracknell returns years later to haunt her about it.
So the diaries and three-volume novel of our female characters represent the innermost fantasies of idealistic young girls, dreams that clash directly with reality. Miss Prism puts it best with her quote: "The good end[s] happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means" (II.15). You might want to counter, that very few things actually end happily-ever-after in the real world. Food Every instance where food is mentioned – from the Algernon’s opening discussion of wine with his servant, Lane, to the girls’ insults over tea and the guys’ climactic fight over muffins – is fraught with conflict. The fight over something as basic as food – something that every human being has a carnal need for– might represents another carnal desire: sex. Because the men fight over food the most (Algernon’s wolfing down of the cucumber sandwiches to Lady Bracknell’s distress, Jack’s settling for bread and butter, Algernon’s consumption of Jack’s wine and muffins), we suspect that food fights are their way of expressing their sexual frustration in the face of unusually domineering women. You can’t deny that Lady Bracknell exerts a tremendous amount of power. Even Gwendolen and Cecily put their male lovers in compromising positions and dictate the terms of their marriages.
122 6+1 Trait Writing Model : The Importance of Being Earnest
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1 Introduction The introduction is The introduction clearly The introduction states There is no clear (Organization) inviting, states the main states the main topic the main topic, but does introduction of the main topic and previews the and previews the not adequately preview topic or structure of the structure of the paper. structure of the paper, the structure of the paper. but is not particularly paper nor is it inviting to the reader. particularly inviting to the reader.
Sentence Structure All sentences are well- Most sentences are Most sentences are Sentences lack (Sentence Fluency) constructed with varied well-constructed with well-constructed but structure and appear structure. varied structure. have a similar structure. incomplete or rambling.
Commitment (Voice) The writer successfully The writer successfully The writer attempts to The writer made no uses several uses one or two make the reader care attempt to make the reasons/appeals to try to reasons/appeals to try to about the topic, but is reader care about the show why the reader show why the reader not really successful. topic. should care or want to should care or want to know more about the know more about the topic. topic.
Support for Topic Relevant, telling, quality Supporting details and Supporting details and Supporting details and (Content) details give the reader information are relevant, information are information are typically important information but one key issue or relevant, but several unclear or not related to that goes beyond the portion of the storyline is key issues or portions the topic. obvious or predictable. unsupported. of the storyline are unsupported.
123 Sources (Content) All sources used for All sources used for Most sources used for Many sources used for quotes and facts are quotes and facts are quotes and facts are quotes and facts are credible and cited credible and most are credible and cited less than credible correctly. cited correctly. correctly. (suspect) and/or are not cited correctly.
Conclusion The conclusion is strong The conclusion is The conclusion is There is no clear (Organization) and leaves the reader recognizable and ties up recognizable, but does conclusion, the paper with a feeling that they almost all the loose not tie up several loose just ends. understand what the ends. ends. writer is "getting at."
GRADE = ______
A Study of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Directions: We will be watching Kenneth Branaugh’s film version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. As you watch, answer the following questions to aid you in your interpretation of the play. You should be forewarned that the characters will be speaking in Shakespearean English, which might make it difficult to follow at first It might also help you to follow along with the Spoiler Alerts in your Guidebook and the play itself in your Literature book. This will also aid you as you do additional assignments on Hamlet.
Day 1- Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:
Well, That Was Different Moment:
124 I Still Do Not Understand:
Day 2- ______
Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:
Well, That Was Different Moment:
I Still Do Not Understand:
125 Day 3- ______
Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:
Well, That Was Different Moment:
I Still Do Not Understand:
The Finale--Film ______
Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:
126 Well, That Was Different Moment:
I Still Do Not Understand:
Would you rather have read the play on your own than watch the film? Why or why not?
Hamlet Argument Essay- worth 50 points
In order to prepare you for writing essays under timed pressure (something you will have to do in upper-level college classes and on the SAT and ACT), your Hamlet argument essay will be completed in class on ______. You will have some time in class today to pick out two quotes you will use in your essay. Choose one of the topics below and do the following:
. Write a clear introduction paragraph with a thesis statement, have at least three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph
127 . Use at least two quotes from the play to support your argument (including a parenthetical citation after the quote) . Include a Works Cited page 1. Hamlet faces a moral dilemma. On the one hand, the ghost of his father urges him to gain revenge by killing Claudius. On the other hand, Hamlet's conscience tells him that killing is wrong. After all, he is a college boy who has been exposed to the teachings of theologians, philosophers, and other thinkers who condemn revenge. What was the attitude of people in Hamlet's day—as many as a thousand years ago—toward law and order and revenge? 2. Another dilemma Hamlet faces is whether the ghost is trustworthy. Is it really the ghost of his father? Is it a demon? Is there really a ghost at all? What was the attitude of people in Shakespeare's time—he was born in 1564 and died in 1616—toward the supernatural: ghosts, witches, etc.? 3. Does Hamlet himself covet the throne? Why didn't he—the son of old King Hamlet—inherit the throne? (Look for a clue in these lines: He that hath kill'd my king and whored my mother, / Popp'd in between the election and my hopes (5.2.4). The play is full of deceit. Who attempts to deceive whom? 4. Before he leaves to study at the University of Paris (Act I, Scene III), Laertes warns his sister, Ophelia, to be wary of Hamlet's attentions toward her, saying Hamlet regards her as little more than a "toy." Is it possible that Laertes is right, that Hamlet really is not serious about Ophelia? 5. Hamlet is angry because his mother married Claudius so soon after the death of old King Hamlet. Was Gertrude having an affair with Claudius before her husband's death? Was she in on the murder? 6. Hamlet puts on an "antic disposition"—that is, he pretends to be insane. But is he, in fact, insane or mentally unstable? 7. Does Ophelia go insane? Does she commit suicide or was her death an accident? 8. What circumstances do Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras have in common? Do they share similar character traits? 9. In ancient and medieval times, ambitious men often murdered their way to the throne, as Claudius did in Hamlet. Shakespeare was right on the mark in Henry IV Part II when he wrote, "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." In other words, a ruler often had to sleep with one eye open to watch for attempts on his life. What were some of the methods monarchs used to protect themselves or uncover plots against them? For example, did they employ spies or food tasters? Did they stay in the company of trusted guards? Twitter Hashtag/Tweets Summary of Hamlet
Directions: Read the following Facebook News Feed Edition of Hamlet written by Sarah Schmelling (yes, that is her real name) and found at www.mcsweeneys.net (so you know, this is a clever and quite funny website). Then, in a group of no more than four, come up with your own Twitter Hashtag/Tweets Summary of Hamlet.
- - - - Horatio thinks he saw a ghost. Hamlet thinks it's annoying when your uncle marries your mother right after your dad dies. The king thinks Hamlet's annoying. Laertes thinks Ophelia can do better. Hamlet's father is now a zombie.
128 - - - - The king poked the queen. The queen poked the king back. Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends. Marcellus is pretty sure something's rotten around here. Hamlet became a fan of daggers. - - - - Polonius says Hamlet's crazy ... crazy in love! Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet are now friends. Hamlet wonders if he should continue to exist. Or not. Hamlet thinks Ophelia might be happier in a convent. Ophelia removed "moody princes" from her interests. Hamlet posted an event: A Play That's Totally Fictional and In No Way About My Family The king commented on Hamlet's play: "What is wrong with you?" Polonius thinks this curtain looks like a good thing to hide behind. Polonius is no longer online. - - - - Hamlet added England to the Places I've Been application. The queen is worried about Ophelia. Ophelia loves flowers. Flowers flowers flowers flowers flowers. Oh, look, a river. Ophelia joined the group Maidens Who Don't Float. Laertes wonders what the hell happened while he was gone. - - - - The king sent Hamlet a goblet of wine. The queen likes wine! The king likes ... oh crap. The queen, the king, Laertes, and Hamlet are now zombies. Horatio says well that was tragic. Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, says yes, tragic. We'll take it from here. Denmark is now Norwegian. - - - -
129 Shakespeare Insult Kit Combine one word from each of the three columns below, prefaced with "Thou": Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 artless base-court apple-john bawdy bat-fowling baggage beslubbering beef-witted barnacle bootless beetle-headed bladder churlish boil-brained boar-pig cockered clapper-clawed bugbear clouted clay-brained bum-bailey craven common-kissing canker-blossom currish crook-pated clack-dish dankish dismal-dreaming clotpole dissembling dizzy-eyed coxcomb droning doghearted codpiece errant dread-bolted death-token fawning earth-vexing dewberry fobbing elf-skinned flap-dragon froward fat-kidneyed flax-wench frothy fen-sucked flirt-gill gleeking flap-mouthed foot-licker goatish fly-bitten fustilarian gorbellied folly-fallen giglet impertinent fool-born gudgeon infectious full-gorged haggard jarring guts-griping harpy loggerheaded half-faced hedge-pig lumpish hasty-witted horn-beast mammering hedge-born hugger-mugger mangled hell-hated joithead mewling idle-headed lewdster paunchy ill-breeding lout pribbling ill-nurtured maggot-pie puking knotty-pated malt-worm puny milk-livered mammet qualling motley-minded measle rank onion-eyed minnow reeky plume-plucked miscreant roguish pottle-deep moldwarp ruttish pox-marked mumble-news saucy reeling-ripe nut-hook spleeny rough-hewn pigeon-egg spongy rude-growing pignut surly rump-fed puttock tottering shard-borne pumpion unmuzzled sheep-biting ratsbane vain spur-galled scut venomed swag-bellied skainsmate villainous tardy-gaited strumpet warped tickle-brained varlot wayward toad-spotted vassal weedy unchin-snouted whey-face
130 yeasty weather-bitten wagtail Speech on Shakespearean Quote- worth ____ points
Directions: I am going to provide you with the first line of a famous Shakespearean quote. You should then find this line and the rest of the speech that goes with it (which should be approximately five to fifteen more lines). This is your responsibility for your speech:
A. State the play from which you are about to perform, the character you are playing, and the context of the quote. (Hint: This will be on the sheet you will be given written directly after your quote.) B. Act out the lines from Shakespeare. You should state the lines with appropriate enthusiasm. For example, if a person is angry in the lines, act angry. If a person is sad, act sad. (Note: If you wish to earn an A or B, you must memorize the lines. For extra credit you may bring in appropriate props.) C. Explain the lines you acted out so a teenager can understand them. (Note: You can choose to do a “slang” translation of your lines or just summarize them.)
