POETS BIO NOTES

I might be a little late in posting this, but here are the notes I took on thursdays review session.  If nothing else i suppose rewriting this will help me study...

JOHN DONNE

• metaphysical
• Royalist (patronized by the king)
• leading Anglican preacher
• early works were secular - Carpe Diem / Cavalier
• later works were more religious - Holy Sonnets (George Herbert's whole career was like this)

GEORGE HERBERT

• metaphysical
• Royalist
• all religious poetry (NO secular poems)
• Concrete poetry (Easter Wings)
• an intense member of the clergy

HENRY VAUGHAN

• metaphysical
• Royalist
• much more into nature - he was a mystic and used a lot of natural imagery
• NOT a member of the clergy - but still very religious

BEN JONSON

• Carpe Diem
• wrote only secular poems
• heart of soul of Cavalier poetry (so... he was Royalist)
• Professional Poet

ROBERT HERRICK

• Royalist
• wrote everyday poems
• Part of "The Sons of Ben" (in reference to Ben Jonson)

JOHN MILTON

• Puritan (very)
• religious poetry (no secular poems)
• Famous Works
• Paradise Lost
  
• Paradise Regained
  
• Samson Agonistes
• MASQUE: dramatic play performed with masks - characters portray more abstract concepts - mostly performed for nobility
• worked for Cromwell
• Latin Secretary
  

ANDREW MARVELL

• Puritan
• not as spiritual
• carpe diem
• religious and secular poetry
• Milton's assistant
• later a member of parliament

I also found some useful information on the Toulmin Model.

http://www.bennettsite.info/Toulmin_Eval_Arg.pdf

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/argument/making_argument/toulmin.htm

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~digger/305/toulmin_model.htm

Sean H.

I was searching for some more information on 17th century english poetry and I happened to find a website that seems to be the same website Mr. Lazarow used to create the 17th century poetry packet. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/ If anyone forgot or lost their packet this website should be pretty helpful. Also, its probably too late but does anyone have notes from the last three days of school.

Sean H.

Sites for Help with Final Study

Here are some sites that should help you study for the Final:

Hamlet Analysis

17th Century Cavalier Poets

John Milton and Paradise Lost   

Sonnets

-Ryan Grosso

Final Exam Notes/Help

Notes from the Week

PI. TOULMIN SENTENCE

Because (grounds), therefore, or so (qualifier)(claim), since (warrant), because, or on account of (backing), unless (reservation). 

PII. Hamlet

Themes include: pride, blood vengeance, loyalty, life vs. death, and appearance vs. reality. 

Acts II through V will be included on the final exam. Act I finishes off with the conversation between Hamlet and the ghost, while Act II begins with the conversation between Polonnius and Ronaldo. 

PIII. Poet Information

It would be a wise idea to know the type or religion of each poet. If you're able to know these facts, then identifying certain quotes that will appear on the final will be a much easier task fro you.

John Donne- Metaphysical poet; Cavalier/Royalist

George Herbert- Metaphysical poet; Royalist (focuses on religion)

Henry Vaughan- Royalist (puts more focus on nature)

Ben Johnson- Heart of the Cavalier Poets (Famous for his Carpe Diem poems)

Robert Herrick- Royalist (similar to Ben Johnson)

John Milton- Puritan (Always focused on religion)

Andrew Marvell- Bounced back and forth from side to side but is considered a Puritan (made a famous Carpe Diem poem that we discussed in class-- To His Coy Mistress)

-Ryan Grosso, Period 11

Class Notes of June 5, 2009

This is what we discussed today in class about the Bermudas Poem by Andrew Marvell:

• The first 4 lines step up the setting of the song, and the last 4 lines end the song.
• Bermudas is an English colony in the Caribbean.
• They are going to the Bermudas by a big boat, then getting off a small boat and rowing to the shore.
• They rowed a longboat and a longboat requires a lot of people to row it.
• They sing a song to keep in rhythm, to go at the same place otherwise they would never reach the shore and they would spin in circles.
• This poem is a replication of a song sailors sang to pass time.
• The song is about God, and how they got to the Bermudas by His grace.
• The Puritans escaped from England to a place uninhibited by Anglicans because it was too crowded in England.
• This is a Puritan poem. Written by him when he was a Puritan.
• The Puritans believed that the Bermudas was the closest thing next to the Garden of Eden because it was so serene and beautiful.
• This poem was not written as an personal experience, but he wrote it because he read it from letters that he traded from Puritans that traveled to the Bermudas.
• The theme is "God made everything, and He is glorious, and how God does everything for a reason".
• One of the first things they would have built would be a church to God.

-Final Exam Format ( Everything from the 2nd half of the year and on.)

• 11 Questions on the historical background of the English civil war.
• 15 Biographical questions on the poets we've studied.
• 8 Questions from 8 poems, 1 question from each of the 8 poems. Mr. Laz will select special sections of certain poems and make us analyze them.
• 5 Questions from Paradise Lost
• 1 Sonnet to read and analyze.
• 18+ Hamlet questions (Act II - V)
• 1 Essay (Comprehensive Essay on the WHOLE year)

-June 5, 2009 Friday's Review Session

• We reviewed nothing.

-Piero Benites

Class Notes

Andrew Marvell
-Scarce information on Andrew Marvell due to inconsistencies with his work
-Born in Yorkshire in 1621
-Attended Trinity College
-"Musa Cantabrigiensis" first two poems in Latin and Greek
-Spoke Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Latin, and Greek
-Royalist who was swayed to the Puritan side under Cromwell, then returned to the Royalist side following the fall of Cromwell and the puritan gov't
-Published "Upon Appleton House" and carpe diem poems "To his coy mistress" and "The Definition of Love"
-Appointed assistant to John Milton in 1657, and was recommended for job as latin secretary
-died in 1678, and Miscellaneous poems published posthumously in 1681

"To His Coy Mistress"
-Coy=shy (acting shy to attract attention)
-He and his lover could do anything if they had all the time in the world:
-Look for Indian rubies
-Discuss things
-enjoy each other
-He would love her forever if he had all the time in the world
-His love would progress slowly
-He would admire her for 30,500 years
-Unfortunately they don't have all the time in the world
-If you don't embrace me now, worms will embrace you when you are dead
-While we are young and beautiful, we should enjoy each other
-While we can't stop time, we can decide how we spend our time


-Chris Balch

cllllllass notes

Today we had a BONUS quiz on Paradise Lost. It covered lines 27 up tooo 83. Then afterwards we continued to talk about the rest of the epic. After Satan addresses Beelzebub, lamenting about what they both once were (Arch angels). He resolves not to give up the fight against god. He's clearly not sorry and satan says he will not surrender that easily... despite laying in a lake of fire in hell. A little before line 124, we get a more personal view of satan because he thinks he is the good guy. He wonders who put god in charge of anyone and why he should have to bend his knee to god, the apparent tyrant. This is something people can relate to because we as humans don't like to be told what to do by whoever is in charge, especially if we did not give them the power in the first place.
We then skipped ahead to lines 210+ where Satan (who's EXTREMELY large) uses his free will to stand up. He also has a plan! At first he tried to reason with god, who would not listen. Then they faught but satan lost in battle so therefore, he can't fight god in battle again. So if he cannot destroy god, satan will try to destroy what god has created. In the last 15 lines satan says a few things about how he can percieve the world as he chooses and he can think of hell his heaven because he feels he'd rather reign in hell than serve in heaven. This is possible denialll or it could be legitamite because hell is as far away from god as possible.
We then ended class discussing whether we would prefer to reign in hell or serve in heaven. I would go with reigning hell over serving in heaven. Only because I can understand where satan's coming from. Why was god in charge? I mean i don't know the extent of what serving god meant and what the arch-angels were required to do. But I still see his point- plus he didn't know anything but being beautiful and happy.(and rebellious) So he wasn't happy or beautiful if he never experienced anything else and he never had anything to compare it to. I mean granted he takes destroying god a little far, but i guess if he didn't there wouldnt be a story.
-Emily (7 more days of school left)

Class Notes of June 2, 2009

• Took quiz on John Milton's "Paradise Lost" lines 1-26
• Received back quiz on John Milton's "Sonnet XIX"
• Satan or Lucifer waged war against God in which he turned 2/3 of the angels against God, and lost. Lucifer was casted down to hell, a prison which God had made for them.
• Lucifer was casted into hell so far away from Heaven that even light could not reach him.
• Technically if we follow the rules of God, Satan could ask for forgiveness and repent for what he had done and be forgiven by God.
• Beelzebub, a archangel who joined Lucifer against God was also casted down to Hell. To worship him is the same as worshipping Satan.
• After being in hell, Satan then spoke to God and said that the God right now was a empty shell of his former self because of what he had done and all that he had lost.

-Piero Benites

EC

Extra Credit is officially tomorrowww at 10am. If anyone is on this beforehand can they let mr.Lazarow know that I will not be attending. Thanks.
Friday all we did was watch the Princess Bride......
xoxoEmily
Monday we will probably finish up Sonnet XIX and move on to paradise lost. (Still Milton)

609 315 1848 is my cell phone. 

