ENG 212--Week 1: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 1: Unit 1--The Epic

Monday, 8/23

Readings:

• A: Gilgamesh--Story of the Flood [end on 31 after "Here we live."]
• B: Hebrew Bible: Genesis--verses 6-9
• C: Metamorphoses [The Flood and Deucalion and Pyrrha] [start on 8 with "Many are loud..."; end with 14 "...long and lovely hair."]

Definitions

literature:

intentional, artistic use of language for a specific purpose. Purposes may include entertainment, education (dicactic purpose), or communication. Literature ofthen reflects or critiques cultural discourses and practices.

canon:

The literary canon is a collection of works that are considered important artistic or cultural texts. Until the 1950s, the literary canon was relatively stable--and dominated by texts by white middle- and upper-middle class male writers. Today, with prodding from various theoretical perspectives, first and most famously feminism, but also broader gender theory, class theory, post colonialism, and new historicism, the canon has been expanded to include many more works by overlooked types of authors: women, indigenous peoples, etc. Some would even argue that the "canon" as such no longer exists.

prose:

The regular form of spoken and written language that is measured in sentences.

verse:

Writing arranged in lines, commonly associated with poetry. Line breaks may not align with grammatical units (e.g. sentences).

genre:

This term is used to describe a class of writing that shares a core set of common characteristics. Categories like poetry, drama, and fiction are common examples. However, this term is used differently by different literary scholars. For example, one scholar may consider poetry a genre and the sonnet a sub-genre of poetry, while another may consider the sonnet a genre unto itself. Whenever you see this term, be aware of the specific context so that you understand how broadly it is being applied.

fiction:

Genre of literature written in prose and containing a narrative or plot structure, setting, characters, and a narrative point of view.

poetry:

Genre of literature written in verse. Poetry can have many formal features such as rhyme and meter.

drama or dramatic work:

Genre of literature characterized by the interchange of direct speech by one, and more commonly, two or more characters. A drama is meant to be acted rather than merely read.

nonfiction:

Genre of prose works that describe actual, as opposed to imaginary or fictional characters and events.

narrative:

A general term for the story in a piece of literature. All of the main literary genres--fiction, poetry, drama--can have a narrative element.

character:

Person represented in a narrative who is interpreted by the reader (or meant to be interpreted by the reader) as having moral, physical, emotional, and other human qualities.

setting

The time and place where the narrative takes place.

ENG 212 Discussion Questions

• Group A: Gilgamesh--Story of the Flood [end on 31 after "Here we live."]
• Group B: Hebrew Bible: Genesis--verses 6-9
• Group C: Metamorphoses [The Flood and Deucalion and Pyrrha] [start on 8 with "Many are loud..."; end with 14 "...long and lovely hair."]

1. Identify the genre of your assigned text.
2. Identify and describe the narrative your assigned text.
3. Identify and describe the characters your assigned text.
4. Identify and describe the setting your assigned text
5. [after initial discussion] Compare the details of the different flood stories. What are some significant differences? Explain, and explain why you think they are important.

ENG 300 Discussion Questions

Work with your group to answer the questions below.

1. Analyze the relationship of divine beings to humans in these flood stories. How is divine authority and intervention represented and why are these representations significant? What are some key differences between these two texts?
2. In the Gilgamesh and Metamorphoses flood stories, there are several gods who perform different functions--one god is the destroyer, while another reveals the plan to Utanapishtim so that he can survive, for example. In the Hebrew flood story, one god performs all of these roles. How does this difference affect the narrative and the representation of divinity?
3. In all of these stories, the protagonists survive floods that destroy the rest of humanity. Why are these specific characters saved? What do the different criteria of worthiness in these stories suggest about the world view of the cultures that created them?
4. Analyze the relationships between the protagonists of these stories and their society. How do these characters deal with conflict, or potential conflict, between themselves and their society?

ENG 212--Week 1: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 1: Unit 1--The Epic

Wednesday, 8/25

Readings:

Definitions

Setting

setting:

The time and place where the plot of the story takes place. Setting includes all important elements of context, including social environment.

physical location:

can refer to the overall location of a narrative (such as "Italy"), but also specific details of locations where plot actions take place (such as "dark, ancient, catacombs"). There may be many physical locations in a single narrative.

temporal setting:

the time when a narrative is set. The temporal setting may be in the past, present, or future. Past and present settings may be historical or fictional/imaginary. Consider also time representations within the text when analyzing temporal settings--time of day, duration of the story or events within the story, etc.

Genre: The Epic (part 1)

verse:

Writing arranged in lines, commonly associated with poetry. Line breaks may not align with grammatical units (e.g. sentences).

line:

a single line of verse in a poem. Lines are composed of metrical feet.

stanza:

a unit of meaning in a poem made up of multiple lines. Stanzas are usually marked by white space before and after or and indentation. A stanza in a poem is analogous to a paragraph in fiction.

epic

Long narrative poem; ancient epics usually began as oral tradition and were written down centuries after their first composition; though they might be attributed to the author who finally wrote them down, they are often cultural compositions that have developed over centuries and have been influenced by many voices of many authors over time. There are two main types of epic: heroic epics and episodic epics.

episodic epic

series of stories connected through a frame narrative; the episodes episodes may be further collected in books/cantos with similar themes. Individual stories may vary in form or tone, and individual episodes may contain morals/lessons (didactic) or explain natural phenomena (e.g. why there are rainbows).

frame narrative

A literary technique where one narrative is nested within another. The frame narrative is often provides the occasion for telling the nested narrative and is frequently connected thematically to the inner story.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #1: Setting

Work with your group to analyze setting.

Part 1. Identify, Describe, Analyze

• Group A: [Tereus, Procne, and Philomela] pp. 134-142
• Group B: [Medea stories] pp. 144-56
• Group C: [Pygmalion] pp. 232-34
• Group D: [The Island of Circe] pp. 332-34

1. Identify the temporal setting of the work itself.
2. List and describe the different physical settings in the text:
3. Explain how one specific setting is significant to the narrative:
4. List and describe any significant temporal elements within the text (apart from the time period of the text)
5. Explain how one of these specific elements is significant to the narrative and/or character development:

Part 2. Synthesize

After our discussion, work with your group and consider ways that the elements of physical and temporal setting are used across these texts. What similarities do you see? What differences? Identify a strong example of each (1 sim, 1 diff involving at least 2 texts [you may include the Metamorphoses flood story [Ducalion and Pyrrah] from Monday as well) to present to the class:

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #1: Narrative Traits of Episodic Epics

Part 1. Identify Narrative Structure

Describe the structure of storytelling in the readings for this week. In particular, compare stories that stand alone ([Tereus, Procne, and Philomela] pp. 134-142, [Orpheus and Eurydice] pp. 225-28, [The Island of Circe] pp. 332-34) to stories that are more tightly connected to subsequent narratives ([Medea stories] pp. 144-56, collection of [Pygmalion] pp. 232-34, [Myrrah] pp. 234-41, [Venus and Adonis] pp. 241-2)

1. Choose a stand-alone narrative and describe/draw/diagram the structure--consider elements such as foreshadowing, strategies for generating suspense, the role of narrative point of view, etc.
2. Repeat 1 using [Pygmalion]. Then consider the transition to [Myrrah] and ultimately [Venus and Adonis]. How do these subsequent, related stories affect the meaning of the first story in the series, [Pygmalion]? Explain.

Part 2. Analysis

1. Based on this analysis, describe and analyze the narrative structure using episodic blocks in this text.
2. What narrative considerations need to be taken into account in an episodic epic because of this form? Explain.

Background and Resources

• Science of Noah's Flood - Ever since the discovery of multiple flood narratives from different cultures, scholars have been looking for geological evidence of a historical "great flood" in ancient times. One of the most recent and compelling theories was put forward by geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman in the 1990s. This website from PBS-Scientific American talks about their theory and the archeological expeditions carried out in the last few years that have attempted to prove it.
• Ancient Empire of Babylon - Culture that produced Gilgamesh
• Assyrian Empire - Stabilized, written version of Gilgamesh popularized in this culture; after the fall of this empire, the text was lost (c. 612BCE).
• Jewish Diaspora - from the Jewish Virtual Library
• Fertile Crescent Maps
• Map of Ancient Greece
• Ovid Information
• Metamorphoses as inspiration for art from Apollo Magazine
• Ovid as a source for Shakespeare
• Gilgamesh Tablet:

ENG 212--Week 1: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 1: Unit 1--The Epic

Monday, 8/30

Readings:

Definitions

Plot

plot:

The events or actions in a story. Works of poetry, fiction, and drama can all have a plot, and the plot structure can take many forms.

1. exposition:

Term used in Freytag's Pyramid to describe events at the beginning of a story. The exposition is the starting point of a narrative and can be thought of as the status quo, before the complications of the plot begin.

2. inciting incident

Term used in Fretag's Pyramid for the event--sometimes described as a destabilizing event--that alters the status quo presented in the exposition and initiates the rising action of the plot.

3. rising action

Term used in Freytag's Pyramid to describe the plot complications that drive the narrative toward the climax. Often, much of the narrative energy is involved in developing the rising action.

4. climax

Term for the turning point in a narrative. After the climax has occurred, the characters in the story can never return to the status quo, or the state of affairs before the narrative complications took place. Narratives can have more than one climax, depending upon the complexity of the structure.

5. falling action

Term used in Freytag's Pyramid to describe events after the climax has taken place that drive the narrative toward the resolution.

6. resolution or conclusion

Term that describes the final state of affairs in a narrative--a new stable state; the resolution is the end to the story. Some narratives resist a resolution and remain open ended.

subplot:

a plot that is intertwined with the main plot but receives less time and attention. Usually a subplot is related in some way to the main plot--for example, it might provide a parallel, contrast, or commentary. A subplot may have some or all of the plot elements described above.

flashback:

a scene that interrupts the present action of a narrative to depict some earlier event that occurred before the story's opening.

foreshadowing:

use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the narrative.

digression:

introduction of a different topic that interrupts the flow of a narrative; typically the narrative is rejoined after a digression.

frame narrative:

A literary technique where one narrative is nested within another. The frame narrative is often provides the occasion for telling the nested narrative and is frequently connected thematically to the inner story.

turn:

moment in a narrative where the meaning changes significantly. The term "turn" can be used in texts that do not have a fully-formed plot but do have a narrative element.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #2: Plot Structure

Work with your group to visualize the plot structure of your assigned text. Be sure to identify the elements of plot structure discussed in class, but create a visualization that represents the contours of your plot more accurately than the idealized diagram. Note that you might have sub-climaxes as well as the main climax and even multiple plot diagrams if you have a subplot, flashback, or digression. Be prepared to share your diagram with the class.

• Example: Tereus, Procne, and Philomela
• Group A: Third Day: 9th Story pp. 231-40
• Group B: Fourth Day: 5th Story pp. 283-86
• Group C: Seventh Day: 2nd Story pp. 422-26
• Group D: Ninth Day: 2nd Story pp. 560-62

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #2: Framing Devices in Episodic Epics

Consider the framing devices--the Forword, Introduction and Conclusion, Afterword to answer the questions below.

1. What does the Author's Foreword suggest about the function of storytelling?
2. What can you tell about the conventions of gender from the Author's Foreword? Explain.
3. What is the framing device for this epic? --That is, what is the narrative in the introduction?
4. Analyze the representation of disease and its social effects in the setup of the frame narrative. In what ways does disease erode common social structures and customs? How does the disease function as an equalizing force? What are the different strategies used by the people to avoid disease, and how are these various strategies significant?
5. What rhetorical strategies does Pampinea use to convince the other six ladies to leave the city? Be sure to include her anticipation of various counter arguments, such as the idea that the women would be abandoning duty or violating the boundaries of propriety. Also, analyze the argument used to persuade the women to invite the three gentlemen to join their party--again, with particular attention to propriety and the threat of scandal and gossip.
6. Analyze the representation of the group's country retreat and the establishment of authority within this retreat. How does this space function as a contrast to the city? What is the authority structure and why is it significant? What is the role of storytelling within this context, and what is the significance of its social value?
7. Analyze the reasons given for breaking up the party and returning home. Analyze the ending: is it appropriate in the narrative context--why or why not?
8. Analyze the representation of the implied reader in the Afterword: how is this representation, and the anticipation of criticism, significant?

ENG 212--Week 1: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 1: Unit 1--The Epic

Wednesday, 9/1

Readings:

Definitions

Character

character

Person represented in a narrative who is interpreted by the reader (or meant to be interpreted by the reader) as having moral, physical, emotional, and other human qualities. The character takes part in the plot action.

flat character:

This term was first introduced by writer E.M. Forster in his book Aspects of the Novel, and it refers to a character who can be simply described and who does not undergo change throughout the narrative. Contrary to popular belief, the term "flat" is not a negative or derogatory description.

round character:

This term was first introduced by writer E.M. Forster in his book Aspects of the Novel, and it refers to a character who is complex. As Forster described it: "The test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way."

protagonist:

a main character in a narrative; the story may center around this character or be told from the point of view of this character. There may be more than one protagonist in a work. Usually, the protagonist is a dynamic character, a character who changes throughout the story, but this is not always true.

antagonist:

a character in a narrative who opposes the aims or goals of the protagonist or creates obstacles to the accomplishment of the plot. An antagonist is sometimes a foil of the protagonist.

minor character:

a character in a text who has a support role. Often minor characters can be described through their relationships to protagonist characters.

epiphany:

a sudden moment of self-realization. Characters who experience an epiphany are round characters.

Point of View

narrator:

The voice in work of fiction who guides the reader's perspective. A narrator may be a character in a work or a distinct representation. The term narrator is conventionally used with works of fiction.

speaker:

The voice of a poem. The speaker is the author's representation of a guiding presence to lead the reader through a work or present a specific point of view towards the topic, and may be separate from characters in the poem or one of the characters in a poem.

voice:

the distinctive traits of the narrator of a text; the verbal quality of narration.

point of view:

the technique of narration that describes how the reader will be shown the story. There are several types of narrative points of view:

first person narrator:

the narrator is a character in the story and uses pronouns like "I" and "me." The reader experiences the story from this character's point of view, and all information is filtered through this character's experience and interpretation.

third person narrator:

an unidentified narrator who is apart from the story and refers to the characters with pronouns like "he," "she," and "they."

third person omniscient narrator:

the narrator is not a part of the action of the story but knows everything about the story. An omniscient narrator can provide the reader with actions from many locations and different times as well as the thoughts and feelings of any of the characters. Sometimes a narrator of this sort is intrusive meaning that they use various techniques to influence the reader's interpretation of events and characters, such as interrupting the narrative to provide an opinion on the action or withholding information from the reader.

third person limited narrator

this narrator is not part of the story, but tells the story from a limited perspective--often from the view point of a specific character or limited number of focal characters. This type of narrator can also be intrusive.

focal character

a character who is followed by a third person limited narrator.

intrusive narrator

a narrator who actively comments on the events in the story with the purpose of shaping the interpretation of the reader. Either type of third person narrator may be intrusive.

objective narrator

a narrator who does not explicitly report characters' thoughts and feelings but focuses mainly on actions. Either type of third person narrator can be objective.

implied reader or implied auditor

a reader or listener explicitly referred to by a narrator of a story who has discernable characteristics.

dramatic dialogue:

genre of poetry where there is an interchange of speech by characters rather than a distinct speaker. This type of poem does not have first or third person point of view.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #3: Character and Point of View

Part 1. Identification and Description

Work with your group to analyze character and point of view in your assigned texts.

