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1st 6 weeks 1st Semester

Edmund Spenser

Christopher Marlowe

Henry VIII

Sir Thomas 

Monday October 13th- Friday October 17th

Due THIS lab day: TYPED response to Monty Python AND reading of Morte D'Arthur.

The majority of the medieval stories should be read by this week, including Morte D'Arthur, The Pardoner's Tale, The Prologue, and the ballads we read in class. You should also understand the history of the medieval period, such as the Feudal system, who it was devised by, along with leaders who were replaced/ killed by new kings. Some of the review you'll need can be found here. 

Please bring your ID card with you so you can pick up Hamlet.

In-Class:  

We will go the library to pick up Hamlet.

We will go over the story, Everyman.

Quick review, then Medieval unit history test.

Introduction to the Renaissance. We will look at Marlowe's works, including Dr. Faustus and then Edmund Spenser's sonnets. We will then go over how to write a sonnet in iambic pentameter form. If time permits, we will begin reading Macbeth. 

We will begin reading William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Assignments:

Read pages 190-199 regarding the history of the Renaissance. Prepare yourself for a test on this material by next lab day. 

Write up a sonnet about yourself (must have your NAME in the poem) and make sure that all lines have the correct number of syllables, correct rhyming scheme, etc. Include details about your life, school, etc. It can be about anything you want, but should be based on your life with your name, that way I can tell it's YOUR name. This will be due next lab day.

  Complete reading Act I of Hamlet by next lab day. There will be a test on this act next lab day.

The sonnet is actually a lot easier to write than you might believe. It simply consists of each line containing exactly ten syllables, and rhyming in the ab, ab, cd, cd, format. It is a total of fourteen lines and the last two lines rhyme in aa format, otherwise known as a couplet. Your sonnet can be about anything you so choose, as long as it is school appropriate. The sonnet can be about a person, a place, an experience, the misery of writing a sonnet, anything really, the trick is in getting every line to have exactly ten syllables. Make sure you write your own sonnets, please. I am aware that there are thousands of sonnets available online, but nothing would be worse than me running into your sonnet from someone else's site, especially using the school's infamous cheat site! Please be wise, write your own sonnet

Information: Many people regard The Renaissance as one of the most important times in British literature. Shakespeare is the name that stands out the most, but Marlowe also stands out for his writing about a tragic man called Dr, Faustus, based upon a real German who supposedly sold his soul to the devil. Other historical figures also stand out, such as Henry VIII, known for his six wives, and Sir Thomas More. 

A quote from Anne Boleyn as she prepares to have her head cut off: 

"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul."

After being blindfolded and kneeling at the block, she repeated several times:
"To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesu receive my soul."