Lessons, Week 6, 24 28 February 2014

English 1302 Lessons Spring 2014 Week 6, 24-28 February 2014 Drama: A Man for all Seasons You are not required to believe in any point of view promulgated by Thomas More, Henry VIII, the delightfully wicked Cardinal Wolsey, Robert Bolt, Mr. Bolt’s play, Fred Zinneman’s 1966 film version, Charlton Heston’s 1988 film version, or me, and you will note that the test questions and essay prompts are brilliantly neutral. We’ll watch the movie. I also have the play as printed for you to access at your convenience; there is only one copy, so share. You will be relieved to know that I also have for you a big ol’ packet of materials for you to work through, including a test and an essay! The fun never ends! But for now, though, let’s defer that and begin observing the flickering images on an Orwellian telescreen. A quote from SparkNotes (SparkNotes is not entirely reliable; the editor later makes an allusion to predestination, in which neither Thomas More nor Robert Bolt believed or ever indicated they believed). Note the symbolism of the sea, as per “The Seafarer”: And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you—where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?...This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast—man’s laws, not God’s—and if you cut them down—and you’re just the man to do it—d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? - I.vii After Roper accuses More of respecting man’s law over God’s, More delivers this defense of his actions. Though More believes in the afterlife, he also recognizes that he has no right and no means to make judgments that are better left to God. More respects man’s law as the best available means of protecting against evil, even if it lets people like Rich off the hook from time to time. Bolt explains in his preface that he uses seafaring and water metaphors to signify the uncertainty of the great beyond, the moral universe that Roper aims to navigate. In this passage, More’s vision of a stable, lawful earthly existence is signified by images of the forest, and a lawless earth is signified by images of a barren wasteland. M. Hall, HSG English 1302 Drama A Man for all Seasons Resources Remember that encyclopedia and dictionary references are never cited in a scholarly paper. Neither are SparkNotes, Cliff’s Notes, or (ich) Schmoop. Employ serious sources only in your writing. You needn’t look up all this, or, indeed, any of it, but all the entries are brief and could prove useful to your understanding of the play. http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/manforallseasons http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/amanforallseasons/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060665/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095578/ (Fun fact – this is the 1988 Charlton Heston version. All the music in this film was composed by King Henry VIII.) http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/59804 (This is a brief biography of Robert Bolt, who was raised a Methodist, became a Communist, and then apparently lost all faith. Possibly this is why he was fascinated by Thomas More.) Both film versions should be available for free on the Orwellian telescreen.

Angelina email and BlackBoard

Dear Students:


Please be advised that my Angelina email has not worked in weeks, and now BlackBoard gives only a variety of error messages.


Thus, if you wish to contact me, please use my personal email address, mhall46184@aol.com.  For lessons and notes, access angryverbs.BlogSpot.com.

Lessons, Week 5, 17-21 February 2014

English 1302

Lessons

Spring 2014

 

Week 5, 17-21 February 2014

 

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure yr. sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one.  Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when more concrete ones will do.  If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”
4. …Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing.  I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified.  Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description.  You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers “Please will you do my job for me.”
5. Don’t use words too big for the subject.  Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

 

• C. S. Lewis, Letters to Children, 1956
   
  John Keats: “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and “To Autumn,” which also is an ode.  So what is an ode?  That’s a good test question.
   
  William Wordsworth – we read and discussed “The World is too Much With Us”  last week.  We’ll look at his background and “Lines Compose on Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1902.”  Next week we’ll read “Tintern Abbey.”
   
  I have for you a number of handouts to read, re-read, and enter into your notebook: 
   

1. A very good encyclopaedia entry (which I found on the photocopier) on the Romantics
2. A handout on prosody by wonderful, brilliant Dr. Barbara Carr of Stephen F. Austin State University
3. “Old Mr. Hall’s Very, Very, Basic, Basic Introduction to Sonnets” by, well, me
4. “Attitudes on Romanticism” by wonderful, brilliant Dr. Carr
5. A brief synopsis of Jane Campion’s Bright Star, a flawed bio-flick about John Keats and Fanny Brawne.

 

To conclude this week, we will enjoy a great celebration of learning.  I will be on site earlier than usual, D.V., probably by 0830, and you are welcome to come early and begin the test…um…merriment.

Weather, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

If Jasper Schools are out, we're out.



If Angelina is out, we're out.



If neither of those entities calls school out, we are in.



When driving, always be careful anyway, regardless of the weather.

Lessons, Week 4, 10-14 February 2014

English 1302

Lessons

Spring 2014

 

Week 4, 10-14 February 2014

 

Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific-and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise
Silent upon a peak in Darien

― John Keats

 

In anticipation of this week’s jollifications please read the longish handout on Keats.  Re-read it.  Mark it with your pen, pencil, or high-lighter-thingie-pen.  Read it a third time.  In addition to “Chapman’s Homer,” which we suffered enjoyed (remember always that teachers are BORING but Keats is fun) last week, we will dissect “Bright Star,” “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” and “Autumn.”

 

Consider the brevity of Keats’ life, and the pathos of his sure knowledge of mortality which informs his work.