• Group A: Heptameron Story 3 pp. 1079-84
• Group B Heptameron Story 30 pp. 1084-90
• Group C: Thousand and One Nights The First Night pp. 1783-84, The Second Night pp. 1784-85
• Group D: Thousand and One Nights The Second Night pp. 1784-85, The Third Night pp. 1785-86

1. Explain the narrative in your text
2. Identify the characters in your text--be sure to include the narrator and implied reader if applicable
3. Describe the characters--for main characters give support from the text to support your descriptions.
4. Explain significant relationships between characters and why they are important.
5. Identify the point of view--first person or third person
6. If your text is first person, evaluate the credibility of the speaker. If your poem is third person, determine whether the narrator is objective or intrusive. For either type of speaker, provide evidence from the text to support your claim.

Part 2. Analysis

1. List some characteristics of representations of men and women and of the relationships between them in the Heptameron and Thousand and One Nights. Use specific examples.
2. Do these representations compare to the stories in the Decameron or Metamorphoses? Explain at least 2 similarities and 2 differences in specific texts (as many stories as the comparison applies to).

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #3: Variations of the Episodic Epic

For this exercise, consider episodes from all of the episodic epics read so far.

Part 1. Synthesis

Several of the stories focus on adultery and deception of married partners. Analyze the representation of this trope in the "Second Tale of the Fourth Day" (Decameron), "Story 3" and "Story 30" (Heptameron), and the story of the genii's mistress (Nights pages 1776-7).

1. What is the cultural logic of fidelity and adultery?
2. What are the social stakes for men and for women who are cheated or cheating?
3. In what ways does power interact with these acts of infidelity? How is this significant?
4. Think about the stories from Metamorphoses that dealt with exceeding social boundaries for romantic attachments. Analyze the logic of romance, reproduction, nature, and the supernatural. What similarities and differences do you see between the stories from antiquity and those from the Renaissance?

Part 2. Genre Analysis

Based on our study so far, list as many traits of the episodic epic as you can:

Background and Resources

• The Odyssey by Homer from MIT Internet Classics Archive
• Ovid as a source for Shakespeare
• Decameron Web from Brown University: includes both full versions of the Decameron in English and Italian as well as background information and period texts.
• Plague
• Florence

ENG 212--Week 3: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 3: Unit 1--The Epic

Monday, 9/6

Labor Day--No Class

Readings for Wednesday, 9/8

Readings are in the recommended class text: Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson, First edition, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020. [ISBN: 9780393655063]

If you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: The Odyssey by Homer from MIT Internet Classics Archive

• Book 1 [ENG 212 and ENG 300]
• Book 2 [ENG 300]
• Book 9 [ENG 212 and ENG 300]

ENG 212--Week 3: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 3: Unit 1--The Epic

Wednesday, 9/8

Readings:

Readings are in the recommended class text: Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson, First edition, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020. [ISBN: 9780393655063]

If you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: The Odyssey by Homer from MIT Internet Classics Archive

• Book 1 [ENG 212 and ENG 300]
• Book 2 [ENG 300]
• Book 9 [ENG 212 and ENG 300]

Definitions

Discourse Analysis

discourse:

General term for spoken or written communication. More specifically, discourse can be thought of as the cultural conversation about a topic within a discourse community.

discourse community:

A group of individuals that shares a common understanding based on systematic principles of communication and/or vocabulary within a specific discursive situation. Discourse communities have traditionally been based on geography and a common language, such as English or French, but discourse communities can also be more specific groups who share certain experiences and specialized vocabulary specific to their activities: e.g., video game players, members of a class in school, soldiers in the armed forces, etc.

dominant discourse:

The prevailing view about a certain topic within a discourse community.

competing discourse:

Discursive situation where there is no dominant view and two or more opinions/ideas about a topic compete for dominance.

subversive discourse:

Type of discourse that represents a non-dominant position on a topic in a discourse community. A subversive discourse actively works to destabilize the dominant discourse.

Gender Theory Terms

sex:

Term that refers to the biological characteristics of a human being, such as male and female secondary sex characteristics that appear during puberty.

gender:

Term for the socially constructed ideas about characteristics of femininity and masculinity. These ideas are culture-specific and change over time. They often are expressed as commonly-accepted stereotypes, such as the commonplace ideas in American culture that women are more nurturing and men more goal-oriented. Concepts of gender also include ideas about behaviors and aptitudes as well as ideas about appropriate physical appearance for each gender.

patriarchy:

A system of government or social organization where the eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. In modern systems of government, this term is also used to mean that positions of power are held my men and women are disempowered or excluded.

Genre

epic [review]

Long narrative poem; ancient epics usually began as oral tradition and were written down centuries after their first composition; though they might be attributed to the author who finally wrote them down, they are often cultural compositions that have developed over centuries and have been influenced by many voices of many authors over time. There are two main types of epic: heroic epics and episodic epics.

epic dialect

style of writing characteristic of Homeric epics that was not used in the regular speech patterns of any dialect of spoken Greek.

epithet

formulaic phrases used to describe characters that are repeated throughout a text -- particularly used in oral-formulaic epic texts.

formula

a group of words that is regularly employed under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential idea.

type scene

blocks of words in which typical events are arranged in the same order, often with the same words.

Discussion: Term Review

Example: Story 3 from the Heptameron

1. Describe a specific element of physical setting and explain why it is important
2. Describe a specific element of temporal setting and explain why it is important
3. Explain important features of the exposition
4. Identify the inciting incident
5. Identify the primary climax
6. Identify the protagonist(s)--is/are the protagonist(s) round or flat: explain
7. Identify the antagonist(s)--is/are the antagonist(s) round or flat? explain
8. Identify as specifically as you can the point of view

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #4: Identifying Cultural Discourses

Work with your group to analyze cultural discourses in your assigned texts.

Part 1. Example--Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron Story 3

1. Identify the temporal setting related to the cultural moment.
2. Identify the discourse community for this text.
3. Based on the representations in this text, what ideas are part of the dominant discourse at the time this text is written? Give specific examples from the text.
4. Identify moments of subversive discourse or competing discourse in this text (if applicable). How do these examples function to challenge a dominant discourse or or what strategies are used in representing competing ideas?

Part 2. Discourse Analysis

• Group A: Odyssey Book 1, pp. 5-14
• Group B: Odyssey Book 9, pp. 96-109
• Group C: Odyssey Book 1, pp. 5-14
• Group D: Odyssey Book 9, pp. 96-109

1. Identify the temporal setting related to the cultural moment.
2. Identify the discourse community for this text.
3. Based on the representations in this text, what ideas are part of the dominant discourse at the time this poem is written? Give specific examples from the text.
4. Identify moments of subversive discourse or competing discourse in this text (as applicable). How do these examples function to challenge a dominant discourse or or what strategies are used in representing competing ideas?

