Post for Thursday, April 9th - "Wit" Review of pages 1-47

Google Meet for Monday, April 13th (8:30 am - 9:15 am)

Recap of Thursday's Class: We reviewed the opening sections of the play, and I explained the essay assignment in full.  We started reading the play, again, and ended the session on page 47. Vivian asks Jason about his choice of work, and if he ever misses being around people.  We will continue reading the play on Monday.

Poem of the Day:  "The Good Life" by Tracy K. Smith

Overview and Homework:  As we discussed, below you will find materials to prepare you for our next class session. I provided a link for our Google Meet on Monday. With regard to late work, please email any work you complete to my K12 account, and make sure it is dated and labeled by Friday, April 17th. The last assignment is the close reading essay for Wit, titled "Just a Comma" (The essay may be posted to Turitin.com, also by the 17th).  I provided the video of myself teaching the lesson, below. You will also find the complete prompt, assignment, and film clip to make it easy for you to proceed.

Mr. P. gives tips for writing this essay, from last week's post

"Just a Comma" Assignment, Prompt, and Film Clip

Essay Prompt:  The following dialogue is an excerpt from Wit a play by Margaret Edson, produced in 1999. Read the passage carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Edson reveals her values about the importance between literary analysis and real life experiences through characterization and other literary devices.

VIVIAN. (Hesitantly) I should have asked more questions, because I knew there was going to be a test. I have cancer. Insidious cancer, with pernicious side effects – No, the treatment has pernicious side effects. I have stage four metastatic ovarian cancer. There is no stage five. And I have to be very tough. It appears to be a matter, as the saying goes...of life and death. I know all about life and death. I am, after all, a professor of seventeenth century poetry...specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne...which explore mortality in greater depth...than any body of work in the English language. And I know for a fact that I am tough. A demanding professor. Uncompromising. Never one to turn from a challenge. That is why I chose to study John Donne...while a student of the great E.M. Ashford. (Professor E.M. Ashford, fifty-two, enters, seated at the same desk as Dr. Kelekian was. The scene is twenty-eight years ago. Vivian suddenly turns twenty-two, eager and intimidated.)

Professor Ashford?

E.M. Do it again.

VIVIAN. (To the audience) It was something of a shock. I had to sit down. (She plops down).

E.M. Please sit down. Your essay on Holy Sonnet VI, Miss Bearing, is a melodrama with a veneer of scholarship unworthy of you...to say nothing of Donne. Do it again.

VIVIAN. I, ah…

E.M. Begin with the text, Miss Bearing, not with a feeling.

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for thou art not soe.”

You've entirely missed the point of the poem, because you've used an edition of the text that is inauthentically punctuated. In the Gardner edition –

VIVIAN. That edition was checked out of the library –

E.M. Miss Bearing!

VIVIAN. Sorry.

E.M. You take this too lightly, Miss Bearing. This is metaphysical poetry, not the modern novel. The standards of scholarship and critical reading...which one would apply to any other text are simply insufficient. The effort must be total for the results to be meaningful. Do you think that the punctuation of the last line of this sonnet is merely an insignificant detail?

The sonnet begins with a valiant struggle with death calling on all the forces of intellect and drama to vanquish the

enemy. But it is ultimately about overcoming the seemingly insuperable barriers separating life, death and eternal life. In the edition you chose, this profoundly simple meaning is sacrificed to hysterical punctuation.

And Death – capital D – shall be no more - semi-colon! Death – capital D – comma – thou shalt die – exclamation point!

If you go in for this sort of thing I suggest you take up Shakespeare. Gardner's edition of the Holy Sonnets returns to the Westmoreland manuscript source of 1610 – not for sentimental reasons, I assure you, but because Helen Gardner is a scholar. It reads:

And death shall be no more, comma, Death thou shalt die.
(As she recites this line, she makes a little gesture with a comma.)

Nothing but a breath, a comma separates life from life everlasting. Very simple, really. With the original punctuation restored, death is no longer something...to act out on a stage with exclamation marks. It is a comma. A pause.

