What a woman wants...

In the "Wife of Bath's Tale," the old crone tells the lusty and haughty knight that what women most desire is mastery over their husbands. Do you agree? If so, why? If not, what do you think most women desire? Give at least two reasons for either view that you take. (The deadline to post a response is midnight, Tuesday, April 9, 2013.)

Opposites attract

As you know April is National Poetry Month.  Since I can't be there with you right now, here is a poem I had planned for us to look over.  It is by Edmund Spencer.  The poem is a paradox: something that seems unlikely or contradictory but is actually true on a deeper/symbolic meaning.  Explain what you believe to be the theme of the poem and select two lines that helped convey that meaning to you.  Do not repeat what the poster prior to you has said.  Remember no credit will be given to plagiarized statements.

(The deadline to post a response is midnight, Monday, April 8, 2013)

Sonnet 30 (Fire And Ice)

My love is like to ice, and I to fire:
how comes it then that this her cold so great
is not dissolv'd through my so hot desire,
but harder grows, the more I her entreat?

Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
is not delayed by her heart frozen cold,
but that I burn much more in boiling sweat,
and feel my flames augmented manifold?

What more miraculous thing may be told
that fire, which all thing melts, should harden ice:
and ice which is congealed with senseless cold,
should kindle fire by wonderful device?

Such is the pow'r of love in gentle mind
that it can alter all the course of kind.

I need your prayers

First, I would like to thank first block for just doing what you were asked without question this morning.  I had a health emergency and things aren't good  for me right now.  Please try to understand that I didn't want to leave you all, but I had to and please pray that my doctors can fix this problem quickly and effectively. 

Just a little ironic story of three friends...

One of the most famous of the Canterbury Tales is the "Pardoner's Tale," which we read today.  Of course, Chaucer is being ironic with the avarice-driven Pardoner telling a story of the evils of greed, but which element /event of irony in the story did you find most humorous or edifying?  Give the line and identify the type of irony being used and explain what you liked about it.  Make sure you don't use the same example as the poster prior to you.  (The deadline to post a response is midnight Thursday, April 4, 2013.)

On the way to Canterbury

Although we have only met a few of them, select a pilgrim and briefly tell what you find interesting or intriguing about him or her? Why?  You may not comment on the same character as the two posters prior to your post. (The deadline to post a response to this question is midnight, April 4,2013.)

Broken Jars

In the Prologue of the novel, David tells of "a series" of images that remain from the summer of 1948: a young Sioux woman, feverish on the bed in his house; his father kneeling on the kitchen floor, begging his mother to help him; his mother holding a 12 gauge shotgun, intending to use it;  and the sound of breaking glass and the odor of rotting vegetables.  By the end of Part Three, all of these images have been fully revealed and because of the "broken jars," David believes everything will go back to the way it was before.  His twelve-year-old innocence fails to realize that those jars are broken forever. Select any image from the novel (you don't have to select one from the Prologue), and discuss what was revealed in the moment and what consequence comes to the Haydens via that event.  (The deadline to post a response is midnight, March 27, 2013. No credit will be given to plagiarized responses.)

Meaning in Montana 1948

One of the indicators of an outstanding work of literature is the author's use of symbols.  In Part Two of Montana 1948, Watson presents several symbols.  Among them are Julian Hayden's log house, the magpie that David kills, the coyote mentioned in Marie's final words to David, and the reverie that David has of the Native Americans walking up Circle Hill.  Select one of these images and discuss what you feel it symbolizes and how it adds to the story's plot, characterization, and theme.  CATCH:  You must comment on what the person prior to you has said, but you may not focus on that symbol.  You must move the discussion to another symbol.  I will begin the discussion.  (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Monday, March 25, 2013)