Sonnet Assignment #3

Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds (A)

Admit impediments. Love is not love (B)

Which alters when it alteration finds, (A)

Or bends with the remover to remove: (B)


He says that he doesn't want to believe that love has any boundaries. And that true love doesn't just change because someone wants it to. true love is stronger than that.




O no! it is an ever-fixed mark (C)

That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (D)

It is the star to every wandering bark, (C)

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. (D)

He says that true love can make it through anything. That it guides us through all that bad stuff in life.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (E)

Within his bending sickle's compass come: (F)

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (E)

But bears it out even to the edge of doom. (F)

He kind of says that love conquers all. That it doesn't just fade over time but lasts forever.



If this be error and upon me proved, (G)

I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (G)

So here he says that if true love isn't like he says, then he might as well have not written anything and no one really ever loves or that it doesn't really exist.


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Edmund Spencer Sonnet 26


Sweet is the rose, but grows upon a briar; (A)
Sweet in the Juniper, but sharp his bough; (B)
Sweet is the Eglantine, but pricketh near; (A)
Sweet is the firbloom, but his branches rough. (B)

Here he talks about how sweet or pretty things are but then where they come from isn't so pretty.

Sweet is the Cypress, but his rind is tough, (B)
Sweet is the nut, but bitter is his pill; (C)
Sweet is the broom-flower, but yet sour enough; (B)
And sweet is Moly, but his root is ill. (C)

Same as before. He shows that even though things are pretty, not everything about them is. So kind of a good but bad.




So every sweet with sour is tempered still (C)
That maketh it be coveted the more: (D)
For easy things that may be got at will, (C)
Most sorts of men do set but little store. (D)

So even though there are bad parts to all these great things, people still pursue them and it makes them want them more. Like roses are pretty, but getting them is hard and painful because of the thorns.



Why then should I account of little pain, (E)
That endless pleasure shall unto me gain. (E)

So here he asks why should he care about the pain or bad stuff when the outcome or reward is so pleasurable.

Sonnets Assignment #2

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (A)
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. (B)
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (A)
And summer's lease hath all to short a date. (B)

Okay.. here I think he is saying the positive things about whoever he is talking about. Pointing out how much better she is than the summer's day.

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Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (C)
And often is his gold complextion dimmed, (D)
And every fair from fair sometimes declines, (C)
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed. (D)

Here I think he is pointing out the negatives about the summer's day. So he is still saying she is more beautiful, but from a different standpoint.

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But thy eternal summer shall not fade, (E)
Nor lose possesion of that fair thou owest, (F)
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade (E)
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. (F)

He is still comparing the two, but I don't think it is about her getting the upper hand now. I think he is saying that even though she is more beautiful, she will eventually die but nature will go on being beautiful.

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So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, (G)
So long lives this, and gives life to thee. (G)

I think here he is saying that as long as nature (like trees) lives on, it will give us life and air to breathe.







My love is like to ice, and I to fire; (A)
How comes it then that this her cold so great (B)
Is not dissolved through my so hot desire, (A)
But harder grows the more I her entreat? (B)

So she is ice and he is fire. Which obviously makes a conflict. He wants to know why the heat doesn't make her leave and why instead it fuels his obsession for her the more he pursues her.

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Or how comes it that my exceeding heat (B)
Is not delayed by her heart frozen cold, (C)
But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, (B)
And feel my flames augmented manifold? (C)

Here he wants to know why he is entranced by her. Why is his love growing in intensity when it should be extinguished by their differences.

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What more miraculous thing may be told (C)
That fire which all thing melts, should harden ice, (D)
And ice which is congealed with senseless cold, (C)
Should kindle fire by wonderful device? (D)

He is asking why rather than ruin things it is making them more intense. It is proven that fire melts ice, yet the ice is only getting harder.. And rather than being numb and feeling nothing, she is feeling for him too.

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Such is the power of love in gentle mind, (E)
That it can alter all the course of kind. (E)

He just kind of says that this proves that love conquers all. That no matter how insane or against the rules it is, love will still remain strong and has the power to alter the way things should be or end up.

Sonnets Assignment #1

Examine the difference between the rhyme scheme Spencer uses and the one Shakespeare uses. Explain the difference. Which one do you prefer? (If you are unable to give a good answer to this question, it is time to come talk to me.)

