Please hand in any outstanding essays. I will return those turned in on Friday. We are reviewing the essays in class. Those who had extensions as per Friday's discussion will be graded on the full scale; anyone else is turning in late work, so is beginning with a 75. Any not received by tomorrow in class will receive a phone call home and be required to complete an academic detention after school. Avoid this, and get your work in.
In class:
1. vocabulary quiz "Dover Beach" This was handed out last Monday.
2. collecting Hamlet. You will need to bring your text to class everyday. Keep it in your bag.
3. Review of essay. (Model below)
4. Handout of new vocabulary. Bring the
list tomorrow for review. (class handout / copy
below)
Model for
“My Last Duchess” essay.
(MLA
heading)
Your name
Parker
English III-
either 4 or 8
19 September
2014
“My
Last Duchess”
INTRODUCTION
Power has the potential to corrupt both the
giver and the receiver. The poet Robert Browning reveals the true character of
the Duke in his dramatic monologue poem “My Last Duchess” through the noble’s
manipulation of the setting when he speaks to the Count’s emissary, his
description of the Duchess and the tone
in which the Duke speaks.
Body Paragraph 1
The poem opens with the Duke standing
before a portrait of the Duchess “painted on the wall,” addressing the
emissary, who is representing the Count, whose daughter the Duke wishes to
marry. He politely asks the gentleman to “please sit …and look at her” (5);
thereby immediately establishing his control over the situation. This position
is maintained, as the Duke further announces his authority in addressing the
Count as a “never read / Stranger,” who would never be allowed to draw the
curtain that reveals the painting. The
Duke continues his monologue, allowing the emissary to stand only when further
addressed: “Will’t please arise? We’ll meet / The company below” (47-48). Finally, as they walk down the stairs, the Duke
tells the emissary to “Notice Neptune…/ Taming a sea-horse” (54-55), his
unspoken message being that the Duke thinks of himself as a god, who takes
control of his world.
Body Paragraph 2
The Duke expounds on the details of his
Duchess, so that the emissary has a clear expectation of how the new Duchess is
expected to behave. The last Duchess did not regard the Duke’s
nine-hundred-year old name with what he considered to be the proper respect;
she looked upon his heraldry, as if it were the same as “anybody’s gift”(34).
To the Duchess, there was joy in “the dropping of the daylight in the West,/
The bough of cherries some officious fool / Broke in the orchard for her, [and
even] the white mule / She rode with round the terrace”(25-29). The Duke would not “stoop” to tell her of his
feelings, so that she could be “lessoned sop” (40), and that led to him giving
“commands” (45). By his repeating that
the portrait showed her “as if alive,” one may assume she is literally or
metaphorically dead. The emissary has been warned and so will the new Duchess.
Body Paragraph 3
The Duke chooses his words carefully, so
as to establish his power; at the same time he is careful to appear as a
generous and self-reflecting individual. He acknowledges the Duchess’s beauty,
her blushing and her sense of courtesy and even that “who could blame /[her]
sort of trifling”(34-35). He is self-effacing when he says he does not have “skill
/ in speech” (35-36), but his choice of words is meant to disarm the emissary,
so that in one instance the Count’s “munificence” is recognized, but in the
next breath he asserts “no just pretense / Of [his] dowry will be
disallowed”(50-51). The Duke’s tone sends a clear message as to his demanding
personality and that no one should question his power or authority.
Conclusion:
The Duke’s ultimate objective is to
disparage his last Duchess, so as to forgo any problems with new Duchess. This
man is a collector objects, designed to promote his sense of self, to reaffirm
is ego. Unfortunately, he views people as mere collector items and those
objects that are flawed are not welcomed in his world.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare vocabulary 1
Test Friday, September 26
1.
to
entreat-(verb)- to ask (someone) in a serious and emotional way
2.
to
harrow-(verb)- to pillage or plunder
3.
to
emulate-(verb)- to strive to equal or excel, to imitate
4.
to
vanquish-(verb)- to defeat (someone) completely in a war, battle, etc.
5.
malicious-(adjective)-
having or showing a desire to cause harm to another person : having or showing
malice
6.
suspiration-(noun)-
a long deep breath (to suspire- to breathe)
7.
dejected-(adjective)-
cast down in spirits
8.
to
mock-(verb)- to laugh at or make fun of (someone or something)
9.
peevish-
(adjective)- feeling or showing irritation
10.
incestuous-
(adjective)- involving sexual intercourse between closely related people
11.
apparition
(noun)- ghost, supernatural figure
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