Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Someone asked me about allusion in the title "The Unknown Citizen" by W.H. Auden.

The answer is The Tomb of the Unknowns (it has never officially been named) at Arlington National Cemetery (for fallen American soldiers in certain modern wars who could not be identified) in Arlington, Virginia. 

Here is a picture of the amphitheater.  Note the national treasures buried in the cornerstone.

And what do we read over the west entrance?  "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." 

This also echoes Paul's Mars' Hill sermon in Acts 17 where he speaks of the altar "To the Unknown God." 

Block Day, Week 25: ICE

* Pray

* Tea

* Check J31; discussion: "Hunters in the Snow", Heaney, Marvell vs. Herrick, Browning

* ICE

HW: Read

Wednesday: Writing: Allusion and Chaucer

* Please read the following theme essay from Mackenzie's SI ICE final exam.
Prompt: Explain an allusion (or allusions) that supports a major theme from a semester 1 work; do not merely summarize the plot

  

And a Tookish Reminiscence

Warren Richardson told me that he hated middle school for a season.  He had a hard time; felt bored. 

One day, reading Tolkien, he had an epiphany: Something he read changed the way he saw the world.  Since then, he wanted to do his best at everything in life.  He wanted to try new things.  He took interest in whatever he engaged in, sought to explore the world.  Today, he is studying engineering at Stanford.

What was the quote?

"Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick. He looked out the window. The stars were out in a dark sky above the trees. He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns" (Tolkien 28).

Where to find terms and extra grammar and MLA info.?

You may ask, "Mr. Schwager, what should I do to find a definition that's not from Perrine's or a part of Turco's .pdf...other places have such long and various definitions."

Well, I'm glad you asked.  This is an alphabetical list that covers most terms (besides Turco's advanced terms): Cummings Study Guide Terms. 

Or, you may ask, "Mr. Schwager, the Bedford book is kind of funky to work with online.  Is there a good site that has similar info. in a better format for me to review or learn from? MLA review?"

Why, yes, there's the OWL at Purdue:
Writing and Grammar
MLA

These sites and Bedford have all been added to as a link list below the label on the right side of the blog for convenience.

Enjoy,

Mr. S

Tuesday, 1/24: Grammar

* Pray

* Tea party deux?  If so, be sure to comment below and bring bottles of water (per. 1 and 3). 

* "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty

* "Hunters in the Snow" by Tobias Wolff

Keep in mind: How do you account for character motivation?  What kind of characters are these? 

* Grammar: Do ex. 34-2 letters and numbers

* J31

- The numbering was confusing.  It makes sense to put your Perrine's notes and the terms together.  We will call the intro. notes and terms the first section from this point.

1.  Introductory notes and terms: Define and provide an example from literature (many should readily come from recent readings)
2. Complete sentence responses with some consideration: Austen.
3. Complete, considerate responses: Poetry.
4. Complete, considerate, elaborated responses: Short story. 

* Discussion

HW: G 34-2; J31

Monday, 1/23: Reading

* Pray

* Collect J30

* Assign J31 (due block day)

1. Terms and Introductions
* Paradox
* Overstatement
* Understatement
* Irony
* Litotes
For the following, see Turco Advanced Rhetoric and Nonfiction
* Disquisition vs. discourse
* Socratic dialogue
* Didactic
* Letters vs. belles lettres
* via negativa vs. via affirmativa
* Creative nonfiction
* Metafiction
* Metanonfiction
* Narrator
* Argument

2. Story: Take notes of Ch. 4 introduction: Theme.  Read Tobias Wolff: "Hunters in the Snow"
- 1.  In a well-developed paragraph, explain the theme of this piece using specific examples from the story.

3. Take notes on Perrine's Poetry Ch. 7: Figurative Language III: Paradox, Overstatement, Understatement, Irony; read the chapter.
- Questions: Choose two poems, one of five or more questions.  Choose separate centuries.

4. Austen
- Read -Vol. 2, Ch. 2 or ch. 25 (depending on your text)

- Answer any 10 questions between vol. 1 ch. 20 and vol.2 ch. 2 (or between ch. 20-25)

* Discussion

* Work in Class

* Bleak House

HW: Work on J31