1. To be or not to be,--that is the question... 2. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow… 3. All the world's a stage... 4. What a piece of work is man! 5. Friends, Romans, countrymen... 6. Give me my robe, put on my crown 7. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars 8. I go, and it is done; the bell invites me 9. But, soft! What light through yonder window... 10. We are such stuff... As dreams are made on 11. My words fly up, my thoughts remain below 12. What's in a name? That which we call a rose 13. The quality of mercy is not strain'd 14. Why, then the world's mine oyster 15. If music be the food of love, play on 16. Come, let's away to prison; We two alone will sing 17. Journeys end in lovers meeting 18. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look 19. To sleep, perchance to dream 20. I am constant as the northern star 21. Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? 22. He hath given his empire 23. By the pricking of my thumbs 24. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano 25. Eye of newt, and toe of frog
131 26. O, beware, my lord of jealousy 27. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne 28. Cowards die many times before their deaths 29. When beggars die there are no comets seen 30. The man that hath no music in himself 31. Think you I am no stronger than my sex 32. Be not afraid of greatness 33. Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee 34. And thus I clothe my naked villany 35. When shall we three meet again
36. Blow, blow, thou winter wind 37. I come to wive it wealthily in Padua 38. He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf 39. All the infections that the sun sucks up 40. Let every eye negotiate for itself 41. I have no other but a woman's reason 42. O, how this spring of love resembleth 43. Is whispering nothing? 44. Here's ado to lock up honesty 45. What's gone and what's past help 46. When you do dance, I wish you 47. Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie 48. I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you 49. Now go we in content 50. We that are true lovers run into
132 SPOILER ALERT: Notes on Hamlet
Genre Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy. A tragedy is a dignified work in which the main character undergoes a struggle and suffers a downfall. In Shakespeare's plays, the main character of a tragedy is usually a person of noble heritage. A flaw in his personality, sometimes abetted by fate, brings about his downfall. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is also sometimes characterized as a revenge play in the tradition of the Roman playwright Seneca (4 BC-AD 65). Seneca, a tutor to Emperor Nero (AD 37-68), wrote plays that described in detail the grisly horror of murder and revenge. After Elizabethans began translating Seneca's works in 1559, writers read and relished them, then wrote plays imitating them. Shakespeare appears to have seasoned Hamlet and an earlier play, Titus Andronicus, with some of Seneca's ghoulish condiments. Composition and Publication Dates Shakespeare wrote Hamlet between 1599 and1601. It first appeared in print in 1603 in a pirated, unreliable version. What happened was that the publisher or a person acting on his behalf copied the play hurriedly (perhaps during a performance). The copyist made many mistakes and omitted some passages. The play was republished within the next two years. In 1623, friends of Shakespeare (deceased by this time) published an authentic version of Hamlet and thirty-five other Shakespeare plays. The 1623 version is the one that appears in modern publications of Hamlet, with minor editorial changes in some editions. No reliable record exists of the date and place of the first performance of the play. There is a good chance that it debuted at London's Globe Theatre, completed in 1599. Shakespeare was a part-owner of the Globe.
133 Probable Main Sources An important information source for Shakespeare was the third book of Gesta Danorum (The Deeds of the Danes), a Latin work by Saxo Grammaticus (1150?-1220?). Christiern Pedersen (1480-1554), a Danish humanist writer and printer, published the first edition of Gesta Danorum in Paris in 1514 with a different title: Historia Danica. Grammaticus wrote the book at the request of a priest named Absalon, who was the archbishop of Lund from 1177 or 1178 to 1201. Lund was then under the control of Denmark but is now part of Sweden. Gesta Danorum recounts the stories of sixty kings of Danish lands in Books 1 to 9 of the sixteen-volume work. Book 3 tells the tale of Amleth (the model for Hamlet) as he avenges the murder of his father, Horwendil, at the hands of Feng.
In Grammaticus's tale, Amleth lives on and becomes King of Jutland. (It is possible that Grammaticus based his tale on an Icelandic saga called Amlói.) The Amleth tale was retold in Histoires Tragiques (Tragic Stories), by François de Belleforest.
Shakespeare may also have drawn upon a lost play by Thomas Kyd (1558-1594), a play referred to as Ur-Hamlet (the prefix ur- means original), and a surviving Kyd play, The Spanish Tragedy (also spelled The Spanish Tragedie), in which the presentation of the character Hieronimo could have inspired Shakespeare's probing analysis of Hamlet. Regarding Ur-Hamlet, Shakespeare critic and scholar Peter Alexander—editor of a popular edition of the complete works of Shakespeare, first published in 1951—maintains that Ur-Hamlet was actually written by Shakespeare between 1587 and 1589 as a draft of the final version of the play. Shakespeare critic Harold Bloom supports this contention in a 2003 book entitled Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (Riverhead Books, New York, page 124). Possible additional sources for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark are a tenth-century Celtic tale about a warrior named Amhlaide and an eleventh-century Persian tale from The Book of Kings (Shah-nameh), by Abu Ol-qasem Mansur. Settings The main setting is Elsinore Castle in eastern Denmark, on the Øresund strait separating the Danish island of Sjaelland (Zealand) from the Swedish province of Skåne and linking the Baltic Sea in the south to the Kattegat Strait in the north. Elsinore is a real town. Its Danish name is Helsingør. In Shakespeare's time, Elsinore was an extremely important port that fattened its coffers by charging a toll for ship passage through the Øresund strait.
Modern Elsinore, or Helsingør, is directly west of a Swedish city with a similar name, Helsingborg (or Hälsingborg). Within the city limits of Elsinore is Kronborg Castle, said to be the model for the Elsinore Castle of Shakespeare's play. Construction on the castle began in 1574, when Shakespeare was ten, and ended in 1585, when Shakespeare was twenty-one. It is believed that actors known to Shakespeare performed at Kronborg Castle. Other settings in Hamlet are a plain in Denmark, near Elsinore, and a churchyard near Elsinore. Offstage action in the play (referred to in dialogue) takes place on a ship bound for England from Denmark on
134 which Hamlet replaces instructions to execute him (see the plot summary below) with instructions to execute his traitorous companions, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Tone The tone of the play is somber and foreboding. The tone becomes clear at the outset of the play in the exchange between Bernardo and Francisco as they stand watch on the castle:
BERNARDO: ’Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco. FRANCISCO: For this relief much thanks; ’tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. (1.1.9-11)
Note that it is midnight, that it is bitter cold, and that Francisco is "sick at heart." Moments later, when Horatio enters, Marcellus tells him of a "dreaded sight" that he and Bernardo saw on two nights while standing watch. Horatio is skeptical. But when Bernardo begins to report what they saw, using unsettling nature imagery, Marcellus interrupts him when the sight appears again:
BERNARDO: Last night of all, When yond same star that’s westward from the pole Had made his course to illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, The bell then beating one,— MARCELLUS: Peace! break thee off; look, where it comes again! (1.1.47-52)
Having established a dark, ominous tone or mood, Shakespeare then proceeds to unfold his tale. Revenge and death are in the air. Characters Hamlet: Son of a murdered Danish king (who was also named Hamlet) and nephew and stepson of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet suffers great mental anguish over the death of his father, the marriage of his mother to the suspected murderer (Claudius, the brother of the dead king), and the clash between his moral sense and his desire for revenge against his father's murderer. To ensnare the killer, Hamlet pretends madness. Some Shakespeare interpreters contend that he really does suffer a mental breakdown. Hamlet is highly intelligent and well liked by the citizens, although at times he can be petty and cruel. Hamlet is the protagonist, or main character. The play centers on him and his effort to avenge the murder of his father. Claudius: The new king of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle and stepfather. He becomes king after Hamlet's father, the previous king, is found dead in his orchard. Hamlet suspects that Claudius murdered him. Gertrude: Hamlet's mother and widow of the murdered king. She continues as queen of Denmark after she marries Claudius. That the marriage took place within two months after the late king's funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet.
135 Ghost of Hamlet's Father: An apparition of old King Hamlet. Polonius: Bootlicking lord chamberlain of King Claudius. A lord chamberlain managed a royal household. Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, but his pretended madness—during which he rejects her—and the death of her father trigger a pathological reaction in her. Horatio: Hamlet's best friend. Horatio never wavers in his loyalty to Hamlet. At the end of the play, he recites immortal lines: "Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" (5.2.304-305). Laertes: Son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. Circumstances make him an enemy of Hamlet, and they duel to the death in a fencing match near the end the play. As a man who reacts to circumstances quickly, with a minimum of reflection on the meaning and possible outcome of his actions, Laertes contrasts sharply with the pensive and indecisive Hamlet and, thus, serves as his foil. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern: Courtiers and friends of Hamlet who attended school with him. They turn against him to act as spies for Claudius and agents in Claudius's scheme to have Hamlet murdered in England. Hamlet quickly smells out their deception and treachery. Marcellus, Bernardo: Officers who are the first to see the ghost of Hamlet's father. Francisco: Another officer. Voltimand, Cornelius, Osric: Courtiers who bear messages for the king. Osric informs Hamlet of the fencing match arranged for him and Laertes. A courtier is an attendant at the court of a monarch. Reynaldo: Servant of Polonius. Fortinbras: Prince of Norway, who is on the march with an army. In battlefield combat (referred to in the play but not taking place during the play), old King Hamlet slew the father of Fortinbras and annexed Norwegian territory. Fortinbras seeks revenge. Players: Actors who arrive at Elsinore to offer an entertainment. Hamlet directs one of them, referred to as the First Player, to stage a drama called The Mouse-trap, about a throne-seeker who murders a king. Hamlet hopes the play will cause Claudius to react in a way that reveals his guilt as the murderer of old King Hamlet. As The Mouse-trap unfolds on a stage at Elsinore, the actors are referred to as the following: Prologue: Actor presenting a one-sentence prologue to the play. Player King: Actor portraying a king (whom Hamlet refers to as Gonzago, the Duke of Vienna). Player Queen: Actor portraying the queen (whom Hamlet refers to as Baptista, the Duchess of Vienna). Lucianus: Actor portraying the king's nephew and his murderer. Clowns (Gravediggers): Two peasants who dig Ophelia's grave. The word clown in Shakespeare's time often referred to a peasant or rustic. Yorick: Court jester of old King Hamlet. He amused and looked after the younger Hamlet when the latter was a child. Yorick is dead during the play, But his skull, which one of the gravediggers exhumes in Act 5, Scene 1, arouses old memories in Hamlet that provide a
136 glimpse of his childhood. The skull also feeds Hamlet's morbid preoccupation with death. Claudio: Man who relays messages for the king and queen from Hamlet after he escapes from a ship carrying him to England. Minor Characters: Ship captain, English ambassadors, lords, ladies, officers, soldiers, sailors, messengers, attendants. Special Character Designations Protagonist: Hamlet is the protagonist, or main character. The play centers on him and his effort to avenge the murder of his father. Antagonists: Claudius is the flesh-and-blood antagonist (an opponent of the protagonist). He spends much of his time plotting against Hamlet. Another antagonist is an abstract one: Hamlet's indecisiveness in acting against Claudius. Foil of Hamlet: Laertes is the main foil of Hamlet. A foil is a character who contrasts sharply with another character. Laertes is decisive and even headstrong whereas Hamlet is indecisive and procrastinating. Plot Summary At midnight behind the battlements at the top of Elsinore castle in eastern Denmark, an officer named Bernardo arrives to relieve Francisco, another officer who has been standing guard in the frigid air during an uneventful watch. "Not a mouse stirring" (1.1.13), Francisco reports as he leaves. Two other men, Horatio and Marcellus, arrive a moment later. Marcellus inquires, "What, has this thing appeared again to-night?" (1.1.31). The "thing" is a ghost that Marcellus says has appeared twice on the top of the castle to him and Bernardo. Horatio doubts the story, believing the specter is a child of their imaginations.
