H4/WR121: The Scarlet Letter Notes

A chapter a day keeps my evil away...

• As a Romantic critique of American hypocrisy: the first settlers were quick to judge anyone who was a threat to their sense of community, faith, and power
• Sin: any selfish act that impinges upon the personhood or property of another
• Penitence: true contrition for the act of sinning and the accompanying actions that keep the sinner from repeating the infraction
• Penance: a series of behaviors or tasks designed to repay the person sinned against
• As feminism: the belief that equality is not based on gender 
• As a fairy tale: written by the literate, for the literate
• Restoration: the "hero" loses his or her place which is returned after he/she passes through the forest and passes a series of trials
• The Rise: the "hero" starts with nothing and gains everything after he/she passes through the forest and passes a series of trials
• The Forest is a place everyone enters where the rules are completely different; not everyone leaves and not everyone leaves sane
• Coded language is used to give the story multiple levels of meaning 

• Hester Prynne: the hero of the piece who is forced to take full responsibility for her "sins" and suffers a mental breakdown before rising to meet every trial and facing her shadow
• Arthur Dimmesdale: the stand-in for every person corrupted by the safety of their life at the expense of others; he is the damsel in distress who fails to understand what meeting his shadow is about (only when he finally faces himself is he freed)
• Roger Chillingworth: he entered the forest, faced his shadow, and returned to society slightly cracked; his issues were exacerbated by greed and revenge; however, even he had a moment of redemption
• Pearl Prynne: Hester's illegitimate daughter; a shadow for each of the adults, she is seen by her society as flawed simply because of the circumstances of her birth 

• Ann Hutchinson: a female religious leader who was banished by the "good people" of Boston
• The Rose Bush: a piece of nature/the forest that has creeped into the town
• Native Americans: represent the unknown which the Puritans assume means evil, the witches hope mean freedom, and the reader is to come to understand that they represent our otherselves
• The Women: are more vicious about Hester's sin because she won't reveal her lover which means he could be anyone's husband or hoped for husband
• The Clergy: must maintain order because order is power and power keeps them safe...
• The Graveyard: home of the bodies, not the souls; the place between civilization and the forest (chaos); the place between life and death

Questions for chapters 1-4

• Who is in the crowd? How do they behave? Support and explain. 
• How is the letter "A" viewed? Support and explain.
• What did everyone think happened to Hester's husband? Support and explain.
• Why did Hester become hysterical on the scaffold? Support and explain.
• How much blame did Chillingworth take away from Hester? Support and explain.
• What secret is Hester hiding? Support and explain.
• Why does Hester keep each man's secret? Support and explain.

E4/WR115: All The Beowulf Stuff

Clips from The Clash of the Gods: Beowulf

• How trustworthy is this as a “documentary”? Support and explain.
• Why might this not be considered a traditional documentary? Support and explain.
• What historical truths did you learn about Beowulf? Support and explain.
• What expectations do you nw have in regards to reading it? Support and explain.
• What are the key qualities needed in a hero of the Middle Ages? Use the “Frame of Reference” packet, support, and explain.
• What can you tell about the story based on these clips? Support and explain.
• What purpose do monsters serve? Define the term monster, support, and explain.
• How is Beowulf a myth? A fairy tale? A legend? Support and explain.

Beowulf versus Grendel

• 86-114: How does the creation story fit with other creation stories you have heard? What purpose does it serve? Support and explain.
• What was the religious result of the “12 years of terror” inflicted by Grendel? Support and explain.
• What “omens” would the Geats have used to cause them to encourage Beowulf to help Hrothgar and the Danes? Support and explain.
• 587-594: What has Unferth done that would cause Beowulf to never respect him? Support and explain.
• Why would a “good king” like Hrothgar have someone like Unferth at his side? Support and explain.
• 677-682: Why does Beowulf choose to go “mano a mano”? Support and explain.
• What was the best section of imagery in the first part of the book? Support and explain.
• 797-804: How do Grendel’s enchantments and spells get circumvented? Did Beowulf already know about them before he made his decision? Support and explain.
• What other pieces of literature or stories have a hero circumventing prophecies or protections that make a monster “unkillable”? Support and explain.
• What purpose do the stories of other kings and heroes serve in this section? Support and explain.

