English 11 December 18, 2013

Agenda - 12/18/2013

If you could have a party before you die, who would you invite? Why?

Writing Prompt – Party Time 12/18/2013

Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849

• Poe was born in Boston, the son of traveling actors. The beginnings of his unhappy life were marked by his father's desertion of the family, followed by the death of his mother when he was two years old. The orphaned Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Virginia.

Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849

• After being expelled from West Point, Poe looked for work as a journalist and wrote literary reviews, but money was scarce. Poverty intensified his despair when his beloved wife, Virginia, died following a long illness. Deeply depressed, Poe died two years later after being found on the streets of Baltimore, sick, delirious, and, in his doctor's words, "haggard, not to say bloated, and unwashed.“

Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849

• Many critics credit Poe with the invention of the detective story. His classic tales include "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The God Bug," and "The Purloined Letter."

Literary Devices • Imagery - A descriptive language that evokes a sensory experience. • Symbolism - The practice of representing things by means of symbols

or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.

• Allegory - a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events. An allegory is a complete narrative, which involves characters, and events that stand for an abstract idea or an event. A symbol, on the other hand, is an object that stands for another object giving it a particular meaning. Unlike an allegory, a symbol is not a story. – For example, Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is an allegory that uses

animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WWII.

– Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible in response to the RED SCARE of the 1950’s.

The Masque of the Red Death

By Edgar Allan Poe

Audio

• http://www.masque-of-the-red-death.com/audio.php

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZgr6TMLXMQ&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

• http://www.thecabinet.com/poe/show.php?sub_id=edgar_allan_poe_theater&show_id=the_masque_of_the_red_death

“The Masque of the Red Death”

1. Why do Prince Prospero and his followers retreat to his

palace?

To escape the Red Death Plague

2. Explain how the party is constantly disrupted.

Every time the clock strikes off another hour,

the orchestra stops playing and the people

stop dancing.

3. Compare life outside the palace with the life of the people Prospero brought

inside.

Outside Inside

Reality Fantasy

Death; Destruction Life

Sorrow Happiness

Health Disease/Sickness

Despair Hope

Wealth Poverty

4. What do you learn about Prospero's character from his desire to keep his

palace free of the plague?

• He is afraid to die. • He is prejudiced against the

poor. • He thinks he can cheat death.

(He thinks he can buy his way out.)

5. Why does the clock have such a dramatic effect on the

dancers? It symbolizes reality; their lives

slowly ticking away.

6. Describe the intruder’s appearance and behavior.

• It has a tall, gaunt appearance. • It is “shrouded” with the

“habiliments” of the dead. • It resembles someone with the red

death disease. • Its face looks like a corpse and is

dabbed in blood.

7. Why does the visitor frighten the guests?

• Because he suddenly and mysteriously appears out of nowhere

• Because he looks like someone with the Red Death Plague

• Because he just stalks to and fro and doesn't talk

8. How does Poe build terror in the story?

• Description of the plague’s symptoms • Doors welded shut; nobody could leave even if they

wanted to • The flickering flames shine through the stained glass

windows, casting an eerie glow • Black room with the red panes • Clock constantly stopping the party • Appearance and behavior of the intruder

Now we will look at the story on a deeper level…

• 1) Skim the text to find descriptions of the rooms in Prince Prospero’s abbey (church).

• 2) Fill in the chart that shows the order, colors, description and possible symbol for each room.

Read carefully! Although there is some “room” for interpretation , you must follow Poe’s descriptions.

Describe the rooms in which the Masquerade Ball takes place.

• A series of 7 rooms • Possibly in a zig-zag pattern

Going from East to West:

• Blue • Purple • Green • Orange

• White • Violet • Black

WHAT DOES EACH ROOM COLOR SYMBOLIZE?

First, think about the order of the rooms…

Why do they progress

from East to West?

• The sun RISES in the EAST… • Then SETS in the WEST…

1) BLUE Birth/Infancy

A baby is completely dependent on others…

(Sky turns blue in the morning)

2) PURPLE

Blue + Red Toddler/Childhood

(Bumps & Bruises as you begin school

& leave the protection of home?)

3) GREEN

Adolescence/Puberty – the child becomes a teenager

(Plants bloom in the spring)

4) ORANGE

Middle age/Adulthood

(Summer turns into autumn)

5) WHITE

Old age/White hair Purity/peace

(The winter of life)

6) VIOLET

Elderly stage The twilight of one’s years

(It appears more bluish-white than purple… As if it’s fading and approaching the end of

life.)

What’s the difference between “purple” and “violet”?

• Purple • Violet

7) BLACK

Death

“Seven Ages of Man” ~ William Shakespeare

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players, They have their exits and entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier. Full of strange oaths, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide, For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again towards the childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

• To serve as lighting, there are large bowls of burning coals between the rooms.

In the black room there stands a huge ebony grandfather clock.

• The decorations match the color of each room.

There is a Gothic window in each room; the windows match the color of the room.

The black room’s window is the only exception: its panes are “blood” red.

What mood or effect is created by the colors and the lighting in the rooms?

• It causes a dream-like effect. • Fantasy

LITERARY FOCUS

This story is an Allegory: • The characters, settings, and

events are SYMBOLS. • The story also contains a

LESSON ABOUT LIFE.

What is the Allegorical Lesson in the story?

One cannot escape his or her fate or death.

SYMBOLS

What do these people and objects represent?

1. Prince Prospero –

Wealth; prosperity

But his name is ironic… He represents mankind's futile

attempt to live forever.

2. Welded Locks –

A false sense of security

Prince Prospero thinks he can keep death out…

3. Hallways – They form a maze with “a sharp

turn at every 20 or 30 yards.”

Life is unpredictable; we can’t know what will happen, but it all

leads to death.

4. Light/Fire – Flames usually symbolize life…

But these flames are an unnatural

source of light; they represent the false life Prince Prospero

tried to create.

5. The Masquerade –

Fantasy; escaping from reality The partygoers hide from death.

6. The Clock -

Life is slowly ticking away; death is approaching.

7. The Masked Figure –

Death

But more specifically, the Red Death Plague

8. The Number 7 -

• Seven Days in a Week • The Seven Deadly Sins • “Seven Stages of Man” (A soliloquy

from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It)