“If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
This question is about the role of an observer in reality. Or about the nature of reality apart from observers. It can be taken to be a question about what some philosophers call primary and secondary qualities. A primary quality is a characteristic that an object has in itself, like its physical mass. A secondary quality is one that is had only in relation to an observer. If in the entire universe, there were no beings with eyes and the sense of sight, there would be no colors. There would be light waves and wavelengths, but no color. Colors result from the processing of light waves by brains. That, at least, is the claim made by philosophers who draw a hard and fast distinction between primary and secondary qualities. The tree scenario can just be a test case to see whether you accept this distinction and think of sound as a secondary quality. Or the tree question can be meant to elicit intuitions about basic ontology — about our most basic theory of being or existence. Is a sound the sort of thing that is essentially listener dependent, so that it cannot exist unheard, or can it have objective existence in and of itself?
This question is about the role of an observer in reality. Or about the nature of reality apart from observers. It can be taken to be a question about what some philosophers call primary and secondary qualities. A primary quality is a characteristic that an object has in itself, like its physical mass. A secondary quality is one that is had only in relation to an observer. If in the entire universe, there were no beings with eyes and the sense of sight, there would be no colors. There would be light waves and wavelengths, but no color. Colors result from the processing of light waves by brains. That, at least, is the claim made by philosophers who draw a hard and fast distinction between primary and secondary qualities. The tree scenario can just be a test case to see whether you accept this distinction and think of sound as a secondary quality. Or the tree question can be meant to elicit intuitions about basic ontology — about our most basic theory of being or existence. Is a sound the sort of thing that is essentially listener dependent, so that it cannot exist unheard, or can it have objective existence in and of itself?
Extra Credit (See A Raisin in the Sun):
Because many of you mentioned the "Self Poem" as your favorite assignment from last semester, we will begin this semester with 3 creative writing pieces. These will also be the first 3 entries of your 2nd semester portfolio.
The "PHOTO POEM," "OF ___________," and "TRAIT" are due Friday 2/2 (Thursday for MUN).
We will share these in class and the hang them on the walls!
Because many of you mentioned the "Self Poem" as your favorite assignment from last semester, we will begin this semester with 3 creative writing pieces. These will also be the first 3 entries of your 2nd semester portfolio.
The "PHOTO POEM," "OF ___________," and "TRAIT" are due Friday 2/2 (Thursday for MUN).
We will share these in class and the hang them on the walls!
***We will begin the semester with the Philosophy Unit. Read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Theatre of the Absurd). See specific directions on the board. We will watch the film in class.
For For your photo poem, try a metaphysical conceit. Write the first half of your poem about the photo. Make the 2nd half of your poem about you. See "On a Drop of Dew" for help with structure. He writes about the dew drop 1st to help us understand the nature of the soul later in the poem.
On a Drop of Dew
See how the orient dew,
Shed from the bosom of the morn
Into the blowing roses,
Yet careless of its mansion new,
For the clear region where ’twas born
Round in itself incloses:
And in its little globe’s extent,
Frames as it can its native element.
How it the purple flow’r does slight,
Scarce touching where it lies,
But gazing back upon the skies,
Shines with a mournful light,
Like its own tear, Because so long divided from the sphere.
Restless it rolls and unsecure,
Trembling lest it grow impure,
Till the warm sun pity its pain,
And to the skies exhale it back again.
HERE IS THE SHIFT BETWEEN THE DEW DROP AND THE SOUL
So the soul, that drop, that ray
Of the clear fountain of eternal day,
Could it within the human flow’r be seen,
Remembering still its former height,
Shuns the sweet leaves and blossoms green,
And recollecting its own light,
Does, in its pure and circling thoughts,
express The greater heaven in an heaven less.
In how coy a figure wound,
Every way it turns away:
So the world excluding round,
Yet receiving in the day,
Dark beneath, but bright above,
Here disdaining, there in love.
How loose and easy hence to go,
How girt and ready to ascend,
Moving but on a point below,
It all about does upwards bend.
Such did the manna’s sacred dew distill,
White and entire, though congealed and chill,
Congealed on earth : but does, dissolving, run
Into the glories of th’ almighty sun.
For For your photo poem, try a metaphysical conceit. Write the first half of your poem about the photo. Make the 2nd half of your poem about you. See "On a Drop of Dew" for help with structure. He writes about the dew drop 1st to help us understand the nature of the soul later in the poem.
On a Drop of Dew
See how the orient dew,
Shed from the bosom of the morn
Into the blowing roses,
Yet careless of its mansion new,
For the clear region where ’twas born
Round in itself incloses:
And in its little globe’s extent,
Frames as it can its native element.
How it the purple flow’r does slight,
Scarce touching where it lies,
But gazing back upon the skies,
Shines with a mournful light,
Like its own tear, Because so long divided from the sphere.
Restless it rolls and unsecure,
Trembling lest it grow impure,
Till the warm sun pity its pain,
And to the skies exhale it back again.
HERE IS THE SHIFT BETWEEN THE DEW DROP AND THE SOUL
So the soul, that drop, that ray
Of the clear fountain of eternal day,
Could it within the human flow’r be seen,
Remembering still its former height,
Shuns the sweet leaves and blossoms green,
And recollecting its own light,
Does, in its pure and circling thoughts,
express The greater heaven in an heaven less.
In how coy a figure wound,
Every way it turns away:
So the world excluding round,
Yet receiving in the day,
Dark beneath, but bright above,
Here disdaining, there in love.
