When I am Dead, my dearest

By Christina Rossetti

When I am dead, my dearest, 
Sing no sad songs for me; 
Plant thou no roses at my head, 
Nor shady cypress tree: 
Be the green grass above me 
With showers and dewdrops wet; 
And if thou wilt, remember, 
And if thou wilt, forget. 

I shall not see the shadows, 
I shall not feel the rain; 
I shall not hear the nightingale 
Sing on, as if in pain: 
And dreaming through the twilight 
That doth not rise nor set, 
Haply I may remember, 
And haply may forget.

Some sample commentary poems to practice on...

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

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Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on that sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

The answer sheets to your last package are up on the website:
www.ibenglish.weebly.com

I've been having trouble with my scanner, so please drop by the classroom tomorrow to pick up your worksheets for Tuesday.

I said you had handouts to complete but you can just ignore that part of your homework. Just complete your presentations - 1 minute presentation, 1 example, 1 question/quiz for the class.

Homework for next mon/ties:

Watch A Small Act and answer the following questions: 

1. How does the film maker create sympathy for either Ruth or Kimani? Choose one child and cite all the examples you can. 

2. List the two story arcs in the movie? What are the climaxes for each? 

3. Explain how this film shares a similar theme with Lives of the Saints using examples. This should be a full paragraph. (think back to the very first chapter of the book). 

All answers are due typed, mla, next class. 

Due next class for your essay: your intro paragraph including approved thesis statement, typed, double-spaced, MLA. You also need to show your three topic sentences.

Also due are presentations. Be prepared. You with have NO prep time!

Read ch. 7-10 and take notes on the three page folded bookmark. for next class. And bring your Midsummer book to next class!

Read ch. 11-14 as well. Answer the following questions, typed, double-spaced, mla, with quotations from the text as supports:

JOURNAL QUESTIONS

Give EACH chapter a title and explain your reasoning.  

 

CHAPTER 11:  Have you ever befriended a "bad influence" (or been one, perhaps)?  Have you ever had an experience that you knew was wrong or going to get you trouble, but you went along with it anyway?  How did you feel?  How did others around you feel?  Why do you think people choose to "take a walk on the wild side"?

 

CHAPTER 12:  Have you ever experienced or a witnessed a clash between generations?  What in your life do you consider traditional and what do you consider modern?  What are some "old world" traditions that you hold dearly and what are some modern "new world" factors in your life that you are grateful for?  Comment on the idea of old world and new world using Vittorio's experiences along with your own (use references from the book – note the use of light and dark imagery).

 

CHAPTER 13:  How might this chapter be a turning point?  How do you interpret the line, "the town a kind of inferno, its people ghosts"?  Who do you relate to the most in this chapter and why?

 

CHAPTER 14: Pathos is the quality or power of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion, in our case, through literature.  Where is the pathos in this chapter?  In what ways does Nino Ricci successfully create pathos (think literary power words!)

Read chapters 4,5&6 of LoS. Quiz next class.

Note the rhyme scheme for each of the three poems handed out in class and identify what kind of sonnet it is.

See "poetry" on the class website For your rubric.

Homework:

1. Look up and print the poems "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll and "The One Beside the Door" by Peter Benoit.

2. Analyze the poem by using the 3 steps we learned in class.

3. Find a ballad (but not a song), a villanelle, or a sonnet which you will use for your YouTube video. I will ask for titles next class.

 

Instructions for YouTube Video:

a) Select a ballad, villanelle or a sonnet (your ballad cannot be a song because we already did songs in our previous presentation).

b) Create a YouTube video of yourself as you recite the poem. Make the video as creative as you can with music, art, drama etc. (You may use other classmates as extras in your video, although you must be the one reciting the poem as the assignment will be graded individually; therefore, each one of you must make your own video.)

c) Videos will not be performed in front of the class. You will provide me with the link of the video on the respective due date (see below) and I will grade your video as I watch it online. Make sure you follow the rubric as you work on the activity, which is also available on the blog.

d) On your first class back after the break you will provide me with the title of the poem you have chosen.

 

Important dates for grade nines:

-Friday, March 25, 2011 or Monday, March 28, 2011 (depending when you have class) Poem analysis test You will have 75 minutes (the whole period) to analyse a specific poem using the steps we learned in class.

 

-Wednesday, March 30, 2011 or Thursday, March 31, 2011 (depending when you have class) YouTube Video due You will provide me with the link of your video during class.

Read the analysis of Do Not Go Gentle.

Then write your own villanelle (remember to use iambic pentametre).

Listen to the song Hurricane by Bob Dylan.

Write your own ballad. Your ballad will document a monumental event that has happened in your lifetime. (ex.sept 11--you can't do that one though). Roughly 1-2 pages long, with stanzas and rhyme scheme.

Typed up. Due space.

Be prepared to present your ballad in your group for next class.

Look up one of the poems listed in class (with the exception of How to Eat a Poem) and print it off.

Find a song that would classify as a ballad ( if you don't remember what that is, look it up), and print off the lyrics.

Due next class.

You creative song is due this Wednesday. Please have a copy of your lyrics typed up with all of your group members' names on it.

Midsummer skits:

Next class is rehearsal. The class after that (wed/thurs) is performance day. You need the following:

- Lines converted into modern English.
- 5 significant quotations, read verbatim, and write in clear lettering on large paper or board-held up as they are said during your performance.
- large names on each character so we know who you are
- costumes
- props (music, lighting, staging etc)

Homework for next class (after the weekend):

1. Design a costume for the fairy you have been assigned. Include written details pointing out different parts of the costume. In colour on a plain piece of paper.

2. Read act 3, scene 1 on your own.

3. Review the scenes we read in class for quotations.

Weekend Homework:
Reread Act I, scene i and start to collect quotation for the various topics and themes we discussed in class.

Also, watch the film posted below.

In preparation for our play, please watch this thought-provoking video on the world's favourite topic - love. 

Why do we crave love so much, even to the point that we would die for it? To learn more about our very real, very physical need for romantic love, Helen Fisher and her research team took MRIs of people in love -- and people who had just been dumped.

http://www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_studies_the_brain_in_love.html

Interpret scene from play into modern language and setting. Next class is another rehearsal period. Performance will happen the class after that.

Listen to songs and the radio and start to identify songs that focus on true love, unrequited love, and infatuation. What are the songs saying about each? You just have to think about this, not write it down.

Once you recognize themes in other songs, write your own poem/song on one or all of the above topics. The poem/song should be a minimum of 18 lines long.

Due next class. Not MLA.