Clapp,+Kim

Kim Clapp Brit Lit MW 11:00-12:15 *May 10, 2011 In class discussion: The second poem my group discussed was "On the Death of My First and Dearest Child, Hector Philips" by Katherine Philips. My job in the group was to analyze the poem. I found that Katherine Philips was married almost seven years before she had her first child, Hector. She was blessed with a lovely baby boy. He died forty days later because unwelcome circumstances overtake the human joy of life. She saw him and he died before she got to know him. She tried to help but there was nothing she could do because he was sick. She didn't know what to do when he died, she was absorbed by tears and sorrow because she has nothing more but tears and sorrow for his eulogy. No one can see what she's going through, as she is grieving the loss of her child. The rest of the world is unconcerned and cannot provide her with any relief. *May 3, 2011 In class discussion: My group discussed Ben Jonson. He became the first Englishman to edit and publish his own poetry and drama. He had a talent for shaping moral satire into comedy. His plays, "Valpone" (1606) and "The Alchemist" (1610) are two of the best-loved comedies in British Literature. In 1598 he killed an actor and went to jail. He became catholic in jail and got out when he was awarded with a royal pension. In 1618 he went to Scotland to visit William Drummond who left a record of their conversations and opinions. He had a stroke in 1628, and died in August 1637. Most of London's literary and social elite attended his funeral. *May 2, 2011 Choose a poem assigned for the day to analyze I chose to analyze the poem "On My First Daughter" by Ben Johnson. Here he takes about the life of his baby daughter, Mary, who passed away at the age of six months. Basically, Ben Johnson just talks about how she was taken to heaven with the safety of her innocence. He talks about how she is in the comfort of her mother's tears and how he is happy her soul went to heaven while her body is buried. It states, "the grave partakes the fleshly birth" on line 11 which I could see him trying to explain her rebirth. It is said once you die and your soul goes to heaven, you are reborn, and since his daughter was so innocent being only six months old, I think he is in comfort knowing she is in heaven. *April 28, 2011 I chose to write my essay on heros and how the image of heros has changed drastically overtime. I concentrated on how different society views heros throughout time and discussed the similarities and differences between the heroic acts of Beowulf and Sir Gawain. This is my opening paragraph and a couple of the sources I used.

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The concept of a hero or heroine has been around for centuries, each one differing from the other. However, throughout the history of literature, the overall image and description of a hero has drastically shifted over time. After reading Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, two pieces of literature that depict the accounts of two heroes from different moments in history, it made me question what is it exactly that truly defines the characteristics of a hero. Without a doubt, a hero is dependent upon one thing and one thing only and that is primarily what it is that their society believes a hero of their time should resemble. A hero should be one who embodies the traditional qualities of an individual who represents the values of his or her society. This is why, through the ages, the image of a hero has been altered. The Old English image of a hero is portrayed in the tale, Beowulf, that we covered during this semester in class. Beowulf’s unmatchable strength as well as his long list of death defying adventures and heroic acts ultimately characterize Beowulf as the proper image of the Old English hero. ======

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  Markman, Alan M. "The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." PMLA 72.4 (Sept. 1957): 574-586. Rpt. in World Literature Criticism Supplement 1. Rpt. in World Literature Criticism, Supplement 1-2: A Selection of Major Authors from Gale's Literary Criticism Series. Ed. Polly Vedder. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May. 2011.   ======

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Disraeli, Isaac. "Beowulf: The Hero-Life." Amenities of Literature, Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature. Ed. Earl of Beaconsfield. Frederick Warne and Co., 1881. 51-58. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism 1. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May. 2011.      Document URL __[]__   *May 1, 2011   Extra Credit: Write your own sonnet abba abba cde cde Cape Cod is one of my favorite places to go       I love summer and going to the beach to get tan It gets really hot, sometimes I need a fan The tide on the beach gets really low Laying on my towel, listening to the ocean flow Going to the cooler to get a coke can I get mad when blow up floats are ban I do not like going when the winds blow I love going out on my jet skis Hoping I never fall off Even though when I do I think it's fun I also like wake boarding, sometimes on my knees When I'm riding, I hope I don't cough After I'm done, I like to eat a hamburger on a bun *April 27, 2011 I thought Kelly Stowell was very interesting. I've never had anyone like that come into any of my classes and perform characters. I found her really helpful to anyone who may be in the acting field, and it was just very interesting to listen to her advise about researching the character to find out more about them so you can play them better. I also liked how she mentioned to think of someone you know that is similar to the person you are trying to act because it makes it easier. She talked about when she was playing Margaret, she was crazy and she said she thought of something or someone she had last to make the emotions seem real, because I always wondered how good actors and actresses could get themselves to cry on the spot. *April 11, 2011 Ruminate on "To the Troops at Tilbury" (pg. 687) "To the troops at Tilbury" was about Queen Elizabeth and her talking to her people. It is made very clear she really likes her people because she continuously compliments them and says nice things throughout the time she is talking. She also takes a lot of pride in her country and she is very proud to the queen. It seemed like the people were very fond of her, even though she was a woman. Her gender is talked about when she states, " I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king." I think it shows a lot about her character and she caries herself very well for being a queen and having so much power but she uses it very effectively. *April 6, 2011 Identify ONE significant difference in the language of the biblical passages. I think there was a huge difference in the language because the passages are mostly in old english, which is completely different from how we communicate today. Their spelling and the way they pronounce words are so different from today's language. *March 28, 2011 Discuss the character of Mak. In the 'Second Shepherds' Play' by "Wakefield Master" Mak is a very stealthy character. He was really scummy, but skilled when it comes to stealing. I think he is very untrustworthy because he stole one of the most important sheep. He even came up with a plan with his wife and decided to disguise the sheep as a baby. I think not only is he sketchy, but crazy. I don't really see how he thought this plan would work, which it didn't. The shepards realized it was their sheep the next day when they found the baby to be deformed and kept hear odd noises. I think he could have come up with a smarter plan because he did end up getting caught which is what he deserved. *March 21, 2011 Why is the "Miller's Tale" a fabliaux/farce? The Miller's Tale is fabliaux because there are some very humorous parts in it. One of them being when one of the wife's lovers, Absolon, comes to the window and wants a kiss, but the wife sticks her butt out the window instead and he kisses that instead of her lips. It gets better when Absolon gets mad and then gets a hot poker to brand her butt, but the wife's other lover, Nicholas, wants to get in on the joke so he sticks his butt out the window because he thinks that Absolon is going in for another kiss, but instead Nicholas gets his butt branded by the hot poker.

