MILLENNIALS

Friday, September 19, 2014

Friday, September 18 PSAT presentation

Any essays that were not turned in yesterday are due now. We are moving on to another topic on Monday.

We are in the ensemble theater today for a PSAT presentation; therefore your vocabulary quiz will take place on Monday.

Have a nice weekend.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Wednesday and Thursday, September 17 and "My Last Duchess" expository essay

Due Friday: vocabulary for "Dover Beach"
In class: background instructions for "Duchess essay" class handout / copy below.

You have Wednesday and Thursday in class to work on your essay.

Expository essay instructions on "My Last Duchess" (class handout and copy below)

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning expository essay

Note: an expository essay requires you to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner.

Essay topic: How does the poet Robert Browning reveal the true character of the Duke in his dramatic monologue poem “My Last Duchess”?

Mechanics: minimum 5 paragraphs; minimum 300 words ; MLA heading

As this is your first essay, I have provided the outline for you to construct the essay. Remember that each of the body paragraphs must have a thesis, supporting evidence and an analysis. To get to your analysis, always ask yourself, why something is significant.

1. Start with your MLA heading

2. Introduction: a. write a hook sentence, in this case a general statement about power. (Think about the quick write you did on the nature of power.) Do not mention the Duke in this first sentence. This is to get your reader’s attention. b. Now write your thesis statement or controlling idea. (Look at the essay topic and rephrase this, and insert the following that you will develop and support in your essay: his manipulation of the setting when he speaks to the Count’s emissary and his description of the Duchess and his tone.

3. Body paragraph 1

Begin with a thesis statement that establishes the setting of the poem. Where does the poem take place? What exactly is happening? Weave specific text from the poem into your own sentence, making sure to put the poet’s words into quotations. Where is the emissary? How is the Duke controlling him? How long does the Duke continue his reverie? What is he trying to convey? When do they move? Analysis statement: Why is the setting important to the development of the Duke’s character?

4. Body paragraph 2

Thesis: why does the Duke go into so much detail about the Duchess’s behavior? Talk about a couple of situations that bothered him? Again, make sure you weave text into your sentences and put the poet’s words in quotations. What type of person does she appear to be based solely on her actions? Ignore the Duke’s bias here. Go for the facts. Analysis statement: What message is being sent about the Duchess to the emissary and why is this important for their future business deal?

5. Body paragraph 3

Thesis: How does the choice of words that the Duke uses establish his sense of power? You will need to look at the specific words that he uses that distance him from others. Think about “never read strangers”…., speaking about Fra Pandolf, the use of “officious”, “stoop” and even his pointing out the “Neptune Taming a Sea Horse.” Analysis statement: why does the Duke speak in this manner? What is the outcome?

6. Conclusion

What is the Duke’s ultimate objective in this dramatic monologue? What he done to the Duchess’s character and why? What does he unintentionally reveal about his character?

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Tuesday, September 16 ...vocabulary 3 and review of the graphic organizer

Bough of cherries

cabinet of curiosities
In class: new vocabulary- Dover Beach-test on Friday (class handout and copy below)
Review of "My Last Duchess" organizer. Please hold on to these. You will need to quote from the poem in the essay we will begin tomorrow.
Please be mindful that you are responsible for all missed classwork, some of which is only on the blog. If you need a pass to the library, please ask.

Please take out your "My Last Duchess" graphic organizer. I will collect any that were not turned in yesterday. Any not turned in at this time will receive 50 points.
Ms. Bowering will review the vocabulary with you.

Dover Beach Vocabulary 3 test Friday, September 19

1. strait (noun)- a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water AND a position of difficulty, distress, or need

2. tranquil (adjective)- free from or unaffected by disturbing emotions; unagitated; serene; placid

3. strand (noun)- the land bordering the sea, a lake, or a river; shore; beach.

4. tremulous (adjective)- characterized by trembling, as from fear, nervousness, or weakness.

5. cadence (noun)- rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words

6. Sophocles-Greek dramatist. (Oedipus the King and Antigone- two of his plays)

7. girdle- (noun)- large belt; (verb)- to wrap around

8. to furl (verb)- to gather into a compact roll and bind securely

9. melancholy-(noun or adjective) sadness, sad

10. drear (adjective)- barren, colorless, dreary

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning expository essay

Note: an expository essay requires you to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner.

