Assignment #4

We'll be working on this in class tomorrow (Friday, October 31st). Here's the scoop:

You need to find two quotes from Chapters I-VII (Part one) of ARWAV. For the purposes of this assignment, a "quote" is defined as a textual selection of one or more sentences from the novel itself.

Quote #1: Single Best Representation of a Character (through their own words, or the words of another character speaking about, or to, them).

Quote #2: Funniest/Most Witty Quote.

Both quotes must be presented (typed out exactly, word-for-word), cited (Chapter and Page #), and explained/rationalized. This blog posting is due by the beginning of class on Monday, November 3rd, but there's no reason why you couldn't/shouldn't finish this in class on Friday.

NEXT READING ASSIGNMENT: Chapters VIII-XIV (pages 67-120). Due by the beginning of class (8th period) on Tuesday, November 4th. Questions for those chapters will be posted here shortly... stay tuned! ; )

Lucy and Beethoven: Revolutionary Comrades in Arms?

Revolutionary, or Romantic? Or are they one and the same...?

We touched on this in class the other day... some interesting information here:

http://www.fanfaire.com/beethoven/revolution.html

Give it a look. Hard to think of Beethoven, today, as anything more than "just another stodgy, old, boring classical composer." But in his day, and for his time, he was radical; he turned the world of music completely on its head, and changed the rules forever.

In other words, he dared to defy convention and tradition and the "status quo," and move more into the world of thinking and feeling...

Not to suggest that there's any relevance to Lucy Honeychurch, or ARWAV in general, but I offer the following:

"If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting -- bot for us and for her." [Mr. Beebe remarking after listening to Lucy playing... you guessed it -- Beethoven.]

"It so happened that Lucy, who found daily life rather chaotic, entered a more solid world when she opened the piano. She was then no longer either deferential or patronizing; no longer either a rebel or a slave." [emphasis mine]

"Like every true performer, she was intoxicated by the mere feel of the notes: they were fingers caressing her own; and by touch, not by sound alone, did she come to her desire." [talking about playing the piano, right...?!?]

"Mr. Beebe was right. Lucy never knew her desires so clearly as after music."

Sad.

I'm so sorry.

Just wanted you to know that I'm thinking of you all.

And, at the risk of sounding like a teacher, if you need something to do to keep busy, and keep your mind off of things for a bit, read some ARWAV. Not because it's for this class, or because it's "important" in any way, shape or form. But because it's a book that, above all else, reaffirms the importance of life and love and sharing life and love with others you care about. About living each day to the fullest, and looking for joy and happiness in the world around you, because it's there.

Take care of yourselves, and of each other, OK? You're all very important to me.

Mr. B

ARWAV: Assignment 2 (and 3).

Hey, that rhymes! Notice my cleverness. If you read it aloud as the full title, you get "View" and "2." If you read it as an acronym, you get "V" and "3." And also notice how sad it is that I noticed this, and actually feel some degree of self-satisfaction at it. ; (

Here's the deal. Read over the questions posted under the COMMENTS for Assignment #1. Choose two different comments/questions (from two different classmates), and respond to each of them. You can attempt to answer their question, offer some additional commentary/feedback, or both! Please try to expand and prolong the discussion, as opposed to ending it with something like "Good question, dude. I think the answer is X." Please be sure that you clearly identify/label which question you're answering, and from who(m), as there is a bit of a catch here... ONCE A QUESTION HAS BEEN ANSWERED VIA POST, IT IS OFF-LIMITS. In other words, "first come, first served."

Your answers/comments/responses are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, October 28th. Please note that by "beginning of class," I mean that point at which the class STARTS. This would preclude the "Mr. Berardi, my computer/flash drive/printer/abacus wasn't working last night, so I just have to finish up..." Thank you so very much.

And while I'm at it...

Assignment #3 is to read Chapters V--VII. You need to have this read (thoroughly and completely) by the end of 8th period on Wednesday. This means I'll be giving you time in class tomorrow and 8th period on Wednesday to read -- if you can't have it done through this in-class time alone, plan accordingly, because we'll start our discussion of those chapters Wednesday 9th period. Be ready, and have good sections noted/glossed/underlined in your copy of the novel to toss into the "stuff for discusssion" pile.

ARWAV Chapter I Notes

A Room with a View * Chapter I – The Bertolini

Who’s Who:
· Lucy Honeychurch
· Miss Charlotte Bartlett
· The Reverend Cuthbert Eager ( M.A. Oxon.)
· The (Cockney) Signora (and her children, ‘Enery and Victorier)
· The Reverend Mr. Beebe
· The Clever Lady (aka Miss Eleanor Lavish)
· Mr. Emerson
· Mr. Emerson’s Son (George)
· Freddy (Lucy’s brother, back home at Windy Corner)
· Baedaker (and, more importantly, his Handbook to Northern Italy)

Initial Questions for Consideration:
· What is the Pension Bertolini, and where is it located?
· Why are Lucy (Honeychurch) and Miss (Charlotte) Bartlett there?
· Who are the other clientele, and where are they from?
· Where and how does the title of the novel come into play?
· What’s the irony of the “Cockney Signora?”

Key Words/Terms in (or of importance to) this Chapter:
· Decorum
· “obligation”
· Beauty vs. Delicacy
· Snub (verb)

Significant/Interesting Quotes for Discussion (most of which reveal the humor in/of the novel):
· “ ‘You must have it,’ said Miss Bartlett, part of whose travelling expenses were paid by Lucy’s mother – a piece of generosity to which she made many a tactful allusion” (3).

