Friday 2/1

Journal:  Respond to the quote below:

"The notion of ambiguity must not be confused with that of absurdity. To declare that existence is absurd is to deny that it can ever be given a meaning; to say that it is ambiguous is to assert that its meaning is never fixed, that it must be constantly won. Absurdity challenges every ethics; but also the finished rationalization of the real would leave no room for ethics; it is because man's condition is ambiguous that he seeks, through failure and outrageousness, to save his existence."
     ~ Simone de Beauvoir, 1948, The Ethics Of Ambiguity

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Questions on Senior Paper

3.  Vocab Ch 7 Antonyms

Assignment  A :  With a partner, read Ch. 1 & 2 of  The Stranger.  

*Complete a characteriztion chart for Monsiery Meursault: *Provide at least 2 examples each:


Actions

Thoughts

Speech (What he talks about with others)

Other characters' thoughts

Direct commentary (1st person narrator)

Assignment  B  **Based on you character notes for Meursault, compose a character portrait of him.  Be specific.  Consider his emotional state and his view of the world.  (At least 3 paragraphs)


Assignment  C  *** Identify at least 2 existential themes reflected in chapters 1 & 2.  Explain how they reltate to the plot and Meursault's character.  (1/2 page or more)

Thursday 1/31

                                    Journal:  Respond to the ambiguous feelings the narrator relates in the very
 
beginning of the novel after his mother has died:                                                                                    “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure.”
― Albert Camus, The Stranger

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Vocabulary:  Ch. 7  Synonyms:  HW:  Antonyms

3.  Share Existential Cartoons

4.  The Stranger:  Read Ch. 1  

--Analyze Monsieur Mersault....

What are his thoughts? 
Are the peculiar? 
 How does he feel about his mother?
Do you think he is a confident individual?  Explain.
 **Is he a "likeable" character?  Why?  Why not?

****Discuss with a partner:  (15 mins)  Share
Whole class discussion

5.  Read Ch. 2

Wednesday 1/30

Journal:

Describe a time when you were feeling down, and were not sure about your "purpose" in life.

1.  Discuss journal

2.  Vocabulary  Ch. 7  "Completing The Sentence"
HW:  Synonyms

3.  Activity:  With a partner, craft a comic strip which reflects an existential theme.  (15 mins)  *Share

4.  Read:  Ch. 1  The Stranger

Analysis:  What is Monsieur Mersault like?  Are his thoughts peculiar?  Explain.  

Tuesday 1/29

Journal:  Respond to the quote below:

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

--Albert Camus


1.  Vocabulary:  Profile unit:  Assign "Completing The Sentence"


 The Stranger   A Narrative that embodies the spirit of major existential themes.

2.  **Activity:  With a partner, draw a comic strip that reflects an existential theme (s).  10 mins:  Share


3. The Stranger:  Read Chapter 1.   Explore Camus' protagonist, Monsieur Meursault.

Consider his thoughts, actions, words....  Is he "likeable"?

**Existential:  Craft at least 2 existential cartoons.  Be creative!!

Monday 1/28

Journal:  Respond to the existential quote below:

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” 
― Albert Camus

1.  Review existential quotes (previous blog post)  **Share reflections

2.  Discuss journal.

3.  Existential powerpoint  (dropbox)

4.  The Stranger   A Narrative that embodies the spirit of major existential themes.

**Activity:  With a partner, draw a comic strip that reflects an existential theme.  10 mins:  Share

5.  The Stranger:  Read Chapter 1.  (bookmarked website)  Explore Camus' protagonist.  


*Looking Ahead:  Existential Journal

Vocabulary

Existentialism 1/22-1/25a

Activity:  Review the following existential quotes with a classmate.  Discuss the "existential" implications and examine your own personal thoughts and opinions regarding these ideas. 

1 pg essay due:  Friday 1/25

“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion 

 

“Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?”
― Cornelia Funke 

 

“I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.”
― Umberto Eco

 

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
― Samuel Beckett

 

 

 

Midterm: 2 Class periods Week of 1/22

Honors English 4

Midterm: Hamlet

Mr. Dunphy

Directions:  Answer all five of the essay questions below.  (20 points each)

1.    Define the literary term dramatic irony.  Explain how Shakespeare utilizes this literary tool to affect the plot of Hamlet.

2.    Examine Hamlet’s relationships with Gertrude and Ophelia.  What theme is manifested?    Cite specific examples from the play which illustrate this respective theme. 

