Literature 7-8
Review and application. Please read carefully and respond in complete sentences to the embedded questions and instructions. Due no later than 3:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, May 1.
1. One of the questions from "Cub Pilot": "According to Twain on p. 374, he continues to profit from his experience as a pilot-in-training (a "cub pilot"). How can that be, since he isn't a pilot anymore?" A lot of people got this wrong, and it's an important one. Twain wrote, "I got personally and familiarly acquainted with about all the different types of human nature that are to be found in fiction, biography, or history." In your own words, what does he mean?
2. This doesn't just work on steamboats, of course. When you are old enough to hold down a job, you will likely have a similar experience. Working brings you into contact with many different kinds of people: co-workers, customers and clients, bosses, and so on. Your knowledge of human nature is expanded, and not always in pleasant ways. What is the main idea of this paragraph, in your own words?
3. Find an adult nearby that you can talk to. Ask this person what he or she learned about human nature by being in the working world. Whom did you ask and what did he or she say?
4. We see the same thing when we are together at school. Even at a small school like ours, you come into contact with an array of personalities among students, teachers, and others. And for many of you, this is not your first school. This can be an enriching experience as we learn to value and learn from the abilities and perspectives of others. Honestly, it can be a difficult experience, too, when others don't understand us or don't respect us. I hope your experience at RTCS has been mostly a positive one. According to this paragraph, what are two sides of the school experience?
5. Mark Twain's "school" on the steamboat was made much more difficult by the teasing (by George Ritchie) and especially the bullying (by Brown). Learning all the little quirks of the Mississippi would have been plenty hard, anyway; the personal stresses made it much harder. But, later on at least, Twain was able to see the value of the experience beyond his life on the river. What was that lesson again?
6. Attending school remotely, as you have discovered by now, has its good side and its not so good side. You no longer have to deal with difficult people at school in the same way, which may be a relief. At the same time, you are missing out on their humor, their help, and their friendship. No matter how often you text, call, or Skype, it's just not the same. God created us to be social creatures, even those of us who really value our time away from others. We learn, and grow, and flourish in community with each other. Being with others can be a real challenge, but as Twain recognizes, even the bad experiences can ultimately have value for us. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
7. We have also been cut off from our churches to some extent. Church people can be difficult sometimes, just like school people and home people. So can we. It is right to miss the fellowship of believers. But even the difficult ones have been put in our path by a God who rules over all and knows what he is doing. In the church community, just like in other communities, we can learn from the difficult people as well as the ones we love to be around. What we are supposed to learn may not appear right away; Twain made his discovery years later. But if we believe what the Bible teaches, none of our experiences is random, and none of the people in our lives are there merely by chance. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
8. Back to literature. Literature can be enjoyed alone or with other people. And one of the great things about literature is not just the enjoyment of a good story or poem or learning about something that interests us. Literature can be a way of helping us understand other people better. In literature, people often reveal what is important to them, what motivates them, what they fear, and what they love. Good literature can be a window into another person's life, or even their soul. Good books like The Banner in the Sky or A Wrinkle in Time can expand not only our vocabulary and our imaginations, but our ability to understand others, and even ourselves. Literature can help us connect not only with people in our own time and place, but with people of long ago and far away. Humanity hasn't changed much over time. Literature can help us discover what makes people tick. How does literature help us understand others?
9. We might ask why we should we care about other people anyway. In many ways our culture teaches us to be selfish, to think of ourselves first--our desires, our priorities, our happiness, etc. All of us do this sometimes; many people do this a lot. But Christian believers, when we are being consistent with who we are, have different priorities. You remember from the gospel of Luke, when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he said there are two: Love God and love your neighbor. The experiences we have in the real world can help us know our neighbor better so that we can love him better. the experiences we have in literature can serve the same purpose. Literature can help us understand God better (very important); it can also help us understand ourselves better (also important). But literature--poems, plays, novels, stories, nonfiction--can help us understand our neighbors better so that we can love them wisely and bring glory to God as we do so. Choose one of the poems by Robert Frost and explain in about 50 words how it can help us as readers to understand our neighbor better.
American Literature
Please read carefully and respond in complete sentences unless there is an asterisk. Due no later than 3:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, May 1.
1. You can't have the full experience of Spoon River Anthology simply by reading and studying a couple of the poems. That is worth doing, which is why I made you do it. But the book is not just a random collection of individual voices. These people are connected in death as they were in life. Several of the dead tell pieces of the story they know--or think they know--but the reader gets the full story, and it often makes for interesting reading. Secrets kept hidden in life are revealed in death. The bodies are buried, but the truth rises up. If you are interested in reading more, check out the book online here. So why is the whole book worth reading?
"Mr. Flood's Party" by Edward Arlington Robinson (516ff.). (Overview)
2. Read "About the Author. a) What life-long emotional issue did he deal with? b) What made him feel like a failure? c) What success did he experience? d) In what sense was he a "bridge"?
3. Read the poem aloud or listen to it here. a) Which did you do? b) What are your initial impressions of the poem (25 words)?
4. Technical matters. a) How many strong beats are there per line? b) Give the rhyme pattern of the first stanza (all the stanzas use the same one).
5. Vocabulary*. Write the word and its meaning in context: a) hermitage; b) convivial; c) acquiesce; d) auld lang syne.
6. Allusions (see footnotes). a) What is an allusion? b) What are the possible allusions in line 11? c) What is the allusion in line 20? d) What is the allusion in line 42 & 49? e) What does it suggest about Mr. Flood that he can make such allusions even in his rather unsteady condition?
7. The jug. a) What do you think is in it, and why? b) How does the jug account for Mr. Flood's being out tonight?
8. Monologue and dialogue. a) What is a monologue? b) What is a dialogue? c) Briefly explain how, in this poem, a monologue is a dialogue.
British Literature
Due no later than 3:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, May 1.
1. Reflect on yesterday's Zoom session and respond in complete sentences. a) In what ways did you participate in the session, other than simply being there? b) What was something specific that you learned? c) For you personally, what was the most valuable aspect of the session? d) Make a suggestion to improve our next session. It can relate to me, to your classmates, to yourself, or to the format we used. e) I plan to meet with you for Bible next. Make a suggestion about the best way to use our time.
2. The Lord of the Flies. We will start reading it next week. What steps have you taken to secure a copy? Please respond.
3. The Power and the Glory. Respond in complete sentences. You may consult your notes and email responses. a) What would you say is the theme of the novel? Briefly explain why you think so. b) Make a list of 10 motifs that you noticed in the novel. This does not have to be in sentence form. c) Choose one of these motifs that seems especially important. Give at least 5 examples of it. If you can't come up with 5, pick a different one. d) Mr. Tench is the first character we meet and one of the last we hear from, though he is a secondary character. Tell me about him (50 words). e) Does Mr. Tench tie in to any of your 10 motifs? Which ones? How? Tell me about several, but you don't have to cover them all.
C.S. Lewis
If you have not responded yet to any of your classmates' observations and questions, you should do so before tomorrow.
Luke and Acts
Read Acts 17:24-34. Respond in complete sentences. Due no later than 3:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, May 1.
1. Review. a) Why is Paul in Athens in the first place? b) At what places in Athens has he already spoken about Jesus? c) Where is he speaking now? d) What did he say that was intended to get his audience's attention?
2. Paul's speech. a) Why do you suppose he doesn't use any Bible quotations, which is his usual method? b) He does allude to Genesis 1, however. How does he identify God? c) What does he say about temples? d) What is something Stephen said about the temple in ch. 7? e) God doesn't need us, but we need him. According to Paul, what do we depend on him for? f) Why are people scattered all over the earth? g) What does God want these and all people to do? h) Paul doesn't quote from the Bible, but who does he quote from? i) These people were not inspired in the way the Bible is inspired, but some of the things they said about God were still true. Like what?
j) What mistake (that the Athenians have made) should people avoid? k) What warning does Paul give them? l) He doesn't refer to Jesus by name. How does he refer to Jesus? m) He gets a mixed reaction to this speech. Explain. n) What is another story in Acts where there is a mixed reaction like this? Briefly explain.
Poets and Prophets
Please read the following carefully and respond as requested in complete sentences. Numbers 1-5 are due no later than 3:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, May 1. Numbers 6-10 are due no later than Monday at noon. Do not turn in any part of this assignment today.
Rhetoric in Isaiah 40
1. As we have been using the word, "rhetoric" means the art of persuasion. Rhetorical devices help to get our attention. Rhetorical devices help to make ideas clear. Rhetorical devices help to make ideas memorable. Rhetorical devices help to make ideas attractive and therefore persuasive. a) I have just used the rhetorical device of anaphora. What does that mean? b) What are 3 ways in which rhetorical devices are helpful?
2. The poets and prophets we have been studying in this course make much use of rhetorical devices. Such devices are desirable because people can be inattentive or distracted. There may be gaps in their knowledge that need to be filled in, or they may need to be reminded. All of us can be forgetful, after all. And sometimes people resist paying attention for spiritual reasons. Strange as it may seem, in their rebellion they want to have blind eyes, deaf ears, and hard hearts. a) I have used the rhetorical device of cataloguing. What does that mean? b) What are 3 reasons even a believer may benefit from rhetorical devices?
3. Isaiah 40 uses a number of devices to get our attention. One general technique is repetition. It can be repetition of the same exact words. a) Give an example from this chapter. Repetition can also take the form of parallelism, a common feature of Hebrew poetry. b) Define this term. Look at v. 10 in the NIV. c) What terms correspond to: "Sovereign Lord?" "comes with power"? " his reward is with him"? Anaphora is another for of repetition. d) Give an example from this chapter.
4. It's not exactly repetition, but using language from the same lexical field works in a similar way. a) Define "lexical field." b) Identify the lexical field of vv. 18-20. c) Specify 5 words used in this strophe that belong to this lexical field.
5. Familiar images and metaphors that connect to our daily lives can be a way to help us understand and remember. These images can come from nature or from human activity. a) What is a striking natural image that Isaiah uses here? b) What is the point that he is making? c) What is a striking image of human activity that he uses here? d) What is the point that he is making?
6. Such images most often relate to sight and hearing, less often to the sense of touch and smell, and perhaps least often to the sense of taste. a) Why do you suppose that is? b) Which Bible book that we have studied did make much use of smell and taste senses?
7. We tend to remember best those things that have either been especially pleasant or especially terrible. Images also often have emotional connections. In this chapter there really aren't any negative ones, so a) name one in Job 3. b) Name another in Ps. 22. c) Quote Ecclesiastes 10:1 as another example.
8. We have seen that chanting and singing can be a good way to get someone's attention and to make words attractive and memorable. What evidence is there that Is. 40 was originally chanted?
9. Isaiah uses many rhetorical questions in this chapter, but those are obvious. He also likes to use contrasting language and tone, but we don't see that here. a) Explain how the two parts of Is. 2 contrast. b) Explain how the two parts of Is. 9 contrast.
10. Language that has a recognizable structure also aids our understanding and our memory. When something seems random to us, it helps if we can reorganize it. Structure can even be a beautiful thing; chiasms can be very satisfying. You have already written about the structure of this chapter; these notes and questions have been carefully organized too. If you can, briefly tell me how.
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