· “Miss Bartlett, though skilled in the delicacies of conversation, was powerless in the presence of brutality. It was impossible to snub anyone so gross” (5).

· “The Pension Bertolini had decided, almost enthusiastically, that they would do. Whichever way they looked, kind ladies smiled and shouted at them. And above all rose the voice of the clever lady, crying: ‘Prato! They must go to Prato. That place is too sweetly squalid for words. I love it; I revel in shaking off the trammels of respectability, as you know.’
The young man named George glanced at the clever lady, and then returned moodily to his plate. Obviously he and his father did not do.”

· [Mr. Beebe speaking of Mr. Emerson] “ ‘He has the merit – if it is one – of saying exactly what he means. He has rooms he does not value, and he thinks you would value them. He no more thought of putting you under an obligation than he thought of being polite. It is so difficult – at least, I find it difficult – to understand people who speak the truth’ ” (7).

· [Lucy speaking of Mr. Beebe] “ ‘He is nice,’ exclaimed Lucy. ‘Just what I remember. He seems to see good in every one. No one would mistake him for a clergyman’ ” (8).

· “ ‘About old Mr. Emerson – I hardly know. No, he is not tactful; yet, have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time – beautiful?’
‘Beautiful?’ said Miss Bartlett, puzzled at the word. ‘Are not beauty and delicacy the same?’ ” (9).

· [George Emerson, speaking to Miss Bartlett] “ ‘My father,’ he said, ‘is in his bath, so you cannot thank him personally. But any message given by you to me will be given by me to him as soon as he comes out.’
Miss Bartlett was unequal to the bath. All her barbed civilities came forth wrong end first. Young Mr. Emerson scored a notable triumph to the delight of Mr. Beebe and to the secret delight of Lucy” (10).

· “It was then that she [Miss Bartlett] saw, pinned up over the washstand, a sheet of paper on which was scrawled an enormous note of interrogation. Nothing more.
‘What does it mean?’ she thought, and she examined it carefully by the light of a candle. Meaningless at first, it gradually because menacing, obnoxious, portentous with evil. She was seized with an impulse to destroy it, but fortunately remembered that she had no right to do so, since it must certainly be the property of young Mr. Emerson. So she unpinned it carefully, and put it between two pieces of blotting-paper to keep it clean for him” (11).

Check out this link!

If you want to see what Lucy and Charlotte saw from their window(s), go to:

http://italophiles.com/room_view.htm

Some interesting information about the setting, and the novel itself, including a link to an online text version of A Room with a View, in case you leave your book somewhere, or prefer reading online.

Check it out, especially the pictures (posters) down towards the bottom.

No, really. Scroll down. Keep going...

First assignment for ARWAV!

Hopefully, we'll be reading the first chapter of the novel in class today. Once we do that together, you're on your own for getting through Chapters II, III and IV. I'd like you to have those read, and the assignment below completed and posted here by the beginning of class on Friday, October 24th.


Find three spots, from three different chapters (I, II, III and IV), that struck you as you were reading. Spots that confused you. Things you didn't understand. Questions you jotted down in the margins of the page. Moments in the text that made you smile, or scratch your head, or say something out loud...

ASSIGNMENT: Write three (3) questions or comments that you had from Chapters I -- IV(from three different chapters) dealing with specific parts of the text. Quote where necessary, and please include specific chapter and page references for each question/comment.

DUE: By the beginning of class on Friday, October 27th.

Please note that you should submit your assignment as a COMMENT (via the link below), as opposed to creating a new post or topic. I'm not sure if you'll even be able to create posts or new topics, but if we stick with the COMMENT section for our entries, we'll be in good shape. I hope... ; )

I shall call you... "A Blog with a View."

Or maybe "A Novel with a Blog?" Whatever. Welcome!

Welcome to the online home of AP English Literature & Composition at Hornell High School for 2008-09. And to our first blogging adventure...

In a nutshell, we're going to read E.M. Forster's A Room with a View. And as we do, we're going to discuss it, both in class and here, online, in/on this blog.

A couple of ground rules:

1. Read and follow all directions and deadlines carefully.
2. Remember that even though this is online, and you're likely doing some/most of it from home, and behind the veil of internet anonymity, you're still responsible for everything you post -- both what you say, and how you say it. In other words, if you wouldn't say it out loud in class, don't write it here. Okey-doke? That doesn't mean that you can't be spontaneous, and have fun with this -- that's the whole freakin' point.
3. BE SPECIFIC. Provide examples from the text (with page numbers) to back up what you think and say. If and when you challenge other people's postings and ideas, be specific with regards to your questions and concerns.
4. The only big "no-no" is somehow altering or tampering with someone else's posts. Not allowed in any way, shape or form. Not even sure if you can do that or not, but I want to make it clear that it is out of bounds.

Other than that, have fun! I'll be putting up the first assignment shortly -- maybe even tonight. See you soon!

Oh, and one favor. I sent out e-mail invites to everyone in class. Here's the list I had:

kidneykyle@yahoo.com
schiedni@yahoo.com
shh10@aol.com
charisejj1221@yahoo.com
djseqoya318@yahoo.com
yrlamont@live.com
spritfire@gmail.com

I typed exactly what I saw on the index card. If you know that one of these above is incorrect, please let me know ASAP (tberardi1@stny.rr.com, or call me at 382-3055) so I can correct it tonight. Thanks!

-- Mr. B.