How loose and easy hence to go,
How girt and ready to ascend,
Moving but on a point below,
It all about does upwards bend.
Such did the manna’s sacred dew distill,
White and entire, though congealed and chill,
Congealed on earth : but does, dissolving, run
Into the glories of th’ almighty sun.
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"OF STUDIES" LINK-see directions on back of traits list
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TRAIT: Choose a trait that makes us human. Personify it. Describe it as a person. What is that person like? What does he/she say? do? dress like? act like? Is she always hungry? Does he tell you what you want to hear? How does it treat others? OR
You write a poem. Don't use one word answers. Be creative and poetic.
See below:
Line 1: Tell the color of the trait
Line 2: Tell what it sounds like
Line 3: Tell what it tastes like
Line 4: Tell what it smells like
Line 5: Tell what it looks like
Line 6: Tell how it makes you feel
Line 7: Tell how it acts? speaks? dresses? If it were an object, animal, weather, or an action, what would it be? Why?
Line 8: Anything else you need to add=an allusion from a work we've read? a symbol? a quote about the trait? a motto?
Excitement never touches her heels on the ground. She has too much energy to sit still in one place for a long time. She’s drawn to things that are new to her, that she has never seen before. When she hears music in the air, her whole body buzzes and she begins her search to find the source. Excitement loves parties and concerts and social gatherings that bring people together and let her get lost in the crowd. Her favorite things, she says, are journeys. You can always find her on a long trek somewhere different from home, always feeling the anticipation before getting there.
Her dresses are always bright and sunny, always sending positive vibes to the people who see her. You know excitement is near when you hear her high pitched giggles or bubbly laughs carried on the wind. Her hand flips her hair that perfumes the air around it with scents of summer and fresh citrus. She likes to find amusement in any little thing, even if it’s something like an ACCIDENT, much like her inner child that never grew up.-
-Alyssa Perez
You write a poem. Don't use one word answers. Be creative and poetic.
See below:
Line 1: Tell the color of the trait
Line 2: Tell what it sounds like
Line 3: Tell what it tastes like
Line 4: Tell what it smells like
Line 5: Tell what it looks like
Line 6: Tell how it makes you feel
Line 7: Tell how it acts? speaks? dresses? If it were an object, animal, weather, or an action, what would it be? Why?
Line 8: Anything else you need to add=an allusion from a work we've read? a symbol? a quote about the trait? a motto?
Excitement never touches her heels on the ground. She has too much energy to sit still in one place for a long time. She’s drawn to things that are new to her, that she has never seen before. When she hears music in the air, her whole body buzzes and she begins her search to find the source. Excitement loves parties and concerts and social gatherings that bring people together and let her get lost in the crowd. Her favorite things, she says, are journeys. You can always find her on a long trek somewhere different from home, always feeling the anticipation before getting there.
Her dresses are always bright and sunny, always sending positive vibes to the people who see her. You know excitement is near when you hear her high pitched giggles or bubbly laughs carried on the wind. Her hand flips her hair that perfumes the air around it with scents of summer and fresh citrus. She likes to find amusement in any little thing, even if it’s something like an ACCIDENT, much like her inner child that never grew up.-
-Alyssa Perez
***BELOW ARE LISTS OF EVERY AP LIT ESSAY #3 QUESTION ASKED AND
EVERY WORK LISTED UNDER EACH QUESTION.
EVERY WORK LISTED UNDER EACH QUESTION.
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***Read Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (p. 837).
Research her philosophical view and her Southern Gothic style.
Watch the videos on CARTESIAN DUALISM and EMPIRICISM.
Answer the style and discussion questions for "A Good Man..."in your book (Style and Discussion).
Complete MC test for "Good Country People."
Read "Gimpel the Fool." Answer the questions.
Fill out the PHILOSOPHY SHORT STORY DOC FOR "Good Country People." SEE MC STEMS for AP Test questions.
“Good Country People”
*Begin by researching O’Connor’s philosophy Southern Gothic style. (See #9) Don’t forget to complete 46-60 on multiple-choice test.(Get handout in class.)
1. Consider the character’s names. What do they tell us about the characters? Of what particular significance is Joy’s decision to changer her name to Hulga?
2. Are Mrs. Freeman’s daughters, Glynese and Carramae, important to the story? What would be lost if they were left out?
3. How is the title of the story ironic? How does it relate to the theme of the story?
4. One day Mrs. Hopewell picks up a book Hulga has been reading and finds a passage her daughter has underlined: “Science, on the other hand, has to assert its soberness and seriousness afresh and declare that it is concerned with solely with what-is. Nothing—how can it be for science anything but a horror and phantasm? If science is right, then one thing stands firm: science wishes to know nothing of nothing. Such is after all the strictly scientific approach to Nothing. We know it by wishing to know nothing of Nothing. (p. 353) What is Mrs. Hopewell’s reaction to the passage? How does the passage relate to what happens between Hulga and Manley Pointer later in the story?
5. Mrs. Hopewell loves clichés. Make a list of as many of her favorite truisms as you can find. Then evaluate your list. What do you learn about Mrs. Hopewell? Do the clichés seem to relate to the story’s theme in any way? What effect do the clichés have on Mrs. Hopewell’s audience (her daughter, Mrs. Freeman, Manley Pointer)?
6. Do you sympathize with any of the characters in this story? If not, are you unsympathetic to all of them all of the time? Explain by referring to specific episodes.