While Bernardo attempts to convince Horatio of the truth of the tale, the apparition appears again —a ghost in the form of the recently deceased King Hamlet, outfitted in the armor he wore when warring against Norway and slaying its king, Fortinbras. Horatio questions the phantom. But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappears. Horatio, grown pale with fright, says, "This bodes some strange eruption to our state" (1.1.85). His words foreshadow all the tragic action to follow. The ghost reappears, then disappears again.
Prince Hamlet, the son of the late king, learned of the death of his father while studying at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. When he returns to Denmark to attend the funeral, grief smites him deeply. The king's brother, Claudius, has taken the throne, even though Hamlet has a claim on it as the son of the deceased king. In addition, Claudius has married the late king's widow, Gertrude—Hamlet's mother—in little more than a month after old Hamlet died, a development that deeply distresses young Hamlet. In a soliloquy, Hamlet expresses his opposition to the marriage, his loathing of Claudius, and his disappointment in his mother:
A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow'd my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears:—why she, even she— O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn'd longer—married with my uncle, My father's brother, but no more like my father
137 Than I to Hercules: within a month: Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! (1.2.151-161)
The words incestuous sheets in line 161 reflect the belief, prevalent in Europe at and before Shakespeare's time, that marriage between in-laws—Claudius had been Gertrude's brother-in-law before he married her—was a form of incest.
As a first priority as king, Claudius prepares to thwart an expected invasion of Norwegian troops under Prince Fortinbras, the son of a Norwegian king slain in battle years earlier by old King Hamlet. Fortinbras apparently has a double goal: to avenge the death of his father (old King Fortinbras) and to win back territory the Norwegians lost to the Danes.
In the meantime, Hamlet's best friend, Horatio, tells the young prince the amazing story of the ghost. He says two guards, Bernardo and Marcellus, have reported seeing on two nights an apparition of old King Hamlet on the top of the royal castle. On the third night, Horatio says, he accompanied the guards and himself saw the apparition. ''I will watch to-night,'' Hamlet says (1.2.260).
Another young man at Elsinore—Laertes, son of the king's lord chamberlain, Polonius—is preparing to leave for France to study at the University of Paris. Before debarking, he gives advice to his sister, Ophelia, who has received the attentions of Hamlet from time to time, attentions that Ophelia apparently welcomes. Laertes advises her that Hamlet's attentions are a passing fancy; he is merely dallying with her.
For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more. (1.3.8-13)
In other words, Laertes says, Ophelia should be wary of Hamlet's courtesies and flirtations. They are, Laertes maintains, mere trifles that are sweet but not lasting. Before he debarks for Paris, Laertes receives advice from his father, Polonius:
Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine ownself be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell: my blessing season this in thee! (1.3.82-88)
After Laertes leaves and day yields to night, Hamlet meets on the castle roof with Horatio,
138 Marcellus, and Bernardo at his side. By and by, Hamlet sees the Ghost but is uncertain whether it is the spirit of his father or the devil in disguise.
Be thou a spirit of health or a goblin damn'd Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy interests wicked or charitable, Thou comest in such a questionable shape That I will speak to thee. (1.4.46-50)
When Hamlet questions the Ghost, it says, "I am thy father's spirit, / Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night" (1.5.16). The Ghost tells him to revenge a "foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5.31) committed by Claudius. According to the Ghost's tale, Claudius poured a vial of poison extracted from a plant of the nightshade family (henbane, also called hemblane) into old King Hamlet's ear while the king was asleep, robbing him, "of life, of crown, of queen" (1.5.83). Claudius had committed the murder when King Hamlet had sin on his soul, the better to send him to the fiery regions of purgatory (in Roman Catholic theology, a place or state of being in which a soul purges itself of sin to become eligible for heaven).
Hamlet makes Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus swear on the hilt of his sword (where the handle and a protective bar intersect, forming a cross suitable for oath-taking) never to reveal what they saw. While attempting to verify the ghost's story, Hamlet tells the others he will pretend to be mad, putting on an "antic [clownish; odd; mentally unstable] disposition" (1.5.194).
It is Ophelia, Hamlet's beloved, who first reports that he has been acting strangely. She tells her father, Polonius, the nosy lord chamberlain, that Hamlet had burst in upon her while she was sewing. His face white, his eyes crazed, he took her by the wrist, peered into her eyes, then left the room. Polonius runs to King Claudius and repeats Ophelia's report. Claudius suspects there is something sane and threatening behind Hamlet's strange behavior. So he directs two school acquaintances of Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch the prince to find out the truth.
When traveling actors come to Elsinore to entertain, Hamlet engages them to stage a play, which he calls The Mouse-trap. In the play, a throne-seeker uses poison to murder a ruler named Gonzago. Claudius's reaction to the play will reveal his guilt, Hamlet believes, "For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak / With most miraculous organ" (2.2.427-428). Such a revelation would confirm that the ghost was indeed telling the truth.
Meanwhile, Fortinbras sends word that he will not make war on Denmark if King Claudius allows him to march through the country to invade Poland. Claudius agrees.
After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to fathom the meaning of Hamlet's "madness," Claudius and Polonius secretly observe Hamlet conversing with Ophelia. During the conversation, Hamlet rejects and insults Ophelia as his apparent madness worsens. His words deeply wound her, and there is a question whether he is transferring to poor, frail Ophelia the loathing and anger he feels toward his mother for her marriage to Claudius. Claudius, unsure whether Hamlet pretends insanity to disguise a scheme or is really mad, decides to rid the court of his unsettling presence by sending him to England on a contrived political mission. There, while conducting the court's business, he will be murdered.
139 While the actors present the play, they stage a murder in which an actor pours ''poison'' into the ear of another actor playing the ruler, Gonzago. The scene so unnerves King Claudius that he rises and ends the play abruptly. His reaction convinces Hamlet of Claudius's guilt. Claudius murdered Hamlet's father; there can be no doubt of it.
Queen Gertrude reproves Hamlet for upsetting Claudius by staging the play. Hamlet in turn rebukes her for her hasty marriage. Polonius, meanwhile, has positioned himself out of sight behind a wall tapestry (called an arras) to eavesdrop. When Hamlet sees the tapestry move, he stabs through it and kills Polonius, thinking he is Claudius. After Hamlet discovers his fatal mistake, the ghost reappears to remind Hamlet of his duty. When Hamlet speaks with the apparition, Gertrude cannot see the ghost and concludes that her son is indeed insane. Later she tells Claudius that Hamlet, in a fit of madness, killed Polonius.
Claudius sends Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who carry sealed papers ordering Hamlet's execution after the ship's arrival. At sea, Hamlet discovers the papers in a sealed packet while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are asleep and writes a new commission ordering the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, then re-seals the papers and places them in the packet. The next day, pirates attack the ship. Hamlet escapes and hitches a ride with them back to Denmark. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive in England and present the sealed papers, they are executed.
Meantime, Ophelia, distraught over her father's death and the apparent loss of Hamlet's love, drowns in a brook—at first floating until her clothing, heavy with water, pulls her down. She had climbed a tree and crawled out on a limb. The limb broke, and she fell into the water. The consensus at Elsinore is that she committed suicide.
Upon his return to Denmark, Hamlet encounters Horatio and they pass through a cemetery where two men are digging a grave. The first gravedigger sings as he digs and throws out a skull. Shocked, Hamlet tells Horatio, "That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once; how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder!" (5.1.34). The man continues to dig and throws out another skull. Hamlet says, "May not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about . . . ?" (5.1.40). After Hamlet strikes up a conversation with the gravedigger, the latter tells him that the second skull was that of Yorick, old King Hamlet's jester when Hamlet was a child. Holding the skull, Hamlet recites a short speech about Yorick that underscores Hamlet's preoccupation with death.
A funeral procession approaches. Hamlet is unaware that the body being borne aloft is Ophelia's. It is she who will be lowered into the grave. When Hamlet sees her face, and when Laertes sees the face of Hamlet, the two men grapple, tumbling into the grave. Laertes means to avenge the deaths of his father, Polonius, and his sister, Ophelia. Attendants part them, and Hamlet declares,
I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum. (5.1.155-157)
140 Later, in secret, Laertes and Claudius plot against Hamlet and poison the tip of a sword Laertes is to use against Hamlet in a fencing match designed as an entertainment. For good measure, Claudius prepares poisoned wine he will offer Hamlet during the match. Osric, a courtier and messenger of the king, informs Hamlet of the details of the match. Hamlet is unaware of the deadly plot against him.
During the competition, Hamlet performs brilliantly, and Claudius offers him the cup of wine. But Hamlet and Laertes fight on. Meanwhile, Gertrude takes the cup, telling Hamlet, "The queen carouses to thy fortune" (5.1.224) and, before the king can stop her, she drinks the wine. Laertes grazes Hamlet with the poisoned rapier, breaking his skin and envenoming his bloodstream. Swords wave and poke wildly, and the fencers drop their weapons and accidentally exchange them. Hamlet then wounds Laertes with the same poisoned rapier. Both men are bleeding. A short while later, the queen keels over. To divert attention from the drink and himself, Claudius says Gertrude has fainted from the sight of blood. But Gertrude, drawing her last breath before dying, says, "The drink, the drink; I am poison'd." Everyone now knows that Claudius had offered Hamlet poisoned wine.
Before Laertes dies, he reconciles with Hamlet and implicates Claudius in the scheme to undo Hamlet. Hamlet then runs Claudius through, killing him. As Hamlet lies mortally wounded from the poison on the tip of Laertes sword, Prince Fortinbras arrives at Elsinore with his army after his conquest of Poland. Hamlet tells Horatio that he wishes the crown of Denmark to pass to Fortinbras. Then Hamlet dies. Ambassadors from England arrive to report the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Horatio announces that he will inform the world of the events leading up to the deaths of Hamlet and the others. While soldiers bear off the bodies in a solemn procession, canons fire a salute. Conflicts Conflicts drive the action in the play. The main external conflict is between Hamlet and the killer of his father, Claudius. While Hamlet is attempting to confirm Claudius's guilt, Claudius is plotting and executing a plan to murder Hamlet. Hamlet is also in conflict with (1) his mother, whom he believes betrayed the memory of his father by marrying so soon after King Hamlet's death; (2) Ophelia, whom Hamlet treats with perplexing and sometimes insulting behavior; and (3) Laertes, whom Hamlet outraged by killing his father. Laertes also believes that Hamlet indirectly caused Ophelia's death. Finally, Hamlet is in conflict with himself. Climax and Denouement The climax of a play or another literary work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting event in a series of events. The climax in Hamlet occurs, according to the first definition, when Hamlet satisfies himself that Claudius is indeed the murderer of his father —thanks to Claudius's guilty response to the players' enactment of The Mouse-trap (The Murder of Gonzago). According to the second definition, the climax occurs in the final act during and just after the sword fight.
The denouement is the conclusion that follows the climax of a play. The conclusion in Hamlet
141 takes place when Prince Fortinbras arrives at Elsinore with his army after his conquest of Poland. Hamlet tells Horatio that he wishes the crown of Denmark to pass to Fortinbras. Then Hamlet dies. Ambassadors from England arrive to report the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Horatio announces that he will inform the world of the events leading up to the deaths of Hamlet and the others. While soldiers bear off the bodies in a solemn procession, canons fire a salute. Themes Hesitation Hamlet has an obligation to avenge his father’s murder, according to the customs of his time. But he also has an obligation to abide by the moral law, which dictates, “Thou shalt not kill.” Consequently, Hamlet has great difficulty deciding what to do and thus hesitates to take decisive action. While struggling with his conscience, Hamlet time and again postpones carrying out the ghost's decree. In the meantime, he becomes cynical, pessimistic, depressed. He tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
I have of late,—but wherefore I know not,—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor woman neither. . . . (2.2.250)
In his famous critiques of Shakespeare’s works, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) has written:
He [Hamlet] is all dispatch and resolution as far as words and present intentions are concerned, but all hesitation and irresolution when called upon to carry his words and intentions into effect; so that, resolving to do everything, he does nothing. He is full of purpose but void of that quality of mind which accomplishes purpose. . . . Shakespeare wished to impress upon us the truth that action is the chief end of existence—that no faculties of intellect, however brilliant, can be considered valuable, or indeed otherwise than as misfortunes, if they withdraw us from or rend us repugnant to action, and lead us to think and think of doing until the time has elapsed when we can do anything effectually. (Lectures and Notes on Shakspere [Shakespeare] and Other English Poets. (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904, page 164) Inherited Sin and Corruption Humans are fallen creatures, victims of the devil’s trickery as described in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Allusions or direct references to Adam, the Garden of Eden, and original sin occur throughout the play. In the first act, Shakespeare discloses that King Hamlet died in an orchard (Garden of Eden) from the bite of a serpent (Claudius). Later, Hamlet alludes to the burdens
142 imposed by original sin when he says, in his famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, that the “flesh is heir to” tribulation in the form of “heart-ache” and a “thousand natural shocks” (3.1.72- 73). In the third scene of the same act, Claudius compares himself with the biblical Cain. In Genesis, Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, kills his brother, Abel, the second son, after God accepts Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. Like Cain, Claudius kills his brother (old King Hamlet). Claudius recognizes his Cain-like crime when he says:
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t, A brother’s murder. (3.3.42-44)
In Act 5, the second gravedigger tells the first gravedigger that Ophelia, who apparently committed suicide, would not receive a Christian burial if she were a commoner instead of a noble. In his reply, the first gravedigger refers directly to Adam: "Why, there thou sayest: and the more pity that great folk should have countenance in this world to drown or hang themselves more than their even Christian. Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers: they hold up Adam’s profession" (5.1.13). After the gravedigger tosses Yorick’s skull to Hamlet, the prince observes: “That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were Cain’s jaw-bone, that did the first murder!” (5.1.34). All of these references to Genesis seem to suggest that Hamlet is a kind of Everyman who inherits “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”—that is, the effects of original sin. Sons Seeking Revenge Young Fortinbras seeks revenge against Elsinore because King Hamlet had killed the father of Fortinbras, King Fortinbras. Hamlet seeks to avenge the murder of his father, King Hamlet, by Claudius, the king’s brother and Hamlet’s uncle. Laertes seeks revenge against Hamlet for killing his father, Polonius, the lord chamberlain. Deception Deception is a major motif in Hamlet. On the one hand, Claudius pretends to be cordial and loving toward Hamlet to conceal his murder of Hamlet’s father. On the other, Hamlet conceals his knowledge of the murder. He also wonders whether the Ghost is deceiving him, pretending to be old King Hamlet when he is really a devil. Polonius secretly tattles on Hamlet to Claudius. Hamlet feigns madness. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pretend to have Hamlet’s best interests at heart while attempting to carry out Claudius’s scheme to kill Hamlet. After that scheme fails, Claudius and Laertes connive to kill Hamlet during the fencing match. However, that scheme also goes awry when Gertrude drinks from a poisoned cup secretly prepared for Hamlet. Ambition Claudius so covets the throne that he murders his own brother, King Hamlet, to win it. In this respect he is like Macbeth and Richard III in other Shakespeare plays, who also murder their way to the throne. Whether Claudius’s ambition to be king was stronger than his desire to marry Gertrude is arguable. But both were factors, as he admits to himself in when he reflects on his guilt: “I am still possessed / Of those effects for which I did the murder, / My crown, mine own ambition and my queen. . .” (3.3.60-61). Loyalty
143 Hamlet is loyal to his father’s memory, as is Laertes to the memory of his father, Polonius, and his sister, Ophelia. Gertrude is torn between loyalty to Claudius and Hamlet. Horatio remains loyal to Hamlet to the end. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, school pals of Hamlet, betray Hamlet and spy on him. Mischance and Serendipity Hamlet “just happens” to kill Polonius. Pirates “just happen” to rescue Hamlet. Hamlet “just happens” to come across Ophelia’s funeral upon his return to Denmark. Hamlet and Laertes “just happen” to exchange swords—one of them with a poisoned tip—in their duel. Gertrude “just happens” to drink from a poisoned cup meant for Hamlet. Fate, or unabashed plot contrivance, works its wonders in this Shakespeare play. Christ-like Hamlet Hamlet is like Christ, Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) has observed, in that he struggles against the old order, which requires an eye for and eye. Christ preached against revenge. Madness: Pretended and Real In his attempt to prove Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet puts on an “antic disposition" (1.5.194)—that is, he pretends to be mad. In so doing he is able to say and do things that confuse and perplex others while he conducts his murder investigation. But, in the process, does he really become mentally unbalanced? That is a question for debate. But there is no question that he suffers deep mental anguish characterized by indecision and depression.
Nor is there any doubt that Ophelia suffers a mental breakdown. Like other young ladies of her time, she has to accept the will of the men around her: her father, her brother, the king, and of course Hamlet. She is not allowed to have a mind of her own. Consequently, she does not know what to do after circumstances isolate her. Laertes goes off to school, Hamlet rejects her, and then her father dies. Meanwhile, the king centers his attention on ridding Elsinore of Hamlet. It is Hamlet's rejection of Ophelia and her father's death that are the biggest blows to her sanity. Hamlet, disgusted with his mother's marriage (making her, in his mind, a wanton who yields her body to her late husband's brother), seems to transfer his disgust to delicate Ophelia, telling her, "Get thee to a nunnery: Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?" (3.1.125). Hamlet is saying that Ophelia is unworthy to marry and bear children, who would be sinners. Instead, she should enter a nunnery, a convent for nuns. Nunnery was also used in Shakespeare's time as a slang term for a brothel. So it could be that Hamlet is telling Ophelia that she is no better than a common whore or prostitute. Ophelia's presence in the play helps to reveal Hamlet's thinking, in particular his detestation of women as a result of his mother's hasty marriage to vile Claudius.
144 Serpentine Satan Imagery throughout the play dwells on Satan’s toxic influence on Elsinore and its inhabitants. Particularly striking are the snake metaphors. It is the venom of a serpent (in the person of Claudius) that kills old King Hamlet. Claudius, remember, had poured poison into the king’s ear as reported by the Ghost of the old king: While “sleeping in mine orchard,” the Ghost says, “A serpent stung me” (1.5.42-43). It is a sword—a steel snake, as it were—that kills Polonius, Hamlet, Laertes, and Claudius. (The sword that kills Hamlet and Laertes is tipped with poison.) Moreover, it is a poisoned drink that kills Gertrude. As for Ophelia, it is poisoned words that undo her. The word poison and its forms (such as poisons, poisoner, and poisoning) occur thirteen times in the play. Serpent occurs twice, venom or envenom six times, devil nine times, and hell or hellish eleven times. Garden (as a symbol for the Garden of Eden) or gardener occurs three times. Adam occurs twice. Ambiguous Spirit World In Shakespeare’s time, ghosts were thought by some people to be devils masquerading as dead loved ones and trying to win souls for Satan. It is understandable, then, that Hamlet is reluctant at first to believe that the Ghost on the roof of the castle is really the spirit of his father. Hamlet acknowledges his doubt:
The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me. (2.2.433-438) Empty Existence Time and again, Hamlet bemoans the uselessness and emptiness of life. He would kill himself if his conscience would let him, as his “To be, or not to be” soliloquy reveals. But as a Roman Catholic, he cannot go against the tenets of his religion, which forbids suicide. How Old Is Hamlet? Early in the play, Shakespeare suggests that Hamlet is in his teens or perhaps about twenty. But in the churchyard in Act 5, the first gravedigger—holding up the skull of the late King Hamlet’s jester, Yorick, who was Hamlet’s childhood babysitter—says that “this skull hath lain you i’ the earth three-and-twenty years” (5.1.73). Hamlet’s age when Yorick died was about seven. According to this information, Hamlet should be about thirty. What’s going on? Probably this: In an edition of the play published in the early 1600s, the gravedigger says Yorick has been dead for only twelve years, which would make Hamlet about nineteen. Here is the line spoken by the gravedigger in that edition: “Here’s a scull [skull] hath bin here this dozen yeare [year].” However, in the 1623 folio edition of the play, Yorick has been dead for twenty-three years, as
145 stated by the gravedigger. Apparently, the eleven-year discrepancy between the two editions was the result of an editing error. What it all means is that Hamlet is only nineteen or twenty. The Women in Hamlet: Shrinking Violets Shakespeare’s plays are well populated with strong women who lead or influence men. Examples are Portia (The Merchant of Venice), Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra), Volumnia (Coriolanus), Queen Elinor and Constance (King John), and Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing). However, in Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia are both weaklings who are dominated by men. In the second scene of the first act, Hamlet, deeply disturbed that his mother (Gertrude) has married Claudius a short time after the death of old King Hamlet, says, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (150). Hamlet well realizes that fickle Gertrude wants, needs, requires marriage— impropriety notwithstanding—to satisfy her desire for attention. As the new Mrs. Claudius, she is totally submissive to the king's will; to offer an original thought that might offend him is out of the question. Ophelia also keeps her place. Like Gertrude, she is totally dependent on a male—in her case, her father. Even though she loves Hamlet, she agrees to help her father spy on Hamlet. When Laertes returns to Elsinore from France, she says, “I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” In other words, Ophelia herself withered; her spirit died. The Meaning of "To be, or not to be" Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (3.1.66) is one of the most famous passages in English drama and one of the most-often quoted. Its fame lies partly in the attention it receives from the endless debates it has generated about what it means. It is currently fashionable to oppose the traditional view that the passage is a deliberation in which Hamlet is trying to decide whether to commit suicide. Anti-suicide champions argue that Hamlet is really deliberating what course of action to take—or not to take—to ravel his sleeve of woe while retaining life and limb.