Beowulf versus Grendel’s Mother

• Provide a brief synopsis (chain of events)
• Provide a brief summary (What was this section about? What was its message?)
• Who or what was important in this section? Support and explain.
• What changed? Support and explain.
• How well constructed is the story? Support and explain.
• What other pieces of literature does this section remind you of? Support and explain.
• What other classes reflect the key ideas at play in this section? Support and explain.

Beowulf versus The Dragon

• What evidence is there that Tolkien (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings) borrowed ideas from Beowulf? Support and explain.
• Why does the text drift from the dragon to Beowulf helping the Swedes? Support and explain.
• Why did Beowulf help the Swedes? Support and explain.
• 2625-2628/2694-2687: What do these lines tell us about Wiglaf? Why is this important information? Support and explain.
• 2681-2682/2686-2687: How does this information change your understanding of Beowulf’s choices during his battle with Grendel? Support and explain.
• How can the events in the third part of Beowulf be connected to the legends of King Arthur? Support and explain.

All Classes: Analytical Paragraph

Analytical Paragraph: response to an article, short story, chapter/book, play, poem, television show/episode, film, lecture, etc. (should be 7-14 sentences)

• Summary (what was it about? what  was the message?)
• Support from the text (paraphrase or quote w/acknowledgement)
• Explain the first piece of support
• Another piece of support from the text (paraphrase, quote w/acknowledgement) or Make a connection to another article, poem, chapter, short story, television show, film, class, etc.
• Explain the second piece of support or Explain the connection
• Finish with “so what? now what?”

H4/WR121: Le Morte d'Arthur

Discussion Questions for tomorrow

• In what ways does Malory showcase the corruption of the wealthy? How does this connect with modern entertainment?
• Why does modern entertainment seem to be pulled between the "reality of human weakness" and the "fantasy of the hero who overcomes obvious monsters"?
• What direction should movies/book/tv shows go? Fantasy? Reality? Action? Why? What should they reveal about our society/our hopes/our fears?

Essay Topics (must also connect to a piece of literature written or produced in the last 500 years)

• "Seed the wind and reap the whirlwind" is an ancient proverb—how does Arthur's story illustrate this message?
• "May you get your heart's desire" is an ancient curse—how do Arthur, Lancelot, Guinivere, Morgan, and/or Mordred illustrate this message?
• Who did Malory see as monsters? How is that shown in his version of King Arthur's Legend?

E2: Catching up on vocabulary lists

Use each term correctly in a sentence. Come up with an example for each term and explain why/how the example works for that term. 

List 2

• Ballad: song or metrical poem, usually transmitted orally, that tells a story
• Biography: the facts of someone else’s life
• Blank Verse: iambic pentameter poem without a rhyme scheme
• Bowdlerize: to remove indelicate or indecent passages from a text or film
• Breath: the center of being alive; its rhythm indicates mood
• Caesura: a structural and logical pause within a line (punctuated!)
• Canon of Literature: a list of works, compiled by experts that represent an author, time period, or society
• Carpe Diem: seize the day; romantic era philosophy encouraging people to make the most out of the lives they had
• Character Sketch: short, witty prose about a distinctive type of person, or a distinctive person.
• Characterization: creating and establishing specific individuals (characters) in a story, poem, or film

List 3

• Chivalric Romance: narrative style developed in France to showcase the ideal qualities of knights
• Chorus: a group of people in ancient Greek plays who chanted together
• Cliché: overused phrase
• Comedy: meant to amuse; all problems work out perfectly in the end
• Comic Relief: characters, speeches or scenes, in a tragic or dramatic work, meant to provide humor
• Connotation: secondary or associated meanings for a word
• Courtly Love: an elaborate code governing affairs of the heart used among medieval aristocrats
• Consonance: repetition of internal sounds, repetition of end sounds
• Conceit: an unusual or fanciful comparison
• Couplet: rhyme which occurs in two consecutive lines