7. Choose one short section and analyze its humor. For example, you might look at the description of Mrs. Freeman’s three expressions, which opens the story. Or you might consider the conversation between Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. Hopewell, and Hulga concerning Glynese’s preference for being married by a preacher. (bottom of p. 356)
8. What does Hulga learn about herself and about other people through her encounter with the Bible salesman?
9. Who is in need of redemption? Who is the character used by God to help redeem them? How?
10. What religious values are evident in the story? What does O'Connor suggest about these values? 11. Now take Multiple-choice test based on the first section of the text.
Research her philosophical view and her Southern Gothic style.
Watch the videos on CARTESIAN DUALISM and EMPIRICISM.
Answer the style and discussion questions for "A Good Man..."in your book (Style and Discussion).
Complete MC test for "Good Country People."
Read "Gimpel the Fool." Answer the questions.
Fill out the PHILOSOPHY SHORT STORY DOC FOR "Good Country People." SEE MC STEMS for AP Test questions.
“Good Country People”
*Begin by researching O’Connor’s philosophy Southern Gothic style. (See #9) Don’t forget to complete 46-60 on multiple-choice test.(Get handout in class.)
1. Consider the character’s names. What do they tell us about the characters? Of what particular significance is Joy’s decision to changer her name to Hulga?
2. Are Mrs. Freeman’s daughters, Glynese and Carramae, important to the story? What would be lost if they were left out?
3. How is the title of the story ironic? How does it relate to the theme of the story?
4. One day Mrs. Hopewell picks up a book Hulga has been reading and finds a passage her daughter has underlined: “Science, on the other hand, has to assert its soberness and seriousness afresh and declare that it is concerned with solely with what-is. Nothing—how can it be for science anything but a horror and phantasm? If science is right, then one thing stands firm: science wishes to know nothing of nothing. Such is after all the strictly scientific approach to Nothing. We know it by wishing to know nothing of Nothing. (p. 353) What is Mrs. Hopewell’s reaction to the passage? How does the passage relate to what happens between Hulga and Manley Pointer later in the story?
5. Mrs. Hopewell loves clichés. Make a list of as many of her favorite truisms as you can find. Then evaluate your list. What do you learn about Mrs. Hopewell? Do the clichés seem to relate to the story’s theme in any way? What effect do the clichés have on Mrs. Hopewell’s audience (her daughter, Mrs. Freeman, Manley Pointer)?
6. Do you sympathize with any of the characters in this story? If not, are you unsympathetic to all of them all of the time? Explain by referring to specific episodes.
7. Choose one short section and analyze its humor. For example, you might look at the description of Mrs. Freeman’s three expressions, which opens the story. Or you might consider the conversation between Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. Hopewell, and Hulga concerning Glynese’s preference for being married by a preacher. (bottom of p. 356)
8. What does Hulga learn about herself and about other people through her encounter with the Bible salesman?
9. Who is in need of redemption? Who is the character used by God to help redeem them? How?
10. What religious values are evident in the story? What does O'Connor suggest about these values? 11. Now take Multiple-choice test based on the first section of the text.
Flannery O'Connor Fiction articles click here and here
Dorothy Walters in her book Flannery O’Connor suggests that for O’Connor’s characters, “the path to salvation is never easy; the journey is marked by violence, suffering, often acute disaster. To arouse the recipients of grace and divinity she often resorts to drastic modes of awakening. A kind of redemption through catastrophe” (p. 14). Though the South served as a setting for most of her fiction, Roman Catholicism allowed her to transcend the confines of regionalism to make a universal statement. Identifying her bearing as a fiction writer, O’Connor herself wrote: “I see from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. This means that for me the meaning of life is centered in our Redemption by Christ and what I see in the world I see in its relation to that.” As we see in the following stories most of the characters are in need of some kind of redemption or reformation (though some are perhaps beyond it).
Note: The Epigraph before "A Good Man is Hard to Find": "The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon. -St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Dorothy Walters in her book Flannery O’Connor suggests that for O’Connor’s characters, “the path to salvation is never easy; the journey is marked by violence, suffering, often acute disaster. To arouse the recipients of grace and divinity she often resorts to drastic modes of awakening. A kind of redemption through catastrophe” (p. 14). Though the South served as a setting for most of her fiction, Roman Catholicism allowed her to transcend the confines of regionalism to make a universal statement. Identifying her bearing as a fiction writer, O’Connor herself wrote: “I see from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. This means that for me the meaning of life is centered in our Redemption by Christ and what I see in the world I see in its relation to that.” As we see in the following stories most of the characters are in need of some kind of redemption or reformation (though some are perhaps beyond it).
Note: The Epigraph before "A Good Man is Hard to Find": "The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon. -St. Cyril of Jerusalem
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"We have to believe in free will. We’ve got no choice." — Isaac Bashevis Singer
Philosophical Story Questions:
• Author’s philosophical/political/religious ideas?
• What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this viewpoint?
• According to this work’s view of life, what is mankind’s relationship to God? To the universe?
• What moral statement, if any, does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit?
• What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God?
• What is the author’s conception of good and evil?
• What does the work say about the nature of good or evil?
• What does the work say about human nature?
• Theme/Central meaning of the work with evidence (some suggestions below): Theme deals with four areas of human experience:
• The Nature of humanity-What image of humankind emerges from the work?
• The nature of society-Is the society flawed? Is it like-enhancing or life-destroying? Are characters in conflict with society?