Connor

Extra Credit: Lord of the Rings

On Sunday May 31, the 10-hour extra credit bonanza will be going down at Connor Tuck's house.

Address: 403 Providence Dr. ( Call me if you need directions, it's pretty easy) 609 315 1848

When: 10 am - 10 pm (when we finish).. feel free to come anytimeafter 930 am. Thanks. 

* Remember to bring a copy of The Return of the King because I'm pretty sure no one will be bringing extras

Notes for the 27th and 28th

Sorry I didn't post last night to anyone who actually goes on the blog. Anyhow I just got back from work so here we go. Yesterday we took a quiz on Herrick's poems and today we had a quiz on Milton's bio. So... Milton's Bio:
John Milton is the first PURITAN poet we have read so far. Please note this down for the final/test- it will be asked. He's one of the three 'great ones' among Chaucer and Shakespeare. He spent most of his career out of favor of the monarchy and people. But as soon as he wrote Paradise Lost it changed everything because it was an INSTANT CLASSIC. Milton was very well educated and read every printed text published in his time...in 4 different languages. (He was fluent in all European languages including Hebrew) Milton could also recite the entire bible by heart. In the years of 1641-1660 he spent most of his time fighting his puritan cause and writing pamphlets defending aspects of libery. Areopagetica was a very famous one written for freedom of the press. The Tenure of Kengs and Magistrates was written to argue for power of the people.
Milton was very well educated so naturally someone of his time was expected to join the clergy. But he didn't because he was so opposed to the Anglican religion. At the end of his education he wrote Lysidas when one of his classmates died. This poem was known as a Pastoral Elegy. He was blind for a majority of his life and Sonnet XIX: When I consider How my Light is Spent was written about this experience. (of going blind)
......moving into Sonnet XIX
The first Quatrain is about how he has this talent(writing poetry) and won't do something with it. This is disobeying god and similar to the man who buried his talent as opposed to investing in it or using it. (Reference in sonnet: story about 3 men....one invested and made money, other used it and at least got use, the other buried it and it was like he had no talent at all.) Therefore Milton must overcome his obstacle(blindness) to use his talent... writing poetry.

Extra credit is @ Connor Tuck's house. Must have the book! Mr. Lazarow might be a little late.
xoxoEmily

Notes for May 26th

Today we began class with a quiz on the Life of Herrick. Everyone who wasn't in class on Friday had to take make up the quiz that was on two poems by Ben Jonson, 'Though I am Young' and 'In the Person of Woman-kind. A SONG Apologetick.' If the people who made up Friday's quiz pulled up the class average to passing then the Life of Herrick quiz would not count. However, that didn't happen ahahahahahahahaha.
Anyways today we only covered the beginning of Delight in Disorder (by Herrick.) It resembles Ben Jonson's Clerimont's Song. Delight in Disorder is refering to something being beautiful, despite being unperfect. The first four lines of the poem are about a guy being distracted by how a girl is dressed.
Wantonness- wild
A lawn - a scarf


Extra Credit is this Sunday. We are reading The Return of the King- LOTR. You must have your own copy or you will not be admitted. We also need a house to do the reading at.....any volunteers?
xoxoEmily Wallace

Notes For 5/14 Necessary?

I wasnt sure if I should do notes or not since Laz wasn't here. We had Mr. L as a sub today. He said we have a quiz tomorrow. That's probably not true considering most of us won't be here tomorrow anyway. Since I didn't do notes really, I'll do them on Monday too.

Sarah Mercer

Snarky

One entry found.

Main Entry:

snarky

Pronunciation:

\ˈsnär-kē\

Function:

adjective

Etymology:

dialect snark to annoy, perhaps alteration of nark to irritate

Date:

1906

1 : crotchety, snappish 2 : sarcastic, impertinent, or irreverent in tone or manner <snarky lyrics>

It's Janes, not James

Aside from that, here is some of what I got off of MAN.

[my comments are bold and in brackets, like this]
[It's influenced by Herbert's work: The Pulley]

WEIGHING the stedfastness and state
Of some mean things which here below reside,
Where birds, like watchful clocks, and the noiseless date
And intercourse of times divide,
Where bees at night get home and hive, and flow'rs
Early, as well as late,
Rise with the sun and set in the same bow'rs [what the hell is bow'rs? if it means bowers, the only one I could find was a support structure for a vine plant, and I'm not sure how well that fits here]
[This first stanza is a long-winded way of saying that nature has a natural rhythm.]

[I didn't get much of the second stanza, save for the last three lines, but it looks like a continuation of the first stanza and it appears to be illustrating the same point. The last three lines seemed a bit different from the rest, though.]
[. . .]
The birds nor sow nor reap, yet sup and dine; [sup means have supper]
The flow'rs without clothes live,
Yet Solomon was never dress'd so fine.
[The last three lines refer to 6:25-30 in the book of Matthew:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%206:25-30,Matt%2010:29-31,
Basically, flowers and birds clothed in beauty by god surpass the riches even of King Solomon.]

Man hath still either toys, or care;
He hath no root, nor to one place is tied,
But ever restless and irregular
[These were the only three lines I got for this one. The first two lines give off the message that man is frivolous and anxious. The third line calls man irregular, in reference to lacking harmony with nature. This is a contrast to the first two stanzas, from what I can gather. The last four lines could just be a further elaboration on the idea that man is horribly dissonant relative to nature's rhythm.]

He knocks at all the doors and strays and roams, [Man is lost]
Nay, hath not so much wit as some stones have, [refers to lodestones, which could be used as compasses, thanks to their magnetic charge]
[The first two lines ridicule man's being out of sync by saying that even stones have better sense of time and place than does man.]
Which in the darkest nights point to their homes, [another reference to lodestones]
By some hid sense their Maker gave; [again, lodestones are the "their" and the Maker is god.]
Man is the shuttle, to whose winding quest
And passage through these looms [This line and the one right before it refer to the classic imagery of the fates weaving lives (man is the shuttle, for anyone familiar with tapestry work, that passes through these looms), but this was adapted from paganism to a Christian audience]
God order'd motion, but ordain'd no rest. [one can only escape toil by going back to god for guidance, at least that's how I understand it]

Hope this helps everyone. The quiz tomorrow better be on MAN or I'll be right angry.

You guys better thank me for that link to bible gateway, too; anything involving the divine (especially holy water) burns my skin. Also, I will no longer be posting notes upside-down. The people in Australia will just have to deal with it.

~Kenneth Janes

Notes for May 12th

Kenneth James is a computer god.
Did you see that?

Anyways,
After taking the quiz, and for some like myself, multiple quizzes, we discussed "The Retreat" "The Retreat" is an example of Lyric poetry which has a song like quality.

• This poem is a Romantic poem and they often deal with childhood.
• Closest to god when you're a child.
• We discussed the second race and being ones earthly existence while their fist race being ones heavenly existence.
• We decided poem was talking about how the author was happier before he understood sin. a.k.a. was a child.
• One's first love is God.
• He wished he could go back to innocence.

We stopped at the beginning of the second stanza.

-Jordan Levy

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

http://www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog

Discuss. I'm not gonna spoil it.

Seriously, don't dismiss it because of the title. Even I enjoyed it, and I tend to hate zero-budget musicals.

Oh, and don't skip any of the music. It's a musical, after all. That's the point of it.

Bums

ɥʇǝuuǝʞ~

˙ǝɯɐu ʎɯ ʇoƃɹoɟ ı 'ʇıɐʍ 'ɥo

Silly Hat

Hey, guys, my modem's been like "Haha, no. . ." for the last couple days, so I haven't been able to post. Anyway, here's the notes.

THE COLLAR.
(Collar can mean a priest's collar, a working animal's collar, or it can be a homophone play referring to choler, or anger.)

I STRUCK the board, and cry'd, No more;
I will abroad,
(These lines set the angry tone of the poem, and they also indicate that he wants to ditch the life of a priest and travel abroad.)

What? Shall I ever sigh and pine?
(He pines after what he does not have; freedom.)

My lines are and life are free; free as the rode,
Loose as the winde, as large as store.
(He does not need to be tied down here. He is not a boat; he can leave whenever he wants. He's as unlimited as all the stuff in the world.)

Shall I be still in suit?
(Will he still be in his formal black? Will he stay the same? Will he fit into his category, still?)

Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me bloud, and not restore
What I have lost with cordiall fruit?
(Thorn refers to crucifixion, bloud is archaic for bleed, and cordialls are wine grapes.)
(Is he only going to harvest pain from being a priest? To bleed out and gain no comfort in return?)

Sure there was wine,
Before my sighs did drie it : there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
(There was plenty of wine in his younger days, but it is now gone. There was grain when he was young, but he has squandered it. The wine and grain refer to opportunity[?])

Is the yeare onely lost to me?
Have I no bayes to crown it?
No flowers, no garlands gay? all blasted?
All wasted?
(Is it all gone with no celebration in return?)

Not so, my heart : but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
(We did not cover this line in class.)

Recover all thy sigh-blown age
On double pleasures : leave thy cold dispute
(He misses the ages he wasted, he wants to go back in time and revel. He will celebrate and party twice as hard and double his pleasure to make up for lost time.)

