EXPLAIN HOW WE KNOW THIS IS SATIRE

Read between the lines!

Explain which words in these sentences signal irony, satire, or sarcasm and how a reader learns to read between the lines to find, not what is said, but what is really meant. Verbal irony says one thing, but means the opposite. (Learn to analyze such lines.)

1--It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. (Austen 1) 

Note the bolded words are too insistent. And are rich, single men always looking for a wife?

2--Darcy to Caroline: ‘Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again? –At present I have not room to do them justice.’ (32)

Note his apparent politeness but the extreme exaggeration in the bolded words tips us off: Darcy is putting her down.

3--Mr Bennet to Mrs B: ‘[I]f your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness, if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders.’ (21)

The bolded words don’t belong together, which is how we know Mr Bennet, who loves to laugh at foolishness, is having fun at his wife’s expense.

4--Liz about Darcy: ‘I am perfectly convinced by it [my examination of Darcy] that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise.’ (39)

This is a putdown: He has no flaws; he told me so.

5--Mr Bennet to Mrs B: ‘I have not the pleasure of understanding you.’ (77)

The droll, deadpan delivery of an apparently polite line is filled with saracasm.

6--The narrator: Lady Lucas was a very good kind woman, not too clever to be a valuable neighbor to Mrs. Bennet. . . That the Miss Lucases and the Miss Bennets should meet to talk over a ball was absolutely necessary. . . (11)

7--Sir Lucas: ‘There is nothing like dancing after all. –I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies.’

Darcy: Certainly, Sir;--and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world.—Every savage can dance.’ (16)

At first polite, Darcy’s reply uses diction and a punch line that are devastating.

          Try your hand at these:

8—Mr Bennet to wife: “This is the only point, I flatter myself, on which we do not agree.” (19)

What tips us off?

9—Caroline teasing Darcy: “You will have a charming mother-in-law, indeed, and of course she will be always at Pemberley with you.” (18)

What tips us off?

Daily Writings in your Daily Journal

What's your real meaning?

Almost every day, we'll try to write in our daily journals. Today we wrote about Billy Collins' poem, 'Introduction to Poetry.' Journals aren't graded but are a place to think aloud. Read the poem once, then again, then annotate words or lines that jump out at you. Find something specific to start, perhaps a word, image, or line that attracts your attention (for example, "drop a mouse into"--or any of the red-colored words below). How can you 'drop a mouse into' a poem? (Let your imagination envision it!) Use your writing to explore language, images, or ideas that interest you but that you haven't figured out yet. Journal writing can help you think. ("Writing is Thinking," they say.)

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Students have been taught to demand from a poem its real meaning, almost like a confession. But the poem's metaphors, similes, and figurative language (see p.22 and 1489 in textbook) imply not an intellectual but an experiential encounter ('listen' or 'feel') or one involving the 5 senses (see) or even a playful romp with the poem ('waterski across'). How do Collins' images and language redirect our interactions with poetry? (As you analyze this poem to death, what hypocrisy are we guilty of?)

pages to note in Pride and Prejudice

It's so hot in the valley!

BE ABLE TO FIND EXAMPLES OF AND EXPLAIN THESE CONCEPTS:

·         How to decode satire (1st sentence)

·         Show vs. tell (Mr and Mrs Bennet dialogue, then narrator confirms what we infered)

·         Foils: 'a contrasting character who allows the protagonist to stand out more distinctly' (Jago 1489)

·         Omniscient narrator (see third-person omniscient point of view p.1498)

·         Narrator’s tone (and bias)

·         Studier of Character

·         Gossip

·         Repartee

·         Collins’ style

·         First impressions of Darcy vs. Wickham

·         Liz insulting Darcy

·         Liz embarrassed by her mom, Sir Lucas, Collins

·         Teasing as fathering

REVIEW (and know) THESE PASSAGES in Pride and Prejudice:

page numbers

1  opening sentence: what words make it satirical?

2-3 Explain show vs. tell

7 What is the key (“tolerable”) insult and the gossip that follows?

9 Jane vs. Liz: How does Austen effectively use foils?

10 Darcy vs. Bingley: How does Austen use foils? Which is most effective?

11 Lady Lucas was “not too clever.” Whose does the narrator’s tone match?

13-14  Is Charlotte’s advice sound?

15 “being impertinent myself, I shall soon grow afraid of him.” Liz’s motive?

16 “Every savage” How does Darcy deliver insults? Does Sir Lucas understand?