List 4

• Criticism: term for works concerned with defining, analyzing, classifying, and evaluating words of literature.
• Denotation: dictionary definition of a word; primary definition
• Diction: word choice
• Epic: novella length (150 pgs) poem with dignified theme, organic unity, orderly progress, heroic figures
• Ethos: overall disposition or character of an individual; in rhetoric it is validity of an argument
• Euphemism: an inoffensive expression used in place of a blunt or embarrassing one
• Figurative language: all forms of words that create images (analogy, allusion, alliteration, etc)
• Flashback: narratives or scenes which represent events that happened before the time the story started
• Foot: one complete unit of metrical pattern
• Foreshadow: a hint at an upcoming twist in the plot
• Free Verse: uses common sense and natural expression; must feel like a poem; plays with expectations of readers and poets; poetry with varying line length that does not need to rhyme

E4/WR115: Catching up the vocabulary lists

List 2: Use each term correctly in a sentence. Come up with an example for each term and explain why/how the example works for that term.

• Denotation: dictionary definition of a word; primary definition
• Ethos: overall disposition or character of an individual; in rhetoric it is validity of an argument
• Figurative language: all forms of words that create images (analogy, allusion, alliteration, etc)
• Free Verse: uses common sense and natural expression; must feel like a poem; plays with expectations of readers and poets; poetry with varying line length that does not need to rhyme
• Gatekeeper: person who guards a gateway or task; sometimes they are part of the villain’s company or sometimes they can become allies or members of the hero’s group
• Hero: puts the well-being of his people above his own safety and from beginning to end, he learns important skills and changes as a person
• Humanism: set of beliefs that focus on activities of mankind – mathematics, naturalism, philosophy, and theology
• Hyperbole: an extreme overstatement

List 3: Use each term correctly in a sentence. Come up with an example for each term and explain why/how the example works for that term.

• Irony: the meaning implied differs dramatically from the meaning expressed
• Metrical Verse: a structure of lines, rhythmic energy, and repetitive sound; meant to be read aloud
• Memoir: the mostly true story of what the author has learned through life
• Mentor: teaches and protects the hero; gives the hero magical gifts to help complete the quest; often tied to nature or religion; could be a failed hero who is trying to help the next generation
• Myth: stories told in pre-literate cultures to explain the universe, mankind’s existence, and how to live in community; a culture's sacred stories
• Objective: the author presents the information or story with a detached tone
• Pathos: passions, sufferings, or feelings of an individual; in rhetoric it is the emotional manipulation used in an argument
• Plot: events and actions in a story and the order they are set to achieve a particular emotional or artistic effect
• Point of View: the way a story gets told; the way an author presents characters ,dialogue, action, setting, and events

List 4: Use each term correctly in a sentence. Come up with an example for each term and explain why/how the example works for that term.

• Prose: writing of various purposes whose lines follow the margins
• Poetry: verse whose purpose is to elicit specific emotion, explore a universal truth, or celebrate something (however small); lines of verse do not follow the margins of a page, especially the right margin
• Rhetoric: a type of discussion whose chief aim is to persuade the audience to think or act in a particular way
• Satire: making a topic or lifestyle look ridiculous through presentation and hyperbole
• Shadow: represents the hidden qualities (inner demons) of the hero; represents the suppressed elements of the other characters – things that seem like weaknesses 
• Shapeshifter: can change form, but usually appears to change from good to evil, mean to kind, friend to lover, etc.
• Style: how a speaker or writer uses words to convey a  point or message
• Subjective: the author incorporates personal experiences or ideas into the information or story
• Symbol: a word or phrase that signifies something or has a range of reference

WR121: Discussion Questions for LMd'A

Le Morte d'Arthur—for tomorrow's class answer the following questions

• What are the actual qualities a good knight should exhibit?
• Who is the most reprehensible character in Arthur's court? Explain.
• Which television show from the last ten years best exemplifies Le Morte d'Arthur? Explain. [don't go for the obvious and wrong answer of Merlin]
• Which "hero" from books/television/movies in the last ten years exemplifies the qualities of a "good" knight? Explain.

