I Say I Say I Say

Anyone here had a go at themselves
for a laugh? Anyone opened their wrists
with a blade in the bath? Those at the front
in the know, those of us who have, hands up,
let's show that inch of lacerated skin
between the forearm and the fist. Let's tell it
like it is: strong drink, a crimson tidemark
round the tub, a yard of lint, white towels
washed a dozen times, still pink. Tough luck.
A passion then for watches, bangles, cuffs.
A likely story: you were lashed by brambles
picking berries from the woods. Come clean, come good,
repeat with me the punch line 'Just Like blood'
when those at the back rush forward to say
how a little love goes a long long long way.

-Simon Armitage

I Am Very Bothered

I am very bothered when I think
of the bad things I have done in my life.
Not least that time in the chemistry lab
when I held a pair of scissors by the blades
and played the handles
in the naked lilac flame of the Bunsen burner;
then called your name, and handed them over.

O the unrivalled stench of branded skin
as you slipped your thumb and middle finger in.
then couldn't shake off the two burning rings. Marked,
the doctor said, for eternity.

Don't believe me, please, if I say
that was just my butterfingered way, at thirteen,
of asking you if you would marry me.

-Simon Armitage

"The Love Book"

All English 1201 and 1202 students will be creating a booklet which will include the following:

1. One poem which follows the structure of either a ballad, sonnet, free verse, or blank verse poem
2. A piece of short fiction.
3. A variety of visuals which reflect the ideas presented in the poem and short story.

This booklet must centre on the theme of love. Marking will be based on your originality, your voice as a writer, your ability to follow the applicable structure, organization and the necessary writing conventions of your chosen pieces, the overall presentation of your booklet, and your exploration of theme.

You will have some class time to work on this, but this assignment is largely independent. Please work on this at home.

Due Date: 

Havisham    by Carol Ann Duffy

Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since then
I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.

Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days
in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress
yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;
the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, who did this

to me? Puce curses that are sounds not words.
Some nights better, the lost body over me,
my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear
then down till I suddenly bite awake. Love's

hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursting
in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding-cake.
Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks.

