Thursday September 30. 2010

Note: vocabulary 2 is due Monday
Blood Revenge Paper is due next Wednesday (see me with any questions!)

In class, we a partner, you will be presenting to the class one of the following study questions from Act III. Please take notes on what your fellow classmates shares, as you are responsible for these.

Hamlet Act III study questions

1. Polonius gives his daughter Ophelia a book to read as a distraction whilst
waiting for Hamlet. The subject of the book is about “an exercise may colour
Your loneliness. We are oft to blame in this,--
'Tis too much proved--that with devotion's visage (visage - face)
And pious action we do sugar o'er
The devil himself.” (III.I.51-55)
Explain the meaning of these lines and their irony in being said in the presence of Claudius.

2.
Hamlet initially denies having loved Ophelia when she returns his love letters.
Where does he tell her to go, how should she behave if she does not go there and finally, where from are these words provoked?
Read over III.i.131-62.


3 Ophelia is distraught and Claudius is piqued. This kid is not in love, but trouble.
Where does he intend to send him and for what reason? see III.i.176-89.


4. Hamlet is giving the travelling players some new lines- as well as acting advice;
albeit one may say, he’s somewhat arrogant, his words are hallmarks of good acting.
List a half-dozen qualities of fine acting; then state what ultimately is the purpose of acting.
See III.ii.1-45.


5. The play within the play. What is the quiddity (essence) of this piece
and how does Claudius react/? See III.ii.253-95.


6. What is Hamlet’s reaction to Guildenstern’s pestering him
about the prince’s behavior to his uncle and mother? III.ii.378-402.

7. Hamlet is off to have a chat with his Mum. What are his intentions?
III.ii.419-32.


8 How does Claudius feel about his own crime? What does he physically do?
III.iii. 40-5.

9 Why does Hamlet decide not to kill Claudius now? When would be a better time?
III.iii.77-100.


10 What does Hamlet do, when he hears the noise behind the arras? III.iv.28-9.






11. Paraphrase the potent descriptions that Hamlet uses to compare his father to his uncle. . Why is it impossible for his mother to be in love with Claudius III.iv.63-98The ghost appears, or is it a figment of the prince’s imagination?
What does he tell Hamlet? And how does his mother react? III.iv. 118-56.




12. Explain these words of Hamlet: “I must be cruel, only to be kind.” III.iv.194-200







13. Hamlet is about to head off to England along with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
How much does Hamlet trust these schoolfellows and what is in the sealed letters? III.iv.225-8)

Tuesday September 28, 2010

In class: a look at David Tennant's performance of the Hamlet's second soliloquy.
Review of the soliloquy and then your written version.

Hand out of vocabulary 2, as we did not get to it yesterday. This is due next Monday:4 October.

Remember your papers are due next Wednesday. You should have an outline done at this point. Please, please see me sooner- not later- for any assistance.

Monday September 27, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH5_E0MnLj4 Hamlet's rogue soliloquy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY-QL_HJBCc Hamlet's
To be or not to be soliloquy







Second Hamlet vocabulary quiz today.
This evening is the last day to post. You may reflect on any aspect of the play.
In class we are finishing up Hamlet's soliloquy at the end of Act II: O, what a rogue and peasant slave and the next solioquy in Act III. i: To be or not to be soliloquy.
Note how they inform us as the audience of Hamlet's character.

Vocabulary 2 is being passed out. This is due next Monday: October 1; 10 points off for each day late. See below, if you loose yours.
Make sure to see me sooner, not later, on any questions you have about the paper.



Vocabulary 2
definitions
accost- verb-to approach or speak first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way; approach, confront
animadversion – noun- a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval; rebuke, reproof

avid – adj- desirous or something to the point of greed; eager; keen, enthusiastic

brackish – adj – having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink; briny, saline

celerity – adj – swiftness, rapidity of motion or action; promptness, alacrity, speed

devious – adj- staying from the straight or direct course; acting in a shifty or underhanded way; tricky,
roundabout, sly, artful

gambit – noun – in chess an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to
gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type; ploy, stratagem, ruse, maneuver

halcyon –noun – calm, peaceful, happy, golden, prosperous; tranquil, serene, placid, palmy

histrionic – adj – theatrical, artificial, melodramatic; affected, stagy

incendiary –adj- deliberately setting or causing fire or strife; inflammatory, provocative

maelstrom – adj- a whirlpool of great size and violence- a situation resembling a whirlpool in
violence or destruction; vortex, chaos, turbulence, tumult

myopic –adj- nearsighted, lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation, lack of foresight or
discernment; shortsighted

overt –adj- open, not hidden; expressed or revealed; clear, obvious, manifest, patent

pejorative – adj – tending to make worse, expressing disapproval; derogatory; belittling

propriety –noun – the state of being proper or appropriate; fitness, correctness, decorum

sacrilege- noun- improper or disrespectful treatment of something considered sacred, desecration, profanation,
defilement

summarily – adverb – without delay or formality; concisely; promptly, abrubtly

suppliant – adj – asking humbly and earnestly;

talisman – noun – an object that serves as a charm or is believed to have magical powers.

undulate – verb – to move in waves or a wavelike motion, ripple, fluctuate, rise and fall




Vocabulary 2, exercise 2. Choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences. Make sure to use the correct verb tense or plural as needed.

1. Although a heavy snowfall was not expected, the highway department responded with surprising __________________________.

2. Many innocent people caught in the ______________________ of the revolution lost their lives and property.

3. The nobleman was ____________________ by the beggars on his way to the castle.

4 The interrogator used ____________________ methods to try to get the suspect to inciminate himself.

5 The baseball fans began to _____________________ as they cheered, so that they appeared to move like a wave.

6 The social worker questioned the ________________________ of the police’s request to see confidential records.

7 The shipwrecked passengers on the life raft became ill after drinking _____________________ water.

8 The woman often spoke of the ____________________ days of her youth.

9 He made a ______________________ address to the parole board, asking for an early release.

10. The arsonist planted a(n) __________________________ bomb in the basement of the store.

11 The _____________________ foreign policy of the last administration led to serious problems with
our allies.

12 Upon receiving his award, the young actor made a(n) _____________________ speech.

13. The anthropologist was accused of committing a __________________________ when she
disturbed an ancient burial ground.

14 The lawyer stepped over the line when he used a _____________________ term in referring to the defendant.
15. Many people do not believe that rabbit’s feet and other _________________________bring good
luck.

16. The inexperienced filmmaker was disheartened by the _________________________ of the film critic.

17. Asking an interesting stranger about his or her job is a popular ___________________ at a party.

18 In order for congress to declare war, the president must demonstrate a(n) _______________ threat.

19 As soon as there was evidence of criminal wrong doing, the official was ______________________ ousted from his post.

20. Most writers are also ________________ readers who have loved books since childhood.


Vocabulary 2, exercise 3 Provide either the synonym or antonym for the underlined word.

Synonyms

1. a tireless petitioner ____________________________

2. a lucky amulet ______________________________

3. the vortex of public opinion _____________________________

4. ripple in the current _____________________________

5. was taken in by her stratagem _____________________________

6. outraged by the desecration ____________________________

7. apologized for his unnecessary rebuke _____________________________

8. swam in the briny water ____________________________

9. abruptly resigned from the cabinet _____________________________

10. behaved with her usual decorum _____________________________

11. memories of our serene beginnings _________________________

12. confronted the thief at the door ________________________

13. completed the job with alacrity _______________________

14. their derogatory references to the past _________________________

15. took an indirect root _________________________

Antonyms

16. identified the peacemaker _________________________

17. make a very low-key plea for mercy ______________________

18. one of the most reluctant participants _________________________

19. known for farsighted thinking ____________________________

20. took secret action to avoid a crisis ___________________________



Vocab 2, exercise 1. Choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences. Make sure to use the correct verb tense or plural as needed
1 To our dismay we discovered that the water we had worked so hard to bring to the surface was too
_______________________ for human consumption.

2. As an employee of the local polling service last summer, it was my job to ______________________ people
on the street and ask them questions.
3. Many a rich southern planter saw all his resources swallowed up in the _________________________ of the
Civil War.
4. After the prisoner had been found guilty of treason, he was led before the firing squad and
___________________ executed.

5. Saying that “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” is not an effective response to their
_______________________ on your conduct.

6. During the rainy season, the highway sank at so many points that its surface began to
_________________________ like the track of a roller coaster.

7. I stand before you an abject _____________________, hoping against hope for your forgiveness.

8. My brother is such a(n) ________________________ collector of toy soldiers that I sometimes think our
house has been invaded by a pint-sized army.