Which view is right? Probably the traditional view—that Hamlet is contemplating suicide with his bare bodkin. However, because Shakespeare carried ambiguity to the extreme in this passage instead of speaking his mind plainly, there is plenty of room to argue otherwise. Leading his readers through the tangled dendrites in Hamlet’s brain, Shakespeare bewilders his audience. Admittedly, though, it is jolly good fun to try to solve the passage. In the end, though, it appears that Hamlet is indeed considering suicide in this passage.
Female Hamlet About twenty centuries before the birth of Shakespeare, the Greek playwright Sophocles (circa 497-406 BC) completed one of the finest plays in history, Electra, about a young woman from Greek myth who resembles Hamlet in temperament and who struggles against circumstances almost identical to Hamlet’s. Her father, King Agamemnon, had been murdered by her mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, who succeeds to the throne. (Hamlet’s father, old King Hamlet, was murdered by Claudius, who succeeds to the throne and marries the late king’s wife —Hamlet’s mother—Gertrude.) Like Hamlet, Electra seeks to avenge her father’s death. But in plotting the deed with her brother, Orestes, she suffers deep anguish, like Hamlet, marked by bouts of melancholy. At times Hamlet seems a carbon copy of Electra. There is no evidence
146 suggesting that Shakespeare used Sophocles as a source for Hamlet, but it would be no great surprise if a historical document turned up suggesting that he did. What's in a Name? It is possible that the first syllable of Hamlet's name derives from a German word, hamm, meaning enclosed area. But his name could mimic the English word hamlet, suggesting that Hamlet is a small world unto himself. Claudius, the name of King Hamlet's murderer, derives from the Latin word claudus, meaning lame. In one sense, Claudius is indeed lame. His evil deeds hamstring him, making him incapable of ruling Elsinore while Hamlet is on the prowl. Horatio, the name of Hamlet's loyal friend, is of Latin origin and may well refer to the Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known as Horace, whose major themes include love and friendship. Fortinbras, the level-headed Norwegian prince who arrives in Elsinore at the end of the play to take command and bring stability, may be so-named to suggest strength of arm (Latin, fortis: strong; French, bras: arm). Gertrude, the name of Hamlet's mother, who is Claudius's queen, means in old German spear (Ger-) and dear (-trut). Gertrude, of course, wounds Hamlet by marrying Claudius (hence, Ger-) but remains special to him as his mother (hence, -trut). Allusion to the War of the Theaters Between 1599 and 1600, two companies of boy actors— Paul’s Boys and the Children of the Chapel—gained enthusiastic followings in London. In fact, so popular did the boys become that they attracted large numbers of theatergoers away from adult acting companies. But the boy companies were rivals not only of their adult counterparts but also of each other. Ben Jonson 1572-1637), the chief playwright for the Children of the Chapel, despised the chief playwright for Paul’s Boys, John Marston (1576-1634). They lambasted each other in allusions in their plays, precipitating a “war of the theaters.” In the second scene of the second act of Hamlet, Shakespeare comments on the fascination with the boy actors. The occasion is the arrival of a company of adult actors (tragedians) at Elsinore to stage an entertainment, actors whom Hamlet had already seen in stage plays. When Hamlet asks Rosencrantz whether these adult actors remain as popular as ever, Rosencrantz says no. Here is the dialogue:
HAMLET: Do they [the arriving adult actors] hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? are they so followed? ROSENCRANTZ: No, indeed, are they not. HAMLET: How comes it? do they grow rusty? ROSENCRANTZ: Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace: but there is, sir, an aery of children, little eyases, that cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped for't: these are now the fashion, and so berattle the common stages—so they call them—that many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills and dare scarce come thither. HAMLET: What, are they children? who maintains 'em? how are they escoted? Will they pursue the quality no longer than they can sing? will they not say afterwards, if they should grow
147 themselves to common players—as it is most like, if their means are no better—their writers do them wrong, to make them exclaim against their own succession? ROSENCRANTZ: 'Faith, there has been much to do on both sides; and the nation holds it no sin to tarre them to controversy: there was, for a while, no money bid for argument, unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the question. HAMLET: Is't possible? GUILDENSTERN: O, there has been much throwing about of brains. HAMLET: Do the boys carry it away? ROSENCRANTZ: Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and his load too. Why Hamlet Is All of Us English essayist and literary critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830) wrote that one reason for the appeal and success of Hamlet is that audience members and readers recognize themselves in the main character. Hazlitt said:
Hamlet is a name: his speeches and sayings but the idle coinage of the poet's brain. What then, are they not real? They are as real as our own thoughts. Their reality is in the reader's mind. It is we who are Hamlet. This play has a prophetic truth, which is above that of history. Whoever has become thoughtful and melancholy through his own mishaps or those of others; whoever has borne about with him the clouded brow of reflection, and thought himself "too much i' th' sun;" whoever has seen the golden lamp of day dimmed by envious mists rising in his own breast, and could find in the world before him only a dull blank with nothing left remarkable in it; whoever has known "the pangs of despised love, the insolence of office, or the spurns which patient merit of the unworthy takes;" he who has felt his mind sink within him, and sadness cling to his heart like a malady, who has had his hopes blighted and his youth staggered by the apparitions of strange things; who cannot be well at ease, while he sees evil hovering near him like a spectre; whose powers of action have been eaten up by thought, he to whom the universe seems infinite, and himself nothing; whose bitterness of soul makes him careless of consequences, and who goes to play as his best resource to shove off, to a second remove, the evils of life by a mock- representation of them—this is the true Hamlet. . . . [Hamlet) is the one of Shakespear's plays that we think of oftenest, because it abounds most in striking reflections on human life, and because the distresses of Hamlet are transferred, by the turn of his mind, to the general account of humanity. (Characters of Shakespeare's Plays. London: C. H. Reynell, 1817) Shakespeare and the Booths Edwin Booth, one of the nineteenth Century's greatest Shakespearean actors, was the brother of actor John Wilkes Booth, assassin of the sixteenth U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln. The Booth brothers were sons of Junius Brutus Booth, an actor born in London. The latter's middle name was the same as that of the most prominent assassin of Julius Caesar. Ironically, Edwin and John Wilkes portrayed Brutus and Mark Antony in a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Winter Garten Theatre in New York on November 25, 1864, the 300th anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare. After John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, Edwin Booth observed the following in a published letter:
The news of the morning has made me wretched, indeed, not only because I have received the unhappy tidings of the suspicions of a brother's crime, but because a good man and a most justly honored and patriotic ruler has fallen in an hour of national joy by the hand of an assassin. The
148 memory of the thousands who have fallen on the field in our common country's defence during this struggle, cannot be forgotten by me even in this the most distressing day of my life. And I most sincerely pray that the victories we have already won may stay the brand of war and the tide of loyal blood.
While mourning in common with all other loyal hearts, the death of the President, I am oppressed by a private woe not to be expressed in words. But whatever calamity may befall me or mine, my country, one and indivisible, has been my warmest devotion. EDWIN BOOTH. (quoted in The New York Times on April 19, 1865, after the letter—addressed to Henry C. Jarret, Esq., and dated April 15, 1865—was published in Boston newspapers)
Figures of Speech Following are examples of figures of speech in Hamlet. Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds, as indicated by the boldfaced letters below.
With which she follow’d my poor father’s body. (1.2.152) And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch. (1.3.20) I know a hawk from a handsaw. (2.2.272) Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! (3.4.39) The potent poison quite o’er-crows my spirit. (5.2.298) Anaphora Anaphora is the repetition of a word, phrase, clause, or sentence at or near the beginning of word groups occurring one after the other, as indicated by the boldfaced words below.
’Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forc’d breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected haviour of the visage, Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief, That can denote me truly. (1.2.-81-86)
Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love. (2.2.125-128)
How these things came about: so shall you hear Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters; Of deaths put on by cunning and forc’d cause. (5.2.329-332) Epithet
149 An epithet is a miniature portrait that identifies a person or thing by a prominent characteristic of that person or thing. Often, an epithet follows a name to form a title, as in Ivan the Terrible, Richard the Lion-Hearted, or Alexander the Great. (The underlined words are the epithets.) Sometimes an epithet appears without a named person. The Great Emancipator, for example, is an epithet for Abraham Lincoln. The Brown Bomber is an epithet for the great African-American boxer, Joe Louis. Following is an epithet from Hamlet. O! ...... that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! (1.2.133-136) [Everlasting is an epithet for God.] Hyperbole Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement, as the following examples demonstrate.
By ’r lady, your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine. (2.2.301) [Hamlet tells one of the players that he is nearer to heaven because of the thick-soled shoes (chopines) that he wears. (Males played women's parts in the plays of Shakespeare's time.)]
Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers, . . . get me a fellowship in a cry of players, sir? (3.2.210) [Hamlet speaks these words to one of the actors, asking whether his acting ability would get him a job as a player if he wore plumes—as actors often did. The phrase forest of feathers is a hyperbole.
Irony, Dramatic Dramatic irony is a situation in a play or another literary work in which the audience or the reader grasps the irony or incongruity of the words or attitude of a character when the character does not. Here is an example:
Our late dear brother’s death (1.2.21) The king is speaking to Gertrude and other characters. The audience is aware that Claudius, who refers to the late King Hamlet as dear, murdered the king. Gertrude is not aware of his foul deed. Metaphor A metaphor is a comparison between unlike things. In making the comparison, it does not use like, as, or than. Note the following examples.
The moist star Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse. (1.1.135-137) [Comparison of the moon to a star and the oceans to an empire. In Roman mythology, Neptune's empire was the sea.] [Comparison of the moon to a sick creature]
I have heard,
150 The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat Awake the god of day. (1.1.169-172) [Comparison of the rooster to a trumpet]
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puff’d and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. (1.3.52-55) [Comparison of a lifestyle to a steep and thorny trail and another lifestyle to a primrose path]
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail. (1.3.63) [Comparison of the wind to a seated object; comparison of the billowed canvas of a sail to a shoulder]
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. (1.3.69-70) [Comparison of the bonds of friendship to steel hoops]
The sepulchre, Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn’d, Hath op’d his ponderous and marble jaws, To cast thee up again. (1.4.54-57) [Comparison of the opening of a sepulchre to jaws]
Thou still hast been the father of good news. (2.2.48) [Comparison of good news to children of Polonius.
Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for your dull ass will not mend his pace with beating. (5.1.28) [The first clown (gravedigger) compares the second clown's brains to an ass that will not change course when beaten.] Metonymy Metonymy (muh TAHN uh me) is the use of a word or phrase to represent a thing, an entity, a group of people, an institution, and so on. The church, for example, may represent clergymen who make decisions on moral issues. The White House may represent the U.S. president and his advisors. Here is an example from Hamlet.
’Tis given out that, sleeping in mine orchard, A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abus’d. (1.5.42-45) [Whole ear represents the populace of Denmark.] Oxymoron
151 An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory words, as in the following example.
[His words] are like sanctified and pious bawds. (1.3.138) [A bawd is a prostitute. Therefore, pious and bawds are contradictory words.] Personificaton and Metaphor Personification is a type of metaphor that compares a place, a thing, or an idea to a person, as in the following example.
Never did the Cyclops’ hammers fall On Mars’s armour, forg’d for proof eterne, With less remorse than Pyrrhus’ bleeding sword Now falls on Priam. (2.2.342-345) [Personification and metaphor: comparison of a sword to a person with little remorse; metaphor: comparison of a sword to a bleeding creature]
Play on Words A play on words, or pun, is the use of a word or words that can be interpreted in more than one way. The purpose is to achieve an ironic or a humorous effect. Here is an example from Hamlet.
CLAUDIUS: How is it that the clouds still hang on you? HAMLET: Not so, my lord; I am too much i’ the sun. (1.2.69-70) [Claudius asks why dark clouds still hang over Hamlet—that is, why Hamlet continues to be depressed. Hamlet replies that he remains in the shadows because he is too much i' the sun. Here, Hamlet is saying that he dislikes being regarded as the son (sun) of Claudius. Simile A simile is a comparison between unlike things. In making the comparison, it uses like, as, or than. Note the following examples.
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres. (1.5.21-23) [Use of like to compare Hamlet's eyes to stars]
Duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, Wouldst thou not stir in this. (1.5.39-41) [The ghost uses than to say Hamlet would be a motionless weed on the banks of the Lethe—the river of forgetfulness in Hades—if he did not desire to avenge the murder of his father.
Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend. (4.1.9) [Use of as to compare Hamlet's state of mind to contending elements] Essays
152 Why Claudius, Not Hamlet, Became King of Denmark Keen readers and audiences often ask why Claudius acceded to the throne in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Should not the crown have passed to the dead king’s son, Prince Hamlet?
Not necessarily. In Denmark, the setting of the play, an elective monarchy held sway until 1660, when a hereditary monarchy replaced it. Therefore, Shakespeare’s fictional Hamlet, based on a legendary Dane of the Middle Ages, could not claim the crown as a birthright.
In an elective monarchy, court officials—noblemen in high standing—selected the new king by vote. The son of a king was, to be sure, the prime candidate for the royal chair, and usually he won it. But the voting nobles had the right to reject him in favor of another candidate. And that was precisely what happened in fictional Elsinore. The nobles approved the king’s brother, Claudius. In a hereditary monarchy, the king’s oldest son automatically ascended the throne when his father died. But of course Danish laws do not explain why the nobles chose Claudius over Hamlet. Shakespeare offers no explanation of their vote. However, Hamlet refers to the election of Claudius, saying, “He that hath kill’d my king and whor’d my mother, / Popp’d in between the election and my hopes” (5.2.71-72). These lines appear in a passage in which Hamlet—conversing with his best friend, Horatio—is discussing Claudius’s murder plot against him and his moral right to kill Claudius. The words “my hopes” may signify that Hamlet expected to succeed his father. In the same scene of the same act, Hamlet—dying from the wound inflicted by Laertes’ poisoned-tip sword—again refers to the Denmark election system when he says Fortinbras should be the new king: “But I do prophesy the election lights / On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice” (5.2.300-301).
That Hamlet did not gain accession after the murder of his father could have been due to one or all of the following reasons: (1) Claudius actively campaigned for the kingship, winning votes by promising political favors. (2) Gertrude, eager to remarry and remain queen, campaigned on his behalf. (3) The nobles perceived Hamlet as too young and callow—and perhaps more likely to support the views of the common people instead of their views—and thus denied him succession.
In the tale on which Shakespeare based Hamlet—Amleth, a Latin work by Saxo Grammaticus (1150?-1220?)—Feng (the character after whom Shakespeare modeled Claudius) murders his brother, King Horwendil, out of jealousy. The opening paragraph of Amleth explains the cause of the jealousy:
Horwendil, King of Denmark, married Gurutha, the daughter of Rorik, and she bore him a son, whom they named Amleth. Horwendil's good fortune stung his brother Feng with jealousy, so that the latter resolved treacherously to waylay his brother, thus showing that goodness is not safe even from those of a man's own house. And behold when a chance came to murder him, his bloody hand sated the deadly passion of his soul.—(Eton, Oliver, trans. The Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus. London: David Nutt, 1894.)
The Amleth tale also says Feng gained favor with the nobles by telling lies: "Nor did his smooth
153 words fail in their intent; for at courts, where fools are sometimes favored and backbiters preferred, a lie lacks not credit" (Eton).
Denmark has had three monarchical systems since the tenth century:
(1) Elective system. In 940, Harald Bluetooth became the first king of a unified Denmark under an elective system requiring the monarch to sign a charter guaranteeing a division of power between the king and the people. (2) Hereditary system and absolutism. In 1660, Denmark adopted absolutism, granting the king full power, under a hereditary system conferring the right of succession on the oldest son. In 1665, a royal edict affirmed the hereditary system under the principle of primogeniture, a legal term referring to the right of the oldest son to inherit his father’s property. (3) Constitutional monarch. In 1849, Denmark abandoned its absolutist monarchy in favor of a constitutional monarchy that invested government power mainly in the people’s representatives while retaining the king as a ceremonial figure. In 1953, Denmark granted women the right to accede to the throne. Hamlet, Oedipus, and Freud In an 1899 book entitled Die Traumdeutung (Interpretation of Dreams) Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis, introduced the term Oedipus complex. This term describes a psychological stage of development in which a male child desires sexual relations with his mother or a female child desires sexual relations with her father. The child also exhibits hostility toward the parent of the same sex. In normal development, a child outgrows this desire. However, in abnormal development, a child may retain his or her sexual fixation on the parent of the opposite sex.
After Freud coined the term Oedipus complex, Shakespeare scholars noted that Hamlet exhibits the symptoms of this condition in his relationship with his mother, Gertrude, and stepfather- uncle, Claudius. In a soliloquy in the second scene of Act I, Hamlet condemns Claudius as a “satyr” (line 144) and agonizes over his mother’s hasty marriage to him, saying, “O! most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (160-161). Ample evidence exists elsewhere in the play to support the Freudian interpretation of Hamlet’s character while buttressing the view that Hamlet is mentally deranged.
In coining his term, Freud drew upon the story of Oedipus in Greek mythology. Here is the story, in brief:
An oracle warns King Laius of Thebes that his wife, Jocasta, will bear a son who will one day kill him. After Jocasta gives birth to a boy, Laius acts to defeat the prophecy. First, he drives a spike through the child's feet, then takes him to Mount Cithaeron and orders a shepherd to kill him. But the shepherd, taking pity on the baby, spares him after tying him to a tree. A peasant finds the baby and gives him to a childless couple—Polybus (also Polybius), the king of Corinth, and his wife, Periboea (also Merope). They name the boy Oedipus (meaning swelled foot) and raise him to manhood.
One day, when Oedipus visits the oracle at Delphi, the oracle tells Oedipus that a time will come when he slays his father and marries his mother. Horrified, Oedipus later strikes out from
154 Corinth. He does not want to live anywhere near his beloved parents, Polybus and Periboea, lest a trick of fate cause him to be the instrument of their demise. What he does not know, of course, is that Polybus and Periboea are not his biological parents.
On the road to Thebes, which leads away from Corinth, Oedipus encounters his real father Laius, whom he does not recognize, and several attendants. Laius, of course, does not recognize Oedipus either. Oedipus and Laius quarrel over a triviality—who has the right of way. The quarrel leads to violence, and Oedipus kills Laius and four of his attendants.
Outside Thebes, Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a winged lion with the head of a woman. The grotesque creature has killed many Thebans because they could not answer her riddle: What travels on four feet in the morning, two at midday, and three in evening? Consequently, the city lives in great terror. No one can enter or leave the city. When Oedipus approaches the Sphinx, the beast poses the riddle. Oedipus, quick of mind, replies with the right answer: man. Here is the explanation: As an infant in the morning of life, a human being crawls on all fours; as an adult in the midday of life, he walks upright on two legs; as an old man in the evening of life, he walks on three legs, including a cane.
Surprised and outraged, the Sphinx kills herself. Jubilant, the people of Thebes then offer this newcomer the throne. Oedipus accepts it and marries its widowed queen, Jocasta. Jocasta is, of course, the mother of Oedipus, although no one in Thebes becomes aware of this fact until much later. Thus, the oracle's prophecy to Laius and Oedipus is fulfilled.
Hamlet, of course, does not marry his mother. But, according to Freudian interpreters of the play, he does desire her—at least subconsciously. What is more, he solves a riddle of sorts, a homicide case, and kills his father—that is, stepfather. However, unlike Oedipus, Hamlet does not live on to anguish over the past. The Feudal Age and the Castle Feudalism Many of Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet, are set in the Feudal Age. This age of kings and castles was born in Europe in the dawning shadows of the Dark Ages. After the Roman Empire collapsed in the late Fifth Century AD, its former territories in central Europe had to fend for themselves. In time, without the might of the imperial Roman sword to protect them, these territories fell prey to Viking invaders from the north and Muslim invaders from the south.
By the 730s, the Muslims had penetrated central Europe through Spain. However, Charles Martel, the ruler of the kingdom of the Franks in northeastern Europe and southwestern Germany, repulsed the Muslims with soldiers granted land in return for military service as horsemen. (Horse soldiers, or cavalry, had the speed and maneuverability to quell the Muslim threat.) This
155 arrangement—granting land in exchange for service—was the founding principle of feudalism.
The Franks continued to stand as a protective bulwark under Martel's successors, Pepin the Short and Charlemagne. But after Louis I the Pious assumed power in 813, the Franks commenced fighting among themselves over who should succeed to the throne. This internal strife, along with Viking attacks, resulted in the eventual breakup of the Frankish kingdom. In 911, Viking marauders seeded themselves in western France, in present-day Normandy, and took root. By the late 900s, much of Europe (France, England, western Germany, northern Spain, and Sicily) had evolved into a land of local kingdoms in which rulers took refuge behind the walls of castles and leased land to people willing to protect and maintain a kingdom against rival kingdoms or outside invaders. The feudal system of offering land in exchange for service then bloomed to full flower.
