English 9 Class Notes

Objective: Freshmen began brainstorming ideas for an expository-analytical paragraph.

Freshmens, we began discussing in earnest discussing the last study question I gave you over Romeo and Juliet that related to the two characters’ decisions and their consequences. I relayed to you the “fate” motif that’s informed this play since the advent of Shakespearean criticism, and this turned into an interesting discussion of (what boiled down to) free-will and determinsim, that is, do we make our own choices in life or are our choices an illusion, the mere result of a series of causal events that stretch back to the first cause. This is fun stuff, the kind of thing that I often discuss with my advanced students, and certainly relevant to our discussion of the play.

On Wednesday, you’ll begin drafting a two-chunk paragraph in which you explain and analyze the action of the play so far through the free-actions or determined-inactions of its eponymous characters.

See you in a couple of days.

February 8, 2010 | Filed Under English 9

Comments

Comments are closed.