9. The suffix ling often has a _______________________ connotation, as in the word princeling derived from prince.
10. On the return trip, we cut straight across the meadows rather than taking the more ________________________ path along the river.
11. In grandmother’s day the standards of _________________________ required that a young lady wear a hat
and gloves when she went out in public.

12. The _______________________ in which he accepted out invitation to dinner suggested that he was badly
in need of a good meal.

13. The tons of ____________________________ material ignited and turned the waste disposal plant into a
towering inferno.

14. In the eyes of most Americans, people who spit or burn the flag are guilty of an intolerable _____________.

15. We looked back at those ____________________________ years before the war as a kind of “golden age”
in our history.

16. Any book on chess strategy usually discusses the standard opening moves, such as the “knight’s” ________________.
17. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a(n) _______________ act of war.
18. Down in the old square, a wrinkled old peasant was selling charms and ____________________ to warn off
the evil eye.

19. Her temper tantrum was nothing more than a (n) ________________________ outburst.
20. Her pale face, hunched shoulders and _______________ stare showed that she had spent her life pouring over old books and documents.
Vocabulary 2, exercise 4 Circle the correct word for each sentence.

1. Her reckless words had an (incendiary, overt) effect on the already large crowd and large-scaled rioting
ensued.
2. He is the kind of person who is not concerned with real moral values but simply with appearances and
(celerity, propriety).
3. He regarded his Phi Beta Kappa key as a (animadversion, talisman) that would open him all doors and win
him universal acceptance.
4. After years of failure to sell a single story, the young writer described himself bitterly as a(n) ( pejoratives,
avid ) collector of rejection slips.
5. She was buffeted about in a veritable (gambit, maelstrom) of emotions caused mainly by her own
dissatisfaction with herself.
6. His methods were so complicated and his purposes so (avid, devious) that we were not sure whether he was
spying on the enemy or us.
7. Without even considering the new evidence that I was about to present, they (summarily, deviously) denied
my appeal to reopen the case.
8. In an age when the United States has truly global responsibilities, we can ill afford leaders with (myopic,
pejorative) points of view.
9. The adoring fan regarded my negative comment about his favorite singer as tantamount to (maelstrom,
sacrilege).
10. I certainly do not claim that my performance in office was beyond critics, but I deeply resent
(animadversions, maelstroms) on my honesty.
11. Although politicians must have some ability to dramatize themselves, it is very easy to overdo the
(proprieties, histrionics).
12. As the defendant left the courtroom, he was (accosted, gambited) by a group of reporters looking for his
reaction to the verdict.
13. Walt tends to react slowly, but when he feels his own interests are at stake, he can react with (myopia,
celerity).
14. Since the word appeasement is associated with disastrous concessions to Adolf Hitler, it has acquired a(n)
(pejorative, overt) connotation.
15. John Masefield’s poem “Sea Fever” has an (avid, undulating) rhythm that actually gives one the feeling of
being on a rolling ship.
16. “His acts of defiance have been so (myopic, overt) and premeditated that I have no choice but to fire him,”
she said sadly.
17. Instead of imbibing the (brackish, suppliant) waters of superstition, let us refresh ourselves with long
draughts of common sense.
18. “I realize that this type of (gambit, sacrilege) has its risks,” she said, “but I expect it to pay off handsomely
in the end.
19. Nary a ripple disturbed the (halcyon, brackish) calm of the sea on that glorious summer afternoon.

20. The infatuated school boy, in one of his more restrained expressions, described himself as a (suppliant,
sacrilege) on the altar of love.

Friday September 24, 2010

Remember: Monday is the second Hamlet vocabulary quiz. E-mail me with any questions on the paper.

In class today: we are reviewing Act II.

You have the my notes in a previous blog. Please note especially Hamlet's soliloquy.

Act 2 Scene 2:
O, What A Rogue And Peasant Slave Am I (Spoken by Hamlet)
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
Ha!
'Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
Fie upon't! foh! About, my brain! I have heard
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim'd their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds
More relative than this: the play 's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.

Thursday September 24, 2010

In class we are finishing up the relationship between the Hamlet father and son in preparation for your paper.

As well, I am handing out a copy of the abridged edition of the MLA handbook. Please hold on to this; you will need it all year.

The following is a copy of your class handout on the paper.

English III Honors Hamlet essay. Due Wednesday October 6
Based upon the following criteria of blood-revenge, discuss how Hamlet exemplifies-or does not- this act.
Requirements: TYPED (no exceptions)
MLA format- including header and pagination
Size 12, Times New Roman
MINIMUM of 500 words; include word count- under tools
MINIMUM of 6 specific textual references with Act, scene and
annotation.
Please make arrangements to see me soon, if you need support. Plan on bringing your outline. I am available periods 1, 2, 4, and 6, as well as before and after school. Can’t come then? Communicate by e-mail with specific questions. dolly.parker@rcsdk12.org
Keep in mind your thesis! This is a fact based essay, not an opinion of the play or its author. You make statements, you support them with specific evidence and you give an analysis. Of course, it is necessary to have carefully read the play.

BLOOD-REVENGE: A custom nearly universal in the tribal or clan stage of society, often surviving later, binding the kin of a murdered man to secure satisfaction for the murder by the death of the slayer or of one of his clan. The custom depends upon two fundamentals of that stage of civilization: (1) the sacredness of life and the solidarity of the clan; (2) the lex talionis. Its essence is execution of the slayer or some of his kin by the representatives of the slain, not by public authorities; it belongs therefore to private as opposed to public justice. In nomadic society the perpetuation of the clan depends upon its fighting strength and its sense of unity. Hence assault upon a member of the clan, if attended with even unintended fatal results, involves the tribe, clan, or family of the slain in what is felt to be a sacred duty, the avenging of the shedding of blood. The custom is important from the standpoint of utilitarian ethics, since the knowledge that reparation will be demanded by the clan of the assailed restrains a potential assailant from wanton attack and makes men more careful in ordinary intercourse. The duty set by the institution is binding, and so close is the relationship in the clan that all its members may become involved, the result being a blood-feud between the clans of the assailant and the victim. Usually, however, the duty devolves upon the next of kin. Refusal on his part to exercise his right and perform his duty subjects him to utter contempt and even to outlawry (http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc02/htm/iv.v.clviii.htm).

Wednesday September 21, 2010

Remember: Monday is the next Hamlet quiz.

I'm keeping a cumulative running of your blog entries, so you know exactly what the homework grade is. By next Monday, you must have 10 in order to have a hundred.

We are finishing up the relationship between Hamlet and his father, using your definitions from yesterday. This is in anticipation of a formal paper on this relationship. More to come tomorrow on that.

In class today: defining the relationship between Hamet and his father to understand the protagonist's motivation and thematic aspects of the play.

NOTES fir ACT IV

Scene I: Gertrude relates to King Claudius that Hamlet has killed Polonius, and that her son is "mad as the sea and wind when both contend / Which is the mightier" (IV.i.7-8). It's even more important now to get the kid out of the kingdom.
Scene ii: Rosencratz and Guidenstern ask Hamlet where Polonius' body is. Hamlet calls out their syncophancy, the way they suck up to the king: they are sponges, who "soak[ ] up the King's countenance, / his rewards, his authorities...When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again" (IV.ii.15-21).
Scene iii: Hamlet finally relents and tells the king where Polonius might be found"Hamlet eventually tells the King "but if, indeed, you find him not / within this month, you shall nose him as you go up / the stairs into the lobby" (IV.ii.38-41). After Hamlet departs for England, the King's soliloquy reveals that "by letters congruing to that effect / The present death of Hamlet"(IV.iii.73-4).
Scene iv.: Hamlet encounters Fortinbras and his army, who are on their way to attack Poland. Through the conversation between Hamlet and the Captain we gain some insight into the purposelessness of war. Captain: "Truly to speak, and with no addition, / We go to gain a little patch of ground / That hath in it no profit but the name"(IV.iv.19-21). Hamlet observes that the war is being fought simply because of "much wealth and peace." This scene closes with another soliloquy, where he compares his own inaction to how Fortinbras "makes mouths at the invisible event / Exposing what s mortal and unsure / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, / Even for an eggshell" (Iv.iv.53-5). In other words, for "honor's sake", Norway will attack a tiny, useless piece of Poland, and Poland will not yield it, because this would not be honorable. Yet, Hamlet "that have a father killed, a mother stained" has yet to seek his father's revenge. The soliloquy concludes with his "thoughts be[ing] bloody, or be[ing] nothing at all."
Scene v. Ophelia "speaks much of her father;...speaks things in doubt / That carry but half sense" and people are listening. Horatio convinces Queen Gertude to have a conversation with her. The King wants her watched closely and observes, "when sorrows come, they come not single spies, / But in battalions"(IV.v.84-5). Note how he summarizes the play to this point.
And if that is not enough, in comes "young Laertes, in a riotous head" and assumes Claudius is the killer. The king assures him that he is "guiltless of [his] father's death / And am most sensibly in grief for it"(IV.v.171-2). Then Ophelia comes along, strewing flowers: rosemary for remembrance, pansies for thoughts, rue and daisies. The king takes advantage of the situation- Laertes grief and anger over his father's death, who incidentally had an "obscure funeral" and "no noble rite nor formal ostentation", and his sister's mental breakdown, to take the time to calm him down.Act IV. scene vi.: Horatio gets a letter from Hamlet, who relate how he switched the message sent from Claudius to England that said the Prince was to be killed. In his stead now, his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will be murdered.
Act IV. scene vii. Laertes wants to know why Claudius hasn't done anything about his father Polonius' death. Claudius' excuse is that "the Queen his mother / Lives almost by his looks (IV.vii.13-4) and the public has a "great love" for him. then what news should be imparted: Hamlet's back, but the has an idea. Laertes will "be ruled / The rather if you could devise it so / That I might be the organ" (IV.vii.77-9). That is Laertes wants to be the one to carry out Claudius' plan. Claudius flatters Laertes that he is known for his "rapier most especial", sword fighting. The king then goads him by questioning his love for his father: "was your father dear to you? / Or are you like a painting of a sorrow / A face without a heart?(IV.viii.122-4). Claudius will arrange a friendly sword competition between Hamlet and Laertes, but Hamlet, "being remiss, / Most generous, and free from all contriving, / Will not peruse the foils" (IVLaertes sword will have a poison tip. These lines should give you insight into Hamlet's character.
And still to come in scene vii: Ophelia's death by drowning. But Laertes refuses to cry for "too much of water hast" she.

Monday September 20, 2010

First Hamlet vocabulary quiz today!
Handout of Hamlet vocabulary 2- quiz next Monday
see at end of blog for a copy, if you loose your handout.

Please keep up with the reading schedule. We might not be covering the assigned reading in class that day, but be prepared for a quick quiz on any day's reading. As well, make sure to post a note each day. You should have three posts as of this time- one for each day's assignment. Remember they are worth 10 points in towards this marking term's homework grade. No post= 0 for that day.

Today in class we are reviewing Act I.5; that's when Hamlet's father's ghosts asks him to seek revenge for Claudius having murdered him.

We are working on the following handout as pertains to the above. If you are absent, make sure you can comfortably define each of the following in terms of the Act I.v.
Define each of the following verbs, noting any positive or negative connotations. In Act I.v, it is the Ghost’s purpose to

corrupt ____________________________________________________________________
help ____________________________________________________________________
save _____________________________________________________________________
destroy _____________________________________________________________________
induct _____________________________________________________________________
seduce _____________________________________________________________________
empower ___________________________________________________________________
infect ____________________________________________________________________
tempt ____________________________________________________________________
enslave ____________________________________________________________________
inspire _____________________________________________________________________
transform ___________________________________________________________________
ensnare ___________________________________________________________________
invade ____________________________________________________________________
use ____________________________________________________________________
guide ___________________________________________________________________¬¬¬

…… his son.

Act III. scene i notes:
Queen Gertrude and King Claudius inquire of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern how their meeting with Hamlet went. They reply he was "most like a gentleman", didn't ask many questions but answered any they had.

Polonius then puts into play his plan for his daughter Ophelia to speak to Hamlet, whilst he and the king listen in, this being to ascertain if Hamlet's madness is really caused by his love for Ophelia.

Hamlet enters and we have his famous to be or not to be speech. Should he kill himself? What are the arguments for and against suicide?

Hamlet and Ophelia converse. She returns his "perfume-lost" love letters. Hamlet plays word games with her, questioning her honesty and telling her to "get thee to a nunnery" for he is "indifferent honest" and an "arrant knave." As he speaks harshly to Ophelia, but perhaps the words are really meant for his mother. He then says, That those that are married already / all but one, shall live"(III.i.160). On that note, he leaves.
Ophelia's very distraught over this noble mind o'er throwned. But the King realizes that love is not the root of Hamlet's madness."His affections do not tend that way." He determines to send the Prince to England., as "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." Polonious still thinks Ophelia is the cause, but asks King Claudius to let the Queen privately speak with her son about her grief, before he is sent away.
Act III.ii.
Hamlet practices with players / actors and gives them new lines to insert into the play. Shakespeare has him give good advice to being a successful performer. These words hold true today. As well, he tells Horatio of his plans, that he is to "rivit" to the [King's] face." Horatio agrees to watch carefully.
The play: Hamlet makes bawdy allusions with Ophelia, and she notes that he is "merry".
In the play within the play: note that Hamlet tells the King the play is entitled "The Mousetrap." In"The Murder of Gonzago" the former king's death, Hamlet's father's murder, is reenacted. Claudius has a fit and the play is brought to a premature end.
Horatio too has noted the king's behavior and Guildenstern informs him of the king's choler (anger) and that the Queen wishes to speak with him. With both Guildenstern and Polonius, Hamlet plays more word games, augmenting the belief that he is truly mad. The scene ends with the "witching time of night" when Hamlet knows he is capable of action. But to his mother, he must "be cruel, not unnatual"; "speak daggers, but use none."

Act III.iii
The King tells Rosencrantz and Guidenstern to take Hamlet to England.
Polonius informs the King that Hamlet is with his mother. King Claudius' reflects on his actions. Hamlet observes him "a-praying" and so decides not to kill him, because that would mean the King would be forgiven in God's eyes. Remember his father is in Purgatory; how ironic if his murderer goes to heaven.
Act III.iv
Polonius hides behind the arras (curtain), whilst Hamlet converses with his mother. Hamlet kills Polonius. This is an intense scene. What do you think is the nature of the relationship between Hamlet and his mother? He is violent towards her, makes vivid comparisons between his father and her new husband, and overt sexual references. His father's ghost appears- or does it, as only Hamlet sees him- and chides him: "Do not forget. This visitation / Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose"(III.iv.126-7). In the meantime, Gertrude thinks he is crazy and asks him to "sprinkle cool patience". When the ghost leaves, Hamlet explains he "must be cruel to be kind." She should not "go to my uncle's bed"...for "a pair of reechy kisses." The scene concludes with her acquiesing to Hamlet's demands and Hamlet telling her that he is to England with "two school fellows / Whom [he] will trust as adders fanged". (Note that he refers to the "letters sealed" his friends carry. These are a mandate from Claudius to kill the Prince, but Hamlet is aware and relishes the idea "when in one line two crafts directly meet". First though he'll "lug the guts (that's Polonius) into the neighbor room."

Hamlet vocabulary 2
As with the previous, the assessment will be your simply defining the word.
1.To glean - to gather; to collect

2. sovereign (adj)- absolute; totally undisputed / n- king or monarch

3. satirical (adj) – sarcastic, biting, mocking

4. promontory- (noun)- a cliff high above water

5. rogue (noun)- a villain, fiend, scoundrel

6. firmament (noun) – the sky

7. pestilent – (adj)- deadly, likely to cause an epidemic

8. paragon –(noun)- perfect example, model, standard

9. quintessence –(noun)- ideal, essence, perfect model

10. to cleave (verb)- to split, also to adhere

11. malefactions (noun)- evil deeds

12. consummation (noun) completion; achievement

13. calamity (noun)- disaster, cause of great distress

14. contumely (noun)- insulting treatment

15. wantonness (noun)- immorality, extravagance

16. dejected –(adj)- depressed, disheartened

17. abominably –(adverb)- detestably; with hatred

18. to buffet (verb)- to hit or strike

19. clemency (noun)- leniency, mercy

20. to beguile (verb)- to deceive, to cheat

21. contagion (noun)- the cause of a disease

22. fetters (noun)- chains or shackles attached to the ankles

23. to compel- to force

24. mandate (noun)- a decree, an order, command

25. to whet- to sharpen

Friday September 17, 2010

Ophelia by John William Waterhouse

VOCABULARY QUIZ Monday.
Notes for ActII scenes i and ii

Polonious sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes, the councillor's son, telling the spy to say semi bad things about his son, so that he may ascertain the truth about Laertes' behavior. Shakespeare makes an observation on youth: "wanton, wild, and unusual slips / As are companions most noted and most known / To youth and liberty" ((II.i.23-5).
Now Polonius has a conversation with his daughter Ophelia, who relates to him how a half-dressed Hamlet came to visit her: "his doublets all unbraced"; "his stockings fouled", "pale as his shirt, his knees knocking"
Polonous believes Hamlet is "mad for [Ohpheiia's] love" and so right away wants to tell Gertrude and King Claudius.

