AP Exam review

We will continue to review for the exam throughout this week!

Today, vocabulary quiz, multiple choice strategies and practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9lBqyDQvc

Advice for taking the testL

http://prezi.com/vho2d45tg4s8/ap-english-language-and-composition-review/

AP English Language Test Prep/Syntax-Loose, Periodic and Balanced Sentences

http://www.apstudynotes.org/english/

https://benchprep.com/blog/the-ap-english-language-exam-the-three-types-of-essay-questions/

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_information/2001.html 

http://www.highschooltestprep.com/ap/english-language/

What are loose, periodic, and balanced sentences?

Those sentence types are common terms from the AP English Language and English Literature exams.  So, if you can master not only analyzing them but also writing them now, you will be in good shape as a writer.
1. Loose or cumulative sentence: These two sentences rely on the same technique; they begin with the main independent clause and then pile on information in phrases and dependent clauses.  If you were to place a period after the initial independent clause, it would be correctly punctuated as a sentence.  Below is an example from writer Terry Tempest Williams.

"The women moved through the street as winged messengers, twirling around each other in slow motion, peeking inside homes and watching the easy sleep of men and women."

Notice that the bold part could stand by itself as a sentence, but the rest of the phrases could not.
2. Periodic sentence: A periodic sentence is just the opposite of a loose/cumulative sentences.  It begins with phrases or dependent clauses and holds off on incorporating the main independent clause until the end.  It cannot grammatically end correctly before the period. Below is an example from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration."

You can see the difference between the periodic sentence above (notice the bold independent clause at the end) and the loose sentence structure.  If you were to leave off the bold portion of the above sentence, it would be a fragment.
3. Balanced sentence: A balanced sentence is essentially parallelism, but sometimes it is more specifically a sentence that has at least two clauses which are similar in length and word order.  Here's an example about characters from Of Mice and Men.

George is mentally keen and small in body; Lennie is mentally simple and large in body.

Quizlet on sentence types:
http://quizlet.com/4023499/topic-1-periodic-sentences-loose-sentences-balanced-sentences-and-parallelism-flash-cards/ 
More on syntax:
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/ewevodau/literary_tools.cfm?subpage=516805

Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle--Mystery writing

http://www.worlds-best-detective-crime-and-murder-mystery-books.com/poeinfluenceondoyle01-article.html

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

The Murders in the Rue Morgue

1. What is the purpose of Poe's discussing analytical power and ingenuity as well as chess and

card games in the first four paragraphs of the story?

2. Who is Dupin?

3. How did the narrator meet Dupin, and how did they come to share the same flat?

4. What was their daily life like at the flat?

5. Dupin says, "He is a very little fellow, that's true, and would do better for the Theatre des

Varieties." What do we learn about Dupin from this statement and the explanation which

follows?

6. What newspaper article drew the attention of the narrator and Dupin? What was the article

about?

7. What was peculiar about the murders?

8. Why was Dupin so interested in the murders?

9. Why did Dupin become involved with the case?

10. What three things confounded the police?

11. What facts that the police missed did Dupin uncover?

12. How did Dupin test his theory and lure the sailor to his apartment?

13. What "reward" did Dupin want from the sailor?

14. What series of events actually took place regarding the murders?

15. What was the reaction of the Prefect of Police to Dupin's solving the murders?

16. Poe leaves out many details by using a dash. Why does he omit the details?

17. What is the narrator's function?

18. At what point is the climax of the story? Explain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Pi44Yfegc

The Masque of the Red Death:

• Why Seven Rooms in "The Masque of the Red Death"?

