Guest Blogger - Nishant N.

These last couple days in class we have been reading Oedipus, a greek tragical play. As I was reading my line as Creon (beautifully I might add), a couple of thoughts crossed my mind that I would like share and open up for discussion. First of all, let's put ourselves in the shoe's of some of Oedipus' situations. Imagine you have just finished putting all of the puzzle pieces together from the king's murder and discover you are the actual killer! But wait, you then go on to realize that he is your real dad, which sucks. But then, to top it off, you realize you were totally having relations with your mom. What ramifications could THAT have on a person's mental stability? If I were Oedipus I think instead of going through with the promise to kill the betrayer, I would simply flee from the kingdom. I know it sounds cowardly but think about it: killing yourself would hurt.
Another thought I had has to do more with the Shepard. It is interesting to me that he would lie about the murder scene and claim that it was a band of men who killed them and not a single man. I couldn't help but wonder to myself whose reputation he was trying to protect. The king was already dead and it's not like the shepard actually had a reputation to begin with, considering he probably played a minor role in the kingdom. I suppose the only explanation is that he though he'd protect the reputation of the entire kingdom. Still, it all seems very strange to me.
Considering we just finished Hamlet, I'll discuss that as well, the ending of the play to be more specific. One thing that seem very odd to me was not a major factor, but it involved Fortinbras. Clearly, he had come to the palace, from Poland, in order to seize control. However, when he comes into the main area and everyone is dead, he undergoes a major mood change. He goes from wanting to invade the kingdom to wanting to honor the deaths of all of the characters, specifically Hamlet. Should he even care if he's going to invade the place? I sure don't think so.

Guest Blogger - Melanie J.

Ancient Greek Drama was unlike any other drama produced by man. Unlike the drama in theaters we see today, the Ancient Greeks included a chorus, tragic elements, and thought out rhythm throughout plays such as Oedipus. The purpose of a chorus in Greek Drama was to illustrate the “ideal” audience response to the action of play. This helped make the play understandable and relatable to the crowd. This is a brilliant way to help narrate a scene without directly interrupting the content of the drama. It also helps to express things that the main characters cannot say and provides a connection between actors and spectators. Next, tragic elements play a key role in the development of Ancient Greek Drama. For example, a chance happening where an incident occurs by chance, yet has an impact on the action of the play would be apparent when Oedipus kills his own father without knowing. The tension builds as the audience learns of what he did, while Oedipus is still puzzled as to who killed the king. Lastly, rhythm has a great effect on the flow of the drama. Strophes and Antistrophes help mirror each other perfectly; almost acting in opposite ways to complete each other. The combination of these three things greatly adds to make Ancient Greek Drama unlike any other tragedy.

Guest Blogger - Katie H.

So when sitting down to start my blog I could not decide what to write. We just finished Hamlet, which I do appreciate [still not sure if I like it yet, but at least I can accept it and I will stop whining] now, and we are starting Oedipus today, which I can see being interesting. As I was studying my allusions last night, i looked ahead to see what was coming and one of them was Oedipus [Greek of course] and it said that he was the son of Laius [who we have had before] and Jocasta who abandoned Oedipus at birth because of the prophecy that Oedipus would kill Laius and marry Jocasta in the future. When Oedipus learned about the prophecy he fled from his adoptive parents and went to where his real parents were and the prophecy came true. And of course we all [should] know what happens in Hamlet. As I am writing this I can’t help but wonder if Grecian tragedies have the same elements as Shakespearean tragedies. Grecian tragedies are slightly different, the tragic hero does not have to die but it was very common and they were not in trouble just because of mistake that they themselves made, it was also because of the fate of the gods (http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm). The thing that I expected to be vastly different in Grecian tragedies was the meter and rhythm that they were written, but Aristotle mentions that everything must have “appropriate language” for the context (http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm). Aristotle also stated that tragedies are “a more philosophical and serious business than history; for poetry speaks more of universals, history of particulars" (http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm). In my opinion that makes it seem that a tragedy must be completely fiction like Harry Potter or something, which has no reference to the history of the time, but Hamlet even had references to things that were common during those days. Well, I think that I’m going to be done for now. Bye!!!!

Guest Blogger - Will H.

To be honest, I really do hate poetry. Most of the time it just makes simple ideas way to complicated, and there are double meanings to the ideas, which is exactly why I will keep this as straightforward as possible. Keeping with the idea of poetic structure in Shakespeare (as it has been mentioned several times below), the most obvious form of it in Hamlet is the use of rhyming couplets at the end of some scenes. These simple similarities of sound often tie together the two ideas expressed, and they help draw each scene to a quick close. For example, at the end of Act 1 Scene 2, it says, “Till then, sit still my soul. (Foul) deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them in men’s eyes.” Through the rhyming of “eyes” and “rise” Shakespeare directly draws the connection between men and foulness. Had he otherwise said something like “Bad deeds will be exposed, regardless of man’s methods to hide them.” Though it would have made more sense to me in the first place by saying it like that, the rhyme attempts to help sum up the main idea of the scene, as well as distinguish the mood, which is in this case, a gloomy one after the introduction of the ghost.
There is another rhyming couplet at the end of Act 3 Scene 2, following Hamlet’s discussion of clouds with Polonius and portion of comedic relief amidst the tragedy. “How in my words somever she be shent, to give them seals never, my soul, consent.” From a quick internet search I found that “shent” correlates with shame. So from that, I assume Shakespeare could have written something like “I won’t take action upon my words, they bring her shame.” Here Shakespeare is once again emphasizing this simple idea by rhyming two parts of a sentence, and it highlights Hamlet’s thoughts about Ophelia and once again brings out the dark aspects of this tragedy, even after a bout of comic relief from Polonius earlier.
From the simple concept of rhyming couplets, Shakespeare stays true to his continued use of poetic structure in Hamlet, and this is generally important because it helps tie up the end of each it is used in by capturing the mood.