Anyway, that's as far as we got in class on Friday. Here it is upside down.

(˙ǝɯıʇ ʇsoן ɹoɟ dn ǝʞɐɯ oʇ ǝɹnsɐǝןd sıɥ ǝןqnop puɐ pɹɐɥ sɐ ǝɔıʍʇ ʎʇɹɐd puɐ ǝʇɐɹqǝןǝɔ ןןıʍ ǝɥ ˙ןǝʌǝɹ puɐ ǝɯıʇ uı ʞɔɐq oƃ oʇ sʇuɐʍ ǝɥ 'pǝʇsɐʍ ǝɥ sǝƃɐ ǝɥʇ sǝssıɯ ǝɥ)
ǝʇndsıp pןoɔ ʎɥʇ ǝʌɐǝן : sǝɹnsɐǝןd ǝןqnop uo
ǝƃɐ uʍoןq-ɥƃıs ʎɥʇ ןןɐ ɹǝʌoɔǝɹ

(˙ssɐןɔ uı ǝuıן sıɥʇ ɹǝʌoɔ ʇou pıp ǝʍ)
˙spuɐɥ ʇsɐɥ noɥʇ puɐ
'ʇınɹɟ sı ǝɹǝɥʇ ʇnq : ʇɹɐǝɥ ʎɯ 'os ʇou

(¿uɹnʇǝɹ uı uoıʇɐɹqǝןǝɔ ou ɥʇıʍ ǝuoƃ ןןɐ ʇı sı)
¿pǝʇsɐʍ ןןɐ
¿pǝʇsɐןq ןןɐ ¿ʎɐƃ spuɐןɹɐƃ ou 'sɹǝʍoןɟ ou
¿ʇı uʍoɹɔ oʇ sǝʎɐq ou ı ǝʌɐɥ
¿ǝɯ oʇ ʇsoן ʎןǝuo ǝɹɐǝʎ ǝɥʇ sı

([¿]ʎʇıunʇɹoddo oʇ ɹǝɟǝɹ uıɐɹƃ puɐ ǝuıʍ ǝɥʇ ˙ʇı pǝɹǝpuɐnbs sɐɥ ǝɥ ʇnq 'ƃunoʎ sɐʍ ǝɥ uǝɥʍ uıɐɹƃ sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥʇ ˙ǝuoƃ ʍou sı ʇı ʇnq 'sʎɐp ɹǝƃunoʎ sıɥ uı ǝuıʍ ɟo ʎʇuǝןd sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥʇ)
˙ʇı uʍoɹp pıp sɹɐǝʇ ʎɯ ǝɹoɟǝq
uɹoɔ sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥʇ : ʇı ǝıɹp pıp sɥƃıs ʎɯ ǝɹoɟǝq
'ǝuıʍ sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥʇ ǝɹns

(¿uɹnʇǝɹ uı ʇɹoɟɯoɔ ou uıɐƃ puɐ ʇno pǝǝןq oʇ ¿ʇsǝıɹd ɐ ƃuıǝq ɯoɹɟ uıɐd ʇsǝʌɹɐɥ oʇ ƃuıoƃ ʎןuo ǝɥ sı)
(˙sǝdɐɹƃ ǝuıʍ ǝɹɐ sןןɐıpɹoɔ puɐ 'pǝǝןq ɹoɟ ɔıɐɥɔɹɐ sı pnoןq 'uoıxıɟıɔnɹɔ oʇ sɹǝɟǝɹ uɹoɥʇ)
¿ʇınɹɟ ןןɐıpɹoɔ ɥʇıʍ ʇsoן ǝʌɐɥ ı ʇɐɥʍ
ǝɹoʇsǝɹ ʇou puɐ 'pnoןq ǝɯ ʇǝן oʇ
uɹoɥʇ ɐ ʇnq ʇsǝʌɹɐɥ ou ı ǝʌɐɥ

(¿ןןıʇs 'ʎɹoƃǝʇɐɔ sıɥ oʇuı ʇıɟ ǝɥ ןןıʍ ¿ǝɯɐs ǝɥʇ ʎɐʇs ǝɥ ןןıʍ ¿ʞɔɐןq ןɐɯɹoɟ sıɥ uı ǝq ןןıʇs ǝɥ ןןıʍ)
¿ʇıns uı ןןıʇs ǝq ı ןןɐɥs

(˙pןɹoʍ ǝɥʇ uı ɟɟnʇs ǝɥʇ ןןɐ sɐ pǝʇıɯıןun sɐ s,ǝɥ ˙sʇuɐʍ ǝɥ ɹǝʌǝuǝɥʍ ǝʌɐǝן uɐɔ ǝɥ ؛ʇɐoq ɐ ʇou sı ǝɥ ˙ǝɹǝɥ uʍop pǝıʇ ǝq oʇ pǝǝu ʇou sǝop ǝɥ)
˙ǝɹoʇs sɐ ǝƃɹɐן sɐ 'ǝpuıʍ ǝɥʇ sɐ ǝsooן
'ǝpoɹ ǝɥʇ sɐ ǝǝɹɟ ؛ǝǝɹɟ ǝɹɐ ǝɟıן puɐ ǝɹɐ sǝuıן ʎɯ

(˙ɯopǝǝɹɟ ؛ǝʌɐɥ ʇou sǝop ǝɥ ʇɐɥʍ ɹǝʇɟɐ sǝuıd ǝɥ)
¿ǝuıd puɐ ɥƃıs ɹǝʌǝ ı ןןɐɥs ¿ʇɐɥʍ

(˙pɐoɹqɐ ןǝʌɐɹʇ puɐ ʇsǝıɹd ɐ ɟo ǝɟıן ǝɥʇ ɥɔʇıp oʇ sʇuɐʍ ǝɥ ʇɐɥʇ ǝʇɐɔıpuı osןɐ ʎǝɥʇ puɐ 'ɯǝod ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝuoʇ ʎɹƃuɐ ǝɥʇ ʇǝs sǝuıן ǝsǝɥʇ)
'pɐoɹqɐ ןןıʍ ı
؛ǝɹoɯ ou 'p,ʎɹɔ puɐ 'pɹɐoq ǝɥʇ ʞɔnɹʇs ı

(˙ɹǝƃuɐ ɹo 'ɹǝןoɥɔ oʇ ƃuıɹɹǝɟǝɹ ʎɐןd ǝuoɥdoɯoɥ ɐ ǝq uɐɔ ʇı ɹo 'ɹɐןןoɔ s,ןɐɯıuɐ ƃuıʞɹoʍ ɐ 'ɹɐןןoɔ s,ʇsǝıɹd ɐ uɐǝɯ uɐɔ ɹɐןןoɔ)
˙ɹɐןןoɔ ǝɥʇ

:D_b

notes- George Herbert

no quiz :)

Notes on George Herbert:
-Being the 5th son in a noble family means you get no inheritance
1st son- heir
2nd son- military
3rd son and there after- clergy
-Herbert could've done nothing but he chose to go into clergy because he felt a calling from it so he went back to school and got his degrees. He ended up being a huge help.
-he grew up with his mother who loved Donne's work
-greatest dissapointment was when he died. Ironic that, on his death bed, he said to burn his work and not to publish it unless it was going to be of some help to others. They saw the merit and published it.
-Direct inheritence of Donne's traditions--->cavalier poet
-memorial verses: occasional poems (it was part of the culture)

Easter-Wings
-Concrete poem: shapes or forms of an object (content and form)
-formed as angel wings. When the lines get smaller it is decaying and when they expand it is coming back to life and rejoining with God.
-people weren't viewed as being nice, the Puritans view was that we were born corrupt and not capable of doing good. They did believe that we were capable of getting better and growing through working, learning, and struggling.The Romantics believed the flip side; that we were born perfect and innocent and that the world corrupted us.
-The first set of angel wings is referring to all of humanity and the second set is focused on himself, specifically.
-In the first line the word 'store' means stuff that makes us what we are
-Laz pointed out that when a poem has the word 'fall' in it, it is a religious poem and it usually means something. ex: Lucifer fell from heaven and was sent to hell. Adam and Eve were a fall from grace.
- "For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me."
-These last two lines are saying, 'if I put my wing on God and take him in, because can't do it on your own, and strife will make me fly high.'

Few things on The Collar.
-three things go along with the idea of 'the collar', we came up with two...try to find the third (we have talked about it before)
1) priests wear collars
2) a yoke goes around animals necks (ox or horse) and connects to what they are carrying


Tanya

Class Notes - 5/6/09

Ok, good news is, as of today, our class average is back above a 60% so we're back on a random-quiz schedule.  Bad news is we've still gotta talk about poetry. So, here's what we talked about today.

We began by talking about the 7th Holy Sonnet

(Laz said "snarky" too... don't think thats a real word...)

The poem lists all different ways to die in reference to how every soul left their body.

The person speaking is a narrative voice of a religious person, and he appears to be calling for Judgement Day.  However, this person cannot call for Judgement Day, only God can.  Therefore, arrogance is implied.

Line 8 refers to people who are alive at Judgement Day that will never experience death.

Line 9's turn moves away from arrogance and towards the right direction.  The narrator starts talking about repentance because he has realized his arrogance.

Since arrogance = pride and pride is one of the 7 deadly sins, he must repent before Judgement Day so that he is offered admittance into heaven.

The last line is a reference to crucifixion of Jesus which allowed our entrance to heaven.

Then we moved on to the 14th Holy Sonnet.

First line calls for suffering. - "Three person'd God" means the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost)

The narrator believes that once he is beaten down, it will be better for him to be built back up in a more righteous way.

Viceroy = governor

This is another poem about repentance

Uses metaphors as examples. - calls himself "an usurp'd town" meaning that he has been infiltrated with sin.

In the turn, he asks God to grant him a divorce from Satan so he may marry God.  He is using sin (divorce) to become holy (in marriage).

Also in the inversion is the reference to imprisonment

He wishes to be imprisoned in good, so imprisonment becomes the new freedom.

Divorce has become the new marriage

Ravish = rape

He asks God to rape him, so rape becomes the new chastity.

--Patrick Lafferty

Class Minutes: 5/04

Today there was no pop quiz!

We began class by talking about our essays that are due tomorrow about the things we carry. After all questions were answered, we continued on finishing the analysis of  "The Canonization".

We had left off analyzing the phoenix riddle. It meant that love is everlasting and always gets reborn even after death, like a phoenix burning and then rising from the ashes. 

"So, to one neutral thing both sexes fit. We die and rise the same, and prove mysterious by this love."  The mystery of faith is if you believe then it becomes true so the mystery of love is that it's never ending.

The next stanza starts off by saying that love can kill us, but love transcends death and will live on. It will live on through the people who write about it in poems. There will be no urns , ashes, or tombs, but there will be poems written of this love, thus making them saints of love.

In the final stanza it talks of how you are each other's hermitage or retreat. The narrator says that he wants his love to be like your love so that he can be saintly as well.

After we finished analyzing "The Canonization" we began on "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning".

The poem starts by telling of how a virtuous man is dying. He dies mildly meaning he was satisfied with his life therefore he willingly allowed himself to pass on. It was such a mild death that his friends were unsure if he was still alive or dead. 

Mr. Lazarow finished class by telling us to read the next 2 poems for tomorrow so there will possibly be a quiz on them tomorrow.

-Mickey Gill 

notes- 5/1/09

Today Laz was absent from class, but we still had our pop quiz. It took up mostly the entire period, and whatever extra time we had was to be spent reading the next poems in the packet.

-Celia

notes

No pop quiz today!
Mr. Laz informed us that if we hear from the other class that they had a quiz, we most likely will not have one that same day. He also mentioned that the better route for scholarship is to take notes, pay attention in class, then go home and study it.
"Guarantee. There is no guarantee." - Laz

Next Thursday: Blood drive from 7:00am-8pm
-at least 17 years old, 110 lbs, and have not given blood in the past 56 days
-appts. every 15 mins
-give your name, homeroom, and time you will be going to Mr. Laz if you are interested

BIO on Donne
- Abandoned Catholicism because 1) it wasn't worth it because of all the troubles at the time 2) his job was obtained by King James as an Anglican preacher
-Anne's father didn't make her divorce Donne because divorce was a difficult process
-King James thought John Donne would be a good preacher because he was a talented writer, he was intelligent, a good speaker, and he would make it popular to the people
-The lawfulness of suicide was unpublished because it was against almost all religious beliefs (written during his 12 years of depression)
-How did he deliver his own funeral sermon? He knew he was going to die and thought that no one could do it better then himself
-Lincoln's Inn is one of the best choices of law schools. Donne never practiced law or received any degrees. He taught department of divinity (religious concept of law)

FLEA
-easiest (broken down into developed ideas)
-all sonnet structures apply
-look up the words you don't know while you are reading because Mr. Laz said he will start doing vocab quizzes that will kill us
-never make the mistake that it is in first person. Narrative Voice
-it is really about a flea (representing marriage), the blood is co mingled, these people are not married and it is not about incest

Comprehending
"And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two;
And this, alas! is more than we would do."
-loss of maidenhead= virginity
-The flea mixing their blood is the most that happens, they don't have sex.

"three lives in one flea spare"
-she's going to kill the flea

"this flea is you and I"
-if you kill the flea you kill us

"...and cloister'd in these living walls of jet."
-walls of jet=the black body of the flea

"Though use make you apt to kill me,
let not to that self-murder added be,
and sacrilege, three sins in killing three."
-3 sins: murder, suicide, sacrilege (marriage)

The last paragraph concludes that she does not buy it and kills the flea. She felt no harm from killing the flea so she has nothing to be scared of and might as well do it. Worse thing that could happen is losing a flea's worth of honor.
This is a Carpi Diem poem, which revolve around sex. This is used by Cavalier poets because it allows a connection and familiarity.

Tanya

Notes for April 28th!

Today Mr. Lazarow assigned us a 1-2 page paper. It is suppose to tie together objects (that we had on us) with an idea or feeling we have. We should use The Things that they Carried as a guide.
Mr. Lazarow then filled us in on England's background in the 17th century.
1588- Defeat of Spanish Armada which causes England to become a world power. Because the English previously feared Spain they united and forgot differences in order to fight the outside enemy. However, in the aftermath of Spain's defeat the squables and differences rose to the surface.
Queen Elizabeth becomes queen after Henry VIII. He changes England's religion to Anglican, but neglects to create any rules for the religion. When he died this left Queen Elizabeth the responsibility to do so. The era that she reigned is referred to as the Elizabethan time period.
1603- Queen Elizabeth dies and the Jacobian Era begins with James I (of Scotland) becoming king. The Puritans were very distraught about the change in religion. They were a completely orthodox religious group that believed the bible word for word. The Purtians split up around 1603 to either separate from the Anglican religion or to work from within. Those who separated were known as the pilgrims and came to the new world in 1620.
1625- James I (who was even more brutal than Queen Elizabeth) dies. Charles I becomes king and was EVEN MORE brutal than James.
1637-
King - Parliament
Monarchists Parliamentarians
Anglican Puritans
Cavaliers Roundheads
(political)
1642- Open conflict between the two groups and beginning of English Civil War
1649 - Puritans win and capture/execute the repressive and brutal king Charles I
This murder shows other countrys that England "doesn't need a king or believe in divine right"
Oliver Cromwell (The Protectorate) is put in charge as leader despite the Puritans apparently not being in favor of one person ruling. Oliver then rules England as a military dictatorship.
1658- Very harsh repressive dictatorship. Then Cromwell dies and his son becomes the next leader.
The English people are sick and tired of this so they reach out to Charles II who is an exile in France.
1660- Restoration of British Monarch. Charles II has all murders of his father executed.
John Milton, a wrtier, who supported England's right to kill a king wrote Paradise Lost after Charles II took all his belogings.
After the restoration there were many changes in English culture and they adapted many French things becuase of Charles II French background.

DONNE is who we are assigned to read tonight. His writing is bridged between the Elizabethan era and Jacobian. Cavalier and metaphysical poet!
-Emily Wallace

Notes for April 27, 2009

Today, Laz told us that we will be receiving random quizzes at LEAST once a week on the poems/biographies of poets. However, if the class average for a quiz ever goes below a 60% then we will get quizzes DAILY until the class average goes above a 60% again. These quizzes will we purely reading comprehension, no in depth analysis whatsoever, so there is a potential to boost your grade a lot.
We then started discussing the short story that was assigned on Friday, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. After we went into some detail on how the things the soldiers carried reflected what mental burdens they carried, Laz had us make a typed list of EVERYTHING we had on us at the time. This list is due in class tomorrow.

-Mike "DANGER" Rudolph

4/23/09

Today in class we did a final review for our test tomorrow. We mainly discussed the themes of Hamlet, which are: perception vs. reality (mirrors), honor/pride, blood vengance, Maturity, etc. Then we received "The Things We Carry" which will come a along with a new writing assignment after the test is over. Kaitlyn read some of Laz's quotes throughout the year which had a few good memories in it, BUT most importantly we need to make some ceiling tiles so we can get one up there!
Jordan Levy

class notes 4/21

Today we continued our discussion of Act V scene 1 and are pretty much done the scene. We last left off with the question of whose skull was being dug up. It turns out that the body and the skull belong to Yorick, the old court jester that Hamlet once knew. Hamlet comes to realize whether a person was a court jester or a great leader like Alexander or Caesar, we all die and we all turn out to be the same-dust.
Hamlet also asks the gravedigger how long he has been a gravedigger, in which he replies since old Hamlet beat old Fortinbras, the same day young Hamlet was born. This is the only indication of Hamlet's age and it tells us that Hamlet is about 30 years old. The gravedigger also talks about how Hamlet was sent to England where he will either regain his wits or simply remain with the other crazy people in England. This was a joke about the English that the audience would have enjoyed. It is important to remember that the gravedigger doesn't know he is talking to prince.
Next a funeral procession for Ophelia enters and Hamlet is surprised that the funeral is Ophelia and is upset(or acting upset, depending on you point of view). As Ophelia is lowered into the grave an upset Laertes (we can safely assume this is legit sadness) jumps into her grave with her. Hamlet then jumps out and picks a fight with Laertes saying that he in fact loved Ophelia more than Laertes ever could and fights with Laertes. Picking a fight with the grieving family by claiming greater love is not a normal thing for someone to do and as a result Hamlet is called mad by the King and Queen. It wasn't expected at all that Hamlet would be at the funeral so it was a definite suprise to the mourners and adds to Hamlet's shown insanity. So the question is whether Hamlet is really insane or if he is continuing with his act. This act of anger would show he has no guilt and may be insane, although the anger may be him covering up the guilt. A more common reaction in a situation from most people would be to apologize or more likely avoid Laertes all together. However Hamlet may be thinking rationally and believe that Laertes is now a threat to him, since he did wrong to Laertes, and that he should take action against Laertes before he does the same to Hamlet. Hamlet may also be trying to provide more cover for an act of craziness. The question of whether he is crazy or acting crazy can be interpreted different ways and there isn't a difinitive answer. That sums up the questions and answers we covered today in class.

