First Post of the Spring Semester

TODAY IN CLASS
On the board, I outlined the various uses of poetry over the coming weeks:
1) Identifying chief characteristics of poetry through the centuries--a broad literary historical overview from the 5th century to the present! 
2) What we'll do specifically in conjunction with Frankenstein:  Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and John Milton's Paradise Lost (a few excerpts only)
3) An "intro" series of a few varied very short poems and a concentrated selection of sonnets by Donne and Shakespeare
4) A wide variety of poetry selected from the 16th century through the present--some studied in class, others for homework and specific tasks, others for in-class timed writes with no prior reading, some for multiple-choice practice.

We began with "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," reading Parts I and II in class, with a start on Part III.

HOMEWORK
Finish reading the poem.  You can find it online here:
http://www.bartleby.com/101/549.html

A HEADS-UP
I also let you know that there will be a Frankenstein objective quiz toward the end of the week (probably Friday) together with a writing assignment that involves something about the implications of these works for our understanding of the novel.