Rules to the left, rules to the right, rules, rules, rules...

In chapter 5 at the night assembly, Ralph makes the comment "that the rules are all we have got." How important are rules? Why do rules have so much power over us both positively and negatively?  Which rules are most important in life? Why? (The deadline to post a comment on this question is midnight Saturday, October 29, 2011.)

The Scar Has Touched Down...

We have just begun reading Lord of the Flies and already we have learned many things about the characters of the novel. Authors use various methods of characterization: direct and indirect to develop their characters. Select either Ralph, Piggy, or Jack and discuss three methods Golding has used to create this character. What do you find most appealing about Golding characterization of this island survivor? Why? (The deadline to post a response to this question is midnight Wednesday, October 26, 2011)

LovE, dEatH, and TiMe...

Renaissance poetry presents looks at three important topics: love, death and time.  Which of the poems/meditations did you enjoy most?  Why?  (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Friday, October 21, 2011)

All things considered...

Now, that we have read the entire play, select one of the following propositions.  Write a response that supports or refutes this proposition.  YES, you must take one side and one side only.  This isn't Switzerland. No credit will be given if you do not stay on one side of the issue.  (The deadline to post a response is midnight, Friday, October 21, 2011)

1) Lady Macbeth's problem is that while she understands herself, she does not understand Macbeth.
2) Lady Macbeth is totally evil; she is, in fact, the fiend-like Queen described by Malcolm at the end of the play.
3) The witches so manipulate Macbeth that he has no control over his fate.
4) Shakespeare didn't write the silly Hecate bits, so out they come.  If you were producing a performance of Macbeth, explain why you would or would not include the Hecate scenes.
5) The story of a bad man who commits a crime is not a tragedy but a straightforward tale of evil. Macbeth, however, is about a good man who becomes evil and that is his tragedy.
6) Far from being the strong character he is often portrayed as being, Macbeth is essentially a weak man; he allows the witches and Lady Macbeth to manipulate him into an act which, if left alone, he would never contemplate, never mind commit.

It shall rain down...

In Act II, Macbeth gives his famous dagger soliloquy that begins,

"Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"
In what ways has the use of the dagger brought a "fatal vision" and an "heat-oppressed brain" to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?  What has happened to both of them because they killed?  What is Shakespeare saying through these changes?  (The deadline to post a response to this question is midnight, Saturday, October 15, 2011.)

Would a witch by any other name be as wicked?

Notice that the Weird Sisters are referred to as "witches" only in the stage directions. No one sitting in the audience seeing the play will hear the word witch even once. Rather, in the text Banquo and Macbeth call them "Weird Sisters." They, in fact, even refer to themselves by such a title. The word "weird" is derived from the Old English "wyrd," meaning fate or destiny. Thus far in the play, how have the predictions of the Weird Sisters influenced or controlled Macbeth's fate/destiny? Do you believe that their influence is the greatest influence upon him? If so, why? If not, what or who influences Macbeth most? (The deadline to comment on this blog post is midnight, Wednesday, October 12, 2011.)

On the way back from Canterbury

And, the tales continued today with stories from the Skipper, the Franklin, the Friar, the Doctor, the Miller, the Knight, Chaucer, the Yeoman, the Merchant, the Oxford Cleric, the Second Nun, and the Parson. It was a feat of general entertainment and morality. 

On the Way to Canterbury

Today, the Senior pilgrims told their tales on our way to Canterbury.  A great time was had by all--the Yeoman, the Summoner, the Physician, the Oxford Cleric, the Skipper, the Knight, the Manciple, the Franklin, Chaucer, the Reeve, the Merchant, the Prioress, the Monk, the Squire, and the Nun's Priest-- what a great group of people.  AP Scholars of the First Rate!