TIME---LOVE---DEATH

As we explore poetry in this unit, we are focusing on three themes: time, love and death. Here is a poem, written by Thomas Hardy, a British poet. Entitled "The Man He Killed," this poem presents death through war. Read it and share what feeling it arouses in you about war and its consequences.

"Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,

We should have sat us down to wet

Right many a nipperkin!

"But ranged as infantry,

And staring face to face,

I shot at him and he at me,

And killed him in his place.

"I shot him dead because –

Because he was my foe,

Just so – my foe of course he was;

That's clear enough; although

"He thought he'd 'list perhaps,

Off-hand like – just as I –

Was out of work – had sold his traps –

No other reason why.

"Yes; quaint and curious war is!

You shoot a fellow down

You'd treat if met where any bar is,

Or help to half-a-crown."

ELIE WIESEL

As you know NIGHT is the memoir of Elie Wiesel; he lived this horror. If you could meet Elie, what line/passage would you ask him to expand upon? Why?

BE TRUE! BE TRUE! BE TRUE!

Hawthorne directly writes that among the many morals in the story of Hester and Dimmesdale, there is a moral of “Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!" Be true here: what did you like/enjoy most about the novel? least? learn?

Pearl in The Scarlet Letter

Pearl is often seen as simply "an imp or devilish child." Is she? Is she a flat character and allegorical symbol or is she something more and faceted? What lines fully flesh-out her characterization?

PUNISHMENT IN THE SCARLET LETTER

In the first eight chapters Hester faces various forms of punishment. Which punishment is most affectual on her character? Explain.

Theme of the Island

What theme, of the many Golding presents, had the greatest affect on you as you read? What line or passage helped you to see this theme? Explain how you come to feel about this theme as you read this novel?

Shadows and Tall Trees

In chapter 7, Golding describes Jack as a “stain in the darkness;” when Jack leaves, “The stain vanished. Another took its place.” Why? What is Golding saying about darkness and Jack, the type of people Jack represents?