Hopefully, you have read Browning "Sonnets," and Tennyson "The Lady of Shalott" and "Ulysses" and Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" as directed last week. This week, you should also have started Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It is in your book, starting with information on Conrad on pages 943-945. You should have already read this by class time. I also recommend that you have read all of Book I by the time you get to class. It starts on page 948 and goes until page 968. You should have finished Book I by this Friday (May 15th). You need to have finished the book by May 26th. I will have some notes and relevant questions on the blog. You can expect TEST on the 26th. The test will be designed to fit the information on the blog and on any handouts (for example, the handout on Nietzsche). It will be Spark-Notes (or Pink Monkey Notes or whatever) hostile. So don't even think about going there. Pay attention to what I say is important, because I am creating the assessments.
The test will include The Picture of Dorian Gray, Browning's poems, Tennyson's two poems, and Arnold's "Dover Beach."
On our one day this week, we will watch the 1945 version "The Picture of Dorian Gray." If you were in my class when Mr. Kessler was subbing, you will know that the film terrified its audience when it first came out. I also think that it stands the test of time. Angela Lansbury plays Sybil Vane. Your parents or grandparents know her from "Murder, She Wrote" and you probably know her as the voice of a gazillion Disney movies.
FRIDAY
Reading quiz. Go over.
Keep reading "Heart of Darkness."
In the end, there will also be an overall assessment --a test grade (that will not be curved this time, but will include a little extra credit)--that will include the assigned poems (Browning, Arnold, and Tennyson), The Picture of Dorian Gray (also study-guide notes unfriendly), and Heart of Darkness.
