Ms. Rosey’s
Guidebook for Success in
Dual Enrollment English I
(also known as ENC 1101):
Fall 2013 Version
Warning: Reading of this guidebook (and completion of all activities herein) will definitely increase
student’s intelligence. Use with extreme caution.
1
Table of Contents
Syllabus for ENC 1101
Journal Checklist
Notebook Checklist
The Last Lecture Topics of Discussion
The Last Lecture Homework on Dreams
The Last Lecture Cooperative Learning Activity
Illustrative Exemplification Essay on The Last Lecture
Old School Topics of Discussion
Old School Group Review Activity
Old School Comparison/Contrast Essay
Comparison/Contrast Brainstorming Chart
Wadsworth: Writing Paragraphs
Wadsworth: Thesis Statements and Formal Outlines
Wadsworth: Commas
Wadsworth: Using Other Punctuation Marks
Wadsworth: Chapter 9 “Using Logic,” Chapter 10
“Writing Argumentative Essays,” and Chapter
39: “Revising Run-Ons”
Wadsworth: True/False on Writing a Research Paper
Wadsworth: Evaluating Internet Sources and Writing
a Research Paper
Beowulf Notes/Teaching a Section to Class Activity
Template for Index on The Canterbury Tales
Notes on The Canterbury Tales
Creative Project/ Chaucerian Food Celebration
The Best Storyteller on The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales BINGO
Classify and Divide Your Pilgrims!
Classification/Division Essay Topics
Due Dates for Florida Social Issue Paper
Template for Florida Social Issue Paper
Checklist of What to Fix for F.D. of Florida Social Issue Paper
Scarevenger Hunt Instructions
Read like a Rock Star Assignments
Jigsaw Review of Articles in Readings for Writers
The Scottish Play: A Study in Three Versions of
Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Macbeth Argument Essay
Facebook News Feed Summary of Macbeth
Shakespeare Insult Kit
Speech on Shakespearean Quote
Spoiler Alert: Notes on Macbeth
p. 3
p. 19
p. 23
p. 26
p. 51
p. 51
p. 52
p. 53
p. 71
p. 72
p. 73
p. 74
p. 75
p. 76
p. 77
p. 78
p. 79
p. 80
p. 82
p. 85
p. 94
p. 97
p. 98
p. 84
p. 103
p. 104
p. 105
p. 110
p. 111
p. 112
p. 114
p. 118
p. 122
p. 123
p. 125
p. 126
p. 128
2
FALL 2013
SOUTH FLORIDA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DIVISION OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
COURSE SYLLABUS
ENC 1101—FRESHMAN ENGLISH I
COURSE TITLE:
ENC 1101 FRESHMAN ENGLISH I
3 CREDIT HOURS*
* This credit is what you would receive at SFCC, not the credit accorded at SHS.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: A study of the forms of discourse, as illustrated in contemporary essays, designed to train
you in methods of forceful expression, logical thinking, and intelligent reading. The course includes intensive study and
practice in the mechanics of composition including a research paper. Prerequisite: Acceptable scores on placement test.
Gordon Rule: requires college-level writing in multiple assignments. (TR)
PREREQUISITES: Acceptable scores on placement test.
COURSE MATERIALS:
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 1997. Print.
Holt McDougal. The Elements of Literature. Sixth Course. Austin: Holt McDougal, 2009. Print. (Online version
found at my.hrw.com. My Username is _______________________ and my password is _____________.)
Kirszner, Laurie, and Stephen Mandell. The Wadsworth Handbook. 9th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2011.
Print.
McCuen-Metherell, Jo Ray, and Anthony Winkler. Readings for Writers. 13th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth,
2010. Print.
Pausch, Randy. The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion, 2008. Print.
Woolf, Tobias. Old School. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. Print.
Supplementary photocopied, audiovisual, reserve, or internet materials may be used. Additional novels may be used
as well.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS: Lecture; small group discussion and oral report; large group discussion; online research;
library research; Turnitin.com.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
This Course Supports The Following College-Wide Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate (read, write, speak, and listen) effectively.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to reflect, analyze, synthesize and apply knowledge.
4. Students will demonstrate the ability to find, evaluate, organize, and use information.
5. Prepare students to participate actively as informed and responsible citizens in social, cultural, global and
environmental matters.
SPECIFIC COURSE OUTCOMES:
1. Students entering Freshman English I (ENC 1101) have basic skills in grammar, sentence and paragraph
structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling; however, the more important of these skills will be
reviewed and practiced (with exercises) to enable successful completion of this course.
2. Students will develop writing skills in some of the following paragraph modes or essay formats—narration,
description, classification, exemplification, definition, comparison/contrast, process analysis, causal
analysis, and argument.
3. Students will demonstrate in their writing parallelism, subordination, conciseness, variety and emphasis in
sentence structure, the effective use of figurative language and concrete details, and the formal level of
diction appropriate to standard written American English.
3
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Students will write a formal research paper, demonstrating proper research methods, including the
evaluation of evidence and sources; the use of direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries, and the use of
proper documentation formats.
Students will demonstrate the correct use of research tools (including the Internet) in the LRC and at home,
if the student has his or her own Internet service provider (ISP).
Students will, individually and in small-group settings, develop analytical, conceptual, and creative
thinking skills which will enable them to more coherently and clearly express their thoughts in both oral
and written formats, thereby demonstrating the process of moving from analytical thinking and writing to
that of synthesis in longer and more complex essays.
Reading, active learning exercises, and research topics will be selected so that students develop a greater
awareness of cultural, gender, and social issues.
Students are expected to apply the knowledge and skills gained in this course to other college courses,
present or future work experience, and everyday life.
ONLINE RESOURCES – You may find the URLs listed here useful for this course. Their relevance and utility will be
discussed during the introduction/orientation session.
 Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com) to help proof your papers for use of sources BEFORE you hand
them in to the instructor.
 Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) to brush up on grammar, punctuation, and
MLA documentation format and style.
 Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum Project. (Longview Community College, Missouri).
(http://mcckc.edu/longview/ctac/) for further explanation on logical fallacies.
 Mission Critical: The Critical Thinking Home Page. (San Jose State University).
(http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/graphics/main.html) for further explanation on logical fallacies
ARTS AND SCIENCES POLICIES:

ATTENDANCE (The Arts and Sciences Guideline)– Consistent and timely attendance correlates directly with successful
learning. In the School of Arts and Sciences, students could be withdrawn by the instructor if they miss more than a total of
four (4) class hours. Individual instructors may publish their own attendance policies. Given the College policy that students
be warned before being withdrawn by the instructor for excessive absences, the publication of an attendance policy in the
syllabus constitutes the first warning; the second will be mailed from the Registrar’s Office. Students will have seven days to
contact the instructor to discuss their continued presence in the class. It is highly recommended that students understand the
significance of the last day to withdraw with a grade of W. Dual Enrollment students are expected to abide by their
district’s Code of Conduct.

CODE OF CONDUCT: When students are admitted to South Florida Community College they are subject to the
jurisdiction of the College during their enrollment. As members of the college community, students are expected to act
responsibly in all areas of personal and social conduct. Students are responsible for the observance of all Board policies and
procedures as published in the College Catalog, the Student Handbook, and other College information bulletins. Violation of
any of these rules may lead to disciplinary action in accordance with prescribed procedures for the handling of disciplinary
cases and may range from reprimand to expulsion from the College.

DISABLED STUDENT SERVICES: SFCC offers full educational services to disabled students. However, in order to
provide reasonable services and appropriate accommodations, students must self identify to the Disabilities Specialist and
provide documentation of the disabling or limiting condition. Services are varied and include, but are not limited to
admission and registration assistance, special campus orientation, note taking, tutoring, testing, audiovisual aids, readers, and
mobility aids. Disabled Student Services (DSS) is a unit of SFCC Student Services in compliance with Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The purpose of DSS is to provide
services to students with disabilities. These services permit students access to the same educational opportunities as their
non-disabled peers and are offered within the institution’s philosophical framework that stresses student independence and
self-reliance. DSS operates in cooperation and conjunction with other units in Student Services (Assessment Center and
Student Support Services) to ensure continuity of services. In addition, DSS works closely with other public and private
4
rehabilitation agencies to facilitate the coordination of service delivery. Inquiries should be directed to the Disabilities
Specialist, Student Services/Classroom Complex Suite B152, Avon Park.

INCOMPLETE GRADES: If you have participated throughout the term but are unable to complete all course requirements
(such as a term paper, project or final exam) because of illness or other extenuating circumstances, you may request a grade
of incomplete. If you receive an I grade, you have six weeks from the beginning of the next college enrollment period to
make up the work in the course as outlined on the incomplete form. If you do not complete the assigned work, the grade is
automatically changed to the grade assigned by the instructor. Incomplete grades in competency-based programs are
governed by the appropriate departmental policies. Dual Enrollment students are expected to abide by their district’s Code of
Conduct.

ONLINE COMMUNICATION: Students should check email at least twice a week. Email communication is most suitable
for personal questions between you and the instructor or you and a few other people. In all online communication, it is
expected that all students will follow rules of online netiquette. See details at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/index.html.
Being disruptive or breaking the rules of netiquette may result in revocation of access privileges. Read over your emails
before you send them. Be clear enough so that people can understand you without your body language to add clarity; use
good English and full sentences, not texting shorthand.

PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING: Plagiarism is the use of another individual’s words, phrases, sentences, or ideas
(whether taken word for word, in summary form, or as a paraphrase), without giving credit to the source from which they
come (without proper documentation). This also includes handing in another student’s writing (original or researched) as
your own. The first offense of willful plagiarism or cheating (verified by the instructor) will result in a grade of “F” (0 value)
for the specific assignment. Second offenses are grounds for suspension from the class with a grade of “F”. All instances of
plagiarism and other forms of cheating will be referred to the appropriate instructional supervisor, Dean and the Dean of
Students. Research papers from other courses will not be accepted in this course.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS: Students who must miss class in order to observe a religious holiday must notify the instructor
at least seven (7) days in advance of the day(s) to be missed and shall have until the next class meeting after the
observance/holiday to make up missed assignments and/or exams. Dual Enrollment students are expected to abide by their
district’s Code of Conduct.

TUTORING: SFCC is committed to student success and, therefore, provides several tutoring services. The Tutoring and
Learning Center is located on the first floor of the LRC and offers free tutoring, mainly in Math and Writing. Hours may
vary. For online students who have paid a fee to register for the class, the online tutoring service Smarthinking will be
available for a specific number of hours (designated for each online class); beyond the set number of hours for the class,
students may wish to pay for further Smarthinking tutoring on their own.
5
NAME OF INSTRUCTOR: Cheryl A. Rosenbaum
WEBSITE: http://highmail.highlands.k12.fl.us/~rosenbac/
TELEPHONE: 471-5500 ext. 277
E-MAIL: rosenbac@highlands.k12.fl.us
WELCOME STATEMENT: Welcome to Freshman English I (ENC 1101), a required course for all A.A. and some A.S.
degree programs at South Florida Community College. The major purpose of this course is to upgrade language and writing
skills at the formal level of Standard American English for use not only in college level courses but also in each student’s
future career and to learn the process of writing a research paper.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Students will complete a variety of practice writing both in and out of class to meet the Gordon Rule requirement:
paragraphs, free writing, journal writing, and rough drafts. In addition, students will submit at least four 500-word essays for
formal grading by the instructor per semester. A 1,200-1,500 word research paper will also be required of all students as the
accountability part of the research component of this course per semester. Final drafts of essays must meet all MLA writing
guidelines both for format and documentation, as applicable to the essay type.
DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS
JOURNALS:
These must be a minimum of 250-350 words per week. These papers will be written using personal experience. No sources
or bibliography will be required; however, you may at times find it helpful to do some research to acquaint you better with
your topic. If such is the case, remember to use proper documentation whenever you paraphrase, summarize, or directly
quote outside sources. See your handout on Journals for more specific information.
MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMINATIONS:
The midterm and final exams will be a combination of objective/subjective items and may include: multiple choice, T & F,
completion, short answer, and essay. More specific information will be given closer to the exam date. You should be
aware that your final exam with your responses will be submitted to the dean at SFCC to ensure the validity of this
dual enrollment class.
RESEARCH PAPERS:
A research paper must be a minimum of 1,200 word, typed, double-spaced, using MLA format (See Wadsworth). We will
complete a research paper, in addition to other essays, each semester. Topics will be selected by the students but must be
approved by the instructor. It is strongly encouraged that the student selects a topic in which he or she is interested. The
paper will include a minimum of seven (7) sources and a bibliography page. Because this paper will require much structural
and grammatical revision, it is imperative that the student complete the rough draft of this project in a timely manner.
RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATIONS:
Upon completion of the research paper, students will work collaboratively to present an abstract of their research papers. To
this end, students are encouraged to use a variety of media, such as Power Point, web pages, and other visual aids. Students
must participate in this activity to receive full credit for the research paper.
IN-CLASS WRITING:
These in-class exercises will be graded largely upon the student’s understanding of the rhetorical concept.
6
COURSE EXPECTATIONS:
1. You will be expected to be WELL PREPARED FOR AND TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE in class sessions. IF YOU DO
NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, ASK! It is preferable that you speak up and are wrong than for you not to speak at all.
You will need to have all reading and work done at the assigned time or else. Since so much of what we learn in here will be
through group discussion, peer editing, and other such cooperative learning activities, this is the year to come out of your
shell!
2. Late work is not accepted.*
3. Make-up work is your responsibility. When you return from an EXCUSED absence look over my agendas for the days
you missed. Then speak to me about making up the work. If you do not speak to me, I will simply assume you want a 0 for
the assignment we did the day you were absent. I will not remind you if you need to make-up a test or quiz. You need to
get your make-up work into me in a reasonable amount of time. For example, if you were absent on Monday, get your
make-up assignment on Tuesday, and turn it in on Wednesday.
4. If a student knows ahead of time that he or she will be absent on a day when an assignment is due (for example, a
pre-arranged absence or field trip), it is the student’s responsibility to turn in the assignment prior to the due date,
or send the assignment to the teacher with another student or a parent. Any work may be taken to the school’s office
and put in the teacher’s mailbox.
If a student misses class the day an assignment is due but is on campus at any time during that day (for example,
missing part of the day due to a half-day field trip), the student is responsible for bringing the assignment to the
teacher or getting it to the teacher. Failure to do so will result in a grade of 0.
*WHOOPS PASS PROCEDURES
Each nine weeks, I allow you to turn in one assignment late within 24 hours without penalty. You must complete an
explanation on why it is late plus a 250 word response to a question PLUS the assignment itself within 24 hours to
www.turnitin.com. The instructions for the Whoops! Pass are given in detail on my website under the heading “Additional
Helpful Information” toward the bottom of my webpage. If you do not use it, you will receive 10 points extra credit at the
end of the nine weeks.
Remind101 SIGN-UP PROCEDURES
Another method to ensure you remember all major due dates I have incorporated is the use of Remind101, which is a tool
that allows me to send you a text message to your phone to remind you of major due dates. (But please keep in mind when
you sign up I will not actually know your phone number NOR—more importantly—will you know mine. It is a computer
program that allows me to send you a message.) You can sign-up for this by doing the following:

Send a text message to 832-900-2489 with the message: @msrosey

Once you do this, you will be prompted to give your name

Once you send back the second message, you are registered with the class
GRADING:
All grades are done on a point system. In-class assignments and some homework assignments are given a check plus (10
points), a check (8 points), check minus (5 points), or 0; if it is to be worth more I will warn you ahead of time. Your weekly
journal assignment is worth 10 points, but is calculated as part of your notebook grade. Group activities are usually worth 25
points. Quizzes are worth 50 points (KEEP IN MIND THAT POP QUIZZES ARE ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY). A
participation grade is worth 100 points per nine weeks. Tests are worth 100 points or more. Notebooks are worth at least
100 points each time they are collected. In-class essays and short essays are worth 75 points. Longer essays and research
papers will be worth 150-200 points.
7
NOTEBOOKS:
You are required to have a notebook that you bring to class every day. Blank paper must be kept in the notebook for journal
entries, lecture notes, vocabulary and writing assignments. All other class handouts must be kept in the notebook. I will
collect these notebooks at the end of each nine weeks. You will need a one-inch three ring binder. The notebook is worth 25
points each time it is collected. The notebook will be collected as followed:
Notebook for 1st Nine Weeks- due October 16 (for __ day) or October 17 (for __ day)
Notebook for 2nd Nine Weeks- due January 8 (for ___ day) or January 9 (for ___ day)
Notebook for 3rd Nine Weeks- due March 25 (for ___ day) or March 26 (for ___ day)
Notebook for 4th Nine Weeks- due May 21 ( for ___ day) or May 22 (for ___day)
Requirements for the Notebook:
1. Notebook must be a folder with three brackets and pockets.
2. The notebook must contain notebook paper divided by tabs into these sections:
A) HANDOUTS- Your guidebook should be in your handout section.
B) ASSIGNMENTS--includes homework, vocabulary, in-class work, and essays.
C) TESTS AND QUIZZES
3. Your front pocket should contain extra paper.
4. Your back pocket should hold your JQ Checklists (which needs to be filled out BY YOU at the end of each nine
weeks) and your Notebook Checklists (which will be filled out BY ME when I grade your notebook). It should be
labeled JQ/Notebook Checklists.
5. The front of the notebook must be clearly marked in the upper right hand corner with the following:
A) Name
B) Subject
C) Period
FORMATTING OF PAPERS (including in-class writings, assignments, formal essays, and journals)
All papers turned in must have the following in the upper left hand corner of the paper:
A) Your Name*
B) Ms. Rosenbaum
C) Class Name- Period
D) Date Due
All papers must have a title for the assignment centered on the page. The title should not be underlined, in bold, or in italics.
You should have a creative, appropriate, and specific title for each assignment.
Any typed assignment for this class should be done in Times New Roman 12 point font, be double spaced, have one inch
margins around the entire page, and have a heading in the upper right hand corner with your last name and page number of
the assignment.
All formal essays, journals, and many other assignments will be turned into www.turnitin.com. You will do peer editing of
essays using turnitin. The discussion board feature of turnitin will also be used for certain situations. Finally, all papers will
be graded directly on turnitin using its GradeMark feature. Unless I tell you otherwise, you will not need to print off a copy
of any assignment turned in to turnitin. I will warn you ahead of time what assignments should be turned into
www.turnitin.com. (Note: Make sure when you submit an assignment to www.turnitin.com that you choose
UPLOAD DOCUMENT rather than copy and paste. If you upload your document, it will appear EXACTLY the
same as it did on your computer. When you copy and paste, it changes the font to a notepad document, and this will
lower your grade for not having your paper properly formatted.)
You need to sign-up for the class by going to www.turnitin.com and entering the following:
Class id: 6360100
Password: awesome
8
*Note: Since you are allowed to be anonymous as you peer edit a classmate’s essay on turnitin, I will allow you to make up a
pseudonym when you submit a draft of an essay that will be peer edited on www.turnitin.com. I will warn you ahead of time
if what you submit will be peer edited.
RULES:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Follow directions first time given.
Be prepared: in seat, on time, with materials.
Show respect for the rights, property, and feelings of others.
Stay on task.
Speak only at appropriate times.
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE
1st time—Warning
2nd time--One detention
3rd time--Two detentions and parental contact
4th time--Referral to office
Severe Clause--Immediate Referral to office
REWARDS
Verbal praise
Written praise
Stickers
GRADING SCALE
90-100=A
80-89= B
70-79= C
60-69= D
0-59= F
ASSISTANCE
If at any time you need help, please feel free to make an appointment to speak with me or e-mail me.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
First Nine Weeks:
Week One (Aug 19-23):
-Course Rules/Notebook/Journal
-Turn in Summer Reading Journal
-Summer Reading Quiz
-Assign and work on rough draft/peer edit of Illustration/Exemplification Essay based on The Last Lecture
-Discussion/Assignment on The Last Lecture
-The Wadsworth Handbook Chapter 7: Writing Paragraphs 73-96; in-class we will do ex. 2B on p. 81 and ex. 8 on p. 91
with a partner; we will do handout on paragraphs individually
(Note in regards to Wadsworth Handbook: In general you will be responsible for bringing this book to class every other
week on the last day your class meets that week. Your bi-weekly reading in Wadsworth SHOULD BE COMPLETED AHEAD
OF TIME. Wadsworth should be a review of concepts already familiar to you, so some chapters you will be able to skim in
preparation of your assignment. I will give pop mini-quizzes and exercises on the chapters, so you must have read them
before class begins.)
9
Week Two (Aug 26-30):
-Continue activities and assignments on The Last Lecture
-Discussion/ Group Activities and Assignments/Individual Activities and Assignments on Old School
-Work on rough draft and peer editing of The Last Lecture Essay
-Explain Research Paper for 1st semester, process for using library at SFSC
-Readings for Writers Selections/Assignment/Discussion: “Guidelines for Critical Reading” 3-10 (in class), Chapter 2:
“What is Rhetoric?” 16-40; “What—and How—to Write When You Have No Time to Write,” 41; “Have a Cigar,” 52; “How
to Say Nothing in 500 Words” 65; “Assignment 1: The Research Paper,” 691-729; Chapter 10: “Illustration and
Exemplification” 332-337; “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…” 350; “Don’t Legalize Drugs” 358; “Drug Use: The Continuing
Epidemic,” 365
(Note in regards to Readings for Writers: In general you will be responsible for bringing this book every other week. We
will read the selections noted on the syllabus in class on the last day of that school week and discuss them; I will let you know
in class that day if you are to read selections we did not get to in class for homework. On occasion, you may be asked to
read a selection ahead of time or we may read a different selection than those noted on the syllabus.)
Week Three (Sept 3-6):
-Continue group and individual activities and assignments on Old School
-Assign and work on rough draft/peer edit of Comparison/Contrast Essay on Old School- final draft due week of Sept 16
-Readings for Writers Selections/Assignment/Discussion: Chapter 4: “What is a Thesis?” 97-111; Chapter 12:
“Comparison/Contrast,” 412-419; “That Lean and Hungry Look,” 419; Chapter 5: “How Do I Organize?” 135-145; “Rules
for Aging,” 153 “The Editing Booth,” 667-689; “That Time of Year” p. 156-166
Week Four (Sept 9-13):
-Complete activities; group assignment on Old School
-Work on rough draft to Old School essay
-The Wadsworth Handbook “Constructing an Informal Outline,” 44-46; Chapter 54 “Using Semicolons” 652-658; In-class
we will create an informal outline on our Brave New World essay; do ex. 2 (p. 653), ex. 3(p. 654), ex. 5 (p. 656) on own; do
ex. 6 (p. 658) with a partner
Week Five (Sept 16-20):
-Pass out review guide to next week’s Mid-Midterm Test
-In-class time for:
-Peer editing on Old School essay
-Final draft to Old School essay
-Assign The Canterbury Tales outside reading and index- due ________
-go over template for index (available on my website)
-go over background information
-listen to audio of lines 547-568 of Prologue at:
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/noa/audio.htm
Readings for Writers Selection/Assignment/Discussion: Chapter 3: “What is a Writer’s Voice” 59-65; “Tone: The Writer’s
Voice in the Reader’s Mind” 76; “The Waltz” 81; “Division/Classification,” 454-496; “Move Over Teams” 458, “Incidents
with White People,” 486; “Warriors Don’t Cry” 481
Week Six (Sept 23-27):
-Mid-MidtermTest on Summer Reading books, plus concepts/articles related to Wadsworth and Readings for Writers (worth
200 points)
-Work on The Canterbury Tales reading/index/creative activities/cooperative learning activities
-Read “The Life and Times of Chaucer” p. 271
-Begin unit on The Anglo-Saxons: 449–1066 and The Middle Ages: 1066-1485
-The Wadsworth Handbook Chapter 12 “Writing a Research Paper” 140-165; Chapter 13, “Finding and Evaluating Library
Sources” 166-180; Chapter 14, “Finding and Evaluating Web Sources” 181-195 ; complete an assignment in-class on writing
a research paper, picking out a topic, and finding sources
Week Seven (Sept 30-Oct 4):
-Work on index/creative activities/cooperative learning activities for The Canterbury Tales
10
-Read Beowulf , do note taking activity (p. ____), and write story of Grendel as a misunderstood monster
- Readings for Writers Selections/Assignment/Discussion: “Annotated Student Research Paper: Modern Language
Association (MLA) Style on Choosing Single Motherhood: A Sign of Modern Times?” 701; Chapter 15 “Argument and
Persuasion,” 550; “Why Don’t We Complain?” 557; “A Nation in Need of a Vacation” 571
Week Eight (Oct 7-11):
-Turn in index and take quiz on The Canterbury Tales
-Complete Great Story Tellers activity; Chaucerian Food Celebration; SHS Pilgrimage
-Assign and work on rough draft/peer edit of Division/Classification on The Canterbury Tale s (or other topic)-final draft
due ________
-Complete brainstorming activity on Classifying and Dividing Pilgrims
-The Wadsworth Handbook Chapter 15: “Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources,” 196-205; Chapter 16
“Synthesizing Sources” 206-220; Chapter 9 “Using Logic,” 104-114; Chapter 53 “Using Commas,” 638-651
Week Nine (Oct 15-18):
-Work on rough draft of division/classification essay - due end of week
-Write a riddle and share
-Notebook due October 16 or 17; Favorite Journal due to www.turnitin.com Discussion Board this week; Comment on
Someone’s Journal due to www.turnitin.com Discussion Board this week
Second Nine Weeks:
Week One (Oct 21-25):
-Complete peer editing and final draft of division/classification essay on The Canterbury Tales
-Assign Research Paper on Florida Social Issue; go over template for research paper (available on my website)
-Assign outside reading on Read like a Rock Star Book
-Watch performance of The Reduced Shakespeare Company
Week Two (Oct 28-Nov 1):
-Scarevenger Hunt
-Midterm Test on Middle Ages Literature, Readings for Writers selections, and The Wadsworth Handbook selections
-Work on researching Florida Social Issue paper using Panther Central
-Paper proposal of research paper on Florida Social issue is due to Discussion Board of www.turnitin.com; write a response
to someone’s paper proposal on www.turnitin.com
-Readings for Writers Selection/Assignment/Discussion: Articles on “Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate:
Homelessness,” 582; “The View from Eighty,” 314
Week Three (Nov 4-8):
-Go over background information on The Tragedy of Macbeth and watch excerpts from three versions of the film
-Hyperlinks of at least six sources for Florida Social Issue research paper due to www.turnitin.com by _________; it needs to
be a valid source from 2010-present
-Book checked out from SFCC related to Florida Social Issue research paper due ________
-The Wadsworth Handbook Chapter 10 “Writing Argumentative Essays,” 115-130; Chapter 41 “Revising Run-ons,” 544548; Chapter 56 “Using Other Punctuation Marks” 675-683; Chapter 17 “Avoiding Plagiarism,” 221-228; Chapter 18 “MLA
Documentation Style” 234-274
Week Four (Nov 11-15):
-Continue watching Macbeth
-Annotated Works Cited and Outline/Formal Brainstorming due for research paper is due to www.turnitin.com by ________
-Readings for Writers Selections/Assignment/Discussion: “In Praise of the Humble Comma,” 382; “Shame,” 217; “Of
Altruism, Heroism, and Nature’s Gifts,” 374; “Wide Open Spaces,” 403
Week Five (Nov 18-Nov 22):
-Work on Rough Draft for Research Paper; it is due to www.turnitin.com by ____
-Peer Editing of rough draft done in class
11
-Finish watching Macbeth and complete activities--including Facebook Character Postings, Shakespearean Insult Kit, and
Shakespearean Speech Activity
-Work on completing activities for Read like a Rock Star Book
-The Wadsworth Handbook Chapter 49 “Using Verbs” 604-616; Chapter 50 “Revising Agreement Errors,” 617-625
Week Six (Dec 2-6):
-Work on revision of rough draft of research paper
-Shakespeare and More! Test is given on Renaissance Literature, Readings for Writers passages, and The Wadsworth
Handbook concepts we have covered- worth 200 points
-Complete Argument Essay on Macbeth
-Work on projects/assignments for Read like a Rock Star Book
-Readings for Writers Selections/Assignment/Discussion “Terrorism,” 633; “Body Image” 636; Ageism,” 639; “Status of
Women,” 655; Class Choice
Week Seven (Dec 9-13):
-In-class time to work on final draft and Read like a Rock Star assignments
-Final Draft due for Research Paper to www.turnitin.com by ________
-The Wadsworth Handbook Chapter 56 “Using Quotation Marks,” 666-674
Week Eight (Dec 16-19):
-Book Talk, assignments, Narration Essay, and other activities for Read like a Rock Star Book
-Work on research paper presentations
-The Wadsworth Handbook Student choice of exercises based on aspects that need improvement in writing
Week Nine (Jan 7-10):
-Research Paper Presentations (done in PowerPoint or other acceptable format)
-Notebook due January 8 or January 9; Favorite Journal due to www.turnitin.com Discussion Board by _____; Comment on
Someone’s Journal due to www.turnitin.com Discussion Board by _______
Exam Week (Jan 13-17):
-Take final exam for ENC 1101 (This final exam will be comprehensive and your responses will be submitted to SFCC.)
NOTE: THIS OUTLINE DOES NOT REFLECT THE ADDITIONAL READINGS, ESSAYS, TESTS, OR HOMEWORK
ASSIGNMENTS THAT MIGHT BE ADDED DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR BASED ON THE NEEDS OF
THE CLASS. ASSIGNMENTS ON SYLLABUS ARE TENTATIVE AND REPRESENT THE EARLIEST DUE DATE
FOR AN ASSIGNMENT. THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DELAY ASSIGNMENTS BASED ON
CLASS PACE.
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT:
Directions: Your journal will be due on Friday of every school week by 11:59 pm to www.turnitin.com. Each week you
need to write between 250-350 words. You may choose between one to three topics per week, but you should not repeat any
topic during the school year. You need to have a heading on your paper listing the journal #, then write the number of the
question, then your entry. You may choose to work ahead (since all the journals for the year are already listed on
www.turnitin.com), but you must make sure you submit your journal every Friday for the correct date (regardless if you were
absent or not on that day—this is a college class!) in order to get your 10 points credit per week toward your notebook grade.
I will read these journal entries directly off of www.turnitin.com. At the end of each nine weeks you will turn in a copy of
your Journal Checklist for the nine weeks when your turn in your notebook (which will be a 3 prong or ring folder).
These journals will be a way for you to creatively express yourself and practice writing fluency. It should be an enjoyable
experience (except for those of you who choose to start writing your weekly journal at 11:54 pm the night it is due). You
should also keep in mind that you will eventually use these journal entries in your writing portfolio, which is a collection of
your best writings of the year, and you will also be sharing your favorite journals with your classmates on the Discussion
Board of www.turnitin.com.
12
The individual journals will be due for the school year as followed:
JOURNAL # 1 due August 23
JOURNAL # 2 due August 30
JOURNAL # 3 due September 6
JOURNAL # 4 due September 13
JOURNAL # 5 due September 20
JOURNAL # 6 due September 27
JOURNAL # 7 due October 4
JOURNAL # 8 due October 11
JOURNAL # 9 due October 18
JOURNAL # 10 due October 25
JOURNAL # 11 due November 1
JOURNAL # 12 due November 8
JOURNAL # 13 due November 15
JOURNAL # 14 due November 22
JOURNAL # 15 due December 6
JOURNAL # 16 due December 13
JOURNAL # 17 due January 10
JOURNAL # 18 due January 17
JOURNAL # 19 due January 24
JOURNAL # 20 due January 31
JOURNAL # 21 due February 7
JOURNAL # 22 due February 14
JOURNAL # 23 due February 21
JOURNAL # 24 due February 28
JOURNAL # 25 due March 7
JOURNAL # 26 due March 14
JOURNAL # 27 due March 28
JOURNAL # 28 due April 4
JOURNAL # 29 due April 11
JOURNAL # 30 due April 18
JOURNAL # 31 due April 25
JOURNAL # 32 due May 2
JOURNAL # 33 due May 9
JOURNAL # 34 due May 16
Your journal topics are as followed:
1. Describe your first brush with danger.
2. Tell the story of a job interview that goes badly. (The more your character wants the job, the better the story will
be.)
3. According to officials at Graceland, Elvis Presley receives an estimated one hundred valentines every year.
Write a story about one.
4. Write an argument between two characters that begins in the middle of the argument.
5. Imagine that you could wake up tomorrow in someone else’s body. Whose would it be? How would your life
change? What are some of the first things you’d do?
6. Write about a near-death experience.
7. Write a story about the 1980s (or any other time period in the past). Use as many period elements as you can.
8. Since 1980, more than fifty forgeries have been discovered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Write about one
of them.
9. Write about the biggest secret you failed to keep.
10. Write a story set in the kitchen of a fast-food restaurant.
11. According to the National Coffee Association, there are more than 300,000 Americans who drink more than ten
cups of coffee a day. Describe one of them.
12. Chronicle the longest amount of time you’ve ever gone without sleeping.
13
13. Write about your first artistic expression.
14. Describe the most disappointing gift you have ever received. What did the gift reveal about the giver?
15. Describe the worst driver you have ever known.
16. Think of a person you don’t like, and describe what you might say if you had to share an elevator ride together
with this person. Then describe what happens when the elevator breaks down. For six hours.
17. Tell a story that begins with the discovery of a ransom note.
18. Write a story in the form of a political apology.
19. Describe the worst time you ever put your foot in your mouth.
20. Seventeen percent of Americans claim they have seen a ghost. Describe one of their encounter, or one of your
own.
21. Describe the youngest baby you ever felt, and how he or she felt in your arms.
22. Write about a time you’ve been lost.
23. Write about a beauty pageant without using stereotypes.
24. Describe the worst date of your life.
25. By the early 1990s more than 30,000 Americans held reservations from Pan-Am airlines for a trip to the moon.
Write about one of these people.
26. Set a small mirror beside your desk and write about your reflection. Describe how you might be perceived by a
stranger passing you on the street—what assumptions might he or she make about you, based on your appearance?
27. Describe the largest crowd you’ve ever been a part of.
28. Write a story that begins with the words, “Why didn’t you call me?”
29. Tell a story in the form of a prayer.
30. More than 10 million prescription medications are filled incorrectly every year. Write about one of them.
31. If you were going to be marooned on a tropical island with one person, who would you want it to be? Write
scenes that take place five hours after the shipwreck, five weeks after the shipwreck, and five years after the
shipwreck.
32. Describe the last time you were physically involved in a fight.
33. Begin a story with a character who has lost something important to them.
34. Invent a character who has won 76 million dollars in the Florida State Lottery. What is the first thing he or she
buys? How much is given to charity? How long before an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend re-enters their lives?
35. Describe the most boring event you have ever suffered through.
36. Write from the point-of-view of someone who committed murder today. Do not mention the murder.
37. Write about the first time you defied your parents.
38. Tell the story of how your parents became engaged.
39. Write about your worst habit.
40. Create a character who is trying to gain access to a club or organization.
41. Create a character who is falsely accused of a crime.
42. Update a classic fairy tale for readers of the 21 st century.
43. Write about the black sheep in your family. What is your opinion of him or her?
44. How well do you respond to criticism?
45. Describe your most embarrassing experience.
46. Trace the journey of a five dollar bill through the lives of five different owners. What was exchanged during
the transactions? How much (or how little) did these transactions mean to each of the people involved?
47. Tell the story about “the one who got away.”
48. Write about a physical trait you would have loved to have changed in middle school.
49. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, more than 100 people have registered on a waiting list to
see an execution. Write about one of them.
50. Describe a time when you pretended to be someone you are not.
51. Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken.
52. Write a story that begins, “The last time I saw my mother was fifteen years ago…”
53. Write a story that begins, “Three days passed before they found the body…”
54. Write about the worst driving you’ve ever done.
55. Thirty-four percent of new American school teachers say they plan to quit their profession within their first five
years. Write about one of them.
56. Invent a character that must choose between the lesser of two evils.
57. Write a love story in MySpace. Have the story consist entirely of alternating messages.
58. Describe a time you’ve settled an argument between two friends.
14
59. Write about a library or bookstore that has a special significance to you. What authors did you discover there?
60. Invent a character whose life is governed by Murphy’s Law (that is, anything that can go wrong will go wrong).
61. Write a story about a phone call that begins at three o’clock in the morning?
62. Write about the worst lie you ever told someone? Did they find out? What was the result?
63. Write from the point of view of a character on his or her deathbed.
64. Write about your favorite childhood toy.
65. Write about a character that is granted three wishes.
66. Write about a victim of “year-end fiscal cutbacks and corporate downsizing.”
67. Write about a wedding in which the bride or groom changes their mind.
68. Tell a story in the form of a love letter.
69. Tell a story that centers around a recipe.
70. Describe an encounter with a celebrity.
71. Write about the most serious injury or illness you have ever faced.
72. Invent a character that sees a phone number on the wall of a bathroom. Describe what happens when he or she
dials the number.
73. Describe the most meaningful gift you have ever received. What does it reveal about your relationship to the
giver?
74. Describe your favorite experience with Mother Nature.
75. Describe the secret life of a school bus driver.
76. More than 25,000 Americans seek help each year with gambling addiction. Write about one of them.
77. Describe your favorite family holiday, and explain what made it so special for you.
78. Describe a bad hair day.
79. According to the Gallup Organization, more than one million American dogs have been named as beneficiaries
in a will. Write about one of their owners.
80. Write about your earliest childhood memory.
81. There are approximately 3500 members of the International Flat Earth Society (people who insist the Earth is
flat). Write about one of them.
82. Write about the most important event you have ever been late to.
83. Tell the story behind your nickname or the most unusual nickname you have ever heard.
84. Write about your greatest childhood fear.
85. If you could script the plot for the dream you will have tonight, what would it be?
86. Write a dialogue between a radio talk show host and a troubled caller.
87. Every year, more than four hundred Americans are injured or killed by lightning. Write about one of them.
88. Write about a childhood experience that made you cry.
89. Write about the most difficult phone call you’ve ever had to make.
90. Write about a dream or goal you failed to achieve. What went wrong? How did this experience change you?
91. Check the horoscope in today’s newspaper, and use any of the twelve forecasts as a basis for a character.
92. Describe the unhealthiest meal you’ve ever eaten, and how you felt after eating it.
93. Write a description of your dream automobile.
94. Write a story that begins with an explosion.
95. If you won the Texas lottery, what would you do?
96. Why do you think some people don't exercise their right to vote?
97. What is your favorite Disney character or movie and why is it your favorite?
98. My full name and how it was decided on
99. I am the one who....
100. First Grade Memories
101. In the left corner, behind the filing cabinet.....
102. The Holiday I Wish We Had
103. Summer Memories
104. My Dad
105. My Mom
106. My Grandma
107. My Grandpa
108. If I was President of the United States...
109. Bugs
110. In 20 Years I'd Like to Be....
15
111. It was so funny when...
112. Good things about me
113. When I get to college, I will....
114. The best book I ever read...
115. I'm thankful for...
116. My hero
117. I wish I was there when....
118. What My Best Friend and I Have in Common
119. Something people usually don't notice about me is...
120. You are a small animal at a historical event. Tell what is happening.
121. Write an alphabet journal entry 26 sentences long, with each sentence starting with the alphabet letter as it
appears in sequence.
122. Make a list of all the words that are related to or describe heat. Write a story about Florida in the summer using
these words.
123. Write about places you have never been to, but want to go to.
124. Write about people you don't know, but would like to know.
125. Write about things you have never done, but would like to do (conduct an orchestra, etc.)
126. What if our school classes only went until noon each day?
127. I Did Something Really Nice
128. Observe at least 5 things you see happen on your way home from school. Write about them.
129. What does a classroom sound like?
130. What is a typical day in the school cafeteria?
131. Write about a perfect day.
132. What I Would Change About My School
133. What I Would Change About My World
134. Where Would I Go in a Time Machine
135. Give advice to a new student who will start school at SHS next year
136. I'll never forget the day ______(teacher's name) did __________
137. Some of the richest times in your life can come from your quiet thinking and/or praying alone time. Discuss
these times in your life.
138. Review the last movie you saw.
139. Describe the BEST ice cream and tell why you feel that way
140. What is an experience you would hate to repeat?
141. What is the ideal age to be? Why?
142. Do you accept yourself as you are, or would you like to be someone else?
143. Answer this question," Have I in any way done something that has hurt my parents?"
144. "How I think will determine how I live." Do you agree or disagree? Explain
145. Describe a summer thunderstorm
146. Describe the plight of an animal caught in a forest fire.
147. Tell abut a ride on the most exciting amusement park ride you have ever ridden.
148. Write about an Old West shoot-out in the streets of a western town
149. How might an astronaut feel that discovers that he/she will have to return to earth early because of a rocket
malfunction?
150. Describe the actions of a person who has just hit his or her thumb with a hammer
151. Describe the feeling of being chased in a dream
152. Tell about the moment when a person realizes that he or she has forgotten to do a major assignment that is due
today.
153. Describe the actions of an athlete in the final moments of a close contest when he or she makes a winning (or
losing) shot, play, move, or effort.
154. It isn't fair....
155. Write about some compliments people have given you
156. Write about some compliments you have given others recently.
157. Create a menu from a fictitious restaurant and describe the entrees.
158. The dispute over comic books. Are they good or bad?
159. Should grocery stores continue to throw away good food each day?
16
160. Do you get enough sleep? How or why not?
161. A horrible babysitting experience was when…
162. What one non-living item would you take from your house if it caught on fire?
163. You’ve landed on another planet. Tell the inhabitants all about earth.
164. If you were your teacher, how would you treat you?
165. What if your teacher fell asleep in class.
166. How would you think your parents’ view would change if they walked in your shoes for a week?
167. List 25 uses for a toothbrush.
168. Assume you are the last person on Earth and you have been granted one wish. What would it be?
169. Imagine a world that contained no written language. What would be different?
170. If you could step back in time to re-live one day, what would you do differently?
171. Imagine you are 25 years old. How will you describe yourself as you are today?
172. Imagine you had a hundred dollars, but you couldn't keep it. You had to give it away to a person or charity.
Who would you give it to? What would you want them to do with it?
173. Describe one time when you were brave.
174. If you could cook any meal for your family, what would you cook? Describe the meal and tell how you would
make it.
175. Describe your favorite character from a book, a movie, or television.
176. If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be? Describe the pet and how you would take care of it.
177. Do you have any brothers or sisters? If you do, tell what they're like. If not, tell whether or not you would like
to have a brother or sister.
178. If you could have lunch with any famous person who would it be? What would you talk about with this person?
179. Describe the oldest person you know.
180. Describe the youngest person you know.
181. Do you think a monkey would make a good pet? Explain why or why not.
182. How old were you four years ago? Describe some things you can do now that you could not do then.
183. Imagine you worked at a football stadium. What would your job be? (examples: quarterback, cheerleader,
coach, referee, ticket seller) Describe what you would do while you were on the job.
184. What do you like best about your home?
185. If you could be on any game show, what would it be? Describe what happens when you're on the show.
186. Describe your favorite season (fall, spring, summer, or winter). Tell what kinds of things you like to do during
that season.
187. If you could spend an afternoon with one member of your extended family, who would it be? Tell why you
chose this person and tell what you do together.
188. Which superpower would you most like to have-- invisibility, super strength, or the ability to fly? Describe
what kids of things you would do with your powers.
189. Think of a time when you've won something. Tell what you won and how you won it.
190. Invent a new kind of sandwich. Describe what is on it and how you would make it.
191. Describe one thing you're really good at.
192. Imagine you were twenty feet tall. Describe what life would be like.
193. Take out a photo album or magazine. Find the 14 th photo (counting any way you like) and write the story of
that photo.
194. Find a poem that you like. Make the last line of that poem the first line of your poem.
195. Make a list of 40 things that have happened to you this month.
196. Write a story about someone you know who is weird.
197. Where do you go when you want to get away from the pressures of life?
198. Rewrite “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” from the perspective of one of the dwarfs.
199. Imagine your life is now a book. Write a blurb for the back cover.
200. Write about the easiest decision you ever had to make.
201. Write an excuse for not working today.
202. Use the following words in a story: hypocrite, cookie jar, telephone, city, onomatopoeia
203. List fifteen simple pleasures. Pick one and write about it.
204. Begin a story with “I wish someone had told me…”
205. List 50 things you’d never do.
206. Write a pure dialogue story. No narration, no description, just dialogue.
207. Write a story 200 years from now about a day in the life of a window washer.
17
208. Write a feature story about the following: Giant Flies Invade Norway!
209. Write a story about a beggar who loves to hear himself sing.
Bibliography:
Topics 1-94 are from The Writer’s Block by Jason Rehkulak
Topics 95-161 are from http://www.angelfire.com/ok/freshenglish/250journaltopics.html
Topics 162-171 are from http://712educators.about.com/cs/writingresources/l/bljrnlspec.html
Topics 172-192 are from http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/journal-prompts.html
Topics 192-209 are from http://www.creativewritingprompts.com
18
JOURNAL Checklist for 1st Nine Weeks
Directions: Take the following four pages and put it into the JOURNAL Checklist section of
your notebook. This will be used to grade your notebook every nine weeks and will help you
keep track of the Journal and Quote topics you have completed. Keep in mind that your word
count will be individually verified by me (and a teaching assistant who will help me grade these),
so if you give an inaccurate word count it will affect your grade.
Weekly JOURNALS:
JOURNAL # 1 due August 23
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _____;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 2 due August 30
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _____;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 3 due September 6
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 4 due September 13
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 5 due September 20
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 6 due September 27
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 7 due October 4
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 8 due October 11
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
Remember your notebook is due October 16 (for __ Day) or October 17 (for __
Day)!
19
JOURNAL Checklist for Second Nine Weeks
JOURNAL # 9 due October 18
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 10 due October 25
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 11 due November 1
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 12 due November 8
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 13 due November 15
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 14 due November 22
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 15 due December 6
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 16 due December 13
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
Remember your notebook is due January 8 (for ___ day) or January 9 (for ___ day)!
20
JOURNAL Checklist for Third Nine Weeks
JOURNAL # 17 due January 10
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 18 due January 17
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 19 due January 24
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 20 due January 31
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 21 due February 7
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 22 due February 14
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 23 due February 21
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 24 due February 28
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 25 due March 7
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 26 due March 14
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
Remember your notebook is due March 25 (for ___ Day) or March 26 (for ___
Day)!
21
JOURNAL Checklist for Fourth Nine Weeks
JOURNAL # 27 due March 28
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 28 due April 4
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 29 due April 11
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 30 due April 18
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 31 due April 25
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 32 due May 2
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 33 due May 9
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
JOURNAL # 34 due May 16
-I did / did not complete this JOURNAL. I wrote on journal topic/s _______;
my word count is ______.
Remember your notebook is due May 21 (for __ Day) or May 22 (for ___ Day)!
22
NOTEBOOK CHECKLIST
1st 9 WEEKS NOTEBOOK CHECK ON OCTOBER 16 (for __ day) or OCTOBER 17 (for
___ day):
(Warning: This checklist will be filled out by the teacher or teacher assistant, so please leave
it blank. Remember your JOURNALs will be graded for proper formatting, word length, and
intelligence of your responses.)
JOURNAL #1= ______/10points
JOURNAL #2= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #3= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #4= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #5= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #6= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #7= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #8= ______/10 points
Name/Subject/Period on Cover=______/2 points
Notebook is divided and labeled with three
tabs entitled (in this order: Handouts,
Assignments, Tests and Quizzes)=______ /3 points
Guidebook is in Handout Section=______/5 points
JOURNAL Checklist is filled out properly=______/10 points
Proper Papers in Each Section=______/10 points
TOTAL GRADE FOR NOTEBOOK=_______/110 POINTS
23
2ND 9 WEEKS NOTEBOOK CHECK ON JANUARY 8 (for __ Day) or JANUARY 9 (for
___ Day):
(Warning: This checklist will be filled out by the teacher or teacher assistant, so please leave
it blank. Remember your JOURNALs will be graded for proper formatting, word length, and
intelligence of your responses.)
JOURNAL #9= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #10= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #11= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #12= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #13= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #14= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #15= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #16= ______/10 points
Name/Subject/Period on Cover=______/2 points
Notebook is divided and labeled with three
tabs entitled (in this order: Handouts,
Assignments, Tests and Quizzes)=______ /3 points
Guidebook is in Handout Section=______/5 points
JOURNAL Checklist is filled out properly=______/10 points
Proper Papers in Each Section=______/10 points
TOTAL GRADE FOR NOTEBOOK=_______/110 POINTS
24
3rd 9 WEEKS NOTEBOOK CHECK ON MARCH 25 (for ___ day) OR MARCH 26 (for
___ day):
(Warning: This checklist will be filled out by the teacher or teacher assistant, so please leave
it blank.
Remember your JOURNALs will be graded for proper formatting, word length, and
intelligence of your responses.)
JOURNAL #17=______/10 points
JOURNAL #18= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #19= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #20= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #21= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #22= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #23= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #24= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #25= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #26=______/10 points
Name/Subject/Period on Cover=______/2 points
Notebook is divided and labeled with three
tabs entitled (in this order: Handouts,
Assignments, Tests and Quizzes)=______ /3 points
Guidebook is in Handout Section=______/5 points
JOURNAL Checklist is filled out properly=______/10 points
Proper Papers in Each Section=______/10 points
TOTAL GRADE FOR NOTEBOOK=_______/130 POINTS
25
4TH 9 WEEKS NOTEBOOK CHECK ON MAY 21 (for ___ day) or MAY 22 (for ___
day):
(Warning: This checklist will be filled out by the teacher or teacher assistant, so please leave
it blank. Remember your JOURNALs will be graded for proper formatting, word length, and
intelligence of your responses.)
JOURNAL #27=______/10 points
JOURNAL #28= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #29= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #30= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #31= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #32= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #33= ______/10 points
JOURNAL #34= ______/10 points
Name/Subject/Period on Cover=______/2 points
Notebook is divided and labeled with three
tabs entitled (in this order: Handouts,
Assignments, Tests and Quizzes)=______ /3 points
Guidebook is in Handout Section=______/5 points
JOURNAL Checklist is filled out properly=______/10 points
Proper Papers in Each Section=______/10 points
TOTAL GRADE FOR NOTEBOOK=_______/110 POINTS
26
The Last Lecture Topics of Discussion:
Author Randy Pausch:
Randy Pausch was a professor of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, and Design at
Carnegie Mellon University. From 1988 to 1997, he taught at the University of Virginia. He was an
award-winning teacher and researcher, and worked with Adobe, Google, Electronic Arts (EA), and Walt
Disney Imagineering, and pioneered the non-profit Alice project. (Alice is an innovative 3-D environment
that teaches programming to young people via storytelling and interactive game-playing.) He also cofounded The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon with Don Marinelli. (ETC is the
premier professional graduate program for interactive entertainment as it is applies across a variety of
fields.) Randy lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008. (Source:
www.thelastlecture.com)
Important People Mentioned in Pausch’s book:
Jai-his wife
Dylan, Logan, and Chloe- his 3 children
Jeffrey Zaslow- This is who Randy Pausch would tell his story to on his daily bike rides; Zaslow adapted
these stories into The Last Lecture.
Michele Reiss- Jai and Randy’s psychotherapist, who specialized in treating couples in which
one
member is terminally ill
Steve Seabolt- close friend of Randy’s
Randy’s father- tough WWII veteran; founded a nonprofit group to help immigrant kids’ learn
English; sold auto insurance; Randy considered him a smart man and followed his advice his
whole life
Randy’s mother- a former no-nonsense English teacher
Tammy- Randy’s sister, who is 2 years older than him.
Jack Sheriff- friend who helps paint Randy’s room when he is a child
Jim Graham- Randy’s high school football coach, encouraged the fundamentals
Chip Walter- co-wrote a book with William Shatner on scientific breakthroughs first mention in Star
Trek; this indirectly led to Randy meeting Shatner
Jon Snoddy- imaginer in charge of Disney Aladdin virtual reality ride
Jessica Hodgins- co-worker of Randy he occasionally brought with him to doctor’s appointments
Dr. Herb Zeh- one of Randy’s doctors
Dr. Robert Woolf- Randy’s oncologist; Randy was very impressed by the way he delivered bad news
Robbee Kosak- Randy’s co-worker who sees him happy in his car and sends him an email
Andy van Dam- Randy is a teaching assistant to him; Andy gives him great advice by telling
him,
“Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as being so arrogant, because it’s
going to limit
what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life.” (p. 68)
Chris and Laura- his sister’ children
Tommy Burnett- achieved his childhood dream of working on a Star Wars film
Don Marinelli- a drama professor at Carnegie Mellon who co-founded the Entertainment Technology
Center with Randy
Dennis Kosgrove- Alice’s lead designer
Caitlin Kelleher- a professor working getting girls more interested in computer programming through
story telling
Sandy Blatt- Randy’s former landlord who was a paraplegic
Jackie Robinson- first African-American to play Major League Baseball; Randy had a photo of him in
his office and Randy was surprised that few students knew his story
27
Dennis Cosgrove- Randy fights for him to not get kicked out of school after he makes an F;
eventually he takes charge of the Alice project
Norman Meyrowitz- brought a lightbulb to class, which really impressed Randy
Nico Habermann- an interview with this man got Randy into the PhD program at Carnegie Mellon
Fred Brooks, Jr.- a highly respected computer scientist who was a lifelong mentor to Randy
Jared Cohon- president of Carnegie Mellon
Scott Sherman- Randy’s college roommate he goes on a scuba diving trip with
The Last Lecture Discussion Questions:
Overall Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Why do you think this lecture/book struck a cord with so many people?
Where is the speaker/author “coming from”?
What are my childhood dreams? How might I achieve them?
What were the dreams my parents had and how did they fulfill them?
Who are the mentors I can turn to? What lessons have they taught me?
And what wisdom would I choose to impart to the world if it was my last chance? What
are the lessons of my life?
Introduction:
Randy Pausch describes his cancer as “an engineering problem.” How was this a helpful way to
look at his illness?
He talks about the lecture as a means of expression, and a way to reach his kids: “If I were a
painter, I would have painted for them. If I were a musician, I would have composed music. But I am a
lecturer. So I lectured.” There are so many ways to communicate. What are your own avenues for selfexpression?
Randy has always recognized the importance of time management. What did you think of his
decision to work on the book while riding his bike?
Chapter 1: An Injured Lion Still Wants to Roar
Randy almost didn’t go to Pittsburg to deliver his last lecture. His wife Jai had wanted him to
stay home with her and the kids. What did you learn from his discussion with her about this?
Randy chose “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams: as the topic for his lecture. In what
ways would this allow him to tell the story of his life, and to enable the dreams of others?
Chapter 3: The Elephant in the Room
Randy decided to begin his talk in a specific way—showing his CT scans, introducing “the
elephant in the room,” assuring everyone he’s not in denial, and doing push-ups. What made this
effective? What were you thinking watching this for the first time via video?
Chapter 4: The Parent Lottery
Randy said he realized many of his dreams because he had terrific parents. What details from his
childhood do you think led to the successes he had later in life? Are there lessons in Randy’s story for
people who’ve had less fulfilling childhoods, or absentee parents? What advice might you give to those
who didn’t win “the parent lottery”?
28
Chapter 5: The Elevator in the Ranch House
In his talk, Randy encouraged parents to allow their children to paint on their bedroom walls, “As
a favor to me,” he said, “let ‘em do it. Don’t worry about the home’s resale value.” The real message he
says he was trying to give was this: Find ways to help your kids be creative. Nurture those instincts in
them.
What would you paint on your bedroom walls if you were given permission to do so? What other
creative outlet would you like to pursue, if your parents gave the OK?
Chapter 6: Getting to Zero G
The chapter ends with the line: “If you can find an opening, you can probably find a way to float
through it.” What’s the lesson to be learned from Randy’s attempts to get onto that “Vomit Comet”?
Chapter 7: I Never Made It to the NFL
This is a chapter about football, but so many of the lessons in it can apply elsewhere in our lives:



Talk about ways fundamentals are important off the playing field, too.
Randy believed our critics are often the ones saying they still care about us. How in your
own life has a critic helped you become a better person?
Randy loved using “head fakes.” What are some other head fakes that teachers and
parents have used?
Chapter 11: The Happiest Place on Earth
Throughout the book, Randy says: “Brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep
us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
What are the brick walls you’ve faced in your own life? How did you get over them?
Chapter 12: The Park Is Open Until 8 p.m.
In this chapter, we see Randy as an advocate for his own medical care. We also get a sense of
how he decided to adopt a positive attitude. Have there been people in your own life who’ve faced the
challenges of serious illness? What did you learn from them? How has Randy’s journey made you
consider how you’ll approach your own mortality?
Chapter 14: The Dutch Uncle
Randy credits his professor Andy van Dam with telling him the tough-love things he needed to
hear. What was it about Dr. van Dam’s delivery and message that resonated with Randy? Who in your
own life has told you things about yourself that made you reconsider your actions or behavior?
Chapter 15: Pouring Soda in the Backseat
Throughout the book, Randy makes a distinction between “people” and “things.” What did you
think of his decision to empty that can of soda in the backseat of his car?
Chapter 17: Not All Fairy Tales End Smoothly
In this chapter and chapter 19 (about the birth of his son) Randy reminds readers that even
wonderful life events—such as a wedding or the birth of a child—are fraught with unexpected dangers.
What did you learn from the way Randy and Jai handled the problems before them in these chapters?
Chapter 18: Lucy, I’m Home
Was Randy right? Was there no need to fix the dents in those two damaged cars?
29
Chapter 21: Jai
It is clear in the book that Randy and Jai have a deep love for one another. And yet, like other
married couples, they’ve had to work hard on their relationship. Randy’s illness created additional
challenges. By reading about how they’ve faced the issues between them, what did you learn about
getting along with others, about mutual respect, and about the power of love?
Chapter 23: I’m on My Honeymoon, But If You Need Me…
What do you think of Randy’s time-management tips? Would you have walked out of that
grocery store, knowing you overpaid by $16.55? Do you have to-do lists?
Chapter 24: A Recovering Jerk
Randy believes the number one goal for educators should be helping students learn how to judge
themselves. How crucial do you think this is in the learning process? Have you relied on feedback loops
in your life? Has anyone ever told you that you were being a jerk?
Chapter 27: The Promised Land
Randy and his colleagues tried to attract girls into the field of computer science. He’s proud of
“The Alice Project,” and calls it his greatest legacy. What advice would you give to his colleagues, as
they go about trying to carry on Randy’s vision?
Chapter 28: Dream Big
Randy missed the 1969 moonwalk because he was sent to bed by camp counselors. Have you
ever wished adults in your life were less rigid? What advice would you give to adults about helping kids
to dream big?
Chapter 29: Earnest Is Better Than Hip
Do you agree with Randy? Is earnest better than hip? Is fashion truly commerce masquerading
as hip? Or can fashion be a way in which people express themselves?
Chapter 32: Don’t Complain, Just Work Harder
Randy admired Sandy Blatt and Jackie Robinson because they didn’t complain. As Randy puts
it: “Complaining is not a strategy.” Do you agree?
Chapter 35: Start by Sitting Together
Have you ever had trouble working in groups? How might Randy’s tips help you get along better
with others in the future?
Chapter 39: Be the First Penguin
Randy writes that “experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” How do
you think his First Penguin Award was able to inspire his students?
Chapter 41: The Lost Art of Thank-You Notes
Do you agree with Randy that handwritten thank-you notes, even in our computer age, can offer a
kind of magic? When was the last time you have seen a handwritten thank-you?
Chapter 47: A Bad Apology Is Worse Than No Apology
Randy describes two “classic bad apologies.” Have you ever given someone such an apology?
How did it turn out?
30
Chapter 55: All You Have to Do Is Ask
What would you like to ask for that you haven’t been able to find the courage to articulate? What
do you think will happen if you “just ask”?
Chapter 56: Make a Decision: Tigger or Eeyore
OK, so which one are you? And why? If you’d like to be more of a Tigger, how might you go
about that?
Chapter 59: Dreams for My Children
Randy says parents don’t realize the power of their words: “Depending on a child’s age and
sense of self, an offhand comment from Mom or Dad can feel like a shove from a bulldozer.” Have you
ever felt that way?
What are the vital messages to be drawn from the way Randy is saying goodbye to his kids, and
from the tangible things he is leaving behind for them?
Chapter 61: The Dreams Will Come to You
Randy realized that he didn’t give the lecture because he wanted to. He gave it because he “had
to.” Are there things inside of you that “need to come out”? As you read the final chapter of the book,
what were the emotions you were feeling? How would you describe the legacy of Randy Pausch?
(Source of These Discussion Questions: http://www.thelastlecture.com/pdf/LastLecture_EdGuide.pdf)
Article: “A Beloved Professor Delivers the Lecture of a Lifetime” by Jeffrey Zaslow, originally
published in The Wall Street Journal on September 22, 2007.
Note: This was the original article that inspired people to seek out the lecture online and made Randy
Pausch a worldwide phenomenon and inspiration.
Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science professor, was about to give a lecture
Tuesday afternoon, but before he said a word, he received a standing ovation from 400 students and
colleagues.
He motioned to them to sit down. "Make me earn it," he said.
They had come to see him give what was billed as his "last lecture." This is a common title for talks on
college campuses today. Schools such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted "Last
Lecture Series," in which top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and to give
hypothetical final talks. For the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we
impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?
It can be an intriguing hour, watching healthy professors consider their demise and ruminate over subjects
dear to them. At the University of Northern Iowa, instructor Penny O'Connor recently titled her lecture
"Get Over Yourself." At Cornell, Ellis Hanson, who teaches a course titled "Desire," spoke about sex and
technology.
At Carnegie Mellon, however, Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an academic exercise. The 46year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months. His lecture, using
images on a giant screen, turned out to be a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of his life.
31
He began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver. But after that, he talked about living.
If anyone expected him to be morose, he said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the floor
and did one-handed pushups.
Clicking through photos of himself as a boy, he talked about his childhood dreams: to win giant stuffed
animals at carnivals, to walk in zero gravity, to design Disney rides, to write a World Book entry. By
adulthood, he had achieved each goal. As proof, he had students carry out all the huge stuffed animals
he'd won in his life, which he gave to audience members. After all, he doesn't need them anymore.
He paid tribute to his techie background. "I've experienced a deathbed conversion," he said, smiling. "I
just bought a Macintosh." Flashing his rejection letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his
career, repeating: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." He
encouraged us to be patient with others. "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you."
After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the
walls, he said: "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."
While displaying photos of his bosses and students over the years, he said that helping others fulfill their
dreams is even more fun than achieving your own. He talked of requiring his students to create
videogames without sex and violence. "You'd be surprised how many 19-year-old boys run out of ideas
when you take those possibilities away," he said, but they all rose to the challenge.
He also saluted his parents, who let him make his childhood bedroom his domain, even if his wall
etchings hurt the home's resale value. He knew his mom was proud of him when he got his Ph.D, he said,
despite how she'd introduce him: "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the kind who helps people."
He then spoke about his legacy. Considered one of the nation's foremost teachers of videogame and
virtual-reality technology, he helped develop "Alice," a Carnegie Mellon software project that allows
people to easily create 3-D animations. It had one million downloads in the past year, and usage is
expected to soar.
"Like Moses, I get to see the Promised Land, but I don't get to step foot in it," Dr. Pausch said. "That's
OK. I will live on in Alice."
Many people have given last speeches without realizing it. The day before he was killed, Martin Luther
King Jr. spoke prophetically: "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place." He
talked of how he had seen the Promised Land, even though "I may not get there with you."
Dr. Pausch's lecture, in the same way, became a call to his colleagues and students to go on without him
and do great things. But he was also addressing those closer to his heart.
Near the end of his talk, he had a cake brought out for his wife, whose birthday was the day before. As
she cried and they embraced on stage, the audience sang "Happy Birthday," many wiping away their own
tears.
Dr. Pausch's speech was taped so his children, ages 5, 2 and 1, can watch it when they're older. His last
words in his last lecture were simple: "This was for my kids." Then those of us in the audience rose for
one last standing ovation.
32
Article: “The Professor’s Manifesto: What It Meant to Readers” by Jeffrey Zaslow, published in The
Wall Street Journal on September 27, 2007.
Note: This article was published only a few days after Zaslow’s original article as Pausch’s worldwide
recognition began to change his life.
As a boy, Randy Pausch painted an elevator door, a submarine and mathematical formulas on his
bedroom walls. His parents let him do it, encouraging his creativity.
Last week, Dr. Pausch, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told this story in a
lecture to 400 students and colleagues.
"If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it," he said. "Don't worry about
resale values."
As I wrote last week, his talk was a riveting and rollicking journey through the lessons of his life. It was
also his last lecture, since he has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months.
After he spoke, his only plans were to quietly spend whatever time he has left with his wife and three
young children. He never imagined the whirlwind that would envelop him. As video clips of his speech
spread across the Internet, thousands of people contacted him to say he had made a profound impact on
their lives. Many were moved to tears by his words -- and moved to action. Parents everywhere vowed to
let their kids do what they'd like on their bedroom walls.
"I am going to go right home and let my daughter paint her wall the bright pink she has been desiring
instead of the "resalable" vanilla I wanted," Carol Castle of Spring Creek, Nev., wrote to me to forward to
Dr. Pausch
People wanted Dr. Pausch to know that his talk had inspired them to quit pitying themselves, or to move
on from divorces, or to pay more attention to their families. One woman wrote that his words had given
her the strength to leave an abusive relationship. And terminally ill people wrote that they would try to
live their lives as the 46-year-old Dr. Pausch is living his. "I'm dying and I'm having fun," he said in the
lecture. "And I'm going to keep having fun every day, because there's no other way to play it."
For Don Frankenfeld of Rapid City, S.D., watching the full lecture was "the best hour I have spent in
years." Many echoed that sentiment.
ABC News, which featured Dr. Pausch on "Good Morning America," named him its "Person of the
Week." Other media descended on him. And hundreds of bloggers world-wide wrote essays celebrating
him as their new hero. Their headlines were effusive: "Best Lecture Ever," "The Most Important Thing
I've Ever Seen," "Randy Pausch, Worth Every Second."
In his lecture, Dr. Pausch had said, "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we
want things." Scores of Web sites now feature those words. Some include photos of brick walls for
emphasis. Meanwhile, rabbis and ministers shared his brick-wall metaphor in sermons this past weekend.
Some compared the lecture to Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man Alive" speech. Celina Levin, 15, of Marlton,
N.J., told Dr. Pausch that her AP English class had been analyzing the Gehrig speech, and "I have a
33
feeling that we'll be analyzing your speech for years to come." Already, the Naperville, Ill., Central High
School speech team plans to have a student deliver the Pausch speech word for word in competition.
As Dr. Pausch's fans emailed links of his speech to friends, some were sheepish about it. "I am a deeply
cynical person who reminds people frequently not to send me those sappy feel-good emails," wrote Mark
Pfeifer, a technology project manager at a New York investment bank. "Randy Pausch's lecture moved
me deeply, and I intend to forward it on."
In Miami, retiree Ronald Trazenfeld emailed the lecture to friends with a note to "stop complaining about
bad service and shoddy merchandise." He suggested they instead hug someone they love.
Near the end of his lecture, Dr. Pausch had talked about earning his Ph.D., and how his mother would
kiddingly introduce him: "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the kind who helps people."
It was a laugh line, but it led dozens of people to reassure Dr. Pausch: "You ARE the kind of doctor who
helps people," wrote Cheryl Davis of Oakland, Calif.
Dr. Pausch feels overwhelmed and moved that what started in a lecture hall with 400 people has now
been experienced by millions. Still, he has retained his sense of humor. "There's a limit to how many
times you can read how great you are and what an inspiration you are," he says, "but I'm not there yet."
Carnegie Mellon has a plan to honor Dr. Pausch. As a techie with the heart of a performer, he was always
a link between the arts and sciences on campus. A new computer-science building is being built, and a
footbridge will connect it to the nearby arts building. The bridge will be named the Randy Pausch
Memorial Footbridge.
"Based on your talk, we're thinking of putting a brick wall on either end," joked the university's president,
Jared Cohon, announcing the honor. He went on to say: "Randy, there will be generations of students and
faculty who will not know you, but they will cross that bridge and see your name and they'll ask those of
us who did know you. And we will tell them."
Dr. Pausch has asked Carnegie Mellon not to copyright his last lecture, and instead to leave it in the
public domain. It will remain his legacy, and his footbridge, to the world.
Article: “A Final Farewell” by Jeffrey Zaslow, published in The Wall Street Journal on May 3, 2008
Note: In this article Jeffrey Zaslow reflects on what was like knowing and writing The Last Lecture with
Randy Pausch.
Saying goodbye. It's a part of the human experience that we encounter every day, sometimes
nonchalantly, sometimes with great emotion.
Then, eventually, the time comes for the final goodbye. When death is near, how do we phrase our
words? How do we show our love?
Randy Pausch, a professor at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, has become famous for the way in
which he chose to say goodbye to his students and colleagues. His final lecture to them, delivered last
September, turned into a phenomenon, viewed by millions on the Internet. Dying of pancreatic cancer, he
showed a love of life and an approach to death that people have found inspiring. For many of us, his
34
lecture has become a reminder that our own futures are similarly -- if not as drastically -- brief. His fate is
ours, sped up.
Since the lecture, I've been privileged to spend a great deal of time with Randy, while co-writing his new
book, "The Last Lecture." I've seen how, in some ways, he is peacefully reconciled to his fate, and in
other ways, understandably, he is struggling.
The lecture was directed at his "work family," a call to them to go on without him and do great things.
But since the talk, Randy has been most focused on his actual family -- his wife, Jai, and their three
children, ages 6, 3, and 1.
For months after receiving his terminal diagnosis last August, Randy and Jai (pronounced "Jay") didn't
tell the kids he was dying. They were advised to wait until Randy was more symptomatic. "I still look
pretty healthy," he told me in December, "and so my kids remain unaware that in my every encounter
with them I'm saying goodbye. There's this sense of urgency that I try not to let them pick up on."
Through both his lecture and his life, Randy offers a realistic road map to the final farewell. His approach
-- pragmatic, heartfelt, sometimes quirky, often joyous -- can't help but leave you wondering: "How will I
say goodbye?"
Maybe 150. That's how many people Randy expected would attend his last lecture. He bet a friend $50
that he'd never fill the 400-seat auditorium. After all, it was a warm September day. He assumed people
would have better things to do than listen to a dying computer-science professor in his 40s give his final
lesson.
Randy lost his bet. The room was packed. He was thrilled by the turnout, and determined to deliver a talk
that offered all he had in him.
He arrived onstage to a standing ovation, but motioned to the audience to sit down. "Make me earn it," he
said.
He hardly mentioned his cancer. Instead, he took everyone on a rollicking journey through the lessons of
his life. He talked about the importance of childhood dreams, and the fortitude needed to overcome
setbacks. ("Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things.") He
encouraged his audience to be patient with others. ("Wait long enough, and people will surprise and
impress you.") And, to show the crowd that he wasn't ready to climb into his deathbed, he dropped to the
floor and did push-ups.
His colleagues and students sat there, buoyed by his words and startled by how the rush of one man's
passion could leave them feeling so introspective and emotionally spent -- all at once saddened and
exhilarated.
In 70 minutes onstage, he gave his audience reasons to reconsider their own ambitions, and to find new
ways to look at other people's flaws and talents. He celebrated mentors and protégés with an open heart.
And through a few simple gestures -- including a birthday cake for his wife -- he showed everyone the
depth of his love for his family. In his smiling delivery, he was so full of life that it was almost impossible
to reconcile the fact that he was near death -- that this performance was his goodbye.
35
I'm a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and a week before Randy gave the lecture, I got a heads-up
about it from the Journal's Pittsburgh bureau chief. Because my column focuses on life transitions, she
thought Randy might be fodder for a story.
I was aware that professors are often asked to give "last lectures" as an academic exercise, imagining
what wisdom they would impart if it was their final chance. In Randy's case, of course, his talk would not
be hypothetical.
I first spoke to him by phone the day before his talk, and he was so engaging that I was curious to see
what he'd be like onstage. I was slightly ill at ease in our conversation; it's hard to know what to say to a
dying man. But Randy found ways to lighten things up. He was driving his car, talking to me on his
cellphone. I didn't want him to get in an accident, so I suggested we reconnect when he got to a land line.
He laughed. "Hey, if I die in a car crash, what difference would it make?"
I almost didn't go to Pittsburgh to see him. The plane fare from my home in Detroit was a hefty $850, and
my editors said that if I wanted, I could just do a phone interview with him after the talk, asking him how
it went. In the end, I sensed that I shouldn't miss seeing his lecture in person, and so I drove the 300 miles
to Pittsburgh.
Like others in the room that day, I knew I was seeing something extraordinary. I hoped I could put
together a compelling story, but I had no expectations beyond that.
Neither did Randy. When the lecture ended, his only plan was to quietly spend whatever time he had left
with Jai and the kids. He never imagined the whirlwind that would envelop him.
The lecture had been videotaped -- WSJ.com posted highlights -- and footage began spreading across
thousands of Web sites. (The full talk can now be seen at thelastlecture.com.) Randy was soon receiving
emails from all over the world.
People wrote about how his lecture had inspired them to spend more time with loved ones, to quit pitying
themselves, or even to shake off suicidal urges. Terminally ill people said the lecture had persuaded them
to embrace their own goodbyes, and as Randy said, "to keep having fun every day I have left, because
there's no other way to play it."
In the weeks after the talk, people translated the lecture into other languages, and posted their versions
online. A university in India held a screening of the video. Hundreds of students attended and told their
friends how powerful it was; hundreds more demanded a second screening a week later.
In the U.S., Randy reprised part of his talk on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." ABC News would later name
him one of its three "Persons of the Year." Thousands of bloggers wrote essays celebrating him.
Randy was overwhelmed and moved by the response. Still, he retained his sense of humor. "There's a
limit to how many times you can read how great you are and what an inspiration you are," he said. "But
I'm not there yet."
Years ago, Jai had suggested that Randy compile his advice into a book for her and the kids. She wanted
to call it “The Manual.” Now, in the wake of the lecture, otheres were also telling Randy that he had a
book in him.
36
He resisted at first. Yes, there were things he felt an urge to express. But given his prognosis, he wanted
to spend his limited time with his family.
Then he caught a break. Palliative chemotherapy stalled the growth of his tumors. “This will be the first
book to ever list the drug Gemcitabine on the acknowlegments page,” he joked. But he still didn’t want
the book to get in the way of his last months with his kids. So he came up with a plan.
Because exercise was crucial to his health, he would ride his bicycle around his neighborhood for an hour
each day. This was time he couldn’t be with his kids, anyway. He and I agreed that he would wear a
cellphone headset on these rides, and we’d talk about everything on his mind—the lecture, his life, his
dreams for his family.
Every day, as soon as his bike ride came to an end, so did our conversation. “Gotta go!” he’d say, and I
knew he felt an aching urge (and responsibility) to return to his family life.
But the next day, he’d be back on the bike, enthusiastic about the conversation. He confided in me that
since his diagnosis, he had found himself feeling saddest when he was alone, driving his car or riding his
bike. So I sensed that he enjoyed my company in his ears as he pedaled.
Randy had a way of framing human experiences in his own distinctive way, mixing humor here,
unexpected inspiration there, and wrapping it all in an uncommon optimism. In the three months after the
lecture, he went on 53 long bike rides, and the stories he told became not just his book, but also part of his
process of saying goodbye.
Right now, Randy's children -- Dylan, Logan and Chloe -- are too young to understand all the things he
yearns to share with them. "I want the kids to know what I've always believed in," he told me, "and all the
ways in which I've come to love them."
Those who die at older ages, after their children have grown to adulthood, can find comfort in the fact that
they've been a presence in their offspring's lives. "When I cry in the shower," Randy said, "I'm not usually
thinking, 'I won't get to see the kids do this' or 'I won't get to see them do that.' I'm thinking about the kids
not having a father. I'm focused more on what they're going to lose than on what I'm going to lose. Yes, a
percentage of my sadness is, 'I won't, I won't, I won't.' But a bigger part of me grieves for them. I keep
thinking, 'They won't, they won't, they won't.' "
Early on, he had vowed to do the logistical things necessary to ease his family's path into a life without
him. His minister helped him think beyond estate planning and funeral arrangements. "You have life
insurance, right?" the minister asked.
"Yes, it's all in place," Randy told him.
"Well, you also need emotional insurance," the minister explained. The premiums for that insurance
would be paid for with Randy's time, not his money. The minister suggested that Randy spend hours
making videotapes of himself with the kids. Years from now, they will be able to see how easily they
touched each other and laughed together.
Knowing his kids' memories of him could be fuzzy, Randy has been doing things with them that he hopes
they'll find unforgettable. For instance, he and Dylan, 6, went on a minivacation to swim with dolphins.
"A kid swims with dolphins, he doesn't easily forget it," Randy said. "We took lots of photos." Randy
37
took Logan, 3, to Disney World to meet his hero, Mickey Mouse. "I'd met him, so I could make the
introduction."
Randy also made a point of talking to people who lost parents when they were very young. They told him
they found it consoling to learn about how much their mothers and fathers loved them. The more they
knew, the more they could still feel that love. To that end, Randy built separate lists of his memories of
each child. He also has written down his advice for them, things like: "If I could only give three words of
advice, they would be, 'Tell the truth.' If I got three more words, I'd add, 'All the time.' "
The advice he's leaving for Chloe includes this: "When men are romantically interested in you, it's really
simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do." Chloe, not yet 2 years
old, may end up having no memory of her father. "But I want her to grow up knowing," Randy said, "that
I was the first man ever to fall in love with her."
Saying goodbye to a spouse requires more than just loving words. There are details that must be
addressed.
Shortly after his terminal diagnosis, Randy and his family moved from Pittsburgh to southeastern
Virginia, so that after he dies, Jai and the kids will be closer to her family for support. At first, Jai didn't
even want Randy returning to Pittsburgh to give his last lecture; she thought he should be home,
unpacking boxes or interacting with the kids. "Call me selfish," Jai told him, "but I want all of you. Any
time you'll spend working on this lecture is lost time, because it's time away from the kids and from me."
Jai finally relented when Randy explained how much he yearned to give one last talk. "An injured lion
still wants to roar," he told her.
In the months after the talk, while chemo was still keeping his tumors from growing, Randy wouldn't use
the word "lucky" to describe his situation. Still, he said, "a part of me does feel fortunate that I didn't get
hit by the proverbial bus." Cancer had given him the time to have vital conversations with Jai that
wouldn't be possible if his fate were a heart attack or car accident.
What did they talk about?
For starters, they both tried to remember that flight attendants offer terrific caregiving advice: "Put on
your own oxygen mask before assisting others."
"Jai is such a giver that she often forgets to take care of herself," Randy said. "When we become
physically or emotionally run down, we can't help anybody else, least of all small children." Randy has
reminded Jai that, once he's gone, she should give herself permission to make herself a priority.
Randy and Jai also talked about the fact that she will make mistakes in the years ahead, and she shouldn't
attribute them all to the fact that she'll be raising the kids herself. "Mistakes are part of the process of
parenting," Randy told her. "If I were able to live, we'd be making those mistakes together."
In some ways, the couple found it helpful to try to live together as if their marriage had decades to go.
"We discuss, we get frustrated, we get mad, we make up," Randy said.
At the same time, given Randy's prognosis, Jai has been trying to let little stuff slide. Randy can be
messy, with clothes everywhere. "Obviously, I ought to be neater," Randy said. "I owe Jai many
38
apologies. But do we really want to spend our last months together arguing that I haven't hung up my
khakis? We do not. So now Jai kicks my clothes in a corner and moves on."
A friend suggested to Jai that she keep a daily journal. She writes in there things that get on her nerves
about Randy. He can be cocky, dismissive, a know-it-all. "Randy didn't put his plate in the dishwasher
tonight," she wrote one night. "He just left it there on the table and went to his computer." She knew he
was preoccupied, heading to the Internet to research medical treatments. Still, the dish bothered her. She
wrote about it, felt better, and they didn't need to argue over it.
There are days when Jai tells Randy things, and there's little he can say in response. She has said to him:
"I can't imagine rolling over in bed and you're not there." And: "I can't picture myself taking the kids on
vacation and you not being with us."
Randy and Jai have gone to a therapist who specializes in counseling couples in which one spouse is
terminally ill. That's been helpful. But they've still struggled. They've cried together in bed at 3 a.m.,
fallen back asleep, woken up at 4 a.m. and cried some more. "We've gotten through in part by focusing on
the tasks at hand," Randy said. "We can't fall to pieces. We've got to get some sleep because one of us has
to get up in the morning and give the kids breakfast. That person, for the record, is almost always Jai."
For Randy, part of saying goodbye is trying to remain optimistic. After his diagnosis, Randy's doctor gave
him advice: "It's important to behave as if you're going to be around awhile." Randy was already way
ahead of him: "Doc, I just bought a new convertible and got a vasectomy. What more do you want from
me?"
In December, Randy went on a short scuba-diving vacation with three close friends. The men were all
aware of the subtext; they were banding together to give Randy a farewell weekend. Still, they
successfully avoided any emotional "I love you, man" dialogue related to Randy's cancer. Instead, they
reminisced, horsed around and made fun of each other. (Actually, it was mostly the other guys making
fun of Randy for the "St. Randy of Pittsburgh" reputation he had gotten since his lecture.) Nothing was
off-limits. When Randy put on sunscreen, his friend Steve Seabolt said, "Afraid of skin cancer, Randy?
That's like putting good money after bad."
Randy loved that weekend. As he later explained it: "I am maintaining my clear-eyed sense of the
inevitable. I'm living like I'm dying. But at the same time, I'm very much living like I'm still living."
Since Randy's lecture began spreading on the Internet, he has heard from thousands of strangers, many
offering advice on how they dealt with final goodbyes.
A woman who lost her husband to pancreatic cancer said his last speech was to a small audience: her, his
children, parents and siblings. He thanked them for their guidance and love, and reminisced about places
they had gone together. Another woman, whose husband died of a brain tumor, suggested that Randy talk
to Jai about how she'll need to reassure their kids, as they get older, that they will have a normal life.
"There will be graduations, marriages, children of their own. When a parent dies at such an early age,
some children think that other normal life-cycle events may not happen for them, either."
Randy was moved by comments such as the one he received from a man with serious heart problems. The
man wrote to tell Randy about Krishnamurti, a spiritual leader in India who died in 1986. Krishnamurti
was once asked what was the most appropriate way to say goodbye to a man who was about to die. He
answered: "Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Wherever he goes, you
39
also go. He will not be alone." In his email to Randy, this man was reassuring: "I know you are not
alone."
The chemotherapy keeping Randy alive took a toll on his body. By March, he was fighting off kidney and
heart failure, along with debilitating fatigue. Still, he kept a commitment to go to Washington, D.C., to
speak before Congress on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
He spoke forcefully about research needed to fight pancreatic cancer, the deadliest of all the cancers, and
then held up a large photo of Jai and the kids. When he pointed to Jai, he told the congressmen: "This is
my widow. That's not a grammatical construction you get to use every day.... Pancreatic cancer can be
beat, but it will take more courage and funding."
Randy has now stopped chemotherapy, and as he regains his strength, he hopes to begin liver-specific
treatments. He is engaged in the process, but expects no miracles. He knows his road is short.
Meanwhile, I feel forever changed by my time with Randy; I saw his love of life from a front-row seat.
He and I traded countless emails, and I've filed them all safely in my computer. His daily emails -- smart,
funny, wise -- have brightened my inbox. I dread the day I will no longer hear from him.
Randy rarely got emotional in all his hours with me. He was brave, talking about death like a scientist. In
fact, until we got to discussing what should be in the book's last chapter, he never choked up.
The last chapter, we decided, would be about the last moments of his lecture -- how he felt, what he said.
He thought hard about that, and then described for me how his emotions swelled as he took a breath and
prepared to deliver his closing lines. It was tough, he said, "because the end of the talk had to be a
distillation of how I felt about the end of my life."
In the same way, discussing the end of the book was emotional for him. I could hear his voice cracking as
we spoke. Left unsaid was the fact that this part of our journey together was ending. He no longer needed
to ride his bike, wearing that headset, while I sat at my computer, tapping away, his voice in my ears.
Within weeks, he had no energy to exercise.
Randy is thrilled that so many people are finding his lecture beneficial, and he hopes the book also will be
a meaningful legacy for him. Still, all along, he kept reminding me that he was reaching into his heart,
offering his life lessons, mostly to address an audience of three. "I'm attempting to put myself in a bottle
that will one day wash up on the beach for my children," he said.
And so despite all his goodbyes, he has found solace in the idea that he'll remain a presence. "Kids, more
than anything else, need to know their parents love them," he said. "Their parents don't have to be alive
for that to happen."
Chapter cut from the book:
Question: Why do you think this chapter was cut?
THE LOST CHAPTER
The Bridge
When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I went to see Carnegie Mellon’s president, Jared Cohon, to let
him know. He met me in his reception area, and just making small-talk, told me I looked thin and trim.
40
“I see you’re down to your fighting weight,” he said.
“Well, that’s what I’ve come to talk to about,” I told him as he closed his door. “I’m thin because I have
cancer.”
He immediately vowed to do whatever he could for me, to call anyone he knew in medicine who might
help. And then he took out his business card and wrote his cell-phone number on the back of it. “This is
for Jai,” he said. “You tell her to call me, day or night, if there’s anything this university can do to help,
or anything I can do as an individual.”
President Cohon, and others at the university, did indeed make great efforts on my behalf. My surgeon
later said to me: “Every time the phone rings, it’s another person politely insinuating that you’re not the
guy to lose on the table.”
But Carnegie Mellon also had given me a break by reconsidering my graduate-school application. Then,
years later, the school hired me. Then it allowed me to set up academic programs that few other
universities would even consider. Now, once again, I felt this school rallying behind me. Let me just say
it: To the extent that a human being can love an institution, I love Carnegie Mellon.
On the day of my last lecture, I was told that President Cohon was out of town and couldn’t attend. I was
disappointed. But actually, his plan was to fly back to Pittsburgh the afternoon of the talk.
He arrived halfway through the lecture, and I saw him enter the room out of the corner of my eye. I paused
for a second. He stood against the side wall, watching me speak. I didn’t know it, but he was set to follow
me on stage.
He also had a surprise.
Less than a block from the lecture hall, a new computer-science building was under construction. A 220foot-long footbridge, three stories high, is being built to connect the computer center to the nearby arts
and drama building. President Cohon had come to announce that a decision had been made to name the
bridge “The Randy Pausch Memorial Footbridge.”
“Based on your talk,” he ad-libbed, “we’re thinking of putting a brick wall at either end. Let’s see what
our students can do with that.”
His announcement was an overwhelming moment in my life. The idea of this bridge took my breath
away.
Turned out, President Cohon wasn’t kidding about the brick walls, either. Carnegie Mellon gave its
architects and bridge designers the green light to be completely creative. They first considered having
some kind of hologram of a brick wall on the bridge, allowing students to walk right through it. Now
they’re planning to design the bridge in a way that gives pedestrians a sense that a brick wall is ahead of
them at the end.
I’ve never been a big fan of memorials or buildings being named in people’s memories. Walt Disney had
said he didn’t like the idea of statues of dead guys in the park.
41
And yet, I’m a big believer in symbols as a way to communicate. The symbolism of this bridge is just
amazing to me because I've spent my career trying to be a bridge. My goal was always to connect people
from different disciplines, while helping them find their way over brick walls.
I am moved and pleased when I picture all the people who will one day cross that bridge: Jai, our kids,
my former students and colleagues, and a lot of young people with somewhere to go.
The Pausch Bridge
The Pausch Bridge connects one of the university’s fine arts bulidings, Purnell Center, with the
new Gates & Hillman Centers, the home for computer science at Carnegie Mellon.
Randy reminded students that even in dangerous waters, one penguin had to be brave enough to
take the first dive. The design of the Pausch Bridge pays tribute to all the “penguins” of the
world with abstract penguin cut-outs.
The bridge features more than 7,000 programmable (and environmentally friendly) LED lights.
During the opening, the lighting sequences are designed to represent six different visual
metaphors from Randy’s book. The light show will run about 15 minutes before repeating on a
loop.
42
Pausch Bridge Lighting Description- Christopher Popowich and Cindy Limauro, Lighting
Designers
All lighting looks for the Pausch Bridge are inspired from visual metaphors in Randy’s book
The Last Lecture. The lighting will run 15 minutes before repeating on a continuous loop.
Here is a visual description.
Fun with Crayons
Randy talks about only using black and white crayons and then later on discovers color.
The bridge panels will start in darkness and will then fade up to white light. The bridge will then start
to change colors based on the favorite colors of Randy, Jai, Dylan, Logan and Chloe.
Space – The Last Frontier
Star Trek and space were another important dream for Randy. The lighting on the brick wall will
simulate a rocket blast off while the bridge panels will create a panorama of space.
Make the Most of Each Day – Time of Day Cycle
Randy lived each day to the fullest. The lighting will transition from night into dawn, daylight into
sunset.
Be the First Penguin
The lighting will create water imagery and motion to suggest the image of penguins jumping into
water.
Live your Dreams- the Elevator in Randy’s bedroom
Randy describes how important it was to be able to paint his bedroom and one strong image is the
elevator. The lighting on the bridge will create the motion of a moving elevator stopping at floors
with the wall culminating in beautiful colors to become a metaphor for Live your Dreams.
Disney and the Circus – Grand Finale
There are so many references in the book to Disney and the Circus. The ETC program that Randy
co-founded is about exploring cutting edge technologies. This section will be a grand finale of the
magic of light and will really show off the possibilities of this cutting edge lighting technology that is
being used to honor Randy’s memory.
(Source: http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/bridge.html)
Information from Carnegie Mellon University:
We at Carnegie Mellon have been blessed to know and work with Randy Pausch and to see the profound
influence he has had on our students, on entertainment technologies and on the teaching of computer
science. We--all of us--are fortunate that Randy has been able to record his insights into how a good life
is lived. Randy’s gifts of inspiration are no longer restricted to our lecture halls and labs; they are now
here for all to read and experience.
— Jared L. Cohon, President, Carnegie Mellon University
43
Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate
students participating in a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics,
business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses
in Pittsburgh, PA, Silicon Valley, CA, and Doha, Qatar. Carnegie Mellon also has degree-granting
programs in Asia, Australia and Europe.
Watch videos and get more information about The Last Lecture DVD, Randy's other lectures, and media
coverage for the book at Randy Pausch's Carnegie Mellon website.
The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University is the premiere professional
graduate program for interactive entertainment as it is applied across a variety of fields. Co-founded by
Don Marinelli and Randy Pausch, the ETC emphasizes leadership, innovation and communication by
creating challenging experiences through which students learn how to collaborate, experiment, and iterate
solutions. Graduates are prepared for any environment where technologists and artists work closely on a
team; like theme parks, children and science museums, web sites, mobile computing, video games and
more. (Source: www.thelastlecture.com)
www.alice.org
Note: Alice is the program that Randy Pausch initiated at Carnegie Mellon. It is available to download
for free at www.alice.org. It looks pretty awesome, so if you are interested in creating animation and
video games, check it out.
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling
a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching
tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn
fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games.
In Alice, 3-D objects (e.g., people, animals, and vehicles) populate a virtual world and students create a
program to animate the objects.
In Alice's interactive interface, students drag and drop graphic tiles to create a program, where the
instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as
Java, C++, and C#. Alice allows students to immediately see how their animation programs run, enabling
them to easily understand the relationship between the programming statements and the behavior of
objects in their animation. By manipulating the objects in their virtual world, students gain experience
with all the programming constructs typically taught in an introductory programming course. (Source:
www.alice.org)
Article: “Shrines to Childhood” by Kate Stone Lombardi, published in The New York Times on April
5, 2009
Note: This article talks about what happens to childhood bedrooms after the child moves out. It is worth
noting since many of you will be going away to college next year, and Randy Pausch had such an
attachment to his childhood room.
MY son’s room has been described more than once as a shrine. The object of his homage? The New York
Rangers.
44
We are not just talking about a few posters on the wall. Nearly every square inch trumpets Paul’s support
of the team.
A huge Rangers banner that hangs from the ceiling dominates the room. In the corner is a larger-than-life
cardboard cutout of Wayne Gretzky, hockey stick outstretched, waiting for a pass. The bed has not only a
Rangers cover and a Rangers pillow, but also sheets with hockey pucks on them.
There are signed hockey sticks over the windows, which themselves are decorated with Rangers decals.
The computer mouse pad has the team logo. There are framed, signed Rangers jerseys above the
computer.
It goes without saying that the walls are covered with posters, photographs and calendars that celebrate
the team. (Ticket stubs from games are kept in a separate box, memories too precious to stick on the
wall.)
I think you get the picture. My son is the kind of fan whose spirits rise and fall with the performance of
the team, who follows every blip of Rangers news, remains highly opinionated about the strengths and
weaknesses of each player, and who sounds to me at this point as if he’s ready to step up to the coach’s
job, in the event that the latest one doesn’t work out.
This room didn’t come together overnight, of course. The memorabilia was collected from the time he
was an early fan — back in his elementary school days — until now. Today he is a college sophomore.
He still lives and breathes hockey. But he doesn’t really live in that room anymore.
I am careful about going in there while he’s at school, because it makes me miss him too much. Just
standing in the doorway sets me back. That’s because to me this room is more than a monument to a
hockey team. It’s really a shrine to the little boy who grew up there.
Paul was placed in a crib as a newborn in that room. He spent endless hours of his childhood in there,
playing with his Matchbox cars, painstakingly organizing his hockey cards, reading and, as he got older,
studying, cramming for SATs, logging hours on Facebook with his friends and, finally, packing for
college.
When I look past all the Rangers stuff, I can still see remnants of other parts of Paul’s childhood. High up
on a shelf is the stuffed penguin he once slept with. There are a few little cars on the shelf — and of
course, a few mini-Zambonis. There are class pictures from elementary school, team pictures from high
school, soccer trophies and a program from a jazz concert he played in.
Recently, I spotted a brochure about a college study-abroad program — he hopes to spend a semester in
Spain next year. There was also a pile of clothes he had outgrown. As it is, he can barely fit his long
frame in that childhood bed.
This, I know, is a room in transition. His sister’s room is just down the hall, and farther along in the
process of transforming from a child’s room to the room of someone who once lived there.
Jeanie graduated from college two years ago. Her room, too, mirrors the girl she once was. The canopied
bed still has a Laura Ashley spread, and there are matching curtains on the windows. But there is also a
Zebra-patterned throw that appealed to her in middle school. At one point she balked at her pink walls
and carpets — now the carpet is a moss green and the walls a sky blue. It feels as if you are outside and it
also feels very much like a reflection of Jeanie’s spirit.
45
Photos of laughing groups of friends are tacked on the wall, spread on the bureau and tucked into the
corners of her mirror. There are half-melted candles and countless hair accessories. The shelves and the
desk are crammed with dozens of books, ranging from childhood favorites to Michel Foucault’s “Ethics:
Subjectivity and Truth,” with plenty of trashy novels and great literature in between.
But things are also starting to disappear from that room. A lamp went to her apartment in the city. So did
some sheets and blankets. And a small painting that used to hang on her wall. And some framed photos.
It’s still my daughter’s room, but as she settles more deeply into her independent life, her essence gets
more and more stripped out of those four walls.
I would be lying to say that I miss the disorder — the scattered papers, the piles of clothes, the dirty tea
mugs — that were also very much a part of Jeanie’s occupancy. But I do miss the girl who lived there.
On a recent college vacation, Paul brought a friend home, and as they entered his room, it seemed like the
Rangers shrine had for the first time become slightly embarrassing. “It’s sort of a little boy’s room,” he
said with a small smile.
Paul will probably always root for the team and follow its fortunes. In the years to come, he will see great
players rise and fall, playoffs come and go, and coaches hired and fired. And if all the stars align, he will
see the Rangers bring home another Stanley Cup, something that will bring him enormous joy no matter
what age he’ll be. But the little-boy adoration that was reflected in his room has already been replaced
with a more nuanced understanding of professional sports.
I suspect, over time, his monument to the hockey team will slowly be dismantled. A poster here. A signed
photograph there. I doubt that the Rangers bedspread will make the move to an adult apartment, though
you never know. If it doesn’t, I doubt I will ever remove it.
________________________________________________________________
Lessons After The Last Lecture From Jai Pausch
By TESS SCOTT
May 15, 2012—
abcnews.go.com
Randy Pausch's Widow Reimagines Her Life After Loss
Jai Pausch is dreaming new dreams and rebuilding her life, one hour at a time. Jai wrote a novel
about caring for her late husband, the famed Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, who died
in 2008 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Jai's book, "Dream New Dreams: Reimagining My Life After Loss," provides an intimate
portrait of the family's journey through Randy's diagnosis, treatment, and death.
Randy Pausch's name ricocheted around the world after he delivered his famous Last Lecture at
Carnegie Mellon to a packed hall. Randy talked about the importance of achieving childhood
dreams despite tremendous obstacles.
"The brick walls are... there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to
stop the other people," he said.
46
In one of the most poignant moments in the lecture, Randy Pausch revealed his diagnosis of
pancreatic cancer and that he only had three to six months left to live. He then got down on the
ground and did pushups in front of the stunned audience.
"I don't know how not to have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun," he said.
So inspiring, the lecture rocketed around the world with over ten million downloads and a NYT
bestselling book based on his talk. The book stayed on the bestseller list for 112 weeks, with
almost five million copies sold, including a new enhanced ebook
Despite Randy's impossibly sunny attitude, his wife Jai describes in her book the difficulty in
trying to cope with the cancer that would ultimately take Randy from her and their children.
"You never realize the tragedy that could befall you. And you think, like, 'this would be the
worst thing that could happen to me...' And that's when you're fooled by how limited your
imagination actually was. And something completely different, something completely worse."
The book is a sort of guidebook for caregivers, passing on intimate lessons learned from their
experience.
"I first started writing it for me. For that person who had started off in this process of being a
caretaker. Starting on this journey and looking back and thinking what I know now that I could
pass on to her."
And the book details some of the darker moments in Jai's journey, the anger she felt towards her
husband for what was happening to him and their family, and her own guilt.
"That's where I think we could step in and help caregivers and say it's normal to feel this way, it's
okay to have resentment, it's okay to have anger."
Jai describes learning to care for herself, and learning when to let go and accept Randy's death.
She remembers the advice one friend gave her.
"I have everything I need," she said.
Four years after Randy's death, the phenomenon of his life continues. Jai remembers the message
her husband left with the world: there is magic that lives in us all.
"And I came to realize, after Randy had passed, that I had the ability to make magic, too... I have
magic in me, too. And it didn't die like I thought."
A sunrise and a new day. Jai met a man online, a former submarine officer. The two recently
married.
47
She writes, "...When a dream shatters, pick up the pieces and get a new one. It won't be the same
as the broken one. But one can hope it will be as vibrant and exciting. I've had to give myself
permission to let go of the old dreams."
Source: This article—a video interview—originally appeared at:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/jai-pausch-lessons-lecture/story?id=16351226#.T9K1rrBrPl4
_________________________________________________________________________________
Jeff Zaslow's Last Lesson - CNN.com
By Bob Greene, CNN Contributor
updated 9:46 AM EST, Sun March 4, 2012
Jounalist and author Jeff Zaslow, who died in a car crash last month, brought admirable integrity to his work, says
Bob Greene.
Editor's note: Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose books include "Late Edition:
A Love Story" and "Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen."
(CNN) -- "What # are you at?"
The brief e-mail arrived late on the morning of January 24. I keep looking at it.
It was from Jeff Zaslow. We first became friends more than 25 years ago. We got together as often as we could
when we found ourselves in the same town, usually for long, laughter-filled dinners; Jeff, a columnist for the Wall
Street Journal, in recent years became the author of multiple big bestselling books, most of them on inspirational
themes.
48
"What # are you at?"
He was going to be making appearances for his latest book, "The Magic Room," and he had looked at his schedule
and saw that he had a few days between speeches in the South. He knew that I'd been holed up in a hotel on the west
coast of Florida, trying to get some writing done. He was going to take those two days between speeches to join me
and just hang out.
So we talked on the phone, and arranged the days. Today -- Sunday, March 4 -- is the day he was to arrive.
On February 10, on his way back to his home in suburban Detroit from a book signing in Petoskey, Michigan, the
night before, Jeff was killed instantly when, according to police, his car skidded on a snowy road and was hit headon by an oncoming semitrailer truck. He was 53.
Jeff's wife, Sherry, his three daughters, Jordan, Alex and Eden, and his parents, Harry and Naomi, have suffered an
unfathomable loss. The obituaries and tributes written by his friends and colleagues have all centered on Jeff's
never-ending thoughtfulness and compassion. The tributes have been entirely accurate; the constancy of Jeff's
kindness was one of life's rarities.
Today, when Jeff should have been arriving for our time together, I'd like to pass on a lesson from him that I believe
can be used to great effect by anyone, regardless of his or her line of work.
It has to do with the book that first made him a bestselling author, "The Last Lecture," written with Professor Randy
Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University. The book was a publishing phenomenon: 5 million copies sold in the English
language alone, translations into 48 languages around the world.
Some people thought that Jeff got lucky with that book.
But luck had nothing to do with it.
In early September 2007, Jeff was working on a Wall Street Journal column about a trend he was hearing about at
U.S. universities. Professors were thinking what they might say if they had to deliver one last lecture, and were in
fact giving those lectures, summing up what had been meaningful in their lives.
As he was reporting the piece, Jeff learned that a professor at Carnegie Mellon -- Pausch -- was going to give what
might literally be his last lecture. Pausch was dying from pancreatic cancer.
It was going to be inconvenient for Jeff to go from Detroit to Pittsburgh for the speech; there was a problem with the
price of the flight, and the schedule, and he also had obligations to attend to in Michigan that day. It would have
been much easier just to call the professor and get a quote, or have the university send him an audio or video
recording of the lecture. Remember: Jeff didn't even know, at that point, whether Pausch's lecture would warrant a
whole column.
But he got up that morning in Detroit and -- Jeff being Jeff -- decided that he really ought to see for himself.
He was an established and respected Wall Street Journal staff member; no one at the paper would have faulted him
for doing a quick interview with Pausch on the phone.
Jeff got in his car and drove more than 300 miles from Detroit to Pittsburgh to sit in the audience and listen to the
speech. A five-hour drive there, and then a five-hour, 300-mile drive back.
It paid off spectacularly, of course. The column -- moving, tender, insightful -- was a sensation, and the book that he
ended up writing with Pausch gave Jeff a new career in the top echelon of American authors, and provided financial
security for his family.
49
But -- and this is what is important -- it was nothing he didn't do all the time. In his work, he always went the extra
step -- the extra hundred steps. He never took the easy way.
I remember, seven or eight years ago, well before "The Last Lecture," Jeff had come to Chicago to interview an oldtime vaudeville performer. To the best of my recollection, the newspaper story was going to have something to do
with audiences, or audience reactions. The old performer was going to be one sliver of a longer piece. An easy
phone-call interview.
But Jeff didn't do things that way. He flew to Chicago and, suitcase in hand (he hadn't checked into his hotel yet),
met me at the restaurant where we had arranged to have dinner. At one point we talked about why, at this stage in
his career, he still pushed himself so hard. He said he just wanted to look into the man's eyes when he interviewed
him the next day. He felt the story would be a little better that way.
At the end of the meal we went to the coat-check window; they had taken Jeff's suitcase down a long flight of stairs
to store it on a basement level. Jeff didn't want the young woman to have to carry it up the stairs, so he went down to
get it. I stood there and watched as he came up the steep flight of stairs, visibly weary, huffing, sweating, lugging the
heavy bag; we looked at each other and both of us burst out laughing.
"Look at you," I said. "You look like 'Death of a [cuss-word-adjective] Salesman.'"
"I know," he said. "Why do I do this?"
We both knew the answer. He did it because it was the right way to do a job. And it doesn't matter what a person
does for a living. It can be the lawyer who stays late to look up a few more citations of case law, to give his client
the best possible chance. It can be the teacher who goes over the lesson plan one more time, adding something vital
to it at midnight, even though the students or the school administrators will never be aware of the effort she has put
in. It can be the factory worker who takes it upon himself to check the specifications a third and fourth time, wanting
to be absolutely certain that the product will be as close to perfect as humanly possible.
Does it always pay off, as Jeff's 10 hours on the road paid off with "The Last Lecture"? Of course not. It hardly ever
pays off that big. Most times, your boss, your colleagues, your own family will never know that you put in the extra
effort when you didn't have to.
But you'll know. That's what counts. And when the day finally comes when you have your big success, when you
get your big break, it won't be because you made the extra effort once. It will be because you made the extra effort
every time.
Jeff did. And that's the lesson I'd like to pass on for him. Especially today. The silence at the dinner hour tonight is
going to be awfully loud.
Source of this Article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/04/opinion/greene-zaslow/
For more information on Jeff Zaslow, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Zaslow
50
The Last Lecture Homework Assignment:
"If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you."Randy Pausch
Make a list of your childhood and/or current dreams (probably you will have at least five, but I am not
requiring that you have a certain number of dreams—this is about your dreams, after all). They must fit
onto a standard piece of printer paper, and you must also include a photograph of yourself as a child. You
may also choose to creatively decorate this to fit your personality. Be forewarned that this project will be
hung up in the classroom. It should be formatted as thus:
YOUR NAME’S DREAMS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
PHOTOGRAPH
This project will be worth 20 points.
The Last Lecture Cooperative Group Activity
One of the many wonderful points Randy Pausch made in his book was the need for his students to work
together and contribute equally. With that in mind, I am going to assign you to a group of approximately
four and give you a box of paper clips. Your goal will be to put together the biggest, best, most creative
object you can with these paper clips. When the time expires, everyone reconvenes at a predefined
location for the show-and-tell and judging process.
This in-class activity will be worth 10 points.
51
Illustrative/Exemplification Essay on The Last Lecture
For your first essay, you are going to write your own 500-750 word essay giving
advice on how to live your life, based on the life lessons you have learned so far.
You need to break up your advice into five to seven short chapters and give each
chapter a title (and you will need to give the overall essay a title). You will also
need to include short anecdotes from your life to support your life lessons.
The following are your due dates for this essay:
 Rough draft is due to www.turnitin.com by ______ at 11:59 pm- worth 10
points
 Peer editing is done in class on ________; it is due to www.turnitin.com by
______ at 11:59 pm- worth 15 points
 Final draft is due to www.turnitin.com by ______ at 11:59 pm- worth 75
points
52
Old School by Tobias Woolf Topics of Discussion
(Source: National Endowment of the Arts “Big Read” Program on Old School)
Reader's Guide – Introduction
It is November 1960, and the unnamed narrator of Tobias Wolff's Old School (2003) is in his
final year at an elite Eastern prep school. Proud of his independence but trying to fit in and
advance himself, he conceals the fact that his ancestry is partly Jewish. Eventually, he—and
we—discover that almost everyone on campus has some closely guarded secrets.
Every year, the school invites three famous writers to visit and give a public talk. In anticipation
of these visits, senior students submit their own poems or stories to a competition, and the author
of the winning submission is granted a private interview with the writer. One of the novel's most
intriguing elements is the presentation of these writers—Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest
Hemingway—and its shrewd, penetrating assessment of their works and personalities.
The lives of the narrator and his friends revolve around these visits, and the competitions
produce pressures and strains in their relationships, raising issues of honesty and self-deception.
In his zeal to win an audience with his idol, Hemingway, the narrator will plagiarize someone
else's work, an action with profound consequences—and not for him alone. In the end, we find
out what he has made of his life many years later, and what has happened in the lives of some
classmates and teachers. A surprising final chapter enriches our understanding of the novel's
deepest meanings.
Another of Old School's many pleasures is the way it conveys the significance of literature to our
lives, raising fundamental questions of who we are and how we live. As one of the English
teachers says, "One could not live in a world without stories… Without stories one would hardly
know what world one was in."
The unsparing but sympathetic insight of Tobias Wolff's acclaimed short stories, the emotional
honesty and directness of his classic memoir This Boy's Life (1989), and the precise, elegant
craftsmanship that characterizes both his fiction and nonfiction—all these qualities come
together to make Old School one of Wolff's most satisfying books.
"One of the things that draws writers to writing is that they can get things right that they got
wrong in real life by writing about them."
—Tobias Wolff in an interview with Dan Stone
______________________________________________________________________________
53
Major Characters in the Novel
The Narrator
An outsider in the cloistered East Coast world of the prep school he attends, Old School's
unnamed narrator wants desperately to belong. His literary ambitions will bring him the
distinction he craves, but in a very different way from what he had imagined.
Bill White
Bill is the narrator's roommate. Along with their passion for writing, the two boys share the
unspoken secret of their Jewish heritage. Bill has another secret, one that haunts him more and
more throughout the novel.
Jeff Purcell
Another classmate and friend of the narrator's, he has a privileged, upper-class background.
Proud, stubborn, and frequently contemptuous of everything and everyone, he nonetheless has a
fundamental core of decency and generosity of spirit.
Robert Ramsey
One of the English teachers, Mr. Ramsey is disliked by many of his students. However, by the
end of the novel the narrator sees him as compassionate and wise.
Susan Friedman
Susan is the author of the story that the narrator plagiarizes. When he finally meets her, he finds
her to be "an extraordinary person," and she shows him a very different perspective on some of
the things most important to him.
Dean Makepeace
A "regal but benign" figure to the narrator, the Dean seems remote and assured. But his personal
crisis of integrity underscores some of the novel's deepest themes.
Three of the most famous American writers of the twentieth century appear, directly or
indirectly, as characters in Old School:
Though born in San Francisco, Robert Frost (1874–1963) is forever associated with New
England, the setting for most of his life and work. Quietly dazzling in their technical perfection,
his enormously popular poems, such as "Mending Wall" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening," subtly explore the depths of nature and humanity.
Russian-born Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was the controversial author of a number of philosophical
works and two bestselling novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). Her
writings expound her philosophy of Objectivism, which emphasizes rationality and self-interest.
It also rejects religion, altruism, and all forms of social collectivism.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was arguably the most influential American novelist and
short-story writer of the twentieth century. Renowned for their unique style, such masterpieces as
54
A Farewell to Arms (1929) and The Old Man and the Sea (1952) brilliantly evoke the physical
world and the experience of the senses and stress themes of courage, stoicism, and the need to be
true to oneself.
"Our school was proud of its hierarchy of character and deeds. It believed that this system was
superior to the one at work outside, and that it would wean us from habits of undue pride and
deference. It was a good dream and we tried to live it out, even while knowing that we were
actors in a play, and that outside the theater was a world we would have to reckon with when the
curtain closed and the doors were flung open."
—from Old School
____________________________________________________________________________
Plagiarism
The narrator of Old School is found to have won the interview with Ernest Hemingway by
submitting someone else's short story as his own work. This act of plagiarism is met with dismay
and anger by the school's administration and sets in motion a chain of events that has a
significant effect on the lives of more than one character. To understand the full importance of
this situation in the novel, one must have a clear awareness of what plagiarism is and why it is
such a serious matter.
Anyone can recognize the flagrant dishonesty involved in passing off as one's own work
something in fact written by someone else. Most of us realize that a piece of writing—whether
imaginative or intellectual—is a form of property, and that its owner/creator is entitled to
whatever credit and profits his or her efforts and talents might generate.
Yet it is all too easy, when copying snippets of someone else's ideas and even someone else's
very words, to succumb—as the narrator of Old School does—to the notion that we have
somehow made them our own, that mere appropriation is a form of authorship. Modern
technology has made this even easier. Instantaneous access to the infinite amount of material
available on the Internet creates the impression that ideas and words are all just there for the
taking, especially when all one needs to do is highlight, copy, and paste.
But theft is still theft and fraud is still fraud, no matter the scale. Anyone who uses another's
thoughts without proper attribution to the source has stolen that person's intellectual property.
Even when proper attribution has been given, using the actual wording of the source material
without identifying it as direct quotation is perpetrating a fraud.
Teachers are also upset when their students appropriate the work of others because such an act
makes a disturbing statement about the offender's values. If those who would never dream of
stealing another's belongings have no compunction about taking someone else's written work,
they are saying—whether they realize it or not—that they have less respect for ideas and how
they are expressed than for material possessions.
"Make no mistake, he said: a true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life."
—Tobias Wolff from Old School
55
Photos of the author and school:
Tobias Wolff (Photo by Jennifer Hale)
Tobias Wolff, age 17, guesses ages and weights while working in the carnival section of the
1962 Seattle World's Fair. (Courtesy of Tobias Wolff)
The Hill School grounds (Courtesy of The Hill School)
56
______________________________________________________________
Reader's Guide - About the Author
Tobias Wolff (b. 1945)
Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff was born on June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama. His father,
Arthur, was an aeronautical engineer but also a pathological liar and supreme con artist, as
detailed in the 1979 memoir The Duke of Deception, by Tobias's older brother, Geoffrey. As a
result of one of these many deceptions, Tobias, who was raised and remains a Catholic, did not
discover until adulthood that his father was Jewish. His mother, Rosemary Loftus Wolff, a
waitress and secretary, was a woman of spirit, resilience, and great intelligence, who met the
many reverses in her life with humor and determination.
Wolff's parents separated when he was very young. He was raised by his mother in Florida,
Utah, and Washington state. Eager to escape rural Washington and life with his mother's second
husband (experiences vividly recounted in his memoir This Boy's Life), he won a scholarship to
the Hill School, a prestigious academy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He loved the school but
struggled because of his poor academic background. Ultimately, he was expelled because of
failing grades in math.
In 1964, Wolff joined the U.S. Army. He spent a year learning Vietnamese, and then served in
Vietnam as a paratrooper. Out of these experiences came his second memoir, In Pharaoh's
Army: Memories of the Lost War (1994). After his discharge in 1968, he enrolled in Hertford
College of Oxford University, where he earned a degree in English in 1972. In 1975, he earned a
master's degree in English from Stanford University, where he was also awarded a Wallace
Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing.
Wolff taught at Syracuse University in New York from 1980 to 1997. The novelist Richard Ford
and the short-story writer Raymond Carver were among his friends and colleagues. Since 1997,
Wolff has taught English and creative writing at Stanford University, where he holds the Ward
W. and Priscilla B. Woods professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Among his
honors are the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Rea Award for the Short Story, and three O.
Henry Awards.
Tobias Wolff married Catherine Spohn, a social worker, in 1975. They have two sons and a
daughter. Wolff lives with his family in northern California.
"There is a need in us for exactly what literature can give, which is a sense of who we are,
beyond what data can tell us, beyond what simple information can tell us; a sense of the
workings of what we used to call the soul."
—Tobias Wolff from Stanford Today interview
An Interview with Tobias Wolff
On January 5, 2008, Dana Gioia, former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts,
interviewed Tobias Wolff at his office at Stanford University. Excerpts from their conversation
follow.
57
Dana Gioia: Would you characterize Old School as an autobiographical novel in any sense?
Tobias Wolff: The events of the novel are themselves, to some extent, autobiographical, in that
as a boy of that age I was in such a school. The school that I went to was like this one, a very
literary place. Edmund Wilson had gone there, and I heard Robert Frost there. There was a great
sense of excitement, always, around the visits of these writers, around the literary magazine,
about trying to get stories published or even to get on the editorial board. In some schools, of
course, it would be the football team, and football was no small thing at this school either. So my
somewhat vague ambition of being a writer really became solidified there. The actual events of
my time there would not have lent themselves to a memoir. I was certainly aware in bringing this
forward in this voice, in this situation, that a lot of readers familiar with either or both of my
memoirs would make assumptions about this being, in fact, a memoir disguised as a novel. And I
really didn't mind that.
DG: As a fiction writer you've been most associated with the short story. What for you,
imaginatively or creatively, are the differences between writing a short story and writing a
novel?
TW: When you write a short story you at least have some confidence you're going to be able to
finish it! From the time I first put words to page on this book and the time Old School actually
was published, it was five-and-a-half years. Aesthetically I can't say that I find the experience
that much different—the kind of pressure you put on yourself to get the right voice, to write the
sentence perfectly, to rewrite, to rewrite, to rewrite—all that is similar. Really, in each case it's
mainly going to the desk every day. I often am quite mystified about what I'm going do when I
sit down. And the work teaches me how to write it as I go. My first drafts would really make you
wonder, if you saw them, why I ever chose this line of work. Revision is crucial to my work.
DG: One of the strokes of genius in Old School is that at the very end, just when you think the
story's over, it continues with a twist in another voice. Did you have this coda in mind when you
began the book?
TW: No, but it was important, I think, because although the narrator talks about writing, we
never really see him writing anything, and we don't get any of his stories. He's always talking
about telling other people's stories and telling us what this friend wrote and what that friend
wrote, but where's his story? Finally he tells a story. He is, after all, a writer.
DG: Do you have any thoughts on the human purposes of fiction?
TW: Fiction gives us a place to stand outside ourselves and see our lives somehow being carried
on, to see the form that our lives take in some apprehensible way. Most of the time, experience
washes over us moment by moment, in a way that makes it difficult to discern the form in lives–
–the consequences that choices have that will only appear years later, in many cases. Fiction
shows us those things in a kind of apprehensible form and something we can comprehend, and
see, and actually feel. We kind of see our lives almost acted out in front of us in miniature. And
that's both exciting and also often very chastening, I think.
58
"The fact that a writer needed solitude didn't mean he was cut off or selfish. A writer was
like a monk in his cell praying for the world … "- from Old School
__________________________________________________________________________
Reader's Guide - Historical Context
The Life and Times of Tobias Wolff
1940s
Robert Frost wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry and Ayn Rand publishes The Fountainhead, 1943.
Tobias Wolff is born on June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama.
World War II ends, August 1945.
Viet Minh (the Vietnamese liberation movement) declares independence from France in 1945;
French military forces resist the revolt in 1946, beginning an eight-year conflict.
1950s
Wolff, his mother, and his stepfather live in Washington State.
Ernest Hemingway wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1954.
The French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; Vietnam is partitioned into North and South
Vietnam.
1960s
John F. Kennedy elected U.S. President in 1960; assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Ernest Hemingway dies, 1961. Robert Frost dies, 1963.
1970s
The last U.S. combat troops withdraw from Vietnam, 1973.
Wolff earns a master's degree, marries, and publishes his first book, all in 1975.
Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese, 1975.
1980s
Wolff teaches at Syracuse University; he publishes a novella, two collections of stories, and his
memoir This Boy's Life.
Ground is broken for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, 1982.
Ayn Rand dies, 1982.
1990s
Wolff begins teaching at Stanford; publishes his Vietnam memoir and his third volume of short
stories.
The film version of This Boy's Life, starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ellen
Barkin, is released in 1993.
The U.S. restores diplomatic ties with Vietnam, 1995.
2000s
April 5, 2005, marks the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Wolff publishes Old School (2003) and Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories (2008).
59
Reader's Guide - Other Works/Adaptations
Wolff and His Other Works
Perhaps because of the prominence of Tobias Wolff's memoirs and short stories, when Old
School appeared in 2003, many assumed that it was his first extended work of fiction. In fact, it
was his third. Wolff's first novel, and first book, was a Vietnam story, published in 1975, called
Ugly Rumours. As the spelling would suggest, it appeared in England (and only in England).
While he has not made a concerted effort to erase all traces of its existence, Wolff does not
include it in listings of his published works. His second book-length work of fiction was the
novella The Barracks Thief (1984), which won the highly regarded PEN/Faulkner Award. It
deals with the intense and ultimately explosive relationships among servicemen in the shadow of
war, specifically three soldiers guarding an ammunition dump at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as
they wait to be sent to Vietnam.
The work for which Wolff is best known is his first memoir, This Boy's Life (1989). Glowing
reviews in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, and
elsewhere praised the beauty and clarity of its style, along with its unforgettable description of
character and incident. While less well known, In Pharaoh's Army (1994), Wolff's account of his
experiences in Vietnam, is, like the earlier work, esteemed for its memorable scenes and for the
author's determination to describe his personality and actions with scrupulous honesty.
For many readers, the core of Wolff's achievement is his short stories, which have been collected
so far in four volumes—In the Garden of the North American Martyrs (1981), Back in the World
(1985), The Night in Question (1996), and Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories (2008).
In story after story, Wolff presents his characters and their relationships—with spouses, children,
siblings, and strangers—with a scrutiny that is always unflinching and uncompromising, but
never uncompassionate. "The Rich Brother" presents a pair of adult brothers united in animosity,
but also by basic qualities that create a much stronger bond. "In the Garden of the North
American Martyrs," which examines a self-effacing woman whose hopes have been falsely
raised through the insensitivity of others, makes a surprising bid for justice.
Beautifully written without gaudiness or self-indulgence, deeply moving without a trace of
sentimentality, Tobias Wolff's work seems poised to hold a permanent place in American
literature.
"From this height it was possible to see into the dream that produced the school, not mere
English-envy but the yearning for a chivalric world apart from the din of scandal and cheap
dispute, the hustles and schemes of modernity itself. As I recognized this dream I also sensed its
futility, but so what? I loved my school no less for being gallantly unequal to our appetites—
more, if anything."
—from Old School
If you'd like to read other novels about the campus experience, you might enjoy:
Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (1944)
John Knowles's A Separate Peace (1959)
Richard Yates's A Good School (1978)
60
Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep (2005)
Also worth looking into are Robert Anderson's play Tea and Sympathy (1953) and John
McPhee's brief biography
The Headmaster: Frank L. Boyden of Deerfield (1966).
If you'd like to read books admired by Tobias Wolff, you might enjoy:
Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886)
Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time (1925)
William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow (1979)
______________________________________________________________________________
The Importance of Frost, Rand, and Hemingway
Much of the plot of Old School revolves around the scheduled visits of Robert Frost, Ayn Rand,
and Ernest Hemingway, and the fierce competition among the students to win personal
interviews with these authors. It may seem hard to believe nowadays, but there was a time not so
long ago when the general public was familiar with the faces and even the personal lives of
certain serious writers. Three of the most famous and recognizable writers of the time were the
three selected by Tobias Wolff for inclusion in his novel.
Robert Frost is, without any question, the best known and most popular American poet of
the twentieth century. Virtually everyone knows not only his name but even the titles of some of
his poems: “Mending Wall,” “Birches,” “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Phrases
from some of these works, such as “Good fences make good neighbors” and “Miles to go before
I sleep,” have entered the language and are cited by people who have no idea that they’re quoting
Frost. For a poet to achieve such popularity is rare enough; what is truly astounding is that Frost
is also regarded by a great many critics and poets as the best and most important American poet
of his time. The traditional structures of his poems and their often charming descriptions of
nature appeal to a broad audience, but discerning readers also respond to his complex and often
tragic presentation of human beings struggling to cope with a harsh and often terrifying world.
Ayn Rand’s major novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and especially Atlas Shrugged
(1957), have achieved a surprising popularity when one considers their length and demanding
content. In each of these books, a strong protagonist unswervingly pursues his own vision
without regard for the views of others or the compromises demanded of him by any individual or
group. The hero of The Fountainhead, for instance, is an architect who chooses to blow up his
own building rather than accept any modifications in its design. Rand’s novels are especially
appealing to young people, who are often inspired by what they see as her idealism and call to
personal greatness. She is not held in high regard, however, by other writers and thinkers who
generally find her presentation of human nature unrealistic and her philosophical views rigid and
insensitive.
Ernest Hemingway was the dominant literary figure in America fifty years ago. Many
admired him not only for his sharply observed and exciting novels and short stories, but also for
his widely publicized life of deep-sea fishing, big-game hunting, and other manly pursuits. He is
no longer the imposing figure he was then; much of his later writing is seriously flawed, and the
macho lifestyle is now seen as the bravado of a desperately ill man. But his first two novels, The
Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929), and many of his finest short stories are
permanent contributions to the highest shelf of American literature. As Wolff acutely observes,
61
much of Hemingway’s importance lies in the brilliance of his craftsmanship—especially his
ability to evoke emotional states and the natural world—and his emphasis on courage and
stoicism in the face of all the forces in the world that rise up to destroy the human spirit.
Prep Schools: Fact and Fiction
Prep schools have been the setting for a number of very popular books and movies, including A
Separate Peace (1972) and Dead Poets Society (1989). From overexposure to such works, one
might form the impression that these schools are filled up with rich boys—some of them
oversensitive and the rest insufferably arrogant—who react to the pressures put on them by their
crass, domineering fathers by indulging in cutthroat competition, frequent fistfights, and an
alarming appetite for self-destruction. Even beyond such crude stereotyping phrases such as
“prep-school background” or “prep-school mentality” commonly suggest wealth, privilege,
social prominence and connections, and an inability to relate to—or even fully grasp
the reality of—anyone who does not share those qualities. Needless to say, the reality is
somewhat more complex.
Most of these books and movies are set in boarding schools, where the students live on
campus in dormitories, just as many college students do. In fact, however, the great majority of
prep schools in the United States are day schools, just like public high schools. Public schools
are operated and maintained by local governments, usually cities and towns. Most of the time,
they are funded by taxes on the homeowners that live within the school district. Public schools
are free, and all students who live within the district are eligible to attend them. Private
schools—and all prep schools are private— charge (sometimes very high) tuition and tend to be
extremely selective in their admission procedures. The word “prep” itself is, of course, short for
“preparatory.” For many students in public-school systems, high school is the final stage of their
formal education. A prep school is intended not as the end of the process but as a middle step.
What it seeks to prepare its students for is, in the short view, further study at a college or
university. In the long view, it tries to prepare its students for careers, often in public service, and
to prepare them for adult life itself. Thus, great stress is placed on academics, usually a
traditional course of studies including history, literature, philosophy, and languages. There
is also often an emphasis on athletics, and in some schools on religious practice, especially for
purposes of character-building.
Many prep-school students are from wealthy and/or socially prominent families, whose
members have attended the same school for generations, and who support their school with large
financial contributions. But most prep schools, motivated by a sense of mission and obligation to
society, have generous scholarship programs and make strong recruiting efforts. And these
schools feel that they have failed in their mission if their graduates go out into the world with
feelings of superiority and entitlement. What they strive for instead is to give their students a
sense of purpose and responsibility, to inspire them with the awareness that those who
are given the gifts of talent, wealth, and influence have an obligation to use those gifts in the
service of others. As the headmaster in the novel says, “Schools like ours are vulnerable to
criticism …There is some truth in these criticisms. Too much truth. But we are trying to do
something here. We are trying to become something.”
62
The Narrator’s Coming of Age
Among its other qualities, Old School fits into the tradition of the Bildungsroman, or coming-ofage novel, a work in which the protagonist goes through a process of maturing from adolescence
to adulthood. Two classic examples of the Bildungsroman are the Charles Dickens novels
David Copperfield (1850) and Great Expectations (1861). In our own time, one might even say
that the Harry Potter books, taken together, fit into the category.
At least since the time of Sophocles and Oedipus the King, down through Shakespeare’s
King Lear and many, many other works, much of the great literature of the Western world has
been founded on a core set of assumptions: that those who foolishly believe themselves superior
beings will sooner or later be forced to confront their own flaws and mistakes, and that from this
recognition of our own limitations may come humility and a greater compassion for the
weakness and imperfection of other people. Writers, critics, and teachers have always maintained
that reading great literature and learning this lesson will help to make us more compassionate
toward and tolerant of others. One of the many remarkable qualities of Old School is that it
shows us that very thing—a young man becoming more understanding and accepting of others
not only through personal encounters, but also through his encounters with works of literature.
From the very beginning, ignorance and misperception characterize the narrator in his
dealings with other people, whether in the unintentional pain that he causes the janitor,
Gershon, or his later misunderstanding (and subsequent discovery) of the reason for Bill White’s
sadness and withdrawal. The clear lesson of the Bill White episode is that we never really know
what’s going on with other people, and therefore we shouldn’t be quick to judge.
Perhaps the book’s most effective and moving example of how the narrator’s ignorance and
misunderstanding give way to deeper and more compassionate insight comes in connection with
his grandfather and his grandfather’s wife. When they visit him in the hospital, he is vaguely
ashamedand dismissive of them. When he looks at them in the light of his reading of The
Fountainhead, he is openly contemptuous of them. But when his personal exposure to Ayn Rand
shows him the narrowness and heartlessness of her views, he comes to recognize their decency
and their love for him. Through this experience, as well as through his reading of Hemingway,
he comes to embrace woundedness and imperfection as the reality of the
human condition.
This lesson—the precariousness of human nature, the hidden sorrows in everyone’s
life—is one that he keeps learning over and over. It is not until many years later, for example,
that he discovers that Mr. Ramsey’s editing of the Hemingway interview for the school paper
was motivated not by disrespect, but rather a desire to protect Hemingway from
himself. As the narrator tells us late in the novel, “The appetite for decisive endings, even the
belief that they’re possible, makes me uneasy in life as in writing” (p. 169). Clearly, at least part
of the reason for his uneasiness is his knowledge that we never achieve perfection, that our own
pride and arrogance must be constantly resisted, and that the lesson of love and forgiveness must
be learned again and again for as long as we live.
63
DISCUSSION AND WRITING ACTIVITIES FOR OLD SCHOOL
Directions: On the next few pages are ten FOCUSES to examine on issues in regards to the
novel. Some of these focuses will be worked on in a group, some will be individual, and
some will be as a class. Do not do the work with these focuses until you are sure what your
teacher would like you to do.
FOCUS ONE: Biography
Examining an author’s life can inform and expand the reader’s understanding of a novel.
Biographical criticism is the practice of analyzing a literary work through the lens of an author’s
experience. In this lesson, explore the author’s life to understand the novel more fully.
Before winning a scholarship to a prestigious Eastern prep school, Tobias Wolff grew up in an
isolated, working-class community in the Pacific Northwest. Thus, like the narrator of Old
School, he felt himself to be something of an outsider among many classmates from backgrounds
of great wealth and privilege. Like the narrator, he was forced to leave before graduation (in
Wolff’s case for academic reasons, not an issue of plagiarism). Also like the narrator, Wolff later
enlisted in the Army and was sent to Vietnam, and ultimately he went on to become a wellknown and successful writer.
Discussion Activities
-Listen to The Big Read Audio Guide. Take notes as you listen. You will then present the three
most important points learned from the Audio Guide.
-Look over the following essays from the Reader’s Guide: “Introduction to the
Novel.” “Tobias Wolff (b. 1945),” and “Wolff and His Other Works.” Divide the class into
groups. Each group will present a summary of the main points in its assigned essay.
Writing Exercise
Read the first three paragraphs of the novel (pp. 3–4). Students write a similar description of
their own school, touching on some of the same points that Wolff emphasizes: the economic and
social backgrounds of the students, the school’s expectations of them, and the relative emphasis
placed on areas such as academics, sports, and creativity.
____________________________________________________________________________
FOCUS 2: Culture and History
Cultural and historical contexts give birth to the dilemmas and themes at the center of the
novel. Studying these contexts and appreciating intricate details of the time and place help
readers understand the motivations of the characters. The greater part of the novel takes place
between the autumn of 1960 and the spring of the following year. John F. Kennedy has just been
elected president of the United States, and for many young people it is a time of great hope and
promise. Of course, we read the novel—as Wolff wrote it—with the awareness that this climate
will soon be shattered by Kennedy’s assassination, the Vietnam War, and violent social upheaval
in the United States.
64
In 1954 Ernest Hemingway, one of America’s most popular authors, received the Nobel
Prize for Literature “for his mastery of the art of narrative … and for the influence that he has
exerted on contemporary style.” Robert Frost was the most celebrated living poet in the United
States. During his lifetime, he received four Pulitzer prizes for poetry. With each new book his
fame and honors increased. Russian-born writer and philosopher Ayn Rand formulated
objectivism, a philosophy in which she considered “the concept of man as a heroic being, with
his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest
activity, and reason as his only absolute.” Rand presented this philosophy in her widely
acclaimed novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
Discussion Activities
-How would you characterize the social, cultural, and political atmosphere of contemporary
America? How do the writers portrayed at the beginning of the novel relate to our main
character? What does the boys’ excitement over their upcoming visits tell us about the
motivations of these young men?
-Read Handout Two: Prep Schools: Fact and Fiction. Read “On Fire” and “Frost”
(pp. 29–60). The exchange between Robert Frost and Mr. Ramsey (pp. 50–53)
engages some of the main themes that the novel has raised thus far. Consider the ways the
narrator relates the events. Is he a reliable narrator?
Writing Exercise
The whole episode involving Gershon highlights certain inner conflicts in the narrator’s
character. Write a brief explication on this theme. Have you ever found yourself torn by
conflicting loyalties or aspirations? How, if at all, do you resolve these issues?
FOCUS 3: Narrative and Point of View
The narrator tells the story with a specific perspective informed by his or her beliefs and
experiences. Narrators can be major or minor characters, or exist outside the story altogether.
The narrator weaves her or his point of view, including ignorance and bias, into telling the tale.
A first-person narrator participates in the events of the novel, using “I.” A distanced narrator,
often not a character, is removed from the action of the story and uses the third person (he, she,
and they). The distanced narrator may be omniscient, able to read the minds of all the characters,
or limited, describing only certain characters’ thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, the
type of narrator determines the point of view from which the story is told. With the possible
exception of the last chapter (a point that will be addressed later), Old School is told entirely in
the first person by its unnamed central character. We are limited to his knowledge of facts,
his awareness of events, and his insights into himself and others. This awareness and these
insights undergo some significant changes with maturity, consistent with the novel’s emphasis
on human imperfection and learning through painful experience.
Discussion Activities
Based on the chapters read thus far, what sort of person does the narrator seem to be? Is he
likable? Is he admirable? Do his assumptions about himself and about other people seem to ring
true?
65
Writing Exercise
Choose one of the other characters—besides the narrator--and, based on their interactions in the
novel thus far, write a description of the narrator in the voice of and from the point of view of
that character.
FOCUS FOUR: Characters
The central character in a work of literature is called the protagonist. The protagonist usually
initiates the main action of the story and often overcomes a flaw, such as weakness or ignorance,
to achieve a new understanding by the work’s end. A protagonist who acts with great honor or
courage may be called a hero. An antihero is a protagonist lacking these qualities. Instead of
being dignified, brave, idealistic, or purposeful, the antihero may be cowardly, self-interested, or
weak. The protagonist’s journey is enriched by encounters with characters who hold
differing beliefs. One such character type, a foil, has traits that contrast with the protagonist’s
and highlight important features of the main character’s personality. The most important foil, the
antagonist, opposes the protagonist, barring or complicating his or her success. The narrator of
Old School is himself clearly a work in progress over the course of the novel. The scorn and
contempt he feels for almost everyone else after reading The Fountainhead (1943) is a clear
indication of his immaturity, and his reaction to Ayn Rand herself and his consequent disavowal
of her views lead him to a new depth of sensitivity and insight.
Discussion Activities
Discuss the way the narrator describes Ayn Rand. How does he feel about her before he meets
her? Does his viewpoint change after meeting her? Is he fair? What instances of “weakness or
ignorance” has the narrator displayed up to this point? What capacity has he shown to learn from
his experiences and grow in understanding and depth of character?
Writing Exercise
Choose George Kellogg, Bill White, or Jeff Purcell and write a short essay on how this character
serves as a foil to the protagonist.
FOCUS FIVE: Figurative Language
Writers use figurative language such as imagery, similes, and metaphors to help the reader
visualize and experience events and emotions in a story. Imagery—a word or phrase that refers
to sensory experience (sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste)—helps create a physical experience
for the reader and adds immediacy to literary language. Some figurative language asks us to
stretch our imaginations, finding the likeness in seemingly unrelated things. Simile is a
comparison of two things that initially seem quite different but are shown to have a significant
resemblance. Similes employ connective words, usually “like,” “as,” “than,” or a verb such as
“resembles.” A metaphor is a statement that one thing is something else that, in a literal sense, it
is not. By asserting that a thing is something else, a metaphor creates a close association that
underscores an important similarity between these two things.
66
Wolff draws from ancient and medieval references to (ironically) imbue the young,
unformed lives of the main characters with profundity. For example: the English masters as a
“chivalric order” (p. 5), Jeff Purcell as “the Herod of our editorial sessions” (p. 13), the masters
treating the students’ spring exuberance “like the grousing of impotent peasants outside the
castle walls” (p. 104), the Farewell Assemblies “Neronic in their carnality” (p. 112), and
the title of the school literary magazine, the Troubadour.
Discussion Activities
Find at least three instances of figurative language. Present to the class why they are figurative
and how the words and phrases help shed light on the story. Discuss as a class the ways
figurative language serves to illuminate larger thematic issues.
Writing Exercise
Read aloud the passage about the editorial meeting (pp. 119–121). Write a brief essay discussing
how the key points are conveyed through figurative language.
FOCUS SIX: Symbols
Symbols are persons, places, or things in a narrative that have significance beyond a
literal understanding. The craft of storytelling depends on symbols to present ideas and point
toward new meanings. Most frequently, a specific object will be used to refer to (or symbolize) a
more abstract concept. The repeated appearance of an object suggests a non-literal, or figurative,
meaning attached to the object. Symbols are often found in the book’s title, at the beginning and
end of the story, within a profound action, or in the name or personality of a character. The life
of a novel is perpetuated by generations of readers interpreting and reinterpreting the
main symbols. By identifying and understanding symbols, readers can reveal new interpretations
of the novel.
One of the more remarkable aspects of Old School is the degree to which literature itself,
especially fiction, is woven into the lives of the characters and the larger themes of the book. Mr.
Ramsey is eloquent on this point in the passage on pages 131–132. Works of fiction can take on
symbolic value. This is obviously the case with Jeff Purcell’s first-edition copy of In Our Time.
More subtly, the kinds of stories that one writes become symbols that reflect the kind of person
their author is.
Discussion Activities
To illustrate the above point, reread the narrator’s comments on Hemingway and his stories (pp.
96–97) and his contrasting comments on himself and his own stories (pp. 108–110). With these
passages as context, lead the class into a discussion of the narrator’s discovery—and
plagiarism— of “Summer Dance” and the complexities of his relationship to that story.
Writing Exercise
Write on the following theme: What is your favorite work of literature, movie, or piece of music?
Why does it appeal to you? Discuss any symbols that occur in that particular work of art. If no
symbols are present, explain why symbols are not needed.
67
FOCUS SEVEN: Character Development
Novels trace the development of characters who encounter a series of challenges. Most
characters contain a complex balance of virtues and vices. Internal and external forces require
characters to question themselves, overcome fears, or reconsider dreams. The protagonist may
undergo profound change. A close study of character development maps, in each character, the
evolution of motivation, personality, and belief. The tension between a character’s strengths and
weaknesses keeps the reader guessing about what might happen next and the protagonist’s
eventual success or failure.
As an adult, the narrator has exchanged his youthful brashness and assertiveness for a
more measured and reflective view of life, but in large part his transition into adulthood is one of
continuity rather than change. The most significant phases of his development took place during
his last year of prep school. His encounter with Susan Friedman shows that as a young man he is
still awkward and tentative with women. His characterization of her dismissal of writing as an
“impiety” (p. 163) shows him to be as committed as ever to his literary ideals. Of the entire
group of young men who were mad about literature, he is the only one who has gone on to be a
writer. But even much later in life, he remains insecure about his worth as a writer (p. 171), even
as he demonstrates a prickly pride.
Discussion Activities
-“Finally, one does want to be known,” Mr. Ramsey says about Dean Makepeace (p. 172). How
does this comment apply to the narrator, especially in relation to his guardedness about his
Jewish heritage and his theft of “Summer Dance”?
-Read Handout Three: The Narrator’s Coming of Age. Read the novel’s conclusion, “Master”
(pp. 179–195). In what ways does Makepeace’s story parallel that of the narrator? In what ways
do the stories differ?
Writing Exercise
When the narrator steals the story, do you think he has an unconscious desire to be expelled from
school and/or exposed as a fraud? Write a short essay on whether or not his expulsion can be
considered a good thing.
FOCUS EIGHT: The Plot Unfolds
The author crafts a plot structure to create expectations, increase suspense, and develop
characters. The pacing of events can make a novel either predictable or riveting. Foreshadowing
and flashbacks allow the author to defy the constraints of time. Sometimes an author can
confound a simple plot by telling stories within stories. In a conventional work of fiction, the
peak of the story’s conflict—the climax—is followed by the resolution, or denouement, in which
the effects of that climactic action are presented. The last chapter of Old School is, in its own
way, a genuine surprise ending, with its sudden shift of focus and point of view. To begin with,
we might ask who is telling Arch Makepeace’s story. The answer that suggests itself is that the
narrator of the novel is simply passing along what Mr. Ramsey had told him in Seattle. But
reread the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 173: “He kept it short, but … I was
somehow given to know more than was actually said. The spaces he left empty began filling up
68
even as he spoke.” In a sense, then, we may regard the last chapter as the narrator’s imaginative
reconstruction of the dean’s life and character—a full-fledged example of literary art.
Like the narrator, Arch Makepeace has carried a burden of concealment, chafing at the
idea that others’ good opinion of him is founded, at least in part, on misunderstanding. (Recall
his reaction on reading “Summer Dance”: “He … was most affected, and in fact discomfited, by
its unblinking inventory of self-seeking and duplicity. It was hard to tell the truth like that” [p.
186].) In the end, his punishment, his “sentence,” is much briefer and less severe than that of the
narrator.
Discussion Activities
-Wolff writes: “The boy closest to them smiles into his punch glass. He can hear them; he has
slipped into their camp and can hear the secret music of these sure and finished men, our
masters” (p. 175). Are the masters “sure and finished men”? How does this relate to the last
section of the novel, “Master”? Finally, how might this draw out a larger theme of the novel?
-What one theme is the most important issue in the novel? Explain.
Writing Exercise
Write a short essay on a turning point in the novel. Where does the plot begin to change?
Choose a turning point and explain why the novel revolves around this point.
FOCUS NINE: Themes of the Novel
Themes are the central, recurring subjects of a novel. As characters grapple with circumstances
such as racism, class, or unrequited love, profound questions will arise in the reader’s mind about
human life, social pressures, and societal expectations. Classic themes include intellectual
freedom versus censorship, the relationship between one’s personal moral code and larger
political justice, and spiritual faith versus rational considerations. A novel often reconsiders these
age-old debates by presenting them in new contexts or from new points of view.
Discussion Activities and Writing Exercise
Use the following questions to stimulate discussion or provide writing exercises in order to
interpret the novel in specific ways. Using historical references to support ideas, explore the
statements Old School makes about the following themes:
The Importance of Literature
From the discussion of William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” in the opening chapter
through the previously cited exploration of Hemingway’s short fiction and Mr.
Ramsey’s observations on the need for stories, the novel makes a sustained,
passionate defense of the significance of fiction to our lives. What claims are
made for fiction beyond mere distraction or amusement?
Honesty and Deception
Poised right on the brink, I still held back, perhaps sensing that the moment it
started, once I allowed myself the comfort of his interest, I wouldn’t be able
to stop; that the relief of confessing this paralysis might betray me into other
confessions. In some murky way I recognized my own impatience to tear off the
mask, and it spooked me. (p. 118)
69
Why does the narrator hide the truth about himself? Why does he want to
confess? Which of these impulses does the novel affirm?
Tolerance and Acceptance
For years Arch had traced this vision of the evil done through intolerance of the
flawed and ambiguous, but he had not taken the lesson to heart. He had given up
the good in his life because a fault ran through it. He was no better than Aylmer,
murdering his beautiful wife to rid her of a birthmark. (p. 193)
What is the lesson here, and why does it need to be taken to heart?
Reader's Guide - Discussion Questions
1. The dedication of Old School reveals something of how Wolff might feel about his own
education. If you wrote a book, would you dedicate it the same way?
2. What does the epigraph of Old School, a passage from a Mark Strand poem, mean? How
does it relate to the novel's thematic concerns?
3. Why do you think Wolff left the narrator and even the school unnamed?
4. In Chapter One, the narrator maintains that his school disregarded issues of wealth and
social background and judged its students entirely by their actions. Does this turn out to
be true? How does his school compare to your own?
5. Early in the novel, the narrator says that his aspirations as a writer "were mystical. I
wanted to receive the laying on of hands that had written living stories and poems, hands
that had touched the hands of other writers. I wanted to be anointed." What does he mean
by this?
6. Which of his classmates does the narrator feel closest to, and why?
7. How do the narrator's changing attitudes toward his grandfather demonstrate his process
of maturing?
8. Discuss the portrayals of Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest Hemingway. How does
each influence the narrator?
9. Why might Chapter Six be titled "The Forked Tongue"? What are the larger implications
of its very last sentence?
10. Why does Mr. Ramsey show such disdain for the use of the word "honor"? Do you agree
with his attitude?
11. Over the course of the novel, the narrator writes two letters to girls. The circumstances
differ, but he has the same reaction after sending each letter. What does this pattern of
behavior reveal about his personality?
12. Why is the narrator shocked by Susan Friedman's attitude toward her own story, and
toward writing in general? How valid is his unspoken response to her comments?
13. Why does the narrator feel such love and loyalty for his school, despite his final
punishment?
14. The last sentence of the book is from the New Testament parable of the prodigal son
(Luke 15:11-32). How might these be "surely the most beautiful words ever written
or said"?
Source of this Reader’s Guide from Old School can be found at:
http://www.neabigread.org/books/oldschool/readers02.php
70
Group Review Activity:
Each group will be assigned two to three chapters to cover. You should then do
the following:
-Summarize ALL of your chapters in at least fifteen sentences
-Have three quotes from each chapter that you feel are significant. Explain
their significance in at least one sentence.
-List at least five occurrences in your chapters that shocked/amazed/
humored you in terms of its prophetic nature or in regards to its subject.
-Answer the FOCUS that pertain to the chapters you have been
assigned.
-Write an at least ten sentence review of the book.
We will work on this in-class on____________.
You will then turn in YOUR ASSIGNMENT FROM YOUR GROUP to
www.turnitin.com by __________ at 11:59 pm.
You will present it to the class on ________________.
After you give your presentations, I will turn ALL of them into one document that
you will be able to download from my website. You will then be able to use this to
study for your test.
71
Comparison/Contrast Essay on Old School
Your essay should be 500-750 words. It must include at least three quotes from the novel with a
parenthetical citation crediting the source at the end of the sentence. You also need to include at least one
quote from a literary criticism. You may only use a literary criticism that is found through accessing
a Gale Database at Panther Central. It is not necessary to do additional research in the writing of this
paper, but if you do choose to include other literary criticisms you should credit these sources as well.
(Of course, since you will be using a minimum of two sources you must include a Works Cited page.)
Please keep in mind that SparkNotes, Cliffs Notes, the summary on Wikipedia, and the like are not
considered literary criticism.
More Hints for this Essay:
-Make sure you mention the book title and author at the beginning of the essay
-Start with an interesting first line
-Give brief background into the novel in the opening paragraph
-Remember to discuss LITERATURE USING THE PRESENT TENSE
-Your last sentence of your first paragraph will be your thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be
specific and concise. It should NOT contain the words compare, contrast, different, similar (or anything
else like that).
-In your body paragraphs, make sure every body paragraph contains a quote.
-Make sure you use copious details to explain what you are comparing and contrasting
-Make sure you follow the guidelines in your Readings for Writers book for writing a
comparison/contrast essay
-In your conclusion be sure to sum up your paper without restating the thesis.
-End your paper with an exciting clincher statement
The following are your due dates for this paper:




You need to show me your literary criticism in class on _________. It is worth 10 points.
Your rough draft is due to www.turnitin.com by _________ at 11:59 pm. It is worth 10 points.
Your peer editing will be done in class on ______; it is due to www.turnitin.com by _______ at
11:59 pm. It is worth 10 points.
Your final draft will be due ________ by 11:59 pm to www.turnitin.com. It is worth 75 points.
72
73
Wadworth: Writing Paragraphs
Exercise B
Determine one possible pattern of development for a paragraph on
each of these topics. Then, write a paragraph (of at least five
sentences) below on one of the topics.
1. What success is (or is not)
2. The two kinds of people who appear on television reality shows
3. My worst experience
4. The connection between coffee consumption and heart disease
5. The dangers of using a cell phone while driving
74
Wadsworth: Thesis Statements and Formal Outlines
Attached you will find an editorial entitled Why the Insanity of College Admissions Will Change
by Patrick Mattimore. Please read this editorial and write a formal outline of it. You need to
have a minimum of a thesis statement, three Roman numeral subheadings, and an a and b to go
with each subheading:
My college alma mater, Dartmouth College, announced recently that the College had received a record number of
applications for spots in the freshmen class. The admissions’ department has also projected that Dartmouth would
accept the lowest percentage of students in the College’s history, about 11-12% of applicants.
Sometime this coming fall, I expect to receive a letter from Dartmouth informing me that this year’s class of
freshmen is the best-prepared, most diverse, smartest, highest potential group of students to ever enroll at
Dartmouth, thereby knocking my class, which was also all the “bests”, from 40th to 41st place on that esteemed list.
Coincidentally, I will also receive a solicitation to donate to the alumni fund, presumably to help push my class into
42nd place.
Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford already accept less than 10% of applicants annually, and Yale recently
publicized the fact that the College had accepted a record low number of early admissions’ applicants which will
help keep their overall acceptance rate below 10%. I’m pretty sure Dartmouth’s goal is to break into that 90%
rejection club too. The irony is that these same admissions’ departments regularly broadcast the fact that nearly all
their applicants are capable of doing the work that would be expected of them at the respective colleges. Stories are
legion of students with perfect SAT scores and 4.0 high school grade point averages being turned down at these elite
schools. Everyone seems to agree that competitive admissions have become too competitive but, like a high stakes
game of chicken, no one seems willing to step back from the edge.
Two years ago, during my last full year teaching high school, my seniors exacted some revenge by compiling some
of the most obsequious, self-serving rejection letters that colleges sent out and combining extracts from those letters.
Several large daily newspapers published our story along with several students’ editorial suggestions. Various
people have suggested solutions to tamp back the competitive college admissions game, perhaps the most radical of
which is the idea proposed by Barry Schwartz at Swarthmore. Schwartz has recommended that competitive colleges
establish minimum acceptance standards and then take all the student applicants that meet the criteria and put them
into a lottery.
The real answer, though, will come not from making the system one of chance, or dictating solutions, but from the
market itself. Much as the housing bubble burst after years of increasing demand and prices, demand for the name
colleges will begin to recede in the next few years for several reasons.
First, the population of college-age students is expected to decline. That fact alone will produce a lesser demand for
spots in colleges.
Second, the financial crisis will cause a greater demand among students for financial aid. While many of the better
endowed colleges can now promise to provide 100% of demonstrated need for admitted students, those generous
pledges may not last. In any event, the colleges may tighten definitions of demonstrated need.
Third, markets reveal frauds. Or rather, commodities that are overpriced, deflate. At some point, the perception that
only a narrow band of elite schools are acceptable and that those elite schools are better than many other colleges
will fade. The public will likely realize that the letter on someone’s college sweatshirt has a lot less to do with the
quality of that person’s education than what the person wearing the sweatshirt makes of her opportunities, no matter
where she goes. Unfortunately, that realization will come a little late for the Class of 2013.
75
Wadsworth: Commas
Part I: Add commas to the following sentences so they make sense.
1. Kahlo was a young, energetic girl of sixteen when her life was interrupted by a devastating
bus accident so she was forces to convalesce in bed for a long time.
2. Her love of painting could not be stopped and she found ways to paint while she was
recovering.
3. Kahlo painted smaller self-portraits with bright glossy colors and lush vivid flowers.
4. While many of her images are warmly tropical details such as a bleeding heart her wounded
and broken body and twisted limbs are also featured.
5. In 1892 Diego Rivera and his family moved to Mexico City.
6. At the San Carlos Academy he studied art.
7. In 1987 an exhibit of Frida Kahlo’s art was brought to the Plaza de la Raza a site in East Los
Angeles.
8. The exhibit among the most extensive in the United States at that time drew the attention of
Tina Guotta a young artist.
9. Born in Guanajuanto Mexico in 1886 Diego Rivera spent a lifetime committed to the
struggles of workers both in Mexico and internationally.
10. Although he and his wife Frida Kahlo noted Mexican artist were controversial for their
Communist sympathies they both acquired an international reputation for their great art.
Evaluating Sources- Do Exercise 1 on p. 193 and 194 of your Wadsworth on your own.
Be sure to write down at least two significant characteristics about each website below.
www.cancer.org
1.
2.
http://canhelp.com
1.
2.
76
Wadsworth: Using Other Punctuation Marks
Directions: Add appropriate punctuation—colons, dashes, parentheses, brackets, or slashes—to
the following sentences. If a sentence is correct, mark it with a C.
1. Mark Twain Samuel Clemens made the following statement “I can live for two months on a
good compliment.”
2. Liza Minnelli, the actress singer who starred in several films, is the daughter of legendary
singer Judy Garland.
3. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates all these are located on the
Arabian Peninsula.
4. John Adams 1735-1826 was the second president of the United States; John Quincy Adams
1767-1848 was the sixth.
5. The sign said, “No trespassing sic.”
6. Checkmate a term derived from the Persian phrase meaning “the king is dead” announces
victory in chess.
7. The following people were present at the meeting the president of the board of trustees, three
trustees, and twenty reporters.
8. Before the introduction of the potato in Europe, the parsnip was a major source of
carbohydrates in fact, it was a dietary staple.
9. In the well-researched book Crime Movies (New York Norton, 1980), Carlos Clarens studies
the gangster genre in film.
10. I remember reading thought I can’t remember where that Upton Sinclair sold plots to Jack
London.
77
Wadsworth: Chapter 9 “Using Logic,” Chapter 10 “Writing Argumentative Essays,” and
Chapter 39: “Revising Run-Ons”
1. Do Exercise #1 on p. 114-115 and write the answer below:
2. Choose one of the enthymemes for Exercise #2 on p. 117, supply the missing premise, and
determine if the resulting syllogism is sound.
3. Do #7 in Exercise #4 on p. 122-123.
4. Do Exercise #2 on p. 141
5. Combine each of the following sentence pairs into one sentence without creating comma
splices or fused sentences. In each case, either connect the clauses into a compound sentence or
subordinate one clause to the other to create a complex sentence. You may need to add, delete,
reorder, or change words or punctuation.
a. The sound of waves is comforting. The sand gets into everything.
b. Several reasons have been given for this decline in historical literacy. The main reason is the
way history is taught.
c. One way to avoid this problem is to use good textbooks. Textbooks should be accurate, lively,
and focused.
78
Wadsworth: Writing a Research Paper, including Writing a Rough Draft, Revising Your
Drafts, and Preparing a Final Draft
1. True False:
You can put your thesis statement anywhere in a research paper; it
does not need to be in the introduction.
2. True False:
You lead readers through the body of your paper with strong
topic sentences that correspond to the divisions of your outline.
3. True False:
If two sources present conflicting interpretations, you should be
especially careful to use precise language and accurate transitions
to make the contrast apparent.
4. True False:
Photographs and other visuals should not be used in an argument
research paper.
5. True False:
Your teacher’s revision suggestions can help you revise your
research paper.
6. True False:
Feedback you get from peer review is usually not helpful and
should not be used to revise.
7. True False:
It may be necessary to add more research in order to find support
for certain points in your research paper.
8. True False:
You should always remove sources you did not use in the paper in
your final Works Cited.
9. True False:
You do not need to proofread your paper; you should always trust
in your judgment that you have done your best work at 4 am the
day before the paper is due.
10. True False
It is an asset to have a general title instead of a title that is specific
and interesting.
79
Wadsworth: Evaluating Internet Sources; Writing a Research Paper
Directions: This assignment will be due at the end of class on __________. You will also need
to bring your Wadsworth book since it is necessary to complete your assignment.
Your research paper this semester will be on a social issue that is relevant to Florida. (We will
begin it officially in November.) The requirements are:
 1200-1500 words
 MLA style
 Six (or more) internet sources dated from 2011-present
 One source that is a book that has been checked out from the SFCC library (does not
need to be from 2011-present); you will need to turn in a photocopy of the pages you
used, plus the title page, copyright information page, and proof you checked out the book
from SFSC.
To aid you in writing your research paper, you definitely need to know how to evaluate sources.
Please answer the following questions to aid in learning how to evaluate sources:
1. Make a list of at least three topics you think you could write your research paper on:



2. Now that you’ve thought about it a bit, choose one of the topics and do a search with several
of the popular search engines listed in section 14a (p. 186) of your Wadsworth. Compare the
results, especially of the first items listed on each search.
 Was there much duplication?
 Did some sources appear only on one search?
 How many “hits” did each search engine provide for a particular topic?
3. Try using one of the metasearch engines listed in 14a (p. 187). What were the results?
4. Try using one or two of the specialized search engines also listed in 14a (p. 187). What were
the results?
5. Was a particular search engine faster or slower than the others?
6. Try narrowing your search. Put quotation marks around a phrase and search again. Use
combining keywords—and, or, or not—to conduct a Boolean search. Try plus or minus signs
with word combinations. How were the results different from your earlier searches?
80
Now that you’ve had some time to search, pretend you must pick out your research paper topic
right now. (Relax—you can change it later, or you might find out that you get much work done
for your research paper right now by choosing the topic that works for you!)
Topic of argument research paper:
Thesis of research paper (w/ side that agrees with your opinion):
Thesis of research paper (w/ side that disagrees with your opinion):
Why would I make you write a thesis on both sides of the issue?
Now, find two authoritative sources on your topic. (One with a fact or opinion that agrees with
your opinion; one with a fact or opinion that disagrees with your opinion.) Below you should
write the title and author, website name, and brief explanation of how you would use this
source in your paper.
Source #1-
Source #2-
81
Name_____________________
Beowulf Notes/ Teaching a Section to the Class
Directions: Each group will share their five important events from each section, plus answer
some assigned questions, with the class on________. Every person needs to turn in this sheet by
the end of class that day.
The Monster Grendel- presented by __________________________________________
Five Important Events:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Question A on p. 24-
Question C on p. 25-
Question D on p. 26
The Arrival of the Hero- presented by _____________________________________________
Five Important Events:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Question E on p. 27
82
Question G on p. 28
Question H on p. 29
Unferth’s’ Challenge- presented by ______________________________________________
Five Important Events:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Question J on p. 31
Question K on p. 31
Question N on p. 33
The Battle with Grendel- presented by
______________________________________________
Five Important Events:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
83
Question O on p. 34
Question Q on p. 35
Question S on p. 36
The Monster’s Mother- presented by ____________________________________________
Five Important Events:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Question X on p. 40
Question Y on p. 41
Question Z on p. 41
84
My Name
Ms. Rosenbaum
Dual Enrollment English I or II- Period ___
Date
Here is Where I Add My Specific and Interesting Title for This Assignment
Index on The Canterbury Tales:
1. Knight
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
2. Squire
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
3. Yeoman
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
4. Nun (Prioress)--travels with another nun, three priests
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
85
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
5. Monk
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
6. Friar
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
7. Merchant
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
8. Oxford cleric
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
86
9. Serjeant [sic] at the Law
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
10. Franklin
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
11. Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, Carpet-Maker
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
12. Cook
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
13. Skipper
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
87
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
14. Doctor
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
15. Woman (or Wife) of Bath
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
16. Parson
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
17. Plowman
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
18. Miller
88
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
19. Manciple
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
20. Reeve
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
21. Summoner
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
22. Pardoner
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
89
Significance of Quote #2:
23. Host
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
24. Quote/Significance #1 from The Pardoner’s Tale
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
25. Quote/Significance #2 from The Pardoner’s Tale
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
26. Quote/Significance #3 from The Pardoner’s Tale
Quote #3: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #3:
27. Quote/Significance #4 from The Pardoner’s Tale
Quote #4: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #4:
28. Quote/Significance #5 from The Pardoner’s Tale
Quote #5: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #5:
29. Quote/Significance #1 from The Summoner’s Tale
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
90
Significance of Quote #1:
30. Quote/Significance #2 from The Summoner’s Tale
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
31. Quote/Significance #3 from The Summoner’s Tale
Quote #3: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #3:
32. Quote/Significance #4 from The Summoner’s Tale
Quote #4: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #4:
33. Quote/Significance #5 from The Summoner’s Tale
Quote #5: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #5:
34. Quote/Significance #1 from The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Quote #1: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #1:
35. Quote/Significance #2 from The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Quote #2: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #2:
36. Quote/Significance #3 from The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Quote #3: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #3:
37. Quote/Significance #4 from The Wife of Bath’s Tale
91
Quote #4: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #4:
38. Quote/Significance #5 from The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Quote #5: “
” (Chaucer __).
Significance of Quote #5:
92
Works Cited
93
Notes on The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)





