Samuel Beckett and the Theater of the Absurd

-Theater of the Absurd:
-Read and take notes.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-theater-of-the-absurd.htm

-Samuel Beckett:
-Skim through and jot down important points about this author.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett

MY SCHOOL, MY VOICE SURVEY

-Copy and paste the link below into the address box.
-Read the questions carefully and respond accurately and honestly.

http://research.cps.k12.il.us/MyVoice

The Things They Carried: Web Questions

***Answer the Following Questions on a Separate Sheet***

1.Read the epigraph at the beginning of the text of The Things They Carried.

a. What is an epigraph? How do writers use them?

b. This epigraph is a citation from John Ransom's Andersonville Diary. Go to the website below and answer the following questions: Who was he? What was Andersonville? What is the book about?

http://www.amazon.com/Ransoms-Andersonville-Diary-Bruce-Catton/dp/0425141462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237213843&sr=1-1

c. Given what you discover about the “Andersonville Diary” epigraph and what it introduces, what do you think is the purpose of it introducing The Things They Carried?



2."On the Rainy River" questions the American war in Vietnam, referring to a series of names and places. Look them up.



a. What was the USS Maddox?
b. Where is the Gulf of Tonkin and what is its relationship to the Vietnamese War?
c. Who was Ho Chi Minh?
d. What was SEATO? What were the Geneva Accords?
e. What was the Cold War and why are dominoes mentioned?



3. Browse the photos on the following websites. Warning: some photos are graphic. Choose any three photos and write: 1) a description of the photo, 2) the significance of the imagery in the photo, 3) the emotion or tone of the photo



a. Vietnam War Pix: On this site, browse the categories near the top. (Note: the “Hippies” category sometimes freezes).
http://www.vietnampix.com/



b. Vietnam Gear (Photos arranged by category).
http://vietnamgear.com/gallery.aspx



4.At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator makes a kind of confession: "The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war" (p. 61). What does this mean?



5. Carefully read the following quote by author Tim O’Brien. Then write your personal reaction to the quote. For example, do you agree with O’Brien, or disagree? Explain your response.



"Good movies -- and good novels, too -- do not depend upon 'accurate portrayals.' Accuracy is irrelevant. Is the Mona Lisa an 'accurate' representation of the actual human model for the painting? Who knows? Who cares? It's a great piece of art. It moves us. It makes us wonder, makes us gape; finally makes us look inward at ourselves."

THE WORLD OF DANTE

---Use the given website to answer the questions below. It may be helpful to open up two separate windows on your browser, so that you can read and answer the questions on one page, and explore the website on the other.

http://www.worldofdante.org/index.html

1.Look at the picture on the home page. “Cover” the image of the Inferno on the painting to answer: when does the voyage through hell begin?

2.Click on “Inferno” at the top left. Then, click on the “Gallery” bar. Take a few minutes to watch the slideshow.

3.Click on the “Gustav Dore” section below the slideshow. When did Dore live?

4.Scroll down and choose one of Dore’s illustrations for The Inferno. Click on it and write a good detailed paragraph that describes the overall scene, along with the tone and message the drawing delivers.

5.Click on the “Maps” bar. Explore the three maps of Dante’s Inferno. Notice how you can zoom in and around to navigate the illustrations. Which one of these is your favorite depiction of Dante’s hell, and why? Explain.

6.Take a minute to click on and explore the maps of Italy in Dante’s lifetime.

7.Go further below into the Astronomy section. Click on “Full Moon in Libra” What is the significance of this?

8.Click on “Dante’s Universe” and note the way people in Dante’s lifetime viewed the universe. What is different about what we know now?

9.Click on the “Timeline” bar. Shortly after Dante was born, the Battle of Benevento took place. What year, exactly?

10.In what year was Dante’s first encounter with Beatrice?

11.Although there is truly not much we know about Dante outside of his writings, there is much mythology and unsubstantiated about his encounter with Beatrice. Legend has it that she was Beatrice Portinari. Read the story here- at least the first four paragraphs. TAKE NOTES.

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Romance/Dante-Beatrice.html