In-Class Exercise #4: Generic Traits of Heroic Epics

Part 1: Genre Identification

1. Based on our study so far, list as many traits of the episodic epic as you can:
2. Work with your group to list as many generic traits of the heroic epic as you can. You can draw on information from the lecture/discussion as well as your own ideas about the text itself. Include both traits related to form and those related to content, for example, (and please don't use these!) "epics are long" and "epics depict graphic violence."
3. After examining your 2 lists, explain

1. how can you tell all of the texts read so far are epics--that is, what qualities remain consistent across both episodic and heroic epics
2. how can you tell the difference between episodic and heroic epics--that is, what qualities are distinctive to each sub-genre

Part 2: Discourse Analysis

Choose a specific type of dominant discourse to examine--for example, discourse related to gender roles, heroic traits (what does it mean to be a hero in the culture), related to standards of hospitality or some other social practice, etc. Identify elements of the dominant discourse related to this idea in the reading from The Odyssey for today. Are there any moments of subversive discourse that challenge this idea in the text? Identify and explain if so. Finally, how is this cultural discourse different compared to today--or is it the same? Explain.

Background and Resources

• The Odyssey by Homer from MIT Internet Classics Archive
• Map of Ancient Greece
• Was there a Trojan War? from the Archaeological Institute of America

ENG 212--Week 4: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 4: Unit 1--The Epic

Monday, 9/13

Readings for Wednesday, 9/8

Readings are in the recommended class text: Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson, First edition, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020. [ISBN: 9780393655063]

If you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: The Odyssey by Homer from MIT Internet Classics Archive

• Book 10
• Book 11
• Book 22

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #5: Unit 1 Concept Review

Use your assigned section of the Odysssey for the review exercise below.

• Group A: Book 9, pp. 96-105
• Group B: Book 10, pp. 109-122
• Group C: Book 11, pp. 123-137
• Group D: Book 22, pp. 123-137

1. Identify main plot points and any other narrative structures (foreshadowing, flashback, etc) in your book.
2. Identify as specifically as possible the characters in your book (antagonist, protagonist, flat, round)
3. Identify and describe 2 physical settings in your Book: give some specific details
4. Identify and describe 1 temporal setting within the Book (do not use the time period when the text is written, since that's the same for everyone)
5. Identify the point of view as specifically as possible and give an example where the POV is significant
6. Identify dominant cultural discourse in your book--give a specific example from the text to support your idea

ENG 300--In-Class #5: Translation

Passages

• Example--Passage 1: Book 2, p. 16 lines (approx) 86-129 -- compare to Passage 1 PDF in Canvas
• Passage 2: Book 10, pp. 114-115 lines (approx) 229-262 -- compare to Passage 2 PDF in Canvas
• Passage 3: Book 11, pp. 132-133 lines (approx) 422-462 -- compare to Passage 3 PDF in Canvas
• Passage 4: Book 22, pp. 265-266 lines (approx) 446-474 -- compare to Passage 4 PDF in Canvas

1. Summarize the basic meaning of the passage--how would you say it in a sentence or two to explain it to someone who had not read the story?
2. Mark the parts of the passages that are meant to represent the same ideas but convey them in different words. Mark as many as you can. If necessary, look up words that you don't know the meaning of (recommended dictionary: Oxford English Dictionary)
3. Discuss how cultural differences at the time the text was translated are reflected in the texts; consider also the formal constraints chosen by different translators and how these affect meaning.
4. Analyze the passage based on your work in 1-3 above, considering specific word choices and conceptual choices. Be prepared to share your findings.

ENG 212--Unit 1 Test

Format

Online test in Canvas Quizzes tool:

• Part 1a and 1b: allot a continuous 2 hours for this part of the test. It is recommended that you USE A NETWORKED COMPUTER or RELIABLE WiFi CONNECTION when taking this part.
• Part 2: untimed, online long response/analysis

Due: Both parts of the test will be open from noon Wednesday 9/15 to noon, Monday 9/20

Description

Part 1a

This part is CLOSED book, notes, and internet and includes:

Part 1b

Questions in this part are CLOSED notes and internet and OPEN book. You may review the primary literary texts listed below as you answer questions. Questions where you are allowed to consult your text will state this explicitly in the prompt. Note that this is still during the timed part of the test, so be sure to budget your time accordingly.

This part is timed and not to exceed 2 hours. Misspelling and minor grammar errors will not count against you, but you may lose points for severe errors that detract from the sense of your answer.

Part 2

This part is OPEN book and notes, but CLOSED internet

Misspelling and minor grammar errors will not count against you, but you may lose points for severe errors that detract from the sense of your answer.

Using information from the internet will result in a zero for the test.

ENG 212--Week 4: Unit 1--The Basics
ENG 300--Week 4: Unit 1--The Epic

Wednesday, 9/15

Readings:

Review

• Epic
• Episodic epic
• Heroic epic

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #6: Genre Evolution--Heroic Epic

1. Examine the invocation of the muse section of the heroic epics we've studied and discuss the framing of key ideas in the texts; then consider the differences between the ancient and the Renaissance epic.

2. Examine the epic/extended metaphor or simile below: identify vehicle and tenor and explain how specific elements of the figurative comparison are significant to the character, plot, and cultural context of the epic it comes from.

1. Identify as many content elements--a theme, plot event, etc.--that appears in the Odyssey and the Divine Comedy. List as many of these as you can:
2. Choose ONE of these context elements to examine in more detail and analyze similarities and differences across the text. What do you think the development of this trait suggests about the evolution of the epic, for example as a literary genre, in its cultural significance/purpose, in terms of the production of this kind of work (oral tradition, copied manuscripts, printed texts; literacy, markets, changing ideas of authorship etc.)

ENG 300--Homework #2: Cultural Context Analysis of Heroic Epics

Due: by midnight, Monday 9/20

Format: completed worksheet

Instructions:

Answer the questions/address prompts completely and submit to Canvas by the deadline.

1. Identify a dominant discourse that can be analyzed in both The Odyssey and The Divine Comedy. [Note: the discourse doesn't need to be represented in the same way-- this is just to identify a discourse that you will analyze in both]
2. Explain how that discourse is represented in the Odyssey is represented with at least 2 support quotations (that you cite and explain)
3. Explain how that discourse is represented in the Divine Comedy is represented with at least 2 support quotations (that you cite and explain)
4. Compare these two representations of these related dominant discourses.
5. Analyze how these representations reflect cultural differences.

Evaluation Criteria

• All prompts are addressed completely
• Responses are relevant, substantive, and clear
• Effective support from the text is provided as necessary
• Strong analysis of cultural discourse is evident

Background and Resources

• The Odyssey by Homer from MIT Internet Classics Archive
• Map of Ancient Greece
• Was there a Trojan War? from the Archaeological Institute of America

• Visual representation of Dante's Divine comedy, from "Danteworlds" by the University of Texas at Austin
  • Inferno
  • Purgatorio
  • Paradisio
• Ideas of order were very important during the early-modern period. One of the dominant and most enduring images was the "Great Chain of Being" that demonstrated how everything in the universe was ordered hierarchically and connected:
  • Great Chain of Being (image) a model for ordering the universe that also expressed cultural ideas about authority structures (posted by D. Christopher Gabbard at Stanford University)

ENG 212--Week 5: Unit 2--Advanced Concepts
ENG 300--Week 5: Unit 2--Drama

Monday, 9/20

Definitions

Formal Features (all genres)

theme

a main idea in a literary work. Works may have more than one theme, and the theme can range from general (e.g. "love") to more specific (e.g. "unrequited love that causes pain").

tone

the emotional register of a work or that a work takes towards its theme.

diction

choice of words. Diction can be described as informal or colloquial or formal, as well has having a large range of other features. Tone is determined largely through diction.