I definitely prefer Shakespeare's rhyme scheme. I think it is a little more systematic. Spencer's kind of stretches throughout the whole thing and I'm sure it would be a lot more difficult to write that way. There are more rhyming words and they must be harder to fit together and I don't think it flows as well.

Renaissance Response

I think that it is a good idea that everyone decided to take on new paths and kind of change their ways after the Bubonic Plague. I definitely think that if I watch a third of everyone around me die, I'd want to make the most of my life. I learned quite a bit about this time from Mrs. Siegmund. We did an exercise where we had a pen and had to copy a passage word for word without making any mistakes, like the monks. It was really hard. This kind of reminds me of the later Glorious Revolution where people started turning away from Catholicism then too. I've always found this era very interesting to read about.

The Restoration Assignment #5

What do you think was most important to people living in this time? Write a 1-2 paragraph response to this question in which you use direct evidence from the texts you read to support whatever arguments you make.

Well, if you lived when the story about the plague happened, I'm sure the most important thing was your life. I think I would be absolutely terrified if in every direction I turned, there were people killing themselves or dying right there in front of my eyes. This was an excruciating time for the people of London. People were in awful pain, but who would help? Putting forth an effort to save someone or be by their side could cause your death too. Most people wouldn't risk their lives for others unless it was their child or loved one.
Then, in the lighter areas, it seems that progression was of great importance too. Finally, people aren't so blindsided by religion. Rather than saying it's God's will that everyone is dying, they are looking to the science of things. They have come to realize that there can be faith and reason at the same time. Which is illustrated in Mr. Siegmund's writing about the Restoration in general.

The Restoration Assignment #4

Read either "from the Diary of Samuel Pepys" or "from A Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe, both of which can be found in the purple anthology. Once you have finished reading, write a 1-2 paragraph response to what you have read. Please be sure to include some direct evidence from the text to help show what you are responding to.

I chose, "A Journal of the Plague Year". It was really weird. I think it is extremely sad that all those people died. I wonder if he died after ending his story. The fact that almost 2,000 less people died was amazing. Those kind of numbers would definitely have me excited too, but I probably wouldn't be so quick to start touching people. It is scary that all the sudden you look down and are slowly deteriorating out of no where. Then, all the sudden you're marked and die. The plague was a very scary thing to live through, I'm sure. I probably would have wanted to kill myself just like the examples in the story. I would probably be affected like the guy who was following his wife and kids even though he really wasn't dying himself. This was a really said piece of literature.

Restoration Assignment #3

Read "A Modest Proposal", which may be difficult at first, but if you stick with it, the message will become more clear. Once you are finished reading, you should write a short response to what you read (4-5 sentences), and explain how this is a work of satire.

Okay. Apparently the English people are mean and cruel towards the Irish people. So, to be sarcastic as show them an example of how awful and heartless they are, he writes this. He gives statistics, reasons, and excruciatingly detailed work about raising children to be a year old, and then eating them. He believes that since they are so cold-hearted, they should have no issue commiting or agreeing with this proposal.

This is a satire because he takes a serious tone and points out a major flaw in the English's behavior towards the Irish people. He shows how brutally mean they must really be and how they act. So he uses this sadistic view to point out to them how terrible their people are.

Restoration Assignment #2

Define "satire". Don't just copy and paste a definition from another source. Read the definition, and then explain it in your own words. Once you have done that, provide a few modern-day examples of satire (television shows, movies, magazines, etc.).

A satire is where someone makes fun of or shows someone or somethings flaws by using sarcasm, jokes, or imitations?

So.. examples. I think that House (tv show) is probably a really good example. He uses a lot of metaphors and sarcasm when people are being blatantly ignorant. He doesn't necessarily mock them either, so that makes me lean more towards him as a good example. Another tv show might be Family Guy or Robot Chicken. They show people or events in a way that shows their flaws or "follies".

The Restoration Assignment #1

Research The Glorious Revolution (sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution) online or in one of the textbooks. Write a paragraph summarizing what happened, and then another that explains why you think the event was so important.

The Glorious Revolution was when King James II was overthrown but the later King William III and a group of people from Parliament. Some see this as the last successful invasion of England. Even though some people called it the Bloodless Revolution, there were still a few battles and fighting in England, Ireland, and Scotland. King James II was a Roman Catholic, but because he was overthrown, it ended any opportunity for Catholicism to reemerge. For the next 100 years, Catholics lost the right to vote or be a part of Parliament. This provided Protestants to chance to succeed. Democracy took hold and they established a Bill of Rights to keep any monarchs from having absolute power.