Known an “father of English poetry”
Second in praise only to Shakespeare amongst English authors
was first to write in English, a language considered vulgar at the time; he is actually
credited with making English “respectable”
member of upper middle class
was captured while serving country in France; king paid his ransom for release
Background on The Canterbury Tales





Chaucer originally intended to write 120 tales; 2 stories from each pilgrim on the way
there and 2 on the way back
Chaucer died—so only 24 were written
However, The Canterbury Tales provides a telling description of the way different people
were in the Middle Ages
Time of extreme corruption in Christianity (i.e. Prioress, Monk, Friar, Summoner,
Pardoner)
Some pilgrims are probably based on people Chaucer knew (i.e. Merchant, Friar—
Chaucer once beat up a Friar)
General Prologue



Mentions 30 pilgrims (including Chaucer) and the Host
Presents reader with variety of types of people who were part of Middle Ages society
Only by a pilgrimage could Chaucer have an excuse to present all of these characters,
since all different types went on a pilgrimage

Where are these people going?

When did they begin the pilgrimage?

What are the religious people Chaucer describes generally like?

Who is/are the exception to this?

What was the bet the Host made with the pilgrims?

How was it decided who would tell their story first?

Chaucer at one point talks about how he felt relaying these stories to the reader (lines
745-749). How did he feel about expressing the crudeness of some of the tales?
94
The pilgrims

Knight

Squire

Yeoman

Prioress (Nun)

Monk

Friar

Merchant

Oxford Cleric

Serjeant at Law

Franklin

the Guild Fraternity (Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, Carpet-maker)