• The nature of humankind’s relationship with the world- Fate vs. Destiny? Are character’s controlled or in control of their destinies?
• The nature of our ethical responsibilities- What are the moral conflicts in the work? Are they clear cut or ambiguous? Who is the moral center (the character that the author sees as clearly right and good)? If there isn’t one, why?
• Author’s philosophical/political/religious ideas?
• What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this viewpoint?
• According to this work’s view of life, what is mankind’s relationship to God? To the universe?
• What moral statement, if any, does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit?
• What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God?
• What is the author’s conception of good and evil?
• What does the work say about the nature of good or evil?
• What does the work say about human nature?
• Theme/Central meaning of the work with evidence (some suggestions below): Theme deals with four areas of human experience:
• The Nature of humanity-What image of humankind emerges from the work?
• The nature of society-Is the society flawed? Is it like-enhancing or life-destroying? Are characters in conflict with society?
• The nature of humankind’s relationship with the world- Fate vs. Destiny? Are character’s controlled or in control of their destinies?
• The nature of our ethical responsibilities- What are the moral conflicts in the work? Are they clear cut or ambiguous? Who is the moral center (the character that the author sees as clearly right and good)? If there isn’t one, why?
***Read R and G are Dead and "...Prufrock" (p. 240).
Think Existentialism/Absurd.
Answer all questions in R and G docs below and discussion and style questions for "Prufrock." Answer the book questions for "Prufrock" p.244. Don't answer questions that overlap.
Think Existentialism/Absurd.
Answer all questions in R and G docs below and discussion and style questions for "Prufrock." Answer the book questions for "Prufrock" p.244. Don't answer questions that overlap.
http://www.lib.ru/PXESY/STOPPARD/r_g_engl.txt FULL TEXT OF R AND G
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SEE PHILOSOPHY QUESTIONS, FILMS, PPT, and DIRECTIONS FOR THE 4 PARTS OF THE PROJECT (BOTTOM OF THE 2nd QTR PAGE). The human trait and "OF STUDIES: OF (subject) " will be the 2nd and 3rd portfolio pieces.
READ THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE LOTTERY AND THE HUNGER GAMES:
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***(Read Metamorphosis in your text (p.195).
See the ppt. Watch the videos on PERSONAL IDENTITY above. See the film versions for fun.
Answer the book questions (Discussion, Style, and choose 2 from the Suggestions for Writing).
Answer the questions from the 2015 doc below.
See the ppt. Watch the videos on PERSONAL IDENTITY above. See the film versions for fun.
Answer the book questions (Discussion, Style, and choose 2 from the Suggestions for Writing).
Answer the questions from the 2015 doc below.
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Watch the Film version of Metamorphosis here
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SEE GREGOR WAKE UP AS A BUG-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DfrBcjisVo
ANALYSIS BELOW: http://www.vahidnab.com/kafka.htm |
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“Gimpel The Fool”
Watch the videos on Cartesian Skepticism (Dualism), Plato, and Empiricism before reading.
1. The rabbi tells Gimpel, “It is written, better to be a fool all the days of your life than for one hour to be evil. You are not a fool. They are fools.” Is the rabbi right? Or is Gimpel a fool? What is the biblical definition of wisdom?
2. Gimpel always defers to his faith and trust in people rather than listening to his reason, even when it is obvious to him that he is being deceived. Is, as the rabbi tells Gimpel, belief in itself beneficial? Does a good man live (only) by his faith?
3. Gimpel says, “I resolved that I would always believe what I was told. What’s the good of not believing? Today it’s your wife you don’t believe; tomorrow it’s God Himself you wont take stock in.” Answer Gimpel’s question: What’s the good of not believing? Is Gimpel’s argument a valid one?
4. How does Gimpel arrive at this conclusion: “Whatever may be there, without ridicule, without deception. God be praised: there even Gimpel cannot be deceived.” Discuss.
5. Ultimately, Gimpel says “there were really no lies.” What does he mean? Do you agree with him?
6. What are your impressions of Gimpel? Is he at least partially responsible for the town’s treatment of him? Do you admire or pity him?
7. Why does Gimpel accept the continual abuse? How does this abuse shape him and his philosophy?
8. Consider Gimpel’s relationship with the rabbi. How does the rabbi’s advice affect Gimpel’s approach to life?
9. Analyze the tone of the story. Is the way Gimpel relates the story as important as what he relates? Consider his rhetorical questions and his use of understatement.
10. Through the course of the story, Gimpel develops a philosophical approach to life. What is Gimpel’s philosophy? Does the story seem to advocate his philosophy? (WATCH VIDEOS).
11. What do you think the ways Gimpel acts and responds? What do you think of the reasons he provides for why he acts as he does and believes what he does.
12. Make a list of some of the things Gimpel believes. Why does he believe these things? What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this viewpoint?
• According to this work’s view of life, what is mankind’s relationship to God? To the universe?
• What moral statement, if any, does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit?
• What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God?
• What is the author’s conception of good and evil?
• What does the work say about the nature of good or evil?
• What does the work say about human nature?
How does it Look at the final sentence of the story. It states belief. Does it make any difference if it is a true one?
13. Read Descartes' philosophy above and/or watch the videos. Explain his philosophy. What is "cogito, ergo sum"?What is false? What is true?How does he/we know anything? Explain dualism.What is his view of God? Explain.Compare and contrast Descartes with Plato.How does this relate to Gimpel the Fool? Gregor?
