Homework:
1) Please send me your leitmotif quotes with the motif in the subject line (and your name) by Sunday at 3 pm. Send these to my gotprofkiefer@gmail.com email.
2) Macbeth RRR is due Tuesday during class.
Midterm will be Thursday, March 6 and will take the entire class. Notes are welcome and encouraged! Print-outs are not.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Homework for class on 2/27
1) Read Macbeth through Act IV.
2) Begin reviewing and compiling your reading notes for midterm.
Reminders:
Midterm exam is on Thursday, March 6.
2) Begin reviewing and compiling your reading notes for midterm.
Reminders:
Midterm exam is on Thursday, March 6.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Reminders for Week of 2/17
Just a few reminders:
1) Class on Thursday, 2/20 is cancelled.
2) Due next Tuesday, 2/25:
1) Class on Thursday, 2/20 is cancelled.
2) Due next Tuesday, 2/25:
- RRR on The Odyssey. Please bring two copies typed.
- Quiz on Macbeth through Act III sc. ii.
Thanks
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Group activity: Thematic/Topical Exploration in The Odyssey
Thematic/Topical Exploration in The Odyssey
The purpose of this activity
is to give you the time to explore one assigned theme or topic in The Odyssey in detail with the help of a
small group. You will have one and a half class sessions (2/11 & half of 2/13) to complete this. The intention of this assignment is to begin
to prepare for the analytic thinking and writing that will be required in our
analysis paper in April.
Themes/Topics:
1. the ritual of sacrificing animals to the gods
2. the treatment of strangers visiting others’ homes
3. the existence and use of fate in the story (gods’
will, prophecies, etc.)
4. the role of women
5. omens and signs
THE REQUIREMENTS:
In order to successfully
complete the assignment, you will need to complete these activities items for your
theme/topic:
1.
Discuss the
theme as it appears and develops throughout the poem.
2.
Design a
comprehensive, single-sided handout for the class with key examples of the
theme’s emergence throughout the poem.
3.
Present your
theme/topic to the class in an organized and meaningful way on Thursday, February 13.
4.
Reflect on your
participation in the group’s written and oral presentation in a one paragraph
writing.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Link to The Odyssey movie
Many thanks to Rechelle for finding this on Youtube!
http://youtu.be/125OQzndK38
http://youtu.be/125OQzndK38
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Due on Thursday, 2/6/14
- Read The Odyssey through book X
- RRR Due. Bring two copies to class. Make sure to review the elements/characteristics of epic poetry and use them to inform your RRR (on books I-X) for Thursday.
- Stay warm and safe!
Characteristics of Epic Poetry
An epic or heroic poem is:
In both Greek and Latin, the most common epic meter was dactylic hexameter. That's a difficult meter to pull off in English, though; English epics aren't associated with any one meter, though most of them beginning with Spenser are in pentameter. Famous English epics include the Old English poem Beowulf (written in alliterative meter); in the Renaissance, Spenser'sFaerie Queene (with its complicated Spenserian stanza) and Milton's Paradise Lost (in blank verse). In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, heroic couplets were considered the best form for epics; Dryden's translation of Virgil and Pope's translation of Homer use heroic couplets.
The history of the epic is worth studying in some detail. The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid are the most famous epics of antiquity, but not the only ones; Statius' Thebaid, for instance, is worth reading. In the Middle Ages, the dominant long narrative form is the romance, which is epic's kissin' cousin. Exactly what to call Beowulf is unclear, but Dante's Divine Comedy is probably best described as an epic
As you get into the Renaissance, the familiar pattern of the classical epic becomes more visible: Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1516) mixes romance with epic, but Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata (1575) is clearly modeled on the epics of Homer and Virgil. Camoens's Lusiads are the great Portuguese epic. The first great English epic of the Renaissance is Spenser'sFaerie Queene (1590-96), followed by Milton's Paradise Lost (1667-74).
But then the form seems to disappear, or at least to trasform itself radically. In the late seventeenth century, most writers were convinced that epic was the highest form — and yet, according to most conventional histories of English literature, no one succeeded in writing a great one. There are good translations of the classical epics by Dryden and Pope; there are also brilliant mock epics. Henry Fielding incorporates many epic features into his novels (he calls Joseph Andrews a "comic epic-poem in prose"). In the early nineteenth century, Wordsworth tries to write a kind of epic, The Prelude, but it's a very loose fit with the traditional definitions.