I think that in England, where religion held a great amount of importance, that once religious options changed, it was automatically a big deal. Rather than just having a new king, lifestyles in England changed dramatically at this time. Catholics had always had an upper hand in things and now they were completely powerless. They lost all aspects of their status. I think that is why this is such an important event in England history.

Anglo-Saxon Assignment #4

What do you think of the way Beowulf dies? Write a 2-3 paragraph response on how you feel about the ending of the story. If you don't know where you are going with this, you should talk to me about it.

First, I felt relieved for Beowulf. He believed that he had lived a really great life and he was ready to take on the dragon and die in peace. He says that he brought good fortunes and treasures to his people, and tells how he wants his funeral. He was ready to go, and there was a slim to none chance he would live. His enemy also ends up dying, too. So it isn't like the dragon kills him and then goes back to killing and attacking the people. They both die. So technically, he wins.
On the other hand, I felt disappointed. It must have made him feel really bad to only have one of his men come to his rescue. I hated that he was defeated. It would have been a lot happier if he killed the dragon and then went home to his people and celebrated the treasures he won for them. Then again, in reality, it makes more sense and was a better ending for him to have died because he was really old. Old people don't just jump up and kill monstrous creatures. I'm surprised he didn't break a hip. So, I guess all in all it was a pretty good ending. I was just a little biased about certain pieces to it.

Anglo-Saxon Assignment #3

How does this story compare to the hero stories from our culture? Provide at least one exmample of how Beowulf is similar, and one of how he is different. You should provide some evidence from the text to support what you claim.

Like I mentioned earlier, he is a lot like Hercules. He is the same because he fights off the same kinds of creatures (dragons, Grendel & his mom, etc). He is different because unlike Hercules, his motive is not at all selfish. Hercules was a great hero, but in some stories (like the classic disney one) he is doing it to reunite with his father and become a God. I think that Beowulf was doing it just to be good. He actually said he wanted to help Hrothgar win back his kingdom and his beautiful hall, Herot.

Anglo-Saxons Assignment #2

Think about what you know about the Anglo-Saxon's culture. How well does Beowulf illustrate what the Anglo-Saxons believed? Give at least three separate examples, and back them up with direct evidence from the poem.

It kind of looks both ways to me. In some ways, it shows a lot of the traits for being an Anglo-Saxon story. In others, it's quite the opposite.

1. Yes - Beowulf was a great warrior (fighting Grendel, his mom, & the dragon), as was the lifestyle and tradition of the Anglo-Saxons.
2. No - Sure, one of his warriors proves his loyalty to him by helping him kill the dragon, but the others hid in the woods.
3. Yes - This story illustrates poetry (obviously), death (plenty of it), and even magic (the spells on the dragon's treasure). This connects directly to the most important Anglo-Saxon God, Odin.

Anglo-Saxon Assignment #1

Write a 4-5 paragraph response to Beowulf. What did you think of the story? What parts stuck out to you the most. You may also want to include some of your thoughts on the Anglo-Saxon culture.

I thought the story was a pretty good one. A normal hero story. Beowulf really was well respected. He did tons of amazing things. I think that it kind of sucks that he dies in the end. But, at least he still killed the dragon. I was really disappointed that only one of his warriors actually came to help him fight. He was a really good king and did a lot for them. They all should have been running to save him, but instead, they all hid. That really ticked me off.
It was a really good story though. I think that the original was a lot more gruesome. I don't remember it exactly, but I'm sure there was more gore. Also, I kind of think some of the information they gave us was unnecessary. Like in Episode Four it started talking about some random guy named Sigemund (weird). I didn't understand the importance of that character or Kind Heremond. They didn't really have too much to do with the story, and we could have done just fine without mentioning them.
I hate that this is a poem. I also hated the long speeches and how complicated it was too. I think it would have made a lot more sense as a regular story. But, like most literature, if it were just a story, no one would pay it any attention. Overall this was a pretty good story though.

I can kind of see where this ties

in with the Anglo-Saxons. I think that this is an example of one of the poems with tons of violence that the bards told. With the Anglo-Saxons, I expected that there would be more human conflict rather than just a bunch of conflict with mythical creatures in the book. You got a Hercules story rather than one about an awesome king with great war strategies. But either way, we got their specialty: violence.