Homework Assignment One: Symbol, Allegory, and Irony

1. Carefully read Chapter 24 in your textbook.

If you need further explanation, read the definitions of symbol, allegory and irony at Lyman A. Baker's Critical Concepts site:

http://www.ksu.edu/english/baker/english320/cc.htm

2. Between August 23 and 12:00 noon August 26

Read "My Last Duchess," by Robert Browning, on p. 700. You may want to learn more about Browning, who lived from 1812-1889, at http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/rbov.html.

Respond to at least some of the following questions using our online discussion space. Post at least one comment that begins a new conversational thread and at least one that responds to a comment by someone else.

What is the significance of the note about Ferrara?
Who is speaking? To whom?
What happened to the speaker's "last duchess"?
What does the title suggest about his attitude?
How do we find out about his jealousy?
What other character traits would you ascribe to him?
What evidence can you find that the speaker does not realize how much he's revealing?
Are there any symbols in the poem? What about the painting? The statue?
What examples of irony do you see in this poem?

3. Between 12:00 noon August 26 and 9:00 am August 30

Read William Stafford's "Traveling in the Dark" on p. 694. If you would like to know more about Stafford (1914-1993), go to http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/William-Stafford.

What is the speaker's attitude? Does it seem to change as the poem progresses? If so, what is the evidence of this change?
To whom is the speaker referring by "our group" and "us all"?
What are the literal and symbolic meanings of swerving?
What is the effect of the three lines about the car in stanza four?
What is the effect of the idea that the wilderness is listening?
What is your sense of why the speaker decides to push the deer into the river?
What is the significance of the last stanza being only 4 lines?
Does the title have any symbolic meaning?