Poem of the Day: “Meeting a Stranger” by Sharon Olds
Today's Lesson: Update from the State of Massachusetts on Learning during this crisis.
Hello my friends,
The State of Massachusetts has set guidelines about our learning experiences. At the time of this posting, there will be:
No directed curriculum
No deadlines
No graded assignments
Please disregard all due dates and work from Friday, March 13th. Do not stress out about your grades, etc. If you would like to complete work, I will accept it, but no one should feel obligated in any way to do work while we are out.
Having said that, I will provide resources that have been developed by myself and other members of the English Department on a weekly basis for you to choose from and do if you wish to keep learning and active.
For my part, I still want to stay connected with all of you and will continue to post my videos with a "Poem of the Day," sharing some kind of literary experience with all of you. Again, this is voluntary.
We are allowed to finish Ghosts, as we discussed, so we can have closure. If you want to read An Enemy of the People, for example, that can be an option, but no one should feel it is expected or that we will do it when we get back, it will be graded, etc. Again, this is voluntary. We can still have experiences, but they will be more individually based.
I am here for all of you, and if you wish to speak to me through email or the blog you are always welcome.
Overview and Directions: Please view the above video for my class instructions.
This will be a daily Vlog to help us keep connected as a class during this troubling time. I will always have a poem of the day, and offer daily lessons on our assignments. You will have the opportunity to comment on the blog post, and I can answer you the following day. We can also set-up class time to all be on the blog for an hour and comment together in real time.
I will address long-term assignments and we will begin new assignments together. I am looking to make this work as high interest as possible, which means the more you check-in and comment on the blog, the more input you will have on the work we do.
For now, we need to finish our unit on Ghosts, but I want to extend the deadlines as there is no need to rush.
Act III will be due Friday, March 20th. The next assignments will be a Q2 and Q3 writing experience. We can easily practice for the exam when we get closer to the date. You can control the writing, and I feel that is the most authentic experience so that is where I want to focus our attention for time being. Further, we mat not even have the exam this year.
On Wednesday, I will read the play aloud so I can act as an audiobook, and stop periodically like I do in class to add insights for discussion. We will engage in some writing and discussion in the blog space. I have also looked into some ideas for next steps.
During my daily Vlogs, I will share some of my favorite novels, plays, and accompanying films for you to think about as possible choices.
Today's "Poem of the Day" is from Sharon Old’s Arias, titled, “For You.”
Overview and Directions: Please finish reading Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. Taking into account the plot points, please comment on the significance of these events in the play, as well as Ibsen's purpose in addressing the audience's reactions to Nora's exit in A Doll House. Think about the following plot points as you compose your response: Who really burned down the orphanage? How does the insurance come into play? What do we learn about Engstrand? Can you see a modern day equivalent to him? Why is he so dangerous? What is the name for the sailor's home? What is Regina's reaction to learning her parentage? What is Oswald's true reason for wanting to be with Regina? Why did Oswald really return? What does Ibsen mean by the line "softening of the brain" and "Mother? Give me the sun." How is the final moment an indictment on the audience who felt that Nora has a duty to her family? I look forward to your responses.
1. And the refuge for wandering mariners shall be called "Chamberlain Alving's Home,” that it shall! And if so be as I'm spared to carry on that house in my own way, I make so bold as to promise that it shall be worthy of the Chamberlain's memory.
2. Well then, child of joy as he was--for he was like a child in those days--he had to live at home here in a half-grown town, which had no joys to offer him--only dissipation. He had no object in life--only an official position. He had no work into which he could throw himself heart and soul; he had only business. He had not a single comrade that could realize what the joy of life meant--only loungers and boon companions - Your poor father found no outlet for the overpowering joy of life that was in him. And I brought no brightness into his home.
3. Yes, but she was one of that sort, all the same. Oh, I've often suspected it; but--And now, if you please, ma'am, may I be allowed to go away at once? A poor girl must make the best of her young days, or she'll be left out in the cold before she knows where she is. And I, too, have the joy of life in me, Mrs. Alving!
4. Everything you point to you shall have, just as when you were a little child.--There now. The crisis
is over. You see how easily it passed! Oh, I was sure it would.--And do you see, Oswald, what a lovely day we are going to have? Brilliant sunshine! Now you can really see your home. [She goes to the table and puts out the lamp. Sunrise. The glacier and the snow-peaks in the background glow in the morning light.]
5. [Sits motionless as before and says.] The sun.--The sun.
Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was as though ghosts rose up before me. But I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that "walks" in us. It is all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the country, as thick as grains of sand. And we are so pitifully afraid of the light. Overview and Directions: Please read Ghosts, ACT II by Henrik Ibsen. Next compose a 300-400 word blog response, using at least 2-3 direct quotations from the text. Think about the symbolic representation of the characters, as well as the concept of ghosts. Also, make connections to the seemingly unimportant information that Ibsen shared in ACT I to make a maximum impact on the audience in ACT II. For example, the insurance and the orphanage. Further, what commentary is being made with regard to A Doll House, given the events in this play so far? I look forward to your responses.
1. Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was as though ghosts rose up before me. But I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that "walks" in us. It is all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all the country over, as thick as the sands of the sea. And then we are, one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light.
2. Yes--when you forced me under the yoke of what you called duty and obligation; when you lauded as right and proper what my whole soul rebelled against as something loathsome. It was then that I began to look into the seams of your doctrines. I wanted only to pick at a single knot; but when I had got that undone, the whole thing ravelled out. And then I understood that it was all machine-sewn.
3. Oh, wait a minute!--now I recollect. Johanna did have a trifle of money. But I would have nothing to do with that. "No," says I, "that's mammon; that's the wages of sin. This dirty gold--or notes, or whatever it was--we'll just flint, that back in the American's face," says I. But he was off and away, over the stormy sea, your Reverence.
4. It only shows how excessively careful one ought to be in judging one's fellow creatures. But what a heartfelt joy it is to ascertain that one has been mistaken! Don't you think so?
5. At last he said: "There has been something worm-eaten in you from your birth." He used that very word… He said, "The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children." No other explanation was possible, he said. That's the awful part of it. Incurably ruined for life--by my own heedlessness! All that I meant to have done in the world--I never dare think of it again--I'm not able to think of it. Oh! if I could only live over again, and undo all I have done! [He buries his face in the sofa.]
6. I only mean that here people are brought up to believe that work is a curse and a punishment for sin, and that life is something miserable, something; it would be best to have done with, the sooner the better…But in the great world people won't hear of such things. There, nobody really believes such doctrines any longer. There, you feel it a positive bliss and ecstasy merely to draw the breath of life. Mother, have you noticed that everything I have painted has turned upon the joy of life?--always, always upon the joy of life?--light and sunshine and glorious air-and faces radiant with happiness. That is why I'm afraid of remaining at home with you.
Overview: We discussed Ibsen's play A Doll House and viewed the end of Act III. Nora leaving Torvald is famously called, "The door slam heard around the world." At the time, the powers that be forced Ibsen's hand, and he reluctantly changed the ending in order to avoid the outright ban on his play. He believed that we are haunted by ghosts of the past. He understood this idea needed to be addressed in his next play:
Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was as though ghosts rose up before me. But I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that "walks" in us. It is all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the country, as thick as grains of sand. And we are so pitifully afraid of the light. Directions: Below, view the original ending and read the alternate ending of A Doll House. Next, please read Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, Act I. You can find links to the complete play, audio, and film below. Next, compose a comprehensive blog response (300-400 words). In your blog response, first explore A Doll House: How does this new ending make you feel? How does it alter Ibsen's message and intent? Remember, Ibsen wrote Ghosts as rebuttal to this ending and the public's reaction. Next, what can we expect to see in Ghosts? Please use the questions below as a guide to your response. You may choose one quotation and explore it in depth, choose a combination of questions, or explore symbols listed in question 11. Please use at least 2-3 major quotations in your response. I provided a cross-section of quotations to help you begin.