-Andrew Burke

Class Notes 4/20

Hey guys, sorry it took me a little while to update..I have a ton of notes so bear with me.

We mainly talked about the beginning of Act 5 Scene 1 involving the gravediggers and some of the conversation with Hamlet. The gravediggers are important in this scene mostly for comic relief. They are the last good and solid comedic moment before Ophelia's funeral and everyone else's inevitable death. This part of the scene also furthers the plot and transfers the play into Ophelia's funeral. 

We discussed the social class of the gravediggers and how they are the lowest of the low. The clearest indicator that they are in the lower class is the fact that they speak in prose, not poetry like the rest of the characters in the play who mostly are nobility. The gravediggers are actually called clowns in the play because they are rustics and are laughable. One would assume that the groundlings watching the play would be offended because Shakespeare is essentially mocking them; however, the groundlings feel superior to those on stage because their lives are better than the characters. They would rather live the lives they have than the ones of those on the stage. Therefore, Shakespeare can mock them and make them feel good about themselves all at once. 

As for what is actually said, the gravediggers ask a lot of questions. They start off trying to figure out if Ophelia drowning was suicide or not. From there, they talk about whether or not she should be buried in a Christian burial ground if she did commit suicide. By rule, suicide is obviously a sin and prevents someone from being buried on sacred ground. On Judgement Day, those buried in holy ground will rise up again, but those who committed suicide would not be allowed to do so. Then the gravedigger continues with the "logical" thought that if you go to the water, it's suicide, but if the water comes to you, it's drowning. Both men seem to think this is quite logical, even though it isn't.

Then the gravedigger says a riddle that isn't all that funny. The riddle is this: "who can build something stronger that a mason (works with stone), a shipwright (builds boats), and a carpenter (works with wood). The answer to this riddle is a gravedigger because the "houses" he builds will last until Judgement Day--longer than a house, ship, or something a carpenter would make (i.e. gallows). This is ironic because while the gravedigger was saying this, he was in the process of removing a skull and bones from a grave to make room for Ophelia. So while the "houses" may last, the "occupants" of the house have changed so the house technically didn't last at all.

At this point, Hamlet and Horatio come upon the gravedigger, singing while throwing bones out a grave. Hamlet wonders who they could be digging up and he is intrigued to ask the gravedigger. The two men have a bit of witty banter about who is to be laid to rest in the grave, and Hamlet actually appreciates the somewhat intelligent conversation he has with the gravedigger. This is the first conversation Hamlet has had with someone from outside the castle and he feels it is quite satisfactory in comparison to some other conversations he's had with those inside the castle.

(I swear I'm almost done) We finished up talking about when Hamlet asks the gravedigger how long it takes a body to rot. Hamlet once again shows his interest with death now that he is really facing it while talking to the gravedigger. And that's where we let off. Sorry that was so incredibly long. 

-Sarah Mercer

Class Notes 4/7

Act IV

-Ophelia's madness is the result of her father's death; much time has passed since the death of Polonius
-The Kingdom will eventually begin to devolve due to king Hamlet's death, and the apparent fact that Claudius has no direct heir
Flowers:
-Violets- nobody (Faith)
-Rue- some for Gertrude, some for Ophelia, possibly Claudius (Sorrow, Repentance)
-Rosemary- Laertes, possibly Gertrude (Remembrance)
-Pansies- Laertes, to think about Ophelia (Thoughts)
-Fennel- Claudius, possibly Gertrude (Flattery, Deception)
-Columbines-Claudius/Gertrude (Disloyalty)
-Dasies- Gertrude (Infidelity)
-They don't think much of the flowers because Ophelia is clearly crazy despite the flower's significance
-Claudius lies, but has not lied to himself as Gertrude has done
-Everyone has lost their faith

-Chris Balch

Class Notes 4/7

Act IV

-Ophelia's madness is the result of her father's death; much time has passed since the death of Polonius
-The Kingdom will eventually begin to devolve due to king Hamlet's death, and the apparent fact that Claudius has no direct heir
Flowers:
-Violets- nobody (Faith)
-Rue- some for Gertrude, some for Ophelia, possibly Claudius (Sorrow, Repentance)
-Rosemary- Laertes, possibly Gertrude (Remembrance)
-Pansies- Laertes, to think about Ophelia (Thoughts)
-Fennel- Claudius, possibly Gertrude (Flattery, Deception)
-Columbines-Claudius/Gertrude (Disloyalty)
-Dasies- Gertrude (Infidelity)

-They don't think much of the flowers because Ophelia is clearly crazy despite the flower's significance
-Claudius lies, but has not lied to himself as Gertrude has done
-Everyone has lost their faith

more act 4

some things we went over today:

-in scene 3 Hamlet talks to Claudius about the worms eating Polonius
"Not where he eats, but where he is eaten..."
what was concluded was that we are fish bait, which is nothing. Hamlet says that we think we are the top of the food chain but the worm always lives.. and the hobo eats the king?

-(random side note about the 'nothing joke') 'nothing'=vagina.
the Elizabethans believed that women are empty and useless unless they have a male to go along with them. this is slang that appears in most of Shakespeare plays. ex. King Lear

-at the end of scene 3 the King talks to England because he is sending letters to let them know about Hamlet's execution and he is telling England what the letters say basically.
-England will do what Denmark says because they are afraid. 'do it or else...'
- Claudius says:
"For like the hectic in my blood he rages...."
this is saying the sickness in my blood (Hamlet is like a virus) and the cure is his death. When really Hamlet is the cure, Claudius is the sickness because he is all fake.

-Does Claudius know how or if Hamlet really knows?
He doesn't care, he just cares that there is a problem and he needs a speedy way to solve it, why ask questions. less cause, more about the effect.

-scene 4: Fortinbras is seen for the first time, why now?
He is acting to fight in Poland for a useless patch of land. Hamlet sees that honor is enough.. and realizes that he is 3/4 coward, 1/4 wisdom.

Tanya

Act 4 Notes

Hey everyone, so it's like 11pm and the night before the test! But i suppose i'm just going to post all my act 4 notes that I have so far. Since we've been lacking on updating the blog again. Good LUCK everyone on the test tomorrow and thanks Tanya for those quotes! They were really helpful.
ACT 4 Scene 1/2/3
This is following Hamlet's murder of Polonius in Act 3. At the end of Act 3 Hamlet also leaves Gertrude with a choice to either pick her role as queen or her role as mother. (Basically making her pick sides.) So the start of Act 4 shows her choosing Hamlet over Claudius. Gertrude tells Claudius how crazy Hamlet is and explains to him how Hamlet killed Polonius after mistaking him for a rat. Hamlet is very intent on creating chaos and turmoil in this Act. The story gets more chaotic obviously now that Claudius fully established that he is in fact a usurper. The chaos Hamlet is creating at the moment is not telling anyone where the body of Polonius is. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask him, Hamlet calls them sponges which are low on the evolutionary chain and also spineless/useless.
A significant quotes Hamlet says which sounds crazy, but we know what it really means. "The body is with the king...the king is not with the body." This is just another play on words by Hamlet that uses "king" to mean king hamlet because we as the audience know the real king cannot be a usurper(claudius).
The fox hunt reference means an extremely unfair and onesided hunt. (Horses, guns, and lots of people versus one fox)
******The reasons Claudius will not persecute Hamlet for the murder of Polonius
1. keeping order and becoming VERY desperate to maintain power
2. people love Prince Hamlet
3. He's prince
4. Hamlet knows about the murder and could use that if persecuted
5. obviously Gertrude wouldn't be too thrilled if Claudius had her son executed..

We also talked about why Hamlet calls Claudius mother. It's mainly because he would NEVER call Claudius father. It's very insulting and his bond with Gertrude gives them a collective identity. It's also pretty funny.
Today we mainly reviewed for tomorrow's testttt. It's got 10 quotes that we have to analyze and explain. Know context and significance! Alrighty.
Emily Wallace

Act 3 quotes

Here's a couple quotes to think about from Act 3 scene 1 for the test on Friday. If anyone has some other ones, post them up if you get a chance..