3.    Describe how Hamlet serves as a foil to all of the principal characters in the play.

4.    It is overtly apparent that death is ubiquitous in Hamlet.  Evaluate how Shakespeare explores myriad facets of death throughout the play.

5.   Summarize Hamlet’s “To Be Or Not To Be “ soliloquy.  Explore the respective significance and consider what is revealed about Hamlet’s philosophy.

Monday 1/14

Journal:  Respond to the existential quote below:

"Forever I shall be a stranger to myself. In psychology as in logic, there are truths but no truth."
     ~ Albert Camus, 1955

1.  Review Rough Drafts

Introduction:    A.  Context/Background
                      
                          B.  Essential Question

                          C.  Relate Importance

                          D.  Generate Thesis Statement


2.  Final Wrap up:  Hamlet.   ***Questions due.

Tuesday and Wednesday:  Quiz:  Discuss Hamlet as a Tragic Hero.  

**Collected at the end of Wednesday's class   


3.  Discuss Journal


4.  Introduce Existential Themes:

A.  Man is Alone

B.  Universe is Hostile

C.  No God

D.  "Existence" precedes "Essence"


4.  Examine themes with partner.  **List at least 3 examples for each  (15 mins)

Whole class discussion.  

Wednesday 1/9 to Friday 1/11

Senior Paper :  Rough Draft Worshopping

Goals:

Articulate a clear thesis

Develop introduction by explaining relevance

Incorporating meaningful research which supports arguments

Proper MLA formatting

Utilizing source information to include in body of paper

Mechanics:  Spelling, Grammar, Formatting

Tuesday 1/8

ddddJournal:

At the end of the play, Prince Fortinbras exclaims:

Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally: and, for his passage,
The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.

Examine whether or not Hamlet should be revered as a hero.  Be specific.  

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Final Review

3.  Quiz  Act IV

Monday 1/7

Journal:  Identify your Essential Question.  Write our your thesis statement.  Describe why you chose this particular focus of study and explain what you hope to accomplish.

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Review/Collect Rough Drafts

3.  Hamlet:

Analyze:  Act V, scene 2  lines:  211-215

"Not a whit, we defy augry; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow..."

4.  View last scene.  

5.  Read Act V, scene II  (127)  "Good night, sweet prince, 

And flights of angels sing the to they rest!"    

Who dies?  Which character remains?  

***Quiz Tuesday:  Acts 4 & 5

Friday 1/3/2013

Journal:  In Act 4, scene 7, (pg.105) Claudius relates to Laertes:

There lives within the very flame of love 
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it...

**Analyze the significance of Claudius' statement.

1.  Reminder:  Senior Paper Rough Draft - All parts:  Due: Monday, January 7th

2.  Discuss Journal -   Consider Claudius' past history.  How might this advice be ironic?

3.  Review the plot Claudius and Laertes concoct to kill Hamlet.  Believable?

4.  View :  Graveyard scene.  Take note of puns employed.


5. Analyze:  Act V, scene 2  lines:  211-215

"Not a whit, we defy augry; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow..."

Thursday 1/3/2013

Journal:  Respond to the following quote:

“Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Read Act 2, scene 2.  **Explain how Hamlet escapes his death sentence and returns to Denmark.

3.  Analyze:  Act V, scene 2  lines:  211-215

"Not a whit, we defy augry; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow..."

Examine what Hamlet believes here.

4.  View:  "Graveyard" Scene.  Review puns and examples of irony.  

Wednesday 1/2/2013

Journal:  How will the decisions you make in 2013 shape your future?  Explain.

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Senior Rough Draft:  All parts:  Due Monday, Jan. 7th.

3.  Definitons:  (pg. 8  Hamlet)


Pun -  A play on words

Double Entendre -  A kind of pun that has a second, usually sexual meaning

Malapropism - occurs when a character mistakenly uses a word that he or she confuses with another word

4.  Read Act V, scene 1.

What are the grave diggers talking about?  What "puns" do they make?

Note Hamlet's interaction with these men?  How does social class affect this scene?

Why does this scene boil over with irony?  Explain.

5.  Directions:  With a partner, Analyze the significance of the following lines:  (10 mins)

 Pg. 111  Lines 65-66

Pg.  111  Lines:  96-101  

Pg. 113  Lines:  177-188

**Share.

6.  Review the plot Claudius and Laertes have concocted to kill Hamlet and make it look like an
accident.