There was also a vocab quiz today–objective/subjective, humanism, rhetoric, ethos/logos/pathos, fallacy, and bias

WR115: The Kalevala

• Rune 25: Ilmarinen and his Bride arrive in the Kalevala (home of the heroes) to a huge welcoming party. The purpose of this section is to remind everyone of Ilmarinen’s seven-year saga to land a wife.

• Runes 26-27: Lemminkainen finds out that Ilmarinen has already gotten married and take noff, so Lemminkainen decides to go to Pohyola (the north lands) to stir up trouble amongst the people still partying; his mother warns him not to and consequences are had. This section is letting the reader know what kind of special dip wad Lemminkainen is and how being stupid doesn’t mean being weak or powerless. 
• What are Lemminkainen’s other names? Why does he have so many? Support and explain.
• Is Lemminkainen going to Kalevala or Pohyola? Why is he going? How do you know?
• What are the warnings (there are six-ish) that lemminkainen’s mother gives him? Why does he ignore her? Support and explain.
• Is Lemminkainen expecting to have a party or a battle? Support and explain.
• How does Lemminkainen get past the eagle? The ravine? The bear and the wolf? Support and explain.
• What’s the deal with the demon-serpents? How does Lemminkainen get past them? Support and explain.
• What is the singular purpose of Lemminkainen’s speech when he arrives in Pohyola? Support and explain.
• Why does Lemminkainen get upset? What does The Hostess of Sariola (first town of Pohyola) do? Support and explain.
• Why does Lemminkainen curse everyone at the part? Support and explain.
• Who does Lemminkainen fight with? How do you know? Support and explain.
• How does Lemminkainen win? Support and explain.
• What’s next for Lemminkainen? Support and explain.
• What does Sariola’s Hostess do after her husband’s death? Support and explain.

• Rune 28-30: Lemminkainen faces enemies from Pohyola and at home ; his mother sends him to the Isle of Refuge, but he must flee after pissing of the local men—at home things are worse: home is gone, mom is hiding out, and he can’t even get revenge thanks to Louhi freezing the seas (and boats). This message seems pretty clear: seed the wind, reap the whirlwind.
• After not listening to his mother and starting a war, why does Lemminkainen now take her advice?
• Where does he go? How does it work out for him?
• Why does Lemminkainen leave the Isle of Refeuge? 
• What does he find when he returns home? Who is actually to blame?
• Who stops Lemminkainen’s revenge trip? Why and how?
• Why does this section end on a happy note? Is it deserved?

• Rune 39-43 of The Kalevala and answer the following questions, and come up with five of their own questions (with answers) or write a summary (what was it about? what was the message?) for each Rune.
• What is each section about? What is the message of each section?
• How do Lemminkainen, Vainamoinen, and Ilmarinen come together? Whose idea is it for them to steal the Sampo? Why steal the Sampo?
• What does the Sampo do for the people who own it? What will its loss do to the Northlands?
• What magical properties would a dead fish (Pike) give Vianamoinen’s instrument? What does it do? Is its loss to the ocean a real loss? Explain.
• What are Louhi’s four most interesting “obstacles” to the brothers’ escape with the Sampo?

• What message does this epic ultimately send when Finland wins and Louhi’s people lose everything? Explain.

Workshop: Guided Research Paper

“Speech on the Vietnam War” by MLK (pg. 151)

• Provide a summary (what was the speech about? what was the speech’s message?
• Provide a synopsis (a list of key points and their major support)
• Why did MLK feel the need to give this speech? Support and explain.
• What are his biggest concerns and worries? Support and explain.
• Does it make more sense to use evidence (ethos) and logic (logos) or an emotional appeal (pathos) to get listeners/readers to support your side? Explain.

Various clips on protests—write a summary (what was the clip about? what was its message?) for each clip

• The Daily Show: Race/Off
• What is the obvious bias? Support and explain.
• What is the hidden bias? Support and explain.
• Last Week With John Oliver
• What is the obvious bias? Support and explain.
• What is the hidden bias? Support and explain.
• CNN: Mo Ivory
• What is the obvious bias? Support and explain.
• What is the hidden bias? Support and explain.
• Watch Now: America After Ferguson
• What is the obvious bias? Support and explain.
• What is the hidden bias? Support and explain.

