Author: Mark Noonan (Page 1 of 4)

Hi Everyone,

 I have completed reviewing your letters on a current issue (Assignment #2). After reviewing my edits and suggestions, please revise these letters (using the same document).

We finish the summer session in high style and grand fun.  I ask that you read (and then watch) William Shakespeare’s extraordinary play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Written in 1596 (one year after  “Romeo and Juliet”), the play is a brilliant and zany exploration of true love, true hate, and the arbitrariness of human emotions. As Puck, the mischievous spirit, famously says: “What Fools These Mortals Be”!

I. Watch my video lecture “Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Age,” which introduces the play.

II.  Read  William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1596)

If you prefer, here is a modern text translation of the play. You can read the modern translation next to Shakespeare’s original text.

III. View: Film adaptation of the play (1968) by the Royal Shakespeare Company (on Amazon Prime).  I recommend watching the film with the SUBTITLES to fully enjoy Shakespeare’s magnificent language.

I also recommend the NYC “Shakespeare in the Park” production (1982):  (Midsummer Night’s Dream Part I,  PART TWO  . This is free.

IV. Post a Response to a speech, scene, character, theme, or other dramatic element that you find particularly intriguing.  I’m also very interested to hear your thoughts on the fantastic film (and/or play) version of the work.  Did you enjoy the film (or play as it was acted)?  What scenes/which actors did you like the best? BE SURE YOU DON’T REPEAT WHAT A PREVIOUS STUDENT HAS WRITTEN.  DON’T USE OUTSIDE SOURCES FOR THIS. I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK.  The modern text translation of the play may be helpful here.

REMINDER: To post a comment, simply click on “comments” (above), write comment, and “post”

Possible themes and topics to consider (be sure to provide quotes to support your assertions):

• The challenges (frustrations and humiliations) of love
• The role of dreams (and the forest) as representative of the human subconscious
• Puck’s love of mischievousness (the role of the troublemaker or “trickster” figure)
• Transformation (theatre/art as chance to view alternative possibilities) (human fickleness)
• Reason vs. unreason (desire) as opposing forces
• The natural world (of chaos and play) set against the urban world (of laws and obedience)
• Gender/power issues in the play (how is power over others played out?)
• Analysis of the play-within-the-play (what’s so funny about Bottom’s group of actors? What role does it play?)
• The moon as a symbol of “lunacy” – Night vs. Day as symbolism
• Inconstancy vs. constancy (who stays true to themselves? who changes affections regularly?)
• Illusion vs. reality (how does the play help viewers distinguish between each?)
• There’s some intriguing “climate issues” in the play.  When Titania and Oberon do not get along, their negative energy has disastrous  effects on the weather (storms, droughts, and floods). See Act 2, Scene 1 lines 90-100 especially.

Dear Students,

As we read essays on the history of racial injustice by James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates, let’s take time to celebrate our new Federal Holiday: JUNETEENTH.  This Saturday (and every June 19^th) marks the end of slavery in the United States following the Civil War (1861-1865).  Please watch a brief video on the signing of this bill by President Biden and VP Harris as well as an article on events taking place in NYC and Brooklyn this weekend.

Terrific job, students, discussing the powerful essays and documentary film on the topic of long-standing racial injustice in this nation.  You chose excellent quotes and passages to work with from the famed writers James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates.  Several of you also made keen observations on the remarkable Baldwin Film Documentary. You can view your grades on Essay#1 and this post on the gradebook link (on the right).

For this week, I want you to continue to work on integrating quotes from outside sources and connecting them to your own ideas.  As a review, pay particular attention to properly integrating quoted material. Here is a helpful tool, created by Professor Caroline Hellman:

The Quote Sandwich

     1.  Bread: Set up and introduce quote. Include the author, text title (capitalized), and publication year.  Summarize the text fully (this will take several sentences!)

Example: In “Maybe I Could Save Myself by Writing,” Jose Olivarez writes about the challenge of navigating different aspects of his identity in school settings. (continued in other summary sentences)

  2. Veggies/ meat/ tofu: The quote itself, with a page citation if possible (if no page, cite paragraph #)

Ex: Olivarez writes, “I’m telling you this because I wrote a book of poems with one foot in the past, one hand in the present, and a nose on the future” (4).

3. Bread: Analyze quote. Avoid repeating the quote or merely paraphrasing. Instead, say what the quote means, and then explain how it relates to your own writing.

Ex: Here Olivarez emphasizes the importance of his family history in his writing, as well as who he is as an individual. His point relates to…

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I also recommend re-reading James Baldwin’s essay to his nephew.  This time, rather than focusing on Baldwin’s topic, focus on his rhetorical moves (writing choices).  Your next writing assignment is to write a similarly styled letter to someone you know, an imagined person, or perhaps a figure of authority in the Government, Church, or Community.  I want you to focus your letter on an issue you find important.   Possible topics include racial injustice, gang violence, anti-Asian violence, gentrification of your neighborhood, your preference for NYC’s mayor, climate change, safe bike lanes, a safe return to our college campus, gender inequality, sexual harassment, immigration pressures, raising the minimum wage, on-line bullying, the fight for press freedom, etc.

Here is the full assignment:

(2-3 pages, double spaced) (DRAFT DUE: Tuesday, June 22)

The two letters by Baldwin and Coates we have read–as well as the accompanying documentary film we’ve seen – speak out on inequality and injustice. For Unit 2, write a letter to the next generation (or a figure of authority) about a social issue that concerns you. Identify who you are, background about the issue, and specific current events or experiences that have led to your concern. Address whether you feel there are potential solutions to this problem, and what they might be.

For additional background information on your issue, find and refer to an article on the topic you found in the New York Times.  Be sure to integrate a quote from this article (and perhaps one from Baldwin and/or Coates), using “the quote sandwich.” 

I recommend that you get a free subscription to the New York Times using this link:  Academic Pass account 

Also provide a full citation for this article at the bottom of your letter (author’s last name, first name, “title of article,” title of sources (NYTimes), date of publication).

Please upload your draft of this letter to our Google Doc Drive.