Assignment for Monday, November 3

Read and annotate to the end of Act 1 (p. 17) in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. Email (mrmontasmph@gmail.com) your answers to two of the following questions before class on Monday. (If you have misplaced your copy of the book, here is a reliable online edition of the play, but the line numbers do not match those below.)

1. When his brother is present, Don John masks his ill will. However, Shakespeare often gives his villains opportunities to confess their secret thoughts to the audience. Write a monologue for Don John (at least eight lines) that he might speak at the end of Act 1, scene 3, after Borachio and Conrad have left. Write it in the same prose style that Don John uses earlier in the scene.

2. In Act 1, we see Benedick the returning soldier, carefree and unconcerned with love. But is he? Write two entries from Benedick's diary: one written that evening, and one written after an earlier meeting with Beatrice before he went away to war. What does he really think of Beatrice? What are his thoughts after their latest "skirmish of wit" in Act 1, scene 1, lines 94-119?

3. This play has many powerful men: two princes (Don Pedro and Don John), a count (Claudio), a signor (Benedick), and a governor (Leonato). How do Beatrice and Hero cope with being around such potentially intimidating men? Why would Beatrice and Hero be so close when they have such different, even contrasting, personalities?

The preceding questions were adapted from the second edition of The Cambridge School Shakespeare edition of Much Ado about Nothing (2005).

Assignments for Friday, Oct. 24, and Tuesday, Oct. 28

By the end of Friday's class, email to me at least five entries for your annotated bibliography (mrmontasmph@gmail.com). During class, you may work on your annotated bibliography or, if you have a Nov. 1 application deadline, you may work on your college essay. 

By the end of Tuesday's class, email to me at least 8 entries for your annotated bibliography. You will work on it in class, but you'll want to have as much done as possible so I can tell you how to improve it during class.  

Assignment for Monday, Oct. 20

Read one of the three articles on Shakespeare's language that are linked below, then read the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and one of the two sonnets that are also linked. In class, we will discuss the sonnets in light of the information presented in the article, and we will begin Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. Lastly, we will go over the expectations for the annotated bibliography.

Article 1: Read this if Shakespeare is difficult for you.
Article 2: Read this if you're okay with reading Shakespeare, but you don't consider it a strong suit.
Article 3: Read this if you've done pretty well with reading Shakespeare in previous classes. Don't worry about remembering the names of rhetorical devices; focus on what their descriptions and the examples.

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene 2, ll. 1-49
Sonnet 116
Sonnet 138

Prompts for the In-Class Essay on Thursday, Oct. 16

Here are the prompts you developed in class for Thursday's essay on Eyal Press's Beautiful Souls. I will select two of them, and you will write about one of them. This means you should prepare two of the prompts to cover your bases. 

Don't overlook the notes you took about how to write an in-class essay. I will let you use those notes (and your book), but those notes should guide your preparation for the essay. When you come into class, you should have a preliminary thesis, key supporting points, and relevant evidence for two of the prompts. The prompts will be worded a little differently, but their essence will be the same. 

1. Compare societies and conditions that lead people to act on their consciences. Refer to at least two. 

2. What defines a person's moral tipping point?  At what point would someone say, "We have to change what we're doing"? How far could someone go? (Refer to at least two of the people discussed in the book.)

3. When is it okay for your conscience to override the law? (Just to clarify, your response to this prompt needs to address the tension between following your conscience and following orders.) This prompt will probably ask you to discuss the significance of the term "beautiful souls" and allow you to discuss the character you most relate to. The emphasis, however, is on the first part, your conscience and the law. You'll have to refer to at least two of the people discussed in the book. 

Assignments for Tuesday, Oct. 14, and Thursday, Oct. 16

Tuesday, Oct. 14: Read and annotate up to p. 174 in Press's Beautiful Souls. In class, we will first discuss the reading, then you will read the Epilogue, and we'll conclude by developing questions for Thursday's in-class essay. 

Thursday, Oct. 16: You will write an in-class essay on Beautiful Souls. Prepare two of the three potential topics we agreed on in class. (You will write one essay, and you can use your book.) 

Assignment for Tuesday, October 7

In Press's Beautiful Souls, read and annotate pp. 47-84 (chapter 2, "Defying the Group"). Write a well-developed paragraph that explains how the challenges faced by this chapter's main character differ from those faced by Paul Gruninger.

For those who are interested, here is an interview with Christopher Browning, author of Ordinary Men.