First Outline:

1. Define Protest
• When and why is it necessary?
• focus on Ferguson (or another current protest site)--why are these protests happening? Are people being manipulated? Are we ever going to get the whole story?
2. Facts of Ferguson (or other protest)
• What event triggered the protest?
• What information is available, but not widely known?
3. Bias in Reporting
• Comedy
• Debate
• Satire
• Town Hall
4. Results: Ferguson (or other protest)
• What really gets accomplished?
• What's still going on?
• Why do protests lose their news coverage?
5. Conclusion
• So what?
• Now what?

What are the gaps in your outline? What information do you need?

OSLIS.org and other research; keep track of your sources and keep a running lists. Tie your notes to your sources.

Citations:

• Beers, G. Kylene, Martha Clare. Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack. "Speech on the Vietnam War 1976." Collections. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. N. pag. Print.
• "CNN Mo Ivory on the Militarization of Police in Ferguson MO 8/14/14." YouTube. Mo Ivory, 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
• "The Daily Show - Race/Off." YouTube. Comedy Central, 28 Aug. 2014. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.
• "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization (HBO)." YouTube. Last Week Tonight, 17 Aug. 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.
• Martin Luther King, "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam" YouTube. Non-Corporate, 11 Jan. 2007. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
• "Watch Now: America After Ferguson | Full Episode | PBS Video." PBS Video. PBS, 25 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.

WR121: Le Morte d'Arthur

The Tale of King Arthur: Merlin 

• Write a two-sentence summary (what happened? what was the message) 
• What knightly virtue is supposed to be shown in this section? How is it subverted? Support and explain. 
• How does this section connect to the Judeo-Christian story of Moses or Jesus? Support and explain.
• Is Merlin a figure of good or evil? Who would he represent in this? Support and explain. 
• Which figure is supposed to represent Henry the VI? Support and explain. 
• How much influence did The War of the Roses have? Support and explain.

The Tale of King Arthur: Balin 

• Summary (what was it about? what was the message?)

The Tale of King Arthur: Torre and Pellinore 

• Summary (what was it about? what’s the message?)

The Tale of King Arthur: The War with Five Kings 

• Summary (what was it about? what’s the message?)

The Tale of King Arthur: Gawain, Uwayne, and Marhaus

• Summary (what was it about? what’s the message?)

The Tale of King Arthur: Overview

• Write a paragraph connecting one of the characters or key events from “The Tale of King Arthur” to another piece of literature.
• What is Malory saying about people, government and society? Support and explain.

“The Tale of King Arthur and Emperor Lucius”

• Write a summary statement (what was it about? what was the message?)
• What is Malory saying about people, government and society? Support and explain.
• Write a paragraph connecting one of the characters or key events from this section to another class, another piece of literature, or a current event.

“The Tale of Sir Lancelot du Lake”

• Write a summary statement (what was it about? what was the message?)
• What is Malory saying about people, government and society? Support and explain.
• Write a paragraph connecting one of the characters or key events from this section to another class, another piece of literature, or a current event.

“The Tale of Sir Gareth”

• Write a summary statement (what was it about? what was the message?)
• What is Malory saying about people, government and society? Support and explain.
• Write a paragraph connecting one of the characters or key events from this section to another class, another piece of literature, or a current event.

E2: Briar Rose (Home and Traveling)

Chapters 1-3

• Does the relationship between the there sisters (Shana, Sylvia, and Rebecca_ seem significantly different between their childhood (1, 3) and their adulthood (2)? Support and explain.
• How are Shana and Sylvia like the “pretty, young fairies” in Granny O’Grimm? Support and explain.
• Why does Rebecca stay after her sisters leave (2)? Support and explain.
• What does the “bad fairy’s uniform” represent in Gemma’s story (3)? Support and explain.

