DAY 1 - CYCLE 5 - SEMESTER 2

Today's post begins with a poem by Edward Arlington Robinson. This famous poem is an excellent example of situational irony. I present it simply because the clarity of this example is so stellar.

Richard Cory
by Edwin Arlington Robinson, 1869-1935

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him;
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Sad, yes. But it makes excellent use of situational irony to snap us out of our assumptions about our own lives and the lives of others. When used well, situational irony often has this startling effect that makes us see anew.

Today in class, we finished Act I. In scene vi, Lady Macbeth welcomes Duncan into her home, and the two exchange pleasantries. Rich in subtext, this passage shows Lady Mabeth become the very serpent under the flower she asks her husband to be. In scene vii, Macbeth shows his hesitation. In his opening soliloquy, he lists several reasons that counsel against the act of murder. Can you remember what they are? Summrize them in the margins of your text if you didn't do so already. Then, Lady Macbeth enters. Macbeth tells her they "will proceed no further in this business, but she gets him to change his mind and commit to murder. He offers himself LOGICAL arguments against the act. What types of arguments does she offer?

We all agreed that Lady Macbeth is a real piece of work, a person whose evil is jaw-dropping in scope. Henry P. raised a good point in group 2, however. It's not like Macbeth didn't spur her on with his letter. He planted the seed in her mind just as the witches planted it in his. (Looked at in this context, that's in interesting introversion of the "Eve/female as temptress" mythos.) Summarize her arguments to Macbeth in your margins.

HOMEWORK:
At the close of class, I asked you to indicate the 5 literary terms you found in your homework for today. Your homework for tonight is to add those to the wikispace (group 2/group 4/group 6). This is due by the start of class on Tuesday.

Add FOUR important quotes for Act I to the wikispace as well (group 2/group 4/group 6). This is due Tuesday by 6:00 PM!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
There will be a quotes based quiz on Act I of Macbeth on Wednesday of this week.
Sample questions:

• Who is described in the lines: "If I must say sooth, I must report they were as cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they / Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe?"
• Who says, "Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger; / But in a seive I'll thither sail, / And, like a rat without a tail, /I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do."
• Who asks "...have we eaten on the insane root / That takes the reason prisoner?"
• Ross tells Macbeth, "...As thick as hail / Came post with post..." This is an example of what literary term?

We will begin Lord of the Flies as an Outside Reading Book this week. The majority of your outside homework will be to keep up with the reading there. Note that I did not say ALL your homework, so you should still expect additional responsibilities for Macbeth outside of class. Please see the reading deadlines to the left of the post.

There will be a TEST on Macbeth on Friday, March 13th (seems fitting, no?).