***Read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and watch the videos. Answer the questions:
1.List all the elements of the 2 worlds.
2.Make an illustration of the allegory/cave.
3.What do the shadows represent? Marionettes? Pain? Dazzle? Fire? Sun?
4. What happens to the prisoner who returns to the cave? Why?
5. Define "intelligible region." Define "good." Where is it found?
6. What is truth? Is knowledge possible? What elements prevent people from seeing the truth or regarding shadow as truth?
7.Why is the ascent to the cave "steep" and "rugged"?
8.What is the soul? Is it different from the self? What is the conversion?
9. Explain the meaning of the allegory. Do you agree? yes or no? Explain your responses with examples/illustrations/metaphors/allegories of your own.
Philosophy Project Assignment (SEE BOTTOM OF 2nd QUARTER PAGE FOR DIRECTIONS ON 4 PAPERS):
You are a group of concerned intellectuals who have looked around at today’s world and see a need for a new philosophy of life. Your group decides to try to change society for the better and make the world a better place for all mankind. Before you begin, research some famous philosophers and philosophies/religions out there today. You know what existentialism and nihilsim are now and who Plato, Kiekregaard, Malebranche, Emerson, Thoreau, and Descartes are, but find out more about philosophy before creating your own. Some examples: Relativism, Agnosticism, Atheism, Deism, Determinism, Humanism, Naturalism, Hedonism, Hume, Locke, Spinoza, Aquinas, Sartre, Nietzsche, Rousseau, etc.
http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html
*SEE THE FILM SITES ON THE 2nd QTR for extra credit. 2 films per group (5pts per film).
Watch the videos on Cartesian Skepticism (Dualism), Plato, and Empiricism before reading.
1. The rabbi tells Gimpel, “It is written, better to be a fool all the days of your life than for one hour to be evil. You are not a fool. They are fools.” Is the rabbi right? Or is Gimpel a fool? What is the biblical definition of wisdom?
2. Gimpel always defers to his faith and trust in people rather than listening to his reason, even when it is obvious to him that he is being deceived. Is, as the rabbi tells Gimpel, belief in itself beneficial? Does a good man live (only) by his faith?
3. Gimpel says, “I resolved that I would always believe what I was told. What’s the good of not believing? Today it’s your wife you don’t believe; tomorrow it’s God Himself you wont take stock in.” Answer Gimpel’s question: What’s the good of not believing? Is Gimpel’s argument a valid one?
4. How does Gimpel arrive at this conclusion: “Whatever may be there, without ridicule, without deception. God be praised: there even Gimpel cannot be deceived.” Discuss.
5. Ultimately, Gimpel says “there were really no lies.” What does he mean? Do you agree with him?
6. What are your impressions of Gimpel? Is he at least partially responsible for the town’s treatment of him? Do you admire or pity him?
7. Why does Gimpel accept the continual abuse? How does this abuse shape him and his philosophy?
8. Consider Gimpel’s relationship with the rabbi. How does the rabbi’s advice affect Gimpel’s approach to life?
9. Analyze the tone of the story. Is the way Gimpel relates the story as important as what he relates? Consider his rhetorical questions and his use of understatement.
10. Through the course of the story, Gimpel develops a philosophical approach to life. What is Gimpel’s philosophy? Does the story seem to advocate his philosophy? (WATCH VIDEOS).
11. What do you think the ways Gimpel acts and responds? What do you think of the reasons he provides for why he acts as he does and believes what he does.
12. Make a list of some of the things Gimpel believes. Why does he believe these things? What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this viewpoint?
• According to this work’s view of life, what is mankind’s relationship to God? To the universe?
• What moral statement, if any, does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit?
• What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God?
• What is the author’s conception of good and evil?
• What does the work say about the nature of good or evil?
• What does the work say about human nature?
How does it Look at the final sentence of the story. It states belief. Does it make any difference if it is a true one?
13. Read Descartes' philosophy above and/or watch the videos. Explain his philosophy. What is "cogito, ergo sum"?What is false? What is true?How does he/we know anything? Explain dualism.What is his view of God? Explain.Compare and contrast Descartes with Plato.How does this relate to Gimpel the Fool? Gregor?
***Read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and watch the videos. Answer the questions:
1.List all the elements of the 2 worlds.
2.Make an illustration of the allegory/cave.
3.What do the shadows represent? Marionettes? Pain? Dazzle? Fire? Sun?
4. What happens to the prisoner who returns to the cave? Why?
5. Define "intelligible region." Define "good." Where is it found?
6. What is truth? Is knowledge possible? What elements prevent people from seeing the truth or regarding shadow as truth?
7.Why is the ascent to the cave "steep" and "rugged"?
8.What is the soul? Is it different from the self? What is the conversion?
9. Explain the meaning of the allegory. Do you agree? yes or no? Explain your responses with examples/illustrations/metaphors/allegories of your own.
Philosophy Project Assignment (SEE BOTTOM OF 2nd QUARTER PAGE FOR DIRECTIONS ON 4 PAPERS):
You are a group of concerned intellectuals who have looked around at today’s world and see a need for a new philosophy of life. Your group decides to try to change society for the better and make the world a better place for all mankind. Before you begin, research some famous philosophers and philosophies/religions out there today. You know what existentialism and nihilsim are now and who Plato, Kiekregaard, Malebranche, Emerson, Thoreau, and Descartes are, but find out more about philosophy before creating your own. Some examples: Relativism, Agnosticism, Atheism, Deism, Determinism, Humanism, Naturalism, Hedonism, Hume, Locke, Spinoza, Aquinas, Sartre, Nietzsche, Rousseau, etc.
http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html
*SEE THE FILM SITES ON THE 2nd QTR for extra credit. 2 films per group (5pts per film).