How Feudalism Worked The king of a domain granted an expanse of land (fief) to selected men of high standing in return for a pledge of allegiance and military service. These men, who came to be known as great lords (or grands seigneurs) then awarded portions of their land to lesser lords, or vassals, for a similar pledge of loyalty, or fealty, as well as dues and an agreement to fight the lord's enemies. In return, the great lord met the everyday needs of the vassals. Knights, highly trained mounted warriors, were the backbone of the great lord's army. Failure by a great lord or a vassal to live up to a commitment, or warranty, was a felony, a crime punishable by loss of the offender's title, land, and other assets. In severe cases, the offender sometimes lost his life or a limb.
The estate on which a lord lived was called a manor. Peasants, or serfs, were attached to the land as property. They paid rents and taxes, farmed the land, and performed many other servile duties. Sometimes freemen also worked the land. The lord exercised full political and social control over his land. The Castle Most of the scenes in Hamlet are set in a castle. A castle was a walled fortress of a king or lord. The word castle is derived from the Latin castellum, meaning a fortified place. Generally, a castle was situated on an eminence (a piece of high ground) that had formed naturally or was constructed by laborers. The high ground constructed by laborers was called a motte (French for mound); the motte may have been one hundred to two hundred feet wide and forty to eighty feet high. The area inside the castle wall was called the bailey.
Some castles had several walls, with smaller circles within a larger circle or smaller squares within a larger square. The outer wall of a castle was usually topped with a battlement, a protective barrier with spaced openings through which defenders could shoot arrows at attackers. This wall sometimes was surrounded by a water-filled ditch called a moat, a defensive barrier to prevent the advance of soldiers, horses, and war machines.
At the main entrance was a drawbridge, which could be raised to prevent entry. Behind the drawbridge was a portcullis [port KUL ihs], or iron gate, which could be lowered to further secure the castle. Within the castle was a tower, or keep, to which castle residents could withdraw if an enemy breached the portcullis and other defenses. Over the entrance of many
156 castles was a projecting gallery with machicolations [muh CHIK uh LAY shuns], openings in the floor through which defenders could drop hot liquids or stones on attackers. In the living quarters of a castle, the king and his family dined in a great hall on an elevated platform called a dais [DAY ihs], and they slept in a chamber called a solar. The age of castles ended after the development of gunpowder and artillery fire enabled armies to breach thick castle walls instead of climbing over them. References to Ancient Mythology Shakespeare often alluded or referred directly to figures in Greek and Roman mythology, usually to make a description or comparison clear or vivid. For example, when Shakespeare compared a man to Hercules, he was suggesting that the man had great strength and fortitude. Following are examples of references to mythology in Hamlet.
Aeneas: Trojan soldier who fought against the Greeks in the Trojan War, a conflict that is the source of myths, legends, and some historical accounts. It is said to have taken place in the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. After the Greeks captured Troy, Aeneas and other Trojans escaped on a ship. When the ship stopped at Carthage in North Africa, Aeneas had a love affair with its queen, Dido, and told her what happened at Troy. He abandoned her and sailed on to Italy, where he was a pioneer in the development of ancient Rome. Heartbroken, Dido killed herself. Cyclops: One-eyed giant in Homer's Odyssey. Dido: See Aeneas. Hecate (3.2.196): A goddess of the moon, earth, and underworld who became associated with witchcraft and magic. Hecuba: Wife of Priam, king of Troy during the Trojan War. Hercules (1.2.157): Roman name of the Greek hero Heracles, known for his great strength. He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal. Hercules was famous for his his completion of twelve seemingly impossible labors, including slaying a lion and killing a nine-headed monster. Hymen (3.2.102): God of marriage. Hyperion (1.2.144): Father of the Titan sun god, Helios. Hyrcanian beast (2.2.304): Tiger known for great ferocity. Jove: Another name for Jupiter. Jupiter was the Roman name for Zeus, the king of the gods in Greek mythology. Lethe: In Greek mythology, the river of forgetfulness in Hades. Mars: Roman name for the Greek god of war, Ares. Nemean lion: Lion killed by Hercules. Neptune: Roman name for the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. Niobe: Woman who bragged to the goddess Leto that she had six sons and six daughters. Leto had only two children, the god Apollo and the goddess Artemis, known as Diana in Roman mythology. Because of Niobe's boastfulness, Apollo killed her sons, Diana killed her daughters, and Jupiter (Zeus) turned her into a mass of stone on Mount Sipylus (in present-day Turkey). The block of stone cried tears ceaselessly as Niobe wept for her dead children. Phoebus (3.2.102): Apollo, god of medicine, music, prophecy, poetry, and the sun. When spoken of as the sun god, he is usually referred to as Phoebus or Phoebus Apollo. Priam (2.2.303): King of Troy during the Trojan War. Pyrrhus (2.2.304): Son of the Greek soldier Achilles, the greatest warrior in the Trojan War and the most complete and terrifying warrior in all of ancient mythology. Pyrrhus was among the
157 soldiers hiding in the belly of the Trojan horse. satyr (1.2.144): Minor deity that inhabited forests. It had horns and pointed ears, the head and trunk of a man, and the legs of a goat. It was a follower of the god of wine, Dionysus (Roman name: Bacchus), and engaged in merrymaking and lechery. Tellus (3.2.103): Roman name for Gaea, the Greek goddess of the earth. Trojan Horse: Gigantic wooden horse constructed by the Greeks during the Trojan War and left before the gates of Troy. The Greeks presented it as a gift to the Trojans after pretending to abandon the battlefield. After the Trojans pulled the trophy inside the city walls, Greek warriors concealed in the belly of the horse descended during the night and opened the gates to Greeks hiding outside. Surprising the sleeping Trojans, the Greeks easily captured and burned Troy, slaughtering many of its inhabitants. Vulcan (3.2.48 ): Roman name for Hephaestus, the god of fire and the forge who made armor in his smithy on Mount Olympus. How Shakespeare Prepared Manuscripts Writing Tool: Quill Dipped in Ink A quill was the hollow, rigid shaft of a bird’s feather. The word “pen” is derived from the Latin name for “feather”—“penna.” Shakespeare and other writers of his day used a variety of quills that they dipped in an ink container (inkwell) on a stand (standish) that held all the writing materials. If a writer’s pocket lacked jingle, he invested in a goose quill. If he could afford something better, he invested in a swan quill. Writers or artists who needed quills to produce fine lines purchased crow quills. Quills from ducks, eagles, turkeys, hawks and owls also served as “word processors,” producing plays, poems, and sometimes revolution.
Quills were the writing instruments of choice between AD 500 and AD 1850. (In the ancient world, writers used a variety of other instruments to write history, literature, announcements, bureaucratic records, and so on. These instruments included shaped twigs or branches that impressed words into clay, mallet-driven chisels that etched words in stone, brushes that wrote on pottery and other smooth surfaces —such as plaster and animal skins—sharpened bone or metal that inscribed words on wax surfaces, and sharpened reed stems dipped in ink that wrote on papyrus, an Egyptian water plant that was dried and pressed to make thin sheets suitable for receiving impressions. The introduction of the quill in the 500s—an event recorded by St. Isidore, a Spanish theologian—greatly eased the task of writers, much as personal computers did when they replaced typewriters in the last half of the twentieth century.) Lighting: Daylight, Candlelight, Oil Lamps Shakespeare probably tried to do most of his writing during the day, perhaps near a window, because writing at night required lit candles or an oil lamp. Candles were expensive. A writer could easily spend a day's earnings or more on candlelight illuminating the first draft of a poem or a soliloquy in a play. The alternative—oil lamps—gave off smoke and unpleasant odors. And they, too, required a pretty penny to buy and fuel, and maintain.
However, if Shakespeare attempted to confine all of his writing to mornings and afternoons, he probably failed. After all, as a playwright and an actor, he had to appear for the daytime rehearsals and performances of his works. Like people today, he had a "nine-to-five job" that probably forced him to moonlight. Also, passages in his plays suggest that he could have been something of an insomniac addicted to "burning the candle at both ends." In his book
158 Shakespeare: the Biography (New York: Doubleday, 2005), Peter Ackroyd speculates that as a result of his various employments in the theatre, [Shakespeare] was obliged to write at night; there are various references in the plays to "oil-dried lamps," to candles, and to "the smoakie light" that is "fed with stinking Tallow" (Page 273). Word Choice and Spelling No official English dictionaries existed in Shakespeare's time. Therefore, he was free to use spellings and meanings that did not agree with accepted spellings and meanings. He could also choose from among words imported from Italy, France, and other countries by seafaring traders, soldiers, tourists, and adventurers.
When words did not exist to express his thoughts, Shakespeare made up his own—hundreds of them. Many of his neologisms are now in common use around the world. Jeffrey McQuain and Stanley Malless, authors of Coined by Shakespeare (Merriam-Webster, 1998), list numerous words originated by Shakespeare, including bedroom, eyeball, generous, investment, madcap, obscene, radiance, torture, unreal, and varied.
Hundreds of words used by Shakespeare have changed meanings or connotations over time. For example, "Fellow, which has friendly overtones for us, was insulting in Shakespeare's day. Phrases that were metaphors to him have often lost their coloring with us: Since we seldom play the game of bowls, we overlook the concrete implications of 'There's the rub' (an impediment on the green)."—Levin, Harry. "General Introduction." The Riverside Shakespeare. G. Blakemore Evans, textual ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 9.) Sources and Settings To write his plays, Shakespeare borrowed from history, Greek and Roman mythology, and literary works, then used his genius to enliven histories and myths and improve on plots, reworking them and sometimes adding new characters.
Because settings on an Elizabethan stage were spare, Shakespeare had to write descriptions of them into his dialogue. This handicap proved to be a boon, for it motivated Shakespeare to write some of his best descriptions.
Whenever place or time mattered [in a Shakespeare play], some references to them could be introduced into the dialogue, and if special atmospheric or dramatic effects were needed, they could be created by the poet's pen. Hence, it is to the Elizabethan stage that we are indebted in great measure for the exquisite descriptive poetry of Shakespeare. Such conditions, moreover, encouraged a greater imaginative cooperation on the part of the audience in the production of a play, and this active participation was further increased by the informality of the platform stage. With such intimacy, soliloquies, asides, and long set speeches are natural and not absurd as they are in modern theatre.—Watt, Homer A., and Karl J. Holzknecht. Outlines of Shakespeare's Plays. New York: Barnes, 1947 (page 8).
Drafts of Plays and Censorship
159 Shakespeare's manuscripts had to be submitted for approval. After writing out a manuscript, Shakespeare (or a professional scribe) made a copy of it in which obvious errors were corrected. An acting company could alter a playwright's manuscript with or without his approval. It is possible that editors improved some of Shakespeare's manuscripts. It is also possible that they weakened manuscripts. The original manuscript was called the "foul papers" because of the blots and crossouts on it. The new version was called a "fair copy." It was submitted to the Master of Revels, a government censor who examined it for material offensive to the crown. If approved, the fair copy became known as a "prompt copy," which the actors used to memorize their lines. The acting company bought the prompt copy, gaining sole possession of it, after paying the writer. The company then wrote in the stage directions (exit, enter, etc.). John Russell Brown, author of Shakespeare and His Theatre (New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1982, page 31) discusses the circumstances under which the censor forbade the staging of one of Shakespeare's plays:
At a time of unrest, when the Earl of Essex was challenging the Queen's [Elizabeth's] authority and armed bands terrorized the streets of London, the Chamberlain's Men [Shakespeare's company] were forbidden to perform Richard II, a play already licensed and performed, because it contained a scene in which a king is compelled to renounce his crown; in 1601, the queen's counsellors believed that this might encourage her enemies and spark off a revolution. The theatre was taken very seriously by the authorities and was allowed to deal with political issues only if they did not refer too obviously to current affairs or seditious ideas, but were set, safely, in an earlier century or, better still, in ancient Rome or foreign countries.