denotation

a word's direct, literal meaning--often thought of as the dictionary definition of a word.

connotation

what is suggested by a word when it is used in a specific context, such as within a literary text. The connotative meaning of a word is apart from its denotation.

imagery:

Imagery may be defined as the representation through language of sense experience (seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting). The word image perhaps most often suggests a mental picture, something seen in the mind's eye - and visual imagery is the most frequently occurring kind of imagery in text. But an image may also represent a sound; a smell; a taste; a tactile experience; and an internal sensation (adapted from Paul P. Ruben, Elements of Poetry). Note that imagery can be present in all genres.

ambiguity:

a word or phrase that can be interpreted in more than one way (that makes sense) in the given context. Ambiguity may be intentional or unintentional.

irony:

a contradiction or difference between appearance or expectation and reality. This could apply to the difference between what a character/narrator says and what is meant, between an expectation of what will happen and what actually happens, or between what appears to be true and what actually is true.

allusion:

a brief reference within a literary text to another literary text. The reference might be a name of a character, short reference to an event from the plot of another text, etc. An allusive reference creates some kind of connection between the two literary works; the work referred to provides some kind of insight about the referring text.

hyperbole:

extreme exaggeration used to draw attention and sometimes to comment (negatively) on an idea.

litotes:

extreme understatement used to draw attention; often coupled with irony.

repetition:

The use of repeated words, phrases, or sounds to draw attention to certain elements of a text. There are many types of repetition, and it is one of the most powerful ways to direct emphasis.

alliteration:

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in a sequence of nearby words.

assonance:

repetition of vowel sounds in a seqeunce of words with different endings.

antithesis:

two opposing ideas or figures. Antithesis can be used as a descriptive technique or as a means of organizing and emphasizing ideas by using contrast.

foil:

type of antithesis that describes the use of a minor character to mirror specific traits of a major character for emphasis.

paradox:

A seemingly self-contradictory statement, which is nonetheless shown to be (sometimes in a surprising way) true.

Formal Features (poetry)

enjambment:

in poetry, the abrupt break of a grammatical structure by a line break.

rhyme:

matching speech sounds at the end of words (in English). For example, follow and hollow. Rhyme is a very noticeable type of repetition that is commonly used in poetry.

rhyme scheme:

the pattern of end rhymes over the course of an entire poem; often denoted by lower-case letters, where a letter is assigned to each distinct rhyme.

couplet:

two consecutive lines of verse linked by rhyme and meter.

rhythm:

The beat or stresses in written or spoken language. In poetry, the rhythm is often intentionally structured in a certain meter.

meter:

Organized pattern of rhythmic stresses in approximately equivalent units. A specific meter is one of the characteristics of poetry. A common meter in English poetry is iambic pentameter.

foot:

"the metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured; it usually consists of one stressed or accented ( ' ) and one or two unstressed or unaccented syllables ( - )" (from Paul P. Ruben, Elements of Poetry).

iamb:

a foot of poetry that is composed of one unstressed and one stressed syllable ( - ' ). It is one of the most common poetic feet used in English.

pentameter:

a line of poetry with five feet. Iambic pentameter--a line of poetry with 5 iambs, is a common type of line in Renaissance sonnets.

concrete poetry

poems that are formed into a visual shape on the page that is related to the poem's meaning.

Figurative Language

figurative language:

representational language that creates a comparison or relationship between two things (for example, between an abstract concept and a concrete image that represents it) in order to make a concept more familiar or accessible to the reader. Specific types of figurative language are not limited to but include symbol, metaphor, and simile.

symbol:

an object, image, or character that stands for something more than itself.

metaphor:

a figure of speech that draws a comparison between two things. The vehicle of comparison is substituted for the tenor (the original object)--that is, two things are put in to relation to one another through an assertion that one is the other.

simile:

A comparison that uses "like" or "as" to establish the relationship between two things.

metonymy:

using the name of one thing to refer to another associated thing. For example, red tape is used to stand for frustrating procedures of government bureaucracy.

synecdoche:

type of metonymy in which the part represents the whole. For example, "a great set of wheels" is a colloquial phrase where "wheels" stands in for a car.

personification:

Representing an animal, inanimate object, or abstraction (e.g. death) with human characteristics.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #6: Close Reading

Work with your group to answer the questions about your assigned poems. Refer to the Unit 2 definitions to help you.

Group A:

Ovid, Metamorphoses: [Tereus, Procne, and Philomela]

1. Identify a simile in this passage; identify the vehicle and the tenor and how this comparison is significant to the meaning of the poem.

The sight of her set Tereus' heart ablaze
As stubble leaps to flame when set on fire,
Or fodder blazes stored above the byre [shed].
Her looks deserved his love... (135)

2. Explain the irony in the passage below.

Panion yields, since both his daughters plead,
And, filled with joy, she thanks him. Hapless girl,
She thinks they both have won a victory,
Though what both won will end in tragedy (136)

3. Identify and explain the synecdoche in the passage below.

And then the king drags off Pandion's daughter
Up to a cabin in the woods, remote
And hidden away among dark ancient trees,
And there pale, trembling, fearing everything,
Weeping and asking where her sister was,
He locked her, and revealed his own black heart
And ravished her, a virgin all alone... (137)

Group B:

Boccaccio, Decameron: Fourth Day: 5th Story

1. Explain the symbolic value of the pot of basil in this story.

2. Identify and explain the figurative language in this passage:

As Lorenzo did not return, Lisabetta would be forever badgering her brothers for news of him, for his long absence weighed on her heart (284).

3. Identify and explain the significance of the antithesis in this passage.

What with all the extended care she lavished on the basil and with the richness of the soil on account of the head rotting within it, the plants grew as fragrant and beautiful as could be (286).

Group C:

Marguerite de Navarre, from Heptameron: Story 3

1. Explain the difference between denotation and connotation of the words "honour" and "pleasure" in this passage:

I do not expect to be able to combine both honour and pleasure in my position. I am perfectly well aware that while I receive the honour and respect, it is she who has all the pleasure. But then, I know too that while she may have the pleasure, she does not receive the honour and respect (1081).

2. Identify and explain an example of hyperbole in this passage:

Let us, Madame, take our revenge, not in order to punish them as they deserve, but in order to do justice to our love. My love for you is unbearable. If it is not requited I shall die (1082).

3. Identify and explain the figurative language in this passage:

Unless your heart is as hard as diamond or as stone, it is impossible that you should not feel some spark from this fire that burns the more fiercely wihin me the more I try to stifle it (1082).

Group D:

The Thousand and One Nights

1. Explain the use of metonymy in this passage:

I must kill you as you killed him--blood for blood (1783)

2. Identify and explain the use of antithesis in this passage:

Life has two days: one peace, one wariness,
And has two sides: worry and happiness.
Ask him who taunts us with adversity,
"Does fate, save [except for] those worth of note, oppress?" (1783)

Ovid, Metamorphoses: [Medea and Jason]

3. Identify a specific example of synecdoche in this passage; explain what it is and why it is important:

...you shall be hymned
On every mother's tongue in every town
Of glorious Greek--Jason's deliverer!--

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #7: Close Reading

Find examples of three different types of figurative language and three different formal features within these texts (you may use any/as many of the texts listed below as you wish). Cite specific passages from the text to support your claims.

