Sunday, April 8, 2018

Week #4 April 9-15, 2018

Week #4 - Poe and Beyond



Assignment #1 = Discussion Board - Poe's Quotes

Visit an Edgar Allan Poe quotation site.

Read through the possibilities and  two quotations from Poe to discuss. Why were these your selections? What do the quotations have to do with Poe? How do the quotations relate to the modern reader?

Assignment #2 - All About Black Cats

  1. Before reading "The Black Cat," a grim tale by Poe, conduct research about the history of cats in general and black cats in particular. Are black cars always considered to bring bad luck, or are they simply misunderstood? Write a two paragraph summary of the information you discover. Try to stay away from Wikipedia as the information there is not always verified and can be changed by a reader's whim.
  2. For the third paragraph, share any experiences you have personally had with black cats or with cats of any color or size. Do black cats deserve their reputation for being evil?

 Possible sites: (Do not limit yourself to these! Do post your sources in a Works Cited entry following your paragraphs.)

Sites:
Just for fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNSYzXIiVrM

(30 points)

Assignment #3 Edgar Allan Poe's, "The Black Cat"


Read the tale of terror!
http://poestories.com/read/blackcat (Light text of black background)
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/24/ ( Dark text on light background)

Or listen, if you prefer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeHSRNgc6QI

Here is a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKN_I6ouswg

Questions to answer:
1. To what extent does the first person narration have on the story? Who is the narrator? What is his problem? Is that problem internal or external? In other words, is it caused by outside forces, or is something sinister lurking within?

2. If the story had been told from third person point of view, that is by an outsider or news reporter, how might the tale have been different? Would you, the reader, know more or less? Would this point of view make the story more or less frightening? Explain.

3. Poe uses a mythological allusion by naming the cat Pluto. Conduct research and find out about the Roman god Pluto. Share 5 key points about the god as they relate to the story, the cat, and the narrator.

4. Think of movies, books or stories you have seen or read that feature cats.
  • List them. Explain in a few sentences how those tales are similar to or different from Poe's cat and story.
(40 points)
Assignment #4 - "The Cask of Amontillado"

Read the tale!
Text: http://literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/amontillado.html
Audio book: https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-006&ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-tyc&p=The%20Cask%20of%20Amontillado%20Full%20Audio%20Books&type=
Here's a movie/text version! Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoUPJId_AWk

Here is another movie that won an award at the 2013 Sacramento Film Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwQ2fcqe5w0

1. Read or listen to the story.
2. View both movie versions.
3. Write a review where you compare and contrast the movies to the original story and explain which movie most effectively captures the characters, setting, tone and message of the original.
 (25 points)
Assignment #5: "The Pit and the Pendulum"
Text: http://www.online-literature.com/poe/40/
Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ZjObEHQ1U (Vincent Price - narrator)

Being buried alive is a natural human fear. Poe capitalizes on that fear in many of his stories and poems. In some, like the poem "Annabelle Lee" that we read last week, he rather looks forward to going to the tomb. In others, like "The Cask of Amontillado", he portrays the horrors of premature burial. "The Pit and the Pendulum" combines the idea of being buried alive with the torture associated with the Inquisition. Add a few rats, another creature that evokes horror, and you have the recipe for terror.

A. Conduct some research on rats. What characteristics and qualities do they have that lead humans to hate and fear them? Explain in paragraph form why rats often evoke fear and disgust. Do they deserve this reputation? After all, they are the heroes in "The Pit and the Pendulum." Report your findings in paragraph form.
Rat History: http://www.ramshornstudio.com/rat_history.htm
Hawaiian rats: http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/publications/Ratsfactsheet.pdf
Diseases carried by rats: http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html


B. What other rats appear in literature? Review these links an find out.
Review these stories. What rat is your favorite? What rat do you fear of dislike the most?  Explain your selections.

C. Now, back to the idea of burial. Describe the "pit" where the narrator is jailed. In what ways is it tomb-like? In what ways does it evolve during the story? Is the pit more frightening than the pendulum, or is the pendulum the greatest fear?
 (30 points)
Assignment #6 - Select a Poe story to read and review. You are the critic!

Poe's stories are available for free on the Internet. Here are a few places to look:
http://www.eapoe.org/works/index.htm
http://www.poestories.com/


1. Poe is famous for many literary works. You might consider one of his more popular titles such as "The Purloined Letter", "The Gold Bug", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "William Wilson", or "Murders in the Rue Morgue" to name of few. Or, you might select a lesson known tale. The choice is yours. Read the story.

Many of the stories are in audio-book form. Search YouTube. Some of Poe's works have been captures on video. Again, YouTube is a free place to search.

Assignment: Read, listen, and/or view the story of your choice. Write a review of the tale. Pretend that there is a Poe site, something like Yelp for Poe. Review and rate the story.


Your review should be 1-1/2 pages. Have fun. Your opinion counts. (50 points)

Reminder: Finish The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We will deal with it next week.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42 
http://www.learnlibrary.com/jekyll-hyde/

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