Transcript Today’s Agenda (Wed 9.2.09) - Jason Wohlstadter's MJC

Today’s Agenda:
 Return Quizzes , Explain homework, Mention Extra Credit—Rabbi Michael Lerner
 Reminder: Last Class—King Lear…people can be like animals when they don’t follow
the established order; Lear appears stripped of what distinguishes him as superior
to those around him—especially in the storm, battling the elements.
Presentations:
 Carlos Ramirez: Jonson’s biography
 Isabel De Santiago: Metaphysical poetry
 Lyndsey Corral: Donne’s biography
Group Activity on Donne
If time…
•Brief overview of early 17thC—poets, politics, science: ideas of order.
•See the Order/Disorder PowerPoint online (under The 17th C).
•Ben Jonson’s “To Penshurst”
•A prime example of idealistic, conservative views of order
Questions to Consider When Reading John Donne
1. The Norton Anthology sums up Donne‟s style as follows: “With his strange and playful
intelligence, expressed in puns, paradoxes, and elaborately sustained metaphors known as
‘conceits,’ Donne has enthralled and sometimes enraged readers from his day to our own.”
Read the “The Flea” (1264) and then sum it up and explain how the poem seems
characteristic of Donne‟s style.
2. In what ways are the ideas expressed in “The Good Morrow” (1263-4) and “The Sun
Rising” (1266) similar? Who/what is the speaker addressing in each poem, and what lines
stand out as clever in their attempt to persuade their audience?
3. What are some novel images and comparisons that appear in the poems “The
Canonization” (1267-68) and “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (1275-76)?
4. Donne’s poems aren’t known for being soft spoken and traditional but for being bold,
assertive, and provocative in both their tone and their choice of images. How does “Holy
Sonnet 14” (1297-98) appear, then, typical of Donne?
5. Read “Meditation 17” (1305-06). For whom does the bell toll, and what does Donne
suggest this should teach us? Which analogies do you find most striking in this piece?
Homework:
 Read George Herbert (pp. 1605-06): “The Altar” (p. 1607), “Easter
Wings” (p. 1609), “Jordan (1)” (pp. 1611-12), “Jordan (2)” (pp. 1615-16);
Robert Herrick (pp. 1653-54): “The Vine” (pp. 1655-56), “Delight in
Disorder” (p. 1656), “Corinna’s Going A-Maying” (pp. 1658-59), “To the
Virgins” pp. (1659-60); Andrew Marvell (pp. 1695-97): “To His Coy
Mistress” (pp. 1703-04).
 Essay #2 is due Tuesday, Nov 13th. It’s on Shakespeare’s Sonnets,
and its instructions are posted online. Also, we’re using
Turnitin.com (as with Essay 1)