This way, the uncompromising way...one learns something from the poem, wouldn't you say? Life, death, soul, God...past, present. Not insuperable barriers. Not semicolons. Just a comma.

VIVIAN. Life, death, I see! (standing) It's a metaphysical conceit, it's wit! I'll go back to the library and re-write the paper –

E.M. (Standing, emphatically) It is not wit, Miss Bearing, it is truth. The paper's not the point.

VIVIAN. Isn't it?

E.M. (Tenderly) Vivian, you're a bright young woman. Use your intelligence. Don't go back to the library, go out. Enjoy yourself with friends. Hmmm. (Vivian walks away. E.M. slides off.)

VIVIAN. I, ah, went outside. It was a warm day. There were students on the lawn, talking about, nothing, laughing. The insuperable barrier between one thing and another is…just a comma? Simple human truth. Uncompromising scholarly standards. They're connected. I just couldn't...

I went back to the library.

Post for Monday, April 6th - "Wit" (Just a Comma) Essay and Late Work

Overview and Homework: As we discussed, below you will find materials to prepare you for our next class session. I provided a link for our Google Meet on Thursday. With regard to late work, please email any work you complete to my K12 account, and make sure it is dated and labeled by Friday, April 17th. The last assignment is the close reading essay for Wit, titled "Just a Comma" (The essay may be posted to Turitin.com, also by the 17th).  I provided the video of myself teaching the lesson, below. You will also find the complete prompt, assignment, and film clip to make it easy for you to proceed.  We will go over the writing assignment and I will answer questions on Thursday.  I will also go over the next assignment and give you time to work on the essay with me in the chat so you can ask questions while you work.  If you have any questions, please feel free to put them in the comment section of this post.  See you Thursday!

Google Meet for Thursday, April 9th (8:30 am - 9:15 am)

Mr. P. gives tips for writing this essay, from last week's post

"Just a Comma" Assignment, Prompt, and Film Clip

Essay Prompt:  The following dialogue is an excerpt from Wit a play by Margaret Edson, produced in 1999. Read the passage carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Edson reveals her values about the importance between literary analysis and real life experiences through characterization and other literary devices.

VIVIAN. (Hesitantly) I should have asked more questions, because I knew there was going to be a test. I have cancer. Insidious cancer, with pernicious side effects – No, the treatment has pernicious side effects. I have stage four metastatic ovarian cancer. There is no stage five. And I have to be very tough. It appears to be a matter, as the saying goes...of life and death. I know all about life and death. I am, after all, a professor of seventeenth century poetry...specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne...which explore mortality in greater depth...than any body of work in the English language. And I know for a fact that I am tough. A demanding professor. Uncompromising. Never one to turn from a challenge. That is why I chose to study John Donne...while a student of the great E.M. Ashford. (Professor E.M. Ashford, fifty-two, enters, seated at the same desk as Dr. Kelekian was. The scene is twenty-eight years ago. Vivian suddenly turns twenty-two, eager and intimidated.)

Professor Ashford?

E.M. Do it again.

VIVIAN. (To the audience) It was something of a shock. I had to sit down. (She plops down).

E.M. Please sit down. Your essay on Holy Sonnet VI, Miss Bearing, is a melodrama with a veneer of scholarship unworthy of you...to say nothing of Donne. Do it again.

VIVIAN. I, ah…

E.M. Begin with the text, Miss Bearing, not with a feeling.

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for thou art not soe.”

You've entirely missed the point of the poem, because you've used an edition of the text that is inauthentically punctuated. In the Gardner edition –

VIVIAN. That edition was checked out of the library –

E.M. Miss Bearing!

VIVIAN. Sorry.

E.M. You take this too lightly, Miss Bearing. This is metaphysical poetry, not the modern novel. The standards of scholarship and critical reading...which one would apply to any other text are simply insufficient. The effort must be total for the results to be meaningful. Do you think that the punctuation of the last line of this sonnet is merely an insignificant detail?

