Update Oct. 21

Bellwrite: Do you agree or disagree with this statement: to love is to suffer. Explain.

We collected the final reading journals for Fire in the Bones. Students shared their thoughts on the book.

We worked on memorizing one of our anchor scriptures for Literature: John 8:31-34. We discussed how it relates to our study of Hamlet. We noted that how characters in Hamlet choose to obey one another reflects their willingness to accept responsibility for their own choices and actions. For example, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern want the king and queen to command them and give themselves up in full obedience because then they think they can blame their betrayal of Hamlet on the king and queen. Likewise, Ophelia chooses to let her father do all her thinking for her. The play seems to be showing us that the natural man shirks accountability, and thus wants to surrender his agency.  In contrast, Hamlet, at least at the beginning of the play, promises to obey his mother only "in all his best." We reflected on what it means to us to choose to truly own our decisions from day to day.

We finished reading and discussing the final scene of the play. Then students had time to finish working on their outlines for the Hamlet essay exam tomorrow.

Homework:

1. Finish preparing for the Hamlet essay exam tomorrow.
2. Continue working on your Hamlet monologues. Performances will be next week. You should have it memorized so well that you can concentrate on being "in character" and expressing the appropriate emotions, rather than focusing on recalling the words.