Blog 11: Shakespeare's Language

Before we begin reading Act 1 of William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew as a class, it is important for all of you to become familiar with the playwright's language.

Please answer the following questions in your own blog:
1. What is "blank verse"? Give an example of it from your book.

2. Interpret these Shakespearean lines using your Shakespeare Packet: Reading Shakespeare's English:
a. "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" [R&J]
b. "Thou art more lovely and more temperate." [Sonnets XVIII]
c. "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well." [Macbeth]
d. "Who wooed in haste, and means to wed in leisure." [Taming of the Shrew]

3. How many creative Shakespearean insults can you come up with? Add "thou" or "thine" to the front of the lists picked up on your way in: "Thou+Column A+Column B+Column C!"
Post your BEST Shakespearean insult as a "comment" below.

Blog 10: TKAM, Point of View at the Trial

To Kill A Mockingbird Point of View - Trial
Very often, different people view the same event in different ways. If your team had just won a state championship, you would probably describe the game differently than someone would from the losing team. Two drivers involved in an auto accident would have different perspectives about what had caused the accident.
Writing Topic
Select the role of someone who was involved with or someone who observed Tom Robinson's trial. Write an account of the trial from that person's point of view.
- - - a member of the black community sitting in the balcony

- - - a member of the jury who believed that Tom was innocent but was afraid to go against the other members of the jury

- - - a newspaper reporter from New York who was covering the trial

- - - Judge Taylor in his later years writing his memoirs

- - - Reverend Sykes

- - - Atticus writing in his journal

- - - Miss Maudie Atkinson

- - - Aunt Alexander
Make sure that what you write is consistent with the character whose point of view you have assumed.

Example:
A Sermon by Rev. Sykes Written by: Oliver Orange
An Account of Tom Robinson's Trial from the Point of View of Reverend Sykes
My brother and sisters, it is a dark day for Maycomb County. Some of us knew Tom was going to lose, but we still had hope. As one of my sisters once said, "Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up." So my friends, we must look up. Tom knows, and we know, Tom did not commit this sinful crime. I look at the Ewells with pity. As Tom said in court,"I felt sorry for her." These aren't the words of a hate filled angry man; these are the words of a wonderful God-loving man. Whites think it is appalling for any Negro man to feel sorry for any white human being no matter how low in social status. I think it is the mark of a deeply caring man.

Tom, we want to thank you for being so strong throughout this terrible time. We must stand together and say what happened in court is wrong. We must stand together and support Tom's wife and three small children. Finally, we must thank Mr. Atticus Finch for defending Tom. Atticus Finch is a good and decent man. We must pray together that his appeal on Tom's behalf will finally be heard in the halls of justice.

Written requirements:

---Two paragraphs in length

---You must use one quotation from the book to support your point of view.

---The Word program may be used to intitially type up this assignment, but ultimately, it should be posted to YOUR BLOG.

Blog 9: TKAM, The beginning of the trial

Pretend you worked very hard through law school, became a lawyer, and you now currently earn a modest living working independently at law.

You are asked by one of your closest friends to defend someone who has been accused of stealing from the PHHS scholarship fund [or another controversial topic]. The people in both communities, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake, believe that this individual committed the crime. The monetary sum of $2,000 was found in the accused individual's bank account the day after the money was discovered to be missing; the accused could not explain why the money appeared in his account.

If you take this case, you will be looked at critically by everyone around you, and you might even lose some of your close friends. People may come to judge you for your choice to defend an individual that looks blatantly guilty.

The accused person is very poor and states that he did not commit the crime. He has no witnesses to support the fact that he is innocent, but he has never been involved in any arrests/suspicious activities before. In fact, his coworkers have only the nicest things to say about him. If you choose not to defend him, no other lawyer will come to his defense.

The question is: Do you take the case? Why/why not? If yes, what would you offer as a defense? If no, what holds you back from this client?

*Challenge*: How is this situation similar to what is occurring in To Kill a Mockingbird? 

Blog 8: NYT Article + Power in OMAM

Answer the following questions, either alone or with a partner. Your responses should be three-four sentences in length. You should be making connections between the NYT article and Steinbeck's text.

1. What is the main idea of this NYT article? What is its connection to OMAM?


2. According to the article, "Some Forecasters See a Fast Economic Recovery," what 'psychological factor' is mentioned as providing the U.S. society with a false sense of comfort?


3. Is there a similar psychological phenomenon that plays out in OMAM? [Hint: Where do the migrant workers' earnings go? Find support for your answers on pages 76-78 of the text.]



When you have finished this blog posting, take out your Chapter 4 Focus Questions and review the answers with your neighbor.

Blog 7: The Boss

When the boss is talking to George about their work, George speaks for himself and Lennie. What does his boss suspect is going on between George and Lennie? What is George's response?

Blog 6: Beginning, Of Mice and Men

Compare and contrast the two men who come into the clearing by the river. [pages 2-3] Why do you think Steinbeck introduces the men by describing their physical features, highlighting the fact that one is small and one is huge? What can the reader infer about the two men based on their descriptions?

Blog 5: Pandora's Box

The world was lucky in that Pandora did not release "foreboding" from the box Hermes gave her.

1. What was "foreboding"? How would it have changed our society, according to Greek myths?

2. Choose another "ill" in the box and write about how the world would be different had Pandora not released it.