TODAY IN CLASS
First period, I failed to collect your homework.  My apologies.  No excuses, obviously, for not having 100 percent of the "para-phrases" in by tomorrow.  To the other classes, I will be gentle (but not completely oblivious) concerning late work turned in tomorrow, since 1st period received an unearned day of grace.  Anyone who was absent either Tuesday or Wednesday should have this done for tomorrow, as well.  (See yesterday's post for instructions.)

Quick Hamlet segment:  what kinds of motifs (patterns of diction, repeated imagery, recurring ideas) did you notice in the first two acts of the play?

In all classes, we went over the epic simile graphics for the "in bulk as huge as . . ." comparisons.  Many people seeemed to struggle with this . . .  We got to various points with the other two samples--if we didn't work with both of them in your own section, we will first thing on Thursday.  It is important to be able to "lay out" the details of complicated language, whether we are concerned with epic similes or with any other aspect of style or content.

To anyone absent--we also looked at the reflexive, transitive nature of the "Forthwith he rears . . . " structure.  We'll pull this all together very soon, but what we are leading toward is an understading of how Milton depicts the character of Satan--and obviously (finally!) possible ramifications for PL.

Hand-out:  some "Small Questions" on the five acts of Hamlet.

FOR TOMORROW
Get as far as you can in going over the questions on the hand out for the two acts you have re-read.  Jot down notes or line references on the questions, use annotations in the book, or whatever works, but do NOT do nothing at all with these.  THINK, and do what is necessary to foster solid, text-based, FAST-PACED discussion.