Act III. i
(around line 30)
King- "With all my heart; and it doth much content me
To hear him so inclined.
Good gentlemen, give him a further edge,
And drive his purpose into these delights."
-Claudius to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern/ after receiving notice that Hamlet is excited about the players and would like them to go watch.
--I was wondering why Claudius orders them to 'drive' him as to steer him into certain pleasures.

(around line 50)
Polonius- "Read on this book,
That show of such an exercise may colour
Your loneliness. We are oft to blame in this,
'Tis too much proved, that with devotion's visage
And pious action we do sugar o'er
The devil himself."
-First three lines: Polonius is asking Ophelia to use the book to add realism to her loneliness.
-Last two: to Claudius stating that it has been done before and proven that things can be covered up but still remains true (Theme: not everything is what it seems to be)

[directly after, the King says aside:
"O, 'tis too true.
How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!
The harlot's cheek, beautied with plast'ring art,
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it
Than is my deed to my most painted word.
O heavy burden!"
-Polonius's words bother him: this shows us he is guilty of something (keeps the audience going
-The reference to the artificiality of the make-up that beautifies the harlot's face is compared as similar to Claudius's words that cover up his deeds. (Theme: Appearance vs. Reality)

Hamlet's 'To be, or not to be' soliloquy

(around line 150)
Hamlet- "I have heard of your paintings well enough.
God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another...
...Those that are married already, all but
one, shall live; the rest shall keep as they are. To a nunnery,
go."
-To Ophelia, pin pointing her false appearance
-Foreshadowing a death: 'all but one shall live'




Tanya

hey guys, for anyone doing their paper on either the gibson or the the branagh version of the scene, i've found both on youtube, and favorited them, so if you want, you can find them on my page at www.youtube.com/pianoman728 in my favorites.  Hope that helps! good luck everyone.

--Patrick Lafferty

3/11 Class Notes

Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 2)

Analysis/Notes:

-Hamlet requests the play in order to mimic how he belies the murder of his father took place.

-Claudius will fully understand the play and, as a result, he will only further want Hamlet out of the country due to him now being a direct threat of his kingship.

-The playwright gives Shakespeare the opportunity to directly talk to his audience. 

-Shakespeare loves theatre therefore he creates Hamlet to be a fan of theatre as well.

-Hamlet asks why do we act? He answers by saying it gives people the chance to look at their life in a non-objective way, and this is only something theatre can offer. 

-Honor demands that Hamlet carry out his action out without another person being involved. Hamlet must be the one to make things right.

-Hamlet most likely had a small relationship with his father. They differ in interests and he's barely been around him during his adult life. People are often more respected and like once they're dead, and this is most definitely one of those cases. 

-Ryan Grosso

3/10 MINUTES

Mr. Lazarow began the class by first asking if there were any questions about our essays due this friday. Since there were none, we continued on to Hamlet act 3, scene2. During act 3, scene 2 the players acted out The Murder of Gonzaga. Before they began, Hamlet told them to add an extra scene which was the killing of the king killed by his nephew which is symbolic to Hamlet killing Claudius. This is a public threat by Hamlet to Claudius' life which everyone in attendance saw. During the previous scene Hamlet also made a private threat to Claudius' life when he said that he would kill all those who are married.

Before the play, Hamlet proved a point to Polonius, Guildenstern, and Rosencrantz who were trying to get information out of Hamlet that they could not play him but he could easily play them and make them do whatever he wanted.

By the end of the scene when Hamlet is planning on going to see his mother, he is very angry. During his ending soliloquy he has to remind himself not to attack his mother.

-Mickey Gill

Minutes- 3/9/09

Today we began class by talking about the new movie Watchmen. Mr. Laz mentioned that he will be holding the discussion group for those who have read the book, or seen the movie. It will be next Monday (3/16/09) at 2:00 PM. He also said that anyone who would like to is more than welcome to write a paper about any of the various questions that were addressed in Watchmen.
We were also reminded that our paper comparing 2 of the videos of the "Rogue" soliloquy in Act 2 of Hamlet is due this Friday (3/13/09)
We spent the remainder of the period watching video of the "To be or not to be" speech as well as Hamlet's confrontation with Ophelia in Act 3. We watched the 2 major motion picture versions starring Mel Gibson & Kenneth Branagh. While watching we were to be asking ourselves questions, especially, At what point is it that Hamlet realizes that he is being watched?
Laz also told us that tomorrow we will be starting Act 3, Scene 2 so be ready.
-Celia

MINUTES- 03/04/09

Gugggggg i'm sorry I just got back from work :(! Bah it's so late. Anyhow today in the beginning of class we turned in our responses to the quotes we recieved. Then Mr. Lazarow handed out more Hamlet questions and thus started our discusion of Act 3 Scene 1. There is a point in the break up scene with Ophelia, that Hamlet realizes her father is in the room. This place is line 129. He says "Where's your father" and Ophelia responds by lying and telling him that her father is at home. When everyone departs Ophelia has a moment alone where she has her own soliloquy. In it she expresses worry for everyone and the nation but does not refer to love or her and Hamlets relationship. This indicates betrayal and that any love that MAY have been is now gone.
HAMLETS SOLILOQUY..... 'to be or not to be...'
We compared this soliloquy with his previous one, where he is very enthusiastic about the players and his plan to expose claudius. His feelings are almost considered manic in comparison to this Act 3 Scene 1 soliloquy. This moment is a very low one where Hamlet mainly discusses death. He believes that in death there is no pain and that life is pretty awful.
He compares death to sleeping when you dream. If you dream when you are dead you would not be able to wake from a bad dream. Hamlet then comes to a conclusion that FEAR GOVERNS ACTIONS: in life you can try to fight for troubles (but inevitably life will mull you over) or you can just die. But, troubles in death could be worse than troubles in life. Either way you are avoiding which ever you think is worse thus being a 'coward'.

MARCH 13TH is when the film analysis paper is due!
-Emily Wallace

YIPPIE!

SNOW DAY!

:)

yay.

Class Notes for 2/27/09

We began class today with Kaitlyn asking Mr Lazarow for advice on her love life and he actually gave her some without insulting her. This discussion launched us into how he met his wife and what and what not to quote from Shakespeare to a girl.
We then got down to business, and Mr Laz discussed the essay on the quote that's due on Monday. The essay must be 1-1 1/2 pages long and be about whether you agree with the person's choice as to whether or not that quote is the most important quote ever.
Then we talked about the newer essay. This one is on the 5 Hamlet soliloquies. it is to be based on the different elements on what a performance is made up on and must have a paragraph on each element that is mentioned.
After all that, we discussed hamlet Act 3 Scene 1.

-Mike "Danger" Rudolph

Class Minutes 2/26

Today in class we watched the last Hamlet movie. For the essay you need to pick your favorite and least favorite and compare and contrast the two. Make sure they are comparable. Pick three to five of the strongest elements to use to compare the two versions you pick. You must have a thesis statement at the beginning of your paper. He made that very clear. The essay is due March 13.

-jimmy rhoads

A Rarity: Watchmen creator Alan Moore interviewed!

Check out this link:

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/17-03/ff_moore_qa?currentPage=all

Alan Moore's interview with WIRED magazine on superheroes, Watchmen, comic book-film adaptations, etc. Some very interesting moments...

LAZ

Class Minutes 2/25/09

Today we watched the second, third and fourth movies about the soliloquy of Hamlet. For this assignment we are to pick our two most favorite versions of the soliloquy and explain why we chose them and also explain the criteria we used to rate them. To make it easier for all of us to get a good grade we should discuss the different versions here on the blog, since we do not have much time to talk about them in class. Our table paper is due next monday March the second.

-Piero Benites

Class Minutes 2/24/09

Today we got an extra credit opportunity for our tables. We can wear them and take notes until the end of Hamlet and then we are given a writing assignment. In order to receive the extra credit we can not be caught without our tables.

We also began our assignment for Act II in Hamlet. We watched Hamlet's soliloquy depicted in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet and analyzed and took notes on the scene. Our task is to write an essay comparing and contrasting two of these scenes as depicted by different performances.

Also our quote paper from Act I is due on Monday


-Andrew Burke

Tanya on Tuesday I think we just went over Midterms, so you didnt miss any notes.

An Update

On Wednesday we talked about Hamlet, obviously. First, Hamlet claims that he sees no joy in the world, including people. In reality this is one of his many lies (seemingly an explaination for his insanity) to cause confusion. We also discussed the concept derived from Genesis, Hamlet basically says that even though we are the most complicated form of dust, we are still dust. We also see the beginning signs that Hamlet's tradgic flaw is pride (because Hamlet thinks he's so much smarter than everyone else, he is willing to tell the truth to those he doesnt think will catch on).