Chapters 4-6

• Each of the sisters handle Gemma’s funeral differently—which sister’s form of grief can you most relate to (dark humor, anger, business)? Support and explain.
• Does Dawna Prinz seem like a real Polish name or a made-up name? Support and explain.
• How does Becca telling her nieces and nephews “Gemma’s story” connect the family? Are there any stories in your family that are passed down like that? Explain.
• Why is Gemma’s box important? What does it show us about who Gemma was as a person? Support and explain.
• Write a brief character sketch (two-sentence summary) for Shana, Sylvia, and Gemma.
• Why does Becca’s friend get so upset over Gemma’s version of Sleeping Beauty (5)? Support and explain.
• Briefly discuss a story where you know a different version from other people.
• Why would someone turn their life (or events from their life) into a fairy tale or slightly untrue story (6)? Support and explain.
• What does Becca hope to accomplish by rearranging and organizing the contents of Gemma’s box? Support and explain.

Chapters 7-9

• What kind of a mist could Gemma be describing? Think about WWI and WWII specifically.
• pg 46—based on how the word is used, what does inviolate mean? Support and explain.
• “Her mother had kept her promise; the four piles were as Becca had left them, inviolate.”
• Why does Becca go into work? Is she running to something or from something? Support and explain.
• What is Becca’s first real lead? Where do you think it will take her? Support and explain.
• In Gemma’s story, what do the barbed hedges represent? Support and explain.

Chapters 10-12

• What was Fort Oswego? Do you think there were really places like this? Support and explain.
• Why do you think Gemma had so many names and so many secrets? Support and explain.
• Do you think it saddened Gemma when the three girls started to grow too old for a story they had heard so many times? Support and explain.
• Why is Stan so interested in helping Becca? Support and explain.
• How do Sam and Linn help? Why do you think they help? Support and explain.
• How were the refugees treated? How is this similar to/different from how the Japanese-Americans were treated on the West Coast? Support and explain.
• On page 83, Harvey talks about how strange memories are—how does this explain something about Gemma and her story? Support and explain.
• Use your resources to look up the term “coffin ship”. Briefly explain what they were and how they connect to Fort Oswego and its refugees.

Chapters 13-15

• In Gemma’s story, why do peasants just know things? Why do they lack courage? Support and explain.
• What is important about Gemma’s lack of a number? What does it tell us about her wartime experience? Support and explain.
• What is Kulmhof? Support and explain.
• Who are “the kidnappers”? Support and explain.

Chapters 16-18

• What do you think family meant to Gemma? Support and explain.
• What does Stan mean when he quotes The Tempest, “What’s past is prologue”, to Becca? Support and explain.
• What is Stan saying to Becca when he makes his “that depends on whether you are Rumplestiltskin or the Queen”? Support and explain.
• Why is Becca’s family so worried about her trip? Support and explain.
• According to Gemma, why is each person’s story important? Support and explain.
• What does her passport mean to Becca? What did not having one mean to Gemma? How are those feelings connected?

E2: The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis

Part I

• Why is Gregor so unhappy with his life? Support and explain.
• What are the signals and signs of Gregor’s transformation? Support and explain.
• What has he been turned into? Why doe you think he has been transformed? Support and explain.
• Why does Gregor keep doing a job he clearly hates? Do his reasons make sense? Support and explain.
• How does Gregor finally get out of bed? Why does he bother? Support and explain.
• What does it say about Gregor’s importance, and how he is seen, that the Chief Clerk comes to check on him? Support and explain.
• Why is Gregor’s sister crying? What does Gregor think she’s worried about? What does it explain about the whole situation?
• What do you think the Chief Clerk and the parents hear when Gregor speaks? Support and explain.
• Why does everyone freak out when they finally see Gregor? Support and explain.
• Summary: Gregor wakes up as a bug rather than a man and he has to figure out how to communicated and try to do his job, but his transformation freaks out his parents, his sister, and one of his bosses. The message is two-fold: sometimes we become the person we think we are and some circumstances are far beyond our control.