Cook

Skipper

Doctor

Woman (Wife) of Bath

Parson

Plowman

Miller

Manciple

Summoner

Pardoner
95

Reeve

Host
The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale
The Wife of Bath’s Tale
The Summoner’s Tale
96
SHS Pilgrimage/Creative Project/ Chaucerian Food Celebration/ The Best Storyteller
on The Canterbury Tales
I. Creative Project- Choose one of the following creative assignments to complete on ________ on The Canterbury
Tales. This project will be worth 50 points.
Ye Olde Advert Assignment- Create a travel brochure advertising Canterbury pilgrimages starting from the
Tabard Inn in Chaucer’s day. Include appropriate details from The Canterbury Tales, such as the name of
the inn’s proprietor. You should take into account the following categories with your travel brochure: food,
entertainment, lodging, and travel clothing.
Sebringian Pilgrimage (Children’s Story)-Create a children’s book with at least ten photographs of places
of significance to you in Sebring. Find a way to tell a story that makes sense and is appropriate for a child.
If it makes sense to make the story autobiographical, that is acceptable as well.
Sebringian Pilgrimage (Film Version)-Create a short film with you standing in front of at least ten places
or with at least ten people (or a combination of each) that are significant to you in Sebring. Find a way to
create a film that makes sense and is appropriate for the classroom. If you wish the people of significance
to you to speak in your film, that is appropriate as well. It should be about five minutes long.
I Am a Sebring Pilgrim!-Come dressed as a teacher or fellow student that would be familiar to all students
in class. Then, you will need to read an original poem to the class that you have written. It should be about
your pilgrim and be modeled after the style of Chaucer. Your poem should be in rhyming couplets and at
least twenty lines long. It goes without saying that your costume/imitation/poem should be complimentary
and not cruel in nature.
I Am A Canterbury Pilgrim!- Come dressed as your favorite pilgrim mentioned in Chaucer’s The
Canterbury Tales. You will then need to read to the class the original description of the pilgrim in Middle
English. You can find the Middle English version for each pilgrim at:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/CT-prolog-para.html (This contains a side-by-side Middle English
and Modern English version.) You can find a pronunciation guide for Middle English at:
http://www.ajdrake.com/e211_spr_05/materials/guides/med_chaucers_english.htm
II. Chaucerian Food Celebration- worth 15 points
The same day you present your creative project, we will also do a Chaucerian Food Celebration. You need to bring
in a medieval food that will serve eight to ten people. (A good place to find medieval recipes from Chaucer’s times
is: http://www.godecookery.com/mtrans/mtrans.htm) Since medieval people used their hands in most of what they
ate, try to bring in a recipe that can be eaten with one’s hands. If you choose to bring in something that requires
utensils, please supply the utensils as well. You may also choose to buy something, but you simply need to justify
to me how the food relates to medieval times. (Yes, it will be okay if you buy Oreos and cover up the name Oreos
with “Ye Olde Chocolate and Cream Cookies.”)
III. The Best Storyteller- worth 15 points
During the class before our Chaucerian Food Celebration, everyone is going to write a story that begins with the
same first line, is entertaining, and contains a moral at the end (just like the pilgrims did to entertain themselves on
the way to Canterbury!). If you wish to do so, you may hang up your story on the wall (without your name on it).
The day of our Chaucerian Food Celebration, you will be given a sticky note (which you should put your name on).
The student whose story ends up with the most sticky notes under it will be given the reward of “The Best
Storyteller” and will receive a goody bag.
97
The Canterbury Tales BINGO GAME
B
I
N
G
KNIGHT
SQUIRE
YEOMAN
NUN (PRIORESS)
FRIAR
MERCHANT
OXFORD CLERIC
SERJEANT AT THE
LAW
HABERDASHER,
DYER, CARPENTER,
WEAVER, CARPETMAKER
COOK
FREE SPACE!
0
MONK
FRANKLIN
SKIPPER
DOCTOR
WIFE OF BATH
PARSON
PLOWMAN
MILLER
MANCIPLE
REEVE
SUMMONER
PARDONER
HOST
CHAUCER
98
B
I
N
G
0
MONK
HABERDASHER,
DYER, CARPENTER,
WEAVER, CARPETMAKER
COOK
PLOWMAN
FREE SPACE!
NUN/PRIORESS
FRANKLIN
SKIPPER
MILLER
PARDONER
YEOMAN
SERJEANT AT THE
LAW
DOCTOR
MANCIPLE
HOST
OXFORD CLERIC
WOMAN (OR WIFE)
OF BATH
REEVE
CHAUCER
MERCHANT
PARSON
SUMMONER
KNIGHT
SQUIRE
KNIGHT
99
B
I
N
G
O
SQUIRE
COOK
REEVE
SUMMONER
DOCTOR
YEOMAN
MONK
MERCHANT
SERJEANT AT THE
LAW
SKIPPER
NUN (PRIORESS)
MANCIPLE
FREE SPACE
PARDONER
WOMAN (OR WIFE)
OF BATH
OXFORD CLERIC
HOST
MILLER
PARSON
CHAUCER
PLOWMAN
FRANKLIN
KNIGHT
HABERDASHER,
DYER, CARPENTER,
WEAVER, CARPETMAKER
FRIAR
100
B
I
N
G
O
REEVE
DOCTOR
SKIPPER
MERCHANT
MILLER
WOMAN (OR WIFE)
OF BATH
COOK
CHAUCER
SQUIRE
KNIGHT
FREE SPACE!
OXFORD CLERIC
MANCIPLE
SERJEANT AT THE
LAW
PARSON
MONK
HOST
SUMMONER
FRANKLIN
FRIAR
PARDONER
YEOMAN
PLOWMAN
NUN (PRIORESS)
HABERDASHER,
DYER, CARPENTER,
WEAVER, CARPETMAKER
101
Classify and Divide Your Pilgrims!
In order to aid you in writing your next short essay, we are going to classify and divide the
pilgrims in five minutes. Each person in the group needs to fill out the chart below with the
name of all of the following pilgrims, who are the: Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Prioress (Nun),
Monk, Friar, Merchant, Oxford Cleric, Serjeant at Law, Franklin, the Guild Fraternity
(Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, Carpet-maker), Cook, Skipper, Doctor, Woman (Wife)
of Bath, Parson, Plowman, Miller, Manciple, Summoner, Pardoner, Reeve, Host.
Remember--You do not need to fill out every box in order to complete the assignment. You
simply need to put the names of all the pilgrims in boxes.
Category
Name:
Category
Name:
Category
Name:
Category
Name:
Category
Name:
Category
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
Pilgrim
Name:
102
Classification/Division Essay Topics- Choose one of the topics below and write 500-750
words on it.
Rough draft due (including submission to www.turnitin.com) on ___________(worth 10 points)
Peer/self-editing (done online at www.turnitin.com) by ___________at 11:59 pm (worth 15
points)
Final draft due on _____________with submission of revised version to www.turnitin.com
(worth 75 points)
Topic #1: Write a classification/division essay on The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. You
should consider classifying and dividing the pilgrims by class, profession, morality, or any other
such topic you find appropriate. You will also need to include two quotes from the Prologue,
and properly credit those quotes with a parenthetical citation and a Works Cited page. If you
choose to use outside sources, you must credit them as well.
Topic #2: In an essay, divide and classify one of the following subjects:
A. Your friends
B. Your relatives
C. Classes you like to take
D. Classes you do not like to take
Topic #3: Pretending that you’re writing to a perspective employer, divide and classify you life
into various stages leading up to the present.
Topic #4: Write a lighthearted classification and division essay discussing kinds of snack foods,
cartoons, pets, status symbols, toys, shoppers, vacations, hairstyles, fashion styles, teachers,
bosses, or drivers. Establish four or five distinct categories and analyze them.
103
Due Dates for Florida Social Issue Research Paper
Your research paper this semester will be on a social issue that is relevant to Florida. The
requirements are:
 1200-1500 words
 MLA style
 Six (or more) internet sources dated from 2011-present
 One source that is a book that has been checked out from the SFCC library (does not
need to be from 2011-present); you will need to turn in a photocopy of the pages you
used, plus the title page, copyright information page, and proof you checked out the book
from SFSC.
_________ Research Time in class using Panther Central
_________ Paper proposal (an at least five sentence explanation of topic; the last sentence of which is
your debatable thesis statement for paper) is due to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (10 points)
__________Response to someone else’s paper proposal is due to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (5
points)
__________ Hyperlinks of six sources from 2011-present turned in to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm
(10 points)
__________Book from SFSC shown to teacher (20 points)
__________ Annotated Works Cited (with an at least two sentence explanation of source plus how it
will be used in paper) due to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (20 points)
__________ Outline/Formal Brainstorming—you should complete an outline, do bullet points of the
major points of your paper, or simply a sketch of your ideas; it needs to be at least 200 words and
turned in to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (20 points)
__________ Rough draft of research paper is due to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (50 points)
__________ Peer/Self Editing of research paper is due to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (15 points)
__________Final draft of research paper is due to www.turnitin.com by 11:59 pm (200 points)
__________ Research Paper Presentation given. Your presentation is essentially a powerpoint of
your main points of your research paper. Be sure to include a title slide, a works cited slide, and at
least 10 other content slides that sum up your paper in an interesting way. You should also include at
least five photographs in your powerpoint, making sure to credit the sources of those pictures on a
separate slide as well, by putting a picture # under the picture then having a slide with the picture #s
listed and a link to where the picture was found. You should be able to give your presentation in 2-3
minutes. (50 points)
104
My Name
Ms. Rosenbaum
Dual Enrollment English I- Period ___
Date
My Wonderful and Specific Title Goes Here
Extremely interesting opening line goes here. One more sentence to add to the
excitement of my topic, such as a fascinating quote or statistic to grab the reader’s attention,
which I will then cite (Source). I will then give brief background information about my source
that is at least two sentences long. I will make sure I explain how my topic specifically relates to
Florida in my opening paragraph. My debatable thesis statement will be the last sentence of my
first paragraph and it will be underlined.
My topic sentence will contains information on my first specific example (or subheading)
of how I am breaking down my topic and how it relates specifically to Florida. I might use an
emotional appeal here, also known as pathos. Then, since I need to have information from a
source in every body paragraph, here is where I put an interesting quote from a source that
includes a transitional statement before a quote (Source). I put an additional sentence/s after this
quote explaining the significance of the information I just noted. I might add my sentence from
my book from SFSC here, including an interesting transitional statement such as _____________
once said, “Here is where I put the quote from my book from SFSC” (Last Name__). Here is
where I put sentence/s explaining the significance of what this quote means. I conclude my
paragraph with a concluding sentence to this paragraph.
My next topic sentence of my next specific example (or subheading) and how it relates
specifically to Florida, although I am careful I am not making my essay sound FCATy in any
105
way as I move from one topic to another. I have heard it said, and I agree, that compoundcomplex sentences are easy to write; I might put one here. To vary the way the second body
paragraph is set up, I might put another quote or fact from a source here (Source). I will add
sentences explaining the significance of this quote here, including why this topic is significant to
Florida. I might have a sentence/s explaining the significance of this source with a concluding
sentence to this paragraph.
My next topic sentence of my next specific subheading or another specific example and
how it relates specifically to Florida. To vary the way I am presenting my information, here I
might include a chart. When I introduce a chart, advertisement, political cartoon, graph, or
visual art it will not take up more than one-fourth of the page; there will also be a transitional
statement with a phrase like “as followed” or “the following” with a : after that. For example,
the following is an example of a graph that displays how cool seniors are compared to freshmen,
sophomores, and juniors:
(“U.S. Dept…”)
I would them write a sentence/s about the significance of this graph. For example, one could say
a comment about how the coolness factor of seniors has only continued since this study was done
in the 1990s. I might have a compound sentence here, or I might not have a compound sentence
here. I might also add an original metaphor here to make my writing exciting. Then, I could go
106
on to add additional logical appeals here, and therefore I would highlight a sentence that stated
something like, “90.7% of students love writing research papers” (Source). Since I do not want
to end my paragraph with information from a source, I can add a concluding sentence to this
paragraph here.
Here is where I put a topic sentence for my next subheading and how it relates
specifically to Florida. This might be the perfect time to incorporate ethos, by explaining an
expert on your topic once stated “Here is where the very important quote he or she said goes”
(Source). Here you explain the significance of this quote in a sentence/s. Since some people may
interpret your expert’s opinion ironically, here might be a good place to have irony. Since irony
can be a challenging concept for some, you may have to include a complex sentence here to
explain it. I would also include another quote or example from another source here (Source). I
would explain the significance of this quote or example in a sentence/s here. I might also want
to add a political cartoon or advertisement here that is significant to my topic. Here is where I
put my transition introducing my political cartoon or advertisement:
(Glasbergen)
Here is where I would list a sentence/s explaining the significance of this cartoon or
advertisement. I would add a concluding sentence to my paragraph here.
107
Here is where I put a topic sentence on the opposing side of my opinion and how it
relates specifically to Florida. I would include information from a source that gives details on the
opposing side—as either a quote or a fact—right here (Source). Here is where I would explain in
a sentence/s the reason/s why the opposing side is incorrect. This would also be a good place to
include an original paradox, since the logic of this point of view might be paradoxical. I might
include information from a source on the side (or another bit of information on the opposing
side) right here (Source). I would then include a sentence/s explaining why I agree or disagree
with this point of view. I would include a concluding sentence to this paragraph here.
Here is where I start my concluding paragraph without repeating my thesis statement or
other information from my introduction. I might include an allusion here since it would be
something interesting to put into a conclusion. I would then include a sentence or two summing
up what is significant to take away from my paper. I will avoid using first person point of view
in my research paper even though I have used it repeatedly throughout this template. I will end
my paper with an exciting clincher statement.
108
Works Cited
Glasbergen, Randy. "Education Cartoons | Randy Glasbergen - Today's Cartoon." TODAYS
CARTOON by Randy Glasbergen. Promote Globally, 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
Last name, First Name of author. “This is Where You Put the Article Title.” Website Title.
Publisher, Date published. Web. Date Accessed.
Last name, First Name of author. “This is Where You Put the Article Title.” Website Title.
Publisher, Date published. Web. Date Accessed.
Last name, First Name of author. “This is Where You Put the Article Title.” Website Title.
Publisher, Date published. Web. Date Accessed.
Last name, First Name of author. “This is Where You Put the Article Title.” Website Title.
Publisher, Date published. Web. Date Accessed.
Last Name, First Name of Author of SFCC Book. Book Title. Place Published: Publisher,
Year Published. Print.
"U.S. Department of Education Study Reveals Seniors Rule." The Onion - America's Finest
News Source. Onion, 4 Sept. 1996. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
Disclaimer: You may use this template however you choose or completely ignore it. This
was meant to help you organize your paper so you can see what I expect it to look like.
109
Name _______________________________
Period_______
Stuff to Fix (or Not Fix) for Final Draft of Florida Social Issue Research Paper
Thesis Statement
______ Still not strong enough
______ Needs to be underlined
______ Needs to be last sentence of 1st paragraph
______ By evidence presented here, you did not prove your own thesis
______ Looks good- Keep it up!
References to Florida or how this issue effects Florida
______ Needs to be referenced to more often
______ Not incorporated into paper
______ Not incorporated into paper in an appropriate and interesting way
______ Effective use of references to Florida
Citations
______ Need to have one in every body paragraph
______ Need to have a citations from six sources
______Need to have a citation from book from SFCC
______ Need to have a citation after you paraphrase information
______ Need to properly cite (Last name of author and p. #) or (1 st 2 words of article and
p #)
______ Citations are done properly—You rule the school!
Paper Itself
______Need to fix heading
______Need to fix title
______ Need a more interesting introduction
______ Need stronger support in body paragraphs
______ Paper is not discussed in a logical order
______ Paper seems rushed, as if you did not spend a lot of time working on it
______ Need to discuss opposing side of the argument
______ Need a stronger conclusion
______ Need to add to length
______ Need to shorten length
______ Need to double space
______ Need to make it Times New Roman 12 pt font
______ Need to have page #s done properly (your last name and p # in upper right hand corner)
______ Looks good—I look forward to reading your final draft.
Works Cited
______ You have work cited entries here that were not cited in your paper
______ You need to remove the annotation
______ Entries are not done according to instructions; need to fix
______ Again it looks good—Hooray for you!
Overall Comments (if any):
110
Ms. Rosey’s 5th Annual Scarevenger Hunt
-This frightening activity will be done in-class on ______(for A Days) and _______(for B
Days).
-You need to make sure you wear comfortable shoes and clothing the day of the Scarevenger
Hunt, as we will be doing terrifying tasks inside and outside of the classroom.
-You also need to either bring in a bag of candy OR turn in a story to turnitin.com about the
topic of Halloween that is 250-350 words by the time class starts. You will receive 15 points for
this. (Guess what most people did last year? You got it! Brought in candy!)
-When we are done with the Scarevenger Hunt, everyone will be given a brown bag. We will
then take all of the candy that has been brought in and go “trick or treating.”
-Finally, we will end the class by writing a spooky circle story in a group.
111
Read like a Rock Star 2nd 9 Weeks Assignment
What to Read --Choose a book from the list that is worthy of your intelligence (that you have not read for another
class or are not going to read for another class). You must get the book approved by me. Just so you know, you will
HAVE to read a British literature book on a specific list I give you for our next Read like a Rock Star.
Quiz- on _______________________
You will be asked some long-response questions related to your book to ensure you read and understood it. You
will essentially be proving to me you actually read the book. About two weeks before the quiz, I will ask you what
your book is so I can gear a specific quiz toward your book. Your quiz will be worth 50 points.
Book Talk- on _______________________
For this assignment, we will set up the room into “tables” so we look like a sophisticated book club. You will have
topics on cards at each table in which you will have to discuss something about your book. You will also bring a
food dish or drink (that you have made or bought that serves eight to ten people) that was either mentioned in or
inspired culturally by your book. I will have a sign-up sheet so we have a balance of food and drinks on that day in
your class. Your food dish will be worth 25 points. Your sophisticated discussion comments that I will go around
the classroom and monitor will also be worth 25 points.
Reading Log Assignment--You will need to complete four reading logs during Read like a Rock Star. Your reading
logs will be turned in to www.turnitin.com. The following are your due dates:
Reading Log #1- ____________by 11:59 pm
Reading Log #2- ____________by 11:59 pm
Reading Log #3- ____________by 11:59 pm
Reading Log #4- ____________by 11: 59 pm
This is what you need to do for each reading log:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Write your book title (italicized) and author’s name centered on the page
Write the page numbers you read this week directly below it. (Ex—I read p. 14-58.)
Write an at least five sentence summary of the pages you read. (Keep in mind that you should be reading
about twenty minutes a day.)
Answer five of the following per log with an at least three sentence response for each. Your options are:
a. Three things I learned are…
b. A really good description is…
c. The best part of this section was...because…
d. I want to know more about…
e. I can relate to (name a character) because…
f. The setting is important because…
g. This reminds me of…
h. I predict______ will happen…
i. These pages were boring because…
j. The theme in this story is…
k. (Name a character) surprised me when…
l. (Name a literary device) was used in the line…
m. These pages were interesting because…
n. The conflict in this section is…
You are allowed to use some of the same questions on your log, but obviously your answers may not be the
same. Your log will be worth 20 points each week.
112
Discussion Board Assignment
On the discussion board section of www.turnitin.com, you need to respond to a discussion I started on “Why I Do
(or Do Not) Recommend my Read like a Rock Star book…” by writing at least four sentences. Write a response to
one of your peer’s sentences that is at least one sentence long. This will be due on _____________ by 11: 59 pm.
This assignment is worth 10 points.
Project Assignment
Choose one of the following projects to complete by the time class starts on ________. Your choices are:
 Design an advertising campaign to promote the sale of the book you read. Include each of the following: a
poster, a magazine or newspaper ad, a bumper sticker, a button, and a 30 second television commercial.
(Note: This must be original. Do not violate copyright law in the making of your advertising campaign.)
 Create a comic-book summary of the book you read complete with bubble-style conversations and
illustrations. This needs to be a minimum of fifteen pages.
 Write at least ten diary entries for a diary kept by one of the characters in your book. This should be a
minimum of 500 words. You may choose to handwrite or type this. You may want to follow the style of
the times. (For example, if you are reading Pride and Prejudice you have a diary of the time period and
write in cursive.)
 Create a time capsule of significant items representing the events of the book or their lives in general.
Make a list of the at least fifteen items included, explaining why each was chosen. (If this turns out to be
financially impossible, you may make models of items to go into the capsule. I do not want you to buy an
actual ipod, for example, to go into your time capsule.)
 Write a 500-750 word proposal explaining why your book should be studied in a course at school. It could
be in an English class, or it could be offered in another subject—such as social studies, science, or art. To
make a strong case, your proposal should show you understand the scope and goals of the class and should
explain how including the book would enrich this particular class. You will initially need to present your
proposal to the class, then you will (after the class’ suggestions) submit your proposal to an administrator.
 On a poster board, use words, pictures, paint, markers, and whatever else you deem artistically and
creatively necessary to make a collage on your book. The collage should illustrate the plot or characters.
You will want to include at least twenty phrases or quotes from the book; include at least twenty pictures.
Include a written explanation of the images/quotes on the bottom corner of the collage. Be sure to include
the page numbers and a citation after the quote.
 Compile a scrapbook on your book. The scrapbook should illustrate one of the characters, including items
mentioned in the book as well as items you think that character would collect. Include at least twenty
pictures or items, plus at least 250 words explaining the items.
This is worth 75 points. How you do on all of these assignments combined will determine if you receive a literacy
card the next nine weeks.
113
Name __________________________
Jigsaw Review of Reading for Writers Articles “In Praise of the Humble Comma” (390-392),
“Shame” (211-214), “The Company Man” (387-389), and “Wide Open Spaces” (410-413)
Article #1- “In Praise of the Humble Comma” p. 390-392
Part I: Write down a three sentence summary of the article below:
Part II: Write down three quotes, with a proper citation, to help a student understand the
article.
Quote #1-
Quote #2-
Quote #3-
Part III: Choose one question under “The Strategies” that you will ask the class. Leave
room for answers.
Question I Asked as an Expert:
Responses to this question:
114
Article #2- “Shame” p. 211-214
Part I: Write down a three sentence summary of the article below:
Part II: Write down three quotes, with a proper citation, to help a student understand the
article.
Quote #1-
Quote #2-
Quote #3-
Part III: Choose one question under “The Strategies” that you will ask the class. Leave
room for answers.
Question I Asked as an Expert:
Responses to this question:
115
Article #3- “The Company Man” p. 387-389
Part I: Write down a three sentence summary of the article below:
Part II: Write down three quotes, with a proper citation, to help a student understand the
article.
Quote #1-
Quote #2-
Quote #3-
Part III: Choose one question under “The Strategies” that you will ask the class. Leave
room for answers.
Question I Asked as an Expert:
Responses to this question:
116
Article #4- “Wide Open Spaces”
Part I: Write down a three sentence summary of the article below:
Part II: Write down three quotes, with a proper citation, to help a student understand the
article.
Quote #1-
Quote #2-
Quote #3-
Part III: Choose one question under “The Strategies” that you will ask the class. Leave
room for answers.
Question I Asked as an Expert:
Responses to this question:
117
The Scottish Play: A Study in Three Versions of Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Directions: We will be watching clips from three different film versions of Shakespeare’s The
Tragedy of Macbeth. As you watch, answer the following questions to aid you in your
interpretation of the play. You should be forewarned that the characters will be speaking in
Shakespearean English, which might make it difficult to follow at first. In addition, Macbeth is
an extremely violent play that deals with war and betrayal. It also contains witches as some of
the main characters, and those living in Shakespearean times believed witches were real. The
prophesies the witches make would have been taken seriously by those watching the play, as
well as the characters within the play.
In addition, these films—in my humble opinion—are meant for those who are already an admirer
of Shakespeare, as these three varied versions take some dramatic interpretations with the
material. The Royal Shakespeare Co. Production will be impressive to those of you who are a
fan of live theatre; the PBS Great Performances version is a reimagining of Macbeth as a 1930s
war hero turned evil leader and downright frightening at times; the 1970s version is the most
faithful in costume and scope to what takes place in the play.
It might also help you to follow along with the Spoiler Alerts in your Guidebook and the play
itself in Elements of Literature. This will also aid you as you do additional assignments on
Macbeth, such as an essay, an open book test, and a performance of a scene in a group. (Word to
the Wise: We may not have to do an essay if I see you are paying attention and completing these
questions on your own with fidelity.)
Film #1- The Royal Shakespeare Co. Production of Macbeth


We will watch Act I, Scene i through Act I, Scene iv of this version (from 1:30-19:53)
As you watch, keep in mind that this was a televised version of what you would have
seen on stage in London in 1978. Watch out for a young Ian McKellan (Gandalf in The
Lord of the Rings; Magneto in X-Men), Judi Dench (M in the James Bond films), and Ian
McDiarmid (the evil Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars).

Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:
118

Well, That Was Different Moment:

I Still Do Not Understand:
Film #2- 1970s Version of Macbeth


We will watch Act I, Scene v through Act II, Scene iv of this version (from 19:031:00:23)
As you watch, reflect on the fact that what was state of the art special effects in the early
1970s probably does not hold up for you as a modern viewer.

Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:

Well, That Was Different Moment:

I Still Do Not Understand:

Which version that we have viewed so far do you prefer? Why?
119
Film #3- PBS Great Performances Version of Macbeth



We will watch Act III, Scene i through Act IV, Scene ii of this version (from 59:552:14:00)
As you watch, note that Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard of Star Trek: Next Generation;
Professor Xavier in X-Men) plays Macbeth. Also note how the 1930s setting changes the
tone of the play.
Please also be aware that this version is frightening at times if you are faint of heart.
Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:

Well, That Was Different Moment:

I Still Do Not Understand:

Which version that we have viewed so far do you prefer? Why?

120
The Finale--Film #2 (Again)- 1970s Version of Macbeth
 We will watch Act V, Scene iii-through Act V, Scene viii (1:54:33- end)
 Overall Summary of Scenes Watched:

Well, That Was Different Moment:

I Still Do Not Understand:

Which of the film versions did you prefer? Why?

Would you rather have read the play on your own than watch the film? Why or why not?
121
Macbeth Argument Essay- worth 50 points
In order to prepare you for writing essays under timed pressure (something you will have to do in
upper-level college classes and on the SAT and ACT), your Macbeth argument essay will be
completed in class on _______. You will have some time in class today to pick out two quotes
you will use in your essay. Choose one of the topics below and do the following:



Write a clear introduction paragraph with a thesis statement, have at least three body
paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph
Use at least two quotes from the play to support your argument (including a parenthetical
citation after the quote)
Include a Works Cited page
1. Is Macbeth a heroic figure? If he has redeeming qualities, what are they and where do we see
them? If he is beyond being deemed a hero, why? How does he fail to achieve heroic status?
2. Explore the character of Lady Macbeth. How is she a model woman? How is she a failure to
be a good woman? Does she have any heroic or redeeming qualities? What are her failures and
what are her successes? What does her ultimate fate say about her?
3. What is the role of fate in this play? Is Macbeth a helpless victim of his fate? Is he
completely in control, and therefore responsible for, his actions? How do the witches and the
apparent supernatural forces of evil factor into either fate or free will?
4. How do the disturbances to nature and to human nature reflect the disturbances to the moral
order of the play? Examine the references to supernatural events alongside the ways the
Macbeths become "sub-human" (loss of sleep, giving up of reason, etc.).
122
Facebook News Feed Summary of Macbeth
Directions: Read the following Facebook News Feed Edition of Hamlet written by Sarah
Schmelling (yes, that is her real name) and found at www.mcsweeneys.net (so you know, this is
a clever and quite funny website). Then, in a group of no more than four, come up with your
own Facebook News Feed Summary of Macbeth.
---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.
---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.
---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.
123
Polonius is no longer online.
---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 the hell happened while he was gone.
---The king sent Hamlet a goblet of wine.
The queen likes wine!
The king likes ... oh crap.
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.
----
124
Shakespeare Insult Kit
Combine one word from each of the three columns below, prefaced with "Thou":
Column 1
artless
bawdy
beslubbering
bootless
churlish
cockered
clouted
craven
currish
dankish
dissembling
droning
errant
fawning
fobbing
froward
frothy
gleeking
goatish
gorbellied
impertinent
infectious
jarring
loggerheaded
lumpish
mammering
mangled
mewling
paunchy
pribbling
puking
puny
qualling
rank
reeky
roguish
ruttish
saucy
spleeny
spongy
surly
tottering
unmuzzled
vain
venomed
villainous
warped
wayward
weedy
yeasty
Column 2
base-court
bat-fowling
beef-witted
beetle-headed
boil-brained
clapper-clawed
clay-brained
common-kissing
crook-pated
dismal-dreaming
dizzy-eyed
doghearted
dread-bolted
earth-vexing
elf-skinned
fat-kidneyed
fen-sucked
flap-mouthed
fly-bitten
folly-fallen
fool-born
full-gorged
guts-griping
half-faced
hasty-witted
hedge-born
hell-hated
idle-headed
ill-breeding
ill-nurtured
knotty-pated
milk-livered
motley-minded
onion-eyed
plume-plucked
pottle-deep
pox-marked
reeling-ripe
rough-hewn
rude-growing
rump-fed
shard-borne
sheep-biting
spur-galled
swag-bellied
tardy-gaited
tickle-brained
toad-spotted
unchin-snouted
weather-bitten
Column 3
apple-john
baggage
barnacle
bladder
boar-pig
bugbear
bum-bailey
canker-blossom
clack-dish
clotpole
coxcomb
codpiece
death-token
dewberry
flap-dragon
flax-wench
flirt-gill
foot-licker
fustilarian
giglet
gudgeon
haggard
harpy
hedge-pig
horn-beast
hugger-mugger
joithead
lewdster
lout
maggot-pie
malt-worm
mammet
measle
minnow
miscreant
moldwarp
mumble-news
nut-hook
pigeon-egg
pignut
puttock
pumpion
ratsbane
scut
skainsmate
strumpet
varlot
vassal
whey-face
wagtail
125
Speech on Shakespearean Quote- worth ____ points
Directions: I am going to provide you with the first line of a famous Shakespearean quote. You
should then find this line and the rest of the speech that goes with it (which should be approximately
five to fifteen more lines). This is your responsibility for your speech:
A. State the play from which you are about to perform, the character you are playing, and
the context of the quote. (Hint: This will be on the sheet you will be given written directly
after your quote.)
B. Act out the lines from Shakespeare. You should state the lines with appropriate
enthusiasm. For example, if a person is angry in the lines, act angry. If a person is sad, act
sad. (Note: If you wish to earn an A or B, you must memorize the lines. For extra credit
you may bring in appropriate props.)
C. Explain the lines you acted out so a teenager can understand them. (Note: You can
choose to do a “slang” translation of your lines or just summarize them.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
To be or not to be,--that is the question...
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…
All the world's a stage...
What a piece of work is man!
Friends, Romans, countrymen...
Give me my robe, put on my crown
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
I go, and it is done; the bell invites me
But, soft! What light through yonder window...
We are such stuff... As dreams are made on
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
The quality of mercy is not strain'd
Why, then the world's mine oyster
If music be the food of love, play on
Come, let's away to prison; We two alone will sing
Journeys end in lovers meeting
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look
To sleep, perchance to dream
I am constant as the northern star
Was ever woman in this humour woo'd?
He hath given his empire
By the pricking of my thumbs
I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano
Eye of newt, and toe of frog
O, beware, my lord of jealousy
The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne
Cowards die many times before their deaths
When beggars die there are no comets seen
The man that hath no music in himself
Think you I am no stronger than my sex
Be not afraid of greatness
Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee
And thus I clothe my naked villany
When shall we three meet again
126
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
Blow, blow, thou winter wind
I come to wive it wealthily in Padua
He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf
All the infections that the sun sucks up
Let every eye negotiate for itself
I have no other but a woman's reason
O, how this spring of love resembleth
Is whispering nothing?
Here's ado to lock up honesty
What's gone and what's past help
When you do dance, I wish you
Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you
Now go we in content
We that are true lovers run into
127
SPOILER ALERT: Notes on Macbeth
Type of Work
.......Macbeth is a stage play in the form of a tragedy. It is one of several Shakespeare plays in which the protagonist
commits murder. Other such plays are Richard III, Othello, and Julius Caesar (Brutus). Macbeth is the shortest of
Shakespeare's tragedies. It has no subplots. (The shortest of all Shakespeare plays is The Comedy of Errors.)
Key Dates
Date Written: Probably by 1605 but no later than 1607.
First Performance of Play: Probably between 1605 and 1607 at the Globe Theatre.
Publication: 1623 as part of the First Folio, the first authorized collection of Shakespeare's play.
Sources
.......Shakespeare based Macbeth primarily on accounts in The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
(Holinshed’s Chronicles), by Raphael Holinshed (?-1580?), who began work on this history under the royal printer
Reginald Wolfe. The first edition of the chronicles was published in 1577 in two volumes. Shakespeare may also
have used Declaration of Egregious Popishe Impostures (1603), by Samuel Harsnett; Rerum Scoticarum Historia
(1582), by George Buchanan; and published reports of witch trials in Scotland.
Settings
.......Macbeth takes place in northern Scotland and in England. The scenes in Scotland are set at or near King
Duncan’s castle at Forres, at Macbeth’s castle on Dunsinane Hill in the county of Inverness, and in countryside
locales where three witches meet. A scene is also set at a castle in England.
Characters
.
Protagonist: Macbeth
Antagonists: Psychological and Supernatural Forces, Including the Witches and the Three Apparitions
Foils of Macbeth: Banquo, Macduff, Malcolm, Lady Macbeth
.
Macbeth: Ambitious army general in Scotland. His hunger for kingly power, fed by a prophecy of three witches,
causes him to murder the rightful king, Duncan I of Scotland, and take his place. Macbeth presents a problem for the
audience in that he evokes both sympathy and condemnation; he is both hero, in a manner of speaking, and villain.
Lady Macbeth: Wife of Macbeth, who abets his murder. Her grandfather was a Scottish king who was killed in
defense of his throne against the king who immediately preceded King Duncan I. On the surface, she appears
ruthless and hardened, but her participation in the murder of Duncan gnaws at her conscience and she goes insane,
imagining that she sees the blood of Duncan on her hands.
Duncan I: King of Scotland.
Malcolm, Donalbain: Sons of King Duncan. Malcolm, the older son, is the Prince of Cumberland. He becomes
King of Scotland (as Malcom III) at the end of the play.
Banquo: Army general murdered on Macbeth's orders to prevent Banquo from begetting a line of kings, as
predicted by the three witches whom Macbeth and Banquo encounter on a heath. Banquo’s ghost later appears to
Macbeth.
Three Witches: Hags who predict Macbeth will become king. Shakespeare refers to the three witches as the weird
sisters. Weird is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word wyrd, meaning fate. Thus, the witches appear to represent fate,
a force that predetermines destiny. The Greek poet Hesiod (eighth century BC) was the first writer to represent fate
128
as three old women. These three hags were actually goddesses. Clotho was in charge of weaving the fabric of a
person's life. Lachesis determined a person's life span and destiny. Atropos cut the threads of the fabric of life when
it was time for a person to die. No one—not even the mightiest god—could change the decisions of the Fates.
Collectively, the Greeks called them Moirae. Latin speakers referred to them as Parcae. The given name Moira
means fate.
Hecate, Witch 4: Mistress of the witches' charms and queen of Hades. She is the fourth witch in the play (or the
fifth for those who believe Lady Macbeth, in view of her invocations of evil, is a witch.)
Macduff: Scottish nobleman and lord of Fife who is known for his wisdom and integrity. He becomes Macbeth's
enemy. He and Macbeth cross swords at the end of the play.
Lady Macduff: Wife of Macduff. She is murdered on Macbeth’s orders.
Son of Macduff: One of the Macduff children who are murdered on Macbeth’s orders.
Lennox, Ross, Menteith, Angus, Caithness: Scottish noblemen
Fleance: Son of Banquo.
Siward: Earl of Northumberland, general of the English forces.
Young Siward: Son of Siward.
Seyton: Officer attending Macbeth.
Sweno: King of Norway during the war against Scotland. Sweno, referred to in Act I, Scene II, has no speaking part
in the play.
English Doctor: He treats the King of England (who does not appear in the play) for an illness while Macduff and
Malcolm are at the king’s palace planning the overthrow of Macbeth.
Scottish Doctor: Doctor who attends Lady Macbeth during her descent into madness.
Soldier
Porter
Old Man
Gentlewoman: Lady Macbeth's attendant.
First Apparition: : A head with arms. This apparition, conjured by the witches, warns Macbeth to beware of
Macduff..
Second Apparition: : A bloody child. This apparition, conjured by the witches, tells Macbeth that no one born of
woman can kill him.
Third Apparition: : A crowned child holding a tree. This apparition, conjured by the witches, tells Macbeth that no
one can defeat him until a forest, Birnham Wood, marches against him. Macbeth is heartened, believing it is
impossible for a forest to march.
Sinel: Macbeth's deceased father. Macbeth refers to him when he says, "By Sinel's death I know I am Thane of
Glamis" (1.3.75).
Minor Characters: Lords, gentlemen, officers, soldiers, murderers, attendants, and messengers.
.
Plot Summary
Based on the Oxford Shakespeare
By Michael J. Cummings © 2003, 2008
.
.......In a desert place during a thunderstorm, three witches conclude a meeting. They decide to convene next on a
heath to confront the great Scottish general Macbeth on his return from a war between Scotland and Norway. As
they depart, they recite a paradox that foreshadows events in the play: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.14). In
other words, what is perceived as good will be bad; what is perceived as bad will be good.
.......While camped near his castle at Forres in the Moray province of northeastern Scotland, the Scottish king,
Duncan, receives news of the fighting from a wounded sergeant: Macbeth has defeated and beheaded a turncoat
rebel leader named Macdonwald and “fix’d his head upon our battlements” (1.2.27). When the Norwegians
launched a new assault, the sergeant says, Macbeth and another general, Banquo, set upon their foes like lions upon
hares. Ross, a Scottish lord, then arrives to report the coup de grâce: Duncan’s forces have vanquished the
Norwegians and a Scottish defector, the thane (lord) of Cawdor1. The Scots extracted a tribute of ten thousand
dollars from the Norwegian king, Sweno, who is begging terms of peace. After ordering Cawdor’s execution,
Duncan decides to confer the title of the disloyal Cawdor on the heroic Macbeth.
129
.......Meanwhile, on their way to the king’s castle, Macbeth and Banquo happen upon the three witches, now
reconvened in the heath, while thunder cracks and rumbles. The First Witch addresses Macbeth as Thane of Glamis2,
a title Macbeth inherited from his father, Sinel. When the Second Witch addresses him as Thane of Cawdor,
Macbeth is dumbfounded. (He has not yet received news that the king has bestowed on him the title of the traitorous
Cawdor.) The Third Witch then predicts that Macbeth will one day become king and that Banquo will beget a line of
kings, although he himself will not ascend the throne. Macbeth commands the witches to explain their prophecies,
but they vanish. Shortly thereafter, other Scottish soldiers—Ross and Angus—catch up with Macbeth and Banquo to
deliver a message from the king: He is greatly pleased with Macbeth’s battlefield valor and, says Ross, “He bade
me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor” (1.3.112). The almost immediate fulfillment of the Second Witch’s
prophecy makes Macbeth yearn for the fulfillment of the Third Witch’s prophecy, that he will become king. He
begins to think about murdering Duncan even though the prospect of committing such a deed “doth unfix my hair /
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs” (1.3.147-148).
Forres Castle
.......Forres is in northeastern Scotland. After William I became King of Scotland in 1165, the castle at Forres served
as a sort of hunting lodge for royalty. The real-life Macbeth and Duncan were among those said to have used the
castle. Nearby is a curious tourist attraction, the Witches’ Stone, where accused witches were burned.
.
.......After Macbeth presents himself before Duncan, the king heaps praises on the general for his battlefield prowess
and announces that he will visit Macbeth at his castle at Inverness. Macbeth is in his glory, but his jubilation is
tempered by the fact that the king’s son—Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland—is heir to the Scottish throne. In a
whisper, he says to himself:
.......The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
.......On which I must fall down or else o’erleap,
.......For in my way it lies. Stars hide your fires,
.......Let not light see my black and deep desires. (1.4.58-61)
Thus his appetite is further whetted for murder. Bursting with pride and ambition, Macbeth sends a letter home to
his wife, Lady Macbeth, informing her of the prediction of the witches, who “have more in them than mortal
knowledge” (1. 5. 3), that he will one day become king. Lady Macbeth immediately wonders why he should wait for
that “one day.” He could murder Duncan and gain the throne now. But she fears he lacks what it takes to do the
deed. She says that his nature “is too full ‘o the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way [murder]. . .”
(1.5.6-7). A messenger arrives to tell Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will visit her and Macbeth that very night.
Excited by the prospect of the king’s visit—and the murderous reception he will receive—Lady Macbeth recites
some of the most chilling and cold-hearted lines in all of Shakespeare:
........A messenger arrives to tell Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will visit her and Macbeth that very night. Excited
by the prospect of the king’s visit—and his death—Lady Macbeth recites some of the most chilling and cold-hearted
lines in all of Shakespeare:
............................The raven himself is hoarse
..............That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
..............Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
..............That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
..............And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
..............Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
..............Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
..............That no compunctious visitings of nature
130
..............Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
..............The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
..............And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
..............Wherever in your sightless substances
..............You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
..............And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
..............That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
..............Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!' (1.5.31-46)
.
.......When Macbeth arrives home, he and his wife read murder in each other’s eyes. In anticipation of Duncan’s
visit, she tells her husband to
.............. look like the innocent flower,
..............But be the serpent under ’t. He that’s coming
..............Must be provided for; and you shall put
..............This night’s great business into my dispatch. (1.5.63)
.......After Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle with his sons and his entourage, Lady Macbeth greets the king while
Macbeth broods elsewhere in the castle. He is having second thoughts about the murder plot. After the feast begins,
Macbeth enters the dining hall, still ruminating about his sinister plans. To kill a king is a terrible thing. His wife,
who has been looking for him, follows not far behind him. Macbeth speaks his mind to her:
.
..............We will proceed no further in this business
..............He [Duncan] hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought
..............Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
..............Which would be worn now in their newest gloss
..............Not cast aside so soon. (1.7.36-40)
.
.......But Lady Macbeth holds him to his vow to kill Duncan, telling him that
....... I have given suck, and know
.......How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me:
.......I would, while it was smiling in my face,
.......Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums,
.......And dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you
.......Have done to this.” (1.7.62-67)
.
.......Macbeth, swayed, asks her: “If we should fail—?” (1.7.68) She answers, “But screw your courage to the
sticking-place, / And we’ll not fail” (1.7.70-71). She then lays out the plan. While the king sleeps, she will ply his
guards with “wine and wassail"3 (1.7.74), enough to make them fall into deep repose. Macbeth will then kill the king
with the guards’ daggers and stain their clothing with blood to cast suspicion on them.
.......After midnight, while King Duncan sleeps, Lady Macbeth gives the guards a nightcap of milk and ale (called a
posset) spiked with a drug. She then rings a bell signaling Macbeth that all is ready. Before going into the king’s
chamber, Macbeth hallucinates, seeing a dagger in mid-air that leads him to the king’s bedside. After committing the
murder, he tells Lady Macbeth that he thought he heard a voice saying, “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder
sleep” (2. 2. 46-47) and that he “shall sleep no more” (2.2.47). Lady Macbeth attempts to hearten him, telling him
not to dwell on “brainsickly” things (2.2.58). When she notices that Macbeth is still carrying the bloodied daggers,
she tells him to return them to the king’s chamber and plant them on the guards as they had planned. But Macbeth,
guilt-stricken, cannot bring himself to return to the room. Lady Macbeth, still bold with resolve, scolds him, then
plants the daggers herself, smearing blood on the guards.
.......Early in the morning, two noblemen, Macduff and Lennox, call at the castle to visit Duncan. “O horror, horror,
horror!” (2.3.42), Madcuff exclaims upon entering Duncan’s chamber and discovering the body. Macbeth and
Lennox, standing outside, ask what the matter is. Macduff says,
131
..............Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight
..............With a new Gorgon4. Do not bid me speak.
..............See, and then speak yourselves. (2.3.51-53)
.......Macduff then awakens everyone, shouting, “Murder and treason!” (2.3.55). Before anyone can investigate,
Macbeth kills the guards, claiming their bloodied daggers are proof that they committed the foul deed. Duncan’s
sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, do not for a moment believe Macbeth. However, fearing for their own lives, they
flee Scotland—Malcolm for England and Donalbain for Ireland. Because their hasty departure makes them appear
guilty—Macduff speculates that they may have bribed the guards to kill Duncan—the crown passes to the nearest
eligible kin, Macbeth. Duncan’s body is removed to Colmekill, a burial place for the kings of Scotland.
.......But now that he is king, Macbeth cannot rest easy. He remembers too well the prophecy of the witches that
Banquo will father a kingly line. So Macbeth sends two hired assassins to murder Banquo and his son Fleance as
they travel to Macbeth’s castle (now the royal palace at Forres) for dinner. Ambushing their prey, the assassins slay
Banquo “with twenty trenched gashes on his head” (3.4.32), the First Murderer tells Macbeth. But Fleance escapes.
.......Just as the dinner begins, one of the assassins reports the news to Macbeth. When Macbeth sits down to eat, the
bloodied ghost of Banquo appears to him but to no one else. Macbeth begins to act and speak strangely, and one
guest, Ross, says, “Gentlemen, rise: his highness is not well” (3.4.64). But Lady Macbeth entreats the guests to
remain in their seats, for “my lord is often thus, / And hath been from his youth. . . .The fit is momentary; upon a
thought / He will again be well. . .” (3.4.65-68). After the ghost vanishes, Macbeth regains himself and tells his
guests that he has a strange infirmity “which is nothing / To those that know me” (3.4.103-104). The ghost then
reappears and Macbeth shouts,
.
..............Avaunt5! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!
..............Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
..............Thou hast no speculation6 in those eyes
..............Which thou dost glare with! (3.4.112-115)
.
.......When Ross questions Macbeth about what he has seen, Lady Macbeth says the king’s fit has grown worse, and
she sends the guests away. Later, preoccupied with the fear of being discovered, Macbeth begins to suspect that
Macduff, who refused to attend the feast, is onto him.
.......When Macbeth meets with the witches again—this time in a cavern—they conjure an apparition of an armed
head that tells him he has good reason to fear Macduff. But they also ease his fears when they conjure a second
apparition, that of a bloody child, which tells him that no one born of woman can harm him. A third apparition, that
of a crowned child holding a tree, tells him that no one can conquer him until Birnham Wood comes to Dunsinane.
.......After the meeting, Macbeth learns that Macduff is urging Duncan's son, Malcolm, to reclaim the throne. In
revenge, Macbeth has Macduff's wife and son murdered. When Macduff hears the terrible news, he organizes an
army to bring down Macbeth.
.......Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth's conscience—long absent earlier—now begins to torture her. She talks to herself
and hallucinates, imagining that her hands are covered with blood. After the forces of Malcolm and Macduff arrive
at Birnham Wood and advance on Macbeth’s castle, Macbeth prepares for battle just as Lady Macbeth's battle with
her conscience ends in her suicide.
.......As they advance, the invaders cut branches of trees to hold in front of them as camouflage. Birnham Wood is
coming to Dunsinane—a hill near the castle—just as the witches predicted. Finally, Macbeth meets Macduff in
hand-to-hand combat, bragging that he will win the day because (according to the apparition of the bloody child) no
man born of a woman can harm him. However, Macduff reveals that he was not of woman born but was “untimely
ripp’d” (5.7.62) from his mother’s womb (in a cesarean birth). Macduff then kills Macbeth, and Malcolm becomes
king.
.
132
Themes
Ambition
.......Overweening ambition, or inordinate lust for power, ultimately brings ruin. For ignoring this ancient rule of
living, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth pay with their lives.
Deceit
.......In Macbeth, evil frequently wears a pretty cloak. Early in the play, the three witches declare that “fair is foul,” a
paradox suggesting that whatever appears good is really bad. For example, murdering Duncan appears to be a “fair”
idea to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, for Macbeth would accede to the throne. But the Macbeths soon discover that
only bad has come of their deed, and their very lives—and immortal souls—are in jeopardy. Macbeth also perceives
the prophecies made by the “armed head” and the “bloody child” as good omens; in fact, these prophecies are
deceptive wordplays that foretell Macbeth’s downfall. In a further exposition of the theme of deceptive appearances,
King Duncan speaks the following lines when arriving at Macbeth’s castle: “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air /
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses” (1. 6.3-5).
.......Other quotations that buttress this theme are the following:
Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ’t. (1.5.63-64)
Away, and mock the time with fairest show:
False face must hide what the false heart doth know. (1.7.94-95)
To show an unfelt sorrow is an office
Which the false man does easy. (2.3.135-136)
Temptation
.......Temptation can defeat even the strongest human beings. On the battlefield, Macbeth is a lion and a leader of
men. But when the witches tempt him by prophesying that he will become king of Scotland, he succumbs to the lure
of power. When his resolve weakens, Lady Macbeth fortifies it with strong words.
Guilt
.......Guilt haunts the evildoer. Whether from prick of conscience or fear of discovery, Macbeth’s guilt begins to
manifest itself immediately after he murders Duncan and the guards (Act II, Scene II). “This is a sorry sight”
(2.2.29), he tells Lady Macbeth, looking at the blood on his hands. When he speaks further of the guilt he feels,
Lady Macbeth—foreshadowing her descent into insanity—says, “These deeds must not be thought / After these
ways; so, it will make us mad” (2.2.44-45). Macbeth then says he thought he heard a voice saying, “Sleep no more! /
Macbeth does murder sleep” (2.2.46-47). When they hear knocking moments later at the castle door, it is the sound
of their guilt as much as the sound of the knocker, Macduff..
Climax
.
.......The climax of a play or another literary work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning
point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting event in a
series of events. The climax of Macbeth occurs, according to the first definition, when Macbeth murders Duncan
and becomes king. According to the second definition, the climax occurs in the final act when Macduff corners and
133
kills Macbeth.
.
Imagery
Darkness
.......Shakespeare casts a pall of darkness over the play to call attention to the evil deeds unfolding and the foul
atmosphere in which they are taking place. At the very beginning of the play, Shakespeare introduces an image of
dark clouds suggested in the words spoken by the First Witch:
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain? (1.1.3-4)
Near the end of the third scene in Act I, Banquo foreshadows the terrible events to come with an allusion to the
witches as “instruments of darkness” that sometimes speak the truth in order to bring their listeners to ruin. Banquo
says that
[O]ftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s [betray us]
In deepest consequence. (1.3.133-137)
Lady Macbeth later entreats blackest night to cloak her when she takes part in the murder of Duncan, saying:
Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark. (1.5.43-46)
Late at night in Inverness Castle, after King Duncan goes to bed and the Macbeths make final plans for his murder,
Banquo and Fleance meet in a courtyard within the castle walls while a servant holds a torch. Their conversation
centers on the blackness of the night and on sleep:
BANQUO How goes the night, boy?
FLEANCE The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
BANQUO And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE I take’t, ’tis later, sir.
BANQUO Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose! (2.1.3-12
.......In his analysis of the images of darkness in Macbeth, Shakespearean scholar A.C. Bradley writes:
It is remarkable that almost all the scenes which at once recur to memory take place either at night or in
some dark spot. The vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, the sleep-walking
of Lady Macbeth, all come in night-scenes. The witches dance in the thick air of a storm, or, 'black and
midnight hags' receive Macbeth in a cavern. The blackness of night [makes] the hero a thing of fear, even
134
of horror; and that which he feels becomes the spirit of the play."—Quoted in Eastman, A.M., and G.B.
Harrison, eds. Shakespeare's Critics: From Jonson to Auden. Ann Arbor, Mich.: U of Michigan, 1964
(pages 238-239)
Blood
.......Shakespeare frequently presents images of blood in Macbeth. Sometimes it is the hot blood of the Macbeths as
they plot murder; sometimes it is the spilled, innocent blood of their victims. It is also blood of guilt that does not
wash away and the blood of kinship that drives enemies of Macbeth to action. In general, the images of blood—like
the images of darkness—bathe the play in a macabre, netherworldly atmosphere. Here are examples from the play:
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood. (Lady Macbeth: 1.5.48-51)
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
.............................[ellipsis of seven lines]
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There's no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes (Speaker, Macbeth: 2.1.44-46, 57-60)
MACBETH...Will all great Neptune's7 ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas in incarnadine8,
Making the green one red.
LADY MACBETH...My hands are of your colour; but I shame
To wear a heart so white. (2.2.75-80)
To Ireland, I; our separated fortune
Shall keep us both the safer: where we are,
There's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood,
The nearer bloody. (Donalbain: 2.3.137-140)
In their analysis of the images of blood and darkness in Macbeth, Shakespearean scholars K.L. Knickerbock and H.
Willard Reninger write:
The very title of Macbeth conjures up the dense, suffocating metaphoric climate of primeval evil, darkness,
blood, violated sleep, and nature poisoned at its source."—Interpreting Literature. 4th ed. New York: Holt,
1969 (page 854).
Adam and Eve
.......Critic Maynard Mack and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud both noticed that Lady Macbeth resembles Eve in her
eagerness to tempt Macbeth to eat of forbidden fruit (in this case, murder) and that Macbeth resembles Adam in his
early passivity. Supporting their views are these two passages in Act 1, Scene VII, in which Lady Macbeth goads
her wavering husband:
135
First Passage: Lady Macbeth tells her husband it is cowardly to hesitate like a scared cat.
.
Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would,"
Like the poor cat i' the adage? (1.7.45-51)
.
Second Passage: Lady Macbeth challenges her husband to be a man.
.
What beast was't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this. (1.7 55-67)
Ambition
.......Raging ambition drives Macbeth to murder. After the witches play to his ambition with a prophecy that he will
become king, he cannot keep this desire under control. He realizes that Duncan is a good king—humble, noble,
virtuous. But he rationalizes that a terrible evil grips him that he cannot overcome.
I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other. (1.7.27-30)
Examples of Figures of Speech
Following are examples of figures of speech in the play. For definitions of figures of speech, see Literary Terms.
Alliteration
That will be ere the set of sun. (1.1.7)
the Norways’ king, craves composition;
Nor would we deign him burial of his men. (1.2.72-73)
False face must hide what the false heart doth know. (1.7.95)
136
’Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. (3.2.10-11).
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble. (4.1.12-13)
Anaphora
When the hurlyburly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won. (1.1.5-6)
FIRST WITCH All hail, Macbeth!hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
SECOND WITCH All hail, Macbeth!hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
Hyperbole
Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. (5.1.55)
Irony, Dramatic
This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses. (1.6.1)
Duncan is unaware of what the audience knows: that death, not a pleasant sojourn, awaits him in the castle.
Metaphor
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharg’d with double cracks. (1.2.42-43)
Comparison of Macbeth and Banquo to cannons
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid. (1.3.21-22)
Comparison of sleep to a hanging object
[We must] make our faces vizards to our hearts,
Disguising what they are. (3.2.40-41)
Macbeth compares his and Lady Macbeth's faces to the visors (vizards) on the helmet of a suit of armor
Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day. (3.2.54-55)
Macbeth compares night to a falconer who sews together (seels) the eyes of a young hawk.
He also compares the sun to an eye.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow[?] (5.3.50-51)
While speaking with the doctor, Macbeth compares Lady Macbeth's mental illness to a rooted plant.
Metaphor and Personification
137
Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand. (2.2.58-59)
Comparison of blood (implied) to a person (witness)
Treason has done his worst. (3.2.29)
Comparison of treason to a person
Paradox
Fair is foul, and foul is fair. (1.1.13)
What! can the devil speak true? (1.3.107)
Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it. . . . (1.4.10-11)
The Real Macbeth
.......Macbeth was an eleventh-century Scot who took the throne in 1040 after killing King Duncan I, his cousin, in a
battle near Elgin in the Moray district of Scotland. Of his reign, Fitzroy MacLean has written the following:
"Macbeth appears, contrary to popular belief, to have been a wise monarch and to have ruled Scotland successfully
and well for seventeen prosperous years. In 1050 we hear that he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and there [lavished
money to the poor]." (Work cited: MacLean, Fitzroy. A Concise History of Scotland. New York: Beekman House,
1970, Page 23.) In 1057, Duncan's oldest son, Malcolm, ended Macbeth's reign by killing him in battle and later
assuming the throne as Malcolm III.
The Real Banquo
.......In Holinshed's Chronicles, the historical work on which Shakespeare based his play, the real Banquo is depicted
as a conniver who took part in the plot to assassinate King Duncan. Why did Shakespeare portray Banquo as one of
Macbeth's innocent victims? Perhaps because James I, the King of England when the play debuted, was a
descendant of Banquo. It would not do to suggest that His Royal Majesty's ancestor was a murderer.
Influence of Seneca
.......The Roman dramatist Seneca (AD 4-65), a tutor to Emperor Nero, wrote plays that described in elaborate detail
the grisly horror of murder and revenge. After Elizabethans began translating Seneca's works in 1559, writers read
and relished them, then wrote plays imitating them. Shakespeare appears to have seasoned Macbeth and an earlier
play, Titus Andronicus, with some of Seneca's ghoulish condiments.
.
Witchcraft in Shakespeare's Time
.
.......In Shakespeare's time, many people believed in the power of witches. One was King James I. In 1591, when he
was King of Scotland during the reign of Elizabeth I, a
group of witches and sorcerers attempted to murder him. Their trial and testimony convinced him that they were
agents of evil. Thereafter, he studied the occult and wrote a book called Daemonologie (Demonology), published in
1597. This book—and an earlier one called Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches' Hammer, 1486), describing
the demonic rites of witches—helped inflame people against practitioners of sorcery.
.......Shakespeare, good businessman that he was, well knew that a play featuring witches would attract theatergoers
and put a jingle in his pocket. Moreover, such a play would ingratiate him with James, who became King of England
in 1603. So, about two years after James acceded to the English throne, Shakespeare began working on Macbeth.
When it was first performed in about 1605, it probably frightened audiences in the same way that The Exorcist, the
138
1973 film about diabolical possession, scared American audiences. Magically, this play about murder and witches
swelled Shakespeare's bank account and reputation. Shakespeare himself, a man of extraordinary intellect and
insight, probably regarded witchcraft for what it was: poppycock.
.......Four named witches appear in Macbeth—the three hags who open the play and later Hecate, the goddess of
sorcery. But is there a fifth witch, Lady Macbeth? In fact, she invokes spirits to “unsex” (1.5.34) her and bids “thick
night” (1.5.43) to dress “in the dunnest smoke of hell” (1.5.44) so that she may assist her husband in the murder of
King Duncan.
.
Questions and Essay Topics







Murdering a king was considered an especially heinous crime in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot in
England in November 1605. What was the Gunpowder Plot?
Did Shakespeare intend the witches to be symbols of something everyone faces—temptation?
The word fear occurs 48 times in Macbeth in noun and verb forms and as a root in words such as afeard
and fearful. Which characters exhibit the most fear? What causes their fear? How does fear differ from
guilt?
Julius Caesar, the title character of a Shakespeare play set in ancient Rome, was also a military commander,
like Macbeth, who was consumed by ambition and died because of it. What other great leaders in history or
fiction fell to ruin, or death, because of their ambition?
Lady Macbeth repeatedly washes her hands to expiate her guilt. In modern psychology, what is the term
used to describe Lady Macbeth's disorder? If you were a psychologist—or a priest—what would you advise
Lady Macbeth to do to unburden her conscience?
Read the information under Theme 2 (above). Then write an essay about persons, places, things or ideas
that appear "fair" when they are really "foul"—or appear "foul" when they are really "fair."
Lady Macbeth advises her husband to “Look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under it” (Act I,
Scene V, Lines 66-67). Write an essay about things in the modern world that present themselves as
"innocent flowers" even though they are really "serpents."
Fascinating Fact
.......The words blood and night (or forms of them, such as bloody and tonight) occur more than 40 times each in
Macbeth. Other commonly occurring words that help maintain the mood of the play are terrible, horrible, black,
devil, and evil.
.
What Was a Castle?
.......Many of the scenes in Macbeth are set in a castle. A castle was a walled fortress of a king or lord. The word
castle is derived from the Latin castellum, meaning a fortified place. Generally, a castle was situated on an
eminence (a piece of high ground) that had formed naturally or was constructed by laborers. High ground
constructed by laborers was called a motte (French for mound); the motte may have been 100 to 200 feet wide and
40 to 80 feet high. The area inside the castle wall was called the bailey.
.......Some castles had several walls, with smaller circles within a larger circle or smaller squares within a larger
square. The outer wall of a castle was usually topped with a battlement, a protective barrier with spaced openings
through which defenders could shoot arrows at attackers. This wall sometimes was surrounded by a water-filled
ditch called a moat, a defensive barrier to prevent the advance of soldiers, horses and war machines. At the main
entrance was a drawbridge, which could be raised to prevent entry. Behind the drawbridge was a portcullis [port
KUL is], or iron gate, which could be lowered to further secure the castle. Within the castle was a tower, or keep, to
which castle residents could withdraw if an enemy breached the portcullis and other defenses. Over the entrance of
many castles was a projecting gallery with machicolations [muh CHIK uh LAY shuns], openings in the floor
through which defenders could drop hot liquids or stones on attackers. In the living quarters of a castle, the king and
his family dined in a great hall on an elevated platform called a dais [DAY is], and they slept in a chamber called a
139
solar. The age of castles ended after the development of gunpowder and artillery fire enabled armies to breach thick
castle walls instead of climbing over them.
Glossary of Animals and Animal Parts in Witches' Brew (Act IV, Scene I)
Adder’s Fork: Forked tongue of an adder, a poisonous snake.
Baboon’s Blood: Blood of a fierce monkey (genus, Papio) with long teeth.
Blindworm: Legless lizard common in Great Britain. When fully grown, it is usually about a foot long.
Eye of Newt: Eye of a type of salamander (an amphibian with a tail) that spends part of its time in the water and part
of its time on land. The young newt (larval stage) is called an eft. It is bright red with black spots. The adult newt is
generally olive green with red spots circumscribed with black spots. In mythological tales, the salamander was a
creature that was said to be able to live in fire.
Fillet of Fenny: Slice of a snake that inhabits fens (swamps, bogs).
Gall of Goat: Gallbladder of a goat.
Lizard: Reptile with four legs. Examples are the iguana, the chameleon, and the gecko.
Maw and Gulf of Ravined Salt-Sea Shark: Stomach of a hungry (ravined) shark.
Owlet’s Wing: Wing of a baby owl.
Scale of Dragon: Scales (overlapping plates covering the body) of a dragon, a mythological flying reptile of gigantic
size.
Tiger’s Chaudron: Tiger’s intestines or guts.
Toad: Hopping amphibian, resembling a frog, with short legs and rough skin. Unlike a frog, which has moist skin, a
toad has dry skin.
Toe of Frog: Toe of an amphibian with webbed feet and strong hind legs for leaping. Unlike a toad, a frog has moist
skin.
Tooth of Wolf: Fang of a wolf, a canine that lives in the wilds.
Wool of Bat: Fur or hair of a bat, the world’s only flying mammal. A bat can weigh up to three pounds and fly at
speeds up to 60 miles an hour. Although literature often portrays bats as sinister, evil creatures, they are beneficial to
humankind because their insect diet eliminates many annoying—and dangerous—pests.
.
Notes
1. Cawdor: Village in the Highlands of Scotland, near Inverness.
2. Glamis: Village in the Tayside region of Scotland.
3. Wassail: Spiced ale.
4. Gorgon: Snake-headed monster in Greek mythology. Looking upon it turned the viewer to stone.
5. Avaunt: Go away; begone; get out of here.
6. Speculation: Ability to see.
7. Neptune: Roman name for the Greek sea god, Poseidon.
8. Incarnadine: Verb meaning to make something blood red.
(Source of Notes on Macbeth: http://www.shakespearestudyguide.com/Macbeth.html#Macbeth)
140
141