Original Ending of A Doll House
Alternate Ending of A Doll House
NORA. ... Where we could make a real marriage out of our lives together. Goodbye. [Begins to go.]
HELMER. Go then! [Seizes her arm.] But first you shall see your children for the last time!
NORA. Let me go! I will not see them! I cannot!
HELMER [draws her over to the door, left]. You shall see them. [Opens the door and says softly.] Look, there they are asleep, peaceful and carefree. Tomorrow, when they wake up and call for their mother, they will be - motherless.
NORA [trembling]. Motherless...!
HELMER. As you once were.
NORA. Motherless! [Struggles with herself, lets her travelling bag fall, and says.] Oh, this is a sin against myself, but I cannot leave them. [Half sinks down by the door.]
How do the stage directions for Ghosts set the mood for the play?
Given the realistic setting of the garden room Ghosts, what other components of realism should the audience or reader expect?
How is Regina representative of mobility between the classes?
How does the behavior of Regina Engstrand and Engstrand toward each other in show that Henrik Ibsen is challenging conventional expectations?
What role do Regina Engstrand and Engstrand fill in the development of the plot?
How does Pastor Manders's treatment of Regina Engstrand change over the course of Act I?
How do the two mysteries raised early in the conversation in Act I contribute to suspense in the plot?
What do Mrs. Alving's comments about the books she is reading in Act I suggest about the society she lives in?
How do Mrs. Alving's and Pastor Manders's responses to the books Mrs. Alving is reading define each character? Who would Ibsen side with in this case?
How does Henrik Ibsen use Pastor Manders's ideas about insuring the orphanage to deepen his characterization of the pastor?
How are the following used as symbols in the play: Orphanage, Ghosts, Artist, Priest, Sailors, Captains, Men. Woman, the characters themselves?
Quotations
Regina: Yes, you may be sure we'll see about it! Me that have been brought up by a lady like Mrs. Alving! Me that am treated almost as a daughter here! Is it me you want to go home with you?--to a house like yours? For shame!
Engstrand: Then never mind about marrying them. You can make it pay all the same. [More confidentially.] He--the Englishman--the man with the yacht--he came down with three hundred dollars, he did; and she wasn't a bit handsomer than you.
Mrs. Alving: Well, I seem to find explanation and confirmation of all sorts of things I myself have been thinking. For that is the wonderful part of it, Pastor Minders--there is really nothing new in these books, nothing but what most people think and believe. Only most people either don't formulate it to themselves, or else keep quiet about it.
Pastor Manders: Object to in them? You surely do not suppose that I have nothing better to do than to study such publications as these? … I have read enough about these writings to disapprove of them.
Pastor Manders: When Oswald appeared there, in the doorway, with the pipe in his mouth, I could have sworn I saw his father, large as life.
Mrs. Alving: Oh, how can you say so? Oswald takes after me.
Pastor Manders: But how is it possible that a--a young man or young woman with any decency of feeling can endure to live in that way?--in the eyes of all the world!
Oswald: Well, then, allow me to inform you. I have met with it when one or other of our pattern husbands and fathers has come to Paris to have a look round on his own account, and has done the artists the honour of visiting their humble haunts. They knew what was what. These gentlemen could tell us all about places and things we had never dreamt of.
Mrs. Alving: Soon after, I heard Alving come in too. I heard him say something softly to her. And then I heard--[With a short laugh]--oh! it still sounds in my ears, so hateful and yet so ludicrous--I heard my own servant-maid whisper, "Let me go, Mr. Alving! Let me be!"….It was my purchase-money. I do not choose that that money should pass into Oswald's hands. My son shall have everything from me--everything.
Overview and Directions: Please let me know if you will be attending AHS Poetry Night at Café Azteca in Lawrence on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Note: We will arrive at 6 pm for dinner, and event begins with student poetry readings at 7 pm. It usually runs until 8:30 pm, and you are welcome to hear poems by members of the Robert Frost Foundation after the student portion of the event.
Let me know if you are coming and if you are reading, or just there to support. Thank you!
