CHARACTERS FROM LIT, LEGEND, MYTHOLOGY, ETC.

1.) Lazarus — a New Testament character who was risen from the dead by Christ. He is often alluded to as a symbol of rebirth and faith (in the book of John where his story appears, the miracle is attributed to Lazarus & his sisters’ faith in Christ).

2.) Morpheus — the god of dreams in Greek mythology; hence the phrase “in the arms of Morpheus” means “asleep”.  Familiar allusions are the character Morpheus in The Matrix movies, Neil Gaiman’s comic book series The Sandman, and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. And yes, the drug morphine is named after him.

3.) Rip Van Winkle — Washington Irving wrote the famous short story in 1819, but the action of the story takes place around the time of the American Revolution. Rip Van Winkle, a hen-pecked older man, falls asleep under a tree and does not wake up until 20 years later. In this time he has grown a long beard, his dog has disappeared, his children have grown, and — most importantly — he is by default no longer a subject of the British king, but rather a citizen of a democracy. He is often alluded to to symbolize laziness, change, and/or oversleeping. The story has been adapted into countless movies and children’s books.,

4.) Sisyphus (pronounced sis uh fiss)– This story is a perfect example of why if you ever find yourself as a character in a Greek myth, you really do your best to avoid angering the gods. The basic plot is this: Sisyphus angered the gods, and they wished to torture him with the worst punishment imaginable. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life attempting to roll a large boulder to the top of a hill. Day in and day out, he’d push the rock up the hill until he lost control of it and it rolled back to the bottom and he had to start over again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Sisyphus is oft alluded to to symbolize the seeming pointlessness of or lack of reward for some kinds of work. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are laboring constantly but to no avail, you are undertaking a Sisyphean task.

5.) Pygmalion (pronounced pig mail ee uhn)– As we discussed in class, Pygmalian = My Fair Lady = Pretty Woman. It was first a Greek Myth, then a play by George Bernard Shaw, then Broadway musical and several Hollywood films. The specifics change, but the story stays the same: a man of some means takes a woman of lesser privilege under his wing and transforms her into a classy lady. Yes, there is a great deal of gender and social commentary to be had on the topic, but for the purpose of this quiz you just need to know the storyline.

6.) Faust (or Faustus in some versions) — In a legend of German origin, Faust sells his soul to the devil in order to gain knowledge of magic — and let’s just say it doesn’t end well for our friend Faust. This is such an attractive story to the human mind that it has been retold and adapted over and over again, most notably in Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s novel Faust and Christopher Marlowe’s play The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus. Oh yes, and I mustn’t leave out the episode of The Simpsons where Homer tries unsuccessfully to sell his soul for half a doughnut. If ever you are tempted by a dark, devilish figure to gain something temporarily that will cause you to suffer in the end, you are making a Faustian bargain.

7.) Adonis — In Greek Mythology, Adonis was an almost excessively beautiful young man. Orphaned before birth (his mother was turned into a tree while pregnant with him… long story…), he was raised by Aphrodite (goddess of beauty) and Persephone (queen of the underworld). Both of these women were stunned by his beauty, and many contests for his sole affection ensued (especially once he was, shall we say, “of age”). He was killed by a boar, and roses grew where drops of his blood fell. This is likely an origin of why we associate red roses with love.

8.) Lolita — In present day, this name is invoked to indicate that a young girl is sexually precocious. This stems from 20th century author Vladimir Nabakov’s disturbing but beautifully written classic novel in which a middle-aged man named Humbert Humbert enters into a relationship with a 12 year old girl.

Thanks! The more responses we get, the more this will help us to plan for the future.

Requirements for your persuasive letter to this state representative. Click on the link to obtain his contact information. If you weren’t in class the day we chose him as our audience, ask me in class tomorrow and I will explain.

1.) It must be typed in the format demonstrated in this business letter example.

2.) It must employ all three of the persuasive techniques we covered in class, and NOT include any of the fallacies we covered in class.

3.) The tone should be appropriate for your audience.

4.) Must be turned in before or during class on Friday, January 13th. This assignment is worth 25 points and will count towards the second grading period.

It’s been a week since I’ve seen any of you, so the number of things I want to share is mounting. Hence this post, filled with a smorgasbord of updates and observations.

First, I should remind sophomores that I was a big meanie and scheduled vocabulary quizzes for our first day back (that’s one day from today). You know what to do with that information.

And seniors, I hope you’ve read and responded to your article of the super-mega-extended week by now.

Next, BOOK NEWS:

While it won’t be as spectacular as when I returned from the NCTE convention in November, there will be another deluge of new books on my classroom shelves next week… Santa was good to us. We also have a WORKING electric pencil sharpener and BATTERIES for the light saber.

I’ve read (to be honest, I should say finished — I was halfway through three of these before break started) a few very attention-grabbing books so far over break: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, London Under by Peter Ackroyd, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, and Perfect by Ellen Hopkins. I recommend them all.

