english 1 - sophocles
“The problem that serves A Doll’s House is the “exploration in dramatic form of the fate of the contemporary woman to whom society denied any reasonable opportunity for self-fulfillment in a male world. This time Ibsen’s jottings asked: ‘These women of the modern age, mistreated as daughters, as sisters, as wives, not educated in accordance with their talents, debarred from following their real mission, deprived of their inheritance, embittered in mind — these are the ones who supply the mothers for the next generation. What will result from this?’”
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friday, february 1 (1)
Oedipus the king, Short answer test
tuesday, FEBRUARY 5 (2)
(1) In what ways are we fulfilled? What are the messages we receive about how we should feel fulfilled because of a particular aspect of who we are?
(2) We're going to watch Carrie Cracknell's short film, Nora, a response to her 2012 Young Vic production of Ibsen's play, A Doll's House. As you watch think about what the director and actors do to make you respond to the title character in various ways. What are you meant to think of Nora? What do YOU think of Nora?
(3) A brief introduction to Ibsen's A Doll's House
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7 (GREEN)
SCREENING DAY 1: the first 30 minutes of the film, followed by 5 minutes of notes
HOMEWORK: You are to read pages 756-770, stopping just before KROGSTAD's first line. What details did you miss out on when watching? What does the production do to introduce the characters, the setting, the overall mood of the play that the text cannot?
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11 (4)
QUIZ 1: The film's first 30 minutes, the text's first 14 pages
DISCUSSION
tuesday, FEBRUARY 12 (5)
SCREENING DAY 2: a brief introduction, the next 30 minutes of the film, followed by 5 minutes of notes
HOMEWORK: I'd like you to read pages 770-777, which will take you to the end of Act 1.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14 (7)
QUIZ 2: The conclusion of Act 1
DISCUSSION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 (1)
SCREENING DAY 3: a brief introduction, the next 30 minutes of the film, followed by 5 minutes of notes
HOMEWORK: I'd like you to read pages 777-788, stopping just before KROGSTAD's entrance.
thursday, FEBRUARY 21 (2)
QUIZ 3: The beginning of Act 2
DISCUSSION
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25 (4)
Set A Doll’s House In-class essay
SCREENING DAY 4: a brief introduction, the next 30 minutes of the film, followed by 5 minutes of notes
HOMEWORK: You're to read pages 788-803, stopping when Torvald shouts, “Nora!”.
tuesday, FEBRUARY 26 (5)
Kubus out today. You will have a sub who will administer the quiz. When the quiz is over you are to begin working on the “Nora’s Choice” chart that we’ll use to organize our thinking about the decision Nora makes at the end of the play.
QUIZ 4: The conclusion of Act 2 / The beginning of Act 3
DISCUSSION
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28 (7)
SCREENING DAY 5: a brief introduction, the conclusion of the film, followed by 5 minutes of notes
HOMEWORK: You're finishing your reading of the play.
tuesday, march 5 (1)
QUIZ 5: The conclusion of the play
DISCUSSION
wednesday, march 6 (2)
A Doll’s House In-class Essay
Choose one of the following topics. For the essay you may use one sheet of printed paper containing only a thesis and an outline of examples/evidence. This piece is worth 100 points. Please format according to MLA guidelines. Submit to turnitin.com by the end of class.
[A] In his review of the 2012 Young Vic production, New York Times critic Ben Brantley writes, “Nora is forced into devastating awareness of just how devious she’s become and how warped she has been by the subterfuge.” Write an essay that explores the extent to which Nora is forced into this awareness. Who forces her? Or is it an undoing she must own? What is the play’s greater idea about deceit?
[B] Choose one of the characters in the play. Trace that character’s understanding of and write an essay about what makes a fulfilled life in the eye of that character.
[C] Gregory Doran, the Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, says that some playwrights will “stare with a very steady eye at some of the elements in our make-up which are ugliest.” Does Ibsen? What ugly elements of our make-up does he see, and what does the play suggest about the extent we can change them?
[D] One of the play’s great mysteries to me is why Torvald is so quick to forgive Nora after Krogstad returns the IOU. How do you explain his sudden reversal? You should use this prompt to discover some of Torvald’s more unattractive traits.
[E] Ibsen is famous for his artistic use of props. Write an essay that analyzes props and their artistic use in A Doll’s House. How are those props more than mere objects?
[F] The word “courage” repeats in the play, becoming associated with Mrs. Linde, Helmer, and Nora. What makes an action courageous or uncourageous, does the play suggest? Choose only one character to develop your thinking.
what's due?
Friday, February 1 - Oedipus the king, Short answer test
Wednesday, February 6 - Oedipus the king, Writing Assignment
Wednesday, March 6 - A Doll’s House In-class Essay
Thursday, March 7 - A Doll’s House Creative Assignment
current text to bring daily
A Doll’s house Study Links
David Mikics' Definition of TRAGEDY
ongoing extra credit
Required reading can at times feel like drudgery. And while it's important to do the reading I set for the class, I fully recognize that you'd rather have a say in what it is we read. Unfortunately the freshman curriculum has little student choice built in, so your ongoing extra credit gives you the opportunity to read an outside text in your own time at some point during the semester. I'm very happy to reward you with additional course credit if you take it upon yourself to read a text outside of class and meet with me to discuss it. A few things:
(1) This must be a text you've never read before.
(2) It should be imaginative and of recognized literary merit. The text must be approved beforehand.
(3) The amount of credit awarded is variable depending on the chosen text and how our follow up conversation goes.
(4) While you may read as much as you'd like, I will only award extra credit once per semester.
enjoying literature
“In the realm of narrative psychology, a person’s life story is not a Wikipedia biography of the facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally—picks them apart and weaves them back together to make meaning. This narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she is. A life story doesn’t just say what happened, it says why it was important, what it means for who the person is, for who they’ll become, and for what happens next.”
