You may use whatever assistance- the literature itself or internet. Writein complete sentences.

1. Choose one (or more) of the four William Blake poems in our text and interpret it as per our 3-part analysis of a poem -- be sure also to cite at least two examples from the poem that support your interpretation.

2. Choose one (or more) of the Lord Byron poems in our text and interpret it in the same manner -- also cite at least two examples from the poem that support your interpretation.

3. Make a character analysis of the playShe Stoops to Conquer to determine who the hero, heroine, and villain are in the main plot (Kate & Marlowe), and in each of the two sub-plots (Constance & Hastings, Mrs Hardcastle & Tony). Who are the hero, heroine & villain in each, and why? Naturally, you should connect one answer with the title of the play.

4. Choose any one of the American Revolution authors' writings, explain what is being said in it, give examples from the literature itself, and provide your a reaction about it. (Emerson or Thoreau)

5. Critique at least one of Abraham Lincoln's speeches. He was short, to the point, and somewhat general about what he said, yet he is renowned as one of the greatest Presidents and a powerful public speaker. Why do you think that is? Give examples!

6. Choose any 19th Century fiction you read (EXCEPT for the Edgar Allan Poe short stories) and do the following with it: 1/ briefly tell the story, 2/ explain the primary characters, 3/ assess the theme or meaning/moral of the novel, and 4/ provide your own reaction to it.

7. Choose another item of 19 Century fiction (including any of the Edgar Allan Poe short stories) and do the same thing with it as instructed in question 6 above.