Act II.ii. Gertrude and King Claudius have called two friends of Hamlet's, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to the court to cheer Hamlet up. They agree, and, afterwhich, Polonius pops on the scene to say, " I have found / The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy"(51-2). Note how the councillor talks endlessly, and we have his ironic statement "brevity is the soul of wit." Polonius is both a laughable and sympathetic character. Polonius admits that he has told Ophelia that "Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star"; hence with Ophelia's spurning him, he has lost his reason.
So they devise a plan to check out the validity of this thought: "He'll loose [his] daughtet to [Hamlet / ..and " behind an arras then / Mark the encounter" (176-8).

Polonius meets Hamlet and the prince calls the old man a "fishmonger", a slang term for a pimp. Essentially, Hamlet plays word games with Polonius, but Ophelia's father is no putz and observes 'Though this be madness, yet there is / method in 't"(II.ii.223-4).
Comic and serious note: When Polonius tells Hamlet he must take leave, the prince retorts: You cannot take from me anything that I / will more willingly part withal- except my life.

Hamlet catches up with his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; he extracts from them the truth that they have been summoned by the king and queen. Important line: ..."but there is /nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it / so"(I.ii.268-9),
Hamlet on life: "I could be bounded in a nutshell and / count myself a king of infinite space, were it not / that I have bad dreams"(II.ii.273-5).
Guidenstern on dreams: ambition... is merely the shadow of a dream.
Hamlet reveals his mental state to his friends in II.ii 3-6-334. These lines as well celebrate the majesty of being human. PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY.
His friends reveal that there are players coming to the castle. They show up and Hamlet interacts with them, recolecting a particular play. Polonious is on the scene and he is bored. Hamlet wants him to use the players, but not necessarily to their "just desserts", for according to the Prince, "Use everyman affter his just dessertand who shall 'scape / whipping? (II.ii.556-7).
Act II.ii ends with a soliloquy. Hamlet is in the throws of angst: O what a rogue and peasant slave am I... He devises a plan, concluding "The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King"(633-4).

Thursday September 16, 2010

This image is from Edward Topsell's The History of Serpents (1608) During Shakespeare's time, a sailor might fully expect to encounter such a creature.

It is suggested that you review the vocabulary each day.

Homework: Act II.i and ii.

Remember Monday vocabulary quiz.

Short quiz tomorrow on Act I


Parker notes for Act I scenes 3-5

Act I.iii
Laertes is saying goodbye to his sister Ophelia, as he heads back to school. He gives her brotherly advice: "For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor, / Hold [you] a fashion and a toy in blood,/...not lasting,/ The perfume and the suppliance of a minute, / No more"(I.iii.6-10), essentially, he's does not look on you as marriage material, and never "lose your heart or your chaste treasure open"(I.iii.35. Keep in mind that a woman's virginity at this time is a bargaining chip (The Elizabethans would have been familiar with this concept in terms of the Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn, Queen Elizabeth's mother, who held out for the throne, but nevertheless lost her head on the chopping block.

Ophelia says she'll listen to her brother, but tells him as well to behave. Shakespeare has her make a dig at hypocritical pastors, who "the primrose path of dalliance treads," while they show their flock "the steep and thorny way to heaven."

Ophelia's father gives advice to his son. His words are good truisms for life:
1. don't be overly familiar with people
2. don't be vulgar
3. don't provoke quarrels, but if attacked fight
4. don't spend money you don't have
5. don't borrow or lend money

Then Polonius expands on Laertes' advice to Ophelia concerning Hamlet.
Note the three meaning of tenders:
"Do you believe his "tenders", as you call them?
Marry, I will teach you. Think yourself a baby
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay.
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly,
Or (not to crack the wind of a poor phrase,
Running it thus) you'll tender me a fool.

Act I scene 4 notes
Hamlet remarks how King Claudius "keeps wassail"; that is, he is drunk. And while it is a custom to entertain guests it is "more honored in the brach that the observance"(I.iv.18). The king is vulgar, but has a "viscious mole of nature."

Horatio and Hamlet head up to the ramparts to see the ghost, who comes from "heaven or blasts from hell." Is he good or evil? The ghost bids Hamlet follow him. Horatio worries that the poltergeist might lead him over the walls to the sea below. Or "deprive [Hamlet] of sovereignty of reason / And draw [him] into madness":(I.iv.78-82). Note this as a bit of foreshadowing.
Finally, in this scene we have Marcellus' famous words: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"(I.iv.180). These words are applicable, of course, to the play, but they have taken on a metaphorical meaning, indicating that there is a serious problem.

Act I scene 5 notes
Hamlet has gone off to have a private conversation with the ghost, who says, "I am thy father's spirit." Dad continues to explain that he is "forbid / To tell the secrets of his prison house" (I.v.18-9). (The audience would have loved this spooky stuff.) From the description, we know his father is in Purgatory. And this poltergeist reveals that Hamlet should "revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (I.v.31). Now this is news to Hamlet, who thought his father's demise natural.
How did his father die? Well, a serpent did not sting him, well, actually one did and he now wears the crown. If you have forgotton, that is King Claudius, "that incestuous, adulterate beast." Ok, Hamlet, Sr. wants revenge on his brother, but tells his son to "let thy soul contrive against thy mother naught." Dad's last words are "remember me."

And so Hamlet promises thus. And here's another famous line: "One may smile and smile and be a villain"
Act I ends with Hamlet playing word games with Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo, who are quite curious to know what has passed between the ghost and Hamlet. Hamlet does not tell and has them swear to secrecy- the ghost gets his last words in as well. No one quite understands what has passed. Is the ghost evil? Anyway, he is "wondrous strange", and Hamlet remarks that "'There are more things in heaven and earth.../ Than are dreamt of in your philosophy"(I.v.187-8).
At this point Hamlet has taken on the responsibility of revenging his father. 'The time is out of joint, O cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right"(I.v.210-1). (what is implied is not just an obligation, but a fated responsibility.

Wednesday September 15, 2010

In class:
introductory performances
Remember that you must post each day on the assigned reading. There are a total of 10 posts at 10 points each. Do the math!

Parker's notes on Hamlet, so far

Act I.i. For two nights Bernardo and Marcellus have watched guard on the ramparts, for it is feared that Fortinbras the Younger, whose father had been killed in battle and also lost some land to the Danes, will seek to recapture this lost acreage. Whilst on guard they have seen a ghost that seems in the visage much like the old King Hamlet, whose demise was but three months ago.

These two have informed Horation, Hamlet's buddy and a member of a higher social class; hence what he says carries more weight. That there has been a ghose "bodes some strange eruption to our state" (I.i.80), notes Horatio. As well, when the world has been out of kilter, such as when "the mightiest Julius fell / The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead / Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets; / As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,/ Disaster of the sun"(I.i.125-30), both entertains and entices the audience. In short Shakespeare is establishing a connection between Hamlet's father's death and other great historical events. In addition, he establishes a tie between the events of mankind and nature.


The ghost comes in, but disappears when the cock crows, or when "the morn in russet mantle clad / Walks o'er the dew of youn high eastern hill" (I.i.180-1).

Act I.ii. King Claudius has announced his marriage to "our sometime sister, now our queen, / Th' imperial jointress to this warlike state"(I.ii.8-9). So much for his "valiant brother;" on to the business of state.

We have met Laertes, the son of King Claudius' councillor Polonius. This ertwhile friend of Hamlet's has asked the king for permission to head back the school. It is given
King Claudius then importunes Hamlet to no more "persever / In obstinate condolement" (I.ii.96-7), for "'Tis unmanly grief / ...shows a will most incorrect to heaven"(I.ii.99-100). In other words, Hamlet needs to man up and accept his father's dying a natural process and that even God would be offended by his "impatient mind." Besides, now King Claudius is his father.

Note Hamlet's solioquy I.ii.(134-164) He contemplates suicide here and notes "fraility thy name is woman." It seems he has a problem with his mum- and maybe that explains his actions towards Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, Laertes' sister.

Hamlet and Horatio catch up. Hamlet isn't stupid; he knows that Horatio came for both the funeral and the wedding: "The funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables" (I.ii.187-8). Also note that Hamlet accepts his father's faults: "He was a man. Take him for all in all" (I.ii.195); still he acknowledges his father was special: "I shall not look upon his like again" (I.ii.196). So Horatio and Hamlet agree to meet upon the ramparts to talk to the ghost. Hamlet is concerned that his father's spirit is "in arms." Nothing can stop the truth from being revealed: "Foul deeds will rise,/ Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's / eyes (I.ii.279-81).

Check the long term reading schedule from yesterday.
For tomorrow: finish reading ACT I.

Tuesday September 14, 2010

Over the next two weeks, we'll be reading William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Please note the Reading Schedule for Hamlet by William Shakespeare

It is strongly recommended that you read the material aloud- at least so in your mind. You are to keep a running list of questions, thoughts and reflections, which will serve both as your homework and participation grade, for we’ll use these in class. Please post them on the blog each day. Each student should have ten entries, one for each day. They are worth ten points each; so, in theory, everyone should have a 100 for their participation and homework grades. If you are absent, and cannot post, there will be short written assignments as make-up.

Tuesday Sept 14- collect play from library; how an actor interprets the text; homework: read Act I, scenes i and ii/ post; Hamlet vocabulary sheet- quiz Monday Sept 20
Wednesday Sept 15: in class reading of the rest of Act I; HW: make sure you post your comment / question / reflection
Thursday Sept 16- Homework: read Act II, scenes i and ii; post
Friday Sept 17- in class finish Act II. Homework: Act III.i; post; vocabulary quiz Monday
Monday Sept 20- First Hamlet vocabulary quiz; in class Act III as far as we can get. Homework: finish Act III/ post; 2nd Hamlet vocab sheet- quiz Monday 27 September
Tuesday Sept 21 In class begin Act IV; HW finish Act IV; post / IN SCHOOL ESSAY TOMORROW
Wednesday September 22 -in class essay
Thursday September 23- Act V in class; HW finish Act V; post
Friday September 24- finish play in class; HW: post; 2nd Hamlet vocab quiz on Monday
Monday September 27- review; last post; second Hamlet vocab quiz



Hamlet, Shakespeare's most well-known and most frequently performed play, is a tragedy of revenge, betrayal, and inner conflict. The Danish prince Hamlet is outraged by the hasty marriage of his uncle, Claudius, to his mother after the death of his father. When he is told in a terrifying encounter with his father's ghost that Claudius had in fact poisoned the king, Hamlet agrees to avenge the murder. Throughout the play, however, he faces a struggle between his desire to act and the uncertainties, fears, and obstacles that prevent him from doing so. In the midst of his anguish and ambivalence, he feigns madness, spurns the woman he had loved, and leaves a trail of death and destruction before finally killing Claudius and dying himself.

Today we are exploring the role of the actor in interpreting the text.
Plan on being very creative!

Twenty-five point bonus: Which of the following film adaptations tells the story of Hamlet? (submit answer on a piece of paper and put on my desk before class)

1. Roxanne 2. West Side Story 3. Ten Things I Hate About You 4. Lion King


The following is a copy of the first Hamlet vocabulary list. Quiz this Friday.



Hamlet vocabulary list number 1 The assessment will involve simply defining the word. It is suggested that you create flash cards.
1 .to entreat - to beg; to ask
2 .to assail .- to attack
3. fortified- shielded; secured; protected
4. to illume - to brighten; to lighten
5. to usurp - to seize; to confiscate
6. to avouch - to certify; to confirm; to guarantee
7.to esteem- to honor; to respect; to prize; to treasure
8. to ratify- approved; confirmed; legalized
9. mettle- endurance; bravery
10. resolute- brave; fearless; relentless people
11. portentous- foreboding; threatening; sinister
12. privy - adj.- made participant in a secret
13. discretion - permission to make decisions with own judgment
14. auspicious- adj.- delightful; joyous; happy; lucky; favorable
15. dirge- funeral song; death march
16. dole - sadness (think doldrums from Coleridge)
17. visage - the face or facial expression of a person
18. denote - to indicate; to mark; to signal; to mean
19. countenance - n.- appearance; facial expression / v.- to condone
20. calumnious - adj.- slanderous; attacking one's character
22. precept-- rule; principle
23. perilous.- dangerous
24. to importune- to insistently beg
25. to traduce- to slander

Friday September 10, 2010

Last day to turn in your vocabulary 1 without penalty.

Monday is your critical lens summer essay. You will not, of course, be able to use your texts. Afterall, you have only 40 minutes. Look over the critical lens template from yesterday. Note the literary elements that apply to your particular chosen texts.

Nice work on your in class essays on Wednesday. Keep in mind that every statement made in your essays must have proof and an analysis.

Missing essays: Leon, Roberto, Mary and Manny. If I made a mistake, please show me your essay on the blog.

As we read the following in class, please reflect upon the relationship between the narrator and the birds. In terms of literary elements, ask yourself how point of view impacts a work of literature.

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye;

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,

They all began to sing.

Now, wasn't that a dainty dish

To set before the King?
The King was in his countinghouse,

Counting out his money;

The Queen was in the parlor

Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,

Hanging out the clothes.

Along there came a big black bird

And snipped off her nose!

I

Among twenty snowy mountains,

The only moving thing

Was the eye of the blackbird.

II

I was of three minds,

Like a tree

In which there are three blackbirds.

III

The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.

It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV

A man and a woman

Are one.

A man and a woman and a blackbird

Are one.

V

I do not know which to prefer,

The beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendoes,

The blackbird whistling

Or just after.

VI

Icicles filled the long window

With barbaric glass.

The shadow of the blackbird

Crossed it, to and fro.

The mood

Traced in the shadow

An indecipherable cause.

VII

O thin men of Haddam,

Why do you imagine golden birds?

Do you not see how the blackbird

Walks around the feet

Of the women about you?

VIII

I know noble accents

And lucid, inescapable rhythms;

But I know, too,

That the blackbird is involved

In what I know.

IX

When the blackbird flew out of sight,

It marked the edge

Of one of many circles.

X

At the sight of blackbirds

Flying in a green light,

Even the bawds of euphony

Would cry out sharply.

XI

He rode over Connecticut

In a glass coach.

Once, a fear pierced him,

In that he mistook

The shadow of his equipage

For blackbirds.

XII

The river is moving.

The blackbird must be flying.

XIII

It was evening all afternoon.

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

The blackbird sat

In the cedar-limbs.

Thursday September 9, 2010

Reminders: Vocabulary 1 is due tomorrow. After class it is 10 points off per day; that includes the weekend.

On Monday you have your summer reading assessment. See previous blogs for details. Below is a generic critical lens model, in case you have forgotton. I suggest you review this.

Model for writing a critical lens essay. Note that the bold words must appear in the essay.

As (insert the author’s name or write as someone once said if you do not know the author’s name) once said, “ (insert quote). In other words (this is where you paraphrase the quote.) Use words that are not part of the quote. You may write two to three sentences. This is supported in the (insert first genre: novel, autobiography, play, memoir, epic poem) (insert first title) by (insert author) and the (insert second genre) (insert second title) by (insert second author) through the literary elements of (choose two: character, plot, setting, theme, tone).
Paragraph 2: support the above with book 1
Give two detailed, specific examples
Paragraph 3: support the above with book 2
Give two detailed, specific examples.

Conclusion: do not repeat the quote, but make a general, universal statement that ties the two books into the writer’s words.
IN class today:

We are reviewing The Yellow Wallpaper in terms of literary elements:
character,
plot,(foreshadowing, irony, climax, denouement)
theme
point-of view
tone/ mood
figurative language devices (imagery, similes, metaphor, personification. onomatopoia,)

HOMEWORK for tomorrow. Please read through the poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens. Be prepared to read it aloud "trippingly'.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
by Wallace Stevens


Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
II

I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
III

The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
IV

A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
V

I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
VI

Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
VII

O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
VIII

I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.


IX

When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.


X

At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
XI

He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
XII

The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
XIII

It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.

Wednesday September 8, 2010

Remember vocabulary 1 is due Friday.
Next Monday you have your critical lens assessment on your summer reading.
Where it says comments below, please write a response to the following: Discuss
how the narrator's relationship with the wallpaper changes and how it is reflective of her marriage.
Please start your blog with your name, as I might not recognize your pseudonym.

Note: this is your first writing assignment; don't fret. Please avoid contractions and the use of "I".

Tuesday September 7, 2010

There is a rights and responsibilities assembly today.

Make sure I have your signed criteria sheets. After today, they are late.
You were to have read The Yellow Wallpaper over the long weekend. Tommorrow please go immediately to the library lab and log on. You will be writing on the blog directly, discussing how the narrator's relationship with the wallpaper changes and how it is reflective of her marriage.

Remember that vocabulary 1 is due Friday. See me, if you are having difficulties.

Friday September 3, 2010

Reminder: your signed criteria sheets and photo releases are due on Tuesday 7 September.