Guest Blogger - Ihab M.

Shakespeare’s claim to fame was never the plots of his plays. The basic premises of such works as Romeo and Juliet and Othello were well known and understood before the Bard’s adaptations. Instead, his value was in the unique execution of his plays. Shakespeare introduced many original words and phrases of his own invention in his plays, and almost always set his stories to a specific rhythmic meter. But what really characterized Shakespeare’s works was the sharp wit injected into the most somber of scenes. Hamlet is full of excellent examples of this.
Plenty of the wit comes in the form of biting sarcasm, particularly where Hamlet is speaking to Claudius. In the second scene of the first act, when asked by his uncle about the clouds of his father’s death still hanging over him, Hamlet replies “Not so, my lord; I am too much in the sun” (line 69). The reply is markedly sardonic. Hamlet’s meaning is not that he is happy—the word “sun” is a homophone of “son”—the intent is to say that Claudius has called him “son” too much and that Hamlet does not accept him as his father.
Shakespeare was not afraid to throw in a double entendre either. Yes, if there was one thing that England’s national poet could get behind, it was innuendo. Shakespeare really nails it in Act III, scene 2, with Hamlet’s conversation with Ophelia starting on line 119.

HAMLET: Lady, shall I lie on your lap?
OPHELIA: No, my lord.
Hamlet: I mean, my head upon your lap?
OPHELIA: Ay, my lord.
HAMLET: Do you think I meant country matters?
OPHELIA: I think nothing, my lord.
HAMLET: That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.
OPHELIA: What is, my lord?
HAMLET: Nothing.

I’m no expert on Olde English profanity, but like Hamlet, I know a hawk from a handsaw. I assume that this was an obvious joke to Shakespeare’s intended audience at the time. After disrespecting Ophelia with the suggestion that he have sexual relations her, Hamlet refers to “country matters.” And he certainly doesn’t mean “matters that have to do with the country,” as evidenced by his next line, “a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.” The jokes, while entertaining, serve the more important purpose of illustrating to the savvy audience that Hamlet is not only coherent, but almost brilliant in his derisive dialogue. Four hundred words exactly!

Guest Blogger- Taylor T.

In the past week or two, we have been learning quite a bit about poetry and the structure. Even more specifically, poetry within Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. Now I’m not quite sure about my fellow AP Lit classmates, but I know for sure that I am horrible with this! I can not even identify the syllables as stressed or unstressed so how do I identify the feet and than the rhythm? To me, everything is written in iambic pentameter! Consequently, I have a very tough time understanding why Shakespeare uses the techniques he does. For instance, why does he write in blank verse iambic pentameter? Why do some parts of the play switch from poetry to prose? Why is rhyme only used sometimes? Why is the meter broken part?
Some techniques I am familiar with are as follows; blank verse, which uses a rhythm and meter without an end rhyme along with free verse, which does not use a structured rhythm, meter, or end rhyme. Also, an elision is easy to understand. To keep the meter the same, Shakespeare leaves out an unstressed syllable. For example, in Act 1 Scene 3, Hamlet says, “…(Foul) deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.” Luckily, I can also rhyme making the heroic couplet easy to recognize. It is two consecutive lines of iambic pentameter with end rhyme. A heroic couplet is used during Act 2 Scene 2, where Hamlet says, “… I’ll have grounds more relative than this. The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscious of the King.”
Overall, I know some simple techniques of poetry and sometimes how to identify them. Unfortunately, I struggle with the rest. These are just a few of my issues with Shakespeare and his ways. Oh poetry, how you frustrate me!

Guest Blogger -Katie H.

This week in class we have been talking about different elements of poetic structure, including iambic pentameter, blank verse, couplets, and more, that are present in Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_. As I have been reading _Hamlet_, I have found it fairly easy to identify these elements; however, trying to figure out why Shakespeare uses them takes a little more effort. That is why I decided to look more into why Shakespeare uses these elements in _Hamlet_.

To start, the one thing that Shakespeare uses the most out of all the elements of poetic structure is iambic pentameter. As we all know, iambic pentameter is when there are five sets of an unstressed then stressed syllable in a line. The main reason Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter is that it was a common practice in his time. It was what the people were used to and expected to hear. Also, it adds a beat to the text giving it a song-like quality. This helps the words flow well so that they just roll off of the tongue. Overall, iambic pentameter creates a more eloquent and formal speech.

Shakespeare also switches from poetry to prose many times throughout _Hamlet._ The reason for this is that the two types of writing have different connotations. While poetry shows dignity and respect, prose represents familiarity. For example, when Hamlet is speaking to those of higher class – Gertrude, Horatio, and others – he speaks in poetry.
However, when he speaks to servants or lower class friends, like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he speaks in prose. Hamlet also uses prose when speaking to those he does not respect like Claudius. In the end, the change between poetry and prose helps the audience to know how Hamlet feels towards each character.

Finally, Shakespeare ends every scene with a rhyming couplet. At first I thought that Shakespeare did this to end every scene in a way that the audience, or reader, would remember. However, through my research, I found that the rhyming couplet signals to the audience that the scene is over. Once they hear the rhyming couplet, the audience knows to listen for the next line that will explain the setting for the next scene.

Overall, the poetic structure in _Hamlet_ is very important to the telling of the story.

http://shakespeare.nowheres.com/faq/faq30.php

http://www.englandmademe.com

Guest Blogger - Kelsey G.

While reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet I began to wonder how Shakespeare came to write this play. Some believe that Shakespeare was inspired by the death of his only son Hamnet at the age of 11. However it is more likely that Hamnet’s death inspired some of Shakespeare’s other plays and the similarities in names should be dismissed. It is possible that his death drove Shakespeare to start writing tragedies. Shakespeare’s first plays were comedies and histories such as Richard III, Henry VI, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Merchant of Venice, and Much Ado about Nothing. He then later in life wrote Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and other tragic plays. Critics claim the start of Shakespeare’s tragedy era began his greatest writing. There is also controversy as to who wrote the play. Some believe Shakespeare stole the play and others think he interpreted it from the story of Vita Amlethi. Amleth’s uncle also killed his father to take the throne just like Hamlet’s uncle Claudius who then marries his mother Gertrude. The legend of Amleth was around two centuries before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet leading to the debate of whether it was an original idea and how much, if any influence did Amleth have on the character Hamlet. The most likely source of inspiration is the Ur-Hamlet, A lost play which is believed to be written by Thomas Kyd. Scholars are unsure how much of the Ur-Hamlet Shakespeare used or even if it ever existed. However it remains the most probable inspiration for Hamlet if Shakespeare used one. Many of Shakespeare’s plays revolve around nobility and royalty. He was interested in the succession of Kings and may have found it fascinating to write about an uncle (Claudius) slaying his brother (King Hamlet) to become a king and disrupting the line. The origin of Hamlet proves to be a mystery for scholars and the public but people refuse to let that get in the way of enjoying one of Shakespeare’s most prized plays.

Guest Blogger - Duncan G.

A good man is hard to find
The title:
What is a good man?
Some of the characters give different perspectives to this.
"A good man is hard to find," Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more." The grandma and Red Sammy believe that it is hard to find trustworthy men. Furthermore, the grandmother considers Red Sammy as a good man for giving some boys driving a Chrysler gas. She also tries to convince the Misfit that he is a good man because she thinks that he is nice. But the misfit does not think so. "Nome, I ain't a good man," The Misfit said after a second ah if he had considered her statement carefully, "but I ain't the worst in the world neither.” The grandmother believes that a good man is made by a good family. She believes that the misfit is good inside because he comes from a good family. She also believes that she comes from a good family; therefore she is good. Jesus is also mentioned, but is Jesus a good man? The grandmother claims that Jesus is, but the reason to why the Misfit kills is because of Jesus. Lastly, Bailey stopped the black sedan after the accident, hoping for a good man, but he wasn’t a good man. So what I have come up with is that O’Conner is trying to show us about the what goodness is, and the grandmother’s misconception of goodness, since the grandmother isn’t a good.

The Family’s Death
It was the grandmother’s fault. I think if the grandmother would have kept quiet, no one would have died. “‘You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?’ the grandmother…..‘I would hate to have to,’ he said.” Even as the family was dying, the grandmother was had no sorrow, she was just trying to save herself. Therefore, I think that the misfit killed them all cause of the grandmother’s selfishness.

The Ending
The grandmother called the misfit her child. This was very confusing, but I think that the grandmother realized that she was not good. She was a hypocrite, looking good, doesn’t make you. It is a moment of grace and the misfit acknowledges this. “"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."” Then again, knowing her characteristics, she could have done that just to try saver her life, but was too late.

Guest Blogger - Kelsey M.

The three short stories we have learned about this week are Young Goodman Brown; A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everyday Use. In class we have also swapped teachers for the three days, which brought new ideas and perspective into the situation. We have become very used to one specific Teachers methods that when a new person comes in with their own ways to teach a short story, it makes the students think in ways that they aren’t used to. We discussed the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker on Wednesday and talked about the importance on how the Mother’s use of Dee’s name changes. When Dee first comes home from College, she tells her Mother that she changed her name to Wangero, and would like to be called that. As the story goes on, the mother always thinks of Dee like, Dee (Wangero). I believe that signifies a neutral setting, no strong emotion is pulled through. When she says, Dee, she reaches a very high emotional peak and remembers that Dee is her daughter and she has control over her. When she uses, Miss Wangero, I believed that she was being sarcastic and becomes slightly bitter with Dee. And that’s what we’ve been talking about in AP Lit.

Guest Blogger - Conner G.

Young Goodman Brown: Symbol Analysis

YGB starts this story off by leaving his wife for a night of doing something that he feels skeptical about. The Beginning of the story is somewhat pleasant and is quite enjoyable to read. as the story progresses, however, YGB "takes a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind." This marks the change from reality to a Gothic style of writing.


As YGB leaves his wife, she begs him not to leave her saying "a lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afeard of herself sometimes." later, when YGB meets with the devil, he exclaims his reasoning for being late was that "Faith kept me back awhile." looking into this, i realized that this statement has two meanings. one being that she simply kept him back because of the long good-bye. But the second is a more symbolic meaning. His faith in god delayed his meeting with the devil. During his meeting with the devil, YGB sees the staff that he carried. "It bore the likeness of a great black snake", and when i read this i thought what kind of things it could symbolize, and one thing really stuck out to me that i couldn't get out of my head. In the bible, the first book, Genesis, states that a serpent-like creature tempts Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. So in either situation, the staff could represent just evil. YGB had had his Faith in god shaken several times in this story. the first being when the staff leads YGB to the devil's ceremony, and the second is when YGB sees Goody Cloyse speaking with the devil. Goody, being YGB's spiritual and moral leader, had taught YGB catechism, and when she was speaking with the devil, he was angry with her, even though he was doing the exact same thing. i didn't really understand this part about why he wasn't mad at himself, so feedback would be nice!\

Toward the end of the ceremony, YGB seems almost in a trance (?), but breaks out of it yelling "Faith! Faith! look up to heaven, and resist the evil one!" he tries to get Faith to break out of the trance too, not know if she is even there (ambiguity!)

"When he had lived long, and was borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, and aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession besides neighbors not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom." This being the last sentence of the story, really emphasizes the fact that YGB had completely lost his faith in god. partly because he died, and was no longer with his wife, Faith, and also because they carved no hopeful verse upon his gravestone, because there was no hope of him going to heaven. He had turned to the devil, and there was no going back.

Guest Blogger - Tania G.

When I was young, about six years old, I picked up my first poetry book and began to read. It was the most colorful, vivid, creative thing I had ever read. That book was The Cat in The Hat and I fell in love. The poems were so easy to understand with it’s small words and yet it painted such a big picture in your mind. Now at seventeen I find myself struggling with the poems in AP Lit. The poems which were once so simple had become very confusing. I asked myself whether it was really necessary to use all the confusing metaphors and similes to get the point across. Why couldn’t the poems simply state what they were trying to say? Then it hit me. It was sort of like my childhood poems were simple color crayon pictures in my mind. I could draw it quickly and in the end the drawing was obvious but plain, which was enough to entertain me back then. But the poems I read now are much different. These poems use many different mediums and use different techniques every time. Picture Starry Night by Van Gogh with it’s movement or Sunday Afternoon by Georges Seurat with it’s pointillism. These drawings take much longer to create but in the end the pictures they paint are more intricate, and descriptive. There is so much more to notice and you really see things in a different perspective. The thing is you have to know a little bit about art to really appreciate it and the same goes for poems. If you don’t have the skills or knowledge to spot the hidden meaning all your seeing is the pretty colors and shapes. Once you start to acquire these skills you start noticing things you didn’t see before and slowly you begin to notice the complementary colors and delicate strokes. So maybe things aren’t as easy as “one fish, two fish” anymore. I’m moving on to bigger more colorful pictures, slowly but surely.

Guest Blogger - Meghann K.

Poetry Findings:

I don't know about my peers, but ever since middle school, I've hated our poetry units in English. I always felt like poetry was just created to confuse people and fill up empty lesson plans. I always get lost--remember that watermelon poem we read in class that was a metaphor for a pregnant woman? I was so lost that I basically gave up trying to understand. But now that we have an assigned book that explains poetry, I've actually started to understand it. Poetry is something that can be explained through metaphors and personification, denotation and connotation. Poetry gives us a new perspective on an event or object, like when we analyzed the poems about Nathan Morrison's suicide in front of the pentagon. Because there aren't any rule in poetry, an author can give his or her little twist or feelings about the event, object, or issue they are trying to discuss. In some cases, it is easier to write about something in a poem than put it through a documentary or essay, because poems can make the subject personal, whereas an essay can feel distant.

Poetry still is challenging to pick apart and analyze. Metaphors and similes can be used excessively, and the format can still throw me off when i read. "When In Rome" was a poem that irked from the start because of the funky, different format. I'm so used to reading a book or article that I don't like figuring out the new format or explain it in class. Now that I've figured out that those changes could mean a new speaker is introduced, or a different point in being expressed, it's clearer and less bothersome for me to figure out. I think that the four questions we always answer in class (Speaker, setting, main purpose, and explanation) are very helpful for me in understanding the point of the poem.

Our unit, so far, has showed me that poetry can be understood without having a Ph. D in English Literature and can be enjoyable.

Guest Blogger - Nijhum D.

My thoughts on poetry
Poetry is the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts, as defined by 'dictionary.com'. For me poems are another way to describe the meaning, or get to the point in a more complicated way. It is much harder for me to understand the meaning of poems, however it makes it easier to understand deeper emotions and feelings of the object. Poems use similes, metaphors, personifications, and more to get in depth and show the readers through imagery and specific syntax exactly what the author wants you to know. I don't like to sit at home and read poems because it takes up too much time and requires too much thinking unlike a book, which tells you what is going on and gets directly to the point. However I think the poetry unit is a great part of an AP literature class because it teaches students a different way of visualizing and understanding things. Reading books after books is great but that is necessary for everything and every class, but reading poems and writing poems is much different. It is harder and I think more students struggle with the process of understanding it as a whole. They understand the little descriptive parts, and little details more then the point of the writing. For me, it is more interesting to read books because you are understand what is going on, and it helps you get hooked on the story and makes you keep on reading, but for poems it is different. I don't like to read poems, but I guess most songs are considered poetry, which most people love. Songs have the same style as poems, especially rap. Most songs rhyme, follow certain patterns, give details, but are hard to find an actual meaning within it's words other then the theme or basic understanding. I think poems help everyone get another perspective on a the reading, and are come in different ways, including songs which most people love!

Guest Blogger - Chelsee F.

Hello everybody! As I was pondering about what to write I was suddenly inspired by Wilfred Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum Est. The primary concern in writing poetry is all about the experience. Poetry is full of all kinds of experience including actual or imaginary, strange or common. Using poems to decribe vital events help bring a lot of emotion for the event. By using a soldier as the speaker it helps us see how they would see it in there situation. The poem is about WWI and the usage of poisonous gas as a main weapon to use against the opponent. Wilfred Owen is able to put many words that sketches out lucid images of what being in war is. This poem has vivid imagery that really captures the idea of dying for ones country. “And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin” This is very descriptive of how the deadly gas is contorting his face. Using such imagery really captures the reader’s attention. “Dim through the misty panes and thick green lights, as under a green sea, i saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” The soldier sees another soldier who is dying from the green poisonous gas. He could not belive what he was seeing before him, this helpless man with a few minutes t olive. By using all this imagery it helps readers understand how dangerous being in war is and what we put people through. “The blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs bitter as the cud of vile.” War is an ugly thing and she quote Dulce et Decorum Est, it is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country, is a very false quote.

Guest Blogger - Sophie H.

As I am sitting here wondering what to write about, all that comes to mind is the massive amounts of papers we have been grading in class. At the time it was a huge pain but after the fact, I think it helped everyone see what the people who grade AP essays are actually looking for. When we wrote our first essay about the hero’s journey and Beowulf, I honestly had no idea what Ms. Arko was looking for. Automatically I thought okay just make it long and you will get a good grade. Wrong. To my and many others surprise, in AP essays length has nothing to do with it. Content and organization are much more important. So now that we are grading papers, I can finally see why. The first shocking thing was that the graders award you for what you do well. Many of the papers we graded were not that well written, but had outstanding organization so they got a better score. The graders are not the harsh, mean spirited people they are believed to be. Another thing I realized is how easy it is to misunderstand the prompt. In class, when Ms. Arko asked us how many parts there were to a certain prompt, everyone got it completely wrong. You have to completely dissect the question that is asked. If you don’t do this and don’t answer the prompt completely, you are on the fast track to getting no higher than a three on your essay. Another shocker for me was how fast forty minutes really goes by. On Monday when we wrote the in class essay, we got extra time and I still barely finished my essay. Considering the time you get it surprises me how it is even possible to write a perfect essay and get a nine. How can you do that when most of our class barely finished? The final thing I think is interesting is how off the class was when we compared how we each scored the packet of essays. I know we aren’t English teachers, but could that much variation go into scoring based on which AP grader you get to score your essay? I sure hope not. So overall, I have realized that an AP writing test is way harder then it seems.

Guest Blogger - Tom F.

So in Dante, Ms. Arko made a whole big deal about the symbol three. Three is here, three is there, three is everywhere, right? What does it have to do with anything? Cool, Lucifer has three heads, there are three beasts that symbolize three character traits, there are three rings in the seventh circle. Is this supposed to mean something that just I did not understand? Pride, envy and greed are the three traits that the beasts symbolize. These traits are used continuously throughout the story. They show up in all the circles of hell, but in the end of “The Inferno” none of it gets tied back together. What is the point of these three beasts and symbols? You would think in the ninth and final circle the number three or the traits of the three beasts would come into play somewhere, but it does not. The final circle is Lucifer and his three heads chomping on the three worst sinners while the other traitors are frozen in the ice. Again, what is the point of these symbols? There is no support for these symbols through the whole story; they just keep popping up in random circles, like we are supposed to know what they are talking about. We were told that the symbol three had something to do with god and hell and the whole afterlife deal. But we never learned this in class or we could have figured this out on our own. Who did not spark note the whole story anyway? It was hard enough just to understand the story, and all these “symbols” that do not mean anything made it that much more difficult to comprehend. So I ask you again, what is the point of three and how does it tie the story together?

Guest Blogger - Melissa D.

Hello all. Well this is my first blog and I was struggling for a while trying to exactly figure out what to write about and a came across the idea of talking about exactly what we have been doing in class lately, grading of true AP essays. We are given several examples of good and bad essays that are given on the AP test to get the AP credit. I am finally starting to see how much little things really affect the meaning and quality of a paper. I also never realized how easy it is to misread a simple question or even the passage given. In other papers I saw a lot of misspellings and crossed out parts, I then discovered that just because these papers had these basic mistakes, it did not affect the overall grade of the essay. Of course if the paper is not legible then that’s a whole other story. I believe that was my struggle when answering prompts in this class and also in previous classes was not answering the prompt. The prompts always seem to have a little bit of a hidden question that I never seemed to notice until being taught exactly what to look for and seeing the mistakes others made. After reading others responses, I became more aware of my mistakes and learned how to write an accurate and efficient AP response essay. I even was more aware of the things people are looking for when reading these essays and noticed more mistakes I commonly make. I also realized that a paper does not have to be long in order to make it good and just because you have text support doesn’t mean you are answering all the parts to the question. Today in class we got another prompt although this time we had forty minutes to read and respond to it. After all the practice we did in class, I went into the class room confident and ready. I truly believe I did a lot better than my first Beowulf essay, at least I hope so. This prompt also seemed a lot easier to answer because I knew what to do and how to do it. I have to admit, when we were told to read all those responses and grade them, I thought it was kind of silly, but I guess teachers actually give us homework for a reason.

Guest Blogger - Eura C.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Today was the date of the weekly allusions quiz and as always, I put off studying for it until the lunch period before AP Lit. Usually this means that I cram in various names, symbols, and places of origin while trying to finish eating. However, this means that I often do not have the time to sit down and think about how prevalent each and every allusion is in today’s society, even though all of them were told or written down centuries of years ago. As I sat here trying to decide whether or not I should write another reflection on the Inferno, or something about AP test essay grading (which is what we’ve been doing in class lately), my mind wandered back to one particular allusion that had struck me earlier as interesting: the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The more I pondered, the more I realized that today’s society greatly parallel’s John’s prophecy.
Although this forecast found in the book of Revelations may seem overly dire, a breakdown of the allusion proves that we may seem to be in a sort of apocalypse of our own at the moment. One of the horsemen, War, can be applied to today very easily especially with the war in Iraq and horrendous hate crimes occurring in Africa. The political climate is growing tenser and countries are feeling the pressure to create dangerous nuclear weapons to defend themselves. Unfortunately, it isn’t too farfetched to assume that the arms race will result in nuclear war and eventually, destruction of the planet.
The next horseman is that of famine. Although the United States is considered a rich country, there are still many families suffering from starvation. Third world countries in South America and Africa are especially hit hard by droughts and poverty. In Zimbabwe nearly 6 million of the population will be needing food aid (Fleshman 1). Millions more in various parts of Africa are dealing with severe food shortages. This conflict may seem far off on another planet and unimportant to our daily lives but we must think of our fellow brothers and sisters for we are all the same race.
Plague is the following horseman. I could go the easy way and simply mention H1N1, but there are other diseases out there that could threaten humanity. Since 1981, 25 million people have died from AIDS with 2.7 million more being affected in 2007 alone (http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm). The scary thing? The numbers are only increasing every year. The common flu itself is also a major threat; 1 billion new cases are reported annually and 300,000-500,000 deaths occur every year (http://www.flufacts.com/impact/statistics.aspx).
The horseman of death sort of sums up all the other horsemen. He represents the strongest force against mankind. All the horsemen together are symbolic of destruction and the end of the world. Well take a look at what we are doing to our Earth, and the idea of an Armageddon brought on by war, famine, disease, and death does not seem too far off.

Guest Blogger - Maddy F.

Hi there. In my blogging for today I thought I would talk about the last few cantos. It's only been about a week since we finished the cantos so let's hope that everyone hasn't completely forgotten everything about this lovely poem. So first of all, did anyone else find it ironic that the deepest parts of hell were covered in ice? I certainly did, the first thought that came to my mind was the saying "when hell freezes over". So that's that. Secondly, maybe I’m just some sick masochistic lion like Edward Cullen – x) - but I was expecting way more brutal punishments for the deepest circles of hell. To refresh everyone’s memories the ninth circle is split into four regions. The inhabitants of this circle are all traitors, either against their kin, country, or God. In each of the four regions, the sinners are somehow immersed in ice. I mean yea, no one wants to be submerged in ice, but I thought that some of the earlier circles had punishments that were of equal value to those in the ninth circle of hell. For example, in the seventh “pouch” of the eighth circle where there are serpents running around that either bite the spirits to exchange forms with them or in some cases, squeeze the spirits so tight that the spirit and the serpent become combined, sounds pretty terrible to me. Or even in the first ring of circle seven where the blasphemers are condemned to lay on burning sand and have fire raining down on them constantly, so that they are burning from top to bottom. Granted yes, they’re not submerged in the flames, it seems like just the opposite of what is going on in the ninth circle. I was expecting more from the ninth circle I guess, maybe something along the lines of cutting your own limbs off with a weed wacker, having to eat them, and then somehow having this process be repeated over and over for forever. Something like that, but hey, what do I know? Any who, that’s just my thoughts on the last couple of Cantos, have a good weekend everyone! J

Guest Blogger - Michael B.

Tone, The Inferno, Canterbury Tales, Grendel, Allusions. What a mix of stuff. Well seeing as the Inferno/Canterbury Tales/Grendel test recently happened might as well talk about one of those. I would discuss some of the intricacies of tone, or maybe syntax and diction, maybe even roll them all into a wonderful English topic of style. However, that would most likely result in everyone reading this to fall asleep, stop reading, or shoot themselves (which would be a sin). To get on with some actual thought, I will just go off the topic of shooting yourself, otherwise known as suicide, or the sin that will land you in the second ring of the seventh circle of hell. I personally find this ring to be very interesting, it would seem logical that the sins go from one extreme to another, in other words from what affects the least number of people to the greatest. Considering there are three rings, using the logic of extremes, which I probably made up and have no idea if it really exists or not, the first ring should really be against one’s self. This sin is confined to one person; it could be within one’s own home for example. Then, increasing the number of people affected, the second ring would be against one’s neighbor. This sin could conceivably affect many people, whether from only one house or many, nonetheless it would not be confined to yourself, which would require a greater punishment. Finally, the third ring would be against god. Again, a higher number ring, indicating a greater punishment for committing the same sin (violence, because I don’t believe I have actually mentioned what sin this is) and affecting more people. One could commit an act seen as violence towards god and this could affect all of the followers of that one religion. For example, if I said (and I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS, it is merely an example, as are the other two examples, please no one start hating me please J) all Mormons are stupid, I’m guessing the majority of Mormons would not be very happy with me. Another example would be if I said the Pope should die and the Vatican City be burned to the ground, Roman Catholics would have a serious problem with that statement. A final example of an act against god and how it could affect many, many people, if I were to say that all Christians are wrong and there truly is no god, and you are all believing in a made-up fictitious lie, I would probably have about a third of the people in the world hating me (http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm). Again, these are examples to illustrate my point, not what my actual feelings or beliefs are. Well I am now well beyond that 300-400 word goal, currently I am at 482 as of the word at the end of this sentence. So, I will end this post and get back to writing my essay, but that was just a little thought I had about The Inferno with respect to the seventh ring.

Guest Blogger - Karissa B.

Simony, Sullenness, and Sorcery, Oh my! For each of these sins there is a just punishment in Hell, according to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. In hell, there is a punishment for every sin imaginable. Whether it’s something as sinful as graft, or something as damnable as treachery, each has its rightful place. Its common sense that Hell is where souls go to be punished after death for the sin(s) they’ve committed while living. However, I find the idea of “Hell” slightly contradictory to what is believed about God. If God forgives everyone, then why does Hell exist in the first place? Or better yet, does Hell exist at all? It’s also a common belief that God only forgives those who are truly sorry for their sins. In the Divine Comedy it’s mentioned that a few souls have tried to absolve themselves from sin before actually committing the sin. So, because they have tried to absolve themselves from sin before sinning, does that make them less sorry for committing the sin? I suppose it all boils down to moral standards. Even with calculating in moral standards, the argument can be made for the sinners and the repenters. It starts with defining what moral standards are exactly. Perhaps one person believes that committing simony isn’t actually a sin. They believe that taking whatever means necessary to secure a status or a title is fair and shows dedication and persistence. But say someone else believes exactly the opposite of that. They believe that simony is a sin and buying or selling to achieve status shows laziness since the status is being bought and not earned. Who’s right? Is it just for the person who believes simony is not a sin to go to Hell when in their mind they haven’t sinned at all? Because people have different beliefs and ideas, is Hell really a fair and just punishment?

Guest Blogger - Brie B.

Hi everybody out there in Mrs. Arko’s blog! Today, we will be talking about Dante’s Inferno and my many theories and opinions of it. I have a theory about Dante’s Inferno, that more than likely is wrong, but here it goes. Well, in retrospect, I have many different theories about the Divine Comedy Dante’s Inferno, but if I jabbered on about all of the other theories I have I would waste a lot of your and my time. Also I’d probably go well over the four hundred word limit. My first theory is that the threes have to do with the whole 666 thing like a previous writer on this blog had mentioned before. It’s almost like a very amusing piece of flair from facebook.com which says 333 only half evil. (Sorry to any people who did not find that amusing) My second theory is also about the threes. In my mind I connected the threes with the circles of Hell. The reason for this is for the reason that there are nine circles of Hell; well, if you look at it from a mathematical point of view, you can divide the nine by three. Also nine is the third multiple of three. One of my opinions about Dante’s Inferno is that basically everybody is going to Hell. Everyone on Earth has to have committed at least one sin if not many. So it seems to me how could there even be anyone in heaven. They even make it sound like unborn children and children that died young enough not to be baptized automatically go to Hell, along with people that never got the chance to learn about God. Now I am unsure about you but in my eyes that is a really unfair thing to do. If one so innocent as a child that has not committed any sins can go to Hell than there is no hope for anyone to go to Heaven. That is one of my opinions to Dante’s Inferno. My apologies if I have insulted anyone (although I thought my blog was pretty tame) I just wanted to be sure that if I have offended anyone that you (the reader) will let me know what I could change, not only so I don’t insult anyone on my next blog but also so it can help my writing techniques. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Guest Blogger - Jen A.

Some say that while Dante was wondering in the woods before he left on his journey, he was contemplating committing suicide. Does going on this journey change his opinion of how he views the world and how he looks at his own life?
Could the reason of this whole story be to change the way Dante looks at his life? To see that it has meaning and committing suicide would only lead to eternal suffering? In some of the rings, Dante talks about how he feels pity for the men and women but maybe he was really thinking about how much his life meant and learning what mistakes not to make before he makes them. Historians think the Inferno may represent the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is. They say the three beasts represent the three types of sin and the types of sin also represent the three main divisions of Hell (circles 1-5 = self indulgent sins; circles 6 and 7 = violent sins; circles 8 and 9 = malicious sins).
Another question I thought of while reading the Inferno was why would the Devil and his “helpers” be so willing to let a living person through the gates and get a tour of Hell?
In Cantos 8, Dante and Virgil are denied entrance to the city of Dis. This was the only time in the Inferno they were not granted permission to enter. In other cantos they only had to say that their journey “is the will of Heaven” they are allowed to continue. It seems to me as though they should not have been allowed to enter because their journey was the will of Heaven. I am not 100% positive but I do not think that if someone went to Heaven and it was the will of Hell they would be allowed to enter. The two places are total opposites and in other stories (like the Bible) it seems as though the Devil would not like God sending people to take tours thorough Hell but I guess I could be wrong there.
So, if you have a logical answer as to why you think that the creatures in Hell would be so willing to let someone in on a journey from Heaven or if you have any opinions on if you think they views of Dante changed/ are changing let me know.

Guest Blogger - Ben A.

While reading The Inferno a great number of questions came to mind, among them are: did Dante forget to mention the scholars in the castle were forced to read The Inferno over and over again for eternity? Will we see the Wife of Bath in hell? Why would there be a pope in hell?
I believe the answer to my first question, were the inhabitants of Limbo forced to try to read through The Inferno? is a yes. While I do not feel that the punishment for those whose only sin was not being baptized should be very severe I feel as if just sitting in a castle is not a punishment likely to be found in hell. I believe that a very just, and logical, punishment for those who devoted their lives to literature and the arts would be to read the most complicated book known to man for eternity. The only reason Dante didn’t include this little tidbit of information in his book is the fact that it would not be good at all for sales if people found out that the very book they were about to purchase was being used as a punishment in hell.
The answer to my second question, will we see the Wife of Bath in hell? I found a bit ironic. Being that lust was the second circle in hell and the Wife of Bath did not appear there the answer to my question is quite simply: no. My question may seem a bit random but considering how much effort Dante put forth to include famous scholars, people, and mythological creatures it almost seemed odd that a character from a book written by the father of English literature would be left out. Despite the fact the Wife of Bath was left out I think the people that Dante did chose to include are quite important. So far, it seems as if Dante has been trying to write a non-fictional piece of literature meant to warn people about eternal damnation. By including persona that most people would have known at the time The Inferno was published Dante is able to put into perspective the type of sin and lifestyle one must lead in order to be sent to that particular circle of hell. For instance if Dante had said he came across David Letterman in the second circle of hell, that would make made complete sense to everyone today and everyone would know why Letterman ended up there. (By the way, I don’t have anything against Letterman, I’m just using him as an example.)
To answer my third question I had to do some research. Dante putting Pope Anastasius is another reference to a previous writer. Pope Anastasius II was pope during a time when the eastern and western church were not getting along, and trying to settle things down Anastasius said “We do not want disagreement among the churches any more.” And was willing to try just about anything to make a compromise. Because he was trying to make a compromise people started raising arguments trying to keep the church orthodox. While in the midst of the quarrel Anastasius died and it was taken as a sign from God that Anastasius was wrong. After this, as according to http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_anastasiusii.htm, the author of the Liber Pontificalis criticized him and thus Dante followed suit and placed him in hell.

Guest Blogger - Brandon A.

O to my fair maidens. Should thy let thee go on a stroll or keep you in a cage? That is a hard thing to talk about since I already have my head on the chopping block just for saying that line. Women are discussed throughout the book “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer. Women in the book are perceived in many different ways that may be considered valiant or be considered deviated from society. In one aspect of the book in the story The Miller it is discussed of having your true love one hold tight so they may never get away from you. After the Millers story, a lady named Alison or A.K.A The Wife of Bath tells her side of how women should be treated. Her theory is that if the woman is happy the rest of the family is happy. But are both of them true or are they just being belligerent knaves who don’t know what their saying?
In my perspective I think Alison is right in this debate on women’s roles in society. Women are just not tools sent here by God for a man’s pleasure. In biblical terms a woman named Eve was created from the rib of a man named Adam whom was God’s creation. This was because Adam felt lonely and wanted a companion to be with. After the transformation Adam told Eve that she couldn’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge. God sent a message to Adam not to eat from the tree before Eve was created thus; he felt the need to tell her this information. A serpent then approaches Eve and lures her into eating the forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. She was not happy because her companion Adam never ate the proof. Eve wanted Adam to eat the fruit so he can turn “God-Like” like Eve. After a long discussion, Adam finally gives into Eve and eats the apple. For that brief moment Adam pleases the Eve. All because Eve wasn’t happy how things were in life at that time.
Can a man control his own emotions though, or can he not control his hormones, thoughts and feelings throughout his body?

Guest Blogger - Caitlin A.

Hell. The damnation of man once heaven has rejected him. In every culture there is a different definition of hell. In fact there is a different definition of hell in almost everything. Though a lot of the details are the same. In the Inferno during the first four cantos it gives us yet another idea of hell. It combines the Christian idea of hell and the Greek idea of hell.
The Christian idea of hell is a place where you would be sent to because your sins and faith have been bad enough that you could not get past the gates of heaven. In the Inferno he talks about the gates of St.Peters aka gates of heaven and how he walks past them. I can’t exactly remember if the bible talks about nine levels of hell or not, but I don’ think it ever mentions having multiply levels. Just that it is a fiery inferno where you will pay for your sins. But people are starting to question the translation of the bible and the meaning of hell. According to http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/770193/the_original_christian_view_of_hell.html?cat=38, they say that the words that usually meant hell were translated wrong. When we read words that we thought meant hell they actually mean grave or resting place so not exactly burning inferno of death. This kind of puts a whole different spin on the belief of paying for sins and the existence of hell all together.
Then the Greek idea was incorporated with the river of sticks and Charon. It is mentioned when Dante refuses to go with Charon, Charon says it is all a matter of time you will come with me in one way or another. I don’t know if the number three thing has to do with the Greek idea of hell but it is present in the book. First I think there are the three ladies that are nice and loving and divine, except the one in the very beginning that it was talking about eating him. Then there were the three men that welcomed him into their group of poets and he made number six. I personally think it is directly going to lead to the whole 666 thing and we just got the numbers wrong.
So far this book is confusing with its hellish ways but not too bad in general. Sorry if this article offends anyone it was not my point in doing so; please correct anything that does not add up historically or biblically, I have been wrong before J I am extremely interested in the whole wrong idea of hell thing though so if anyone has any information on that tidbit of information it would be really cool to hear your incite.

The Blog

Purpose: Authoring blog entries will offer you another opportunity to present your ideas and writing for a larger audience than just the classroom teacher. Ideally, this will lead to more reflective, richer, and deeper thinking while increasing your writing awareness and skills.

Procedures: Each student will be assigned a day to be responsible for posting a 300-400 word blog entry. The topic of this should primarily be aligned to the current content of the course as you share your further thoughts, research, and connections. As you develop your ideas, you may choose to include support from other great writers, thinkers, and researchers, as you draw connections between the text we’re studying and the larger world.

By noon of your assigned day, email your post to miarko@rochester.k12.mn.us It will be posted as presented, unless the content is inappropriate to a public educational setting.

Evaluation: Each blog entry will be evaluated on
- Expanding upon ideas generated through current course content
- Using a range of sources to illustrate, explain, and present your thoughts
- Clear, effective writing

In addition to authoring a blog once a semester, you will also be asked to respond a minimum of five times to your peers’ blogs. These will be evaluated on- Responding to the direct focus of the entry- Connecting ideas presented with additional references/ideas- Thoughtful responses which further the discussion