Part II

• What good changes does Gregor find come with his transformation? Support and explain.
• What bad changes have come with Gregor’s transformation? Support and explain.
• How does the transformation change Gregor’s feelings, beliefs, and actions? Support and explain.
• How does Gregor’s sister try to help him? Is this difficult for her? Support and explain.
• Why does Gregor lose the thanks and affection of his family when he becomes the main worker and money-earner? Why does he so readily share his money with his whole family? Support and explain.
• Why did his father keep some of the money aside and let Gregor pay for everything? Support and explain.
• How does losing his furniture affect Gregor? Why would furniture he can’t use be a big deal? Support and explain.
• Based on his reaction to Grete’s “Gregor got out,” what did their father want to do with Gregor? Support and explain.
• Why did Gregor’s father attack him? Support and explain.

Part III

• Why does the new cleaning lady seem interested in Gregor? Support and explain.
• Why do Gregor’s parents open up their home to strangers? Support and explain.
• Why does Gregor’s family stop taking care of him? What do they blame him for? Support and explain.
• Do Gregor’s parents deserve the treatment they get from the men who pay to stay in their home? Support and explain.
• Why does Grete turn on Gregor? Support and explain.
• Does anyone in the story deserve to be punished? Support and explain.

WR121: Beowulf

Beowulf vs. Grendel

• Summary: main idea and theme
• Synopsis: what's happened so far?
• 86-114: How does the creation story fit with other creation stories you have heard? Support and explain.
• What was the religious result of the "12 years of terror" inflicted by Grendel? Support and explain.
• What "omens" would the Geats have used to cause them to encourage Beowulf to help Hrothgar and the Danes? Support and explain.
• 587-594: What has Unferth done that would cause Beowulf to never respect him? Support and explain.
• Why would a "good king" like Hrothgar have someone like Unferth at his side? Support and explain.
• What happened? Why does it matter?
• 677-682: Why does Beowulf choose to go "mano a mano"? Support and explain.
• What was the best section of descriptive writing (imagery) in the first part of the book? Support and explain.
• 797-804: How do Grendel's enchantments and spells get circumvented? Did Beowulf already know about them before he made his decision? Support and explain.
• What other pieces of literature or stories have a hero circumventing the prophecies or protections that make a monster unkillable? Support and explain. 
• What purpose do the stories of others kings and heroes serve? Support and explain.

Beowulf versus Grendel’s Mother

• Provide a brief synopsis (chain of events)
• Provide a brief summary (What was this section about? What was its message?)
• Who or what was important in this section? Support and explain.
• What changed? Support and explain.
• How well constructed is the story? Support and explain.
• What other pieces of literature does this section remind you of? Support and explain.
• What other classes reflect the key ideas at play in this section? Support and explain.

Beowulf versus The Dragon

• What evidence is there that Tolkien (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings) borrowed ideas from Beowulf? Support and explain.
• Why does the text drift from the dragon to Beowulf helping the Swedes? Support and explain.
• Why did Beowulf help the Swedes? Support and explain.
• 2625-2628/2694-2687: What do these lines tell us about Wiglaf? Why is this important information? Support and explain.
• 2681-2682/2686-2687: How does this information change your understanding of Beowulf’s choices during his battle with Grendel? Support and explain.
• How can the events in the third part of Beowulf be connected to the legends of King Arthur? Support and explain.

English 2: Fairy Tales 1

The Handless Maiden: the Grimm version of the story; other versions only seem available in print
The Sun, Moon, and Talia: the oldest version of a sleeping beauty I could find
Sleeping Beauty: Perrault and the French
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty: an Oscar-winning version of Sleeping Beauty that can be found on youtube

• Give a brief summary (main idea and theme) for each story.
• What is the real curse these young women are suffering from? Support and explain.
• What is taken away from each of these girls? Do they get "it" back? How? Support and explain.
• What do the girls represent? What lessons do they teach? Support and explain.
• How do these stories use the ideas of forests and shadows? Support and explain.

Little Red Cap: Grimm's version
Lycaon: the Greek king who tried to trick Zeus, lost his sons, and was turned into a wolf as told by Ovid
The Beast of Gevaudan: the French were-wolf

• Give a brief summary (main idea and theme) for each story.
• How is Little Red Riding Hood connected to the idea of wolves (think about the coded language)? Support and explain.
• Why are we obsessed with monsters? Support and explain.
• How do these stories use the ideas of forests and shadows? Support and explain.