Snow Falling on Salmon

Well, if Shakespeare had been a student in Salmon School District this past week, he may have amended the opening lines of Richard III to read something more akin to "Now is the winter of our discontent," due to the recent snow days.  I hope you have enjoyed your mini vacation and took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep or get ahead on some homework (or go sledding or make a snowman - or woman!).  Obviously, the days off will change our schedule for next week.  On Monday, you will present your outside reading books and chapters from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Tuesday, you will write the in-class essay on your book; and Wednesday, we will have the vocab. quiz and discuss the performance of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.  Oh, and it's Sarah's week for the blog.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and may the snow be ever in your favor!

Love at First Sight

We discussed the themes of Twelfth Night in class recently and one of the ideas or themes that stuck out to me was love at first sight. Shakespeare seems to include this idea in more than one of his writings. Now a lot has changed since the time of Shakespeare, but is it possible to experience love at first sight? Can the appearance of a person be so powerful that it is possible to fall in love with them that very instant? What exactly has changed since the time of Shakespeare when dealing with love and marriages? What are the credentials of love? How can we tell if we truly love someone or just like someone? Do we all have a need to love and be loved? If so, why?

Poetry's Individuality

Since we are headed into poetry, I thought we could discuss our views on it. As we know, there are many different kinds of poetry, for example, the sonnet or haiku. Throughout our school years, we have learned about poetry in various English classes as well as literature and other forms of writing. Why do you think that people use poetry to express themselves rather than just writing a book or opinion article? Those are literature too... What kinds of an impact does poetry have on people? Do you think that the stories and expressions of people that are written with poems can be just as easily expressed through other forms of literature? Poetry can be such a deep and inspirational type of literature to read. Why is poetry such a unique form of literature and what makes it so unique?

Senior Projects

Since this is late going up and we didn't have class on Thursday, I'll give you until the end of the week to respond. Having just put a lot of thought and effort into your Senior Projects and followed them through to completion, I am interested in what the highlight of the process was for you, and what do you think is the ultimate purpose of having high school seniors complete a major project before graduating?  See you in class.

The Sweet Sting of Love

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night or What You Will is a comical story full of love, foolery, and pain all at the same time. It ends with three weddings; a happy note for most characters. However, for some the end is not so joyous. Malvolio, a character who has been unlawfully deceived, swears his revenge at the end of the story. Why do you think Shakespeare made this comedy end so badly for this character? Twelfth Night demonstrates that love can cause pain and suffering. Malvolio's unhappy ending demonstrates this as well as Antonio's situation in the end. Orsino mopes around for most of the play longing for the woman he loves, causing him to realize in the end that he is a fool. How else does Shakespeare demonstrate through this play the idea that love can not only cause happiness, but also pain and suffering? Why else might Shakespeare have ended this play on a happy note for some and an unhappy note for others? What other themes can you find in Twelfth Night and where do they apply in the story?

"If Music be the Food of Love, Play on"

Reflecting on our latest English project, I wanted to use this blog to discuss the role music has in literature, our culture, and the world. In class, we put music to act 2 in Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night and What You Will to gain a deeper understanding of what was occurring in the scene. The music we chose was able to influence the emotions each person felt. The scene could be perceived differently depending on the genre that was chosen. The same goes for music with movies, plays, television shows, and even novels. Music surrounds our lives and I want to know why you think it is so influential in everyday lives. People link memories to certain songs and choose songs that are special to them. Is music a way to express what a person is feeling when they do not have the words? Why does music compliment literature so well? Why does Shakespeare reference music to love?

Credit Or No Credit

Different situations and events influence the stories that authors write. Our lives play the most influence on the way we act and what we do. Movies are often based on real events and stories. We often say that many of our stories are derived from Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare based his plays on the outside world just like other authors. Do you think that Shakespeare deserves the credit for these great stories considering they were derived from other stories and myths? What did Shakespeare do to gain the amount of fame he has today? What sets Shakespeare apart? Should any one person be responsible for so many of these great works such as Romeo & Juliet and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar?