Monday, Nov. 3rd

Skyward had a “moment” this weekend and briefly dropped

grades….

It’s fixed

No worries!

Finish the film AvatarAnalysis packet due Tuesday at the start of the hour –Meet me in the MAIN COMPUTER LAB

Locate an article from a reliable source about destruction of the environment and its impact on humanity. ANNOTATE IT using the document I gave you to guide you. It’s also still on my JM website.

In your TYPED/MLA-STYLE, annotation, do the following: 1. …briefly summarize the article2. … explain why it would be a strong article to read in class as background information for watching the film Avatar3. …give your overall reaction to the accuracy/validity of the article given the source which printed it.

EXTRA CREDIT: Due 11/6 by 3:05

Tuesday, Nov. 4th

Main Computer Lab Set up the WordPress Blog and do

your first blog on Avatar

TOMORROW: Finish blog work

First 25 minutes of class: 9:32-9:57

Group A: 10 Main Computer lab [Students in the first two rows by my classroom door]

Group B: 21 students to the open lib. Computers [ All other students]

Be back to Lehman’s room by 10:00 AM

Wednesday, Nov. 5th

PRETEST: New Unit

First 25 minutes of class: 9:32-9:57

Group A: 10 Main Computer lab [Students in the first two rows by my classroom door]

Group B: 21 students to the open lib. Computers [ All other students]

Be back to Lehman’s room by 10:00 AM

PRETEST

Blank sheet of paper

Pencil or pen

Number 1-20

1. Who wrote Oedipus the King ?

2. Oedipus the King is a: A. Novel B. Play C. Short Story D. Narrative Poem

3. Overall, Oedipus would best be described as a :

A. ComedyB. TragedyC. SatireD. Love story

4. Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and ________ follow the story of the King’s downfall and his children’s sufferings.

5-6. Like Luke/Hans Solo in Star Wars and Amir in The Kite Runner, this story follows a format known as the _________ ________.

7-8. List characteristics of plays performed in ancient Greece:

PRETEST Continued….

PRETEST Continued….

8. List two terrible things Oedipus does without realizing it: he _____________ and he _______________.

9-10: Who was the father of Oedipus and what prophesy terrorized him? What did he do about it? 11-12. In traditional Greek fashion, Oedipus’s father was given this prophesy by the ________ of _______ .

PRETEST Continued….

13. The myth of Oedipus represents the story of a man's doomed attempt to outwit _____________.

14. As self-punishment for his wrong-doing, Oedipus __________________________________________.

15. List three themes from this tale:

16. Explain why some people believe that blindness versus sight is a motif in this tale:

PRETEST Done….

17. What are the scars on Oedipus’s feet symbolic of?

18. His very name is IRONIC. Explain why the name “Oedipus” is ironic in light of the answer to question number 17:

19-20: Why did Sophocles place a key moment of this tale at a 3-way crossroads? It’s symbolic, but why?

21. Sum up the story of Oedipus in a sentence

Take BRIEF notes:

DRAMA IN ANCIENT GREECE

The Basics: COMEDIES AND TRAGEDIES

Greek Dramas:

TYPES:

Comedies

Tragedies

Satyrs

» Performed in open-air amphitheaters

» All-male actors

» Wore masks with extreme expressions of emotion

» Acted with exaggeration

» Often written for competitions at festivals

Drama

» Comedy: The first comedies

were mainly satirical and mocked men in power for their vanity and foolishness.

The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes.

» Tragedy: Dealt with the big themes

of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power

Typically the main protagonist of a tragedy commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been.

As he slowly realizes his error, the world crumbles around him.

Satyr Plays: short plays performed between the acts of tragedies

Made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.

Satyrs were mythical half-human, half-goat figures

Few examples of these plays survive.

Classified by some as tragicomic, or comedy dramas.

Thursday, Nov. 6th

Athens

Athens and Thebes: Ancient Greece

Sophocles BORN: 496 BC Died: 406 BC

One of three major ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived.

May have written almost 123 plays during the course of his life

7 have survived in a complete form

For almost 50 years, he was the favored playwright in Athens during religious festivals

Competed in 30-some competitions: won perhaps 24, and was never judged lower than second place [We think!]

Theban Plays

Three plays linked by topic:

About the three Oedipus plays:

»Oedipus the King

»Oedipus at Colonus

» Antigone

» All 3 concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus.

» Often published under a single cover – written separately for different festival competitions many years apart.

» Not a true trilogy (three plays presented as a continuous narrative) -- not an intentional series and contain some inconsistencies

3 readings from the text:

READING #1: Sophocles

READING #2: The Oedipus Myth

READING #3: Drama– the Greek tragedy and the Greek chorus

The Oracle of Delphi

FYI: The Oracle of Delphi

» Dates back to 1400 BC» …most important shrine in all

Greece» …built around a sacred spring

which was considered to be the the center (literally navel) of the world.

» People came from all over Greece to have questions about their future answered

» Pythia was the priestess of Apollo – “The Oracle”

» Her answers, usually cryptic, could determine the course of everything from when a farmer planted his seedlings, to when an empire declared war.

Reading #1:

p. 429 and locate the following:

Reading #2: “The Oedipus Myth” on pp. 430-31 and summarize

the following:

Find 3 new or different facts about Sophocles

and his works

1. Summarize the curse / prophesy:

2. What happened to Oedipus as an infant?

3. What goes down at the crossroads?

4. Who is the Sphinx and what is she doing?

5. What is the riddle Oedipus solves and what is he prize?

6. Why does a plague come to Thebes?

#3 Greek Tragedies and the Greek Chorus, p. 432:

1. What did the tragedy probably evolve from?

2. Make a list of the things the chorus did:

3. What did they feel was the proper construction of a tragedy?

4. “Most human[s]…strive to achieve _____ and avoid _____” (Sorenson 432).