Style Analysis and Literary Analysis Unit (3rd Quarter):
Beloved and Their Eyes Were Watching God, Style Analysis (tone, diction, imagery, pov, structure, syntax, and characterization), Literary Analysis: The Novel, The AP Free Response Questions, and 2nd Semester Portfolio.
Check out Their Eyes Were Watching God from the library or download the pdf below. Click the title for a link to the pdf.
SEE APPROACHES TO ANALYZE STRUCTURAL UNITY OF THE NOVEL DOC- GROUP 1=APPROACH 1, GROUP 2= APPROACH 2, 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5.
See Question Stems for creating the multiple-choice test with 5 answer choices.
BELOVED 2019 DIRECTIONS and supporting documents below:
beloved_2019.pdf | |
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belovedstudyguide1.doc | |
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belovedstudyquestions.doc | |
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beloved_book.pdf | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_1.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_2.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_3.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_4.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_5.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_6.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_7.mp3 | |
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beloved_-_toni_morrison_[disk_01]_part_i__chapter_1_-_track_8.mp3 | |
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novel_approaches.pdf | |
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analyzing_the_novel.pdf | |
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mc_stems.pdf | |
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multiplechoicestems.pdf | |
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“Beloved is the story that stops haunting when told, and stops being when disremembered, but must be remembered to be told, and must be told to be disremembered."
Morrison explains, there is at the same time "a necessity for remembering the horror" in a way which is not destructive. Her novel, leading the reader towards both a reconstruction of the unspeakable and the recognition that it is unspeakable, is, at the most essential level, "a way of…making it possible to remember."
"Beloved is written in the third person, presenting a range of diverse, fractured perspectives, while at the same time disordering the linear narrative with dislocations and displacements of memory.
Through this fractured, purposefully convoluted plotting, Mobley argues, the novel brings a complexity to the property of literature Kermode called the ‘secrecy of narrative’ by which stories develop through withholding and gradually releasing information to the reader, as Beloved’s story moves through a series of stops and starts complicated by the characters (especially Sethe’s) desire to ‘disremember’ the past .This leads to a complex fragmentation of time that in parts shapes the novel, and is emphasized by the shifting perspectives of the various characters, whom we can only truly understand through their memories, yet who at the same time are struggling to keep these memories locked away. Ultimately however, Beloved shows that the past will not be forgotten: it breaks out of Paul D’s tobacco tin, it rolls out before Sethe’s eyes in ‘shameless beauty’, disjointed, breaking into pieces which readers must slowly put together."
"I wanted the reader to be kidnapped, thrown ruthlessly into an alien
environment as the first step into a shared experience with the book’s
population—just as the characters were snatched from one place to another,
from any place to any other, without preparation or defense."
WHY I HATE BELOVED? READ THE ARTICLE HERE
***Read the articles and lecture notes. Include them in your group's analysis. The articles below and ppt will also help prepare you for the essay and multiple-choice tests!
beloved06.ppt | |
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productattachments-files-b-e-beloved.pdf | |
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General comments: flat/round characters; Believable? How revealed? How complex? Protagonist/antagonist? Then describe 4-6 central characters: Name, age, three descriptive adjectives, appearance, personality, function in play, 3 quotes min. from him or about him that reveals character. Moral center?
Questions About Characterization
1. If the characters are flat, what are their dominant traits? What is their function in the plot? How do they help establish the conflicts in the plot?
2. If the characters are dynamic, how do they change—from what to what?
3. If they are static, do their traits intensify or become clearer as the play moves on?
4. If the characters are round, what can you learn from the subtext of the play about their inner states?
5. What “masks” are the characters wearing? Who is hiding what from whom? When are the masks removed? What causes their removal, and what are the results?
6. How would you play a particular character if you were the actor? What physical devices would you use? Hedda Gabler is aristocratic, proud, and forceful; she seems strong but has an inner fragility. Her rival, Thea, is hesitant, unsophisticated, and afraid; she seems weak but has an inner strength. If you were to act these characters, how would you present yourself physically to convey these qualities? How would you show that Hedda seems strong but is in fact weak? You may not actually act Hedda but determining a physical presence for her helps you analyze and understand her.
Thinking on Paper About Characterization
1. List the character traits of each major character.
2. List the devices, such as dress, names, and gestures that help establish the traits of a character.
3. Describe in detail the traits of a complex character, especially contradictory and seemingly inexplicable traits.
4. Explain a character’s motivations for doing the things he or she does. Focus especially on what the character seems to want. Explain the situations from which the character’s motivations seem to emerge.
5. Describe the strategies a character devises for getting what he or she wants. Explain how effective those strategies are.
6. Describe the miscalculations a character makes and the effect they have.
7. Summarize how a character intensifies, changes, or comes into sharper focus for the audience. Trace the intensification, change, or focus through each major unit of the play. Explain what causes it.
8. Summarize a scene in which a major character faces a crisis. Explain what we learn about the character from the character’s words and actions.
9. Summarize a scene in which a major character has a startling or affecting revelation. Explain what the revelation is, what causes it, and its effect on the character’s future.