  One interpretation is that the seven rooms represent Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man" from As You Like It: (bolding is from me).
  "All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players: / They have their exits and their entrances; / And one man in his time plays many parts, / His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, / Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. / And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel / And shining morning face, creeping like snail / Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, / Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad / Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, / Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, / Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, / Seeking the bubble reputation / Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, / In fair round belly with good capon lined, / With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, / Full of wise saws and modern instances; / And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts / Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, / With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, / His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, / Turning again toward childish treble, pipes / And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, / That ends this strange eventful history, / Is second childishness and mere oblivion, / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." (II, vii, 139-66).
  Many consider "The Masque of the Red Death" an allegory. The seven rooms, therefore, represent the life of all humans. It differs in respect to Shakespeare's monologue insomuch that death (symbolized by the sounding of the ebony clock) oft intervenes in the six rooms preceding death. The physical arrangement of the seven rooms also lends itself to this allegorical interpretation:
  

  (1) the first room lies furthest East, or where the sun rises;

  (2) the last room lies furthest West, or where the sun sets;

  (3) the rooms are arranged in such a manner "that vision embraced but little more than one at a time" in the same way life only provides short glimpse into the future.

• Another Interpretation

  Others interpret the 7 rooms in "The Masque of the Red Death" as a symbol of Prospero's indulgence in the seven deadly sins:
  

  1. Pride/Vanity - Pride is the excessive belief in one's own abilities, similar to vanity, which is setting one's heart on things of little value. Prospero's belief that he is more powerful than death is a vivid demonstration of pride.
  2. Envy - It is unclear who the Prince might envy, but he sure is trying hard to impress someone.
  3. Gluttony - Gluttony is the act of consuming more than one is required. Instead of using his means to protect more people, something he is obligated to do as prince, he lavishes his guests with "ample provisions" and "the appliances of pleasure."
  4. Lust - Lust is an excessive craving for the pleasures of the body, usually associated with sex. The era in which Poe wrote prohibited the explicit or implicit description of sex, but what do you think was going on at an anything goes party?
  5. Anger - The Prince becomes angry with the uninvited guest and attacks it.
  6. Greed - Although it is apparent Prince Prospero shares his wealth with a thousand guests, he helps those who need it least and withholds his substance from those in need.
  7. Sloth - Sloth is the absence of work. The prince seems like a hard worker; his work, however, is on the physical realm not the spiritual realm.
• What do you think they mean? If you have an alternate interpretation, let me know in the comments.

References

• Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Masque of the Red Death." The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales. New York: Penguin, 1998. 145-51.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/POE/masque.html 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjrLFW0Y50I

Young Goodman Brown/The Birthmark

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AGENDA:

Play Sympathy for the Devil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VdML0mWFqw 

"Sympathy For The Devil"

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith
And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
I shouted out,
"Who killed the Kennedys?"
When after all
It was you and me
Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
Cause I'm in need of some restraint
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down

1.     Upon reading the short story and reading/listening to the song, discuss the short story. What parallels are there to the short story?  

Plot:

What was Goodman Brown’s purpose in leaving that evening? Who did he meet on the trail that evening? What did he learn about many of the ‘pious’ people of the town that night?

Symbolism:

Snake staff, Faith

Theme:

Why does Goodman Brown yell out and stop the ‘ceremony’? How does he feel about the people in town after that night? Why are his dying days ‘gloom’?

He is a hypocrite of the worst sort. He shuns all in town for the own hypocrisy of pretending to be pious by day but giving themselves to sin and the devil willingly. However, he had gone there that night for the same purpose. He is willing to fault others but never faults himself.

Questions: Do you agree with Hawthorne’s grim vision of humanity in this story? Can people attain goodness? What would it take? What could Brown have done to live a happier life (one needs to admit their sins and forgive themselves before they may pray for forgiveness). 


The Birthmark:

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1.      Discuss the elements of the story: Describe the character of Georgiana. Describe the character of Aylmer. What does Georgiana’s birthmark symbolize? (pink = innocence, the perfection of nature is found in the slight imperfections) How does Aylmer respond to her birthmark after their marriage?  How does this affect Georgiana? What does that say about her character? After reading his journals, how does she characterize his form of love? Why does he want the birthmark gone so badly? What is the effect of its removal? Why?