Thanks to all who have already registered on the blog. We will probably be in the lab one day next week writing, so you will most definitely need to be set up, or you will not be able to complete the work.

Today: in class VOCABULARY 1 DUE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10.

It is late after class, which means 10 points off for each page. You may use whatever resources you wish to complete the vocabulary. Hardcopies are given out in class, but there is a copy on the blog, if you use yours. NOTE: If you are absent, please send along the responses themselves, so that you get full credit. If you turn in the work on Monday, that is three days late. Turning work in early is always acceptable.

HOMEWORK for Tuesday 7 September...Please read the short story The Yellow Wallpaper. These are your copies to mark up. Note the following and be prepared to discuss.

The character of John and his wife. What textual clues (adjectives / verbs) bring them to life and tell us about their personalities?

How does Elizabeth's relationship with the wallpaper change?

Vocabulary I definitions

.

1) acquisitive- adj -able to get and retain information; concerned with acquiring wealth or
property, greedy, avaricious
2) arrogate- verb- to claim or take without right, usurp, expropriate

3) banal- adj- hackneyed, trite, commonplace, stale

4) belabor- verb- overwork, pummel, to thrash soundly

5) carping- adj- tending to find fault in a hairsplitting way, nit-picking

6) coherent –adj- consistent, comprehensible, cohesive, unified

7) congeal- verb- to change from liquid to solid, thicken, harden, jell, coagulate

8) emulate- verb- to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing, copy, mimic

9) encomium- noun- a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute, panegyric,
commendation; eulogy
10) eschew- verb- to avoid, shun, keep away, steer clear of, forgo

11) germane-adj- relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

12) insatiable- adj- not to be satisfied, unquenchable, ravenous, voracious

13) intransigent- adj- refusing to compromise, uncompromising, obdurate

14) invidious- adj- offensive, hateful, malicious, spiteful; perjorative

15) largesse- noun- generosity, lavish, munificence, bounty

16) reconnaissance- noun- survey made for military purposes, scouting expedition

17) substantiate-verb- to establish by evidence, to prove, verify, confirm, validate

18) taciturn- adj- habitually silent or quiet, tight-lipped, uncommunicative; laconic

19) temporize- verb- to stall or act evasively, hedge, dillydally, procrastinate

20) tenable- adj- capable of being held or defended, justifiable; maintainable


Vocabulary I, exercise 3 Provide either the synonym or antonym for the bold word.
Synonyms
1. harp on the same point again and again ____________________________
2. the grasping real estate developer ______________________________
3. tries to copy her social graces ______________________________
4. tends to hedge when confronted by direct questions _______________________________
5. the nit-picking comments of a perfectionist _______________________________
6. the voracious hunger _______________________________
7. led the scouting expedition into the jungle _______________________________
8. was thanked for her munificence _______________________________
9. could not verify the alibi _______________________________
10. received a well-deserved commendation _______________________________
11. blood that does not coagulate _______________________________
12. was pertinent to the investigation _______________________________
13. obdurate on certain points _______________________________
14. a justifiable reason for disagreeing _________________________________
15. tried to usurp control of the finances ________________________________

Antonyms

16. made a very complimentary remark _________________________________
17. questioned the garrulous witness _________________________________
18. the novel lyrics to that song _________________________________
19. a disjointed essay on foreign policy _________________________________
20. adopted the use of technology __________________________________




Vocabulary I, exercise 1 Choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences. Make sure to use the correct verb tense or plural as needed.

1. The novel contains an interesting study of a miser’s _____________________________ lust for gold and its evil effects on those around him.
2. Some of the episodes in the series were wonderfully fresh and original; others were just plain ______________________________.
3. I don’t object to the inclusion of anecdotes in a serious lecture, but they should at the very least be ________________________ to the subject.
4. “There is no need for you to _________________________ the point,” I replied, “when I already understand what your criticism is.”
5. There is nothing wrong with ________________________________ the great singers of the past, as long as you eventually develop a style of your own.
6. When the temperature dropped suddenly, the water in the ditch _____________________ into a mass of icy sludge.
7. Your essay would be a great deal tighter and more _____________________________ if you removed the extraneous information it now contains.
8. I would rather work at the most menial, ill-paying job than be the recipient of the government’s ____________________________.
9. The purpose of military _____________________________remains the same whether cavalry or helicopters are used: to learn as much as possible about the enemy.
10. I doubt very much that he can ____________________________his assertion that he won two gold medals in the 1956 Olympics.
11. Despite the ________________________ and nit-picking of a few petty minds, I feel we have substantially improved our school system of late.
12. In any crisis, as long as a person ______________________________, the greater the danger is likely to become.
13. In my humble opinion, there is no justification for making such ____________________ distinctions between two types of products.
14. Never having any money in one’s pockets can be a real trial for someone born with the __________________________ habits of a pack rat.
15. Students who seek high grades must learn to _____________________ the allure of the TV set.
16. As the result of recent research, earlier theories about the origin of the universe are no longer __________________________.
17. In spite of the size, he was so _________________________ that we tended to forget that he was even in the room.
18. By whose authority did you ____________________________to yourself the right to decide how the club’s money should be spent.
19. Even the most severe critics showered _____________________________on the young writer for the remarkable narrative power of the novel.
20. How can we “meet them halfway” when they are so ________________________________in their opposition to what we propose to do?














Vocabulary 1, exercise 2 Choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences. Make sure to use the correct verb tense or plural as needed.


1. If you do not wash your dishes right away, the food on them will ____________________________.
2. The young athletes promised the coach that they would train vigorously and _______________________ bad habits.
3. The field officer required a thorough ______________________________ before ordering troop movements.
4. In an _________________________________ society, there is a great deal of emphasis on buying and selling.
5. The play’s ______________________ dialogue made it seem more like a soap opera than a serious drama.
6. Abraham Lincoln has the reputation of having a dour and _______________________ personality.
7. For most of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, the protagonist Hamlet chooses to ______________________________ rather than act.
8. Most beginning writers try to ___________________________ a great writer and later develop their own individual style.
9. The ambitious noblemen will put the young king under house arrest and _______________________________ royal privileges.
10. The physics teacher gave a surprisingly _________________________ description of quantum mechanics.
11. The prospector was unable to _____________________________ his claim to the land where the gold was found.
12. The university was the fortunate beneficiary of the ____________________________ of many of its graduates.
13. Little will be accomplished if the legislators of both parties maintain their _________________________________ attitudes.
14. Most artists choose to ignore the _______________________ of critics and just get on with their work.
15. His tendency to _____________________________ the small points often made him miss the big picture.
16. Teachers should avoid making ______________________________ comparisons between their students.
17. Bringing up examples from the past is not _________________________ to the present discussion.
18. The researchers put forth a ____________________________ theory, but their conclusions would be reviewed by others.
19. People with an ____________________________ appetite for gossip often do not have compelling stories of their own.
20. On Veteran’s Day, the President delivered a heartfelt _________________________ to those who died for their country.




Vocabulary I, exercise 4
Circle the correct word for each sentence.

1. Aristotle had such a(n) (acquisitive, tenable) mind, that his writings are a veritable gold mind of odd and interesting information.
2. The mood of easy cordiality with which we began the meeting soon (congealed, temporized) into icy politeness.
3. “That word has such (invidious, germane) connotations in American parlance,” I said, “that I would hate to use it, even in jest.”
4. In that moment of grief, the conventional expressions of sympathy I had always considered (tenable, banal) were surprisingly comforting.
5. The speech was so filled with (encomiums, reconnaissance) that I found it hard to believe that the subject of all this acclaim was plain ole me.
6. When the evidence of his misconduct became irrefutable, he saw that his position was not (banal, tenable) and resigned.
7. I am proud to have it said of me that I am (invidious, intransigent) when genuine moral issues are involved.
8. His figure bears witness to his (acquisitive, insatiable) appetite for the pleasures of the table.
9. Ethelred the Unready was so reluctant to face the Vikings who invaded his kingdom that in effect he (arrogated, temporized) himself off the throne.
10. After I mowed the lawn for an hour, he gave me a whole dollar with the air of a feudal lord bestowing his (largesse, intransigence) on a grateful serf.
11. The poor woman was in such a state of shock after the accident that she couldn’t give a (coherent, taciturn) account of what had happen.
12. Your critical comments about my “lack of social background” may be true, but they are not (coherent, germane) to my qualifications for office.
13. What evidence can you offer to (substantiate, eschew) the assertion that capital punishment does not deter potential murderers?
14. Aerial (reconnaissance, encomium) of the enemy’s positions provided the general with the information he needed to plan the attack.
15. In our attempt to improve the quality of life in America, we should not be too quick to (eschew, cohere) old ideas simply because they are old.
16. The new batting champion in our softball league is a(n) (insatiable, taciturn) young man who prefers to let his bat to his talking for him.
17. Suddenly a band of ruffians set upon us and began to (congeal, belabor) us with blows and curses.
18. After the editor read the story, he returned it to the author with only a few (carping, coherent) criticisms of minor faults penciled in the margin.
19. Even a very imperfect human being may have virtues of mind or character that are worthy of (carping, emulation).
20. The Constitution is uniquely designed to provide protection against those who might seek to (substantiate, arrogate) undue power to themselves.


Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper (1899)
(Printable version in PDF format)
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It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer.
A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity--but that would be asking too much of fate!
Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.
Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?
John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.
John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.
John is a physician, and perhaps--(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)--perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.
You see he does not believe I am sick!
And what can one do?
If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency-- what is one to do?
My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
So I take phosphates or phosphites--whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to "work" until I am well again.
Personally, I disagree with their ideas.
Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.
But what is one to do?
I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal--having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition.
I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus--but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad.
So I will let it alone and talk about the house.
The most beautiful place! It is quite alone standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people.
There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden--large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them.
There were greenhouses, too, but they are all broken now.
There was some legal trouble, I believe, something about the heirs and coheirs; anyhow, the place has been empty for years.
That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid, but I don't care--there is something strange about the house--I can feel it.
I even said so to John one moonlight evening but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window.
I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition.
But John says if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself-- before him, at least, and that makes me very tired.
I don't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! but John would not hear of it.
He said there was only one window and not room for two beds, and no near room for him if he took another.
He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction.
I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more.
He said we came here solely on my account, that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get. "Your exercise depends on your strength, my dear," said he, "and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the time. ' So we took the nursery at the top of the house.
It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.
The paint and paper look as if a boys' school had used it. It is stripped off--the paper in great patches all around the head of my bed, about as far as I can reach, and in a great place on the other side of the room low down. I never saw a worse paper in my life.
One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.
It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide--plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.
The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.
It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others.
No wonder the children hated it! I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long.
There comes John, and I must put this away,--he hates to have me write a word.

----------
We have been here two weeks, and I haven't felt like writing before, since that first day.
I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of strength.
John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious.
I am glad my case is not serious!
But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing.
John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.
Of course it is only nervousness. It does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way!
I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!
Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able,--to dress and entertain, and order things.
It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby!
And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.
I suppose John never was nervous in his life. He laughs at me so about this wall-paper!
At first he meant to repaper the room, but afterwards he said that I was letting it get the better of me, and that nothing was worse for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies.
He said that after the wall-paper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on.
"You know the place is doing you good," he said, "and really, dear, I don't care to renovate the house just for a three months' rental."
"Then do let us go downstairs," I said, "there are such pretty rooms there."
Then he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose, and said he would go down to the cellar, if I wished, and have it whitewashed into the bargain.
But he is right enough about the beds and windows and things.
It is an airy and comfortable room as any one need wish, and, of course, I would not be so silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim.
I'm really getting quite fond of the big room, all but that horrid paper.
Out of one window I can see the garden, those mysterious deepshaded arbors, the riotous old-fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees.
Out of another I get a lovely view of the bay and a little private wharf belonging to the estate. There is a beautiful shaded lane that runs down there from the house. I always fancy I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned me not to give way to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making, a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I try.
I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me.
But I find I get pretty tired when I try.
It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work. When I get really well, John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit; but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now.
I wish I could get well faster.
But I must not think about that. This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had!
There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.
I get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the everlastingness. Up and down and sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere There is one place where two breaths didn't match, and the eyes go all up and down the line, one a little higher than the other.
I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before, and we all know how much expression they have! I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store.
I remember what a kindly wink the knobs of our big, old bureau used to have, and there was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend.
I used to feel that if any of the other things looked too fierce I could always hop into that chair and be safe.
The furniture in this room is no worse than inharmonious, however, for we had to bring it all from downstairs. I suppose when this was used as a playroom they had to take the nursery things out, and no wonder! I never saw such ravages as the children have made here.
The wall-paper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother--they must have had perseverance as well as hatred.
Then the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered, the plaster itself is dug out here and there, and this great heavy bed which is all we found in the room, looks as if it had been through the wars.
But I don't mind it a bit--only the paper.
There comes John's sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing.
She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick!
But I can write when she is out, and see her a long way off from these windows.
There is one that commands the road, a lovely shaded winding road, and one that just looks off over the country. A lovely country, too, full of great elms and velvet meadows.
This wall-paper has a kind of sub-pattern in a, different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then.
But in the places where it isn't faded and where the sun is just so--I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design.
There's sister on the stairs!


----------
Well, the Fourth of July is over! The people are all gone and I am tired out. John thought it might do me good to see a little company, so we just had mother and Nellie and the children down for a week.
Of course I didn't do a thing. Jennie sees to everything now.
But it tired me all the same.
John says if I don't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall.
But I don't want to go there at all. I had a friend who was in his hands once, and she says he is just like John and my brother, only more so!
Besides, it is such an undertaking to go so far.
I don't feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I'm getting dreadfully fretful and querulous.
I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.
Of course I don't when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone.
And I am alone a good deal just now. John is kept in town very often by serious cases, and Jennie is good and lets me alone when I want her to.
So I walk a little in the garden or down that lovely lane, sit on the porch under the roses, and lie down up here a good deal.
I'm getting really fond of the room in spite of the wall-paper. Perhaps because of the wall-paper.
It dwells in my mind so!
I lie here on this great immovable bed--it is nailed down, I believe--and follow that pattern about by the hour. It is as good as gymnastics, I assure you. I start, we'll say, at the bottom, down in the corner over there where it has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of a conclusion.
I know a little of the principle of design, and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation, or alternation, or repetition, or symmetry, or anything else that I ever heard of.
It is repeated, of course, by the breadths, but not otherwise.
Looked at in one way each breadth stands alone, the bloated curves and flourishes--a kind of "debased Romanesque" with delirium tremens--go waddling up and down in isolated columns of fatuity.
But, on the other hand, they connect diagonally, and the sprawling outlines run off in great slanting waves of optic horror, like a lot of wallowing seaweeds in full chase.
The whole thing goes horizontally, too, at least it seems so, and I exhaust myself in trying to distinguish the order of its going in that direction.
They have used a horizontal breadth for a frieze, and that adds wonderfully to the confusion.
There is one end of the room where it is almost intact, and there, when the crosslights fade and the low sun shines directly upon it, I can almost fancy radiation after all,--the interminable grotesques seem to form around a common centre and rush off in headlong plunges of equal distraction.
It makes me tired to follow it. I will take a nap I guess.


----------
I don't know why I should write this.
I don't want to.
I don't feel able. And I know John would think it absurd. But I must say what I feel and think in some way--it is such a relief!
But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief.
Half the time now I am awfully lazy, and lie down ever so much.
John says I mustn't lose my strength, and has me take cod liver oil and lots of tonics and things, to say nothing of ale and wine and rare meat.
Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia.
But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished .
It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight. Just this nervous weakness I suppose.
And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head.
He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well.
He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me.
There's one comfort, the baby is well and happy, and does not have to occupy this nursery with the horrid wall-paper.
If we had not used it, that blessed child would have! What a fortunate escape! Why, I wouldn't have a child of mine, an impressionable little thing, live in such a room for worlds.
I never thought of it before, but it is lucky that John kept me here after all, I can stand it so much easier than a baby, you see.
Of course I never mention it to them any more--I am too wise,--but I keep watch of it all the same.
There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will.
Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day.
It is always the same shape, only very numerous.
And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don't like it a bit. I wonder--I begin to think--I wish John would take me away from here!


----------
It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so.
But I tried it last night.
It was moonlight. The moon shines in all around just as the sun does.
I hate to see it sometimes, it creeps so slowly, and always comes in by one window or another.
John was asleep and I hated to waken him, so I kept still and watched the moonlight on that undulating wall-paper till I felt creepy.
The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.
I got up softly and went to feel and see if the paper did move, and when I came back John was awake.
"What is it, little girl?" he said. "Don't go walking about like that--you'll get cold."
I thought it was a good time to talk, so I told him that I really was not gaining here, and that I wished he would take me away.
"Why darling!" said he, "our lease will be up in three weeks, and I can't see how to leave before.
"The repairs are not done at home, and I cannot possibly leave town just now. Of course if you were in any danger, I could and would, but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you."
"I don't weigh a bit more," said 1, "nor as much; and my appetite may be better in the evening when you are here, but it is worse in the morning when you are away!"
"Bless her little heart!" said he with a big hug, "she shall be as sick as she pleases! But now let's improve the shining hours by going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning!"
"And you won't go away?" I asked gloomily.
"Why, how can 1, dear? It is only three weeks more and then we will take a nice little trip of a few days while Jennie is getting the house ready. Really dear you are better!"
"Better in body perhaps--" I began, and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word.
"My darling," said he, "I beg of you, for my sake and for our child's sake, as well as for your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?"
So of course I said no more on that score, and we went to sleep before long. He thought I was asleep first, but I wasn't, and lay there for hours trying to decide whether that front pattern and the back pattern really did move together or separately.


