* Pray
* Cry
Note that the plot has a new strand enter in Book II: James Jarvis, father of Arthur Jarvis. For a time, we have the story retold through a new father's eyes. Later, the plots timelines will join.
Note four of the words we use to discuss character: flat (simple, not complex; often a minor character), round (developed, complex; often a main character), static (stays the same), dynamic (changes). One character can be a combination (flat and static; flat and dynamic), or even somewhat mixed:
- Stephen Kumalo is definitely round and not flat. We see him sin, repent . . . sin, struggle, repent, and reconcile in numerous places.
- Stephen Kumalo is also dynamic, as he goes from a state of ignorance to a state of experience (with respect to Gertrude, Absalom, and Johannesburg). Stephen Kumalo's character may be considered static, since he remains true to his faith. Still, Kumalo is more clearly dynamic, for his faith is tested, and he does rise and fall and rise again.
- Thus, Stephen must be round and can not be considered flat. He is dynamic--though some aspects of his character may be or seem static.
- Ch. 22: Motif: Fear. Kumalo cannot face his fear (seeing James. "And Kumalo trembles, and does not look at him any more. For how does on look at such a man?" (199).
- Ch. 23: Third-person narrator as shifted to a white perspective. Other narrative voices chime in over the course of the chapter. Motif and symbol: Gold (202). Allusion ("burns bright in the forest of the night" alludes to William Blake's "Tiger, Tiger.")
- Ch. 24: Character development: James Jarvis comes to terms with his son's death ("He was not afraid of the passage and the stain [blood] on the floor; he was not going that way any more, that was all" (209)). Key question: Expedient vs. right (near the top of pg. 208).
- Ch. 25: Theme and Motif: Fear. Kumalo is confronted unexpectedly by his fear: facing James Jarvis. Character development: Jarvis, "I understand what I did not understand. There is no anger in me" (214).
- Ch. 26: Contrast: John Kumalo speaks again (contrast with Msimangu . Characterization: Metaphorically, he is the great bull; he is the lion.
- Ch. 27: Character development: Gertrude struggles with her place. Will she be a nun? What will she do?
- Ch. 28: Theme: Racial reconciliation: A "young white man" and Msimangu helps Stephen after the sad sentencing: "For such a thing is not lightly done" (237).
- Ch. 29: Motif: Fear "Have no doubt it is fear in the eyes" (245). Stephen lies to John, briefly, out of spite for John's son taking no blame. Characters show epithets associated with them. Mrs. Lithebe: "people were born to do such kindness" (247). Msimangu: "I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all" (248-249). Gertrude disappears. The reader will not know more.
Book II ends
* Grammar: We will work on a new section on our block day, time permitting.
* Perrine's
- Per. 2 review Frost poem in Perrine's
Note that a symbol is a person, place, thing or idea that represents
something else. Writers often use a snake as a symbol for evil, as in Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown." Commonly used symbols include the eagle
(strength), a flag (patriotism), and the sea (life). Colors are often symbolic in stories (green is life; white is purity, life, death; black is confusion, death; red is anger, war, energy; etc.).
HW: Read ch. 33-34
Monday, 4/30/12: Cry review
* Pray
* Review Cry
- Ch. 13: Reference (Isaiah 42:6; 42:16; 40:28; 40:30-31); motif (fear); symbol (golden); allusion ("transfigured" and "lifted")
- Ch. 14: Motif ("Have no doubt it is fear in their eyes" pg. 128)
- Ch. 15: Theme (forgiveness; faith in God). Some things are God's secret; praying for understanding of a pain/issue/etc. right when one is hurt is often unwise; pray for endurance; pray for faith; pray for others.
- Ch. 16: Theme (restoration, forgiveness; Stephen Kumalo needs to more fully forgive his soon-to-be daughter-in-law)
- Ch. 17: Theme (racial reconciliation and faith; Mr. Carmichael will defend Absalom pro deo)
Book II
- Ch. 18: Motif; repetition (opening of "Book II" parallels "Book I")
- Ch. 19: Exposition (James Jarvis is Arthur's father; a narrative thread is explored through James Jarvis). Paton retreats a few paces, chronologically in the story, in order to pick up this strand.
- Ch. 20: Reference and Allusion: Abraham Lincoln (alludes to the righteous social concerns of Arthur Jarvis). Through Arthur's unfinished lecture/manuscript, Paton preaches his social doctrine.
- Ch. 21: Character development. James, who does not agree with his son's ideas, is now being drawn in by them as they are Arthur's last words. Theme: title development, "But there was no one to cry" (186). Notice that Arthur's focus is on "Christian civilization" (187). Dynamic character: James Jarvis admits to his wife that the manuscript is "worth reading" and tells her to read it (189).
