Mrs. Thornton

 Most of us know how Facebook works; imagine that our tragic heroes (Willy Loman, Hamlet, Oedipus, and  Macbeth) are all friends on the site and that their respective tragedies are all occurring at the same time (suspension of disbelief!). Make sure each hero writes at least one original post, and make sure that the other characters comment on each of the original posts. If you need a way to get started, read Sarah Schmelling's humorous take on Hamlet. Have fun!
*For this assignment, you do not have to comment on two other posts.

HAMLET (FACEBOOK NEWS FEED EDITION).

BY SARAH SCHMELLING

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Horatio thinks he saw a ghost.

Hamlet thinks it's annoying when your uncle marries your mother right after your dad dies.

The king thinks Hamlet's annoying.

Laertes thinks Ophelia can do better.

Hamlet's father is now a zombie.

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The king poked the queen.

The queen poked the king back.

Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends.

Marcellus is pretty sure something's rotten around here.

Hamlet became a fan of daggers.

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Polonius says Hamlet's crazy ... crazy in love!

Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet are now friends.

Hamlet wonders if he should continue to exist. Or not.

Hamlet thinks Ophelia might be happier in a convent.

Ophelia removed "moody princes" from her interests.

Hamlet posted an event: A Play That's Totally Fictional and In No Way About My Family

The king commented on Hamlet's play: "What is wrong with you?"

Polonius thinks this curtain looks like a good thing to hide behind.

Polonius is no longer online.

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Hamlet added England to the Places I've Been application.

The queen is worried about Ophelia.

Ophelia loves flowers. Flowers flowers flowers flowers flowers. Oh, look, a river.

Ophelia joined the group Maidens Who Don't Float.

Laertes wonders what in the world happened while he was gone.

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The king sent Hamlet a goblet of wine.

The queen likes wine!

The king likes ... oh darn.

The queen, the king, Laertes, and Hamlet are now zombies.

Horatio says well that was tragic.

Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, says yes, tragic. We'll take it from here.

Denmark is now Norwegian.

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Sarah Schmelling's funny new book Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook will be available in stores on August 25th, 2009.

  Ok, here's another one that's just about literature in general. Sort of. . . 

   What is the purpose of literature? Why do we read? Sure, we all know that readers tend to have higher verbal and writing test scores, but is that what it's all about? 

   Picasso said, "Art is a lie that leads to the truth." Does this have anything to do with our need to read literature? 

   Oak asserts (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-literature.html) that it is through literature we understand life. C.S. Lewis stated that literature "irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become." Explore the purpose of literature for yourself and for mankind in general in this week's blog. 

  Read Adler's essay http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/adler.html and respond. What does the author mean by "active reading"? What does he mean by "Full ownership comes only when you have made it (a book) a part of yourself"?  What does he mean by needing to argue with the teacher? (Horrors!) Finally, decide if you are the type of person who "owns" books. Explain your answers.

P.S. As for me, I rarely write in books unless I'll be using them in class or for study, but the books that I "own" are wrinkled, coffee-stained, dog-eared, and falling apart!

 

Over the years, critics have disagreed as to whether Death of a Salesman can be called a tragedy. Most of the debate centers on whether or not Willy Loman has the stature of a tragic hero. Miller himself has said that he did not set out to "write a tragedy" in this play, but "to show the truth" as he saw it. It is nevertheless clear from his comments about the play that he regards it as a tragedy, with Willy as its hero. In his article "Tragedy and the Common Man" he has written that "the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing - his sense of personal dignity." Is this remark applicable to Willy? Does he have the stature necessary to be a tragic hero? Should I take DoaS out of the Tragedy Unit? Read Miller's article and consider any of Willy's admirable characteristics, desires, motivations, etc. in determining your answer. Explain.

http://theliterarylink.com/miller1.html

  Read Laura Bohannan's article about sharing the story of Hamlet with theTiv of West Africa and respond. What do you think of the tribemembers' interpretations? Did they totally misinterpret Shakespeare's play, or have we not fully realized all the play has to offer? What about Bohannan's colleague's belief that "one can easily misinterpret the universal by misunderstanding the particular"?  Think about Bohannan's experience and discuss.

http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/editors_pick/1966_08-09_pick.html

As he left for college at Wittenburg earlier this year, Hamlet's parents (Gertrude and King Hamlet) gave him a new i-pod and an i-tunes gift card. Now he needs decide what music to download. Here's where you come in. With your vast knowledge of music, choose Hamlet's top three songs. As part of your analysis, list the title and author of each work, briefly summarize the song and/or provide a line or two that Hamlet would especialy enjoy, and then explain what about the song makes it Hamlet's favorite. (Hint, the last part is very important to the analysis!)