The sonnet begins with a valiant struggle with death calling on all the forces of intellect and drama to vanquish the

enemy. But it is ultimately about overcoming the seemingly insuperable barriers separating life, death and eternal life. In the edition you chose, this profoundly simple meaning is sacrificed to hysterical punctuation.

And Death – capital D – shall be no more - semi-colon! Death – capital D – comma – thou shalt die – exclamation point!

If you go in for this sort of thing I suggest you take up Shakespeare. Gardner's edition of the Holy Sonnets returns to the Westmoreland manuscript source of 1610 – not for sentimental reasons, I assure you, but because Helen Gardner is a scholar. It reads:

And death shall be no more, comma, Death thou shalt die.
(As she recites this line, she makes a little gesture with a comma.)

Nothing but a breath, a comma separates life from life everlasting. Very simple, really. With the original punctuation restored, death is no longer something...to act out on a stage with exclamation marks. It is a comma. A pause.

This way, the uncompromising way...one learns something from the poem, wouldn't you say? Life, death, soul, God...past, present. Not insuperable barriers. Not semicolons. Just a comma.

VIVIAN. Life, death, I see! (standing) It's a metaphysical conceit, it's wit! I'll go back to the library and re-write the paper –

E.M. (Standing, emphatically) It is not wit, Miss Bearing, it is truth. The paper's not the point.

VIVIAN. Isn't it?

E.M. (Tenderly) Vivian, you're a bright young woman. Use your intelligence. Don't go back to the library, go out. Enjoy yourself with friends. Hmmm. (Vivian walks away. E.M. slides off.)

VIVIAN. I, ah, went outside. It was a warm day. There were students on the lawn, talking about, nothing, laughing. The insuperable barrier between one thing and another is…just a comma? Simple human truth. Uncompromising scholarly standards. They're connected. I just couldn't...

I went back to the library.

Google Meet - Monday, April 6th - 8:30 am - 9:15 - First Day Back

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OVERVIEW:  Welcome back to school!  I hope this blog post finds you and your family well.  I miss seeing you, and I hope to make our time together as meaningful and stress free as possible.

In this space, I want to prepare you for our first day back.  You should have received a letter from the district about our return to learning.  Below, you will see a grid with the weekly schedule.  We will meet twice a week for class.  I plan to use Google Meet and our class blog.  I will also be available during H-block and Wednesdays on Google Meet for office hours.

Below, I provided a list of "options" for your continued learning.  Our first class will involve checking-in and making decisions about how to proceed.  I want you to be part of this process.  

If you are friendly with anyone in the class, please let them know that there is an expectation that they will be engaging in work, again. 

HOMEWORK DUE MONDAY:  When you finish reading this post, please post a quick comment below to let me know: 1)  You are alive and well, 2) Will I see you in our first Google Meet, and 3) What would you be interested in doing with our time (again, see list below).  Note:  All class sessions will be recorded and posted on my blog, so you can still enjoy class even if you do not make it for the live session.

See you on Google Meet!

AHS School Schedule

Curriculum Possibilities

1.  Late Work:  The first order of business.  If you have not done so, please complete any work assigned before March 13th.  This work will be graded and will count for graduation.  Send all completed late work to my email for evaluation.  Final district due date is Friday, April 17th.

2. Wit by Margaret Edson:  As we were almost finished reading the Margaret Edson's Wit, I think that would be the best place to resume classes. When you finish reading the last two sections of the play, you can compose your response in the appropriate blog space when you can. I have provided quick links, below:

Blog post for Wit by Margaret Edson, Pages 39-51
Blog post for "Wit" by Margaret Edson, Pages 51-67(End)

3.  Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison:  I have a pdf of the play.  We could read it together during our class sessions.  The film is available on Amazon Prime.  See film trailer, below.

4.  Mr. Pellerin Daily Lessons:  I could always just share poems, favorite pieces of literature, review past material, walk through my Teaching Global Classroom Blog, and we can have a discussion on Google Meet during our class time.  The assignments can come organically from these sessions.

