May 18-22

Final's Week Reminders: 
1. Make sure that you have picked up your Freedom Writer's text if you are in Honors 11. (Most have). If you are in IB 11, you will be responsible for picking up The Road. Summer Reading assignments will be posted on the SCHOOL WEBSITE at the beginning of June.
2. Please return all books to Mrs. Cole
3. Turn in letters and posters to Mrs. Cole

May 15th

1. Taming of the Shrew is finished for today! Yay! What a fabulous play!
2. Presentations begin tomorrow~ May 16th.  You may turn in your textbook on your presentation day!

Presentation Schedule:
Tuesday, May 16th: 1st, 4th, 7th
Wednesday, May 17th: 1st, 7th
Thursday, May 18th: 1st, 7th (Last day for 1st and 7th)
Friday, May 19th: 4th
Monday, May 22nd: 4th (Last day for 4th)

May 10th/11th

1. Taming of the Shrew quiz- Induction-Act 2.
2. Read Act 3 for Friday, May 12th. Finish the play for Monday, May 15th.
3. Individual Oral Commentary:

• Tragedy and Comedy Oral Commentary Assignment
• Student Sign Up- Tragedy and Comedy Oral Commentary
• IB Scoring Guide- Oral Commentary

May 9th

1. Read and take notes on Shakespearean Comedy found under "Shakespeare Links"
2. Remember QUIZ over Induction-Act 2 MAY 10th/11th
3. In your notes evaluate and annotate the following quotes from Act 1.
Things to look for and note:

• The speaker and to whom is he/she speaking to? Is this important? 
• What is the context of this quotation? 
• Are there noteworthy diction choices? 
• What do we learn about this character? 
• What do we learn about the plot? 
• What is the underlying meaning of this quote. What is implied? 
• What is the tone? 
• How would you summarize this dialogue? 

1. “…Pisa, renowned for grave citizens,/ Gave me my being and my father first,/ A merchant of great traffic through the world,/ Vincentio, come of the Bentivolii/, Vincentio’s son, brought up in Florence,/ It shall become to serve all hopes conceived / To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds./ And therefore, Tranio, for the time I study/ Virtue and that part of philosophy/ Will I apply that treats of happiness/ By virtue specially to be achieved./ Tell me thy mind, for I have Pisa left/ And am to Padua come, as he that leaves/ A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep/ And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst.” (1.1.24)

2. "Why came I hither but to that intent? / Think you a little din can daunt mine ears? / Have I not heard the sea, puffed up with winds, / Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat? / have I not heard great ordnance in the field, / And Heaven's artillery thunder in the skies? / Have I not pitched battle heard / Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets' clang? / And do you tell me of a woman's tongue / That gives not half so great a blow to hear / As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire? / Tush, tush! Fear boys with bugs." (1.2.194)

3. "For how I firmly am resolved you know:
That is, not to bestow my youngest daughter
Before I have a husband for the elder.
If either of you both love Katherine
Because I know you well and love you well,
Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure."  (1.1.48-54)

4. "I pray you, sir, is it your will
To make a stale of me amongst these mates?" (1.1.353) 

May 5th

Friday, May 5th:
                  1.  Upload your notes over Oedipus Rex to Google Classroom.
                  2.  Read through the "Reading Shakespeare" Handout: Reading Shakespeare Tips
                  3. Read and take notes on Shakespeare PowerPoint: Shakespeare Power Point
                  4. Start reading Taming of the Shrew. Use the following questions to help guide your
                      comprehension of the Induction. An Induction is used to lead us into some of the
                      major questions that the play will address. It will set up a point of comparison to
                      what will be presented in the story of Kate and Petruchio.

The Induction: 
1. Describe Sly. What is he like, and how is this shown?

2. Describe the dynamic between Sly and the hostess.

3. How does the lord’s speech distinguish him from Sly?

4. What trick does the lord intend to play on Sly? Why might he want to do this?

5. What role does the lord have in mind for his page, Barthol’mew?

6. How does this scene introduce the idea of two separate productions?

7. What does the first scene suggest about the tone of the play?

8. What question does the lord set out to answer? What question might Shakespeare be asking?

Monday, May 8th:
                 Have Induction of Taming read for class.

May 3rd

1. Review Aristotle's conventions of Tragedy... Character.. Plot... Definition.
2. Application of Aristotle's conventions back to Oedipus Rex. 

How does Oedipus function as an Aristotelian Tragic Hero?

How does the plot of Oedipus Rex function as an Aristotelian Tragedy? How do you see the conventions of mimesis, hamartia, peripetia, pathos, anagnorisis, and katharsis within the structure of the play?

3. Homework:
Verbal Irony: Contrast between what is said and what is meant. 
                        Used intentionally by the speaker. 
Dramatic Irony: When the audience is aware of something that the characters are not. 
                                Tragic irony occurs when a character in a play does or says something that
                                communicates a meaning unknown to her but recognized by the audience. 
Situational Irony: It involves a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and 
                                what actually happens. Occurs when the exact opposite of what is meant 
                                 to happen, happens. 

How do we see the three types of IRONY in Oedipus Rex? 

May 2nd

As we did yesterday in class, you will need to have following in your notes:

Terms to know:
Mimesis, Hamartia, Katharsis, Anagnorisis, Peripetia, Pathos, Tragedy

Please utilize the the "Aristotle as Ideal Tragedy" link and Aristotle's Tragic Terms to define.

Reading Questions:

• Oedipus gives a practical set of reasons why he should seek out the murderer. List one of these reasons.
• In lines 233 onward, what public proclamation or call does Oedipus make to the people of Thebes reminiscent of "crime stoppers"?
• In lines 240 onward, what does Oedipus declare as punishment for Lais' murderer? In lines 254-55, what events is this murderer forbidden to take part in?
• What does Oedipus declare about his pronounced curse if it should turn out that Oedipus himself has given him admittance to his own hearth?
• Oedipus asks Teiresias, "Is this a plot of Creon, or thine own?" Why might Oedipus think Creon is plotting against him?
• What does Teiresias mean when he says that Oedipus is a "double-foe / To thine own kin" in lines 449-50?
• Why is Teiresias bringing up marriage songs or hymeneals and saying Oedipus will wail when he learns of that song?

Application:
Try to find how Aristotle's conventions of tragedy (terms above) can be applied to Oedipus Rex. 

May 1st! Happy May Day!

Starting in small groups you will work through the following figures, terms, and questions covering the first episode of Oedipus Rex. 

1. Identify the following characters, monsters, deities:

Oedipus, Ismenus, Creon, Chorus, Teiresias, Jocasta, Herder of Laius, Polybus, the Sphinx [Various deities include Pluto, Pallas Athena, Artemis.]

2. Terms to know:
Ode- Lyric poem in a form of an address on a particular subject. Elevated style and form.
Strophe- First section of a Greek choral ode. Sticks to one subject. Divisions in an ode.
Antistrophe- Responding section to the prior strophe. Reflects or counters the subject raised in the previous strophe. Can raise a question from previous strophe's discussion.

3. Reading Questions:

• What agricultural problems has Thebes been having at the opening of the play?
• Why are seers like Ismenus trying to create prophecies and why are folks crowding to the shrine of Pallas Athena to make offerings?
• What three "blights" have fallen on the city in lines 27 onward?
• When the chorus states that the realm of Pluto "is full fed," what does that mean?
• What is the "fell songstress" referred to in lines 40-45, and why do the crowds consider Oedipus especially suitable for solving mysteries or riddles as a result of his encounter with this singer?
• In lines 64 onward, Oedipus refers to the people of the city as "my poor children." What does this reveal abut Oedipus's attitude toward his relationship with the city of Thebes?
• Who or what is the Oracle at Delphi and why do the Thebans hope this Oracle can help them?
• Who was King of Thebes before Oedipus took the job?
• Why didn't the Thebans avenge the king's death? (i.e., What new and more pressing problem distracted them from finding and punishing the murderer?)
• When the chorus sings in the first strophe, they call upon three gods. (1) Apollo (the Healer of Delos who inhabits the Pythian shrine), (2) Athena, and (3) Artemis. Why are these three gods suitable for invocation before hunting a murderer? Why not call upon Nike (Victory), Rhea (Justice), or Zeus the Avenger?
• In Strophe 3, the Chorus prays that Ares should flee "in sudden rout." Why do they want Ares to run away? Why do they call upon Apollo (the morrow's sun) and Father Zeus to slay the immortal Ares? Isn't killing a god technically impossible? So what is Sophocles getting at figuratively?
• In Antistrophe 3, the Chorus calls upon Apollo (the Lycean King) and Bacchus. We hear that Bacchus has "golden-snooded hair." What is a snell, and what does it mean to be snooded? Why is it appropriate to call on Bacchus?