B - ... when we engaged in 21st century digital audits of main character energy from an 18th century play.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: To what extent do our filters prevent us from forming authentic connections?

Learners shared their understanding of Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," and Blake's "The Lamb" and "The Tyger." I filled gaps and talked about how the how Gray, Burns, and Blake kept one foot in the Age of Reason while their poems were expressions of the Age of Feeling, and how the pieces give rise to notions of the sublime.

We then stepped back from the Pre-Romantics to take one last look at the wit and reason of the 18th century as depicted in Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. Learners worked in pairs to create a "digital audit" of one of the characters from the play, exposing the "public grid" and the "private finsta," and then turning the dialogue into "status updates."

READ:

• Austen's Pride & Prejudice (ongoing)
• Intro to the Romantic Age
• Wordsworth's "Lines Composed Upon Tintern Abbey"

NEXT CLASS: digital audits, Burns, the Early Romantics

F - ... when we did a lot of unpacking with regard to animals and land and perspective.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Does the "smallness" of a creature make their suffering less significant or more profound?

We viewed Christie Lee Charles's "Raven Weaves Light" and learners discussed what connections it might have to our recent discussions of literature.

The remaining groups presented their tableaus for Burns's "To A Mouse." We appreciated the poem together and I highlighted the last two stanzas and their connection to land (ownership, bro! consider Charles's "caretaker" POV in "Raven Weaves Light"), and to "smallness." Learners discussed the "fellow-mortal" connection to Steinbeck's novel title, and whether or not it's better to be "mouse" or "men."

We read together the opening paragraph of Of Mice and Men and the first few paragraphs of the last chapter of the novel. We discussed the difference in tone despite being in the same exact spot, then connected to "living off the fatta of the lan" and Charles's views on stewardship.

POST: Does the "smallness" of a creature make their suffering less significant or more profound? (Post your response to the digital whiteboard before you enter class next day.)

NEXT CLASS: conflict, theme, the land

B - ... when you told me I had main character energy what with my Scottish accent and all.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is with the Pre-Romantics obsession with animals?

At first you had Mr. Hurtubise, and you were petrified

Thinking: "How could Ms. Ignacio leave you by his side?"

And after spending minutes

Thinking how I did you wrong...

You grew strong

And Mr. Hagen came along...

Just a little bit of play to see if you're actually keeping up with my blog posts!

You spend most of the class working on Burns's Scottish dialect poem, "To A Mouse" and prepared a dramatic reading, which we will hear next class!

READ: She Stoops to Conquer, Gray, Burns, Blake

NEXT CLASS: from reason to the sublime

F - ... when we talked about Oscar-worthy things before you did the not-so-Oscar-worthy tableau thing.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Why is it important that we recognize when things are "out of joint"?

We discussed the "out of joint" connections from Yeats's "The Second Coming," Shakespeare's Hamlet, and Zhao's Hamnet (2026), and we discussed how the tensions between "cosmic chaos" and "earthly ruin" are important in literary work.

Learners tried to decipher and read aloud (with a Scottish Lowlands accent) Burns's "To A Mouse." Then, they worked together to create 5 scene tableaus with defining lines. Two groups presented; the other two groups will present next class.

READ: Of Mice and Men, "My Heart is the Earth" (see the links to the left)

NEXT CLASS: Nature

B - ... when you melted "away and made no noise," so I lived "the best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men" by myself.

No essential question. No learners. Nothing. Nada.

NEXT: Goldsmith (get ready!) and the pre-Romantics

F - ... when we got to the Roman Empire (is that still a thing?) of Zhao's film.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the value of discovering the soul of a literary piece?

I asked learners to consider a shift when viewing the rest of Hamnet (2026) today; rather than observing,  I challenged learners to predict and connect (particulary with their experiences with Hamlet and "The Second Coming").

Learners shared some of their field notes from last class and added "Signs of Acceptance" as something to consider through today's screening.

POST: ... to the digital whiteboard, one "echo" from Shakespeare's Hamlet or Yeats's "The Second Coming" that you see/hear in Zhao's film Hamnet (2026) - either a line, an image, a motif, etc., and explain the echo.

READ: Of Mice and Men

NEXT CLASS: putting it together and extending. Life & Death / Hope & Despair

B - ... when you attempted a summary, but in 60 words AND in verse.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Is it possible to simplify without sacrificing deeper meaning?

Learners used the period to "shrink" Golding's She Stoops To Conquer and their assigned piece from Gray or Burns or Blake into 60 "poetic" words. See the sample under "Class Links & Resources."

Ms. Van Elk collected the assignment and gave them to me - they're really great and so playful!

NEXT CLASS: Pre-Romantics