Tuesday, November 11, 2008

There was a delay in posting created by two factors: A) my blog has now been blocked again, thus necessitating my updating only from home, again, and B) the fact that I haven’t been home much lately due to family issues. A thousand apologies.

Sophys: Viewing Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, preparatory to an essay assignment about the satirical elements of said film. Bring a beverage or snack if desired. HW: Please keep reading Candide; we will be discussing in class over the next few days, as well. Author of the Day presentations will continue as normal.

APees: Quotations from Hamlet, Acts I-III, and discussion of the multiple choice selections from this practice session. See notes below. HW: Read Act IV, scenes i-iii.

NOTES ON THE MULTIPLE CHOICE PRACTICE SESSION, 6th Edition Text

Passage One: from “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, American writer from the late 1800’s. This passage highlights the sensory details and horror of a man who is being hanged from a bridge during the Civil War, and in the descriptions of his subsequent escape and flight into freedom, many metaphors, vivid details, and high-diction terms are utilized. Prose passage with 12 multiple choice questions; remember, you’re shooting for at least fifty percent. If you missed the answer discussion see me and I’ll give you my key.

Passage Two: “The Fire Fetched Down,” a post-modern poem about Prometheus and the pain knowledge can bring. The people (“They” in the opening line) are at first askance about the acquisition of fire, and are suspicious. Of course, knowledge of the Promethean myth is critical to understanding the poet’s intentions in this piece, and most of the questions are dependent on relating the poem’s content to the myth. However, even if one didn’t parse out the true meaning of the poem, several questions could be answered successfully about particulars in figurative language.

Passage Three: An excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. This passage, from an expository section of the Gothic novel, relates Jekyll’s scientific process (while refusing to disclose too many details of the actual chemical combination he uncovers) and reveals the exhilaration of embracing one’s inner evil. Many of the questions focus on characterization for this passage, and the high diction Stevenson uses make deciphering his narrator’s intentions a bit of a challenge.

Passage Four: A wonderful poem by Robert Frost, “A Roadside Stand” features two meanings in its title. Ostensibly about a fruit and vegetable stand on the side of a rural road, the poem is really more focused on the disparity between the needs of the urban population and the values of the countryside. Romantic in predisposition, this poem seems topical for its publication timeframe—the Eisenhower era of prosperity—and criticizes the hustle and bustle of materialistic city dwellers who only stop by the stand for directions or to form a U-turn. The questions related to this passage focus on both content and form, and ask several detailed queries about figurative language. This poem overall is much more readable and easy to analyze than the Promethean poem of the second passage.