*May 17, 2011 Group Discussion: John's Character My group talked about John's character and his motivation and decided it was about his want of material objects such as a wife like Allison. He also still provides everything for Allison although she cheats on him. This story was humorous because John was tricked by Nicholas, even though it is clear that John is in a higher class than him. We also said that he is not a good judge of character because he thought Nicholas was a good person even though he ended up tricking him and made him look like an idiot, and he chose Allison to be his wife although she goes behind his back with other men.

*May 8, 2011 In Class Discussion: Good to Bad Pilgrim List Knight Prioress Parson Physician Summoner Frior Shipman Wife Reeve Miller Monk Pardoner

 *March 7, 2011 Pick your favorite pilgrim. Why? My favorite pilgrim was Miller. I really liked his tale, I thought it was pretty funny and interesting, especially for back in that time period. He was also known and talked about for being drunk a lot and breaking things, he just seems like he has a funny personality and comes off as some sort of a villain. *February 28, 2011 Respond the article "Undressing Lady Bertilak" I think the article of Undressing Lady Bertilak was very interesting but I do not really agree with the author's point of view. I don't think sexism was acknowledged during the medieval time period. I think Sir Gawain felt guilty about taking the belt and not telling Lord Bertilak, but at least he did give Lord Bertilak back the kisses that his wife gave him. But as far as sexism goes, I do not agree with the author. *February 23, 2011 Pick one important/key passage from Fitt3. Analyze. I think lines 1846-1854 is an important key passage because it talks about the Lord's wife giving Gawain the green belt as a present. I think this passage was very interesting because Gawain accepted the present because the wife told him, "There is no man on earth who can strike him down, for he cannot be killed by any trick in the world." I think this foreshadowed the Lord ending up to be the Green Knight because the wife gave him the belt so he could not die, because she knew Gawain was going to fight her husband at the chapel. *February 14, 2011 I think the art of courtly love is really interesting. I believe mostly everything in it is true. Rule number seven is very interesting because a lot of elderly people who lose their loved one do not live much longer after. Rule number 18 is very true for men and women. People should not look for looks in the opposite sex but for character and personality. I think everything said in the rules is really important. *February 11, 2011 The Wife's Lament I found The Wife's Lament to be really interesting but confusing at the same time. I think there are a lot of things within this passage that can be debated. Starting with the gender of the person in it. I think it is a female, but if there was not a title on the piece, I think it could easily be debated between a man or woman. It is also clear that the woman is in love with somebody, I'm not really clear on exactly who. It could be her lord. But she was obviously left behind and could either be dead or just feels very lonely, sad, and depressed. *February 7, 2011 When I first started reading Beowulf I was confused and hard a hard time understanding what was going on. Gareth's book really helped me gain a better understanding. After reading I think Beowulf is such a strong character and he had a lot of courage to do the things he did. He wanted to gain as much honor as he could by helping out his people. The way he took on grendel with no weapons really shows how strong and confident he was. Even if he lost the battle, he would've died with a lot of honor because he attempted to take him down unarmed. Even though he didn't kill grendel in the battle, he still got his arm and scared grendel off. This shows how brave Beowulf is, and in his last battle with the dragon, although Beowulf did not make it out alive, he still died trying to protect his people and his honor and bravery is what he is known for. *January 26, 2011 My name is Kim. I'm a sophomore at Fitchburg majoring in elementary and special education. I also have a minor in English. I am looking forward to taking this class because I don't know a lot about history so I'm excited to learn about British Literature. I have taken one history class last year, but it focused on American Literature. I thought Gareth Hinds talk was really interesting. He had knew so much information and all of his illustrations were so creative. I'm personally a visual learner so his graphic novel really helped me understand the text better by looking at his detailed pictures. Before this class, I never heard of Beowulf because I never studied British Literature before or learned about this time period in high school. I'm excited to learn more.