Ahkmatova Poetry

Everything is plundered, betrayed, sold,


Everything is plundered, betrayed, sold,
Death's great black wing scrapes the air,
Misery gnaws to the bone.
Why then do we not despair?

By day, from the surrounding woods,
cherries blow summer into town;
at night the deep transparent skies
glitter with new galaxies.

And the miraculous comes so close
to the ruined, dirty houses --
something not known to anyone at all,
but wild in our breast for centuries.


I Am Not One of Those Who Left the Land

I am not one of those who left the land
to the mercy of its enemies.
Their flattery leaves me cold,
my songs are not for them to praise.

But I pity the exile's lot.
Like a felon, like a man half-dead,
dark is your path, wanderer;
wormwood infects your foreign bread.

But here, in the murk of conflagration,
where scarcely a friend is left to know,
we, the survivors, do not flinch
from anything, not from a single blow.

Surely the reckoning will be made
after the passing of this cloud.
We are the people without tears,
straighter than you...more proud...

Lagaan PowerPoint

To view the PowerPoint on India, Bollywood, and Lagaan, visit Edline. Sorry for the extra step, but Blogger does not allow PowerPoints to be uploaded.

The PowerPoint also contains slides that describe the assignments that go along with viewing the film.

Oppression

If you missed the discussion on the causes and effects of an oppressive government in the society in The Handmaid's Tale, feel free to comment on some of the questions below. You may also wish to support your ideas with quotations from the novel.

1. What kind of society did the fundamentalist leaders of Gilead, in The Handmaid's Tale, hope to produce through their revolution? What kind of society does it become?
2. Is this society stable or not?
3. What does the quote "You are now given freedom from. Don't underrate it" mean?
4. Will too much power destroy the U.S.?
5. Does fear control us?

Remember to capture your ideas on the multi-flow map on p. 13 in your notebook.

Sexism

If you missed the discussion on the causes and effects of sexism in the society in The Handmaid's Tale, feel free to comment on some of the questions below. You may also wish to support your ideas with quotations from the novel.

1. How do they control women? What techniques are used?
2. Is Serena Joy in power or out of power?
3. Does Offred fight or survive?
4. Why were some of the women content to live the life they were living?
5. Is government control of sexuality a successful control tool?

Remember to capture your ideas on the multi-flow map on p. 6 in your notebook.

Censorship

If you missed the discussion on the causes and effects of censorship in the society in The Handmaid's Tale, feel free to comment on some of the questions below. You may also wish to support your ideas with quotations from the novel.

1. Why is reading dangerous?
2. Why do the Aunts change all of the women's names?
3. Offred makes a point of saying that she is not writing this down. Why is that important?
4. What words have new meanings or what words were made up by this society? Why and to what effect?
5. Why is the Bible under lock and key in Gilead?

Remember to capture some of your ideas on censorship on the multi-flow map on p. 9 in your notebook.

Handmaid's Tale Exams

The blue book essay for The Handmaid's Tale will be Wednesday, February 27, and the multiple choice exam on plot, character, setting, and vocabulary is on Thursday, February 28.

Vocab page 188-311

The following nouns are the final words to learn for the multiple choice test on The Handmaid's Tale:

abasement, p. 194: a reduction in rank or reputation
perfidy, p. 201: treachery, betrayal
susurration, p. 215: a whisper, a murmur
prurience, p. 215: lust; longing
volition, p. 249: a willful choice or decision
bathos, p. 255: insincere pity or compassion
obverse, p. 259: counterpart