Class Notes

1. Vocabulary

(1). summarize: give a brief statement of the main points of something.

(2). paraphrase: restate the meaning of somethiing written or spoken using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity.

(3). kleenex service: It means that when a girl is sad and she keeps crying. Her friends or boyfriend would comfort her, listen to what she says, and take a box of facial tissue because of her crying. It can be seen in many movies, such as When Harry Met Sally.

(4). hyperbole: It is an extreme exaggeration used to make a point. It is like the opposite of “understatement.” It is from a Greek word meaning “excess.” Hyperboles can be found in literature and oral communication. They would not be used in nonfiction works, like medical journals or research papers; but, they are perfect for fictional works, especially to add color to a character or humor to the story. Hyperboles are comparisons, like similes and metaphors, but are extravagant and even ridiculous. They are not meant to be taken literally.

2. What is literature?

    It is imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value. There are three poems-Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?, On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer, and A Midsummer Night's Dream ActV used to illustrate the definition of literature.  Their themes are eternity, ecstasy and imagination.

    "Sonnet18" starts with a flattering question to the beloved—"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The beloved is both "more lovely and more temperate" than a summer's day. The speaker lists some negative things about summer: it is short—"summer's lease hath all too short a date"—and sometimes the sun is too hot—"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines." However, the beloved has beauty that will last forever, unlike the fleeting beauty of a summer's day. By putting his love's beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is preserving it forever. "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." The lover's beauty will live on, through the poem which will last as long as it can be read. 

    "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet John Keats. It tells of the author's astonishment and ecstasy while reading the works of the ancient Greek poet Homer as freely translated by the Elizabethan playwright George Chapman. The poem has become an often-quoted classic, cited to demonstrate the emotional power of a great work of art, and the ability of great art to create an epiphany in its beholder.

    A Midsummer Night's Dream portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. This play is full of imagination, which is the key element of literature.

3. 20/20

     20/20 is an American television newsmagazine that is broadcast at 8:00p.m which is the primary time of Americans. So the novel 20/20 expresses that we should show our love to those we love in our youth.  At the end of novel, Bill begins to see Ruthie and what she is capable of. What they see is the journey these characters take toward falling in love, in the west where things become unreal.