Wednesday, Same as Tuesday...

Today we had two more poetry presentations and inched forward with our look at the end of chapter 2 of Portrait.

Gotta Love that Modern Poetry

Today we started the day with two poetry presentations and wrapped up with a look at the end of chapter two of Portrait. More of both tomorrow.

Return

Today we began the day with a quiz on the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Portrait. After some discussion of the novel, I passed out the poetry homework and we drew presentation order. The poems and links are posted by period below. Remember that you are responsible for the poetry homework each night, starting with the poems for Monday over the weekend.

Poetry Project Audience Homework
Each night you should study the poem(s) that will be presented the following day in class by answering the questions below.  Poems should be in Sound and Sense or will be given out in class, but are usually available online at the HW blog as well.  Do all the assignments on the same paper, heading each assignment with the date and the poem’s title.

1. Summarize the plot of this poem.  Briefly, what is it about?
2. Note a few literary techniques which stand out in this poem.

Period 6 Poems

Monday

• After Everything - Sandra Cisneros
• The Naked and the Nude - Robert Graves

Tuesday

• You're - Sylvia Plath
• You shall above all things... - e.e. cummings

Wednesday

• To the Mercy Killers - Dudley Randall
• Morning at the Window - T.S. Eliot

Thursday

• Snow - Louis MacNeice
• Mid-Term Break - Seamus Heaney

Friday

• I Too Sing America - Langston Hughes
• That Night When Joy Began - W.H. Auden

Period 2 Poems

Monday

• In Just - e.e. cummings
• Leda and the Swan - W.B. Yeats

Tuesday

• Slipping - Joan Aleshire
• Africa - Maya Angelou

Wednesday

• Morning Song - Sylvia Plath
• As the Mist Leaves No Scar - Leonard Cohen

Thursday

• Kitchenette Building - Gwendolyn Brooks
• Ode to the Maggot - Yusef Komunyakaa

Friday

• Woman - Nikki Giovanni
• Metaphors - Sylvia Plath

The Second Coming

Thursday and Friday were spent mostly with Yeats' "The Second Coming." We did some initial analysis and discussion, looked at MC question types, practiced on some student-written MC questions, and then students wrote their own MC questions.
We wrapped up the week by looking at the next (and last) poetry project. Students had time to form groups and start looking for poems. Wednesday through Thursday of next week will be work days. Presentations begin a week from Monday (on 3/28).

Wrapping Up Loose Ends

Today we wrapped and recapped the Portrait intro as necessary. Then we finished up the work with the Icarus poems from a few days ago and I collected that.

Into the Portrait...

Today I lectured for most of the period on James Joyce, Irish politics and history, and the novel. Check the assignments at moodle.
Chapter 1 and the chapter one motif assignment at moodle due 3/21.

We Waited for Godot

Today we had the PC that we should have had Friday. Own (or at least have access to) Joyce's Portrait by tomorrow.

The Icarus Myth

Today, after briefly wrapping up Godot, we began our preparations for Joyce with a look at the Icarus myth and two poetic treatments of it by Auden and Sexton.

Act 2

Today we finished (mostly) Godot presentations. We will address any final questions on the play tomorrow before our Joyce introduction. PC and SG on Friday.

Presentations Begin

Today we got about halfway through act 2 in both periods. We should finish tomorrow.

Work Day

Today we had time to work on Godot presentations which will begin tomorrow.

Finally Some Discussion

 Today we began with a quiz and brief discussion about act 2 of WFG. The remainder of the period was spent examining Eliot's "The Hollow Men." More Godot tomorrow.

There's Never Enough Time...

Today, after a quiz on act 1 of WFG, we continued our work on "The Hollow Men."

Eliot's "The Hollow Men"

Today with started with some discussion of Waiting for Godot and then moved on to the assignment below.


Read T.S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men" and do the following:

1. ANNOTATE the poem. Mark features that stand out (e.g. repetition, rhyme, stanzification, alliteration, consonance, enjambment, syllables, figurative language, etc.), note difficult words or lines, indicate questions or comments, etc.
2. SUMMARIZE the poem in a sentence or two. Look up words and allusions if needed.
3. Explain the TONE of the poem in a sentence or two. Use our list of tone words if you’d like.
4. Explain the THEME of the poem in a sentence or two.
5. Carefully answer the questions below. Refer to your work above and quote the poem where appropriate to support your responses.

• How does Eliot show the emptiness of the person(s) in the poem? What images does he use to suggest emptiness?
• What is Eliot's statement about life in this poem? How valid is his statement for today's world?
• What other aspects of the poem stand out (think structure, figurative language, etc)? How? Why? To what effect?