Ms. Bridges' AP English

So, what you missed today was a multiple choice test over sonnet number 73; learning about caesuras and other important and cool poetry terms that will help you pass the AP test, reading and discussing "The Age of Reason" and reading portions of and discussing John Milton's PARADISE LOST, which does tie in with Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. I was also going to explain the literary long form with you, but no, you decided you'd rather go to the beach, hang out at the mall or sleep......

So.....where were you guys today? I got there early at noon to prepare for the tutorial, and when 1:30 arrived, I waited and waited. And waited. Until 2:30! You really need to go to these. You not only get a leg up on your grade in my class - remember, I told you if you attended that you would receive grade credit through the first four weeks of school - but we are also covering things you need to learn not just for my class but to pass the AP test as well - which is during the first week or so of May....three months away.

Monday, January 30th: Hey Guys! Last week, we analyzed and did a multiple choice test over a sonnet written by Samuel Daniel. We also went over Shakespearian and Petrarchan (otherwise known as Italian) sonnets and the villanelle, another type of poem. We analyzed Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" which is a classic example of a villanelle. Sonnets, both Shakespearian and Petrarchan (named after an Italian poet named - interestingly enough - Petrarch!) have 14 lines and are written in iambic pentameter (ten syllables per line; five iambs per line; stressed/unstressed. Think of an iamb as a heartbeat: du dum, du dum - (Shall I) (com pare) (thee to) (a sum) (mer's day). The iamb is the beat of the human heart and it expresses the yearnings of the poet's soul - or is that way too sappy for you guys? Right! But if you remember that - that it does echo the beat of your own heart, its murmurrings, then you will avoid that most unpleasant "...

Just to keep everyone posted about what we're doing: Tuesday, January 17th: Discussion on Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (check out the blog on the Romantic Era) Read and discussed the following excerpts in your handouts: 1. Christopher Marlowe (pages 265) 2. "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" (page 265) 3. "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh 4. "Carpe Diem" pages 268 5. Biography of Ben Jonson (page 269) 6. "On My First Son" by Ben Jonson (page 270 - 271) Thursday, January 18th: Did multiple choice questions on Thomas Gray's "Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat" Discussion of Age of Reason Read and discussed: 1. Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, Make Much of Time" 2. Biography of Andrew Marvell (page 288) 3. "To His Coy Mistress" (page 291) and commentary of poem on page 290.

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17th, we are having our first AP tutorial at 1:30 in the staff lounge. Please e-mail me to let me know if you are planning on attending so that I will know how many copies to make for class. My e-mail is jkatbridge@aol.com. See you tomorrow!

The subtitle of FRANKENSTEIN is Prometheus Unbound. If you remember the myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to humanity. As punishment for his hubris, the gods chained Prometheus to a cliff where every day a vulture (in some versions it's an eagle) devours his liver which grows back over night. Day after day the vulture - or eagle - returns to claw and tear at Prometheus' liver. But because of his daring to challenge the gods' claim on fire, we humans have benefitted from the fire's light, its warmth and its protection. Of course, the fire symbolizes knowledge and intelligence. Why do you think Mary Shelley gave her book this subtitle? There are also similarities to the story of Frankenstein and to the story of creation in Genesis. According to the Old Testament, Man lived in ignorance until he challenged God's preeminence to knowledge when he ate of the tree of knowledge. When his eyes were opened he was banned from the Garden of Eden and was forc...

Good morning scholars! Here are some questions for you to think about while you are reading Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. The essay will be due the first week of school in March. Be aware you will have another essay also due the first week of March on CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Please keep checking the weblog for I will post some pertinent information regarding FRANKENSTEIN, background information, themes, and information on the Romantic movement. I hope to see you today at 1:30 pm at school in the staff lounge on Tuesday, January the 17th. Please be sure to bring the handouts of poetry and biographies of poets I gave you the last week of school. J.K.Bridges

ESSAY TOPICS FOR MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN 1. Discuss the role of the creator, Victor Frankenstein, with the role of God and the disastrous effects that occur when man attempts to usurp God’s role as creator. 2. Discuss the warning Mary Shelley implicitly gives of out of control scientific discovery and the havoc it may wreck on nature. 3. Discuss the significance of the subtitle of Frankenstein and the symbol- ism of the Prometheus myth as it pertains to Victor and his creation of the monster. 4. Discuss Gothic literature and analyze how Shelley’s novel is a classic example of Gothic literature. 5. Discuss the roles of nature and women in Frankenstein, and the effect male dominated science has on both. 6. Discuss the role of nature in romanticism and specifically in the novel, Frankenstein. 7. Discuss romanticism in literature and analyze how Shelley’s novel is a example of romantic literature....

This is a reminder that we will have an AP meeting on Tuesday, January the 17th at 1:30 pm in the staff lounge at Hollywood High. Please try to get a copy of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN and start reading. I will start posting pertinent items on FRANKENSTEIN on the weblog starting this week. I hope you can attend. Looking forward to seeing you! J.K. Bridges