Personal Passage Selection

Hi Everyone:

In the comment section below, identify a short passage in Catcher in the Rye to discuss, and then write a response in which you explain the significance of the passage both on its own and as it relates to the book as a whole.  Remember the guidelines for annotation:

** Do you notice any repeating patterns of language / imagery / ideas?
** Can you make any connections within the passage and to other parts of the book outside the passage?
** Does something seem significant (even if you do not know exactly why)?
** Does the passage reveal something about a character or the book as a whole?

You do not need to copy the passage; just indicate a page range.  Thank you.

Private and Public Self.

For this post, explain something that you understand about yourself that other people may not understand or even know is true about you.  Another way of asking this is: what is true about your private self that people don't see publicly?  Why do you think this part of yourself doesn't translate well?

Innocence and Experience

While reading Catcher in the Rye, we're going to be thinking about coming-of-age (the bildungsroman genre) and what that means for us in two interrelated ways: how we move from innocence to experience, and how we begin to construct a public self out of our private self.  One may argue that Holden has difficulty expressing his the shape of his private self in social situations: his inner logic becomes distorted when expressed publicly.

As a first step down this road, try writing (in the comment section below) about something you became aware of as you became mature, which you felt very differently about when you were younger.  This could be a reality in the world that you are now aware of and having feelings about, or a part of your experience in life for which your feelings have changed considerably over the years.  Try your best to be as clear as you can about how your private self handled this new awareness. 

The First Half of Old Man . . .

Please write down your reactions to the first half of The Old Man and the Sea in the comments section below.  Pay particular attention to objects or actions in the text that could have symbolic meaning, given their contexts.  For instance, what can you make of the lions, the beach, the contests of strength, etc.?

Macbeth Final Thoughts.

Hi everyone:

Please use the comment section below to reflect on Shakespeare's Macbeth: what did the story leave you with and what do you think is most essential to understand about the story?  Use one of the quotations / motifs that you have tracked to support your ideas.  Can you choose a quotation (with an embedded motif) that gets to the heart of the play?  Explain its importance.

Comments are due on Tuesday April 15th.  Thanks, Mr. Telles.

Independent Reading Post

Hi Everyone:

As preparation for next week, write down your thoughts about how your book frames concepts like "corruption" and "evil" as they affect our culture.  How are these concepts defined in the book (if at all), and how does the book explore our response to these concepts?  How does the story compare or contrast with the story of Macbeth in how it handles evil and corruption?

Shakespeare "translations."

As an extension of our activity in class, look again at Macbeth's monologue in its original text and a modern "translation."  In a standard blog post, write down your observations and consider the questions we thought about in class.  What are the significant changes that the "translator" felt he / she needed to make?  Are there places where one possible interpretation gets squeezed or flattened out in order to make the text "clearer"?  Describe in general the way that Shakespeare's language compares to the modern language (other than it being a challenge to understand).  If the translated version is much easier to understand, why do people virtually always perform the original language (use the text to point out specific examples).

****Note: If you are discussing a fellow student's observations which he / she shared with you, that is fine; just give them credit and try to extend the observation in your own way.

	Original Text	Modern Text (No Fear Shakespeare)
	Hautboys. Torches. Enter a sewer and divers servants with dishes and service over the stage. Then enter MACBETH	Hautboys play. The stage is lit by torches. A butler enters, and various servants carry utensils and dishes of food across the stage. Then MACBETH enters.
5 10 15 20 25	MACBETH If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly. If the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgment here, that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague th' inventor: this even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips. He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off; And pity, like a naked newborn babe, Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on th' other.	MACBETH If this business would really be finished when I did the deed, then it would be best to get it over with quickly. If the assassination of the king could work like a net, sweeping up everything and preventing any consequences, then the murder would be the be-all and end-all of the whole affair, and I would gladly put my soul and the afterlife at risk to do it. But for crimes like these there are still punishments in this world. By committing violent crimes we only teach other people to commit violence, and the violence of our students will come back to plague us teachers. Justice, being equal to everyone, forces us to drink from the poisoned cup that we serve to others. The king trusts me in two ways. First of all, I am his kinsman and his subject, so I should always try to protect him. Second, I am his host, so I should be closing the door in his murderer’s face, not trying to murder him myself. Besides, Duncan has been such a humble leader, so free of corruption, that his virtuous legacy will speak for him when he dies, as if angels were playing trumpets against the injustice of his murder. Pity, like an innocent newborn baby, will ride the wind with winged angels on invisible horses through the air to spread news of the horrible deed to everyone everywhere. People will shed a flood of tears that will drown the wind like a horrible downpour of rain. I can’t spur myself to action. The only thing motivating me is ambition, which makes people rush ahead of themselves toward disaster.