Essay topic: How does the poet Robert Browning reveal the true character of the Duke in his dramatic monologue poem “My Last Duchess”?

Mechanics: minimum 5 paragraphs; minimum 300 words ; MLA heading

1. Start with your MLA heading

3. Body paragraph 1

4. Body paragraph 2

5. Body paragraph 3

6. Conclusion

What is the Duke’s ultimate objective in this dramatic monologue? What he done to the Duchess’s character and why? What does he unintentionally reveal about his character?

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Monday, September 15 "My Last Duchess" and vocabulary 2 test

The following students have missing work:
Please see me after school on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday or period 1. 2, 6 or 7 in room 176. I am putting in zeros as place holders, until such time as the work is completed.

You can always check your grades on line.

period 4
course criteria sheet- Rodney, Clifton, Isaiah, Xavier, Lauren
Portrait analysis quick write: Khiara, Clifton, Nathaniel
Nature of Power quick write: Xavier, Jenna, Isaiah
My Last Duchess first vocabulary test: Khiara, Isaiah
Duchess anticipatory statement: Xavier, Isaiah

period 8

In class: "My Last Duchess" vocabulary 2 test. If you have questions during the test, please raise your hand for assistance.

Continuing with the graphic organizer for "My Last Duchess" When you have completed your test, please work on the organizer. I will collect them all at the end of class.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Thursday, September 11 " My Last Duchess" graphic organizer

Wednesday, September 10 "My Last Duchess"

Reminder: I am available 1, 2, 6 and 7, as well as before and after school on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for individual assistance. These are also the times to make up missing work. No work will be made up during class.
I do not have signed criteria sheets for the following individuals. At this point, I have put a ZERO grade in. When you turn in your criteria sheet, it will change.

Rodney, Clifton, Lauren, Xavier, Isaiah, India
Kalvon, Tim

Due Friday: "My Last Duchess" vocabulary 2 test. (remember vocabulary and grammar exercises will
count in the homework category.) Review your words each day. The first part of the test is matching, the second is filling in through contextual clues. You will not be able to the second half, without a solid understanding of the first part.

In class: working on the graphic organizer, which accompanies "My Last Duchess". I am handing back the graded anticipatory statement from yesterday. I will read the poem through; please follow along.
Completion of questions 1-9 from the graphic organizer we began yesterday. This ends with reading the poem silently to yourself. This is independent work. Raise your hand and Ms. Bowering and I will assist you. Those who have difficulty will be invited to after school to work with me. Thank you. Please be respectful of your classmates.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Tuesday, September 9 listening to My Last Duchess

Due Friday: vocabulary 2 from Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess"

Anyone who wishes to retake or makeup yesterday's vocabulary test, please come to 176 after school today.

In class: we are listening to the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning. From previous class work, you should already anticipate that this is a dramatic monologue. You have an accompanying graphic organizer (class handout / copy below) for the poem, the assigned sections will be graded each day. You will also use the graphic organizer to write an analytic essay once we complete the poem. Thorough responses will help construct the essay.
Due at the end of class: initial anticipatory response, which is to be written on your graphic organizer.
grading: complete sentences; no abbreviations (u / & ).
Remember: make a statement (this is your thesis or controlling idea, prove (why exactly are you saying this? and finally, what conclusion or analysis can be made.

Poem link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xIVg0qwTj4&src_vid=3Irb-P1nDAE&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_980145

NAME_________________________________

My Last Duchess by Robert Browning graphic organizer Note that there will be an assigned section each day for which you will receive a class participation grade.

In reading Robert Browning's Renaissance-set dramatic monologue "My Last Duchess," bear in mind that "Browning is not primarily concerned to tell a story. . . or describe a mood . . .: his aim is to depict a man as he is, with such autobiographical flashbacks as may be necessary to explain the character of the speaker" (Ian Jack, Browning's Major Poetry, p. 196). In his psychological portrait of the Duke of Ferrara Browning was as much inspired by his general notions of Italian court portraiture as he was by any specific individual--and yet there is an actual historical figure behind the poem.

Anticipatory statement:

From reading the above background information, in approximately 50 words, write what you anticipate this poem to be about. Reread the above text carefully and paraphrase as needed. Use complete sentences.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The poem is of the type called a dramatic monologue because it consists entirely of the words of a single speaker (persona) who reveals in his speech his own nature and the dramatic situation in which he finds himself. The dramatic monologue reveals its own place and time as it proceeds to uncover the psychology of the speaker at a significant moment in his or her life.

My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Duchess (n.) – the wife or widow of a duke (the male ruler of a duchy; the sovereign of a small

state)

Frà (n.) – a title given to an Italian monk or friar (a Catholic man who has withdrawn from the

world for religious reasons)

THAT’S my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive. I call

That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands

Worked busily a day, and there she stands.

Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said 5

“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read

Strangers like you that pictured countenance,

The depth and passion of its earnest glance,

But to myself they turned (since none puts by

The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) 10

And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,

How such a glance came there; so, not the first

Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not

Her husband’s presence only, called that spot

Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps 15

Frà Pandolf chanced to say, “Her mantle laps

Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint

Must never hope to reproduce the faint

Half-flush that dies along her throat:” such stuff

Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough 20

For calling up that spot of joy. She had

A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad.

Too easily impressed: she liked whate’er

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.

Sir, ’twas all one! My favor at her breast, 25

The dropping of the daylight in the West,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace—all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech, 30

Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good! but thanked

Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked

My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name

With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame

This sort of trifling? Even had you skill 35

In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will

Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this

Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,

Or there exceed the mark”—and if she let

Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set 40

Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,

—E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose

Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,

Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; 45

Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands

As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet

The company below, then. I repeat,

The Count your master’s known munificence

Is ample warrant that no just pretense 50

Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;

Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed

At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go

Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,

Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, 55

Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

1. List the specific words that are used to describe the Duchess and what this suggests about the relationship with the narrator. (1-3)

2. What does the Duke mean by “that piece” (line 3)

3. What words indicate Frà Pandolf’s career?

4. To whom is the Duke speaking?

5. Reread the first 8 lines. Who else is speaking?

6. To what is the Duke referring when he says ‘that pictured countenance” in line 7?

7. Explain what the stranger “read[s]” in lines 6–7, “for never read / Strangers like you that pictured

countenance.” What might read mean here?

8. What are some words that the Duke uses to describe the “glance” in line 8?

9. Reread the poem independently

10. This is a dramatic monologue. Drama means story; hence contains literary elements.

a. Who are the characters in the poem?

b. Write a summary of the plot?

11. Paraphrase the lines “Strangers like you always ask me, if they dare, how the Duchess came to look that way in the portrait.”

12. Give two reasons that the the Duke might mention Frà Pandolf twice in the first six lines of the poem?

13. In line 11, what do the words “if they durst” suggest about the Duke’s view of himself?

14. What does the Duke imply when he uses the word “only” in line 14?

15. What does the phrase “that spot of joy” suggest about the Duchess? What does the Duke imply in

lines 15–19 might have caused such an expression?

16. What does the Duke imply when he remarks that, “such stuff / Was courtesy she thought, and cause

enough / For calling up that spot of joy” (lines 19–21)?

17. Reread lines 21–22: “She had a heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad / Too easily impressed…”

What is the effect of the repetition in these lines? Respond in a complete sentence.

18. What does the Duke mean by “the dropping of daylight in the West” (line 26)?

19. What does the Duke mean when he claims the Duchess’s “looks went everywhere”?

19.

20. What does the Duke mean by the “gift of a nine-hundred years old name” (line 32)? And

20. From the Duke’s perspective, how does the Duchess value this gift?

21. What might the Duke mean when he states, “I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together” in lines 45–46?

21.

22. How does the repetition of the phrase “as if alive” in lines 2 and 47 impact the poem?

23. The word object:

a. What does the word object mean in line 53?

b. What other meaning does the word object have?

c. What is the impact of Browning’s choice to use the word object in this line?

24. What does the Duke ask the listener to “notice” as they go downstairs?

24.