5.  College Prep: Is there anything you would like me to help you with on your way to college?  More grammar work?  Writing instruction?  Writing literary research papers?  Life lessons?  Use me as a resource.

6.  Creative Writing:  Poetry, short fiction, novels, personal essay writing?  I can help guide you.  FYI: Watch the video of Poetry Night at Cafe Azteca!

7.  Any other suggestions?  I am open.

Gatsby says, "Welcome Back, Daisy!"

Poem of the Day and Check-in

Poem of the Day by Ian Curtis of Joy Division

I wish I were a Warhol silk screen
hanging on the wall.
Or little Joe or maybe Lou.
I'd love to be them all.
All New York's broken hearts
and secrets would be mine.
I'd put you on a movie reel,
and that would be just fine.

1.  Watch Poetry Night at Cafe Azteca!

2.  IMPORTANT:  Please go to the previous blog post for full details on this week's work. Due dates are up in the air, again.  We are waiting for the district to make a decision.  Contact me in this blog space or through email if you need me.  I hope you are all safe and well.

P

Important Update - Classes Resume on Blog!

Poem of the Day:  "Aria Above Seattle" by Sharon Olds

Important Update:  We are resuming learning this week! 


1.  Late Work:  If you have not done so, please complete any work assigned before March 13th.  This work will be graded and will count for graduation.  Send all completed late work to my email for evaluation.

2.  Wit by Margaret Edson - As we were almost finished reading the Margaret Edson's Wit, I think that would be the best place to resume classes.  Please finish reading the last two sections of the play and compose your response in the appropriate blog space when you can.  I have provided quick links, below:

Blog post for Wit by Margaret Edson, Pages 39-51

Blog post for "Wit" by Margaret Edson, Pages 51-67(End)

NOTE:  If you are friendly with anyone in the class, please let them know that there is an expectation that they will be engaging in the work, again. 

"...I come back to the place you are..."

"Wit" by Margaret Edson, Pages 51-67(End)

Poem of the Day: "Aria to Our Miscarried One, Age 50 Now" by Sharon Olds

This week's lessons can be found on this blog post:
For A Block - ELA Lessons for 3/23 - 3/30
For F Block -  ELA Lessons for 3/23 - 3/30

Today's Lesson:  Read Wit by Margaret Edson, Pages 51-67(End)

Assignment:  If you would like to comment on the text, you may use the questions, below.  I posted the film if you would like to see it performed.  Anyone is welcome.

Reading Questions

1.  Compare and contrast young Vivian’s misreading of “Death Be Not Proud” with E.M. Ashford with the final discussion between Susie and Jason about “Salvation Anxiety.” Given the final scene in the play, what meaning could be derived here?


2.  According to Dr. Vivian Bearing, what is the metaphysical conceit (or essence) of Holy Sonnet IX (If poisonous minerals)?


3.  How does E.M. Ashford’s reading of The Runaway Bunny tie into Holy Sonnet IX and, ultimately, explain the essence of the play?

Wit (2001)

Reminder: Look at last Vlog for important info. See brief excerpt, below:

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

"Wit" by Margaret Edson, Pages 39-51

Poem of the Day: “State Evidence” by Sharon Olds

This week's lessons can be found on this blog post:
For A Block - ELA Lessons for 3/23 - 3/30
For F Block -  ELA Lessons for 3/23 - 3/30

Today's Lesson:  Read Wit by Margaret Edson, Pages 39-51

Assignment:  If you would like to comment on the text, you may use the questions, below.  I posted the film if you would like to see it performed.  Anyone is welcome.

Reading Questions

1.  How could Vivian’s cancer treatment be considered a paradox?

2.  What paradox is unearthed in John Donne’s sonnet “If poisonous minerals”?

3.  In terms of characterization, what parallel is made between Vivian and Jason? How could the comparison be described as ironic?

4.  How dis Vivian treat her students?  How was it similar to E.M. Ashford?  How was it, ultimately, completely different?

Wit (2001)

Reminder: Look at last Vlog for important info. See brief excerpt, below:

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