----------
On a pattern like this, by daylight, there is a lack of sequence, a defiance of law, that is a constant irritant to a normal mind.
The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing.
You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in following, it turns a back somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream.
The outside pattern is a florid arabesque, reminding one of a fungus. If you can imagine a toadstool in joints, an interminable string of toadstools, budding and sprouting in endless convolutions--why, that is something like it.
That is, sometimes!
There is one marked peculiarity about this paper, a thing nobody seems to notice but myself, and that is that it changes as the light changes.
When the sun shoots in through the east window--I always watch for that first long, straight ray--it changes so quickly that I never can quite believe it.
That is why I watch it always.
By moonlight--the moon shines in all night when there is a moon--I wouldn't know it was the same paper.
At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be.
I didn't realize for a long time what the thing was that showed behind, that dim sub-pattern, but now I am quite sure it is a woman.
By daylight she is subdued, quiet. I fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so still. It is so puzzling. It keeps me quiet by the hour.
I lie down ever so much now. John says it is good for me, and to sleep all I can.
Indeed he started the habit by making me lie down for an hour after each meal.
It is a very bad habit I am convinced, for you see I don't sleep.
And that cultivates deceit, for I don't tell them I'm awake--O no!
The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John.
He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look.
It strikes me occasionally, just as a scientific hypothesis,--that perhaps it is the paper!
I have watched John when he did not know I was looking, and come into the room suddenly on the most innocent excuses, and I've caught him several times looking at the paper! And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with her hand on it once.
She didn't know I was in the room, and when I asked her in a quiet, a very quiet voice, with the most restrained manner possible, what she was doing with the paper--she turned around as if she had been caught stealing, and looked quite angry-- asked me why I should frighten her so!
Then she said that the paper stained everything it touched, that she had found yellow smooches on all my clothes and John's, and she wished we would be more careful!
Did not that sound innocent? But I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself!


----------
Life is very much more exciting now than it used to be. You see I have something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch. I really do eat better, and am more quiet than I was.

John is so pleased to see me improve ! He laughed a little the other day, and said I seemed to be flourishing in spite of my wall-paper.
I turned it off with a laugh. I had no intention of telling him it was because of the wall-paper--he would make fun of me. He might even want to take me away.
I don't want to leave now until I have found it out. There is a week more, and I think that will be enough.


----------
I'm feeling ever so much better! I don't sleep much at night, for it is so interesting to watch developments; but I sleep a good deal in the daytime.
In the daytime it is tiresome and perplexing.
There are always new shoots on the fungus, and new shades of yellow all over it. I cannot keep count of them, though I have tried conscientiously.
It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw--not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things.
But there is something else about that paper-- the smell! I noticed it the moment we came into the room, but with so much air and sun it was not bad. Now we have had a week of fog and rain, and whether the windows are open or not, the smell is here.
It creeps all over the house.
I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs.
It gets into my hair.
Even when I go to ride, if I turn my head suddenly and surprise it--there is that smell!
Such a peculiar odor, too! I have spent hours in trying to analyze it, to find what it smelled like.
It is not bad--at first, and very gentle, but quite the subtlest, most enduring odor I ever met.
In this damp weather it is awful, I wake up in the night and find it hanging over me.
It used to disturb me at first. I thought seriously of burning the house--to reach the smell.
But now I am used to it. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell.
There is a very funny mark on this wall, low down, near the mopboard. A streak that runs round the room. It goes behind every piece of furniture, except the bed, a long, straight, even smooch, as if it had been rubbed over and over.
I wonder how it was done and who did it, and what they did it for. Round and round and round--round and round and round--it makes me dizzy!


----------
I really have discovered something at last.
Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out.
The front pattern does move--and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it!
Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over.
Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard.
And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern--it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads.
They get through, and then the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down, and makes their eyes white!
If those heads were covered or taken off it would not be half so bad.


----------
I think that woman gets out in the daytime!
And I'll tell you why--privately--I've seen her!
I can see her out of every one of my windows!
It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.
I see her on that long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines.
I don't blame her a bit. It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight!
I always lock the door when I creep by daylight. I can't do it at night, for I know John would suspect something at once.
And John is so queer now, that I don't want to irritate him. I wish he would take another room! Besides, I don't want anybody to get that woman out at night but myself.
I often wonder if I could see her out of all the windows at once.
But, turn as fast as I can, I can only see out of one at one time.
And though I always see her, she may be able to creep faster than I can turn!
I have watched her sometimes away off in the open country, creeping as fast as a cloud shadow in a high wind.


----------
If only that top pattern could be gotten off from the under one! I mean to try it, little by little.
I have found out another funny thing, but I shan't tell it this time! It does not do to trust people too much.
There are only two more days to get this paper off, and I believe John is beginning to notice. I don't like the look in his eyes.
And I heard him ask Jennie a lot of professional questions about me. She had a very good report to give.
She said I slept a good deal in the daytime.
John knows I don't sleep very well at night, for all I'm so quiet!
He asked me all sorts of questions, too, and pretended to be very loving and kind.
As if I couldn't see through him!
Still, I don't wonder he acts so, sleeping under this paper for three months.
It only interests me, but I feel sure John and Jennie are secretly affected by it.


----------
Hurrah! This is the last day, but it is enough. John to stay in town over night, and won't be out until this evening.
Jennie wanted to sleep with me--the sly thing! but I told her I should undoubtedly rest better for a night all alone.
That was clever, for really I wasn't alone a bit! As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her.
I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper.
A strip about as high as my head and half around the room.
And then when the sun came and that awful pattern began to laugh at me, I declared I would finish it to-day!
We go away to-morrow, and they are moving all my furniture down again to leave things as they were before.
Jennie looked at the wall in amazement, but I told her merrily that I did it out of pure spite at the vicious thing.
She laughed and said she wouldn't mind doing it herself, but I must not get tired.
How she betrayed herself that time!
But I am here, and no person touches this paper but me,--not alive !
She tried to get me out of the room--it was too patent! But I said it was so quiet and empty and clean now that I believed I would lie down again and sleep all I could; and not to wake me even for dinner--I would call when I woke.
So now she is gone, and the servants are gone, and the things are gone, and there is nothing left but that great bedstead nailed down, with the canvas mattress we found on it.
We shall sleep downstairs to-night, and take the boat home to-morrow.
I quite enjoy the room, now it is bare again.
How those children did tear about here!
This bedstead is fairly gnawed!
But I must get to work.
I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path.
I don't want to go out, and I don't want to have anybody come in, till John comes.
I want to astonish him.
I've got a rope up here that even Jennie did not find. If that woman does get out, and tries to get away, I can tie her!
But I forgot I could not reach far without anything to stand on!
This bed will not move!
I tried to lift and push it until I was lame, and then I got so angry I bit off a little piece at one corner--but it hurt my teeth.
Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it! All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision!
I am getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try.
Besides I wouldn't do it. Of course not. I know well enough that a step like that is improper and might be misconstrued.
I don't like to look out of the windows even-- there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast.
I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did?
But I am securely fastened now by my well-hidden rope--you don't get me out in the road there !
I suppose I shall have to get back behind the pattern when it comes night, and that is hard!
It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please!
I don't want to go outside. I won't, even if Jennie asks me to.
For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow.
But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and my shoulder just fits in that long smooch around the wall, so I cannot lose my way.
Why there's John at the door!
It is no use, young man, you can't open it!
How he does call and pound!
Now he's crying for an axe.
It would be a shame to break down that beautiful door!
"John dear!" said I in the gentlest voice, "the key is down by the front steps, under a plantain leaf!"
That silenced him for a few moments.
Then he said--very quietly indeed, "Open the door, my darling!"
"I can't," said I. "The key is down by the front door under a plantain leaf!"
And then I said it again, several times, very gently and slowly, and said it so often that he had to go and see, and he got it of course, and came in. He stopped short by the door.
"What is the matter?" he cried. "For God's sake, what are you doing!"
I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder.
"I've got out at last," said I, "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!"
Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!