2.      How are the characters of Aylmer and Aminidab comparable? Students should be able to see that they represent one human. Aminidab is referred to as an “earthly creature,” a “lump of clay,” whereas Aylmer is referred to as “spiritual.” As the story progresses, Aylmer makes the segregation wider, calling himself God-like. Aminidab is also the only one that understands the beauty of the birthmark. This can be seen as an attack on transcendentalism – Aylmer has ‘transcended’ above his bestial humanity (as the transcendentalists advocated) and in doing so he rejected the world on its own terms. Human perfection is impossible – something in us will not allow it (as Aylmer rejects the inner perfection of Georgiana).  

3.   Science can unlock many mysteries, but should we draw a line? Should we try to know everything? Because we are essentially flawed, the more we know the more dangerous we become. What dangers exist and should we put constraints on scientific advancement?

HMWK:  Read "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe

Rappaccini's Daughter, pt. 2

 AGENDA:
TODAY WE WILL CONTINUE DISCUSSING "RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER" AND THE RELEVANCE OF ITS THEMES FOR OUR OWN TIMES.  AT THE END OF CLASS, YOU SHOULD HAVE A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE KEY THEMES OF THIS STORY AND ITS ALLEGORICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR OWN TIMES.

 EQ: After close reading and analysis of the story, explore and evaluate the relevance of the following key ideas represented in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19c. short story “Rappaccini’s Daughter” have for the modern reader?

 ACTIVITIES:
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1. GROUP DISCUSSION (15 minutes):  Assign groups to explore the following topics and chart their observations on chart paper to present to the class.  Each group will pick an envelope and explore the topic contained in the envelope.  Groups will use chart paper to record their observations.

Topics:

• Ethics and science (responsibility of scientists) Thematic
• Relationship between creator/inventor and creations/invention Thematic
• Relationships among families and friends Character analysis
• Impact of obsessions on self and others Character analysis
• Allegorical inversion: Metaphor of the “Garden of Eden” Rhetorical strategy

PRESENTATIONS: Let's move into a circle and let each group present some of its findings (4  minutes each, 20 minutes)

Turn in homework (packets)! 

HMWK: Make sure you have read "The Birthmark" and "Young Goodman Brown" for tomorrow

Link to Fleetwood Mac song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38_M3ZdNDo4

AP English Language MC Question Stems

From its appearance, he judged it to be one of those botanic gardens which were of earlier date in Padua than elsewhere in Italy or in the world. Or, not improbably, it might once have been the pleasure-place of an opulent family; for there was the ruin of a marble fountain in the centre, sculptured with rare art, but so woefully shattered that it was impossible to trace the original design from the chaos of remaining fragments. The water, however, continued to gush and sparkle into the sunbeams as cheerfully as ever. A little gurgling sound ascended to the young man's window, and made him feel as if the fountain were an immortal spirit that sung its song unceasingly and without heeding the vicissitudes around it, while one century embodied it in marble and another scattered the perishable garniture on the soil. All about the pool into which the water subsided grew various plants, that seemed to require a plentiful supply of moisture for the nourishment of gigantic leaves, and, in some instances, flowers gorgeously magnificent. There was one shrub in particular, set in a marble vase in the midst of the pool, that bore a profusion of purple blossoms, each of which had the lustre and richness of a gem; and the whole together made a show so resplendent that it seemed enough to illuminate the garden, even had there been no sunshine."  Imagery, symbolism, point of view

A Sampling of Typical Multiple Choice Question Stems

From Past AP English Language & Composition Exams

Structure

The structure of…is marked by…

The syntax of the sentence in lines…serves to…

Describe the structure of the sentence in lines…

…is unified by metaphorical references pertaining to…

As the sentence in lines…is constructed,…is parallel to which of the following?

The speaker describes…in an order best described as…

The pattern of exposition exemplified in the passage is best described as…

Despite its length,…remains coherent chiefly because of its use of…

In line…the use of…instead of…accomplishes which of the following?

Which of the following best describes the function of…in relation to… Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph in relation to the two paragraphs that       precede it

Purpose

What is the speaker’s primary purpose in writing this passage?

Which of the following best states the speaker’s purpose in lines…

The speaker accomplishes all of the following EXCEPT…

In line…the author emphasizes…because…

…is described as…because it…

What is the function of…introduced by…in line…

What is the effect achieved by the speaker’s using the phrases…

Rhetorical Strategies

What dominant technique/rhetorical strategy is the speaker using in lines…

The sentence…contains which of the following?

The main rhetorical strategy in paragraph…is used in order to…

All of the following may be found in the passage EXCEPT…

All of the following qualities are present in the scene described in…EXCEPT… The function of the three clauses introduced by “that” in lines…is to… Line…is parallel to what other line in the passage?

Argument

The author uses which method to develop his argument?

The speaker’s mention of…is appropriate to the development of the argument as an illustration of..

The type of argument employed by…is most similar to which of the following?

The author’s discussion of…depends on which of the following?

Assertions/Beliefs

In lines…, the speaker/author asserts that…

The term…conveys the speaker’s belief that…

Which of the following is true about the various assertions made in the passage?

Which of the following would the author be least likely to encourage in a person?

Contrast

What contrast does the speaker develop in lines…

The contrast between…and…is based on…

Juxtaposing…and…serves the purpose of…

In sentences…the speaker develops or implies contrasts between all of the following EXCEPT…

Attitude

The speaker’s attitude toward…is best described as one of…

In…, which of the following most suggests a…attitude on the part of the author?

The speaker assumes that the audience’s attitude toward…will be one of…

Main Point

The passage is about…

Which of the following best summarizes the main point in…

The overall point in…involves which of the following? The primary comparison is between…

Style/Tone

The style of the passage is best characterized as (usually has paired adjectives or paired tone nouns)

The tone of the passage is…

The atmosphere established in…is mainly one of…

Word/Phrase Meaning

Which of the following best restates the meaning of…

In lines…the phrase...is used to refer to…

In…, the speaker seeks to interest us in the subject of the discussion by stressing the…

Word/Phrase Meaning in Context

In line…the word…refers to… The phrase…functions primarily as…

In lines…”______” is the metaphorical way of saying…

In context, all of the following meanings are probably contained in…EXCEPT…

Grammar

The antecedent for…is…

The subject of the sentence in lines…is…

Point of View

The point of view indicated in…is that of…

The shift in point of view from…has the effect of…

Shifts

A shift of tone occurs in the passage in lines…

The phrase…signals a shift from…to… The tone of the passage shifts from one of…to one of…

Misc.

In the passage, the speaker makes all of the following assumptions about his/her readers EXCEPT… Which of the following best describes the result of…

What is the effect of…

It can be inferred by…that…

In lines…the speaker depicts himself as…

…is chiefly remarkable for its…

The allusion…best reflects the thought that…

According to the passage,…is…because…

Finish the analogy…

 

American Romanticism /"Rappaccini's Daughter"

American Literature: American Romanticism Overview

AGENDA:
Today we will begin a 2 day lesson on Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" and then continue with the other stories you were asked to read over the break.

Our goal is to address the following questions tomorrow.

EQ: After close reading and analysis of the story, explore and evaluate the relevance of the following key ideas represented  in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19c.short story “Rappaccini’s Daughter” have for the modern reader?

1.    Ethics and science (responsibility of scientists) Thematic

2.    Relationship between creator/inventor and creations/invention Thematic

3.    Relationships among families and friends Character analysis

4.    Impact of obsessions on self and others Character analysis

5.    Allegorical inversion of the “Garden of Eden” Rhetorical strategy

But first, let's take a moment to do a QUICKWRITE on your first reactions to "Rappaccini's Daughter".  Post your responses on the blog (or use looseleaf paper period 9).  Five minutes, GO!


Now let's take a look at American Romantics who are considered anti-Transcendentalists (or the Dark Romantics) because of their fascination with evil, death and the supernatural.

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/6429-notes-on-american-romanticism-class-handout/

• Romanticism in American Literature brought us some of the world's greatest writers. Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Washington Irving and Henry David Thoreau are still studied in classrooms throughout America and in Europe.