Sometimes it's unclear whether a particular work is best called an epic. Gilgamesh, for instance, works on a scale similar to most epics, but it's not directly related to the Homeric tradition, and lacks many of the characteristics of the Western epic. Ditto the Indian Ramayana and Mahabharata. In the West, many works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance blend qualities of the epic with the romance — there were plenty of squabbles between the supporters of Tasso and Ariosto in sixteenth-century Italy over how much romance can be admitted into epic. And after the decline of the traditional epic in the seventeenth century, many works borrow many epic characteristics, though again, it's unclear whether they should really be called epics. Melville's Moby-Dick, Tolstoy's War and Peace, Joyce's Ulysses, Derek Walcott's Omeros — all have epic characteristics, but it's unclear whether they're properly epics themselves.
Whatever you do, though, don't use the term epic loosely for anything large in scope. Although networks will try to convince you every miniseries and telemovie is "epic," don't believe 'em — or, at least, don't use that sort of advertising cant in an English class.
From the Guide to Literary Terms by Jack Lynch.
- A long narrative poem;
- On a serious subject;
- Written in a grand or elevated style;
- Centered on a larger-than-life hero.
- An opening in medias res;
- An invocation to the Muse;
- A concern with the fate of a nation or people;
- A correspondingly large scale, often ranging around the world (and in Milton's case, beyond the earth and into heaven);
- The intervention of supernatural figures, who are interested in the outcome of the action (the system of gods, demons, angels, and such is often called machinery);
- Extended similes, generally called epic similes;
- Long catalogues, whether of ships, characters, or places;
- Extensive battle scenes;
- A few stock episodes, including a visit to the underworld.
In both Greek and Latin, the most common epic meter was dactylic hexameter. That's a difficult meter to pull off in English, though; English epics aren't associated with any one meter, though most of them beginning with Spenser are in pentameter. Famous English epics include the Old English poem Beowulf (written in alliterative meter); in the Renaissance, Spenser'sFaerie Queene (with its complicated Spenserian stanza) and Milton's Paradise Lost (in blank verse). In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, heroic couplets were considered the best form for epics; Dryden's translation of Virgil and Pope's translation of Homer use heroic couplets.
The history of the epic is worth studying in some detail. The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid are the most famous epics of antiquity, but not the only ones; Statius' Thebaid, for instance, is worth reading. In the Middle Ages, the dominant long narrative form is the romance, which is epic's kissin' cousin. Exactly what to call Beowulf is unclear, but Dante's Divine Comedy is probably best described as an epic
As you get into the Renaissance, the familiar pattern of the classical epic becomes more visible: Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1516) mixes romance with epic, but Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata (1575) is clearly modeled on the epics of Homer and Virgil. Camoens's Lusiads are the great Portuguese epic. The first great English epic of the Renaissance is Spenser'sFaerie Queene (1590-96), followed by Milton's Paradise Lost (1667-74).
But then the form seems to disappear, or at least to trasform itself radically. In the late seventeenth century, most writers were convinced that epic was the highest form — and yet, according to most conventional histories of English literature, no one succeeded in writing a great one. There are good translations of the classical epics by Dryden and Pope; there are also brilliant mock epics. Henry Fielding incorporates many epic features into his novels (he calls Joseph Andrews a "comic epic-poem in prose"). In the early nineteenth century, Wordsworth tries to write a kind of epic, The Prelude, but it's a very loose fit with the traditional definitions.
Sometimes it's unclear whether a particular work is best called an epic. Gilgamesh, for instance, works on a scale similar to most epics, but it's not directly related to the Homeric tradition, and lacks many of the characteristics of the Western epic. Ditto the Indian Ramayana and Mahabharata. In the West, many works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance blend qualities of the epic with the romance — there were plenty of squabbles between the supporters of Tasso and Ariosto in sixteenth-century Italy over how much romance can be admitted into epic. And after the decline of the traditional epic in the seventeenth century, many works borrow many epic characteristics, though again, it's unclear whether they should really be called epics. Melville's Moby-Dick, Tolstoy's War and Peace, Joyce's Ulysses, Derek Walcott's Omeros — all have epic characteristics, but it's unclear whether they're properly epics themselves.
Whatever you do, though, don't use the term epic loosely for anything large in scope. Although networks will try to convince you every miniseries and telemovie is "epic," don't believe 'em — or, at least, don't use that sort of advertising cant in an English class.
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