Tennyson Was Considered the of the Middle Class

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Born: Died:

·  Tennyson was considered the of the middle class.

·  His writing reflects many of the Victorian’s concerns, such as the fear that new theories and values were threatening accepted (sense of right and wrong)

·  How many children were in Tennyson’s family?

·  Tennyson’s father and several of his siblings had problems with and

illness.

·  Tennyson was a published poet by the time he was years old.

·  He went to University, but he left without earning a degree because of a lack of .

·  His closest friend was named . His friend died at age 22. His early death inspired several of Tennyson’s most remarkable poems, including “Ulysses” and

, which it took him years to write.

·  In 1850, Tennyson was invited by Queen Victoria to be the poet . He also received the rank of and title of Lord.

Pre-reading question: Using complete sentences explain your answer and give an example.

1. List 5 experiences you think are necessary for a full life. What are the benefits of these experiences?

Beginning on page 357, read “Ulysses.” Then answer the following question:

2. What do you already know about Ulysses (also known as Odysseus)?

3. In this poem, what does Ulysses want?

Beginning on page 360, read “In Memoriam.” Then answer the following questions:

4. Do you agree with Tennyson that it is “better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”? Explain.

5. Based on section 54, what does the speaker hope for?

Beginning on page 363, read “Crossing the Bar.” Then answer the following questions:

6. What does the speaker compare death to?

7. Who is “my Pilot”?

Robert Browning Born: Died:

·  Critics ignored or put down his poetry until he was years old when he received very positive recognition.

·  Browning published his first book when he was 21. It received very reviews. Because of this, Browning vowed to keep his later writing free from information

·  Browning began to write a type of poetry called dramatic in which a character is portrayed in an charged situation.

·  Against her father’s wishes Browning secretly married and went to Italy where they lived happily for 15 years. Their relationship inspired Browning’s masterpiece called . When his wife died in 1861, he returned to England where he wrote , which brought him the

for which he had waited.

Pre-reading question: Using complete sentences explain your answer and give an example.

8. How does jealousy affect relationships?

Beginning on page 946, read “My Last Duchess” and answer the following questions:

9. What is the speaker looking at?

10. The duke probably thought his previous wife was too .

Circle one: A. loving B. easily pleased C. devoted

Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,

Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;

Then all smiles stopped together.

11. What can you infer from the lines above?

Beginning on page 948, read “Porphyria’s Lover” and answer the following question:

12. How does Porphyria die?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Born: Died:

·  Elizabeth had a childhood. (Her family had money.)

·  When she was 15, she suffered from an (disease) that left her an invalid.

·  Barrett married poet Robert and wrote many Sonnets inspired by her love for him.

·  Her finest work, which was published in 1850, is called

·  Elizabeth championed (supported) causes such as , , and

Pre-reading question: Using complete sentences explain your answer and give an example.

13. Do you think love lasts forever?

Read Sonnet 43 on page 954 and answer the following question:

14. What question does Elizabeth Barrett Browning ask at the beginning of Sonnet 43?

Emily Brontë Born: Died:

·  Emily was very close with her siblings , Anne, and Branwell.

·  In their writing, she and her sister Anne invented their own kingdom called

·  In 1845, the three sisters combined their writing into one book under the pseudonyms (fake names)

, ¸and

·  In 1847, Emily published , which is considered one of England’s finest novels.

Beginning on page 956, read “Remembrance” and answer the following questions:

15. Who is the poet remembering?

16. Why does the speaker avoid remembering?

Gerard Manley Hopkins Born: Died:

·  Hopkins was unknown as a poet during his lifetime, and it wasn’t until the that his poetry achieved widespread acclaim (praise).

·  At , Hopkins fell under the spell of poet and converted to and later joined the order.

·  Preparing to enter the Society of Jesus, Hopkins his earlier poems and did not write any poetry until 1875 when he wrote because he was so moved by the deaths of five in a shipwreck. He continued to write after this, but he felt .

·  The poem “Pied Beauty” reflects his joy in God’s .

Pre-reading question: Using complete sentences explain your answer and give an example.

17. How does nature affect your mood? What types of things in nature make you happy? Which make you sad?

Read “Spring and Fall: To a Young Child” on page 965 and answer the following question:

18. In “Spring and Fall to a Young Child” how does Margaret react to changing seasons?

Matthew Arnold Born: Died:

·  Like Tennyson, Arnold was a leading of the Victorian Age.

·  Arnold did not make his living as a writer. He was a inspector. He was the son of one of Victorian Britain’s most famous

·  His interest in poetry was partly inspired by his friendships with and the future poet who attended University with Arnold.

·  His first book of poems had a and serious nature.

·  He was a passionate advocate (supporter) of the .

·  From his picture you can see that he had some awesome

Read “To Marguerite – Continued” on page 1058 and answer the following questions:

19. What does the poet compare people to?

20. This comparison helps to show that people are

A. E. Housman Born: Died:

·  Housman composed most of his poems while he was in his early 20s.

·  Many soldiers took Housman’s poems with them into .

·  Housman was small and unathletic and devoted himself to his .

·  He went to University but left without a degree because he failed his final tests.

·  While working at a patent office, he got a professorship at London’s College because his writing was so good.

·  When he published his first book of poems, a friend suggested he call it . Shropshire was near where he grew up and he used it to represent (country) life.

·  He only published two books of poems. He published his second group of poems in

Pre-reading question: Using complete sentences explain your answer and give an example.

21. Do you tend to take advice from older people? Why or why not?

Read “When I Was One-and-Twenty” on page 1064 and answer the following question:

22. What advice does the “wise man” give the speaker?

Thomas Hardy Born: Died:

·  First wanted to be an , not a writer.

·  Published novels, 3 volumes of short stories, and over poems.

·  For several years, he worked at an firm that built

·  His first novel was published in . In 1891, he wrote , which caused a controversy because of what some people thought was

behavior.

·  Then he wrote Jude the Obscure, which was by libraries and bookstores.

·  His poems are about the ironies of life and explore the of nature and society.

·  When he died, his ashes were placed in at Westminster Abbey, but before he was cremated, he had requested to have his removed and buried at his home in “Wessex”

Read “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” beginning on page 1072 and answer the following questions:

23. Who is digging on the woman’s grave? Why?