17-18, 40  Omniscient narrator inside Darcy’s head. “Charming mother-in-law.”

19 Mr. Bennet’s tone “only point on which we do not agree.”

20-21 “Can I have the carriage?” “No, it seems likely to rain.”

23 ff Gossip: “wild” “decorum” “attorney”

28-29 Hobby: “studier of character”

30 embarrassed by your mom

32-35 drawing room repartee: Liz vs. Darcy

37 Caroline Bingley sycophant

39 Darcy’s temper

42-43 Analyze the style of Collins’ letter

46; 48 Collins’ talent for flattery; switches from Jane to Liz

49ff Wickham’s appearance

53-57 Liz gossiping with Wickham about Darcy

62-63 Liz dancing with Darcy, insults Darcy while dancing.

67 Collins patronizes Liz, refuses her advice about approaching Darcy

69, 70-1 Embarrassed by her family! Mrs. Bennet exposes herself and embarrasses her daughter.

72-75 Collins’ proposal: funny or scary?

            COLLINS’ PROPOSAL

            Q: How are women shown as disempowered in these scenes? 

                 How is the scene both comic and telling? How does Liz feel?

72ff Collins proposes, Liz refuses, but is not believed

76-7 Mom’s reaction

77 Mr. Bennet referees the marriage proposal

79 Collins withdraws his offer

82 Liz and Jane decoding Caroline’s letter differently

90 Mr. Bennet “reassures” Mrs. Bennet about the entail

94-5 Mr Bennet is too sarcastic with Liz (foreshadows?)

            CHARLOTTE’S MARRIAGE

85 Charlotte’s marriage

87

93 Discussing it with Jane

100 The wedding

            WICKHAM AND MISS KING

98-9 Mrs. Gardiner warns Liz about Wickham

103, 105 Liz’s reactions to Miss King and Wickham

Decoding Pride and Prejudice

What do you mean I'm sarcastic?

How do we decode sarcasm and satire? Verbally, teenagers use a sarcastic tone of voice. But in Jane Austen's writing, we have to read between the lines, look for exaggerated or understated words, and notice words that are redundant or stick out in some way. Then we assume we can read the sentence as ironic: saying one thing but meaning quite the opposite.

Which speakers use sarcasm or satire the most? The narrator? Elizabeth? Darcy? Mr Bennet? Caroline Bingley? Probably not Jane, who is too sincere and sweet to roll her eyes at anything.

Who 'gets' the satire best? The reader? Darcy? Elizabeth? Mr Bennet? Not Sir Lucas. Not Mrs. Bennet.

Let's try decoding the first sentence of the novel:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Austen 1)
What words are give-aways that this says the opposite of what is really meant? Who is the speaker? Adopting whose point of view? How does the first sentence signal to readers how the book is to be read?

History of Love by Nicole Krauss

Leo Gursky vs. Alma Singer

Compare Leo Gursky and his style with that of Alma Singer:
When they write my obiturary. Tomorrow. Or the next day. It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF [CRAP]. I'm surprised I haven't been buried alive. The place isn't big. (Krauss 3)

1. MY NAME IS ALMA SINGER  When I was born my mother named me after every girl in a book my father gave her called The History of Love. (Krauss 35)

Leo is near the end of his life, obsessed with not being discovered dead for days, apparently unsuccessful as a writer, lonely, still longing for the first love of his life, saddened by the son he can never contract, and quite eccentric.

Alma is young, obsessed with finding a man to replace her mother's husband, an adventurous survivalist, concerned about her brother, Bird, and experiencing her first boyfriend.

Question: How do these twin protagonists' voices and stories contrast with one another? How do their interwoven narratives create the yin and yang of the novel?

First Class Meeting

Welcome to English!

Our first class:
1. Read and Annotate Pride and Prejudice: the opening sentence, the style, reading speed and comprehension, understanding Austen, getting the sarcasm and satire
2. Anonymous survey on summer reading
3. Signature page for syllabus
4. Jago Textbook (preview it)
5. College Reader (preview it)
6. Look at the class blog
7. Goals for the year: Read-Write-Think
  -College reading load, primary texts, not textbooks (Darwin, Freud, Austen)
  - 5 page essays with a lot of thinking
  -reading to write
  -writing to think
8. Introducing ourselves
9. History of Love (characters, plot,
10. In-class Journal for daily Writing
11. Homework: read to page 22, set up your blog,

Welcome to Senior English!

Welcome to Senior English!  This is our main blog page where you can check for assignments and information. I'm looking forward to starting the new year and hope you will enjoy the class!