• Ovid, from Metamorphoses
• Book X [Orpheus and Eurydice] pp. 225-28
• Book X [Pygmalion] pp. 232-34
• Book X [Myrrah] pp. 234-41
• Book X [Venus and Adonis] pp. 241-2
• Book XIV [The Island of Circe] pp. 332-34
• Giovanni Boccacio, from Decameron
• First Day: Introduction pp. 6-23
• Third Day: 9th Story pp. 231-40
• Seventh Day: 2nd Story pp. 422-26
• Ninth Day: 2nd Story pp. 560-62
• Marguerite de Navarre, from Heptameron: Story 30 pp. 1084-90

ENG 212--Week 5: Unit 2--Advanced Concepts
ENG 300--Week 5: Unit 2--Drama

Wednesday, 9/22

Readings:

If for some reason you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: Euripides. Medea. E.P. Coleridge. Internet Classics Archive.

Definitions

Genre: Drama

Formal Features

drama or dramatic work

Genre of literature characterized by the interchange of direct speech by one, and more commonly, two or more characters. A drama is meant to be acted rather than merely read.

act:

largest unit of meaning in a drama or dramatic work, usually made up of one or more scenes . There are several typical types of organizations involving acts: the one act play is akin to a short story; all the development and action takes place in the short space of a single act. Three act plays and five act plays are typical for longer works. Though it is conventional to divide plays this way, it is not mandatory to have an act structure.

scene:

the smallest unit of meaning in a dramatic work, typically bounded by the entrance of characters at the beginning and their exit at the end. Usually, one or more scenes make up an act.

cast of characters:

List at the beginning of a drama that names the characters and gives a brief description of their relationships to each other or their function in the work.

dialogue:

the direct speech of different characters in a dramatic work.

stage directions:

text in the written form of a drama that indicates to the director, actors, and reader additional information about various aspects of the scene. Stage directions may provide instructions about setting (physical location, time of day, etc) as well as provide instructions for actors about how specific lines should be said. Stage directions are usually indicated with square brackets and italic text.

Conventions

aside:

technique used in drama where one character of a group on stage will address the audience directly. The other stage characters remain unaware of the audience. This technique can be used to generate sympathy or between the audience and a character.

soliloquy:

A technique used in drama where a single character on stage speaks about his or her inner thoughts or feelings. The character is not aware of the audience while giving the speech, but his meant to be speaking to him or herself. The most famous soliloquy in English drama is Hamlet's "To be, or not to be..." speech in Act III Scene 1 of Shakespeare's play.

back story:

information provided about a character through dialogue, usually with other characters, in the course of a drama. A character's back story can be provided at any point in a play.

stichomythia

rapid alternation of single (or short) lines of dialogue by two characters, often indicating a heightened state of emotion.

unity of place

convention of ancient dramas of using a single physical setting--typically outside a palace or dwelling--for an entire play. This convention is sometimes adopted in later periods to achieve a specific effect.

unity of time

convention of ancient dramas of containing the action of an entire play in a single day-- typically sunrise to sunset, with continuous action. This convention is sometimes adopted in later periods to achieve specific temporal effects.

catharsis

theory of ancient drama that suggests the act of watching intense emotion on stage helps the audience experience and purge these emotions as part of the drama experience. In a tragedy, the emotions triggered are pity and fear.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #7: Genre Traits of Drama

Part 1. Concept Review

1. Group A: Identify the parts of the plot--be sure to provide support for your identification of the inciting incident and the climax.
2. Group B: Identify moments when backstory is conveyed and explain how this is accomplished and what the needed information is. Identify an example of foreshadowing and explain why it is important.
3. Group C: Identify and describe the progatonist(s) and antagonist(s) in this play. Support your identifications.
4. Group D: Describe the physical setting in this play. Explain important elements of physica setting. Describe the temporal setting in the play. Explain why elements of the temporal setting are important.

Part 2. Genre Traits

Analyze genre traits that are distinctive to ancient drama.

1. Group A: Explain how the Chorus functions as an element of character, including identifying character traits
2. Group B: Explain how the Chorus functions in relation to Medea
3. Group C: Analyze the Chorus as a vehicle for discourse: What elements of dominant discourse does the chorus convey--identify at least 1 specific example supported from the text.
4. Group D: Analyze the Chorus as a vehicle for discourse: What competing discourse(s) and elements of subversive discourse does the Chorus debate, and how are these interactions significant--identify at least 1 specific example supported from the text.
5. Group A: Explain how unity of place is significant in this text: give at least 1 specific example with textual support.
6. Group B: Explain how unity of time is significant in this text: give at least 1 specific example with textual support.
7. Group C: Identify an example of stichomythia and explain why it is significant.
8. Group D: Explain how the ending might demonstrate catharsis.

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #8: Drama in Cultural Context

Definition Review

rhetoric:

art of persuasion, and the ability to choose the most appropriate argument to suit the audience and situation.

logos:

logical component of an argument.

ethos:

credibility of the speaker/writer of an argument and the strategies used to cultivate credibility.

pathos:

emotional appeals in an argument and the strategies used to target a specific audience.

kiaros:

the occasion for an argument, including time, place, and other contextual details

Analysis

1. Examine the first argument between Medea and Jason (pp. 14-18). Perform a rhetorical analysis of the main points each is making, and indicate some specific ways each uses ethos, pathos (which emotions are appealed to?), and logos. Then explain how these rhetorical elements are connected to discourse analysis (for example, how might a dominant discourse factor in to the logos of an argument?
2. Describe the representation of marriage in the excerpt from Xenophon's Oeconomicus. Compare Jason and Medea's relationship to this dominant discourse and explain (with support) how their relationship diverges from this norm.
3. Appolonius' Argonautica was written after Euripides' Medea, and is meant as backstory for the dramatic character. Analyze how the representation of Medea in Argonautica reflects on and alters the understanding of Medea's character in the play.
4. Seneca's Medea continues the literary tradition. Analyze how the representation of Medea in this considerably later play compares to the representation of Medea in Euripides' version.
5. Reflect on the representation of Medea as an ongoing (and changing) cultural artifact:

Background and Resources

• Euripides. Medea. E.P. Coleridge. Internet Classics Archive.

ENG 212--Week 6: Unit 2--Advanced Concepts
ENG 300--Week 6: Unit 2--Drama

Monday, 9/27

Readings:

If for some reason you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Definitions (review)

All Unit 2 Definitions can be found here.

Formal Features (poetry)

enjambment:

in poetry, the abrupt break of a grammatical structure by a line break.

rhyme:

matching speech sounds at the end of words (in English). For example, follow and hollow. Rhyme is a very noticeable type of repetition that is commonly used in poetry.

rhyme scheme:

the pattern of end rhymes over the course of an entire poem; often denoted by lower-case letters, where a letter is assigned to each distinct rhyme.

couplet:

two consecutive lines of verse linked by rhyme and meter.

rhythm:

The beat or stresses in written or spoken language. In poetry, the rhythm is often intentionally structured in a certain meter.

meter:

Organized pattern of rhythmic stresses in approximately equivalent units. A specific meter is one of the characteristics of poetry. A common meter in English poetry is iambic pentameter.

foot:

"the metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured; it usually consists of one stressed or accented ( ' ) and one or two unstressed or unaccented syllables ( - )" (from Paul P. Ruben, Elements of Poetry).

iamb:

a foot of poetry that is composed of one unstressed and one stressed syllable ( - ' ). It is one of the most common poetic feet used in English.

pentameter:

a line of poetry with five feet. Iambic pentameter--a line of poetry with 5 iambs, is a common type of line in Renaissance sonnets.

blank verse

metered lines of verse that use a specific meter, in English, blank verse is often in iambic pentameter. Sometimes also called "heroic verse" or "heroic meter" because it is often used for translations of epics and Renaissance era dramas.