Today we talk about the significance of the actors. The actors are the perfect symbol for the theme appearance versus reality. In Shakespeare's play he has actors playing actors. The reason why the actors were traveling was that they didn't have a theater to preform in, there was a new fad of children preforming in plays. This is a brief part of Hamlet that is commonly left out in plays. In addition, Hamlet asks the first actor to recite part of the Aenied, the death of Priam. Priam was the old king of Troy and was surrounded by Greek soldiers while Troy was being destroyed. Pyrrhus decides that he is going to be the one to kill Priam. Priam and Pyrrhus are sword fighting and Pyrrhus unarms Priam, and Pyrrhus knocks Priam down. A honorable person would let Priam get up and get his sword but Pyrrhus decides he is just going to kill Priam anyway. Suddenly many surrounding buildings collapse and deafen Pyrrhus for a short time, giving him ample time to rethink killing the king in such a brutal manner, he still kills the king. As a side note, Pyrrhus was described to be covered in blood and soot (giving him a devil like resemblance). Hecuba, Priam's wife, comes out immediately after Priam's death. At the sight of Priam's death she screams and cries in anguish so loud that the gods hear, and the gods feel her sorrow and weep as well. Since kings are chosen by the gods, killing Priam in such an inhonorable way was one of the worst things a man could do.

And yeah guys, Tanya's right we do suck at these notes, its been a week since anyone has posted anything.

why do we suck at the blog?

HELLO, we never post notes on here..why?

could someone please put up some key things we talked about today in class and on Tuesday. I would reaaaally appreciate it!

thanks:)
Tanya

Class Minutes 2/12/09

Today in class we started with the quote by Hamlet, "Why, then, 'ts none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison."
The prison he is referring to is Denmark.
Hamlet has seen the outside world and feels that Denmark is his prison.

From that point on we got into a discussion on Philosophy.
(Before I get any farther, I would like to say this is probably the best class I've ever had.)
We spent the rest of class talking about mostly Theoretical Philosophy. This includes metaphysics, beliefs about reality, and logic, the technique of reasoning.
Mr. Lazarow led the discussion, mainly focusing on one's perception of reality. He challenged us with questions about the meaning of words, why they are accepted as words, and who's to say these words truly represent the actual object. He gave us the example of a "stapler." How can we truly determine that the object known as a stapler should be called a "stapler." He challenged us with many more examples and questions, but it all came down to one's personal belief and one's perception of the reality.

A stapler can be nothing. A stapler can be everything.

Jordan Levy

notes

Kaitlyn and Jordan acted out the scene from Act 2 Scene 1 that was described by Ophelia to Polonious. Jordan, as Hamlet, acted crazy and fascinated in Ophelia. Hamlet was not naked.

Why was this scene not acted out and the scene with Ophelia and her father was?
-because the audience knows that Hamlet will be crazy and it builds suspicion for the audience to create their own opinion of the situation
-shows naivety of Ophelia (who is upset and will exaggerate the real happenings)


A couple weeks go by from when Laertes is sent to Paris, this allows Hamlet to realize what is going on with him and Ophelia.

The whole point of going crazy towards Ophelia is for her to tell Polonious who will tell the King and so Hamlet does not have to.

Hamlet is a tragic hero who has allies: one being Ophelia, who should stand by his side
Another theme in the play is the Old characters vs. the Young characters (Generational Warfare) because it is all about identity and how a young individual changes depending on who they are around and what they want from the situation.
-the older characters (Polonious, Gertrude, and Claudius) want obedience, respect, and they want to be in control of the the younger characters (Ophelia, Hamlet, Laertes)

Act 1 Scene 2

Does the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet why they are there make them on Hamlets side?
-no
They are being bribed to watch over Hamlet and see what is wrong with him

Why does Hamlet talk to Polonious like he doesn't know about Ophelia?
-it brings some comedy into the tragic mind set of the audience and allows comparisons, they become indifferent to it [garden of Eden: tree of knowledge of good and evil (recognizable elements)]

Tanya

Feb 9, 2009 Notes

Mr. Lazarow was at a convention over the weekend, leaving him fairly drained, that's why he wasn't on the prowl around the school today. Anyway, there was a panel that got canceled, stuff happened, and he took over the panel, got an interview afterward, and was subsequently hired to do a column for said interviewing party. There'll be a podcast of his interview up in about a week as of this date.

Aside from that, there was a class discussion on whether or not graphic novels should be taught as part of a curriculum. As a form of art, I agree whole-heartedly that it should be taught, but that's just me. There was something about Watchmen, but you'll need to ask another classmate for details or ask Mr. Lazarow.

We had a brief discussion of Hamlet regarding 2-1, discussing Polonius's methods of spying on his son. The technique he uses can be best summed up as "tell lies to get the truth," wherein the party that spies asks details of Laertes regarding his whereabouts, some of which can be slanderous, and, based on that, the people will either agree or disagree with said rumors.

Oh, and don't forget those tables.

~Ken

(Again, I suck at taking notes, so you may need someone else to fill you in on the details.)

Minutes

We started class by analyzing lines 112-119 Act 1 Scene 5. From these lines Shakespear repeats his theme that some things are not as they seem. Hamlet also refers to his table to which he wrote down a revelation he had about Claudius, his father's murder.

In addition we discussed the renaissance man. A renaissance man is a type of person that is interested in everything, essentailly. The problem with reniassance men was that they would never know when they would come upon a revelation so they had to carry a table, something to jot notes down on. The concept of the reniassance man is relevant to our next project, which was assigned in class today.

The project is to start carrying a table. Our table will be a small notebook with yarn to hang the notebook around our necks. Mr. Lazarow stressed the importance of wearing the table at all times, even out of school (unless you are doing something that makes it impossible like playing a sport or at a formal event). The goal of the table is to record things that reveal important truths.

Mr. Lazarow also mentioned that he has AP Juniors that potentially can get extra credit for the discovery of a senior without the table. Also, he said that his children happen to enjoy catching seniors without their tables, so watch out.

We will be wearing the tables for atleast 2 weeks starting on Monday.

Sean Hogan

HAMLET class notes 2/4/09

Hey guys! So I know we all can do a lot better on the blog this semester. We all probably could use the points anyways...let's be real. So, let's do it..because I'm going to need these notes for the final. 

Well anyway, here's the notes for today's class.

Continuing discussion of Act 1, Scene 5 from Hamlet.

- Why do they try to get away from Old Hamlet's voice? (He kept saying SWEAR!)

They are just getting scared. 

-Horatio & Marcellus don't know what was discussed between Young Hamlet & the ghost. 

-They have never heard the ghost speak before.

-It's telling them what to do.

-The voice is following them around, to where they sit.

(They keep moving because YH needs to be sure they will not tell his secret, so they keep starting to say the oath.)

They are swearing by sword - because of the CROSS.

Spiritual oath - "swear to God".

They promise to not talk about seeing the ghost. 

(YH does not want word of the ghost to get back to Claudius.)

-Because then Claudius will know that people know the truth of what happened, and in turn YH might be killed because he knows the truth of the situation.

Hamlet does not discuss the details of the conversation with the ghost, but he says things are going to be changing. 

"Antic disposition" - Hamlet might act a bit crazy. 

*He tells them to act normal, or worried. 

*They can not let on at all that they know why he is acting crazy.

This is what is discussed between OH (The ghost) and YH, and also YH's Plan:

Old Hamlet wants Young Hamlet to avenge him. 

Hamlet thinks that by acting crazy he'll be able to say what he wants/ and act how he wants.

His theory is:

* crazy people get left alone.

* I'll be able to do what I want, when I want, without questions being asked.

However, acting crazy might lead YH to actually becoming crazy.

(Keep in mind that this is a play about Identity, and this play is a lot about the character development of Young Hamlet. He is trying to figure out who he is, by playing with a lot of different options and choices he has.)

Vengeance:

- Revenge is now Hamlet's responsibility. 

-This is a new thing for Hamlet, because he has not had to take responsibility in his life before because he is thirty years old, and still a student. He is escaping responsibility by staying in school. 

The ghost gives 3 instructions:

-Kill Claudius (avenge me)

- Stay focused on your task / do not have a tainted mind

-Don't hurt your mother.

* Even though she had an affair, she already feels really guilty.

* "Leave her to heaven", God will be the one to judge Gertrude

* She still can repent, but it is her responsibility. 

YH will probably mess up the rule that he is not supposed to hurt her, because he is already messing up the one to not have a tainted mind by creating the whole plan to act crazy.

The plan to act crazy is extremely convenient because YH has so much going on right now in his life, it would make sense for him to be a little bit crazy. 

-Is this really the actual ghost of Old Hamlet? 

   * we are allowed to challenge this, but in the text YH is satisfied with thinking this is the ghost of his father.

-How do the people think OH died?

* people think that OH died by a snake bite, when he was relaxing in his garden.

- reference to Adam & Eve

- Next chapter in that book HAPPENS to be about a brother killing a brother.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND THROUGHOUT TEXT:

1. That which you see is not always what is right or true.

2. Is Claudius really at fault for the death of Old Hamlet?

3. Talk of EARS (which is a reference to YH's death.)

~Ellen Hassinger

Here's some really valuable Hamlet background information that I found online.

http://www.tk421.net/hamlet/hamlet.html

-Ryan Grosso

Minutes- 1/23/09

In the beginning of the period we received out Canterbury Tales test back so that we would now have the materials from all 5 of the subject matters that will be on the midterm (Toulmin Model of Arguement, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Sonnets & part of Hamlet.) Mr. Laz then told us we have 4 more grades remaining for this marking period, including our particpation grade both in class and on the blog.

