Quiz: Questions on King Lear Act 1

Answer the questions below and turn them in on Monday.

ACT I

1.Why does Lear favor Goneril’s and Regan’s professions of love over Cordelia’s? (I, i)

2. How is this favoritism related to the exiling of Kent?

3. Why does Edmund wish to overthrow Edgar’s claim to his father’s title? (I, ii)

4. In what manner has Lear offended Goneril and her household? (I, iii)

5. How is Goneril justified in her anger?

6. According to the Fool’s arguments, how has Lear “deserved” this poor treatment from Goneril? (I, iv)

Apply Texas Day, November 1st

November 1^st is Apply Texas Day at Memorial. Seniors have begun their Apply Texas through their Government or Economics class. Some were able to finish but many have not. Ms. Herrera will be in the Library to help any senior finalize their applications from 9:00AM to 12:00PM. 

Understanding Stage Direction

Check out this website to understand how stage direction is used.

King Lear

We will be reading Shakespeare's King Lear.

There is a folder with a copy of the play and relevant materials in our class folder.

I will be posting guiding questions that will be turned in a scheduled times for a quiz grade. Keep up with the reading, in case of absences, and keep up with the questions.

Volunteer Opportunity!

The McAllen Public Library is hosting the McAllen Book Festival on November 8, 2014. There are volunteer opportunities. Help the Valley become an interesting place to live.

The devil finds work for idle hands to do

Those who have nothing useful to do and seek some way of passing the time are liable to drift into wrongdoing.

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose

This is an attack on hypocrisy, on those who cover up their evil-doing by quoting passages from the Bible. The proverb comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice:

     The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
     An evil soul, producing holy witness,
     Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
     a Goodly apple, rotten at the heart:
     Oh, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

The following, from Richard III, also applies:

     But then I sign; and with a piece of Scripture,
     Tell them that God bids us do good for evil:
     And thus I clothe my naked villainy
     With old odd ends, stolen out of holy writ;
    And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

Death is the great leveller

There can be no such distinctions as wealth, poverty, greatness, humbleness among the dead. When dead we lose our worldly attributes. IN this sense death makes us all equal.