William Shakespeare’s…. Sonnet 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom.    If this be error and upon me proved,    I never writ, nor no man ever loved.                                                                   SONNET 116 Summary Let me not to the marriage of true minds Let me not declare any reasons why two Admit impediments. Love is not love True-minded people should not be married. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Which changes when it finds a change in circumstances, Or bends with the remover to remove: Or bends from its firm stand even when a lover is unfaithful: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark Oh no! it is a lighthouse That looks on tempests and is never shaken; That sees storms but it never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Love is the guiding north star to every lost ship, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Whose value cannot be calculated, although its altitude can be measured. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Love is not at the mercy of time, though physical beauty Within his bending sickle's compass come: Comes within the compass of his sickle. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, Love does not alter with hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. But, rather, it endures until the last day of life. If this be error and upon me proved, If I am proved wrong about these thoughts on love I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Then I recant all that I have written, and no man has ever [truly] loved. ANALYSIS marriage...impediments (1-2): T.G. Tucker explains that the first two lines are a "manifest allusion to the words of the Marriage Service: 'If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in holy matrimony'; cf. Much Ado 4.1.12. 'If either of you know any inward impediment why you should not be conjoined.' Where minds are true - in possessing love in the real sense dwelt upon in the following lines - there can be no 'impediments' through change of circumstances, outward appearance, or temporary lapses in conduct." (Tucker, 192).   bends with the remover to remove (4): i.e., deviates ("bends") to alter its course ("remove") with the departure of the lover. ever-fixed mark (5): i.e., a lighthouse (mark = sea-mark). Compare Othello (5.2.305-7): Be not afraid, though you do see me weapon'd; Here is my journey's end, here is my butt, And very sea-mark of my utmost sail. the star to every wandering bark (7): i.e., the star that guides every lost ship (guiding star = Polaris). Shakespeare again mentions Polaris (also known as "the north star") in Much Ado About Nothing (2.1.222) and Julius Caesar (3.1.65). Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken (8): The subject here is still the north star. The star's true value can never truly be calculated, although its height can be measured Love's not Time's fool (9): i.e., love is not at the mercy of Time. Within his bending sickle's compass come (10): i.e., physical beauty falls within the range ("compass") of Time's curved blade. Note the comparison of Time to the Grim Reaper, the scythe-wielding personification of death. edge of doom (12): i.e., Doomsday. Compare 1 Henry IV (4.1.141): Come, let us take a muster speedily: Doomsday is near; die all, die merrily. Sonnet 116 is about love in its most ideal form. It is praising the glories of lovers who have come to each other freely, and enter into a relationship based on trust and understanding. The first four lines reveal the poet's pleasure in love that is constant and strong, and will not "alter when it alteration finds." The following lines proclaim that true love is indeed an "ever-fix'd mark" which will survive any crisis. In lines 7-8, the poet claims that we may be able to measure love to some degree, but this does not mean we fully understand it. Love's actual worth cannot be known – it remains a mystery. The remaining lines of the third quatrain (9-12), reaffirm the perfect nature of love that is unshakeable throughout time and remains so "ev'n to the edge of doom", or death. In the final couplet, the poet declares that, if he is mistaken about the constant, unmovable nature of perfect love, then he must take back all his writings on love, truth, and faith. Moreover, he adds that, if he has in fact judged love inappropriately, no man has ever really loved, in the ideal sense that the poet professes. The details of Sonnet 116 are best described by Tucker Brooke in his acclaimed edition of Shakespeare's poems: [In Sonnet 116] the chief pause in sense is after the twelfth line. Seventy-five per cent of the words are monosyllables; only three contain more syllables than two; none belong in any degree to the vocabulary of 'poetic' diction. There is nothing recondite, exotic, or metaphysical in the thought. There are three run-on lines, one pair of double-endings. There is nothing to remark about the rhyming except the happy blending of open and closed vowels, and of liquids, nasals, and stops; nothing to say about the harmony except to point out how the fluttering accents in the quatrains give place in the couplet to the emphatic march of the almost unrelieved iambic feet. In short, the poet has employed one hundred and ten of the simplest words in the language and the two simplest rhyme-schemes to produce a poem which has about it no strangeness whatever except the strangeness of perfection. (Brooke, 234)

Deadline for Submission of Handout and Theme Chart: 

English 1201/1202     A Midsummer Night`s Dream: Theme

Theme	Quotation/Speaker	Act, scene, line numbers	Explanation
Example: Love can evoke dark emotions; revenge, jealousy, self-pity, anger, obsession	“Thou not from this grove/Till I torment thee for this injury”                                                             -Oberon	II, I, 148-9	Oberon says this as an aside in regard to Titania’s refusal to give in to Oberon’s wishes. He does beg of her “a little changeling boy…to be [his] henchman.” Titania is disobedient to her fairy king and is accused of being unfaithful to him as she has had an affair with Theseus. Oberon is furious at her for her disobedience and is quite jealous of the attention and affection that she has shown both the child and Theseus.
	“The more I love, the more he hateth me”                                                             -Helena	I, I, 202	Helena is obsessed with Demetrius and is expressing her frustration to her friend Hermia.
	“I am sick when I look not on you”                                                         -Helena	II, I, 217	…spoken to Demetrius when he is trying to rid of her. Helena dwells on her obsession with Demetrius and wallows in self-pity.

Students should have a minimum of fifteen quotations to support their thematic arguments: Preferably, three quotations for each of the five chosen themes. The chart must contain at least five themes. The chart above is merely an example of how this should be approached.

There is an English tutorial every Monday afternoon at 2:45pm-4:00pm! Bring course work to improve upon, study materials, and/or questions you may have.

All English 1201 and 1202 students will soon be given a username and password for the Nelson Online Dashboard. Any students who have not yet been able to view this resource must see Ms. Power as soon as possible!

Welcome to English 1201/1202 for the 2013-2014 school year!

Our first text for study is A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare! Details about class work and future assessments will be posted soon!