May 5-9, 2008

12 Canadian Literature:

Read short story, Stranger in Taransay, pg.43.

Questions on Farley Mowat Short Stories

The Snow Walker (page 132):

1. How had the land changed from the time of the narrator’s parents and grand parents, to his time?
2. What was different about this particular setting in the story?
3. What precipitated the decision to move the entire village south?
4. Describe the different types of conflict found in the story, supporting your answer.
5. The narrator’s mother-in-law showed a characteristic about the Inuit people—what was that characteristic? Explain in detail.
6. Why did the white man refuse to help the Natives?
7. Why did the natives not forcefully take the food they so desperately needed?
8. Would the natives have shared food with the white man, if the situation had been reversed?
9. What is the main theme of this story?

Stranger in Taransay (page 43)

1. This story begins and ends with “tiny figures delicately carved in white bone.” What is their purpose at the beginning, and what is the purpose at the end?
2. Nakusiak was described as a hunter “few could surpass.” His skill and daring had become legendary in his own time. How does knowing this enhance the plot?
3. As the story begins, fog ominously shrouded the water of the Strait. What element of the story is being described with this information, and why is the particular wording “ominously shrouded” effective.
4. Only Nakusiak survived the sinking of the Whaling ship. What comment does this make to the reader?
5. Why does the narrator say Nakusiak fits into the village so well?
6. What are the themes of the story, identifying the main theme from the minor one?

Grade 11 English:
Notes on Period V. Reading poetry of Spenser, Sidney, Raleigh, Shakespeare.
Essay on Elizabethan Period Theatre, Due Monday, May 5th.
Begin Play: Romeo and Juliet, by William Shapkespeare.
Grade 9:
Short Story Due next Monday, May 12, 2008
Quiz on Poetic form, Monday, May 5th. This is a formative evaluation, to let students know how much they know, and what they need to study for a test. Students will also be working on the reading comprehension program Fast ForWord.
Test on poetry will be Thursday, May 8th.

Notes for Poetry Theory:

Form: The style or look of the poetry:

Terms for Lines of poetry:
Verse: one line of poetry
Stanza: a group of verses that go together
Couplet: two lines of poetry that go together
Heroic Couplet: two lines of poetry written in rhyming iambic pentameter.
Triplet or tercet: three lines of poetry that go together, tied by rhyme of stanza breaks
Quatrain: four line stanzas, or four lines that go together, usually tied by punctuation
Cinquian: five line stanzas, sometimes set numbers of words in lines
Sestet: six lines of poetry, usually the last six of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet.
Septet: a group of seven—in poetry, seven lines that go together
Octave: a group of eight—in poetry, eight lines, usually the first eight lines of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet.

Styles of Poems:
Epic: the oldest form of English poetry. (AD 700, with Beowulf) A long narrative poem, with a hero of epic proportions: he is stronger, more intelligent, more handsome, perhaps with special powers. The setting is vast: large in scale: over a long period of time—often a lifetime; over large distances: entire countries, several countries, or in space—between planets, or the ultimate: between Heaven and Hell, as in Paradise Lost. Themed good versus evil, good always wins.
Romance: Began in the Anglo-Norman period (AD 1066-circa AD 1350; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the most famous Romance) Long narrative poem, about knights. Themed around good (virtues) and evil (vices). Knights are rewarded for being virtuous, and punished for vices.
Ballads: (Began in the Anglo-Norman period) short narrative poems, themed around love, war or disaster. Songs of the common people.
Sonnet: (Brought to England in the 1550’s by Surrey and Wyatt) A fourteen line poem, invented by Petrarch during the Italian Renaissance. There are two types: Petrarchan Sonnet, consisting fo eight lines setting out
Blank verse: a type of unrhymed poetry, using a meter of iambic pentameter. This poetry was popularized by Shakespeare and Milton.
Elegy: a lyrical poem that is a lament (sad, mournful, melancholy) for someone who has died. Examples: Shelley’s “Adonais” and Milton’s “Lycidas.”
Ode: a lyrical poem in which the entire poem is an apostrophe—addressed to something or someone. During the Romantic period (AD 1798-AD 1837), the ode was a popular poetic form. Keats’ famous “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” are two examples of famous odes.
Pastoral: a lyrical poem, popular in the 16th , 17th and 18th century, in which life is described as in an idealized or a perfect state—similar to what life might have been in the Garden of Eden. The setting of this poem is rural—pastures (fields) in which shepherds tend their flocks, looking after them with great care. Sometimes, poets chastise the church in this form—the idea being that Christ was the great shepherd, looking after his people, but the church has turned away from their purpose, and “lost their way.”
Free Verse: Modern poetry which has no regular rhythm or rhyme. Freed from traditional poetic conventions, the poet is given considerable flexibility to express his emotions, feelings and ideas.
Concrete Poem: a modern form of poetry, a lyrical poem in which the poetry has a definite shape, suggesting the poem’s subject, and the poet tends to play with letters, sounds or words. Some critics think some modern poetry such as concrete poetry needs a new type of poetry to categorize it.