• Romanticism

  Romance describes strange lands and wonderful adventures. It allows the writer greater latitude to include the marvelous with the real. The romance may include the traditional hero with white hat on the white horse; the evil villain with the long black mustache; the lovely young woman in need of rescue, and the hairbreadth rescue itself. Romanticism as a movement began in the late 18th century, moved to England where it developed an emphasis in the glorification of nature, the supernatural, and the rebel—the individual against society. It spread to America in the early to mid 19th century and is represented in such writers as Hawthorne, Poe, and Cooper.

• American Romanticism

  In the 1830’s, America began to experience the impact of the Romantic Movement that was transforming European civilization. Like the European movement of which it was an offshoot, American Romanticism was in a broad sense a new attitude toward nature, humanity, and society that espoused individualism and freedom. Many trends characterized American Romanticism. Among the most important are the following:
  

  
  

  le

  • An impulse toward reform (temperance, women’s rights, abolition of slavery)
  • A celebration of individualism (Emerson, Thoreau)
  • A reverence for nature (Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau)
  • A concern with the impact of new technology (locomotive)
  • An idealization of women
  • A fascination with death and the supernatural (Hawthorne, Poe)

• Important Writers

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Self-Reliance
  • Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): Walden, Civil Disobedience
  • Washington Irving (1783-1859): The Devil and Tom Walker, Rip Van Winkle Tales
  • Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven and many many more
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, Doctor Heidegger’s Experiment, Young Goodman Brown
   

   

  And finally, working with partners, find specific evidence in the text to back up one of the following Discussion Points (Claims) made about the short story. 

  Use the Conversation Roundtable template to  find text evidence.

  HMWK:  Correct your MP5 MC packets and hand in tomorrow during class.

  
  

  Analysis of "Rappaccini's Daughter"

  Discussion Points
  

  1. American Romanticism: The tenets of American Romanticism include the dangers of technology and a fascination with death and the supernatural. Rappaccini's unprioritized love for science and the supernatural aura surrounding Beatrice satisfy these aspects of American Romanticism.
  2. Characterization: "Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story with no hero and no likable characters. Although we sympathize with Giovanni, his obsessive nature and unwillingness to listen to reason make him unlikeable. Beatrice endangers Giovanni's life. Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist but a lousy human. Pietro Baglioni appears to be the the voice of reason but acts treacherously to defeat his rival, as evidenced by his final comment and obvious jealousy.
  3. Allusions: References to the Garden of Eden, direct and indirect, abound.
  4. Symbolism: The poisonous plant and deteriorating statue in the center of the garden symbolize physical and moral corruption. The color purple, a hybrid color, symbolizes the mixing of ingredients and the mixing of good and evil in humans. Rappaccini's black clothing represents his diabolical nature.
  5. Setting and Mood: Hawthorne's physical description of the mansion and Giovanni's apartment help establish an ominous mood and foreshadows the story's tragic ending.
  6. Paradox: The controlling image of the story, the garden and Beatrice, is a paradox--a poisonous Eve and a poisonous Garden of Eden.
  7. Theme: Possible themes include the duality of human nature, the corrupting potential of science, lust, and jealousy.

  
  More resources:
  

  http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/Hawthorne&Women/Rappaccini/Explorations.html 

   

  http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/Hawthorne&Women/Rappaccini/MMD1230.html 

   

  http://www.mshogue.com/English_11/rappaccini.pdf 

   

  http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/nathaniel-hawthorne-rappaccinis-daughter-science-destroys-nature-mad-scientist-eden-garden-9226/

SPRING BREAK HOMEWORK/Nathaniel Hawthorne

AGENDA:

Pick up Young Goodman Brown and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

FOR HMWK OVER BREAK:
Read "Rappaccini's Daughter,"  "The Birthmark," and "Young Goodman Brown"
Work on AP Practice packet for Mon. 4/21

Today discuss passages and ideas from "Civil Disobedience"

REMINDER:  Papers are due tomorrow!