* Perrine's
Ch. 6, Poem #1, "The Road Not Taken"by Robert Frost on pg. 807. Read and consider. Many Americans interpret this poem's message as individuality ("I took the [road] less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference"). This is a poor interpretation. Can you find the line in the poem that refutes this? So, what does that conclusion mean?
HW: Cry, ch. 31-32
* Review Cry
- Ch. 13: Reference (Isaiah 42:6; 42:16; 40:28; 40:30-31); motif (fear); symbol (golden); allusion ("transfigured" and "lifted")
- Ch. 14: Motif ("Have no doubt it is fear in their eyes" pg. 128)
- Ch. 15: Theme (forgiveness; faith in God). Some things are God's secret; praying for understanding of a pain/issue/etc. right when one is hurt is often unwise; pray for endurance; pray for faith; pray for others.
- Ch. 16: Theme (restoration, forgiveness; Stephen Kumalo needs to more fully forgive his soon-to-be daughter-in-law)
- Ch. 17: Theme (racial reconciliation and faith; Mr. Carmichael will defend Absalom pro deo)
Book II
- Ch. 18: Motif; repetition (opening of "Book II" parallels "Book I")
- Ch. 19: Exposition (James Jarvis is Arthur's father; a narrative thread is explored through James Jarvis). Paton retreats a few paces, chronologically in the story, in order to pick up this strand.
- Ch. 20: Reference and Allusion: Abraham Lincoln (alludes to the righteous social concerns of Arthur Jarvis). Through Arthur's unfinished lecture/manuscript, Paton preaches his social doctrine.
- Ch. 21: Character development. James, who does not agree with his son's ideas, is now being drawn in by them as they are Arthur's last words. Theme: title development, "But there was no one to cry" (186). Notice that Arthur's focus is on "Christian civilization" (187). Dynamic character: James Jarvis admits to his wife that the manuscript is "worth reading" and tells her to read it (189).
* Perrine's
Ch. 6, Poem #1, "The Road Not Taken"by Robert Frost on pg. 807. Read and consider. Many Americans interpret this poem's message as individuality ("I took the [road] less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference"). This is a poor interpretation. Can you find the line in the poem that refutes this? So, what does that conclusion mean?
HW: Cry, ch. 31-32
Next Year's Classes
Our school is offering dual course credit courses, and some are tied
to AP classes. One must have a finished masters degree to teach such a
course, and I have not finished mine yet. So, Mrs. Danielski (who does)
will be teaching AP English Literature next year. Mr. O'Donnell is
teaching Latin I and II, and Mr. Reno is teaching the Classical
Literature and Shakespeare course.
Seniors, please encourage your underclassmen friends to take these great courses.
Sophomores, take Latin and Classical literature.
Schwager's students: Ohho, Rachel, John Angel, Crystal, and Evan, consider AP Composition with Mr. Holtzclaw. Anyone else, see me before you sign up for his class.
Blessings,
Mr. S
Seniors, please encourage your underclassmen friends to take these great courses.
Sophomores, take Latin and Classical literature.
Schwager's students: Ohho, Rachel, John Angel, Crystal, and Evan, consider AP Composition with Mr. Holtzclaw. Anyone else, see me before you sign up for his class.
Blessings,
Mr. S
Wednesday, 4/25/12: Continue
* Pray
* Grammar (keep working on the sheets)
* Finish J30
* Work on CWP
* Read
HW: Read 25-26, Grammar sheets, J30
* Grammar (keep working on the sheets)
* Finish J30
* Work on CWP
* Read
HW: Read 25-26, Grammar sheets, J30
Monday, 4/23/12: Shakespeare, Cervantes, St. George
* Today is St. George's day as well as William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Miguel de Cervantes' (1547-1616) birthdays. We're not sure, actually, the exact day of either author's birth, but baptismal records show it is possible for Shakespeare. We do know that Shakespeare died on the 23 and Cervantes the 22 of April. Roman legend has it that Virgil also died on the day of his birth.
The Redcrosse Liturgy
St George is a leading character in Spenser’s remarkable
allegory The Faerie Queene (1590 and 1596). St George
appears in Book I as the Redcrosse Knight of Holiness,
protector of the Virgin Una. In this guise he may be seen
as the Anglican Church upholding the monarchy of
Elizabeth I:
‘But on his breast a bloody Cross he bore
The dear remembrance of his dying Lord,
For whose sweet sake that glorious badge we wore
And dead (as living) ever he adored...Thou,
Among those saints which thou dost see
Shalt be a saint, and thine own nation’s friend
And patron; thou St George shalt called be,
St George of merry England, the sign of victory’.
