Frankenstein/ Rime of Ancient Mariner & SUBLIME

                            Das Eismeer (The Sea of Ice), 1823–1824, a painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The painting above depicts a fate that Walden fears but is willing to face, risking his crew's lives in order to fulfill his all-consuming pursuit of fame's immortality. 

After having read these initial letters from the ship's captain to his sister, select a single passage (this may be a single paragraph or several) that you feel best typifies the sublime, then, based on that passage, answer the following questions:

1. In what way does the following image and the passage you selected demonstrate the sublime, specifically as it relates to the setting in Frankenstein?

2. In what way do we see the sublime within "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"? Use textual evidence to support your idea.

3. In both texts, how is nature characterized, and what do the texts suggest A) is man's relationship with nature, and B) about man's relationship with nature SHOULD be?

DUE: FRIDAY

Then, respond to ONE other student, extending and ADDING to the conversation.

DUE: Monday

Frankenstein Letters - Ch 1

Letters:

1. *How does Walton treat the person he finds on the water? What does this suggest are the characteristics of a good friend and what is required to maintain healthy social bonds? What type of friend does Walton seem to be? Does the person he meets on the water seem to reciprocate?
2. What type of relationship does Walton’s seem to have with Margaret based on his letters? Is he a good brother? Why (not)?
3. *Based on Walton’s isolation and longing desire for companionship, what does the text suggest about what individuals need in order to be healthy individuals and human beings?

Chapter 1:

1. What examples of good and parents do we get in Chp 1? Other family members? What makes a good/bad parent or family member? What is a parent’s responsibility toward a child, based on the the text? What evidence suggests this?
2. In what ways does Chapter 1 demonstrate abandonment? What figure in Chapter one seems to parallel Mary Shelley based on her biographical background? How so?

DUE: THURSDAY

Then, respond to ONE other student, extending and ADDING to the conversation.

DUE: MONDAY

Grendel's Mother: Setting and Parallelism

WARM UP:

1. The poet describes Grendel’s mother as “war-thirsty” (1497). Consider how the scop describes Finn when he comments, “[a]nd thus in his turn to war-minded Finn / came fierce sword evil, in his own home,” and what we said in class about this moment as an example of the poet’s criticism on war and the heroic code (115). Is Grendel’s mother being describes a “war-thirsty” a good thing? Explain why or why not? THEN, look at how the poet describes Beowulf and the Geats on page 139 and provide analysis of why this description is meaningful, and in what way? In other words, analyze the diction the poet uses to describe Beowulf and his people in this moment, and answer the SO WHAT? Question.
2. Looking at the description of where Grendel’s mother lives and consider how the setting is described. What might these descriptions suggest in terms of Beowulf and the warriors’ decision to go to where Grendel’s mother lives? What parallel to another setting in the text can you identify? So what? How might this function as poetic commentary on the battle itself? On Grendel’s mother? On Beowulf and his men? On the natural/known world versus the unnatural/unknown worlds?

“Then the troop of nobles climbed up high into stony hills, the steep rock-lands, / through narrow files, and unknown way, / dangerous cliffs over water-snakes’ caves” (1408-11)

“Soon enough she … held / the kingdom of waters for a hundred winters, / fierce and kill-greedy, saw that some human / came to explore the water-devil’s home” (1497-1501)

“strange sea-creatures / with word-like tusks thrust at his armor … The noble prince then saw he was [in] some sort of hall, / inhospitable, where no water reached; / a vaulted roof kept the rushing flood from coming down; / he saw firelight, / a flickering blaze, bright glaring flames. // then he saw the witch of the sea-floor, / towering mere-wife” (1510-9)

“They then left that place by the narrow path. / They marched glad-hearted, followed the trail, / reached familiar ground” (1632-4)

Exile Poems & Beowulf

Re-read page 111-5. How is war described and characterized? Pay close attention to Hildeburh’s situation. What predicament does war and the heroic code leave her in? What poem(s) does this portion of the text connect to, and how so? What commentary does the poet/speaker make about war here?

Reply to at least 1 one of your classmates' posts.

The Seafarer

Part one:
In a brief paragraph, respond to the following prompt. Be sure to include textual evidence to support your ideas.

After carefully reading "The Seafarer," what is the speaker's attitude toward exile, his own life, and the heroic warrior's lifestyle and values? In what ways do the poem's poetic devices reveal the poem's overall meaning or lesson? You may want to address diction, tone, imagery, shifts, and mood.

Part two:

In what ways might your reading of and response to "The Seafarer" connect to ideas in Beowulf? The speaker discusses aspects of the heroic code and the warrior's lifestyle. What implications do the speaker's ideas have on the character Beowulf, and what happens in the entire text, Beowulf?

Part three:

Respond to at least two of your classmates' post. You must engage in a conversation with their post. This means you should NOT merely say something like "I agree/disagree," or "you make a good point," or "I like your idea/that's a good idea". Instead, you should enter into a conversation the same way you would during a class discussion and offer new information in some way. You may connect their to some other textual evidence, some other idea in any of the texts from this unit, you may offer alternative analysis, ask questions and/or complicate some of their ideas, or respectfully disagree with their analysis and explain why.

LASTLY, be sure to read through your peers' comments and DO NOT repeat information/ideas. If what you planned to say has already been said, say something else. This thread should not be the same ideas over and over and over.

About -- & Welcome!

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Introduction to NDA's AP: It's Lit!

This blogsite is intended for ENG 12: AP English Literature & Composition, Period 5. It is for both the instructor and the students in the class. 

The overall goal of this blog is to create a platform in which ideas can be sparked, exchanged and discussed, while simultaneously allowing students to expand classroom conversation into the real world and speak to various audiences via the world wide web. Further, by keeping all the information conveniently in one page, reviewing and studying for the AP exam once the exam dates is on the horizon should be much easier. 

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