 

Read / learn / know the following terms and expressions, all a small part of the equipage of an educated young man or woman:

 

Romanticism (NOT a reference to porno-gothic bodice-ripper novels)

Enlightenment

Negative Capability and the disappearance of the speaker (a poem is about

 something, not about the speaker’s interpretation or perception)

Beauty / the contemplation of beauty

Industrial Revolution

The odious Napoleon, and how he and his murderous ambitions inform the

           Romantics

Greek independence from the Turkish Empire

The inevitability of death

Transcendence

Art as perceived through the five senses

Music / poetry / the immortality (not really, of course) of art

Nature

Similes

Metaphors

The fascination of the Romantic poets with the ancient world

Sonnet

          14 lines

          Iambic pentameter

          Rhyme schemes

          Octet and sestet

          12 and 2

          Volta

          Question / proposition

          Answer / resolution

Conceit (extended metaphor, not a ‘tude)

Enjambment

Alliteration

Poetic diction

Ode

Personification

Lyric

 

From: http://www.how-to-study.com/study-skills-articles/preparing-to-study.asp -

 

 

Preparing to Study: A Good Study Place
You need a good study place to be prepared to study. You should be able to answer YES to all of the following questions: Is my Study Place available to me whenever I need it? Your Study Place does you little good if you cannot use it when you need it. If you are using a Study Place that you must share with others for any reason, work out a schedule so that you know when you can use it.   Is my Study Place free from interruptions? It is important to have uninterrupted study time. You may have to hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door or take the phone off the hook.   Is my Study Place free from distractions? Research shows that most students study best in a quiet environment. If you find that playing a stereo or TV improves your mood, keep the volume low.   Does my Study Place contain all the study materials I need? Be sure your Study Place includes reference sources and supplies such as pens and pencils, paper, ruler, calculator, and whatever else you might need. If you use a computer for your schoolwork, it should be in your Study Place. Does my Study Space contain a large enough desk or table? While working on an assignment or studying for a test, use a desk or table that is large enough to hold everything you need. Allow enough room for writing and try to avoid clutter.   Does my Study Place have enough storage space? You need enough room to store your study materials. Be sure you have enough storage space to allow you to keep your desktop or other work surface clear of unnecessary materials that can get in the way.   Does my Study Place have a comfortable chair? A chair that is not comfortable can cause discomfort or pain that will interfere with your studying. A chair that is too comfortable might make you sleepy. Select a chair in which you can sit for long periods while maintaining your attention.   Does my Study Place have enough light? The amount of light you need depends on what you are doing. The important thing is that you can clearly see what you need to see without any strain or discomfort.   Does my Study Place have a comfortable temperature? If your Study Place is too warm, you might become sleepy. If it is too cold, your thinking may slow down and become unclear. Select a temperature at which your mind and body function best.

Attendance

4 February 2014 Angryverbs.blogspot.com BlackBoard Mrs. Clark Mr. Gillis Attendance Remember that Angelina requires the instructor to drop you – yes, you – from class if you miss three classes in a row or four cumulatively for the semester. This is in the catalogue and the syllabus, and you have been told. The concept of excused and unexcused absences does not obtain in college. If you miss a class you may make it up by attending, within a week, a class with the other section. This is pretty dodgy and might not be acceptable to Angelina College, but no one has said no to it yet. This is the best I can do for you. You cannot be surprised that you have a class schedule.

Lessons, Week 3, 3-7 February 2014

English 1302 Lessons Spring 2014 Week 3, 3-7 February 2014 …the dread memory of classrooms swollen into resentful silence while the English teacher invites us to ‘respond’ to a poem…It brings it all back, doesn’t it? All the red-faced, blood-pounding humiliation and embarrassment of being singled out for comment. (Stephen Fry, The Ode Less Travelled) 1. Lessons are cumulative; frequently refer to previous lessons, angryverbs.blogspot.com, and your own notes and work. 2. Finish your questionnaire, take-home test, and expository essay. 3. The Sonnet. I feel the excitement! Handout: Rachel Richardson’s essay on the sonnet, © Poetry Foundation. This is quite useful, but I must disagree with her allegation that a sonnet can be 13 or 15 lines. A sonnet, by definition, is a rhymed poem of 14 lines in iambic pentameter. There is no law regulating this, just as there is no law forbidding someone to refer to his (the pronoun is gender-neutral) 1956 Plymouth as a new Mercedes-Benz. Similarly, someone in a game of footie whose attempt at a goal skew laterally and conks out a cheerleader on the sidelines. The weak phrase “But it’s a goal to ME” is no more accurate than an amorphous mess of words flung carelessly onto a sheet of paper can be defended with “But it’s a poem to ME.” Note Miss Richardson’s very brief biography, which says she “earned a BA at Dartmouth,” not that she “got her BA.” If you earn a degree, you earn it; you do not “get” it. Further, avoid the use of “my” in this context. Yes, it is your degree because it is not someone else’s degree; still, the “my” is quite overused in our I, I, I, me, me, me culture. Instead of saying “I will get my degree,” say “I will earn a degree.” 4. “How to Read Poetry When your Teacher Assigns it for Homework.” Handout. Sourcing this is interesting; when I copied this several years ago I inadvertently cut out the author and copyright owner. When I looked it up on the Orwellian telescreen today I found the document at a location which I had never seen before. This suggests to me that someone is cutting and pasting this as his (the pronoun is gender-neutral) own work, which is unethical and illegal. I apologize to the original copyright holder, and will try to sort it out. This is an excellent discussion of what poetry is, and I will babble discourse on it. You should read all, well, readings at least three times. 5. A short glossary (a glossary is a short list of useful words and their definitions; this glossary is shorter than short) of poetic terms. © SparkNotes, Poetry Classics, Spark Publishing: New York: 2006. 6. John Keats, biography and several short poems from Poetry Classics. Take notes, either on these sheets, in your journal, or in your notebook. But however well or badly we were taught English literature, how many of us have ever been shown how to write our own poems? Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to rhyme. Don’t bother with metre and verses. Just express yourself. Pour out your feelings. Suppose you had never played the piano in your life. Don’t worry, just life the lid and express yourself. Pour out your feelings. We have all heard children do just that and we have all wanted to treat them with great violence as a result. Yet this is the only instruction we are ever likely to get in the art of writing poetry. (Stephen Fry)