And finally, a great quote from a cartoon I read today:

“People aren’t ‘disappeared’ in America! Only in lawless dictatorships can intransitive verbs be used to make passive verb forms.”

(source: “Tom the Dancing Bug” by Ruben Bolling, posted 12/20/11 on the blog http://boingboing.net)

Enjoy your second half of break. I look forward to seeing you when we return on January 5th!

Seniors (study this for Tuesday’s test): Study for Tuesday’s test. E4 MA Test Review

2.) indissolubly (adv.) — unable to be destroyed; permanently

3.) emphatic (adj.) — showing or giving enthusiastic emphasis

4.) communal (adj.) — shared by all members of a community; for common use

5.) zenith (n.) — the highest point reached by a celestial body or other object

6.) blasphemy (n.)  — the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk

7.) abject (adj.) — extremely bad, unpleasant, or degrading

8.)  solecism (n.) — a grammatical mistake in speech or writing; a breach of good manners; a piece of incorrect behavior

9.) precipice (n.) — a very steep rock face or cliff, typically a tall one

10.) patronize (v.) — the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk

11.) resonant (adj.) — (of sound) deep, clear, and continuing to sound or ring

12.) coquettish (adj.) — flirtatious

13.) undulation (n.) — a smooth, wavelike motion

14.) obliquely (adv.) — indirectly

15.) labyrinth (n.) — a maze

16.) sonorous (adj.) — imposingly deep or full (as in a sound)

17.) palpitating (v. or adj.) — shaking, trembling

18.) mirth (n.) — amusement, as expressed in laughter

19.) aquiline (adj.) — curved downward, like an eagle’s beak

 (yes, I took out one word from the original list)

STEPS TWO & THREE: Collaboration/Presentation

Let’s begin with the end in mind. Here’s what I’ll consider while assessing your presentation:

• Is it obvious that the group is fluent in their knowledge of the tale, its teller, and its context?
• Does each group member make a significant contribution to the presentation?
• Do the members of the group exhibit clarity and professionalism while speaking?
• Does the presentation effectively sell the tale to the audience as both entertaining and educational?
• Are all of the requirements fulfilled?

These criteria apply whether the presentation is live or on video.

Guidelines & Requirements:

1.)  You must address EACH of the following individually: the character’s portrait given by the Host the general prologue; the prologue to your pilgrim’s tale; and the tale itself.

1. Include the information you gathered in step 1.
2. Demonstrate how the three relate to each other would be a plus.
3. Augmenting your summaries of the portrait and prologue with a visual aide or multimedia presentation would also be a plus (e.g. a Prezi or PowerPoint with images, appropriate music, etc.).

2.)  The portrait and the prologue may be summarized; however, the tale itself must be dramatized. This may be done as live action in front of the class OR filmed and shown during class.

* You may act it out, animate it, do a puppet show, use action figures, Legos, Barbie dolls… be creative! Just remember that your MAIN GOAL is to convey the tale to your audience – don’t do anything that will distract too much from that.

* You may set the tale in a different time period if you wish (á la your Romeo & Juliet project in 9^th grade), but do not need to

* You MUST have at least one line from each main character remain exactly as it is in the text.

3.)  Presentations should be at least five minutes long, but no longer than 15 minutes.

4.)  Please work out all technical issues well before your day/time to present.

5.) If you are making a video, you must submit a copy of it BEFORE the presentation — 2nd period Reeve, Miller, Friar, and Summoner presenters, this means  before school starts that morning. Ninth period presenters of the same tales, this means by the end of 6th period on Monday. Please don’t wait until the last minute.

Due Date & Presentation Order:

• Groups will present on Monday, December 12^th and Tuesday, December 13^th.

• In order to preserve the narrative integrity of The Canterbury Tales, groups must go in the following order:

1.)  The Miller

2.)  The Reeve

3.)  The Friar

4.)  The Summoner

5.)  The Merchant

6.)  The Nun’s Priest

7.)  The Manciple

Following the last presentation, we’ll complete step four: Evaluation & Reflection.

And then…

…drum roll, please…

we will vote on which tale fulfills the Host’s request to the fullest extent.

No, you may not vote for your own tale.

Yes, I will monitor who votes for which tale.

No, I will not tell anyone who voted for which tale.

Yes, this is going to be awesome!

2.)     bourgeoisie — (n. pl.) middle-class people who exploit those beneath them for materialistic purposes

3.)     superfluous — (adj.) unnecessary; more than is needed

4.)     spurious — (adj.) not genuine

5.)     tenets — (n. pl.) important beliefs

6.)     copious — (adj.) abundant

7.)     malleable — (adj.) bendable or moldable; easily influenced

8.)     sententious — (adj.) full of aphorism; overly moralizing

9.)     abstruse — (adj.) obscure

10.)   prosaic — (adj.) — straightforward, lacking imagination, resembling prose

11.)   cumbersome — (adj.) heavy or bulky; complicated or problematic

12.)   repudiate — (adj.) to disown, deny, or reject, esp. on the basis of being invalid