They Do Not Move: April 13, 2018

Focus: What does the ending reveal about the themes of Beckett's play?

1. Warming up with Walk Down Memory Lane #2: Literary Terms, Weeks 7-12

• Review and Apply: Look through your Literary Terms from Weeks 7-12, which are largely sound devices. Apply as many as you can to "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

• Find Complex Patterns: The sound devices suggest that the woods are ______ but also ______. What might the woods serve as a metaphor for?

• Address Theme and Tone: Look at the end rhyme. How does its pattern reflect the movement (and the stopping) of the speaker? How does sound create meaning in this poem?

2. Enjoying a 10-minute Silent Socratic on yesterday's blog questions

3. Finishing Waiting for Godot

4. Wrapping up: Revisiting the final page and the title in small groups

• Close reading: Which details on the final page seem the most important? Why might they be significant?

• Framework: Look back to the first page (my favorite trick). Has anything shifted? What does comparing the first and final pages reveal about the play's themes?

• Title / Themes / Tone: Revisit the title. What is the nature of waiting in this play? Why are they waiting for Godot (what are they hoping for)? Why doesn't Beckett allow Godot to show up? What does this play suggest about human existence?

HW:
1. Continue drafting your culminating essay. Next TUESDAY will be a workshop day, and you want to have at least three pages of draft complete by then.

Final draft due Thursday, April 24 by 3:00 pm.

2. NEXT WEDNESDAY will be your final "Tuesday" writing.