Embedded Files
Dire Offence
"What dire offence from amorous causes springs, / What might contests rise from trivial things?"
Dire Offence - Alexander Pope &"The Rape of the Lock" A Vertext Discussion (with alternate Group Work): As with Swift's "A Modest Proposal", for the longest time I did Pope's "A Rape of the Lock" as a Group Work. I suspect it had a lot to do with the timing of this unit - sometimes it would come much earlier, when the students were doing their Macbeth scenes and it just made sense to have them work in the groups they would be in for that project. However, unlike "A Modest Proposal" - in this case, I believe a class discussion works much better (with Swift, it's a toss up) with Pope's epic satire. Besides going over the text itself - and expanding the students mastery of reading and understanding satire - when handled as a discussion (using a Vertext), it also gives the class an opportunity to see just how relevant Pope's work and his disdain of the frailties of the very rich and fashionable - is today. Nonetheless, I have also included the Group Work on this page as well.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
Though I've included the Group Work below as well - I am convinced the Vertext (centering on quotes) Discussion is the best way to go with this lesson.
Quiz
Quiz
As usual, there is a quiz here. If you do end up doing the group work - make sure you give the quiz beforehand, and as always, remove students from groups (by this time of the year they should not be getting into groups on their own) if they did not do the reading.
The Vertext
The Vertext
Because there is so much in this Vertext (Power Point) and I believe that is so important - I've taken the time to write notes for the slides as I've done a few other times with some of my lessons. I've included those notes (with the Vertext) in either Power Point or PDF format below. To give you an idea of what's on the Vertext, I've included some of areas of what we'll go over - directly below.
Pope Biographical Material
Pope Biographical Material
We go a little more into Pope's background here - the Vertext, in fact, gives the entire biography from the students' textbook. In this case, I believe Pope's biography can be used with connections to not only "The Rape of the Lock" but to other works that we have read as well. The biographical material in its entirety can be read aloud in class. At the end of text book material - given Pope's very hard life - I include the quote from Grendel's epigraph about how adversity can lead to great Art.
I next include an excerpt from Lauren Riddell's "Grievous Disability and Inspired Writing - which should also be read aloud. There is SO MUCH here that students can identify with - it is invaluable to not only understanding Pope's work - but to getting the students to see its worth.
Because we've just covered Swift - the next two slides hearken back to Swift and what he said about satire - and how it relates to Pope's life and works. Finally there is a reference to a modern work: "A Confederations of Dunces".
"The Rape of the Lock"
"The Rape of the Lock"
See the Power Point or its PDF counterpart below for detailed explanations of the quotes included (the Vetext) from Pope's "The Rape of the Lock." There is a lot we cover - from linking the worship of celebrity to our own age -to the idea that the very beautiful are always in the right and should be held in greater esteem (again - see Pope's biographical material).
A Link to Sonnet 18
A Link to Sonnet 18
A slide compares how Pope immortalizes the subject of this poem to what Shakespeare does in Sonnet 18, forever "giving life to thee".
A Modern Comparison
A Modern Comparison
The Lesson ends with a comparison between Pope's ostracism because of his writing about his rich and socially powerful friends - to what happened to Truman Capote in our own era when he did the same thing.
The Group Work
The Group Work
As an alternative to the Vertext, you can do the Group Work, which I've also included below. I do recommend the Vertext (with focusing discussion slides) though - but it also depends on what you do before and afterwards - I never liked doing two Group Works in a row.
Some points covered in the Group Work
Some points covered in the Group Work
Pope's mock epic versus other classical epics
What is important? What is trivial? Linking that to "A Modest Proposal".
Finding quotes that "still ring true today."
what is the definition of "bathos" ( a word that will come up many more times in my class).
Is the preoccupation (theirs & ours) with trivial things necessarily a "bad thing"?
Linking this story to the fairy tale, "The Princess and the Pea" - found on the back of the handout.
Linking this story with "A Modest Proposal".
How do the last four lines of Pope's epic, turn out to be true?
"The Rape of the Lock" Focusing Slides & Vertext Discussion
"The Rape of the Lock" Focusing Slides & Vertext Discussion
See above for a detailed explanation of the presentation. The first part is on Pope's biographical material (the class can read it aloud together). After that there is a Vertext (students read a quote aloud - which leads to discussion). After the Vertext, there are some more slides to focus discussion - one compares what Pope has done with the story's Belinda to what Shakespeare does for the subject of Sonnet 18. Finally there is a modern parallel from Pope to Truman Capote and what happened to him when he wrote about his high society friends.
Handout - Group Work
Handout - Group Work
See above for a detailed explanation of the Group Work. Students should begin this after they take the quiz. Students that did not do the reading - should not be allowed to get into Groups, but should instead do the reading (that they didn't do) and do the Group Work for homework (without penalty - though their quiz grade stands). The Group Work is on the first side and the story, "The Princess and the Pea" is on the other.
Here is the reading that the students did for the "The Rape of the Lock". Another introduction to Alexander Pope (the one found in the slide show above) was found in their other textbook - though that volume only had a very slender excerpt from "The Rape of the Lock". I felt it was short enough (this too is an excerpt - but very much an extended one) and important enough that the students should read most of the epic poem.
Most recent quiz
Most recent quiz
As I say directly above - this is based on the older text book reading that can be found on this page. I do not see the point in even having a discussion (the Vertext) or allow students to work in a Group, if they have not read the work in question.
RapeoftheLockVertext_20170208.mp3Class Audio Recording
Class Audio Recording
We have a discussion about Alexander Pope's satirical epic poem (rather than doing a group work). We tie the ideas of the trivial versus the sublime along with today's obsession with celebrity, youth, and beauty. A great discussion. Make sure that you download and view the Power Point (Vertext) and click through as you are listening.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
This can all be done remotely of course - The Vertext OR the Group Work. The Vertext (Power Point) really helps keep the focus when you are remote.
There are two partner works here for students to do in class - after they have read the text book excerpt on Johnson and Boswell. The older one is designed to compliment the research paper. It has students look at their reading and take notes on it - as though they were writing a Background Research Paper on it. The more recent handout (lesson) does not require that a research paper is being done concurrently. This one gives students quotes about Johnson - written by the textbook writers - and asks them to find a supporting quote from Boswell's biography of Johnson (also found in the textbook) to support what the text book editors say. There is also a chance for students to create the ever-popular Samuel Johnson meme (see the banner above). Both exercises are worthwhile I believe and there is no reason that you couldn't do both.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
As I finished my teaching career - more and more I found myself changing what was a group work into a discussion. I still felt that Group Works had their place - and were - in fact - invaluable. I also longed for exciting and informed discussions built around a great piece of literature. Perhaps that was a bit selfish of me, knowing that it would soon end - I wanted to get to hear more of what the students had to say and how they reacted to these texts.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse