Gr 11-English Home Language-Study Guide Literature 2

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ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE STUDY GUIDE: LITERATURE Grade 11

A member of the FUTURELEARN group

English Home Language Study guide: Literature

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Grade 11

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Study Guide G11 ~ English Home Language: Literature

CONTENTS PREFACE ............................................................................................................................ 6 RECOMMENDED BOOKS............................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 6 YEAR PLAN ........................................................................................................................ 7 LESSON ELEMENTS........................................................................................................ 10

UNIT 1: PRESCRIBED POEMS AND OTHELLO ............................................................. 11 LESSON 1: “Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot .............................................................. 15 ACTIVITY 1 ................................................................................................................ 21 LESSON 2: Introduction to Othello by William Shakespeare ......................................... 21 ACTIVITY 2 ................................................................................................................ 26 LESSON 3: Shakespeare’s language ............................................................................ 34 ACTIVITY 3 ................................................................................................................ 37 LESSON 4: Act 1, Scene 1 (Part 1) of Othello ............................................................... 45 ACTIVITY 4 ................................................................................................................ 49 LESSON 5: “A Piece of Earth” by Douglas Livingstone.................................................. 49 ACTIVITY 5 ................................................................................................................ 53 LESSON 6: Act 1, Scene 1 (Part 2) of Othello ............................................................... 54 ACTIVITY 6 ................................................................................................................ 55 LESSON 7: Act 1, Scene 2 of Othello ............................................................................ 56 ACTIVITY 7 ................................................................................................................ 60 LESSON 8: Act 1, Scene 3 (Part 1) of Othello ............................................................... 60 ACTIVITY 8 ................................................................................................................ 62 LESSON 9: Act 1, Scene 3 (Part 2) of Othello ............................................................... 62 ACTIVITY 9 ................................................................................................................ 64 LESSON 10: Act 2, Scene 1 (Part 1) of Othello ............................................................. 65 ACTIVITY 10 .............................................................................................................. 69 LESSON 11: “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas ..................... 70 ACTIVITY 11 .............................................................................................................. 75 LESSON 12: Act 2, Scene 1 (Part 2) of Othello ............................................................. 75 ACTIVITY 12 .............................................................................................................. 77 LESSON 13: Act 2, Scene 2 of Othello .......................................................................... 77

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Study Guide G11 ~ English Home Language: Literature

ACTIVITY 13 .............................................................................................................. 79 LESSON 14: Act 2, Scene 3 (Part 1) of Othello ............................................................. 79 ACTIVITY 14 .............................................................................................................. 81 LESSON 15: Act 2, Scene 3 (Part 2) of Othello ............................................................. 81 ACTIVITY 15 .............................................................................................................. 82 LESSON 16: Act 3, Scenes 1 and 2 of Othello .............................................................. 83 ACTIVITY 16 .............................................................................................................. 87 LESSON 17: “London” by William Blake ........................................................................ 87 ACTIVITY 17 .............................................................................................................. 90 LESSON 18: Act 3, Scene 3 (Part 1) of Othello ............................................................. 90 ACTIVITY 18 .............................................................................................................. 93

UNIT 2: PRESCRIBED POEMS, OTHELLO AND UNSEEN POEM ................................. 94 LESSON 19: Act 3, Scene 3 (Part 2) of Othello ............................................................. 94 ACTIVITY 19 .............................................................................................................. 96 LESSON 20: Act 3, Scene 3 (Part 3) of Othello ............................................................. 96 ACTIVITY 20 .............................................................................................................. 98 LESSON 21: Act 3, Scene 4 of Othello .......................................................................... 99 ACTIVITY 21 ............................................................................................................ 101 LESSON 22: “Their Lonely Betters” by W.H. Auden .................................................... 101 ACTIVITY 22 ............................................................................................................ 105 LESSON 23: Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 1) of Othello ........................................................... 105 ACTIVITY 23 ............................................................................................................ 108 LESSON 24: Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 2) of Othello ........................................................... 108 ACTIVITY 24 ............................................................................................................ 111 LESSON 25: Act 4, Scene 2 (Part 1) of Othello ........................................................... 111 ACTIVITY 25 ............................................................................................................ 113 LESSON 26: Act 4, Scene 2 (Part 2) of Othello ........................................................... 113 ACTIVITY 26 ............................................................................................................ 116 LESSON 27: Approaching an unseen poem ................................................................ 116 ACTIVITY 27 ............................................................................................................ 119 LESSON 28: Act 4, Scene 3 of Othello ........................................................................ 119 ACTIVITY 28 ............................................................................................................ 120 LESSON 29: Writing the Othello literary essay ............................................................ 120 © Impaq

