Macbeth Act 3 LRJ

• Explain how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are changing.
• Trace one of the image patterns through Act 3.
• Explain how the themes are presented in Act 3.

Don't forget to cite textual evidence to support your claims. 

Macbeth Act 2 LRJ

1. Explain Macbeth's positive and negative qualities.  Cite textual evidence.
2. Explain Lady Macbeth's positive and negative qualities.  Cite textual evidence.
3. Choose one image pattern from the notes and trace it through Act 2.  Explain the importance of this image pattern. 

Macbeth Act One LRJ

1. What are your initial impressions of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo?  Cite textual evidence to support your answer.  Cite the shortest quote possible.
   
2. What themes are suggested from Act One.  Cite textual evidence to support your answer.
3. Striking Image you remember: cite an image that struck you and then explain why that quote is important.

Remember--your sonnet commentaries are due Monday, February 23rd!

3 Feb 2009: Doctor Faustus

Today we read Doctor Faustus from page 24, Act 2.2 to page 50--through the end of Act 4. 1.

• Things to notice:
• Side plots and how they add to play
• What Faustus decides to do with his power...
• Schism between Roman Catholic Church (Pope) and the Holy Roman Empire (HRE Bruno)

Everyman Assignment

1. In an LRJ, write about the theme of Everyman.  Support your statements with textual evidence.
   
2. Choose 4 of the characters from the play and design a costume for each one.  If you were the costume designer for the play, how would you present them to the audience.  Support your costume design with a rationale for each one--don't forget to support your rationales with textual evidence.

Commentaries

It has been requested that I post the commentary information for The Canterbury Tales on the blog, but since I do not have the document on my home computer, I cannot do this presently--but will post specifics tomorrow.

Here is something to note for ALL commentaries:

• The focus should be the author's purpose and how this is achieved through literary devices.
• The introduction should include all main points, but they should just be introduced--save quotes to support your claim throughout the body of your commentary.
• The literary devices should be incorporated in each paragraph to explain HOW the author achieves purpose stated in your introduction.
• The conclusion should leave the reader with a final thought about work as a whole.

Final reminders:

• Write in academic language--this means leaving out words that are too informal.
• You need to introduce each paragraph with a topic sentence.
• Each quote needs to be introduced.
• Citations go at the end of sentences.
• Transitions statements should be used to link paragraphs and move paper from point to point.
• Edit your papers! Typos detract from the quality of your paper.

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions!

Symbolic Retribution

Since we are reading Dante's The Inferno, I have had symbolic retribution on the mind. When I ran across this article in CNN, I wondered what you would think about this story: http://tinyurl.com/5cbl9l

This story tells the story of an Iranian woman who was blinded by a stalker with acid. She has requested that he also be blinded--under Islamic law of "an eye for an eye." As the article states, "Attacking women and girls by throwing acid in their faces is sufficiently common in countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia that groups have been formed to fight it. Human rights organizations have condemned the practice in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is not clear how often such attacks take place in Iran. Iran and Saudi Arabia are the only countries that consider eye-gouging to be a legitimate judicial punishment, Human Rights Watch has said" (http://tinyurl.com/5cbl9l).

What do you think about this idea of "an eye for an eye"?