No original copy, or foul papers, of a Shakespeare play has survived to the present day except for a few pages of Sir Thomas More, partly written by Shakespeare. Fredson Bowers explains why the manuscripts were lost:
No Shakespeare manuscript is in existence. This is not surprising: they were not collectors' items. Printers would have thrown them away after setting type from them; almost twenty years passed in the Commonwealth with no public performances of plays, and the manuscripts of the disbanded theatrical companies were completely dispersed; the Great Fire of London must have destroyed some. Indeed, only a relative handful of the hundreds and hundreds of Elizabethan plays have come down to us in manuscript form, and it is our bad luck that so few of these are by major dramatists. None is Shakespeare's if we except the good possibility that one scene in the manuscript of the unacted Sir Thomas More is in his hand.—Bowers, Fredson. ''What Shakespeare Wrote.'' Approaches to Shakespeare, by Norma Rabkin. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964 (page 266). Writing Format: Verse, Prose, and Poetry Shakespeare wrote his plays partly in verse and partly in prose, freely alternating between the two in the same acts and scenes. It is not unusual, in fact, for one character to address a second character in verse while the second character responds in prose. Sometimes, the same character speaks in verse in one moment and in prose in another.
Verse is a collection of lines that follow a regular, rhythmic pattern. In Shakespeare, this pattern is usually iambic pentameter, a rhythm scheme in which each line has five pairs of syllables. Each pair consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Verse resembles
160 poetry. Prose, on the other hand, is the everyday language of conversation, letters, lectures, sermons, newspaper articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia articles. Prose has no rhyme or metric scheme.
Why did Shakespeare mix verse (including poetry) and prose in his plays? That is a question that inevitably occupies anyone studying Shakespeare’s writing techniques. Before considering that question, the Shakespeare analyst first needs to learn how to identify the verse and prose passages in a play. That task is easy. Here’s why:
In most modern editions of the plays, each line in multi-line verse passages begins with a capital letter, and each line in multi-line prose passages begins with a small letter except the first line or a line beginning with the opening word of a sentence. In addition, verse passages have a shortened right margin, but prose passages have a full right margin. Following are examples of these visual cues in verse and prose passages from Hamlet:
Verse Passage Spoken by Hamlet
Look here, upon this picture, and on this; The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. See, what a grace was seated on this brow; Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself, An eye like Mars, to threaten and command, A station like the herald Mercury New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill, A combination and a form indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal, To give the world assurance of a man. (3.4.63-72)
Prose Passage Spoken by Hamlet
Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing. (5.1.80)
Now, then, what about single lines—those spoken in conversation as questions or replies? They are in prose if one line has no paired rhyming line or is too abrupt to contain a rhythmic or rhyming pattern. The following exchange between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth contains such short lines.
HORATIO: Friends to this ground. MARCELLUS: And liegemen to the Dane. FRANCISCO: Give you good-night. MARCELLUS: O! farewell, honest soldier:
161 Who hath reliev’d you? FRANCISCO: Bernardo has my place. Give you good-night. [Exit. [Exit is a stage direction indicating that one character leaves the stage—in this case, Marcellus.] MARCELLUS: Holla! Bernardo! BERNARDO: Say, What! is Horatio there? HORATIO: A piece of him. BERNARDO: Welcome, Horatio; welcome, good Marcellus. MARCELLUS: What! has this thing appear’d again to-night? BERNARDO: I have seen nothing. (1.1.19-31)
But what of the multi-line passages? Why are some in verse and others in prose? The answer some Shakespeare commentators provide—an answer that is simplistic and not wholly accurate —is that Shakespeare reserved verse for noble, highborn characters and prose for common, lowborn characters. It is true that royalty and nobility often speak in verse and that peasants and commoners often speak in prose. But it is also true that noble characters sometimes speak in prose and that lowborn characters, like the witches in Macbeth, often speak in verse. Why, then, does Shakespeare alternate between verse and prose?
Shakespeare used verse to do the following:
(1) Present a play with an elegant format that was a tradition of the times. He also used verse to express deep emotion requiring elevated language. Because nobles and commoners were both capable of experiencing profound emotion, both expressed their emotions in verse from time to time.
(2) Make wise and penetrating observations or reflect in soliloquies on one's response or reaction to conditions and circumstances. For example, in the following soliloquy, Hamlet reflects on his failure to act decisively to gain revenge against Claudius. He chastises himself for not being like those who act without delay even on trivial matters.
How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. Sure he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and god-like reason To fust in us unus’d. Now, whe’r it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on the event, A thought, which, quarter’d, hath but one part wisdom, And ever three parts coward, I do not know Why yet I live to say ‘This thing’s to do;’ Sith I have cause and will and strength and means To do ’t. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
162 Witness this army of such mass and charge Led by a delicate and tender prince, Whose spirit with divine ambition puff’d Makes mouths at the invisible event, Exposing what is mortal and unsure To all that fortune, death and danger dare, Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour’s at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep, while, to my shame, I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men, That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, Which is not tomb enough and continent To hide the slain? O! from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! (4.4.37-71)
(3) Present a poem within a play. Here is a poem recited by Hamlet after Claudius, guilt-stricken by the performance of The Mouse-Trap in the second scene of the third act, stops the play and abruptly walks out.
Why, let the stricken deer go weep, The hart ungalled play; For some must watch, while some must sleep: So runs the world away. (3.2.206-209)
And here is a poem sung by the First Clown (first gravedigger) as he shovels dirt while Hamlet and Horatio look on.
In youth, when I did love, did love, Methought it was very sweet, To contract, O! the time, for-a my behove, O! methought there was nothing meet. (5.1.29)
(4) Suggest order and exactitude. A character who speaks in precise rhythms and patterns is a character with a tidy brain that plans ahead and executes actions on schedule.
Shakespeare used prose to do the following:
(1) Express ordinary, undistinguished observations coming from the surface of the mind rather than its active, ruminating interior.
(2) Make quick, one-line replies such as “Ay, my lord” that are the stuff of day-to-day
163 conversations.
(3) Present auditory relief for audiences (or visual relief for readers) from the intellectual and connotative density of some verse passages.
(4) Suggest madness or senility, as in Shakespeare's play King Lear. Lear shifts from measured verse to rambling, aimless, slapdash prose to reflect the deterioration of his mind. Prose lacks the regular beat and meter of verse passages.
(5) Depict the rambling, desultory path of conversation from a tongue loosened by alcohol.
(6) Poke fun at characters who lack the wit to versify their lines.
(7) Demonstrate that prose can have merits as a literary medium. In Shakespeare’s day, verse (and its elegant cousin, poetry) was the sine qua non of successful writing. As an innovator, Shakespeare may have wanted to tout the merits of prose. Thus, on occasion, he infused his plays with prose passages so graceful and thought-provoking that they equaled, and sometimes even surpassed, the majesty of verse or poetry passages. Such a prose passage is the following, spoken in Hamlet by the title character:
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so. (2.2.250)
Blank Verse and Iambic Pentameter Under Writing Format: Verse, Prose, and Poetry, you read that Shakespeare wrote his plays in verse, prose, and poetry and that he used a rhythm format called iambic pentameter. When his verse lines in iambic pentameter do not rhyme, they are said to be in blank verse.
To understand iambic pentameter, you first need to understand the term iamb. An iamb is a unit of rhythm consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Consider the words annoy, fulfill, pretend, regard, and serene. They are all iambs because the first syllable of each word is unstressed (or unaccented) and the second syllable is stressed (or accented): an NOY, ful FILL, pre TEND, re GARD, and ser ENE. Iambs can also consist of one word with a single unstressed (unaccented) syllable followed by another word with a single stressed (accented) syllable (example: the KING). In addition, they may consist of a final unstressed syllable of one word followed by an initial stressed syllable of the next word. The following lines from Hamlet demonstrate the use of iambs. The stressed words or syllables are boldfaced:
He took me by the wrist and held me hard, Then goes he to the length of all his arm, And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow, He falls to such perusal of my face (2.1.99-102)
164 When a line has five iambs, it is in iambic pentameter. Each line in the passage above has five iambs. For example, the iambs in the first line are (1) He took, (2) me by, (3) the wrist, (4) and held, (5) me hard.
The prefix pent- (in pentameter) means five. The suffix -meter refers to the recurrence of a rhythmic unit (also called a foot). Thus, because the above lines contain iambs, they are iambic. Because they contain five iambs (five feet) they are said to be in iambic pentameter. Finally, because the words at the end of each line do not rhyme, the lines are said to be in unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse.
Blank verse was modeled after ancient Greek and Latin verse. It was first used in 1514 in Renaissance Italy by Francesco Maria Molza. In 1539, Italian Giovanni Rucellai was the first poet to label the unrhymed iambic pentameter in his poetry as blank verse (versi sciolti in Italian). Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, first used blank verse in English in his translation of Vergil's epic Latin poem The Aeneid. The first English drama in blank verse was Gorboduc, staged in 1561, by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. It was about an early British king. Later in the same century, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare turned blank verse into high art when they used it in their plays. Marlowe used the verse form in Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine, and Edward II. Shakespeare used it in all of his plays. In Germany, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) popularized blank verse in his long poem Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise), published in 1779. Publication of a Play The publishing industry in Shakespeare's England operated under the control of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, a trade organization which the government established and supervised in order to guard against the publication of subversive books or books unduly critical of the government. If a play met government standards—that is, if it did not attempt to inflame the people against the crown—a publisher could print and sell the play. Authors of plays often had misgivings about committing their work to print, as the following quotation points out.
The plays of the first professional companies [in Shakespeare's day] were written mainly by actors themselves. . . . The players were reluctant to allow their dramas to be printed. They apparently thought that if a play could be read, few people would wish to see it acted. They may also have feared that their plays, if printed, would be appropriated for acting by rival companies. This reluctance explains the fact that only eighteen of Shakespeare's plays were printed during his lifetime. They were published in small pamphlets called quartos, which sold for only sixpence a piece.—Alden, Raymond MacDonald. A Shakespeare Handbook. Revised and enlarged by Oscar James Campbell. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries, 1970, page 74. Source of this information: http://shakespearestudyguide.com/Hamlet.html#Hamlet
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