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ACTIVITY 29 ............................................................................................................ 123 LESSON 30: Act 5, Scene 1 of Othello ........................................................................ 124 ACTIVITY 30 ............................................................................................................ 126 LESSON 31: Act 5, Scene 2 (Part 1) of Othello ........................................................... 127 ACTIVITY 31 ............................................................................................................ 128 LESSON 32: Act 5, Scene 2 (Part 2) of Othello ........................................................... 129 ACTIVITY 32 ............................................................................................................ 130

UNIT 3: PRESCRIBED POEMS, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS AND AN UNSEEN POEM ......................................................................................................................................... 133 LESSON 33: “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning ................................................. 133 ACTIVITY 33 ............................................................................................................ 139 LESSON 34: Background and Chapter 1 of The Fault in Our Stars ............................. 139 ACTIVITY 34 ............................................................................................................ 144 LESSON 35: Chapter 2 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 144 ACTIVITY 35 ............................................................................................................ 147 LESSON 36: Chapter 3 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 147 ACTIVITY 36 ............................................................................................................ 149 LESSON 37: Chapter 4 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 150 ACTIVITY 37 ............................................................................................................ 151 LESSON 38: “The Night Train” by Fhazel Johennesse ................................................ 152 ACTIVITY 38 ............................................................................................................ 154 LESSON 39: Chapter 5 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 155 ACTIVITY 39 ............................................................................................................ 157 LESSON 40: Chapter 6 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 158 ACTIVITY 40 ............................................................................................................ 160 LESSON 41: Chapter 7 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 160 ACTIVITY 41 ............................................................................................................ 162 LESSON 42: Chapter 8 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 162 ACTIVITY 42 ............................................................................................................ 164 LESSON 43: “The Secret of the Machines” by Rudyard Kipling .................................. 164 ACTIVITY 43 ............................................................................................................ 169 LESSON 44: Chapter 9 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................................ 169 ACTIVITY 44 ............................................................................................................ 170

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LESSON 45: Chapter 10 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 170 ACTIVITY 45 ............................................................................................................ 173 LESSON 46: Chapter 11 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 173 ACTIVITY 46 ............................................................................................................ 176 LESSON 47: Unseen poem – “Word War” by Ruth Everson........................................ 177 ACTIVITY 47 ............................................................................................................ 178 LESSON 48: Chapter 12 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 179 ACTIVITY 48 ............................................................................................................ 183 LESSON 49: Chapter 13 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 183 ACTIVITY 49 ............................................................................................................ 185 LESSON 50: Chapters 14 and 15 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................ 185 ACTIVITY 50 A ......................................................................................................... 187 ACTIVITY 50 B ......................................................................................................... 188

UNIT 4: PRESCRIBED POEMS AND THE FAULT IN OUR STARS .............................. 189 LESSON 51: Chapters 16 and 17 of The Fault in Our Stars ........................................ 189 ACTIVITY 51 A ......................................................................................................... 190 ACTIVITY 51 B ......................................................................................................... 191 LESSON 52: “Walking Away” by Cecil Day-Lewis ....................................................... 191 ACTIVITY 52 ............................................................................................................ 194 LESSON 53: Chapter 18 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 194 ACTIVITY 53 ............................................................................................................ 195 LESSON 54: Chapter 19 of The Fault in Our Stars ..................................................... 196 ACTIVITY 54 ............................................................................................................ 197 LESSON 55: Chapter 20 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 197 ACTIVITY 55 ............................................................................................................. 198 LESSON 56: Chapter 21 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 199 ACTIVITY 56 ............................................................................................................ 200 LESSON 57: “Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought” by William Shakespeare ........................................................................................ 200 ACTIVITY 57 ............................................................................................................ 204 LESSON 58: The literary essay – novel: The Fault in Our Stars .................................. 204 ACTIVITY 58 ............................................................................................................ 206 LESSON 59: Chapter 22 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 207 ACTIVITY 59 ............................................................................................................ 208 © Impaq

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LESSON 60: Chapter 23 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 209 ACTIVITY 60 ............................................................................................................ 211 LESSON 61: Chapter 24 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 211 ACTIVITY 61 ............................................................................................................ 213 LESSON 62: Chapter 25 of The Fault in Our Stars ...................................................... 213 ACTIVITY 62 ............................................................................................................ 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 216

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Study Guide G11 ~ English Home Language: Literature

Unit

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UNIT 1: PRESCRIBED POEMS AND OTHELLO

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After you have completed the units in this guide you must be able to do the following: • • • •

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Know and understand the poems prescribed for Grade 11 this year.

Have a working knowledge of the poets who have written the poems and their era as it relates to material of the poems.

Have a good understanding of the text of Othello.

You must have: o acquired the skills of critical analysis, synthesis, research and notetaking as well as the writing of coherent and articulate explanations; o accumulated knowledge of the writer in the context of his era, rhetorical techniques in poetry, poetry form and style conventions and themes; o explored attitudes and points of view reflected in the themes of the texts; made value judgements about the aesthetic merits of the texts and ethical concerns raised in the texts.

Introduction The poems for this year have been selected to give you the opportunity to study writing from different times and different locations in the world. You will be exposed to work by Renaissance, Romantic, Victorian and Modern poets from America, Great Britain and South Africa. Remember that they each represent a voice that speaks to the concerns of their time as well as their location. It should become clear to you that there are universal messages in each of the poems, which speak very clearly to us all today no matter where we live. Whether the poems represent poverty, hopelessness, love, death or the natural world, each one has something powerful and moving to communicate to us. Try to be open to what the poet is saying and how this is achieved.

You will have an opportunity to study a play written by an icon of English literature – William Shakespeare. We are so fortunate to have the genius of this man as a model for the very best that there can be in literature. Having said this, it is perfectly understandable that students find studying a Shakespearean play very daunting. For this reason this course offers a comprehensive set of notes and recommendations for other very helpful resources to make this text accessible. Try to approach this part of your syllabus with a positive attitude and you will be amazed at how rewarding you will find it in the end.

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IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY Persona and poetic voice

Sometimes the poet speaks to us directly, but sometimes s/he adopts a separate persona and speaks to us in an adopted voice.

Diction

The poet’s choice of words.

Imagery

Any method by which language creates pictures in your mind, like comparisons, contrasts and shifts. Examples of such methods include metaphor, simile, personification, oxymoron, synecdoche, meiosis and many others.

Rhetorical devices

These include wordplay like puns, as well as irony, sarcasm, climax, anticlimax, bathos and variations of these.

Allusion

Occurs when the poet wishes to extend his meaning by borrowing references to other literary works, particularly mythological or biblical sources in older works; while modern poets tend to reflect classical novels and historical events.

Sound devices

These are aids in versification like rhyme, rhythm, metre, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia.

Poetic forms

Conventional poetry forms include the sonnet, the ode, the villanelle, rhyming couplets and quatrains, narrative poetry, etc.

Glossary of literary terms Alliteration Assonance Ballad

Colloquial

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The repetition of consonant sounds. For example, the “d” sounds in “dancing daffodils”.

The repetition of vowel sounds. For example, the “o” sounds in “bones grow slowly”.

Traditionally a song that told a story, with much rhyme and repetition.

Stanzas in a ballad are usually four lines long with the rhyme in the second and fourth line. A ballad was told (and changed slightly) over many generations.

Colloquial language is casual and ordinary; it is not formal.

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Couplet

Dramatic monologue Enjambment Euphemism

Figurative language

First person

Foot Hyperbole Imagery Irony Juxtaposition

Literal

Lyric poetry

Metaphor

Metre

Octet

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Two lines of poetry, one after the other. The two lines usually rhyme and are more or less the same length. A Shakespearean sonnet always ends with a rhyming couplet.

A speech made by one person (sometimes in a play) that tells some sort of a story or contributes to the plot.

When there is no punctuation mark at the end of a line of poetry.

When you try to soften what you are saying by substituting the obvious statement for something more subtle. For example, instead of saying someone “died”, you say they “passed away”. “Passed away” is a euphemism.

When you use metaphor or simile instead of literal or plain fact. For example, if you say “I’m freezing”, you do not mean you are literally turning into ice; you mean you are very cold. You are merely comparing the cold you are feeling to the idea of freezing.

Of narrative perspectives: when you say “I” or “we” you are talking in the first person. When you say “you” you are talking in the second person, When you say “he/she/it/they” you are talking in the third person. For example, the sentence “I read a poem” is in the first person; “You read a poem” is in the second person.

See Metre below.

Extreme exaggeration to get a point across. E.g. “I’ve been waiting forever!”

Word pictures created by the poet. Often refers to figurative language.

Saying the opposite of what you mean. For example, saying to someone who has left something behind, “That’s clever of you”.