More Civil Disobedience

Agenda:

Review end of Walden.

Working with a partner, examine one of the paragraphs of "Civil Disobedience" and respond to the questions.


http://edsitement.neh.gov/launchpad-henry-david-thoreaus-essay-civil-disobedience

What is the Role of Civil Disobedience today?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons_plans/what-is-the-role-of-civil-disobedience-today/ 

More about Walden:

http://thoreau.eserver.org/waldenxp.html 

http://thoreau.eserver.org/jimmy.html

Conclusion and Civil Disobedience

  AGENDA:

In groups go over questions for "Solitude" and "Higher Laws"

Discuss paper topics.  Fill out an index card with your name and topic and thesis statement.

HWK: Read "Conclusion" and "Civil Disobedience" for discussion tomorrow.

"Solitude"

1. According to his comments in this chapter, was Thoreau lonely at the pond? Why or why not?
2. What does Thoreau mean by the following comments:
   1. "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude" (p. 128).
   2. "I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls" (p. 129).
3. Who are the "old settler" and "elderly dame" (p. 130) whom Thoreau describes as being among his favorite visitors at the pond? 

"Higher Laws"

Throughout Walden Thoreau expresses affection for and delight in the physical details of nature. In this chapter, however, he seems to reject the value of physical nature: "Nature is hard to be overcome, but she must be overc ome" (p. 207). The conflict between physical and spiritual priorities is a main theme of this chapter.

1. What value does Thoreau think that physical activities such as hunting and fishing have (pp. 197­201; see also pp. 266­67)?
2. What d oes Thoreau think is the danger of sensuality, and what solution to that problem does he suggest (pp. 205­9)? How convincing do you find his solution to be, and why?

 

Higher Laws:

 

• Thoreau admits that, lately, he's wondered whether fishing is somehow inhumane. He's already given up hunting and eating meat, since he believes animals suffer and feel pain.
• He goes on to wonder whether it isn't the meat-eating part, so much as the way we eat that is the issue. Thoreau believes that people should only eat to sustain their animal existence. Savoring the deliciousness of food is just a distraction from higher intellectual pursuits. This guy wouldn't have lasted a day in Italy, that's for sure.
• The chapter ends with a scene featuring a hypothetical man named John Farmer, whose only way to a higher spiritual state is to basically watch what he eats, which Thoreau implies is at least the first step toward self-respect.

Major Themes of Civil Disobedience

The right to resistance
Thoreau affirms the absolute right of individuals to withdraw their support from a government whose policies are immoral or unjust. He takes issue with the brand of moral philosophy that weighs the possible consequences of civil disobedience against the seriousness of the injustice. The methods of resistance Thoreau condones in his essay are pacifist and rely principally on economic pressure; for example, withholding taxes in order to drain the State of its resources and hence its ability to continue its unjust policies. The ultimate goal of civil disobedience is not to undermine democracy but to reinforce its core values of liberty and respect for the individual. Individual conscience and morality
Only an individual can have and exercise a conscience. By definition, both the State and corporations are impersonal, amoral entities that are nonetheless composed of individuals. "It has been truly said, that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience." An individual has a right and an obligation to "do at any time" what he deems right, to exercise his own conscience by refusing involvement or complicity in a government that enforces unjust policies. Civil disobedience is a necessary expression of individual conscience and morality, an attempt to reconfigure the relationship between the individual and the State by making the latter more equitable and less burdensome in its treatment of the former. While supportive of democratic principles, Thoreau does not believe in settling questions of fundamental moral importance by majority opinion. Limited government
The most ideal form of government is one which exercises the least power and control over its citizens. Thoreau believes that government is an inherently intrusive force that stifles the creative enterprise of the people. His avowed faith in ordinary citizens stands in contrast to the entrenchment of an elite political class that Thoreau perceives as incompetent and ineffectual. His libertarian leanings are, however, tempered with limited support for some government initiatives, such as public education and highway maintenance. Democracy is not the last stage in the evolution of the State, as there is still greater room to recognize the freedom and rights of the individual. Thoreau pushes this line of thinking to its logical limit by envisioning a society in which government is eliminated altogether because men have the capacity to be self-regulating and independent.

Reading and Sounds

AGENDA:

For your papers:

Transcendentalism in the Modern World
http://trancendentalism.weebly.com/modern-transcendentalism.html 

http://prezi.com/pjyjiqbvgnas/transcendentalism-in-modern-society/ 

http://modern-transcendentalism.wikispaces.com/Transcendentalist+Views+Of+Contemporary+Americans 

http://ahshonorsamlit.blogspot.com/2009/12/is-it-possible-to-be-transcendentalist.html

With a partner, read and discuss the following summaries and analysis.  Post your responses to the questions on the handout on the blog today!

HMWK: Read "Solitude" and "Higher Laws" for Monday.  Begin to work on your papers.

KEY POINTS:


 "Reading"

• Thoreau encourages reading, although he admits that even he had trouble finishing his copy of Homer's Iliad while he was farming.
• According to Thoreau, reading ancient Greek authors such as Homer and Aeschylus  in the original Greek is crucial to a real education. It requires a kind of slow, intense process of reading that trashy books just don't.
• Real literature is closest to life, he says, and it is essential to bringing out man's intellectual potential.
• Thoreau proposes that the entire village become a university – why should learning be confined to just a few students at university? Working together, the entire village could collectively generate wisdom, and ultimately a better life.

"Sounds"

Chapter Four "Sounds"
Summary:
Thoreau reminds the reader that focusing only on books neglects a more universal language. It is important to always be alert and to see all of life. That first summer at Walden, Thoreau didn't read books and he was not always occupied hoeing his beans. Some days, he would sit on his doorstep from dawn till noon, amid the trees and the birds, always smiling and answering their trills with chuckles. This taught him about contemplation, valued by Eastern philosophers. He lived in the moment and though his townsmen would have thought him idle, he was living as naturally as the birds and flowers.
He found every aspect of his life to be a "pleasant pastime" and promises that if people pay close enough attention to what they are doing, they will never be bored. On days when he cleaned his house, Thoreau enjoyed getting up early, putting all his furniture outside, and scrubbing the floor with sand from the beach, finishing by the time the townspeople woke up in the morning. He was happy to see his furniture outside among plants and animals, like a part of nature.
Thoreau now describes the location of his house, on the side of a hill overlooking the pond at the edge of the woods, and the plants which surround it -- sand-cherry, whose "scarcely palatable" berries he tasted in May and sumach, whose berries grew so heavy in August that they broke the plant's limbs. On one afternoon, he sits at his window, watching a hawk, pigeons, and a mink in the woods. He can also hear the train on the Fitchburg Railroad, located a hundred yards south of his cabin, next to the pond. He uses its tracks to walk to the village.
Summer and winter, Thoreau can hear the locomotive whistle and he imagines it making merchants' announcements about their goods. He compares the train to a comet and suggests that men have so harnessed nature in making it they are almost a "new race" worthy of inhabiting the earth. In an extended metaphor, he talks about the "iron horse," awakened early in the morning and flying about the country even until midnight. Its actions are amazing and unwearied but not at all heroic. The railroad has so influenced life in the towns that people measure time by the train's coming and going, and life goes on at a faster speed than before, "railroad-fashion." Thoreau describes man's creation of the railroad as "a fate, an Atropos, that never turns aside."
There is bravery and enterprise to be found in commerce. Writing on the morning of a snowstorm, Thoreau says he is more affected by the men who work despite the weather and long hours than by men in battle at Buena Vista. Smelling the goods from distant parts on the freight train as it goes past, Thoreau is made to feel like a citizen of the world. He smells and sees sails, who rips tell stories of storms at sea, that will be made into paper; rags of all different types of cloth that will become paper of one color on which "true" stories will be advertised; salt fish, "the strong New England and commercial scent;" Spanish cowhides, with tails still intact, to be made into glue; and molasses and brandy on its way to Vermont. From the opposite direction, coming down from the Green Mountains, are carloads of cattle and sheep, which makes Thoreau imagine sheepdogs barking back in the mountains, looking for them.
When the train passes, he is once again alone. On some Sundays, he hears church bells from surrounding towns, depending on which way the wind is blowing, made magical by their passage through the woods. In the evenings, he sometimes hears cows or once, boys whose singing sounded like a cow, which Thoreau liked because it connected them to nature. At almost exactly seven thirty every evening in the summer, the whippoorwills would sing for half an hour. Later in the night, the screech owls, whom Thoreau likens to ghosts of humans lamenting their deaths, cry, as do the hooting owls, whose melancholy "hoo" reminds Thoreau of ghouls but nonetheless is pleasant to his ears. Owls, he says, should do the "idiotic and maniacal hooting for men."
Late at night, he hears distant wagons going over bridges, baying dogs, perhaps another cow, and along Walden's "Stygian lake," bullfrogs, whom he imagines passing a cup in a medieval banquet under the surface of the lake, bellowing "troonk." Though he never heard a cock's crow from his cabin, he suggests that the rooster (whom he calls "cockerel") be naturalized, so that his call would call everyone to awakeness. But in his cabin, Thoreau had no "domestic sounds," no roosters, cats, dogs, or even rats in the walls. Instead, his sounds are squirrels, whippoorwills, owls, loons, and foxes. Instead, nature reaches right up to his door. He doesn't have to worry about digging a path through the front yard in a snowstorm because he has "no front yard,--and no path to the civilized world!"
Analysis:
In his first chapter, Thoreau proposed to explore his connection to nature and to portray human beings as part of a continuum of nature, rather than a separate, dominating force they were thought to be during the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. In this chapter, Thoreau contrasts two disparate views of humankind through his description of the sounds he hears in the forest. While the passing of the locomotive is just as regular as the sunrise in Thoreau's world at Walden, the juxtaposition of these two daily occurrences illustrates the inescapable effects of the Industrial Revolution on the natural world.
Thoreau uses hyperbole in his descriptions of the locomotive, likening it to a mythological dragon or winged horse, and calling it heroic. His effusive and overblown descriptions of the locomotive are deliberately excessive. They serve to parody his nineteenth-century contemporaries who worship technological progress, like those people he says profess to do everything "railroad-fashion." In saying that these people have created fate in the form of the railroad, Thoreau is not praising them. Rather, he is illustrating the irony in their actions -- in creating the railroad as a way to make their lives easier, people have created something which ultimately controls them.
In contrast with the railroad, Thoreau depicts the sounds which emanate from nature. That he is "more alone than ever" after the railroad passes by is not a bad thing. Thoreau, in his recorded observations of nature, proves the proposition he makes at the beginning of the chapter -- that intelligent people can avoid boredom by close attention to their environment and actions. Just by listening closely to the changing wrought on them by the woods through which they pass, Thoreau can turn the echo of church bells into magic. He uses simile -- "as the sparrow had its trill, sitting on the hickory before my door, so had I my chuckle or suppressed warble which he might hear out of my nest" -- and personification -- "the natural day is very calm, and will hardly reprove his indolence" -- to emphasize the strength of the link between himself, as a human being, and nature.
Thoreau's embrace of nature and criticism of the influences of human technology must not be read as a whole-sale dismissal of human culture and civilization. One of his most creative original moves in these two chapters, as in Walden as a whole, is to link literature and nature as natural, noble phenomena. Though Thoreau spends much of the summer sitting on his doorstep, watching and listening to nature, rather than reading, he is not rejecting literature in doing so. Rather, keeping his eyes open to nature is the natural progression of the deliberate attention he pays to books. He makes allusions to classical mythology -- calling Walden Stygian, or like the river Styx, and naming the locomotive Atropos, the name of one of the three Fates -- and to English literature -- describing the screech owl's scream "Ben Jonsonian," a reference to seventeenth century poet Ben Jonson.