10. Explain how you would portray one of the characters in an important scene. Show how your performance would reveal the character’s inner state.
11. Explain the relationship a major character has with the other major characters. Describe the alliances and conflicts the character has with the other characters. Describe the attitudes the character has toward the other characters and their attitudes toward him or her.
Questions About Characterization
1. If the characters are flat, what are their dominant traits? What is their function in the plot? How do they help establish the conflicts in the plot?
2. If the characters are dynamic, how do they change—from what to what?
3. If they are static, do their traits intensify or become clearer as the play moves on?
4. If the characters are round, what can you learn from the subtext of the play about their inner states?
5. What “masks” are the characters wearing? Who is hiding what from whom? When are the masks removed? What causes their removal, and what are the results?
6. How would you play a particular character if you were the actor? What physical devices would you use? Hedda Gabler is aristocratic, proud, and forceful; she seems strong but has an inner fragility. Her rival, Thea, is hesitant, unsophisticated, and afraid; she seems weak but has an inner strength. If you were to act these characters, how would you present yourself physically to convey these qualities? How would you show that Hedda seems strong but is in fact weak? You may not actually act Hedda but determining a physical presence for her helps you analyze and understand her.
Thinking on Paper About Characterization
1. List the character traits of each major character.
2. List the devices, such as dress, names, and gestures that help establish the traits of a character.
3. Describe in detail the traits of a complex character, especially contradictory and seemingly inexplicable traits.
4. Explain a character’s motivations for doing the things he or she does. Focus especially on what the character seems to want. Explain the situations from which the character’s motivations seem to emerge.
5. Describe the strategies a character devises for getting what he or she wants. Explain how effective those strategies are.
6. Describe the miscalculations a character makes and the effect they have.
7. Summarize how a character intensifies, changes, or comes into sharper focus for the audience. Trace the intensification, change, or focus through each major unit of the play. Explain what causes it.
8. Summarize a scene in which a major character faces a crisis. Explain what we learn about the character from the character’s words and actions.
9. Summarize a scene in which a major character has a startling or affecting revelation. Explain what the revelation is, what causes it, and its effect on the character’s future.
10. Explain how you would portray one of the characters in an important scene. Show how your performance would reveal the character’s inner state.
11. Explain the relationship a major character has with the other major characters. Describe the alliances and conflicts the character has with the other characters. Describe the attitudes the character has toward the other characters and their attitudes toward him or her.
Morrison lecture notes: http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N22/morrison.22a.html
Morrison talks about Beloved Video Clips
more from Toni Morrison click here http://exagminations.tripod.com/id34.html
study_guide_for_free_response_question.rtf | |
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beloved_information_and_discussion_questions.doc | |
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belovedeyes16.pdf | |
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beloved2009.doc | |
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Checklist: Elements of Literary Style (SEE 3 STORIES QUESTIONS ABOVE)
1. Sentence Structure
Are the sentences long or short? Why do they change?
Do they contain many subordinate clauses, or are they often fragments?
Are there any digressions or interruptions?
Is the word-order straightforward or unconventionally crafted?
2. Pace
Is the writing heavily descriptive, with emphasis on setting and atmosphere, or does it focus on action and plot movement?
3. Expansive/Economical Diction
Is the writing tight and efficient, or elaborate and long-winded?
When does the author use one or the other mode, and why?
4. Vocabulary
Are the words simple or fancy? Are they technical, flowery, colloquial, cerebral, punning, obscure (and so on...)?
5. Figures of speech
Are there any metaphors, similes, or symbols?
Are there any other uses of figurative language (personification, metonymy, and so on)?
6. Use of Dialogue
How often does dialogue tell the story?
Do we see whole conversations or just fragments?
Does the conversation use slang or is it formal? Does it appear natural or contrived?
Does the dialogue give a sense of pacing, of pauses, of the unsaid?
How much does it substitute for narration?
7. Point of View
Possibilities: first, second, third, omniscient, limited omniscient, multiple, inanimate, free indirect discourse.
8. Character development
How does the author introduce characters, and how do we see their evolution in the story? What is their function and motivation?
What kinds of characters are they? Full/round? Stock characters? Stereotypes? Caricatures?
9. Tone
What is the author’s attitude? What is the mood of the story?
Does the author seem sarcastic? Aggressive? Wistful? Pessimistic? In love? Philosophically detached? Hopeful? Ironic? Bitter? (And so on...)
Whatever the tone, where is it visible in the narrative?
10. Word Color, Word Sound
How much does the language call attention to or depend on the quality of its sound, e.g. through alliteration, assonance, consonance, dissonance, rhythm, unusual word choice, and so on?
11. Paragraph / Chapter Structure
Are paragraphs very short, or are they enormous blocks running across many pages?
Are the chapters short or long? How many are there, how are they organized, and why is this important?
12. Time Sequencing / Chronology
How has the author organized the chronology of events? To what effect? What is the work’s structural “rhythm”?
13. Allusions
How and how often does the author refer to other texts, myths, symbols, famous figures, historical events, quotations, and so on?
14. Experimentation in Language
Are there any unusual techniques, such as stream-of-consciousness, mixing styles and genres, unusual layout on the page, breaking rules of grammar and form, odd or unstable narrative perspectives, onomatopoeia, aporia, and so on?
15. Metafictional techniques
Does the author call attention to his or her own process of narration?
Are the narrator’s position, role, and thoughts as a storyteller mentioned explicitly in the text? What function does this serve?