Putting two things next to each other for the point of contrast and emphasis. When a poet puts one image next to another, he is juxtaposing the images, which is very obvious when the juxtaposed things are different. For example, “She roared like a lion. He squeaked like a mouse.”

When something is absolutely true; there is no comparison being made.

For example, if you say “It’s literally freezing”, the temperature on the thermometer is below 0 degrees.

Until about the 1700s, lyric poetry was poetry meant to be sung (as in song lyrics). At the height of Romantic poetry, lyric poetry often sounded musical, but the term “lyric poetry” usually just meant poetry that expressed the poet’s thoughts and feelings.

A comparison where one thing is said to be another. For example, if you say of someone, “She is an angel”. A metaphor can also be less direct figurative language.

In poetry, the metre is the way the poet has arranged the beats in a line. “iambic tetrameter” (tetra means four). We’ll go into more detail in the analysis of Thomas’s poem.

A stanza of eight lines, usually the first eight lines of a sonnet.

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Ode

A poem addressed to a person or a thing, usually praising that person or thing.

Onomatopoeia When a word actually sounds like the thing it is describing, like “splash”, “squelch” or “buzz”.

Oxymoron Two contradictory words placed side by side, such as “clearly confused”, “act naturally”, or “random order”.

Paradox Something that seems at first to be a contradiction, but is actually true.

For example, “more haste, less speed”, which means if you are in a great hurry you often make mistakes and take more time in the end.

Personification A particular type of metaphor when an inanimate thing is given human qualities. For example, “the sun smiled down”. The sun can’t smile, it is being compared to a person’s face. The sun is being personified.

Poet laureate A renowned or distinguished poet appointed by a government, and who then sometimes has to write poetry for official occasions.

Pun Using a word with two meanings, usually to be funny. For example, a pun on the word “draw”: “Ask the artist for money, he can just draw the cash.”

Quatrain A stanza of four lines.

Rhetorical A question asked that is either not meant to be answered or has such question an obvious answer that the question is asked simply to emphasise a point.

Rhythm The pattern of stressed and unstressed beats in a line. (See Metre.)

Rhyme When words at the ends of lines of poetry sound the same. For example, Hear the beat, feel the heat, take a seat.

Internal rhyme is when words inside a poem’s lines (not at the ends of the lines) sound the same.

Romantic A style of poetry written mostly in the 1800s, especially by poets like poetry Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, and Blake. Romantic poetry emphasises emotion and individual experience. Romantic poetry often draws on nature for inspiration and metaphors. For Romantic poets, nature represented what was pure and ideal about the world.

Satire Making fun of something to make a point. For example, if you imitate your teacher being angry to make a point that he is harsh and unfair, then you are satirising your teacher.

Second person Of narrative perspective: writing “you” as though through the point of view of someone other than “I/we” (first person) or “he/she/it/they” (third person). See First Person above.

Sestet A stanza of six lines.

Simile When two things are compared, using the words “like” or “as”. For example, “He is as tall as a giraffe” or “She is like an angel”. (See Metaphor above.) © Impaq

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Sonnet

Stanza Style Third person

Tone

Villanelle

Unit

1

A particular type of a poem with 14 lines and regular rhythm, and usually 10 syllables in each line. There are two types of sonnets: 1.

Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet has eight lines (octet) with matching rhyme patterns, and then a shift in ideas and rhyme pattern in the last six lines (sestet).

2.

Shakespearean (or Elizabethan or English) sonnet has three sections of four lines (quatrains) with matching rhyme patterns, and then the last two lines that rhyme (a rhyming couplet). The couplet usually presents the most important idea of the poem.

A section or set of lines in a poem, separated by space from the other sections of the poem.

The way something is written. For example, a poem can be written in formal, chatty, dramatic, informal, etc. poetic styles.

Of narrative perspective: writing “he/she/it/they” as though through the point of view of someone other than “I/we” (first person) or “you” (second person). See First Person above.

The feeling created by the word selection of a poem or author. The poet can’t give expression in his or her voice, so the words have to tell you what expression – what tone – to use.

A form of poem that usually has 19 lines in six stanzas and a special arrangement of rhyme and lines.

LESSON 1: “Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot 1.1

The Poem

JOURNEY OF THE MAGI

T.S Eliot

‘A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’

And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling and running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it.

