I hope everyone had a good year in English 10 this year. I certainly enjoyed all the work we did together, from our short story unit to our iSearch papers. Reading your final portfolios, I witnessed a lot of growth in your writing throughout the year.
This is the 6th posting for A Midsummer Night's Dream and is due before the end of the day on Wednesday, April 22.
Throughout Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, we've seen a variety of characters acting in some foolish ways, mostly as a result of their emotions. Such behavior mirrors many of the same foolish behaviors you probably experience almost everyday. In an earlier post, you were asked to respond which character acted the most foolish. This response requires you to provide an example of some real-life love-inspired foolish behavior you've experienced.
What is an example of some real-life foolish behavior caused by love? How have people you know acted like a "fool" in love? What happened? How is the behavior you've seen typical of human behavior? How does it connect to A Midsummer Night's Dream? What is it that we can learn about human nature from such behavior?
To earn full credit, your response should fully answer the prompt questions and be relatively free of sloppy mechanical and grammatical errors. Proofread what you write before you post.
This is the 5th and final posting for A Midsummer Night's Dream and is due before the end of the day on Friday, April 10.
This will be a longer, more formal answer so make sure it's written with minimal errors and you fully answer all parts of the prompt.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare presents us with an unusual and fantastic series of events as fairies and mortals mix in the mysterious woods just outside Athens. The four lovers and Nick Bottom each undergo their own experience with the fairy world. However, different characters provide varying takes on the night's strange happenings. Consider the following three reactions/explanations by different characters:
Of the three reactions/explanations, choose one that you believe the most significant or closest to how you might try to explain what happened in the woods. Whom do you believe the most? Bottom, Theseus, or Puck? What is it about their explanation that makes sense to you? Why? Point to specific lines from the play to help make your point.
This is the fourth Midsummer post and is due before class starts on Tuesday, April 7.
This is the third Midsummer blog response and is due before class starts Friday, April 3.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy, which is something that today's television viewers should know a little something about. According to Scholastic Scope magazine, Shakespeare included three kinds of classic mix-ups to help generate some comedy: 1) mistaken identity, 2) love triangles, and 3) strange coincidences. Each of these classic mix-ups are staples on 21st Century comedy shows, or sitcoms. The next time you watch your favorite sitcom or re-run, look for one of those classic mix-ups involving the characters.
Assignment: Select one (1) of the classic mix-ups from above and find an example of it from a popular sitcom you watch. First, describe the mix-up from the sitcom, and then explain how the humor of the mixed-up situation helps increase your enjoyment and appreciation of the show. What makes it so funny?
As with all of these assignments, it is a good practice to write your response in a word processing program so you can better edit and proofread your entry before submitting it. Take heed, this is formal writing and should be treated as such. Don't spurn the capital letter or ignore the necessary punctuation. Be thoughtful of your friend the complete sentence.
Good luck and enjoy!
Finally, if you complete this assignment using something besides a desktop or laptop computer, (say an Itouch or other handheld device) let me know! Announce it at the end of your entry.
This is the second Midsummer blog response and is due before class starts on April 1.
There are many memorable and interesting characters in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. From the love-crazed antics of the young Athenians to the meddling of the magical fairies, Shakespeare has created a fascinating cast of characters.
Who is the one character that interests you the most? What makes him or her interesting? If you had the opportunity to talk to the character, what would you talk about and why? Your blog response should answer these questions in a well-crafted paragraph that makes direct references to events and quotes from the play.
Like with all our blog responses, your response should be of published quality work with minimal errors and all the conventions of formal English. Use full sentences. Capitalize the beginnings of sentences. Avoid the informal language you might use in e-mail, on IM or Facebook.
This is the first Midsummer blog response assignment. It is due before class starts on Thursday, March 26.
We are starting A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is a complex, fanciful play that lays bare the humor and foibles of young love.
To get us started, we tackled the twisted, complex plot. You have been given a basic summary of the storyline of the play, (titled "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"), which covers the play up to the end of Act III. For your reference, there is a version of the summary here.Your assignment now is to take this mixed-up love mess and bring it to a conclusion with a happy ending. As it stands right now, everything is messed up and needs resolution. Assume the role of a narrator and finish the story. This is your chance to control how this all turns out before we see Shakespeare's version in the play.
A couple things to remember before completing your posting: 1) your story must have a happy ending, just like a Shakespearean comedy would. 2) you must come up with a way to solve the problems of a majority of the characters. 3) your creative ending must be in the form of a story, continuing the storyline you've been given. Try to be creative and come up with an original, even outrageous, way to wrap up this storyline. As with all entries, you might consider writing on a word processing program first so you can proofread, edit, and continuously save before your final posting. Saving it in a word processing program will also cover you in case there's a problem posting.