We continued on the rest of the class period going over Hamlet.

Act 1, Scene 2
-Hamlet & Horation are friends even though their social classes are different. The fact that they are both scholars breaks down the class barriers that would prevent them from usually being friends.
-Everyone felt happiness at the funeral because they knew that a good thing would follow it (the wedding).
- They also felt sad at the wedding because the King's death is what caused the wedding to take place in the first place.
- Cornelius & Voltemond are ambassadors of the Court to Norway who are sent to try and stop the war that is brewing.
- Claudius is a more diplomatic king than Old Hamlet had been. Claudius believes that he should try and negiotiate and then go to war when it is absolutely necessary.
- Claudius sends Cornelius & Voltemond to Norway with letters because he believes the King does not know about the Mercenary army that Young Fortinbras is creating.

Act 1, Scene 3
-Laertes' warning to Ophelia has to do with the fact that although Hamlet may love Ophelia, she will not be the person that Hamlet will marry because she does not have what Denmark needs, which is an alliance with another country.
-During this time women were looked at as the property of their fathers
-Naiobi- a mythological character of mourning.
-Laertes is going to France to go to school, however, it isn't to become a philosopher like Hamlet. Laertes isn't really a scholarly type (Mr. Laz compared UPenn to UMiami)

-Celia Coltre

Class Minutes 1/12/08

Today in class we continued with our discussion of sonnets. We talked about the quiz on Tuesday in the beginning of class. Then we finished going over the rest of Shakespeare's sonnets for the rest of class.
We started by finishing #29; the sonnet was about someone who hates himself and wanted to to be someone else, but whenever he thinks of the other person he loves, he does not hate himself and does not want to change his life with anyone else.
For #55: the sonnet has a similar idea to #18 and it talks about how the poem about someone will outlast war, death, and the world's end, all the way until judgment day when the person in the poem will come back to life.
For #73: the sonnet is written in the first person and compares the subject (I), to fall, twilight, and the embers of a fire which are all symbols for aging and approaching death. The first person then says the second person's love for the first person stronger since the first person won't last forever.

Knight's tale

Possible sentence??

The lord and governor of Athens, Theseus, marries the ruler of the Amazons, Hippolyta, after defeating them and they return to Athens with her beautiful sister Emily who was loved by two wounded and jailed Thebesians, Arcita (gets exiled) and Palamon (drugs his jailer and escapes after Arcita) the two meet up and are found in the woods by Theseus who gives them 50 days to prepare for a fight to win Emily’s hand in marriage, they each pray to gods and in the end are awarded; Mars granted Arcita victory (he won), the god of love granted Emily to Palamond (Arcita died), and Emily was granted the person who loved her the most.

Tanya

Hey everyone, here's The Sailor's Tale

The Sailor/Shipman
General Prologue (line 390 to line 412)
• Rode a carthorse
• Wore a gown of thick rough cloth that fell to his knees
• Wore a dagger around his neck and under his arm
• Had a golden brown tan from the sun
• When on his ship, he would steal wine from the merchant while he slept
• Did not have a conscience
• Was a very experienced sailor; knew all of the harbors
Sailor’s Prologue
• Host decides that the priest will preach to everyone and tell a tale
• The sailor interrupts the conversation between the host and the priest, and says that HE will tell the next tale
• He also makes it clear that the tale will not be about philosophy, physics or law
• The tale will be about Latin
Sailor’s Tale
• About a rich merchant from Saint Denys who had a very beautiful wife
• They lived in a very nice house and often had guests
• His wife loved to go to social events and wear fine clothing
• All of this was very expensive for the merchant and he ended up losing his money because of it
• One of the merchant’s guests was a very handsome, 30-year old monk named Dan John
• Dan John told the merchant that they were cousins
• The two men became very close, and the merchant thought of the monk as a brother
• Whenever he was at the merchant’s house, Dan John was always very generous and kind to the servants
• When the merchant had to make a trip to Bruges, he insisted that Dan John stop by and spend some time with him and his wife
• He brought wine and food for the group to enjoy together
• On the monk’s third day with the merchant, the merchant decided to spend time going over his finances and didn’t want anyone to disturb him
• At the same time, Dan John rose and wandered into the garden where he ran into the merchant’s wife
• Noticing the paleness of the woman’s face, Dan John asked her what was wrong
• The wife promised to tell the monk her problems as long as he kept it a secret
• The woman told him that she is unhappy with her husband, but felt bad for speaking so badly of the monks cousin
• Dan John then told her that the two men really weren’t related at all
• The merchant’s wife continued and said that there were six things that every woman desired a husband to be: hardy, wise, rich and therewith free, obedient to the wife and fresh in bed
• The wife then said she needed to borrow 100 francs from him. She was adamant about paying him back at some point and/or give him whatever pleasure or service he desired
• She said that if she didn’t pay him back, then God take vengeance on her
• The monk said he would give her the money when her husband left on his trip to Bruges and told her not to worry
• Then he hugged her and kissed her
• The wife then went to find her husband to have supper with and found him still looking over his finances, not eating or doing anything else
• She asked him how long he would stay there and he said that out of 12 merchants, 2 may survive financially. Therefore, he had to pay attention and take special care of his business
• He then said that merchants must always live in dread and fear in case of chances and mishaps that could affect their business
• The merchant then told his wife that he was leaving in the morning for his trip and she had enough food, clothing, etc. to last his absence
• The group had dinner and the monk pulls the merchant aside and tells him to have a safe, healthful journey
• Dan John then asked the merchant to lend him 100 francs to buy cattle and to keep the loan a secret
• The merchant nobly replied that the merchant’s gold was the monk’s as well and he told him to take what he like or need
• He told Dan John to pay it back when he was able to and gave him the money
• They walked around drinking and talking, and then the monk left for the abbey
• The merchant went on his journey the next day, but did not gamble or dance at all
• On the Sunday after the merchant left, Dan John traveled back to the merchant’s home with the 100 francs
• He and the merchant’s wife agreed that he would give her the 100 francs if she would spend the night in bed with him
• The next day, the monk returned to the abbey
• When all of the merchant’s business was done, he returned to his wife in Saint Denys
• He then visits the monk to see how he is doing and to tell him that he needs his 100 francs back to invest in his business
The monk then tells the merchant that he already gave the money back to his wife. The merchant returns home and asks his wife about it. She tells him that she spent the money on clothes and to repay him, she will do whatever he wants in bed. He forgives her and tells her not to do it again.

That's the Sailor's/Shipman's Tale
-Sarah

The Nun's Priest's Tale

THANKS KEN!!

The Nun's Priest's tale is about a male rooster who after having a bad dream (premonition about being killed by a fox) actually almost gets killed by this fox in really life and then learns not take his wife's advice becuase she had said the dream was meaningless.

Emily

The friar's tale is basically this:

"Summoners are all corrupt and would gladly befriend the devil, which makes it easier for him to fool them and drag them down to hell, so you better repent and turn away from your sins and stuff and avoid summoners because they're evil."

Or something like that.

~Ken

Favor!

I was absent when Mr. Lazarow went over the rest of the knight tale and the squire's so if anyone has notes on them i'd really appreciate if you could post them thanks!
Emily Wallace

Minutessss for JANUARY 2ND!

I don't really think I'm the right person for this but whatever so many people were absent so I guess it can't hurt. (And I don't think anyone else is planning to do the minutes?? sooo here they are)
We started off class with a reminder that our Canterbury Test is coming up.....next wednesday and that we probably should study.
The first part of the test is on historical background (what he lectured in class) and the second part is on the general prologue. He said he's going to pick lines out of the prologue and we are going to have to tell which character those lines refer to. Another part of the test is the one line about each character's tale. Mr. Lazarow said it doesn't have to be a smooth sentence. Then we also have to write the first 18 lines of the general prologue again.
After that we reviewed and we should know some of the following
1. relationships between characters (ex: summoner and friar, miller and reeve, shipmen and merchant, and manciple and man of law.)
2. all the humors and how they relate to the particular characters (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm)
When we review more in class on monday and tuesday Mr. Lazarow said NOT to ask questions directly from the review sheets because those questions will not help us. (we can answer them on our own.)
So we couldn't really spend all the time in class thinking of questions so Mr. Lazarow started teaching about sonnets and here are those notes
sorry that they are a bit weird (they made sense when I wrote them down, i'll try to explain as much as I can)

Sonnets- two compoents; content and form(or structure)
the characteristics of a sonnet
it Rhymes and has 14 lines
two types of sonnets we will be focusing on: English and Italian
English sonnets:
a
b
a
b
c
d
c
d
e
f
e
f
g
g
each 4 lines (a,b,a,b) is a quatrain except for the last two lines which are a couplet. the quatrains have a purpose like paragraphs in an essay, while the couplet is kind of like the conclusion.
Italian sonnets are similar but have a different sequence
a
b
b
a
a
b
b
a
(variable)
c
d
e
c
d
e
OR
c
c
d
d
e
e
OR
c
d
c
d
e
e
Variable meaning the ending six lines could have one of those three different sequences.

And that was allllll! Have questions ready for review!!!
-Emily Wallace