Formal Features--Drama

drama or dramatic work

Genre of literature characterized by the interchange of direct speech by one, and more commonly, two or more characters. A drama is meant to be acted rather than merely read.

act:

largest unit of meaning in a drama or dramatic work, usually made up of one or more scenes . There are several typical types of organizations involving acts: the one act play is akin to a short story; all the development and action takes place in the short space of a single act. Three act plays and five act plays are typical for longer works. Though it is conventional to divide plays this way, it is not mandatory to have an act structure.

scene:

the smallest unit of meaning in a dramatic work, typically bounded by the entrance of characters at the beginning and their exit at the end. Usually, one or more scenes make up an act.

cast of characters:

List at the beginning of a drama that names the characters and gives a brief description of their relationships to each other or their function in the work.

dialogue:

the direct speech of different characters in a dramatic work.

stage directions:

text in the written form of a drama that indicates to the director, actors, and reader additional information about various aspects of the scene. Stage directions may provide instructions about setting (physical location, time of day, etc) as well as provide instructions for actors about how specific lines should be said. Stage directions are usually indicated with square brackets and italic text.

Conventions of Drama

aside:

technique used in drama where one character of a group on stage will address the audience directly. The other stage characters remain unaware of the audience. This technique can be used to generate sympathy or between the audience and a character.

soliloquy:

A technique used in drama where a single character on stage speaks about his or her inner thoughts or feelings. The character is not aware of the audience while giving the speech, but his meant to be speaking to him or herself. The most famous soliloquy in English drama is Hamlet's "To be, or not to be..." speech in Act III Scene 1 of Shakespeare's play.

back story:

information provided about a character through dialogue, usually with other characters, in the course of a drama. A character's back story can be provided at any point in a play.

stichomythia

rapid alternation of single (or short) lines of dialogue by two characters, often indicating a heightened state of emotion.

unity of place

convention of ancient dramas of using a single physical setting--typically outside a palace or dwelling--for an entire play. This convention is sometimes adopted in later periods to achieve a specific effect.

unity of time

convention of ancient dramas of containing the action of an entire play in a single day-- typically sunrise to sunset, with continuous action. This convention is sometimes adopted in later periods to achieve specific temporal effects.

catharsis

theory of ancient drama that suggests the act of watching intense emotion on stage helps the audience experience and purge these emotions as part of the drama experience. In a tragedy, the emotions triggered are pity and fear.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #8: Applying Concepts

Part 1. Application

1. Identify a dominant discourse relevant to the discourse community depicted represented in the first three acts of the play.
2. Identify a competing or subversive discourse relevant to the discourse community depicted in the fisrt three acts of the play (you may need to identify the specific discourse community)
3. Identify and explain a specific example of a formal feature in the first three acts of the play as indicated below.

1. Group A: Analyze the use of the aside in 1.3 (approx. lines 140-165) after Banquo and Macbeth have seen the Witches. Explain how this feature is used and why it is important.
2. Group B: Analyze the use of enjambment in Duncan's speech 1.4.39-48. How does enjambment function with meaning in this passage and how is it significant to the meaning in the context of this speech and the onstage audience who listens (Macbeth and the other soldiers)
3. Group C: Analyze the use of the soliloquy at the beginning of 1.7--summarize the meaning of this speech, explain why it is important at this point in the play, and explain why it is significant as information shared with the audience through this convention.
4. Group D: Analyze the use of alliteration in Macbeth's aside in 3.4.23-27 during the banquet scene. Identify the alliteration, and then explain why it is significant to the meaning and within the context of the play. You may also consider the information in this speech as an aside and why that is important.

4. Identify all of the examples of figurative language and formal features you can in your assigned passage. Then, explain the significance of what you've found.

1. Group A:
   Come, thick night,
   And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
   That my keen knife see not the wound it makes
   Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
   To cry "hold! Hold!" (1.5.57-61)
2. Group B:
   To beguile the time
   Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye
   Your hand, your tongue. Look like the innocent flower,
   But be the serpent under 't. (1.5.74-77)
3. Group C:
   Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
   Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
   The multitudinous seas incarnidine,
   Making the green one red. (2.2.76-80)
4. Group D:
   There the grown serpent lies. The worm that's fled
   Hath nature that in time will venom breed,
   No teeth for th' present. (3.4.31-33)

Part 2. Theme

1. Identify as many specific themes represented in the first three acts of the play as you can
2. Choose 1 of them to analyze in more detail: give specific passages that illustrate the theme, and explain whether the representation of your themes changes over the course of the the first three acts.

In-Class Exercise #9: Rhetorical Analysis

Part 1. Macro Analysis

Examine the argument in 1.7 between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth about whether to kill Duncan. Identify the logos, ethos, and pathos used by each character to convey their position. Explain which elements are strongest and evaluate the effectiveness of each characters' argument.

Part 2. Detail Analysis

In Shakespeare's time, grammar, logic, and rhetoric were the three classical branches of knowledge that were formally taught to educated (male) citizens. Writers like Shakespeare and his contemporaries had formal training in rhetorical tropes that had been developed by ancient Greek and Roman writers, and rediscovered and reinvigorated in the Renaissance, so these writers deliberately used elaborate forms in their work.

Although these forms are no longer a curriculum staple, identifying them and understanding how they operate can help us understand some of the most sophistocated capabilities of English. In this exercise, analyze your assigned passage to identify specific rhetorical tropes. Use the Silva Rhetoricae to help you, and be prepared to explain the rhetorical features you find and how they function to convey meaning.

ENG 212--Week 6: Unit 2--Advanced Concepts
ENG 300--Week 6: Unit 2--Drama

Wednesday, 9/29

Readings:

If for some reason you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Definitions

Performance

visual framing:

the visual perspective of the camera or staging of performace that are used to contextualize specific scenes or elements of a dramatic performance.

conceptual framing:

the ideas, descriptions, even specific diction used to describe and contextualize a theme or discourse.

blocking:

position of actors on stage in relation to the setting and the audience.

delivery:

the way an actor speaks lines. Delivery includes emotional elements of speaking lines, volume of voice, and non-verbal communications.

In-Class Exercise #9: Analyzing Performance

Group A: Exposition

1. Describe the visual tone and content of the opening scene (before the explanatory scroll text), and explain how this content frames the story.
2. Identify and describe a specific example of blocking in the scene with the witches. Explain why your example is significant.
3. Identify and describe a specific example of delivery in the scene with the witches Explain why your example is significant.

Group B: Rising Action

1. Describe significant elements of setting in that frame Lady Macbeth's speech.
2. Identify a specific example of delivery in the "unsex me" scene and explain why it is important.
3. Identify a specific example of blocking in the conversation between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and explain why it is important.

Group C: Climax

1. Describe the visual tone and content of the murder scene. Explain how this content frames the murder and why this framing is important.
2. Identify a specific example of blocking in the scene after the murder; explain why it is important.
3. Identify a specific example of delivery in the scene after the murder; explain why it is important.

Group D: Falling Action

1. Describe the visual tone and content of the banquet scene. Explain how this content frames the banquet scene and why this framing is important.
2. Identify a specific example of blocking in the ghost scene; explain why it is important.
3. Identify a specific example of delivery in the ghost scene; explain why it is important.

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #10: Analyzing Performance as Adaptation

Resolution

1. Choose a specific example of delivery from the ending of the film: describe how the decisions in delivery are significant to meaning.
2. Choose a specific example of blocking from the ending of the film: describe how decisions in blocking are significant to meaning.
3. Describe the visual choices made in the ending of the film; explain how these choices function as adaptation expressing the very naturalistic reading of Macbeth in this film version.

Background and Resources

Early Modern Theatres

Dating and Texts of the Play

The composition of Macbeth, the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies,is usually dated around 1606-07, which makes it one of the later tragedies (Bevington 1219). It was first published in 1623 in the First Folio, and the First Folio edition is generally the one used by editors of modern editions (Mowat and Werstine xlv).

Shakespeare's Sources for the Play

Shakespeare's primary source for the history of the Macbeth was Holinshed's Chronicles, though great liberties are taken with the historicity; as Bevington explains: "[Shakespeare] conflated two accounts, one of Duncan and Macbeth, and the other of King Duff slain by Donwald with the help of his wife" (1221). There are also many potential sources for the depictions of witchcraft and the witches, who figure prominently and interestingly in the play. Among these are: Samuel Harsnett's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures and Thomas Middleton's play The Witch.

For an excellent on-line resource for Holinshed's Chronicles, click here. For excerpts that Shakespeare drew on when writing Macbeth, click here

Click here for an on-line facsimile version of Harsnett's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures from the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image

Use the links below for scenes from Thomas Middleton's play The Witch:

• Complete Play
• Act I scene ii
• Act V scene ii

Historical Macbeth

Macbeth is very loosely based on Scottish history of the 11th century, so the historical facts would not have been as present to the audience as in the history plays. Below are links for more information on the historical Macbeth:

• from the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/macbeth.shtml
• from the Official Clan MacBeth Society of North America: http://www.sayitontheweb.com/macbeth/

ENG 212--Week 7: Unit 2--Advanced Concepts
ENG 300--Week 7: Unit 2--Drama

Monday, 10/4

Readings:

If for some reason you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. Project Gutenberg.

Definitions (review)

All Unit 2 Definitions can be found here.

Performance

visual framing:

the visual perspective of the camera or staging of performace that are used to contextualize specific scenes or elements of a dramatic performance.

conceptual framing:

the ideas, descriptions, even specific diction used to describe and contextualize a theme or discourse.

blocking:

position of actors on stage in relation to the setting and the audience.

delivery:

the way an actor speaks lines. Delivery includes emotional elements of speaking lines, volume of voice, and non-verbal communications.

In-Class Exercise #9: Analyzing Performance

Group A: Exposition

1. Describe the visual tone and content of the opening scene (before the explanatory scroll text), and explain how this content frames the story.
2. Identify and describe a specific example of blocking in the scene with the witches. Explain why your example is significant.
3. Identify and describe a specific example of delivery in the scene with the witches Explain why your example is significant.

Group B: Rising Action

1. Describe significant elements of setting in that frame Lady Macbeth's speech.
2. Identify a specific example of delivery in the "unsex me" scene and explain why it is important.
3. Identify a specific example of blocking in the conversation between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and explain why it is important.

Group C: Climax

1. Describe the visual tone and content of the murder scene. Explain how this content frames the murder and why this framing is important.
2. Identify a specific example of blocking in the scene after the murder; explain why it is important.
3. Identify a specific example of delivery in the scene after the murder; explain why it is important.

Group D: Falling Action

1. Describe the visual tone and content of the banquet scene. Explain how this content frames the banquet scene and why this framing is important.
2. Identify a specific example of blocking in the ghost scene; explain why it is important.
3. Identify a specific example of delivery in the ghost scene; explain why it is important.

ENG 300--In-Class Exercise #10: Analyzing Performance as Adaptation

Resolution

1. Choose a specific example of delivery from the ending of the film: describe how the decisions in delivery are significant to meaning.
2. Choose a specific example of blocking from the ending of the film: describe how decisions in blocking are significant to meaning.
3. Describe the visual choices made in the ending of the film; explain how these choices function as adaptation expressing the very naturalistic reading of Macbeth in this film version.

ENG 212--In-Class Exercise #10: Formal Features

Part 1. Formal Features

1. Group A: Describe the character of Mrs. Elvsted, including her backstory. Explain how she functions as a character foil in relationship to Hedda. How is this an example of antithesis?
2. Group B: Describe the character of Brack, including his backstory. Explain how he functions as a character foil in relationship to Tesman. How is this an example of antithesis?
3. Group C: Explain how the setting at the villa demonstrates irony--see Hedda's comments about the new house in Act 2 pp. 206-07.
4. Group D: Analyze the stage directions at the beginning of Act 1: describe specific elements of physical setting and explain how this setting frames the action of the play.

Part 2. Discourse

1. Group A and Group C: Identify an example of a dominant discourse that can be illustrated with support from Act 1. Explain and give your support.
2. Group B and Group D: Identify an example of a dominant discourse that can be illustrated with support from Act 2. Explain and give your support.

ENG 300: Discussion Questions

1. Compare the opening of Hedda Gabler to the opening of Medea considering in particular how the entrance of the title character is delayed while she discussed by others. How is each protagonist described, and what is the significance of this framing? When Hedda and Medea finally do appear, do they reinforce, refute (something else?) the representation of them by others? How is their identity affected?
2. Analyze the use of power in the play so far: which characters have power--over whom, and how do they exert it? Are there chracters who attempt to exert power or influence but fail? If so, explain these examples and compare to the successful uses of power--what's the difference?
3. In the first two acts of the play, a good deal of back story information is revealed. What mechanisms are used to reveal back story information? Identify 2 examples and explain how they function and why this information is significant.
4. Analze the significance of public persona/reputation in this play. Consider ideas of reputation for Tesman, Hedda, Lövborg, and Mrs. Elvstad. How do each of these characters manage their reputations? At this point in the play, do any of the characters seem particularly good at reputation management? Vulnerable to reputation issues? Explain.

ENG 212--Week 7: Unit 2--Advanced Concepts
ENG 300--Week 7: Unit 2--Drama

Wednesday, 10/6

Readings:

If for some reason you do not have the class text, you may use this online edition: Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. Project Gutenberg.

In-Class Exercise #11: Unit 2 Review

Part 1. Figurative Language and Formal Features

1. Group A and Group C: Identify 2 specific examples of figurative language in Act 3. Explain each figure and why it is significant to the local and broader meaning of the play.
2. Group B and Group D: Identify 2 specific examples of figurative language in Act 4. Explain each figure and why it is significant to the local and broader meaning of the play.
3. All: Identify at least 2 examples of specific formal features in the play. Point to specific passages in the play, explain the feature, and explain the significance of the feature.
4. All: Identify a specific theme that can be applied to this play and to at least 1 other play in this unit (Medea, Macbeth). Briefly explain how it functions in each of the plays you identify.

Part 2. Discourse

1. Group A and Group C: Identify an example of a dominant discourse that can be illustrated with support from Act 3. Explain and give your support.
2. Group B and Group D: Identify an example of a dominant discourse that can be illustrated with support from Act 4. Explain and give your support.
3. All: Identify an example of a subversive discourse in the play. Provide textual support and explain the significance of this discourse.

In-Class Exercise #11: Genre Evolution--Drama

For this exercise, consider all of the dramas we've read in this unit.

1. Identify differences in form in the plays studied from different time periods. Give specific examples.
2. Analyze plot structure among the plays over time--identify and explain both similarities and differences as applicable.
3. Analyze character in the later plays--identify and explain how the representation of demonstrates change as the drama genre evolves over time.
4. Analyze any other aspects of the later plays that you believe demonstrate an evolution of the dramatic genre. Be prepared to present at least one element to the class.

Background and Resources

• Ibsen Stage Performance Database - searchable listing of performances of Ibsen's plays from their first production to the present. Catlogues performances all over the world.
• Centre for Ibsen Studies at the University of Oslo
• Ibsen Society of America