"TOYS" by Coventry Patmore and a link to an interpretation of the poem

Written in the early 1860s after losing his wife, Coventry Patmore's poem discloses the oscillating feelings of severity and tenderness that were so prevalent in his personality. He went to visit William Barnes in Dorchester as each had recently lost their wives and were now widowers with a similar number of children. This poem reflects Old and New Testment ideas in its structure, and, Patmore's "Toys" were probably the trappings of this world, which would be no more than "toys" in the eyes of God.




After having a go at interpreting the poem yourselves, read this interpretation English Teacher Man.

http://englishteacherman.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/afatherslove/

Yeats and "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"

The early slides are full of information on Yeats's 1893 poem, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree". Focus on the poet's symbolism as you read it.

W. B. Yeats

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by ciaffaroni | Upload your own presentation

Here's an unusual term that features in this presentation explained in Wikipedia
Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae or synaesthesiae)—from the Ancient Greek σύν (syn), "together," and αἴσθησις (aisthēsis), "sensation"—is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who report such experiences are known as synesthetes.

"Linnets" belong to a species of bird known as a finch. They are songbirds and symbolise home and family.

What's Driving The Market? A kind of madness

This is a great interview. The information is dispassionately delivered and the implications for the markets are made plain. Steve Myers, who is an investment broker for grains and metals, is well worth listening to.

The rise in the vix and the roller coaster US stock market

The is the closest analogy I can make to playing the US markets. It does not seem to matter whether you are long or short. Perhaps short is safest for the next fortnight. Scary? Of course!

Reading and note-taking for "Captain Corelli's Mandolin"

Class 13A English A2 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Read chapters 7-11 (inclusive)
Annotate your texts and write a few paragraphs for each chapter on the following:

1. The theme of relationships and connected themes, i.e. various forms of love, education, fate, honour, madness, history, the past, position of women, waste, etc.

2. Structure form and language
Structure
(Is the chapter dramatic? For instance, is there a sequence of events leading to a powerful conclusion?
Does the chapter: set out a series of problems and seek to resolve them? Does it involve questions and answers? Involve Cause and effect? Have thesis, antithesis, and synthesis? Is the structure logical? Does it involve the contrast of time? Is it a summary?)

how and why the following are used:
· styles of narration and attitude and values of narrators
· Use of language/vocabulary
· parallel narratives; balance of dialogue/description
· the purpose of chapters in the overall narrative:
(for instance, the presentation of historical events, counterpoint, the
introduction or presentation of characters and their dilemmas;
· the presentation of characters through dialogue, description, imagery,

events and symbolism associated with them.

3. Points that could be made about the historical and literary contexts through the use of background events and incidents affecting the characters:
from the time in which events are set – the early 1940s to the early 1990s
from the time in which the novel was written.
(i.e. events in the Balkans in the early 1990s – the civil war in Bosnia and the West’s early reaction to it.)
( i.e. post modernism, polyphonic novel, magic realism, etc.)