John Donne

Ok everyone!  This blog is a focus on the magnificent work of John Donne.  Please choose one poem by John Donne that we have not studied.  Copy the poem on the blog so we can all refer to it as you discuss your response to it.  I am not asking for a formal analysis but you have the freedom to respond as you wish, knowing that you are now more familiar with Donne and his work.  Englighten us.  No research, please.

John Donne article by Linda Gregerson

Read the article by Linda Gregerson titled "On John Donne."  Is she genuine in her love of Donne's poetry?  Evaluate her choice of language in using phrases such as "delicious adventure....[his] syntax was a high wire act.....his metaphors were intricate and wild and stretched to outrageousness.....his misogyny....sexy."  What is your response to Gregerson's break down of Donne's "musicality" and "rhetoric" in the examples given?  Finally, how do Donne's religious poems capture the author the most?

The Nihilism of Dostoevsky

Read the handout given that is titled "The Nihilism of Dostoevsky".  Read the first section and the sections titled "Political Nihilism" and "Philosophical Nihilism" - the last two excerpts are optional readings.  Please make a response to both the "Political" and the "Philosophical" Nihilism sections.  Be sure to separate each section with a space and title each section so readers can clearly distinguish each of the responses.  Your responses should be thoughtful insights that also recollect specific points from the novel, Crime and Punishment.

Psychological Look at Crime and Punishment

Read Kevin Thompson's short article titled "Review: A Psychological Look at Crime and Punishment."  You can find it at 

http://www.psychalive.org/review-a-psychological-look-at-crime-and-punishment/

Write your response to Thompson's article.  Agree. Disagree. Argue any points made in the article.  Add your own perceptive comments to engage your audience into the conversation.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Please respond to the following quotation for your blog due November 23rd:

"To study the meaning of man and of life — I am making significant progress here. I have faith in myself. Man is a mystery: if you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out, then do not say that you have wasted your time. I occupy myself with this mystery, because I want to be a man."

-- Fyodor Dostoevsky from personal correspondence (1839)

Satire in The Misanthrope

Focus on the use of satire in Moliere's The Misanthrope.  How do the characters contribute to the definition that says "satire" is "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule" that "expose[s] and criticize[s] people's stupidity or vices."

August Wilson's Fences - realism or not?

In drama, realism is the attempt to reproduce or imitate the sights and sounds of real life, insofar as these can be represented on a stage. In life, realism is looking at the world with good judgment and clear vision. How realistic is Fences?  Is Troy a tragic figure, a hero, a villain or a combination of these types? Is he a sympathetic character?  Explain your responses.

Blake's "The Lamb" and "The Tyger"

About half of the critics say that the question, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" is rhetorical, intended by Blake to be answered "Yes" - The creator of the lamb was also the creator of the "Tiger" and he looked on his work and found it "good." The power of the poem is the power with which it expresses this mysterious paradox in the nature of God, creator of both the rainbow and the whirlwind.    The other half of critics say that the question is unanswerable, and was not intended by Blake to be answered one way or the other - that Blake's poem is about the mystery and ambiguity of the universe, which is ultimately beyond man's understanding.  What do you think?  Be sure to support your response with some evidence from the poem.

Figurative Language

Your task this week is to choose a poem (or song) of your choice to illustrate the use of the figurative language we discussed in class.  Keep in mind that the simile and metaphor are common enough that students are more familiar with their usage.  Therefore, the challenge is to detect the use of metonymy or synecdoche in a poem or song.  Be selective.  Your discussion should highlight the use of figurative language and also you should indicate how this brings more depth or meaning to your selection.  Please also post a copy of the poem or song you are discussing.

Choose a SONG and have FUN

In the blog this week, choose a song that has some interesting lyrics - then work on the imagery and musical devices that it uses -  It is your decision on how to write this blog but that is the subject matter - now motivate and impress the rest of us!

Sensory imagery and Allusion

Your task this week is to choose either one or two poems to illustrate and discuss the imagery and allusion in the poem.  You may do imagery on one poem and allusion on another; or, you may find a poem that illustrates both.  Please choose poems that are not going to be covered in class.  Be sure to identify the genre of poetry in your discussion.  Also, in your explanation, explain what the poem/s evoke emotionally in you, if at all. Be sure to copy the poem/s here in your blog too for us to see.

Ripples

Read the following poem.    First, explain your response to the poem.  Are there any emotions evoked in you from the reading of this?  What is the occasion, in your opinion?  Does the poem remind you have a situation or an event in your life? Explain. Finally, attempt a short analysis (using words or phrases in quotations) of the poem.


                              Ripples

Shyly, I watch you in Life's
Treasured moment there,in nature's
Welcome waters, tossing line in eloquent
Fashion - in a sport of Solitude
Causing me to reflect on the paths we've taken
Each, separate in itself
Yet, in search for the same Peace.
Just like the river's rock
That stubbornly expects dancing
Ripples to move around it,
We, too, go through life
Moving around hearts of stone,
Cheating us from the steady
Flow in the stream of happiness.
A tugging on your line now
Makes me ponder how the hurts have
Pulled my heart strings and kept the
Ripples moving in a most unpredictable
Journey into Life's unknown wilderness.

A real-life character from Twelfth Night?

Choose a character from Twelfth Night and then choose a character from real life that is quite similar in in some way.  Make sure it is a person who most of us know: a famous sports person, movie start, TV personality, politician, etc.  When making the comparison, be sure to support your points with actions from the play and actions of the real life character.  Good Luck

Female Roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet

In an actual performance of Hamlet during the Elizabethan period, female roles like Ophelia and Gertrude would have been played by a male.  Imagine that.  By today's standards, it seems impossible that a male would be able to assume the role of a female and yet be able to capture the female's emotional nature.  As we reflect on the roles of Gertrude and Ophelia in the play, Hamlet, what emotions and other characteristics (such as a nurturing mother, a jilted lover, etc) are evident?  Provide examples by citing certain lines from the play that support your point.  In addition, do you believe that a male could perform the role of one of these females very effectively  today?  Explain.

The Many Faces of Hamlet

As we read Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, we discover that Hamlet has many faces to his personality.  He seems to be very passionate about his goals.  It is obvious that the deep love he had for his father is what motivates him to seek the truth about the Ghost's revelation that Claudius had killed his father.  Hamlet's disgust at his mother's eagerness to marry his uncle Cluudius so soon after his father's death is an area of contention with him.  Besides, Claudius was now King of Denmark, his father's role!  Hamlet was also indecisive.  He took a lengthy time in taking revenge against Claudius.  Hamlet was also ruthless by taking the lives of a number of characters before the end of the play.  So, who is the real Hamlet?  Your task is to compare this character to anyone you know in the sports world, in film or TV, or in politics.  It must be a famous person.  Write a blog explaining how Hamlet's characteristics resemble the person you have chosen.  Be sure you given examples to help support your choice.  Good Luck.

Common Themes in Shakespeare

There are numerous themes that are evoked in Shakespearean plays; these themes are generally universal, relating to the human condition through time and culture.  That is one of the reasons why students have always related and enjoyed reading Shakespeare's plays.  Your task in this first blog is to choose one of the listed themes and develop a discussion about the theme.  You may want to "define" the theme (be sure to cite any source you may use) first and then in the development of your discussion, use examples to illustrate the definition.

THEMES:     unrequited love,   revenge,    greed for power,   loss of innocence,   conflict,    order and disorder,    ambition

Your blog should be the length of about two pages.  Be sure to respond to at least two of your peer's postings.  Those should be at least 1/2 to 1 full page.