8. Choose any Emily Dickinson poem, from our readings or other, and analyze and explain it as best you can.

9. Choose any Walt Whitman poem, from our readings or other, and analyze and explain it as best you can.

4 poems by William Blake William Blake was one of the most prominent British writers and artists of the 18th Century. Everything he did had an emphatic religious moral lesson to it. His poetry typies the thinking of the age. His artwork was very dramatic as well and depicts scenes of judgement from both the righteous and from the sinful world, yet he also speaks of love and justice. All four of these are fairly easy to interpret: \"The Chimney Sweeper" [ pg 510 ] I love this poem! If you read it aloud, you will nd that the meter has a singsongy feel to it and that is very similar to our own Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) and his children's books! Try reading this aloud dramatically and you will see what I mean. The moral lesson that hard labor and a good work ethic will be rewarded by God is highly evident -- this is especially obvious in the very last line. What a great way to teach younger kids morals thus Blake's poetry had an impact for his world at the time. \"The Little Black Boy" [ pg 511 ] This poem is perhaps one of the earliest to espouse an equality between the races. Blake's rather candid poem illustrates that, although here on earth the boys of different skin colors have different places and roles, in heaven they will be equals. The last line of the poem also sadly laments the black boy's desire to be loved by the white boy. What a pointed example this is of racial consciousness at that time! \"A Poison Tree\" [ pg 512 ] Much like a riddle, one might see that Blake is suggesting what happens when one does not confront a foe with a problem. This one is a little tricky and provides a real opportunity for different interpretations of the outcome of the story. I'll ask about it in the Written Response Questions. \"The Tyger\" [ pg 513 ] In this poem Blake observes that the erce power of a \"tyger\" (note the Middle English spelling yet!) was created by God, but he also mentions that the gentle \"Lamb\" has also been created by God. Blake also wrote a poem called \"Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?\" in which he muses at how God could make such a gentle creature. The juxtaposition of these two poems shows the breadth of God's creation and makes Blake's point about God's all-powerfulness. 3 poems by George Gordon, Lord Byron Interestingly enough, these three poems have a very \"popular\" feel to them. They are short, easy to embrace, and speak of very real emotions. Lord Byron enjoyed a very popular status among the Bria as he addresses three very pertinent issues: love and romance (this time in a love-relationship context), the cost of serving in war for one's country, and the cost of losing love, especially \"forbidden\" love. \"She Walks in Beauty\" [ pg 529 ] This is a simple love poem and an expression of the speaker's romanticizing of love for a beautiful woman, complete with the specific physical details of her face in the nal verse. This poem also truly typies the Early Romantic era's approach to speaking of beauty. \"Stanzas\" [ pg 530 ] These eight lines betray a rather jaded cynicism in the speaker of the poem, where he at rst recognizes the glory of loyalty and all the ancient classical stories upon which his education was based, and then in the end he points out how one risks damage to their own person or even death in the process. His last line is humorous, illustrating the futility of ghting for freedom one will either die or be knighted/celebrated thus there is no safe middle ground that remains after war. \"When We Two Parted\"[ pg 530 ] This is arguably the most racy poem of the era. At first glance the poem is obviously recounting the break-up of a relationship, but then later we come to realize that it was a secretive or forbidden relationship. Perhaps the woman was the married one, for the speaker cites to her \"thy vows are all broken," although perhaps he means the vows she had made to him. This poem leaves an image of deep sorrow and regret, as well as the feeling that perhaps they had had an illicit relationship and now he is mourning the loss of it as magnied by his own guilt. Under any circumstance, it is truly a powerful portrait of a certain element of the human experience the loss of love. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow \"The Cross of Snow\" [ pg 543 ] In this mournful poem, Longfellow laments the loss of his second wife, Frances, who died in a household re. One can only imagine the grief and loss which accompanies such a tragedy, if one has not actually experienced it. Longfellow remembers and immortalizes her through this poem, while couching his understanding of such a tragedy within his faith in God. **************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln really needs very little introduction. This prominent American leader and president was also a compelling speaker and his fame will live on throughout history. Read each of these short speeches by him. Lincoln 's Emancipation Proclamation: http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/emanc.htm Lincoln's 1963 Proclamation of Thanksgiving: http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/thanks.htm The Gettysburg Address and related information: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/gettysburg.htm th Lincoln 's speech to the 148 Ohio Regiment: http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/ohio.htmA Tour of 19th Century Realism fiction / novels & short stories A popular movie in recent years, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice presents a couple love story lines and intertwines them with the social customs and expectations of the era - early British Victorianism. The subjugateon of the social role of women is highly evident here as it deals with the emerging expression women would have of their own thinking and wishes. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/ Another moving love story, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights captures all the romantic power of a relationship in the early British Victorian era and pits it against the realistic inequalities in a social circumstance. This book was always one of my personal favorites, but I am truly a Romantic at heart. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/wuthering/ You are no doubt familiar with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the tale of Scrooge and his "Bah, Humbug!" attitude toward Christmas. Perhaps you have heard of others of his works, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, there are many.... Dickens is the classic British master of the early Realism period and undoubtedly told it as it is. A Tale of Two Cities recounts the bitterness of the French Revolution and offers a perfect portrait of the reality of the times. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/ The first prominent American novelist to emerge in this era is someone I've noted before. Hawthorne's religious ideals clearly intersect with the reality of the times, even the reality of over 100 years prior to his own life. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter contains a presentation of certain moral strictures which indicates the narrow mindset of the Puritans, yet this story holds a popularity that transcends the centuries because of the nature of her sin: one of a sexual indiscretion. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/scarlet/ You don't need me to tell you how powerful and popular Edgar Allen Poe's stories are - since you were young you have been enjoying the fictional terror that Poe generates by speaking the unspeakable, by thinking the unthinkable! Poe's own life was troubled by drink and a broken heart (a bad combination) and gave him ample inspiration to express some of the deepest and darkest evils known to modern mankind. He also expresses a highly dramatic style that makes the story much more life-like for the reader. Enjoy these!Edgar Allan Poe short stories: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section5.rhtml "The Tell-Tale Heart" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section6.rhtml "The Pit and the Pendulum" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section7.rhtml "The Black Cat" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section8.rhtml "The Purloined Letter" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section9.rhtml "The Masque of the Red Death" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section 10.rhtml "The Cask of Amontillado" http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section 11.rhtml You should also read "The Cask of Amontillado" in its entirety in our physical textbook, page 56ff. Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is one of the most delightful and reader/user friendly books in the history of American literature. This is why Twain is the other best-known and best-loved authors of this country. You may well have encountered this book in your high school years or even before. Twain's light-hearted story telling combined with the realities of the day, and in this book, a combination comparison of the reality of America in the 1900s and King Arthur's Camelot in 6th Century Anglo-Saxon England. This book is a wonderful study of the differences in times and culture, as well as the human spirit. Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/yankee/ Is there a perfect crime? What happens in the mind of a criminal? What is the real power of guilt for the truly guilty? Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment is a huge book, in actuality, the size of his War & Peace, but the story is also highly compelling and very readable. It is well-worth spending your time on at any point. Dostoevsky, a Russian author, did not emerge on the scene until the later part of the 19th Century, but his work undoubtedly typifies the era and the depravity in the human condition that people were little by little becoming more willing to acknowledge. Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crime/ Thomas Hardy was also a writer of the later 19th Century and like Dostoevsky, his work also provides commentary on the depravity of human being, especially in how it manifests itself through the sexes or genders. Tess of the D'Urbervilles gives us a character study in a woman and the two men of her life. The classic question which emerges in the study of this novel and has been debated at larger levels ever since asks: In the end of this story, is Tess responsible for her own destiny and consequences, or is she a victim of fate and the circumstance of how men treat her? Naturally, this book (and others, as we shall see) clearly raise the highly realistic question applicable of this time period: At what level are women regarded by men? Their equality in the political and civil realms was not yet accomplished, and certainly socially they had not reached the same stature as men. Likewise, their sexuality was still being held captive and Thomas Hardy broaches this topic in this powerful novel. Incidentally, it was met with no little bit of disdain and call for censorship upon its publication.'IUII'I Century DrIIISn urama She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith \"Ask me no questions; and I'll tell you no fibs...\" Naturally, poetry was not the only form of literature being written during the 18th Century the dramatic performance of a play was attaining a \"popular" status as well. Although the theatre was not regarded as upper-crust society, it ourished anyway partially due to the warm reception that the audiences of the common people and peasants were giving it. Remarkably enough, in a time when for the common man money was largely spent only upon one's mortal needs, people began spending a few pennies or farthings to enjoy a dramatic performance. As far back as in Shakespeare's time, the business of the playhouse existed, even if under persecution and duress from the overly pious and self-righteous, and 150 years later that business was still going strong. Oliver Goldsmith was only one such playwright, but his She Stoops to Conquer makes a lasting impression in terms of both comedic presentation and some insight into human character and all its foibles. It was nally out of this \"business\" of being a playwright that they entertainment world got its jumpstart. Even at the time of the Bard, writing a play that audiences would pay to see was a logical response to the needs for income. But often plays were written with a heavy dose of moral lesson, and the masses grew tired of such pedantry. So the concept of the \"spec \" came about a story of tomfoolery involving deception, mistaken identity, comical near-misses, and nally the happy ending where everyone lives happily ever after. We are still all too familiar with the \"spoof" today, as the television idea of the sit-com and many, many movie storylines are spoofs in every sense of the word. The genre has become huge. It began in Britain with Shakespeare but was crystalized by the British playwrights of the 18th Century. One such play that is particularly cute and would make an outstanding modern movie if done with a modern setting is Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. Leading the way in the plot is the literary convention of mistaken identity and ultimately we enjoy the humorous outcome of seeing people's true colors revealed, sometimes for the best and sometimes for the worst. Everyone enjoys that experience, don't they? And the familiar quote at the beginning of this section, \"Ask me no questions; and I'll tell you no bs...," or as we usually say \"...tell you no lies...,\" is from Act III of this very play. I don't know if you've heard that before, but I grew up hearing that phrase spoken commonly. It's fast-talk for \"I know the truth, but I don't want to tell you .\" This primary plot contains a love story fraught with mistaken identity and is anked by two sub-plots, one of which is another love story with its own complication and the other reveals the unlikely coming of age for an unexpected dark horse. As you read this online, work at nding a comfort level with the language. The Middle English has almost morphed all the way into Modern English, but not quite. Focus on 1/ understanding the storyline and sub-plots, 2/ forming an impression of each character and what role or purpose they serve, and 3/ nding a theme or \"moral of the story" which, although hidden among all the comedy, is still present. The common theme for all of this, and truly for the entire Romantic era, is to show people for whom they really are. We still enjoy an extension of the \"Romantic" era in our modern world of art, literature and entertainment today. The following YouTube video is an excellent presentation of a script that is harder to follow and can still be understood and enjoyed. Take the time to watch the full play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOOpGpHdmek Following here also is the Harvard Classics full text for She Stoops to Conquer online: http://www.bartleby.com/18/3/ [ To navigate to the full script of the play, follow the \"Dramatis Personae\" link on this page and then follow the \"Next\" links to work your way through the entire play- ]