Below are URLs to help you get started with your scholarly research. You will need to visit a university library or access some databases such as JSTOR to complete the assignment.
http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~knichols/sistahs2.html
SEE A BOOK FILLED WITH ANALYSES ON BELOVED-click here. ALSO-google phrases from the novel and see google books for more information to help you with characterization, themes, summary, and analysis.
http://people.sunyit.edu/~harrell/billyjack/beloved-soc-death.htm
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=966
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/46/stamp-paid-and-the-power-of-self-actualization-in-beloved
http://faculty.millikin.edu/~moconner/beloved/Cox-psychological-essay1.html
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toni_morrisons_embeloved_em__transforming_the_african_heroic.pdf | |
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to_be_loved_amy_denver_and_human_need_bridges_to_understanding.pdf | |
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circularity_in_toni_morrisons_beloved.pdf | |
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giving_body_to_the_word.pdf | |
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the_figurations_of_rape_and_the_supernatural_in_beloved.pdf | |
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models_of_memory_and_romance_the_dual_endings.pdf | |
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http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/tonimorrison/beloved.htm
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STYLE ANALYSIS: See your textbook for exercises and Mr. V for specific packets for each element. Resources for style analysis on docs below.
1970-2015_prose_essay_prompts.pdf | |
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poetry_essays.pdf | |
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style_analysis-1.ppt | |
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anintroductiontoannotatingtext.pdf | |
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http://www.shmoop.com/i-stand-here-ironing/
"The Rattler"-Rewrite this passage in the style of Toni Morrison's Beloved.
After sunset… I walked out into the desert… Light was thinning; the bushes’ dry savory odors were sweet on the cooler air. In this, the first pleasant moment for a walk after long blazing hot hours at work, I thought I was the only one here. Abruptly, I stopped short.
The other lay rigid, as he suddenly arrested. His body undulant – moving in a wave-like motion. His head was not drawn back to strike – yet. It was merely turned a little to watch what I would do. It was a rattlesnake – and knew it. I mean when a six foot black snake thick as my wrist, capable of a long range attack, and armed with powerful fangs is in the middle of a path, he did not feel the need to get out of anybody’s way. He held his ground in calm watchfulness; he was not even rattling-yet, much less was he coiled. He was waiting for me to show my intentions.
My first instinct was to let him go his way and I would go mine, and with this he would have been well content. I have never killed an animal that I was not obliged to kill; the sport in taking life is a satisfaction I can’t feel. But I reflected that there were children, dogs, horses at the ranch as well as men and women who were not very strong. My duty, plainly, was to kill the snake. I went back to the ranch house, got a hoe, and returned.
The rattler had not moved; he lay there like a live wire. But he saw the hoe. Now his tail twitched – the little tocsin sounded; he drew his head back as if to attack, so I raised my weapon. Quicker than I could strike, he shot into a dense bush and set up his rattling. He shook and shook his fair but furious signal, quite sportingly warning me that I had made an unprovoked attack, attempted to take his life, and that if I persisted he would have no choice but to take mine if he could. I listened for a minute to his little song of death. It was not ugly though it was ominous. It said that life was dear and would be dearly sold. And I reached into the bush with my hoe and, hacking about, soon dragged him out of it with his back broken.
He struck passionately one more time at the hoe; but a moment later his neck was broken, and he was soon dead. Technically, that is; he was still twitching and when I picked him up by the tail, some consequent jar, some mechanical reflex made his jaw gape and snap once more. There was blood in his mouth and poison dripping from his fangs; it was a nasty sight, pitiful now that it was done.
I did not cut off the rattles for a trophy; I let him drop into the close green guardianship of the bush. Then, for a moment, I could see him as if I had let him go, sinuous and self respecting over the desert sand.
womanholleringsonnysbluesthingscarried.docx | |
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Extra Credit
- Read The Bluest Eye or another novel by Toni Morrison and complete a novel analysis and comparison to BELOVED (15) or Read Their Eyes Were Watching God (if not assigned with BELOVED) and complete the novel analysis (15).
- "Things They Carried" analysis (see questions with "Woman Hollering..." and "Sonny's Blues") -10
- DAVE BARRY ESSAYS-SEE LINK BELOW AND ANALYZE THE STYLE (5)
- OTHER PLAYS OF LITERARY MERIT? (15 each with literary analysis for DRAMA)
- School play TBA-Play review ( 5-no analysis).
- Practice AP Literature and Composition booklet complete. Must be approved by me first.
- Read M. Butterfly and complete questions in text and Literary Analysis: Drama. DISCUSS PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS (15)
- See any 2 philosophical films (in your philosophy group) and answer questions to help explain the philosophies being presented. See links below and me for details (5pts each).
- Read Sophie's World and write and book report (SEE DOCS on 2nd QTR-15 pts).
- Read O'Connor's "The Life You Save May be Your Own" or "Everything That Rises Must Converge" in the text. Answer the book questions along with tracing O'Connor's philosophy, themes, redemption, etc. throughout each work (10).
- Read Tartuffe and analyze it for satire and comedy. Answer the questions in the book and explain style and characters (15).
EXTRA CREDIT: "Woman Hollering Creek" and "Sonny's Blues" and/or THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST in Partners: Answer the book questions. READ ANOTHER NOVEL BY TONI MORRISON. COMPARE THE BELOVED FILM TO THE NOVEL.
http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~martine/light/barrycollege.html
DAVE BARRY ARTICLE #1
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