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At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness, And three trees on the low sky, And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel, Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver, And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember, And I would do it again, but set down This set down This: were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

1.2

Background

Eliot wrote this poem in 1927 just after he had converted to the Anglican faith. This marked a turning point in the themes he brought into his work from poems illustrating the plight of modern urban man to issues centring more on religion and faith. He is most famous among English poets for his modernist poetry, and wrote works that are considered to be masterpieces of English literature. He completely broke away from traditional forms of poetry and developed a style as unique as it is difficult. You will notice few conventional images like metaphors or similes in his writing, and certainly little in the way of rhyme or formal structure.

The challenge in understanding his poems has much to do with following the allusions he builds into his work from all over – art, music, Shakespeare, the Bible, Dante, novelists of his time – which all contribute to the layers of meaning Eliot packs into each line. He also Š Impaq

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makes use of symbols to contribute to the atmosphere and mood of the poem. Watch out for these because there is not one word in each line that has not been placed there specifically to evoke a particular response (or sometimes several diverse responses felt simultaneously). He believed in a thing called the “objective correlative” where a reader experiences certain feelings in relation to an object (or set of objects) in the poem. You see, Eliot intends you to read his poetry with all your senses at the ready.

1.3

Theme

We are all familiar with the story of the Three Wise Men who travelled from faraway lands to Bethlehem having heard of the prophecy that a saviour would be born to the world. They brought the child gifts befitting such a momentous occasion. T.S. Eliot picks up on this wondrous Christmas legend and gives it an interesting twist. Told from the point of view of one of the Magi reminiscing about the journey years later when he is old, he realises that the birth that he had been so desirous of celebrating has brought about a world so different that he no longer has a place in it. Eliot turns the myth completely on its head so that instead of a tone of joyous celebration, it becomes a complaint about the rigours of the journey culminating in the discovery of Christ in a moment described as being merely “satisfactory”.

The primary theme is that of change and the feelings of alienation, loss and powerlessness often associated with it.

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1.4

Analysis

Magi – wise men The title emphasises the actual journey. See the repetition of the word in the text.

Note that Christ is not mentioned directly, just implied by the references.

“Journey of the Magi”

By T.S. Eliot Dramatic monologue. The point of view of the Magus telling the story of this journey. It is effective because of the drama, the personal immediacy (him relating events in the first person) – this intimacy involves the reader.

Quotes

First 4 lines quoted from an old (1622) sermon by Lancelot Andrewes given at Christmas time. He was known for his dramatic preaching and is famous for supervising the translation of the King James version of the Bible.

Note how hard the journey is – long, poor roads, very cold.

The camels are irritable, perhaps from sores from chafing saddles or bridles.

NB Anachronism (a thing belonging outside of its time) because the narrator couldn’t quote something from the future if he was existing in the time of Christ. So there is a “ghost” narrator speaking behind the Magus, suggesting that the poet’s message crosses over timelines and applies to us too today.

Persona of the narrator: world-weary, old, sad – reflecting on this experience. Contrast the life he has left behind. He is a king used to being surrounded by luxury. He has wealth, but is spiritually empty.

Repetition of “and” links items in a list.

It suggests tedium. They are bored and annoyed by the endless succession of hardships, so trying to avoid them, they opt to travel at night.

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‘A cold coming we had of it, STANZA 1 Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’

Quotes And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. stubborn There were times we regretted missed/were unready The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling And running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty, and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. Repetition of line 1 suggests a cycle.

At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly.

Matthew 2:5 – the prophecies prompted the wise men to follow the star to discover the saviour. They did so in expectation of joy, wonder and hope of deliverance, BUT the next line overturns the expectation. What remains instead is disillusionment and doubt.

Eliot plays with this antithesis – the contrast between hope and promise with the resulting void is felt more keenly.

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N.B. See the application of the objective STANZA 2 Note the allusions as we discover that correlative. The group of Biblical symbols this stanza is full of Biblical works: prophecies of a new, different world references. These operate as symbols order. We are moved by the suffering that they represent in the that bring to mind stories that we stories that they bring to mind. They foreshadow a terrible worldrecognise. They enlarge the theme altering event. and add layers of meaning. Eliot Images of winter are replaced with those brings Christ’s birth and death of spring – a symbol of together by this means. regeneration/rebirth/hope/promise – but this anticipation falls flat.

At Christ’s crucifixion the sky darkened and the heavens opened.

Symbol of the crucifixion. The three crosses on the hill.

Revelations – the four horses of the apocalypse brought the last judgement of mankind. The white horse is associated with conquest and also sometimes with Christ. This combination suits Eliot’s purposes as Christianity did indeed “conquer” the earth, bringing a new order. Pagan beliefs and magic died out.

Exodus (Old Testament) reference to the Jewish festival of Passover, when the Pharaoh allowed the Jews to leave Egypt. They marked the lintels of their doors with lamb’s blood so that the plague prophesied by Moses ‘passed over’ their homes. Christ’s blood similarly ‘frees’ people from sin.

The soldiers at Christ’s crucifixion diced for his clothing.

Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Note the vagueness: Eliot does not say Bethlehem. This opens his message up to wider applications.

Note the parenthesis: He is saying that we might feel this, but the speaker does not.

mild life-giving water thirst quenching no longer frozen

verdure/flowers/fruit/crops

industry/order/civilization

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness, And three trees on the low sky.

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel, Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver, And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, so we continued And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

Wine is used in holy communion (The Eucharist) in honour of the last supper – when Christ told his disciples to eat the bread and drink the wine in memory of his body, and his blood was shed to save people from sin. Note these wine-skins are empty, signifying a spiritual vacuum.

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Why so lukewarm?

He is not impressed. There is a distinct sense of anticlimax. This meeting was a promise of a new world and it has delivered that, but the narrator is left feeling empty.

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Significant: Even knowing what this change in the world order has meant to him (the loss of his culture, his gods, magic) he accepts it, but in a spirit of resignation.

Quote from Shakespeare’s Othello. “set down this”: in his last speech before he dies, Othello begs the witnesses to tell his story truthfully.

The dignity and weight of his exit are transferred to this material.

Repeated forcefully to slow the pace of delivery to stress his thoughts.

Asking the question of the reader involves the reader in his search for the answer. Note the capitals to indicate a specific significant Birth/Death. Then the uncapitalised words represent his personal death.

The metaphorical Birth/Death refer to Christ, but they have become indistinguishable from each other – interchangeable because the different world ushered in by Christianity has been bitterly painful for him, living like an alien within it, having lost touch with the traditions and rituals with which he was previously familiar and comfortable.

He is left in limbo, waiting for his own death or waiting for this era to pass so that his world will catch up with where he is.

The mood changes to more personal, introspective. It moves from the physical journey to the internal significance of that journey.

STANZA 3

All this was a long time ago, I remember, And I would do it again, but set down This set down enjambment, but broken as his world This: were we led all that way for is fractured Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

Similarly, Christ’s Death means their metaphorical death.

System/order – he has changed too and does not fit into his world where people cling to their old beliefs. He feels like a foreigner who is no longer relevant in his own home.

The narrator also functions as an objective correlative in that his emotions of distress, weariness, bitterness, sadness are conveyed to the reader.

Relate this to your own faith journey. If it involves any kind of change, it might be uncomfortable, even terrifying. Will you find acceptance? Will you belong?

On another level, consider how the world has changed. Do you sometimes feel out of step with it? Do you find dealing with change incredibly stressful? © Impaq

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Study Guide G11 ~ English Home Language: Literature

Unit

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ACTIVITY 1 Answer the following questions relating to the poem “Journey of the Magi”.

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2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Discuss the effectiveness of the poet’s use of dramatic monologue.

Describe some of the hardships of the journey.

How is an antithesis introduced in the last two lines of stanza 1?

Discuss the symbols of the crucifixion in stanza 2 and explain how they introduce a darker element into the poem.

Explain the poet’s distinction between “Birth and Death” and “birth and death”.

Why is the poet no longer at ease in the end?

(3) (4) (2) (5) (3) (3) (20)

LESSON 2: Introduction to Othello by William Shakespeare 2.1 The life of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare – the most recognisable name in the English language – was a writer, dramatist, actor and astute businessman. He is not only responsible for staged drama and the sonnets whose very structure was given his name (which you will be studying this year), but also for transforming modern English into the form we’re more familiar with today. Hugely expressive, he seemed to make up words for which there were no alternatives (adding roughly 3 000 new words to the English vocabulary), and invented phrases and platitudes that we’re still using today. For someone with such a prolific influence on the English language, it’s truly surprising that very little is known about his private life, and most of what we are able to piece together about Shakespeare comes from public records and minimal accounts of others.

Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon 1 Early life Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Church records show that he was baptised on 26 April 1564, so his birthday is usually observed on 23 April. He was the son of a leather merchant and alderman John Shakespeare and his mother, Mary Arden, came from a family of wealthy landowners. He had seven siblings and was the oldest surviving son.

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(Source: http://www.nonniavventura.it/stratford-upon-avon-william-shakespeare/]) 21

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