The figure of St George was made use of by Spenser
because of the belief that God had helped England to
defeat the Armada. Recent scholars have stressed the
central importance of Protestant doctrine, theology and
liturgy to Spenser’s poetry. By transforming England’s
patron saint into a sinful knight, Redcrosse, who, beset by
pride and lust, was being brought back to the way of
holiness, Spenser made it possible for
George to reject the doctrines of the Catholic church,
personified by Duessa, and become the champion of Una,
the true faith. Through the influence of a Tudor-esque
Prince Arthur, the young knight regained the path of
holiness, killed the Dragon and transformed himself into
St George. In this way, the figure of St George was
assimilated into a culture that no longer adhered to belief
in saintly intercession or the authority of popes. In his new
guise, St George bridged the gap between the Catholic past
and a future where the Protestant faith had successfully
taken hold under the Tudors.
* J30: Write an adventure tale of one page or more. Handwritten. This may give you ideas for your CWP.
* Read
HW: Read ch. 21-22
Block Day, Week 36
* Pray
* Review chapters
* Peer edit
* Work on your essay
HW: Read through ch. 20, FD of Cry essay (also handwritten)
* Review chapters
* Peer edit
* Work on your essay
HW: Read through ch. 20, FD of Cry essay (also handwritten)
Wednesday, 4/18: Cry...
* Pray
* Correct your grammar while I check to see you have it done.
- "A lot" is a phrase; "alot" is not a word; rather, it is a legendary beast (note cool semicolon and transitional element usage).
Enjoy the grammar cartoons
* Essay work
Prompt #1:
- We have discussed how references and allusions (as in chapter 1) add richness to a work and support and develop key themes. From chapters 10-20, find a reference or allusion, explain its significance to the story so far, and show how it relates to a key theme in the novel.
Prompt #2:
Alan Paton’s art consists of many contrasts. Write an essay in which you select one contrasting pair and show how it supports a theme you see Paton developing.
- Handwritten, single-spaced, pen
- Due Monday
- Underline your thesis and topic sentences
- Attach your outline or note/brainstorming sheet
- Attach one rough draft edited by someone beside yourself
-How many pages should my essay be? Well, if you have girl writing (cumulonimbus cloud-like), then it should be three handwritten pages. Otherwise, it should be at least two pages.
HW: Read ch. 15-16; have a handwritten rough draft that a peer can edit on block day. FD due Mon.
* Correct your grammar while I check to see you have it done.
- "A lot" is a phrase; "alot" is not a word; rather, it is a legendary beast (note cool semicolon and transitional element usage).
Enjoy the grammar cartoons
* Essay work
Prompt #1:
- We have discussed how references and allusions (as in chapter 1) add richness to a work and support and develop key themes. From chapters 10-20, find a reference or allusion, explain its significance to the story so far, and show how it relates to a key theme in the novel.
Prompt #2:
Alan Paton’s art consists of many contrasts. Write an essay in which you select one contrasting pair and show how it supports a theme you see Paton developing.
- Handwritten, single-spaced, pen
- Due Monday
- Underline your thesis and topic sentences
- Attach your outline or note/brainstorming sheet
- Attach one rough draft edited by someone beside yourself
-How many pages should my essay be? Well, if you have girl writing (cumulonimbus cloud-like), then it should be three handwritten pages. Otherwise, it should be at least two pages.
HW: Read ch. 15-16; have a handwritten rough draft that a peer can edit on block day. FD due Mon.
Tuesday, 4/17
* Pray
* Grammar: Review your semicolon rules (binder and section 34). You have already done 34-1.
- Do 34-2, handwritten.
* Cry, the Beloved Country
Take-Home Essay
- We have discussed how references and allusions (as in chapter 1) add richness to a work and support and develop key themes. From chapters 10-20, find a reference or allusion, explain its significance to the story so far, and show how it relates to a key theme in the novel.
- Handwritten, single-spaced, pen
- Due Monday
- Underline your thesis and topic sentences
- Attach your outline or note/brainstorming sheet
- Attach one rough draft edited by someone beside yourself
HW: Ch. 13-14; grammar 34-2
* Grammar: Review your semicolon rules (binder and section 34). You have already done 34-1.
- Do 34-2, handwritten.
* Cry, the Beloved Country
Take-Home Essay
- We have discussed how references and allusions (as in chapter 1) add richness to a work and support and develop key themes. From chapters 10-20, find a reference or allusion, explain its significance to the story so far, and show how it relates to a key theme in the novel.
- Handwritten, single-spaced, pen
- Due Monday
- Underline your thesis and topic sentences
- Attach your outline or note/brainstorming sheet
- Attach one rough draft edited by someone beside yourself
HW: Ch. 13-14; grammar 34-2
Monday, 4/16: Reading
* Pray
* Review
- This week block (week 36): THE (Assigned tomorrow); to ch. 20 in Cry for Mon.
- Next week block (week 37): Perrine's; to ch. 30 for Mon.
- Week 38 block: Perrine's; finish Cry this week
- Week 39 block: CWP due
- Week 40 Review
- Week 41 Final Exam on Cry...
* Elements to Note
Ch. 1: Contrast, Symbol, Theme, Allusion in the land
Ch. 2: Characterization
Ch. 3: Exposition (learning of the city)
Ch. 4: Poetic Description (opening paragraphs)
Ch. 5: Theme: Race
Ch. 6: Theme: Forgiveness; city
Ch. 7: Theme: John Kumalo, race; Msimangu: "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating" (71).
Ch. 8: Narrative perspective; notice how the third-person perspective becomes interpretive, almost intrusive, in its foreboding omniscience ("Have no doubt it is fear in their eyes..."(77)).
Ch. 9: Vignette: This is a sketch of life that does not directly relate to the main character's search for his son. This is a technique Paton picked up from another writer with social concerns, John Steinbeck.
Ch. 10: Theme: Loss ("from every house something was gone" (93)), Despair (bottom of 99), forgiveness (101).
HW: Read through ch. 12
* Review
- This week block (week 36): THE (Assigned tomorrow); to ch. 20 in Cry for Mon.
- Next week block (week 37): Perrine's; to ch. 30 for Mon.
- Week 38 block: Perrine's; finish Cry this week
- Week 39 block: CWP due
- Week 40 Review
- Week 41 Final Exam on Cry...
* Elements to Note
Ch. 1: Contrast, Symbol, Theme, Allusion in the land
Ch. 2: Characterization
Ch. 3: Exposition (learning of the city)
Ch. 4: Poetic Description (opening paragraphs)
Ch. 5: Theme: Race
Ch. 6: Theme: Forgiveness; city
Ch. 7: Theme: John Kumalo, race; Msimangu: "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating" (71).
Ch. 8: Narrative perspective; notice how the third-person perspective becomes interpretive, almost intrusive, in its foreboding omniscience ("Have no doubt it is fear in their eyes..."(77)).
Ch. 9: Vignette: This is a sketch of life that does not directly relate to the main character's search for his son. This is a technique Paton picked up from another writer with social concerns, John Steinbeck.
Ch. 10: Theme: Loss ("from every house something was gone" (93)), Despair (bottom of 99), forgiveness (101).
HW: Read through ch. 12
Uncommon Colons
American English in 1945 (from the Book of Common Prayer; see below).
In the prayer for Maundy (Mandate or Commandment) Thursday, notice the two semicolons. The first has a capital following because it's an independent clause. The second does not because it is a dependent clause. In MLA, neither word following the semicolon (or a colon) would be capitalized.
In the Bible text (I Cor. 11:23), notice the three colons in a row. MLA would require apostrophes.
In the prayer for Maundy (Mandate or Commandment) Thursday, notice the two semicolons. The first has a capital following because it's an independent clause. The second does not because it is a dependent clause. In MLA, neither word following the semicolon (or a colon) would be capitalized.
In the Bible text (I Cor. 11:23), notice the three colons in a row. MLA would require apostrophes.
Wednesday, 4/4: Writing
* Pray
* Review Grammar (semicolons 34-1)
* J29: Cry, the Beloved Country. Identify and explain two themes from the first two chapters that you imagine you will see in the coming chapters. (1/2pg.-1pg. handwritten.)
HW: Finish J29.
* Review Grammar (semicolons 34-1)
* J29: Cry, the Beloved Country. Identify and explain two themes from the first two chapters that you imagine you will see in the coming chapters. (1/2pg.-1pg. handwritten.)
HW: Finish J29.
The Best Thing in the World for a Teacher...
is when a wonderful student goes on to do wonderful things. Here's an example...Candace Blanton (maiden name Miser) directing this children's musical fresh out of college. I taught Candace AP Lit. and her husband, Josh, regular English. Bravo!
Tuesday, 4/3: Semicolons
* Pray: Tuesday of Holy Week
* The Semicolon (all handwritten work)
- Read 34a-d (pp. 398-402)
- Take notes on all blue rules and give an example for each rule
- Do ex. 34-1
* Read Cry...
HW: 34-1
* The Semicolon (all handwritten work)
- Read 34a-d (pp. 398-402)
- Take notes on all blue rules and give an example for each rule
- Do ex. 34-1
* Read Cry...
HW: 34-1
Monday, 4/2: Reading
* Pray
* Creative Writing. Please take a few minutes to find your best piece of creative writing from the year. Email it to
mustangnewsteam@gmail.com
or
elizabethdanielski@mvcs.org
* Cry, the Beloved Country text introductions
HW: Read through the end of ch. 2
* Creative Writing. Please take a few minutes to find your best piece of creative writing from the year. Email it to
mustangnewsteam@gmail.com
or
elizabethdanielski@mvcs.org
* Cry, the Beloved Country text introductions
HW: Read through the end of ch. 2
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